PokerStars has upped the guarantees on most of its guaranteed tournaments. Overall, the site is now hosting 483 guaranteed prize pool tournaments per week, up from 199 just last week. The overall guaranteed prize pool? That’s going up by quite a bit as well, from approximately $7.5 million to more than $13 million.
Starting this Sunday, the PokerStars Sunday Million will now have a $1.5 million guaranteed prize pool. That’s not just a one-week promotion. That’s the way it’s going to be all the time.
The Sunday Million is not the only big tournament getting a boost. Also starting this Sunday, the PokerStars Sunday Warm-Up will see its $500,000 guarantee increased to $750,000. The Super Tuesday, held each Tuesday night at 19:55 ET, is changing from a $250,000 guarantee to a $300,000 guarantee.
Finally, if you missed the news, there is now a weekly $530 No-Limit Hold’em tournament on Sundays with a $250,000 guarantee. At the end of each month, this tournament will have a $1,050 buy-in.
So, there you have it. It’s not the kind of news you see very often, but when it happens, it’s big. The guarantee increases have already started, so go forth and get your share.
PokerStars Macau has wrapped up another Macau Cup and the results are in.
If you're not aware, PokerStars Macau opened a few months back as the first-ever live poker room in Macau. Since then, it's been home to the biggest poker play going on in China. It will also serve as host to September's Asia Pacific Poker Tour event in Macau (more about that event at the end of this post.
In the meantime, here are the results from the second Macau Cup event (all prizes HKD).
Macau Poker Cup Charity Event
1. Kim Lee from Hong Kong – Prize: APPT Macau Entry to Main Event
2. Sae Hon Lee from Korea – Prize: APPT Macau Entry to Main Event
59 participants each paid a $500 entry fee and made a $1,500 donation to Caritas de Macau. In total, $88,500 was raised for the Caritas De Macau
Deep Stack Event
1. L Devadason – Prize: $20,520
2. Manuel Chu – Prize: $14,108
3. Barry Chang – Prize: $7695
4. Philip Prause – Prize: $5130
5. Alex Low – Prize: $3847
Red Dragon Event
1. “Denny” Dengfeng Yu from China – Prize: $119,040
2. Celina Lin from Australia – Prize: $81,840
3. Ivan Tan from Singapore – Prize: $44,640
4. Jean-Philippe Buanton from USA – Prize: $29,760
5. Luke Wei – Prize: $22,320
$500 Challenge
1. Ted Fu – Prize: $6120
2. Gang Wang – Prize: $4208
3. Stephen McDonagh – Prize: $2295
4. Kin Man So – Prize: $1530
5. Dak Bong Daniel Poon – Prize: $1147
If you find yourself in Macau in the next month or so, take some time to visit the room for these events.
Asia Pacific Poker Tour Macau
September 1-6, 2008
Entry Fee: HKD 25,000
Guaranteed Prize Pool: HKD 10,000,000
Qualify at PokerStars Macau, or online at PokerStars
Saturday 100K Guarantees
Entry Fee: HKD 2500
Guaranteed Prize Pool: HKD 100,000
Every Saturday at 8:00 PM beginning August 9, 2008 at PokerStars Macau
This weekend, the Sunday tournaments on PokerStars kicked off with a certain bang we don't hear every week. The PokerStars 2X promotion turned the Sunday Warm-Up into a $1 million guarantee event with a second chance for people who busted out before the first break. The United Kingdom's richlizard walked away with the win and $114,662 after a three-way deal. Elsewhere in the UK, avkid86 cut a four-way deal in the Sunday Million and picked up $138,101 for the win (REPORT)).
That wasn't the only big news of the weekend. Team PokerStars Pro John Duthie won the $5,200 winner-take-all event (after cutting a heads-up deal). What's more, the last weekend of the month meant we saw the $1 million Turbo Takedown (REPORT) and a big Battle of the Planets Triple Shootout (REPORT).
Full Sunday Tournament results are below. Congratulations to all the winners this week.
PokerStars Sunday Million Final Table Results Based on finishing order and four-way deal REPORT)
8,370 players ponied up $215 to take part in the biggest weekly tournament in poker – the PokerStars Sunday Million. 1,260 players took home a piece of the $1,674,000 prize pool, with avkid86 taking down a first prize of $138,101.00 after the final four players made a chip count chop. After nine and a half grueling hours of poker, Jimboski30 took the chip lead into the final table, with a slight lead over his opponents. The first 30 minutes of final table play was almost tentative, as the players took their time feeling out their opponents.
After a break, the field started to thin rapidly, as two players went out in the first four hands back from break. In the first, Gambooooool raised preflop with Ad-Qd, and DonC33 re-raised all in with Ac-Kh. Gambooooool made the call, and hit the flop hard when the board ran out Qc-9c-As-4s-Ah. Gambooooool flopped top two and rivered a full house to send DonC33 home in 9th place – a respectable $11,718.00 payday.
Just two hands later, gio_piso open-shoved with Jd-10d and found one caller in Jimboski30, who tabled Ks-6s. The board missed both players as it ran out 3s-5c-3h-Qc-8s, and Jimboski30’s King played to send gio_piso home in 8th place with $19,251.00 for consolation.
Jimboski30 found himself on the short stack after losing a big hand to pokerbrat13, and he jammed the last of his chips in the middle preflop with 9h-10c. Strahhh25 called with As-2c, and picked up a deuce on the 8s-6s-2d flop. The 8c on the turn gave strahhh25 two pair, and the 3d on the river sealed jimboski30’s fate. He headed home in 7th place, earning $29,295.00 for his day’s work.
As the blinds and antes skyrocketed, the field continued to thin. With the big blind at 1 million, dapoopta moved all in preflop with pocket deuces. Avkid86 made the call with As-10h, and we were off to the races. Maybe sprint would be a better term, because the Ah on the flop made for a short-lived race. Avkid86 made aces up to send dapoopta home in 6th place, good for $41,850.00.
Tonijeromi’s second Sunday Million final table ended a bit shorter than the last time, as he busted in 5th place for $58,590.00. Tonijeromi shoved all in preflop with Ks-10s and found himself racing against Gambooooool’s pocket threes. The flop of Jh-3h-Qd put a quick end to the race, as Gambooooool picked up a set and left tonijeromi looking for an Ace or a 9 for the straight. The Jc on the river gave Gambooooool a full house instead, and tonijeromi was done.
When the field reached the final four, a deal was struck among the remaining players based on chip counts, and each of the remaining players locked up a $100,000+ win for themselves. Based on chip counts at the time of the deal, the payouts were –
The deal left $30,000 to play for, and the final four settled in for a final showdown.
Gambooooool was the first to fall when he and strahhh25 tangled one last time. Strahhh25 raised in early position and Gambooooool re-raised. Strahhh25 three-bet all in, and Gambooooool called with Kd-Qc. Strahhh25 showed Ad-Ks, and nothing unexpected happened on the board of 5d-Js-3c-9h-4h. Gambooooool fell short of the extra $30,000, but still picked up $113,016.00 for 4th place.
