PokerStars SCOOP Latest: Dejan Kaladjurdjevic Becomes First Triple Winner

April 16th, 2021 | by Jason Reynolds

The PokerStars Spring Festival of Online Poker (SCOOP) is in full swing and the winners are coming thick and fast.

Dejan Kaladjurdjevic has become the first triple SCOOP champion of 2021 after taking down three events in less than a week. (Image: PokerStars/Manuel Kovsca)

Wiktor Malinowski, Andrey Skvortsov, Pedro Padilha, and Dejan Kaladjurdjevic were among the latest luminaries to bag titles.

Malinowski was one of the first big names to emerge victorious. The outspoken Polish pro won the $10,300 high roller event on April 6 for $241,956.

That win made him an early frontrunner, but his efforts have since been surpassed by the likes of Skvortsov, Padilha, and Kaladjurdjevic.

Past Champs Return to the Fore

Skvortsov is no stranger to SCOOP final tables. The Russian has won two titles in the last two years and found himself back in the mix on April 10.

With the $1,050 8-Game event down to two, Skvortsov bested Naoya Kihara to secure his third title in three years and $28,101.

Not to be outdone, Padilha played his way to a heads-up showdown with Lex Veldhuis in the $2,100 No Limit Hold’em event on April 11.

Team PokerStars’ Veldhuis was streaming via Twitch and had most of the rail on his side. However, he wasn’t able to convert that support into his first SCOOP.

What an insanely tense final table that was. Absolute nailbiter. Blessed to finish 2nd in such a tough field.
Also made a day 2 in the $1050 KO. Back tomorrow 2 PM CET / 8 AM ET. <3
Thank you so much for the support again today. Feels so good to be back at it (no shit ~_~) pic.twitter.com/MrO7ieyJMu
— Lex Veldhuis (@LexVeldhuis) April 11, 2021

Padilha was in unstoppable form and claimed his fourth SCOOP trophy along with $82,354.

Dejan Kaladjurdjevic Outperforms Everyone

As impressive as Skvortsov winning three titles and Padilha getting his fourth was, the performance of the series so far goes to Kaladjurdjevic.

Known online as dejanlc357, Kaladjurdjevic is a rising star on the scene and become Montenegro’s first ever SCOOP winner last week.

His maiden victory in the $530 Kickoff for $78,000 was a historic moment but it was just the start of things to come.

A few days later, he won gold in a SCOOP PKO event before picking up his third title on April 9 with a win in the $1,050 Deepstack.

That final performance netted Kaladjurdjevic another $52,742 and made him the first triple champion of SCOOP 2021.

With plenty more poker left to play, there may well be another triple champion this year. However, at this stage, Kaladjurdjevic has staked his claim as SCOOP’s top performer.