Spraggy Poker Rating: 5,8/10 6802 votes
Frank Op de Woerd
$125 Taiwanese: Final Table Seat Draw. 6 of 191 The first Taiwanese poker event of the series is down to the final table. Nadia Wanzi comes into. Spraggy is playing poker at PokerStars. PokerStars/Full Tilt Poker players have to opt-in before non-profitable ($0) results are displayed. Click here for PS/FTP opt-in/out info. As of June 30, 2019, OPR will no longer be tracking PokerStars tournaments. Learn more about Spraggy. The OPL™ brings poker players together from all around the world. Compete at a different poker room every night, enjoy tens of thousands in value added prizes and find out if you have what it takes to become the champion. Playing primarily zoom cash games on Pokerstars Spraggy has moved through the limits from 5nl with a $100 deposit into the 50nl games. Having played stakes up to $5/$10 Spraggy comes with a wealth of poker knowledge and his recent experience in micro stakes games makes him an ideal candidate to show you how to win!
Benjamin 'Spraggy' Spragg might be wearing the PokerStars Team Pro Online patch, but don't make the mistake of thinking he's feeling right at home in a tournament with a buy-in of $25,000. Part of Team Online because of his popular Twitch stream, Spragg plays an average buy-in of $30 online. So to all of a sudden take a seat in a $25,000 High Roller was quite the change of pace for the amicable Brit.
'I play anything up to $215, maybe the odd $530, but that's as big as it gets. So to play a $25k live was huge for me!'
Spragg got his seat in the PokerStars Players Championship after having given away multiple Platinum Passes on the stream. Giving away passes is fun, but getting to play yourself is even better. 'PokerStars said 'Hey, all these community people are going to be involved, let's get you involved here as well.' So that was great!' Spragg said.
It was Spragg's first-time at the PCA, and since $25,000 events aren't exactly his bread and butter, you can bet he was excited. 'I played some $1Ks way back in the day, but I'm on Team Pro Online because I'm a twitch streamer. People see the stakes I play; I play anything up to $215, maybe the odd $530, but that's as big as it gets. So to play a $25k live was huge for me.'
While Spragg was new to playing in an event with a buy-in this big, he wasn't all too nervous.
'I was excited but not nervous. It did not feel like a $25K just because of the atmosphere.'
'I felt ok. I was excited but not nervous. It did not feel like a $25K just because of the atmosphere. There are very old-school players who came out for this, and there are people who don't know the rules of no-limit hold'em who came out for it. And then there are the top pros from around the world. It's a fun atmosphere. I think it's the best thing to happen to poker for a very long time.'
The excitement was in the air as it was clear quite early on that the event was going to be big. The excitement was in the air because the field was so good; full of players who don't usually play these. 'Obviously, with the Platinum Passes [in the field] [...] you're gonna end up having an edge over some part of the field.'
Day 1 didn't go as planned for him. 'Day 1 started really rough; I just could not win a pot. I went down to 15,000 in chips and was all in for twenty big blinds with nines to sevens and managed to find a double.'
Spragg survived Day 1 with 43,000 in chips, under the starting stack. 'I would've been better out in the water slides late regging Day 2!'
The second day of the event was much better for the Team Pro Online: 'Day 2 started really well, I went from 43,000 to 110,000. I had Tonka [fellow streamer Parker Talbot] on our table, so that was a nice break!'
Spragg ended Day 2 with 115,000 in chips. With 207 players returning for Day 3 and 181 in the money, 26 players would still go empty-handed. Spragg was just praying he wouldn't be one of them. All went well early on in Day 3, but on the bubble, things got a bit more tense. 'When it got to hand-for-hand, I thought 'Ok I'm alright' as there were a load of short stacks. But then nobody busted; hand-for-hand kept going and going and going.
'It was really nerve-wracking as I had just paid my big blind and would be forced all in on the next big blind.'
'I was barely in my seat during the bubble. I was up pacing, checking out other tables, trying to find out where the shortstacks were - who was gonna be all in. It was really nerve-wracking as I had just paid my big blind and would be forced all in on the next big blind.'
Besides the fact that, for Spragg, it was $25,450 or nothing since he was in it for free, there was the fear of shame if he would end up bubbling. 'The last thing I wanted was to be that direct bubble boy. Because of the Twitch chat; imagine me walking out of here as the bubble boy, I would never be hearing the end of it. But we got there. It was a massive relief!
Not only did 'Spraggy' cash, but he also ended up leveling up a pay jump as people busted left and right when the tournament got in the money. Spragg took home $35,000 for his three days of play.