Pokerbrat13 locked up first place money in the chip count chop, but back-to-back big hands with avkid86 left him out in third place. In the first hand, avkid86’s As-7c outran pokerbrat13’s Kh-Qs on a board of 8c-6d-6h-7s-Js. Then the last of his chips went in on the next hand with 5s-7c, only to run into avkid86 again, this time holding As-8d. The flop hit both players, coming down 8s-4s-10c. Avkid86 made top pair, top kicker while pokerbrat13 picked up an inside straight draw. No help for pokerbrat13 on later streets, though. The turn and river came down Kings, and pokerbrat13 headed to the rail with $138,077 as a result of a chop.
Heads-up play was quick but tumultuous, with several chip lead changes in the dozen or so final hands between avkid86 and strahhh25. Finally, after a huge pot worth over 77 million chips, strahhh25 moved all in preflop with Qc-7h. Avkid86 made the call with Kc-5s, and then saw a dream flop of Ks-3s-5d. Strahhh25 was way behind, and was drawing dead on the 9h turn. A meaningless 3d came on the river, and strahhh25 was done in 2nd place, picking up $113,016.00 along the way.
Avkid86 came from last in chip when the chop was determined to nab the extra $30,000 for the champion. That made his final total $138,101.00 for almost 11 hours of tournament poker. Congrats to all the 1,260 players who cashed, and especially our champion avkid86!
With everyone showing up to the final table with more then 20 big blinds and a slow structure this is sure to be a lengthy battle for an incredible prize pool that is completely funded by Frequent Players Points (FPPs). Only grinding out those FPPs on the cash, sit and go, and multi-table tournaments will get you into this massive event. 11,962 either bought in with the 5,000 FPP entry fee or managed to weave thru the many satellites that are offered daily to reach this event that paid out in 4,000 places with $100,000 going to our winner tonight. A tough hand of KK vs. AA for sjemmy from Rotterdam and our final table of nine was set.
Seat 1: riffery (4893590 in chips)
Seat 2: HipsterDufes (1801996 in chips)
Seat 3: kipa58 (5752600 in chips)
Seat 4: roybaauw (4932239 in chips)
Seat 5: nsewell4 (7700895 in chips)
Seat 6: gambler2k4 (2240724 in chips)
Seat 7: jitterbug777 (1868552 in chips)
Seat 8: Badboy Orrie (3107026 in chips)
Seat 9: papa333 (3588378 in chips)
Riffery made the first big move of the final table after tabling pocket Kings to dominate nsewell4’s AKo. After a board of blandness, riffery’s newly acquired nine million chip stack was good enough for a solid lead over second place kipa58 early in the final table with blinds at $50,000/$100,000 ante $10,000. Almost like watching a well oiled hockey power play, the disks of money were moving swiftly across the felt for nearly the first hour of the final table the chips merely shifted from side to side as riffery’s stack was depleted a little, then roybaauw who got several chips from riffery placed those newly acquired chips in the stack of gambler2K4 and HipsterDufes on back-to-back all ins preflop.
Sometimes the best hand pre-flop does win but takes a little while longer to get there. Riffery’s under the gun raise was called by roybaauw while everyone else got out of the way. A flop of Qd 3s 6s got riffery to check to roybaauw who calmly put out a $600,000 chip bet leaving $2.8 million behind. Aggressive the entire final table riffery answered with all-in shove for his chip leading stack of $7.4 million. But, roybaauw saw thru the huge check raise and found his QcJs well ahead of riffery’s AcJc. The seven of diamonds on the turn left just three cards to dodge, but roybaauw’s agility to dance around those outs on the river wasn’t good enough as the Ace of the diamonds spiked and added to riffery’s chip lead. $5,500.00 for FPPs is points well-spent by our ninth place finisher roybaauw.
Gambler2K4 was slowly acquiring chips in the first hour as he called raise from kipa58 with KcQc. The 2s Kd 7s flop found no one’s attention as they both checked. The Queen of spades on the turn gave Gambler2K4 top two pair, and when kipa58 checked to him a $400,000 bet went into the middle. Kipa58 answered with a check-raise all-in which gambler2K4 quickly called only to see the one-outer on the turn hit for kipa58’s pocket queens. Still alive with two kings left in the deck, gambler2K4 watched the four of diamonds fall and left us with ten grand in his bankroll for poker, craps, roulette, or whatever gambler2K4 chooses to make his next wager on while finishing in eighth place.
The massive stacks of kipa58 and riffery pushed the other players to jockey for position among themselves. HipsterDufes tried to breach the solid wall of chips having riffery on his right and kipa58 on his left by push his remaining $1.8 million in chip with blinds at $80,000/$160,000 ante $16,000 into kipa58’s big blind. HipsterDufes’ Kh9h wasn’t thrilled to see the call sign flashing as kipa58 turned over pocket threes for a race. Two hearts on the flops looked great, but a closer look told a sad tale as the three of hearts gave kipa58 a set of threes and a commanding lead. No flush filled on the turn and river and HipsterDufes will have an extra $15,000 in seventh place to keep up with the latest fashion trends.
Out of the shorter stacks nsewell4 has made the biggest moves to challenge the big stacked players to his right. His efforts were helped after racing pocket Tens versus the all-in from Badboy Orrie (Boston Bruins fan in the Netherlands perhaps?) who held AKo. A coordinated flop of 6s 7h 8d helped no one, two of spades on the turn had nsewell4 looking further up the pay scale, and the Queen of clubs on the river sent Mr. Orr flying to the ice but alas no goal this time as in a highlight reel shot shown time and time again on Sportscenter. Badboy Orrie gets $20,000 for his efforts in sixth place tonight.
Dancing is not a forte of mine, but Jitterbug777 literally tap danced his up the pay ladder with steals and catching a few double ups with his short stack. All songs end eventually and the sweet footed Jitterbug777 had to face the music with big slick versus kipa58’s pocket twos all-in pre flop with his remaining $1.5 million in chips and blinds at $90,000/$180,000 ante $18,000. With a board of 9c Js Jh Qs, Jitterbug had several outs to counterfeit kipa58’s deuces but the 3d hit the river and his great short stack play earned him $25,000 in fifth place.
With less then ten big blinds papa333 found Ah6h in the small blind pushing his remaining $938,396 in chips with only riffery standing in his way of gathering some much needed chips pre-flop. But, the cagey riffery held pocket fours to make the easy call. Much like the previous bust-out hand the pocket pair withheld a minefield of outs as 5h 3h 8s was laid out on the flop. But, papa333 could not find any help to give the kids in his hand on the turn and river. $32,500 in fourth place money is good for a year or two of college for papa333’s kids at home, depending on the new dorm room costs of course.
