In an online series that is guaranteed to feature talented final tables, one of the toughest in recent memory took place on Wednesday during the 2021 PokerStars Spring Championship of Online Poker. Nine top-tier players, including two former #1-ranked pros and the current All-Time Online Money List leader, played down to a winner in the biggest buy-in event on the SCOOP 2021 schedule. Plus, one of the most accomplished online poker pros in history, finally added a SCOOP title to his resume.

It’s safe to say that the final table of Event #43-H ($25,000 NLHE, 8-Max, Super High Roller) was one of the most stacked tournaments of 2021. Of course, when the buy-ins are as big as $25K, it tends to draw online poker’s elite players. Even so, it’s a rarity to be able to look at a final table full table of screen names and be able to identify each and every player based on their outstanding accomplishments.

The two-day tournament featured 51 players (with 20 re-entries) to generate a prize pool of $1,741,275 and in the end, it was current All-Time Online Money List leader Joao ‘Naza114’ Vieira who took home the $469,987.05 first-place prize and his fifth career SCOOP title. The victory was a bit of a breakthrough for Vieira who has found himself at plenty of major final tables as of late but despite taking down big scores, hadn’t locked up the outright win since his PokerStars Turbo Series win on February 25. It’s also a career milestone for ‘Naza114’, as the score now serves as the largest recorded online score of his career.

Mikita ‘fish2013’ Badziakouski took home the Super High Roller runner-up honors, which was good for $352,019.81, and Christian ‘WATnlos’ Rudolph captured the bronze and booked a $263,662.64. The star power didn’t stop there as former #1’s Niklas ‘Lena900’ Astedt (8th, $62,152.19) and Conor ‘1_conor_b_1’ Beresford (7th, $82,980.28) were early casualties, while Wiktor ‘limitless’ Malinowski (6th, $110,788.09) and Benjamin ‘bencb789’ Rolle ($147,914.86) both laddered into six-figure scores. Then, falling just outside the top three was Australia’s Michael ‘imluckbox’ Addamo, who fell in fourth place for $197,483.22.

After all that he has accomplished in online (and live) poker, it may be surprising to discover that Chris ‘Moorman1’ Moorman hadn’t won a PokerStars SCOOP title until Wednesday night. The former #1-ranked pro finally added that accolade to his poker resume with a win in Event #45-H ($1,050 NLHE, 6-Max) for $78,539.14. Certainly, part of the reason may be that Moorman now calls Las Vegas home. However, this summer, he and his wife Katie Lindsay invested in a property in Mexico which has allowed Moorman to compete on the international stage on a more regular basis. The score ranks in Moorman’s top 20 career score and is his largest of the year.

Anton ‘Bomber&Granater’ Wigg was denied his third SCOOP title as the current #24-ranked pro settled for second place and used the $56,390.92 score to leap over $5.5 million in career earnings. ‘BenArfaa10’ rounded out the top three and earned $40,488.58 for their efforts.

Earlier in the day, ‘pucho2100’ picked up their first SCOOP victory with a win in Event #41-H ($1,050 NLHE, Deep Stacks). They battled through the 288-entry field to win the $54,837.07 first-place prize. Lucas ‘Bit2Easy’ Reeves came in second place, earning $41,521.49 and Aleksejs ’APonakov’ Ponakov grabbed third place and picked up $31,439.75.

The final event of the night was Event #49-H ($1,050 Razz) where ‘Gigaloff’ wrapped up $25,887.50 for first place and their third career SCOOP title. ‘__akun333__’ picked up $17,575 as the runner-up while ‘youre’ finished in third place and received $13,300.

Other winners on Wednesday included ‘Bxrn’ (Event #41-L), ‘missy_gazell’ (Event #41-M), ‘GZingano’ (Event #43-L), ‘Xungazz’ (Event #43-M), ‘Wizzyy10’ (Event #45-L), ‘lamapoopie’ (Event #45-M), ‘monopol’ (Event #49-L), and ‘maxsnel123’ (Event #49-M).

Event #41-H ($1,050 NLHE, Deep Stacks)
Entries: 288
Prize pool: $288,000

1. pucho2100 – $54,837.07
2. Bit2Easy – $41,521.49
3. APonakov – $31,439.75

Event #43-H ($25,000 NLHE, 8-Max, Super High Roller)
Entries: 71
Prize pool: $1,741,275

1. Naza114 – $469,987.05
2. fish2013 – $352,019.81
3. WATnios – $263,662.64

Event #45-H ($1,050 NLHE, 6-Max)
Entries: 440
Prize pool: $440,000

1. Moorman1 – $78,539.14
2. Bomber&Granater – $56,390.92
3. BenArfaa10 – $40,488.58

Event #49-H ($1,050 Razz)
Entries: 95
Prize pool: $95,000

1. Gigaloff – $25,887.50
2. __akun333__ – $17,575
3. youre – $13,300