Black Belt Blog: Leg 2: The Unusual Suspects

With the advent of promotions such as the Cash Point, Spring Sales, and iPOPS and the inaugural East End Live and Samurai events nearing, there was a buzz heading into this week's Black Belt Poker League as players looked to build momentum during this action-packed period.

With just one leg down, League XIV was still anyone's game, and the second leg would be the perfect time to either build on a strong start, or bounce back from a disappointing performance the week prior.

After finishing 87th in Leg 1, you could say that first-time winner Chris SchnauzerSoze04 Cope fell into the latter category, but he responded in emphatic fashion this week by toppling a round-numbered field of 100 to cushion his account with a welcome $137.50.

And despite the name, there was no limping in sight!

Two Blue Belts emerged from the grind to play the event, including Ross MrStarch619 Jarvis, who finished bubble to the bubble in 14th. Meanwhile, last week's top two - russellhansen and Khayless01 - could only manage a 69th and 53rd place finish respectively.

1st SchnauzerSoze04 -- $137.50
2nd PhilNe2Q -- $92.50
3rd griffyid7777 -- $70.00
4th 2LAMCHOP2 -- $47.50
5th maffew1 -- $35.00
6th Ourkid888 -- $26.50
7th Bambury -- $21.50
8th kippery -- $17.50
9th gnomeeee -- $15.00
10th jojosiejo -- $12.50
11th Touagorimou -- $12.50
12th doochats -- $12.50

Whilst SchnauzerSoze04's triumph isn't quite enough to pull him into the top 20 (although it does secure him a spot in the Second Chance SNG), Papa Bambury Wooldridge's final table appearance means he's now top of the poker pops for the first time with 189 points, just two points ahead of Orange Belt Jamie doochats White in second.

1st Bambury -- 189 points
2nd doochats -- 187 points
3rd Khayless01 -- 181 points
4th liquidpoker101 -- 181 points
5th 10Royals -- 179 points
6th TeeDeeEye1 -- 178 points
7th gnomeeee -- 177 points
8th ChipRead77 -- 177 points
9th Touagorimou -- 176 points
10th shaolin4aces -- 174 points

The chasing pack aren't too far behind, and one shouldn't count out tough opponents such as Mulligan maestro Kevin S0lution Birt, the aforementioned Blue Belt Ross Jarvis, and former League Champion Robert myteamouse Bulman.

11th russellhansen -- 173 points
12th BoatDrink -- 170 points
13th losartan88 -- 168 points
14th ACarey -- 167 points
15th UliKoko -- 166 points
16th myteamouse -- 163 points
17th TheZartog -- 163 points
18th AmazingRossy -- 161 points
19th ourkidsid -- 157 points
20th S0lution -- 155 points

Keeping players entertained during the league was our East End Live satellite, which was one of three weekly routes into April's inaugural Live event at Olympic Park. The results this week were as follows, and included an incredible $215 overlay in Wednesday's $25+2.50 satellite (two seats guaranteed):

Monday...

1st PBBlack -- East End Live seat ($200+20)
2nd whooshwhoosh710
3rd kippery
4th hoover65
5th Mart07Fish

Tuesday...

1st BobbersAllin -- East End Live seat ($200+20)
2nd S0lution -- $58.50
3rd RykanShadow -- $39.00
4th Ka7ieVick -- $19.50
5th vinsangel -- $13.00

Wednesday...

1st Ka7ieVick -- East End Live seat ($200+20)
2nd karllorenzo -- East End Live seat ($200+20)
3rd sceaga2
4th paul6543
5th vinsangel

Also on Wednesday was our latest exclusive Orange Belt Freeroll giveaway, which this time gave satellite casualties yet another bite of the East End Live cherry. Victory was, of course, elementary, my Dean Watson.

1st LAYERCAKE35 -- East End Live seat ($200+20)
2nd myteamouse -- East End Live satellite token ($25+2.50)
3rd RykanShadow -- East End Live satellite token ($25+2.50)
4th UliKoko -- East End Live satellite token ($25+2.50)

21 played in the Deepstack Mulligan this week. The winner was Peter Touagorimou Brown who earned a bonus 100 Belt Points (usually 50) for being a Purple Belt in the Belt-Up Rewards Scheme.

1st Touagorimou -- $126.00 (100 Belt Points)
2nd 45683ah -- $85.05 (30 Belt Points)
3rd paul6543 -- $47/25 (10 Belt Points)
4th ourkidsid -- $31.50 (5 Belt Points)
5th originalcynic -- $25.20 (5 Belt Points)

Nine players made it for the $30+3 Samurai satellite, but only one man ever seemed likely to progress to the Main Event: Darren TheZartog Meredith.

1st TheZartog -- Samurai seat ($250+25)
2nd Ka7ieVick
3rd losbert40
4th kippery
5th lionrampant27

A number of exciting promotions have been announced recently, the most recent of which are the arrival of our WSOP satellites. Now running are a plethora of satellites with players vying for four different packages including a WSOP Main Event package worth $13,000, and a special SNG Jackpot Executive package worth an amazing $24,000.

For details on all our promotions, check out the site now, or visit our Tournaments page to see when our various tournaments and events are taking place.