Then the two big stacks became one. Several preflop raising wars broke out during three handed play with kipa58 coming over the top of riffery and visa versa. Finally riffery decided to stand up to the other chip bully and they played the biggest pot of the tournament after some preflop betting and all the money into the pot on the turn of 7c 8d 7d Th
Riffery: Qs Qc
Kipa58: Kh Td
Riffery dodged the trips and two pair outs on the river and banked the massive $21 million chip pot. Later they would tangle again, but this time the money went in preflop as kipa58 shoved his remaining $6.4 million in chips holding AJo and riffery made the call with pocket tens. It’s the night for pocket pairs as riffery’s hand held up and he would take a 6:1 chip advantage into heads-up play against nsewell4. The third place finisher, kipa58, will enjoy $40,000 for his play tonight.
With blinds at $150,000/$300,000 ante $30,000 nsewell4 managed to double up off riffery and chopped his large chip lead down to 2.5:1 but riffery’s constant button raises and re-raises have made this heads-up battle seemingly one-sided. One stretch saw the chip leader take down nearly ten hands in a row with only two of those even seeing a flop. Riffery’s aggression would gain all the chips lost during the double up, and then some while expanding his lead to a 10:1 margin.
Nsewell4 was down to his last $3 million in chips while finding big slick all ready to do battle as he shoved his remaining chips against riffery’s big blind. Riffery called with KsQc but the huge chip lead could take the wound. First aid was not needed as the flop showed 6s Qd Th turning nsewell4 into the player needing three outs. The inside broadway straight never filled and Nsewell4 will receive a sizable $60,000 as a consolation prize. Showing once again that aggression wins tournaments, riffery goes to valuetown and receives $100,000 for his PokerStars Million Dollar Turbo Takedown win!
PokerStars $1 Million Turbo Takedown Final Table Results
PokerSavage1 and prezado are currently on a break to decide the final seat in PokerStars’ Battle of the Planets monthly Sit and Go tournament triple shootout freeroll. After a short break the final seat of the triple shootout was filled. Perzado made the final table with a couple of tough hands of two pair versus a flush and a straight against PokerSavage1 and ended the round of 81 with an AQo versus ATo battle. If you are new to this promotion kindly checkout the leaderboard on the PokerStars website for information on how to gain points and possibly sit at the final table next month with a shot at $25,000!
Here’s how our final table stacked up this week, as the winners of two tables to reach here are going home with no less then $1,550.00:
Chopping up the final table money was thrown back and forth across the table for the first thirty minutes, and after some negotiations that would rival international treaties being drawn up at the United Nations headquarters, the players decided to reward themselves with $6,000 a piece. Being the Sit and Go kings they are, tonight we are playing for 50%-30%-20% of the remaining $17,920 prize pool for 1st, 2nd, and 3rd which mirror the normal payouts for a nine player SnG.
1st = $8960.00
2nd = $5376.00
3rd = $3584.00
Still a lot of money on the table for these folks but we will see if the guaranteed $6,000 will have an effect on the speed of play. At least three orbits went by after the deal was struck and still our original nine have chips to battle with. No clear cut chip leader has emerged but windysufan has been the short stack for the majority of this final table.
Dutch-nOOb certainly did not play to his namesake as he was one of the more aggressive players who clamped down on any preflop limping with timely raises but sadly exited first today. With blinds at $50/$100 and an opening pre-flop min-raise coming out of dutch-nOOb’s stack, landsoflore7 came over the top holding an unsuited big slick. Dutch-nOOb made the call with the remainder of his $1,300 stack with pocket tens. Two pair on the flop of Ah 2c Kd, left dutch-nOOb shaking his luckbox icon for all its worth, but blanks on the turn and river left him in ninth place.
Landsoflore7 was not done gathering chips as just four hands later his pocket Queens saw yet another race begin preflop, except this time he was facing the unsuited big slick of JohanEll. Little cards tapped the across the board, and a Jack on the river sent landsoflore7 up the chip ladder to a significant lead and sent JohanEll in eighth place with the chopped $6,000.
With the tight play at the beginning, the next dozen hands at the $75/$150 blind levels were a plethora of all-in aggression and bust outs. The short stacks of windysufan and alkaatch decided to all their battling pre-flop and in the blinds, both holding decent heads-up hands for short stacks. Alkaatch was in great shape to double up and knock out the resilient windysufan when his Ad9c dominated windysufan’s Kc9s. The 4s 5s 7h flop looked safe enough and only a runner-runner straight, flush, or a King would help out windysufan’s hand. The King of diamonds on the turn turned the tide and blank on the river left alkaatch with just 160 chips which were donated on the next hand with an unimproved hammer (that’s seven-deuce offsuit) versus domerboy’s QTo that paired the turn and left alkaatch in seventh place.
Pebah did not give up despite the rising blinds for everyone, and made a great play for the blinds while left with just $1,050 in checks and the blinds at $75/$150 with a middle connecting hand of 7s8c. But windysufan has been riding the wave as he called with Ac6d leaving just $230 behind. The flop made no connections, the turn gave no answers, and the river hung up the phone on pebah’s Battle of the Planets run. Windysufan’s Ace high got him one step closer to the extra chopped cash and left pebah out in sixth place.
As in any SnG once the blinds get high so does the speed of the bust outs as prezado and martin-king were left with just a few big blinds they shoved their hands in preflop looking for a little light in a dark tournament place. Unfortunately, they both ran into dominated hands preflop, prezado took his A5o up against windysufan’s ATo and after the river ten appeared with no straights, flushes, or trips for prezado, he exited in fifth place just short of the extra pay scale. Martin-king made the right decision and pressed his chips for all they were worth from the small blind with only 926 chips left and blinds at $125/$250 Ante $25 but domerboy in the big blind found a call and saw his K7o well ahead of martin-king’s 74o after no love on the flop, and turn, the big King on the river cemented our final three players to play for the remaining prize pool.
In an amazing turn of events, the heads-up play began with the former long term short stack windysufan in the lead over domerboy. Landsoflore7 played a great aggressive game with his chip lead but winning coin flips is essential to every tournament win and his final hand was a classic race of his AKo versus domerboy’s pocket Jacks. As I already gave away the ending of the race in the first sentence, landsoflore7 took home the chopped $6,000 plus 3rd place money of $3,584!
With a couple of pushes, Domerboy stole the heads-up lead from windysufan and pressed continuously with raises and re-raises preflop while taking a 5:1 chip lead with blinds at $150/$300 ante $25 and leaving windysufan with under ten big blinds in his stack. But, windysufan caught domerboy with a well-placed trap after turning a straight, domerboy complied by diving into the net turning the game into an even-up affair after a few more blind steals by windysufan.
