by Simon Young

One of the greatest things to come out of this incredible event - and there have been many - has been the stunning success of our PokerStars qualifiers. Many got here for free on frequent player points only, while the others won through a variety of cash satellites.

In total, 246 of the 706 players made it here to Monte Carlo as PokerStars qualifiers to experience the trip of a lifetime, and it soon became clear they were not just here for the fun. They were here to win.

So much so, that 16 of the last 32 runners were here courtesy of PokerStars - and four of them have made it all the way through to the final table! Chip leader Gavin Griffin from Chicago, Josh Prager from California, Steve Jelinek from the UK, and Denmark's Soren Kongsgaard make up our quartet of players gunning for the mouth-watering €1.8 MILLION top prize.

Jelinek has been a regular qualifier to big events through PokerStars. He reckons more than a dozen. But, despite his great qualification record, he is yet to make a big cash. Until now. Several WSOP Main Event attempts have ended before day three, while here in Monte Carlo he was first out of the tournament two years ago! Today, he stands to make at LEAST €160,000. "This is payback time," he said. "Just goes to show, if you win enough tickets.....".

PokerStars has qualifiers running now for the World Series of Poker. Make sure you take part to have a shot at going for the Big One.