Hoodini10 and WiCane Crush PokerStars Sunday Warm Up and Million
Another week, another set of cashes for PocketFivers on PokerStars. Members of PocketFives have been the talk of the town recently and this week was no exception. Joe “Hoodini10” Udine (pictured at left) took down the Sunday Warm Up for $70,867 and Kevin “WiCane” Pionkowski (pictured at right) chopped the Sunday Million for a blistering $113,000. These two rising online poker superstars have had a considerable amount of success recently across the major tournament sites.
Hoodini10 entered the final table of the Sunday Warm Up third in chips. Seven handed, he lost a coin flip against pocket fives, which cut his stack to just over one million chips. He comments, “My shorthanded play is usually very aggressive, but lately I’ve found that I’ve been getting played back at a lot. I try hard to find the right spots while trying to stay patient.” With a short stack, he picked up A-Q suited in the big blind: “I knew when it folded to the small blind, he would put me in with any two cards and I was right, as he doubled me with J-5 suited. After this hand, I was right back in it and felt very confident. There had been a ton of talk of a deal by the other players at the table, which made me even more confident because that meant there would definitely be some scared money when the pay jumps got big.”
Three handed, talk of a deal finally came to fruition: “I tried to negotiate the highest payout because I felt that I had a big edge. The chip leader at the time wouldn’t agree to me taking home more than him, so we continued to play. The very next hand after our negotiations, I got it all in blind versus blind with the chip leader with A-9 versus his A-K. I was able to spike a nine on the turn, giving me a huge lead. Now, given that there was one very short stack, I planned on attacking the guy in second place, as I figured he would play tight trying to move up in payout. Wow, was I wrong. The button (second in chips) raised to 750,000 and I made it 3.1 million from the small blind with K-4 of hearts. He instantly shoved in for over 5 million and now I’m caught with my pants down, but am getting over 3:1 on my call. He showed K-Q. A four on the flop gave me an overwhelming lead.”
Udine’s list of accomplishments in online poker would leave the real Houdini amazed. He won the PokerStars $100 rebuy three times in the same weekend. He also won the very first event of the very first FTOPS for $86,000. He compares his Sunday Warm Up win to his array of finishes: “This win ranks as my greatest online feat because I had been working hard to get my game back recently and everything came together in this tournament.” Recently, he has been focusing on staying patient: “The greatest strength a player can have is to recognize when to use each gear and how to pick spots well with a short stack. This is what I’ve been working hard on as of late and I hope I can stay consistent.”
Like Udine, WiCane also faced a chop scenario: “I was second in chips in the Sunday Million when we were down to three players remaining with about 23 million chips. The chip leader had 34 million and the low stack had 12 million. I decided that I couldn't pass on a chop because the blinds were very high and anything could happen in a short amount of time. I probably gave up a little too much to the chip leader, but I wanted to secure over $100,000 and play for the remaining $30,000. I always told myself that if I got in that position, I would play for the win (without a chop), but the money was a little overwhelming.”
WiCane has been dominating Bodog lately, taking down the $50,000 Guaranteed for $12,500 and nabbing third in the $100,000 Guaranteed for $9,000. This was the first time he had played in the Sunday Million on PokerStars. “My initial reaction was actually disappointment. I played extremely poorly heads up and basically donked off my chips. Today, chopping has really started to sink in and it feels great.” The key hand for WiCane came just before final table play: “I had gotten low on chips and decided to raise with 8-7 and was called by the big blind. The flop came 10-9-9. He checked to me and with one million chips in the pot and about the same amount left in my stack, I pushed in. He called with K-10, but I was able to spike a jack on the river to keep me alive.”
On how PocketFives has helped improve his game, WiCane comments, “I want to thank PocketFives for the support and help that many of the members have given me on my game. I also want thank all the Bodog regulars. I have learned a lot from watching many of you guys play.” We congratulate Joe “Hoodini10” Udine and Kevin “WiCane” Pionkowski on their performances on PokerStars this past weekend.