$1,470 was the chip lead windysufan held over domerboy as the game turning hand began with domerboy limping from the button and windysufan checking his option. 8c 8h 6d on the flop got domerboy to lead out for $600 and a quick flat call by windysufan. The ten of hearts on the turn got domerboy to lead out for $900 and was met by a quick all-in from windysufan. Flopped trips for windysufan was a yet another trap laid by the Syracuse University fan holding 8s4h, but domerboy caught up on the turn as he quickly called with TdTc for the turned boat which avoided the one-outer on the river for a dominating 12,030 to 1,470 chip lead.
Two hands later both players got their remaining chips into the pot:
Domerboy: AsQs
Windysufan: 5dQh
Domerboy’s preflop advantage was never questioned, never in danger, and finally gave him the biggest slice of the chopped pie as he was awarded $6,000 plus $8,960 while becoming this month’s Battle of the Planets champion! Windysufan made the most of his cards and perseverance in rallying from a huge chip deficit at the beginning of the final table and was rewarded with an extra $5,376 for second place on top of the $6,000 all the final table players received. Congrats to all of all winners today, and be sure to start your qualifying runs for next month’s Battle of the Planets competition tomorrow!
July Battle of the Planets results: (based on nine-way chop leaving prizes awarded for the final three players)
It's time for another Macau Poker Cup this weekend at Grand Waldo Casino in Macau. The exciting series of events will include a $1,000 buy-in Deep Stack event on Saturday at 12:30 and a $10,000 Red Dragon event at 8PM.
There will also be other events, including a charity tournament benefiting Caritas de Macau on Friday
night, a $500 buy-in MTT on Sunday, as well as APPT qualifiers.
Players from at least six different countries will be participating. Among them, you'll find:
Steve Chung (Hong Kong) who won a HKD $100,000 package at PokerStars Macau in June to the World Series of Poker in Las Vegas and placed 667th of 6844 players
Tony "Bond18" Dunst (USA) who won a Bellagio Cup event in Las Vegas 3 weeks ago for $193,720 US
Celina Lin (Australia) who cashed in 24th place (of 352 players) in last November's first APPT Macau
Roger Spetz (Malaysia) who finised 6th at APPT Manila (of 255 players) and 7th at APPT Seoul (of 186 players)
Here's a full run-down of this weekend's activities:
Thursday, July 26: 8PM - Freeroll to win tickets to this weekend's events (Free entry)
Friday, July 25: 8PM - PokerStars Macau Charity Event - HKD $500 (450+50) plus Charitable donation of $1,500
Saturday, July 26: 12:30PM Macau Cup Deep Stack Event - HKD $1,000
4PM - Mega Satellite (Phase 1) to APPT Macau - HKD $600
8PM - Macau Cup Red Dragon Event - HKD $10,000
Sunday, July 27: 12:30PM Macau Cup $500 Challenge - No-Limit Hold'em - entry: HKD $500
4PM Mega Satellite (Phase 2) to APPT Macau - HKD $2,700
You may already know how it is. You put in the hard work, the graft and the hours to win yourself a spot in one of poker’s most prestigious events such as the European Poker Tour. You arrive determined to do well in your first live event but soon realize that it takes more than a knack online, and that it just isn't easy to go deep to where the real action is.
PokerStars is now looking to help you solve that problem and take the next step in a major live tournament with the help of some exclusive lessons from Team PokerStars Pro, and 2004 World Series Champion, Greg Raymer.
PokerStars is planning to send you to Barcelona where a team of experts will work with you to develop your live poker talents, adapting your game to this new environment and arming you with the confidence needed to make an impact in slow structured tournaments - into the money, and beyond.
The plan is to host a two day training camp that will include a live multi-table tournament where the top two finishers will win EPT Barcelona prize packages – a total that includes your event buy-in, hotel accommodation and money for expenses.
PokerStars will be running satellite qualifiers--starting as low as $8.80 or 250 FPPs--to the Poker Camp Final tournament from now until August 3.
If you hadn’t already heard, Barcelona is one of the most popular destinations on the EPT thanks to the enviable mix of sun, beautiful beaches, great food and a nightlife like few others. The Poker Camp prize package gives you access to all that and more in a package worth $4,000; three nights hotel accommodation, exclusive gifts and much more. PokerStars will also throwing a drinks and tapas party where you can chill out with other players and celebrity tutors – undoubtedly an appealing way to spend an evening after a day at the tables.
You can find out more detail on the PokerStars Poker Camp schedule page for how things will work and the subjects we’ll be covering. Anyone can enter for a chance to win the package; the only stipulation is that you have a good grasp of English. While you’re at it, why not check out the EPT site to find out how things went at last year’s Barcelona event, which had a total prize pool of €4 million.
For the first time in a very long time, Every Sunday major on PokerStars finished without a deal. That meant the first place winners all walked away with some very big money. Take, for instance, SAM66 who won more than $200,000 for his win in the Sunday Million (REPORT). More than 8,000 players signed up for this week's Sunday Million, proof that even in a regular week, the Sunday Million is the biggest weekly tournament on the planet.
Congratulations to all this week's winners. Here are the final table results for all the big Sunday tournaments.
PokerStars Sunday Million Final Table Results
(REPORT)
$209,571 and don’t forget the sixty cents. Thanks to another packed house of 8589 runners for the PokerStars Sunday Million, that is how much will be transferred immediately if not sooner to the victor tonight (unless there’s a deal of course). If there is a let down of poker activity after the grueling month and a half at the World Series of Poker it is not showing at this tournament. 1233 players received a spot of cash for their play this evening, and two players will go home with six figures, here’s how the final shaped up after ZUREHABAZU’s KQo could not out race Shantaram’s pocket nines:
Seat 1: moorten (14903308 in chips)
Seat 2: pepperdiablo (4224128 in chips)
Seat 3: my_emolument (5392975 in chips) out of hand (moved from another table into small blind)
Seat 4: Cjh1224 (1129360 in chips)
Seat 5: Axinar (4769157 in chips)
Seat 6: Shantaram (11552878 in chips)
Seat 7: rubenrtv (12192690 in chips)
Seat 8: SAM66 (23492228 in chips)
Seat 9: MrMuck1976 (8233276 in chips)
SAM66 drops into the final table with the big stack which was accumulated by frequent raises on the second to last table, using his huge chip pile to bludgeon the smaller stacks. Cjh1224 took some grief from the rail for his patience, but the small stack was rewarded with a final table placing, along with a minimum of $5,000 extra. He will need some additional luck and timely cards to advance into the big dollars tonight especially with blinds at $250,000/$500,000 antes $50,000.
At the start of the final table SAM66 has the table shaking their collective heads while amassing an even greater lead and not turning over those two cards he is dealt. At 30 million in chips with approximately 52 million for the remaining eight players, there seems to be no building of clay chips (or pixels in this case) strong enough to defend against SAM66’s chip tank coming thru.
