WCOOP update: Leknes wins 11th title! Plus great results for Veldhuis, RobinPoker and Shaban

There’s just one week remaining in the World Championship of Online Poker (WCOOP) on PokerStars and things are really heating up.

This Sunday (October 1) sees the Main Events kick off, with three buy-in tiers: $109, $1,050, and $10,300.

You can take a look at the former Main Event champions here. Who knows, maybe it will be a member of our community who writes their names into the history books this year.

We also have a WCOOP guide to help you prepare for one of online poker’s biggest weekends of the year, so check that out.

Now, let’s catch up on how Team BBZ has gotten this past week.

LUDICROUS LEKNES WINS 11TH

When Tobias “Senkel92” Leknes signed up to create the Mixed Games Beginners Bundle for BBZ Poker with Mason “pyefacepoker” Pye, the poker world was understandably excited.

For one thing, learning mixed games isn’t easy. Prior to the Bundle, there wasn’t an obvious way to study at a reasonable price point.

Now players get the chance to learn from one of the best mixed game tournament players in the world. And if that was ever in doubt, Leknes has proved it once again.

The Norwegian crusher took down his 11th WCOOP title on Monday (September 25), winning the $2,100 NLO8 6-Max PKO (#67-H). He defeated 79 entries to win $55,006, including $36,375 in bounties.

This is Leknes’ second win of the year, his first coming in the $109 PLO 6-Max for $14,477. Here’s a reminder of his incredible WCOOP résumé:

2017 – 60-L $109 2-7 TD – $10,286
2018 – 10-M: NLHE [8-Max Win the Button] – $44,064
2018 – 20-H: NL 5-Card Draw – $17,100
2020 – 09-L: $11 NL 2-7 Single Draw – $2,448
2020 – 45-L: $11 FL Badugi 6-Max – $2,015
2020 – 49-M: $215 NLO8 6-Max, PKO – $23,963
2022 – 05-M: $215 PLO – $26,022
2022 – 70-H: $530 PLO8 – $20,155
2022 – 81-H: $2,100 8-Game [8-Max] – $28,085
2023 – 20-M: $109 PLO 6-Max – $14,477
2023 – 67-H: $2,100 NLO8 6-Max PKO – $55,006

Leknes is now tied with Denis “aDrENalin710” Strebkov on 11, trailing only Benny “RunGodlike” Glaser with 14. Glaser has been on a tear this year, winning an unprecedented six titles – the most ever in a single series.

VELDHUIS’ RESILIANCE PAYS OFF

We’ve written plenty of articles about how to handle downswings. You can check out some at the links below:

5 ways to deal with poker downswings
Battling variance in poker: how a BBZ student defeated his downswing
The apestyles guide: Downswings and confidence

Lex Veldhuis, who is showing his profit and losses throughout WCOOP on his Twitch stream, was down a hefty amount on the series.

But he showed us all how quickly you can turn things around with study, patience, and resilience.

What an insane day.

Started with disappointing 4th in the $10,300 8-game for $22k.

BUT THEN!!
🥉3rd for $5k for $58k
🥉3rd in the $1k turbo KO for $15k
🥈2nd in the $1k turbo for $34k

I mean yeah I would love to win a title but this is amazing. Went from -$97k to +$32k!

— Lex Veldhuis (@LexVeldhuis) September 24, 2023

On Saturday (September 23), Veldhuis made an incredible four WCOOP final tables and ended up cashing for more than $130,000, wiping out his series losses.

4th – 55-H: $10,300 8-Game 6-Max High Roller – $22,630
3rd – 56-H: $5,200 NLHE 6-Max Turbo – $58,066
3rd – 62-H: $1,050 4-Max Turbo PKO – $15,639 (including $6,184 in bounties)
2nd – 63-H: $1,050 NLHE Turbo – $34,067

Make sure you check out the Lex Bundle to find out how Veldhuis studies and prepares for a series like WCOOP.

BIG SCORES FOR SHABAN AND ROBINPOKER

Over in Ontario, BBZ student and Twitch streamer Arlie Shaban has been putting in some serious work.

The ONCOOP (the Ontario Championship of Online Poker) is running alongside WCOOP and Shaban captured a title last week, taking down a $50 event for $1,744.

I am a 2023 ONCOOP Champion! Last night I won $50 Event 26 for $1,744 @PokerStars @PokerStarsON pic.twitter.com/V2gBPNYdpM

— Arlie Shaban (@ArlieShaban) September 19, 2023

Meanwhile, another student and streamer Lukas “RobinPoker” Robinson made his second final table of the series, finishing fifth out of 1,355 in the $320 Super Tuesday for a $16,200 score.

That’s just shy of the $16,700 Robinson banked for his third-place finish in the $55 Kickoff earlier in the series.