Parlaying his cash into shots at even bigger fortune is not Spragg's intention. 'Not this week I don't think. I'm flying out Friday, as was always the plan. I might put a little in bigger stuff online; I might take some bigger shots on the stream. We'll see how it pans out.'
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Though Spraggy is no longer participating, you can follow the rest of the PSPC event on the PokerNewslive updates page.
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Marriage is what brings us together today.
Spraggy Poker Twitter
Benjamin “Spraggy” Spragg asked Marle Cordeiro to marry him. And she said yes.
It is tough times at the moment. In Cordeiro’s homeland, the U.S. election is coming up. The first Purge is presumably to follow the day after. Meanwhile, in Spraggy’s homeland, the U.K., coronavirus has pushed the nation back into lockdown. And as winter draws in on the Northern hemisphere, bringing with it longer nights and shorter, bleaker days, a light-hearted story of love and commitment is just what the poker world needs.
Yes!!
The couple took to Twitter to announce their news. Presumably, the Times “Forthcoming Marriage” section was full this week.
Spraggy tweeted, “Today@MarleCordeiro made me the happiest man alive.”
Today @MarleCordeiro made me the happiest man alive. I asked her to marry me and she said Yes!! 💍❤ pic.twitter.com/xiCh9rptM4
— Spraggy (@spraggy) November 1, 2020
While Cordeiro posted a video with her ring finger up and the caption “Getting married or whatever.”
Getting married or whatever @spraggypic.twitter.com/THRYgWQKjU
— Marle Cordeiro (@MarleCordeiro) November 1, 2020
The poker power couple has a little over $110k in live cashes between them. That should cover the bar tab at the reception. Especially with U.K weddings limited to 30 players for the foreseeable.
The lion’s share of that $110k comes from Spraggy ($86k).
On the other hand, Spraggy’s YouTube following falls substantially short of Cordeiro’s.
Cordeiro’s rise to fame as a poker commentator came after a controversial video on her channel went viral in 2018. Since then she’s continued to make satirical videos alongside her career as a Vegas cardshark.
But she really won over the poker community as the only person to keep going after Mike Postle after the California courts chucked him out of the Stones cheating case. Cordeiro tried to bring a suit against Postle in Nevada where, unlike California, cheating is illegal. Unfortunately for her, she failed to prove Nevada has jurisdiction, and Postle went untried.
Since then the couple has moved to the U.K., navigating the Byzantine system that is HMRC’s long-term visa policy. And they landed right in the middle of the lockdown.
Lock it down
Lockdown seems to have worked out well for the couple. Eight months holed up in a London flat would test most people to the limit. And the change in weather can’t have been fun for Vegas resident Cordiero.
But the pair seems to have done okay. Cordeiro wrote that “Being quarantined w @spraggy for 8 months has been effortless and the most fun I’ve ever had. All we do is laugh. Can only imagine how much fun we’re gonna have when we can leave the house.”
Being quarantined w @spraggy for 8 months has been effortless and the most fun I’ve ever had. All we do is laugh.
Can only imagine how much fun we’re gonna have when we can leave the house 😊 I love you @spraggy thanks for finally getting a drink with me.
— Marle Cordeiro (@MarleCordeiro) November 1, 2020
The poker world was quick to offer the couple congratulations. Mostly. Jaime Kerstetter, for example, wanted to be sure Cordiero wasn’t suffering from Stockholm syndrome asking, “Marle, are you sure?”
Congrats Spraggy!!!!
Marle, are you sure?
— Jamie Kerstetter (@JamieKerstetter) November 1, 2020
Others were suspicious that anyone would agree to marry the mop-topped Spraggy. JohnnyVibes called shenanigans saying, “I’m waiting a full 24 hours to say congrats. Just in case it’s a troll. I hate being tricked. Be back tomorrow.”
I wish we were this committed to a troll! It’s real 😬😬
Spraggy Poker Player
— Marle Cordeiro (@MarleCordeiro) November 1, 2020
A wise choice particularly after Spraggy’s last graph. “They say you should spend 3 months salary on an engagement ring,” Cordeiro tweeted. “What can we get for -20k?”
The next question on everyone’s mind is: which poker players will get to be the bridesmaids.
They say you should spend 3 months salary on an engagement ring.
What can we get for -20k? https://t.co/KBQSdg7FI1
— Marle Cordeiro (@MarleCordeiro) November 1, 2020
Spraggy Poker Twitter
Featured image source: Twitter