Cjh1224 was the small stack coming into the final nine and unfortunately for Cjh1224, the small stack went out first and not advancing up the pay scale. Rubentv found himself in good position to call with AKo and Cjh1224 having to push with any two cards. With J7o those cards were live for a few moments prior to the flop but an Ace on the door quickly dashed any worst to first dreams for Cjh1224 and with $13,398.84 in his pocket he leaves us in ninth place.
Trapping someone in any game with a set against top pair has players screaming for a call, even more so with thousands on the line. Axinar was looking at a board of Kh 9c 3h with two beautiful nines in his hand making a set and to his right Shantaram complied to stealthy trap with a push for his remaining 5.7 million chips with KcQs. Needing runner-runner for a straight or a higher boat, the Js on the turn gave Shantaram outs when there was none before, and the Tc on the river slid nearly 17 million chips into Shantaram’s stack leaving Axinar with a few antes worth to his name. Right move, tough result for Axinar as he’ll be consoled with $19,754.70 for his eighth place finish.
Crippled by the SAM66 express tollway with a broadway straight on the river after heavy betting on the flop and turn, moorten’s once sizable stack was diminished to 1.5 big blinds. After a minimal double up, moorten found KcQd and when left with enough to fill an orbit, one could do worse with two picture cards. But, Shantaram was more then happy to assist with moorten’s exit while holding pocket rockets. Nothing significant trickling down the flop, turn, river and moorten was $30,061.50 richer while heading out in seventh place.
My_emolument played a fairly quiet final table, having to face the frequent raises of SAM66 and rubenrtv. Needing cards to turn the tide never came as my_emolument snagged a few small double ups with his short stack but eventually had to face the music with any two cards that will be hidden until the replays are shown tomorrow. Rubenrtv’s Js9h finding a pair of nines on the board of 9d Tc 3d 6h Kh with SAM66 checking it down as well, was good enough to hand my_emolument $42,945.00 and sixth place.
The spicy pepperdiablo never caught true fire with the final five but managed to get his final three million in chips towards the middle with the best of it. Calling SAM66’s 23,675th button raise with Ad3d, pepperdiablo found himself ahead of SAM66’s KdQd. A flush would lock things up, as the cards peeled off towards the river pepperdiablo was safe until the King gave SAM66 ownership of the chips in the middle and the hot one left us with $60,123.00 in fifth place.
With the chips getting smaller and smaller with the rising blinds any pair takes on a newer meaning. Sixes were Rubenrtv’s choice of weapon against the mighty chip wall of SAM66, but instead of slaying the dragon, the brave knight was holding nothing more then a nerf sword when SAM66’s pocket Aces found another Ace on the flop of Ad 3s 8d. A six hit the river but did not change anything; rubenrtv took $77,301.00 back to Amsterdam to spend however he pleases.
SAM66 turned the chip vacuum dial from 9 to 59 as he sucked up chips so quickly I couldn’t even keep up with the bust outs. In the biggest pot of the tournament up to this point MrMuck1976 was facing a decision for his remaining 18 million chips on a Qd 5h 2h board while holding middle pair with Ad 5c. The aggressiveness of the chip leader surely was on his mind, but once again SAM66 held the goods as MrMuck1976 made the call and SAM66 calmly flipped over KhQh for top pair decent kicker and a flush draw to boot which cut into MrMuck1976’s potential outs. The flush did not materialize, but neither did trips or two pair for MrMuck as his yellow button “Muck” showed poker’s white flag of surrender but a tidy sum of $95,337.90 for third place made the eleven hours of poker worth the time spent.
For the first time while covering these tournaments, I saw no deal was ever whispered as SAM66 entered heads-up play versus Shantaram with a 5:1 chip lead. Shantaram battled mightily against the very aggressive SAM66, and while all-in and holding identical A2s hands and a flop showing a four-flush for Shantaram, there was a little light that the tide would turn. No flush came for Shantaram, nor did a badly needed double up through out the heads-up duel with SAM66.
Ts9c was Shantaram’s final stand as SAM66’s Ad6h made a race of things while SAM66 increased his lead to nearly 7:1 at this point. 5h 3d 3s helped no one, 6d on the turn might as well been a blank, and with a Jh on the river, Shantaram helped himself to a six-figure score with $141,718.50 for second place. SAM66 played his chip lead to the max and was rewarded the right to call himself this week’s Sunday Million champion!
Here’s the payouts for the final table, congratulations to all who cashed in this massive field:
It's Week 4 for the PokerStars 2X promotion and PokerStars has cooked up a list of fun stuff that will make you forget about the past 20 days.
Double the pot was fun for a week, but now it's time for something new. Ready for it?
It's a double reload bonus in celebration of the PokerStars World Championship of Online Poker. Players who reload their PokerStars account between July 21-31 will get a 40% bonus, up to $240--double the standard bonus. All you have to do us use the code ‘2X’ when making your deposit. Oh, and get this...when you reload your account with that code, you'll you'll get a ticket to one of four special WCOOP satellites on August 2nd and August 9th. So, you have that going for you, which is nice.
Let's not forget...
PokerStars has been running all of these 2X Chance tournaments that give players the opportunity to buy back in once if they bust out within the first hour. Well, now is a good time to start practicing on those, because this coming Sunday, the PokerStars Sunday Warm-Up will be a 2X Chance tournament and have a $1 million guarantee.
But, that's not all....
PokerStars will continue to award extra VIP Player Points for regular Heads-Up Sit & Go tournaments. You will get 1.5X the amount of VPPs and Frequent Player Points that you would normally awarded.
AND FINALLY…
Don't forget, if you make your first deposit with the code FIRST2X, you will get into to the 2X First Depositor Freerolls. There are two $2,222 freerolls running every day, from July 8-30, at 13:00 ET & 20:00 ET. If you cash in any of the freerolls, you'll win a seat in the $22,222 finals on July 31.
Darus Suharto qualified on PokerStars for the World Series Main Event. His $80 win got him into a bigger qualifier and there he won his prize package to Las Vegas.
Now, Suharto is one of the November Nine, the final table players of the 2008 World Series Main Event.
Here's what he had to say in the moments after he made the final table.
Dennis Phillips told us ini the last few days of the World Series that the ESPN crews were calling him "red hat." His autographed St. Louis Cardinals baseball cap was not hard to spot in the crowd. Otherwise, the accountant from Missouri is humble enough to blend into any poker tournament.
That all changed this week when Phillips emerged as the chip leader in the 2008 World Series. Now, plans to go back to work for four months and plan for what will be one of the biggest days of his life.
Here's what he told our video blog team as he got ready to go home.
Perhaps better known online as TenthPlanet, Ylon Schwartz is no stranger to live poker. A regular on the East Coast live scene, Schwartz has been around long enough to have paid his dues. Now the chess expert, lover of all games, and PokerStars is looking to get away for a while.
In his own words, he was "bugging out" when he finally made the final table. He took a few minutes to talk to us before escaping to places unknown in preparation for the November final table.
It's one thing to be one of the top five cash game players from your home country. It's another thing to be at the final table of the 2008 World Series of Poker. PokerStars player Peter Eastgate happens to be both of those things.
In the blur that followed the minutes after making the final table, a stunned Eastgate talked to our video blog team. Here's what he had to say.
David "Chino" Rheem is a young up-and-comer in the poker world. The PokerStars player had a big contingent of famous players on the rail cheering him on as he made the final table of the 2008 World Series.
The player from California talked to the PokerStars video blog team as he stepped away from the World Series for a 117-day break. Here's what he had to say.
In minutes that followed PokerStars player Ivan Demodov's making it to the 2008 World Series final table, he was still in shock. After coming all the way from Moscow to compete in his first major live tournament, Demidov could barely find the words to explain what had just happened to him.
Now, Demidov is set to become a superstar in Russia and around the poker world. Here is what he had to say in the moments after making the final table.
It’s one thing to take the chip lead at the final table of the PokerStars Sunday Million. It’s another thing to take a commanding chip lead at the final table of the largest Sunday Million in PokerStars history. And it’s something else entirely to take the chip lead at the Sunday Million final table when you’ve never deposited a penny into your online account! That’s exactly what happened to xanja when he knocked out sjoko in 7th place in last week’s Sunday Million tournament.
Thanks to the PokerStars 2X promotion running all July, last week’s Sunday Million was really the Sunday Two Million, with a total prize pool of $2,836,200. Xanja took over the chip lead with six players to go, and rode his big stack all the way to a favorable chip-count chop and a $235,000 payday! We caught up with xanja as he was still trying to process everything about his fantastic run.
Mostly a $5 & $10 SNG player, xanja took a shot at the Sunday Million because of the 2x promotion doubling the prize pool. It also more than doubled the field, as over 14,000 players registered. Xanja got lucky early to survive, saying “I went all-in with pocket sevens after being raised. My opponent held pocket jacks. At that moment I thought the tournament was over for me, but the third seven appeared on the turn and I won the hand. Otherwise I had played really carefully and only played the best hands.”
One of the biggest hands of the tournament came when play was four-handed, and before any deal had been made. After a preflop raise from PokerMurphy1, kpax22 moved all in over the top with Js-10c. Xanja re-raised to isolate with Ah-Kh, and PokerMurphy1 folded. Kpax22 picked up a straight on the turn when the board read 5c-9h-Ks-Qh, but the 2h on the river gave xanja the flush and sent kpax22 to the rail. That hand left xanja a huge chip leader, and the remaining three players cut a deal to give $235,000 to xanja and leave $30,000 to play for. Xanja fell short of the final prize when TimDawg888 caught a couple of big hands to double through him and eventually take down the Sunday Million.
Xanja’s poker career started two years ago in freerolls, and he eventually built up his bankroll without ever making a deposit, winning a few pennies here and there from freerolls and then moving into sit n’ gos and MTTs. Keeping to his bankroll-building strategy, he won a satellite to get into the Sunday Million, making his return on investment even more staggering!
Fortunately for xanja, he has the summer off from his studies until September, so he didn’t have to get up and go to work after playing until the wee hours of the morning Sunday night. His future poker plans include keeping a nest egg on PokerStars from this big score while investing the rest, and eventually playing the WSOP Main Event. We can definitely see big things ahead for this young star!
In the Rio Amazon Room, there is no Monday. There is no July. Time and date are irrelevant. There is no news from around the world, lamentations about the economy, or even the usual banal discussion of the weather. It took rain in the desert to get anyone to notice the sky. In the thunderdome that is the World Series of Poker, all that matters is life and death at the World Series of Poker table. Once the fallen are carried out and given their due seconds of respect, all that remains is hope for the living.
This has been the case during the days that are defined by number instead of name. Through four day ones, two day twos, and the subsequent days three, four, five and six, even numerologists were stymied. Here, the calendar read Day 7 and that meant only 27 people remained with their life-blood chips. Everyone knew that two-thirds of that number would walk away with at least a quarter million bucks, but a lifetime of what-ifs about what could've been. Nobody could predict or control who would be here at the end of the night. All we knew is that nine people would be able to walk out of this room tonight with their chins up and their eyes set on a $9 million prize.
From here on out, they will be known as the November Nine--the final nine of 6,844 runners who started the 2008 World Series Main Event and emerged tonight with the right to come back in four months and fight for the championship bracelet. Among those players are the PokerStars Six, a tough combination of PokerStars players and qualifiers who will be part of history in November.
In all, PokerStars players have already cashed for more than $9 million combined in the Main Event. The PokerStars Six will have their chance at a total of another $32.6 million that's up for grabs in November.
Here is a look at the PokerStars players who will return to compete for poker's biggest prize.
Dennis Phillips (26,295,000)--Dennis Phillips is an accountant from St. Louis, Missouri who has done his home town proud. His has not yet been seen without an autographed St. Louis Cardinals cap and speaks fondly of his Show-Me State roots. Phillips is a regular at Harrahs St. Louis and plays live there as often as he can. It cost him $200 to get into this Main Event. He plans to leave Vegas and go back to his job for the four months between now and the final table in November. That, and he said, "play a lot of poker." Not a bad plan for the World Series chip leader.
Ivan Demidov (24,400,000) -- Ivan Demidov is from Moscow Russia. "We're having a good year," he says of himself and his countrymen. This year, he placed 11th in the $1,000 rebuy event. Both a tournament and cash game player, Demidov is a 27-year-old online semi-pro. A friend and backer helped him raise the $10,000 to get into the event. The 2008 World Series is his first major live tournament. Demidov has a degree in math and is looking to bring home the big numbers for mother Russia.
Peter Eastgate -- (18,375,000) -- Peter Eastgate is a 22-year-old PokerStars player. He is known as a fearless but volatile player, among the top five online pros in Denmark. He mainly plays high-stakes cash games - $200-400 short-handed or heads-up. Jacob Rasmussen, who came 5th at EPT4 Dortmund, was asked if Peter Eastgate was the next Gus Hansen. He said, "Not really. It's more like Gus Hansen is the first Peter Eastgate." Eastgate has said all along he won't think about the final table until he makes it. Now, he has.
Ylon Schwartz -- (12,525,000) -- A native New Yorker -- born in Manhattan and now living in Brooklyn -- Ylon Schwartz is a chess whizz and a poker player with 11 previous cashes in World Series events dating back to 2005. He's equally at home playing chess in the super-competitive games in New York's Washington Square Park, idling the time in Golden Nugget low limit ring games or tearing up the major poker tournaments in the east coast casinos of Atlantic City and Foxwoods. You can find him playing as TenthPlanet on PokerStars.
Darus Suharto -- (12,520,000) -- Darus Suharto is from Toronto, Canada. He is an accountant who loves his job so much, he would find it hard to quit, even if he won the World Series Main Event. He would like to find more time to play poker, but because he spends so much time working, most of his tournament poker experience comes from playing online. He qualified for his seat on PokerStars and has already forgotten about his modest cash from the World Series in 2006.
David “Chino” Rheem -- (10,230,000)-- David “Chino” Rheem has had a great year, taking 5th place in the $5k NL tournament in June for $93,624. The 28-year-old from Miami, Florida has enjoyed a string of tournament successes recently including five WSOP cashes in the last three years. This includes $327,981 in the 2006 $1,000 NLHE event. In the main event David was among the chip leaders each day, and rallied superbly when a series of bad hands almost eliminated him in the latter stages but bounced back to make the November Nine.
More than a thousand PokerStars qualifiers competed in this year's 39th World Series Main Event, including 45 who had paid nothing at all to get to Vegas after winning their seats in PokerStars Frequent Player Point (FPP) tournaments. The highest FPP finisher was American Doug Ashmore who turned his 4,000 FPPs into $41,816 with a 124th place finish. Other notable qualifiers included Tim Loecke, from Illinois, who made it to 24th place for $257,334. He won his seat in a $63 satellite and was playing in his first-ever live poker tournament. Online pros Chris "SLOPPYKLOD" Klodnicki came 12th for $591,869 and Owen "ocrowe" Crowe, made it to 15th place and a $463,201 payout. Both spent just $215 to win their WSOP seats via PokerStars satellite tournaments.
Team PokerStars Pros were also out in force at this year's WSOP, including former world champions Chris Moneymaker, Greg Raymer and Joe Hachem, as well as poker legends Daniel Negreanu and Barry Greenstein. Team PokerStars Pro Victor Ramdin lasted longest with a 64th place finish for $96,500. Three other Team PokerStars Pros also cashed - Hevad Khan (240th) for $35,383; Bertrand "ElkY" Grospellier (370th) for $28,950 and Vanessa Rousso (625th) for $21,230.
Kara Scott, presenter of the PokerStars.com European Poker Tour, was sponsored into the main event by PokerStars and was thrilled - in her first ever WSOP - to make 104th place for $41,816. Kirill Gerasimov from Russia and Jan Heitmann from Germany, also both backed by PokerStars, both cashed in 439th and 585th place respectively. PokerStars also sponsored celebrities such as Jason Alexander from "Seinfeld", Simpsons co-creator Sam Simon, "ER" actor Mekhi Phifer, MMA fighter Chuck Liddell, MLB greats David Wells and Orel Hershiser and Indy stock car racer Gualter Salles.
As well as their $10,000 buy-in to the main event, spending money and luxury hotel accommodation at the Palms hotel, PokerStars qualifiers also enjoyed the spectacular PokerStars WSOP party at Rain nightclub, featuring scores of celebrities, star poker players and the burlesque artist Dita Von Teese.
This feels at the same time a conclusion and delayed satisfaction. We will all leave this giant convention center tonight with a feeling that we are finished. Yet, we all know that in four short months the real contest will begin with the biggest money and fame on the line.
To close out our coverage, here's the final wrap, for now, from the PokerStars video blog team...
So, at this hour we cannnot say goodbye. We can only say goodnight and see you later. It's been yet another astounding World Series for PokerStars and the PokerStars Blog. Over the course of the next several months you can expect to see a lot more on the PokerStars Six. Until then, thanks for reading and congratulations to all the PokerStars players for their performance here at the 2008 World Series.
Be sure to check out all of our video blogs from Day 7 and before on PokerStars.tv.
If you would like to see PokerStars Blog World Series news in another language, be sure you take a look at all the other coverage on our German, Swedish, and Brazilian blogs.
Here's a look back at all the coverage from Day 7.
Those of us here at the PokerStars Blog--Brad Willis, Howard Swains, and Stephen Bartley--would like to take this last chance to publicly thank everyone who put in countless hours of work on covering the PokerStars players here at the World Series. We couldn't have done any of it without the help of Mad Harper, our statistician and all-around utility writer/researcher; Joe Giron and the entire team at Image Masters; Hass, Rury, and Jamie, the video blog team; Klaus, Robin and Alex from the PokerStars German Blog; Lina from the PokerStars Swedish Blog; Maria from the PokerStars Brazilian Blog; and Nolan Dalla from the World Series of Poker. Thanks to all of you for your dedication to the job and your efforts to champion the players from the world's number one online poker site.
Long stretches of boredom with moments of sheer terror. It’s an expression that’s been used so many times to describe all sorts of scenarios, but if the long stretches between the action in this main event have been the ‘boredom’, the last half an hour has provided the terror – at least for some of the players involved.
First PokerStars player Darus Suharto doubled up with kings over Joe Bishop’s ace-queen. It was a make or break shuffle for Darus who leapt from being the short stack to the relative safety of the main pack. Joe Bishop was then involved again, with Kelly Kim this time who held pocket eights to Joe’s 7-8. Another bad hand for Joe, culminating with a hand against PokerStars player David Rheem, which would seal Bishop’s demise.
Darus Suharto
Bishop had moved all-in with Ac3h for 2.4m which Chino called with pocket deuces. The flop was rose tinted for Bishop, making two pairs on the Ah3c5s flop. But also lurking was the straight draw for Rheem which his vocal supporters knew all too well. The Qc on the turn made Bishop walk away unable to look. He had good reason or the incredible was about to happen, a 4h on the river, making Rheem his straight and busting Bishop in 11th place.
David 'Chino' Rheem
The hand was followed by cheering and a general scrum for places on the main feature table stage where right now the remaining ten players prepare to play on into the night until one more of them is eliminated.
No more ‘boredom’, a touch of terror for sure, but mainly excitement here as the main event closes in on its finale.
There are numerous ways to measure the progression of a poker tournament, from the basic count of players eliminated, to the angle of the slouch of the average reporter on media row. The blue screens displaying time, level, blinds and payouts have kept us updated with the key stats throughout the past couple of weeks, and for the last level (level 31), the players have been ante-ing 20,000 chips.
That, in case you forgot, is the equivalent of one player's starting stack.
Yes, each compulsory ante being posted by these 11 players before every single hand is even dealt has previously represented $10,000 in cold hard cash or, in another currency, one player's broken dreams. A couple of orbits of the table without winning a pot equates to nothing short of a massacre of idealism, and yet here it barely registers a wince.
The day is now getting long and the stakes, tension and anticipation are ratcheting up by the minute. Level 32, which we have just entered, now means blinds of 80,000-160,000 and an ante of one-and-a-half splintered fantasies.
Chip leader Dennis Phillips
Six PokerStars players are keeping their dreams alive. Their names and chip counts are:
Dennis Phillips -- USA -- PokerStars player -- 23,100,000
David Rheem -- USA -- PokerStars player -- 13,800,000
Peter Eastgate -- Denmark -- PokerStars player -- 13,540,000
Ylon Schwartz -- USA -- PokerStars player -- 13,160,000
Ivan Demidov -- Russia -- PokerStars player -- 9,800,000
Darus Suharto -- Canada -- Qualifier -- 8,700,000
The pressure compounds by the day at the World Series. There's no questioning that immutable fact.
But it's different this year. Of course, making the final table in years past has meant something special, but for the most part, second through ninth places are rarely recognized with even a fraction of the spotlight as the winner. While the money has always been good, the historical significance is usually reduced into the also-ran category.
This year, it's different. The four-month final table delay virtually guarantees the final nine players celebrity like few other poker players have enjoyed. One hundred sixteen days of TV coverage, newspaper articles, and marketing will turn these guys into some of the biggest stars of the year.
Chris Klodnicki nearly got there. The poker pro and PokerStars qualifier from Vorhees, NJ has just busted out in 12th place.
Klodnicki and a wild group of friends spent the day planning for the good life. It looked as if he might enjoy it. Instead, over the course of the last several hours, his stack deteriorated to the point that he had little choice but to get his money in. It happened when he held JdTd on a AdQdQx flop. His opponent held QJ and filled up on the turn. By the turn he was drawing to one out for the gutshot Royal Flush, missed, and now is out of the 2008 World Series just a couple spots short of the final table.
Congratulations, Chris, on your $591,869 finish.
Earlier today, Klodnicki and his crew spoke to the PokerStars video blog team...
The dinner break was the last for all 14 players in this main event before they are either nearly a million dollars richer, or in the clutch of players forever referred to as nearly men. It's a cruel fate, but for five of those dining this evening, they won't necessarily be able to focus on their near half-million dollar parachute payment. Elimination now will feel as though someone has taken their soul out of their body and kicked it around the Amazon Room like soccer ball.
On the page (or screen) this is just a simile, but for PokerStars player Gert Anderson, it has recently become a reality. The players had barely been reacquainted with their chip stacks for ten minutes before all of his were heading towards fellow PokerStars player Ylon Schwartz.
Gert Anderson, pre-elimination
It was a classic raise, all-in, call tango between Schwartz and the short-stacked Dane, and Schwartz was dominant with A-K versus A-J. There were no miracles and Schwarz took another vault up the leaderboard as Anderson spiralled into the abyss.
When he crawls out, he should hold his head up high. The PokerStars player from Herning, Denmark, has done his country proud, alongside his compatriot and fellow PokerStars player Peter Eastgate. Anderson takes $463,201 for his 14th place, with Eastgate looking at that, at least, and probably much, much more.
***
PokerStars player Jason Riesenberg also knows how it feels to go deep and yet just miss the final table. Before he knew his fate -- $334,534 for 18th place -- he talked to our video bloggers about his fine run.
As each break approaches spectators are asked to leave the Amazon Room for a 20 minute spell waiting outside in the corridors before players return to their seats and they’re allowed back in. This process has got wilder over the last day or so. Security release the door latches and through them race dozens of keen, and often very fast supporters dashing for seats on the feature table. Security calls out for calm for now running and an orderly procession, but this largely falls on deaf ears.
If you’re stuck without a seat, or more likely a good standing position at either of the two tables, you’re left wandering around the back of the set listening to the announcer call the hands. It’s not much different to listening to baseball on the radio. It’s not bad but you miss the sound of wood on leather (cards on felt), the smell of hotdogs (the free peanuts at the feature table bar) and the sheer wonder of a home run (an all-in called).
But you get a good idea even if you can’t see for yourself and if the worst comes to the worst you could always get your running shoes on and start a line outside ahead of the next break.
David 'Chino' Rheem
If you’d been quicker through the door and had a perched overlooking either of the tables you would have seen PokerStars player David ‘Chino’ Rheem doubling up in spectacular crowd pleasing fashion, catching a king on the river with his K9 to beat the pocket sixes of Joe Bishop to continue an incredible run that has seen him drop down to 3.8 million before returning now to 12.4 million.
Ylon Schwartz
And over on the main table, PokerStars player Ylon Schwartz just paid out to Nicholas Sliwinski when his AJ hit an ace on the turn to crush Ylon’s pocket tens.
***
In the waning moments before the dinner break, PokerStars qualifier Owen "ocrowe" Crowe looked for a key double up. He went in with 99 against AQ. The flop, JJT, didn't kill him, but it opened up a lot of outs that could put him out. A queen fell on the turn and Crowe did not catch up on the river. He finished in 15th place for more than $463,000.
***
Still in the main event is PokerStars player Gert Andersen, who spoke to the PokerStars video blog team earlier today about his progress...
Sixteen players remain in the 2008 World Series. Those players represent four countries: The United States, Canada, Russia, and Denmark. Of the final players, two are Danes, and both are flying the PokerStars banner.
Gert Andersen of Herning, Denmark is a finance controller and seeing the the big money of a major tournament.
"It's very exciting," he said. "It's the first time I've gone this deep in such a big event. Many people are following me now. It's reallly funny."
Andersen is of the opinion that poker has plateued in his home country, but he thinks there's a good chance all of that could change.
"If we get a huge finish, it will boom again," he said during a break today.
You'll notice Andersen used the word "we." That's because just feet away from him sits Peter Eastgate, the other remaining Dane in the Series.
Eastgate has been playing poker for about three years. In his first year, he broke even.
"Then I went on a heater," he said. Since then, he has been playing as a pro cash game player.
Eastgate doesn't doubt poker's potential at home, saying, "Poker is huge in Denmark."
He is not ready, however, to talk about what a win might mean for him or the game in his country.
"I'm pretty calm about it," he said. "I'm not thinking of the final table until I make it."
He now has a better chance. A few minutes ago, Eastgate knocked out Tiffany Michelle, his set of aces besting her top-pair jack-kicker. He sits third in chips in the final level before the dinner break.
***
PokerStars player Jason Riesenberg was eliminated in 18th place, flopping three queens with his queen-eight, but finding himself trapped in the hand when Dean Hamrick turned a full house with his pocket nines. "I was trying to mix it up a little bit," Riesenberg explained, referring to his speculative pre-flop raise. "I flopped two queens and I didn't know what he had but still thought he was behind. The turn was a nine and he had pocket nines."
Hamrick shoved on the river, by which point Riesenberg was pot committed. "I'll replay it over tonight, but I'm pretty sure I had to call," Riesenberg said.
As a poker professional for just more than a year, Riesenberg intends to add his $333,534 to his bankroll and carry on playing, adding: "If there's anything my family needs, I'll take care of them."
You may already know how it is. You put in the hard work, the graft and the hours to win yourself a spot in one of poker’s most prestigious events such as the European Poker Tour. You arrive determined to do well in your first live event but soon realize that it takes more than a knack online, and that it just isn't easy to go deep to where the real action is.
It's Week 4 for the 
It only cost him $80. 
