August 2008 Archives

$100,000 and there’s no amount of money that can be spent to enter this tournament. The monthly Turbo Takedown is proof that you can make some serious money with those Frequent Player Points (FPPs). If getting the 5,000 FPPs while playing cash games and SnGs is too much, consider hitting up the many satellites to enter this tournament. The 4,000 people who cashed tonight for at least $90.00 were happy they did. Even happier are the final nine who will play for that $100,000 first prize.

Here’s how they stacked up going into final table play:

Seat 1: mement_mori 2,506,964
Seat 2: uh_oh64 2,155,690
Seat 3: tpir90036 4,713,694
Seat 4: R|P(URL 5,952,016
Seat 5: wellin.171 2,694,798
Seat 6: Atika 1,463,184
Seat 7: PanTangTyger 1,143,860
Seat 8: pokerMJ 11,790,124
Seat 9: Pikhouweel 1,689,670

Wow, first hand of the final table and blood was already being spilt. R|P(URL raised two off the button with the second biggest stack at the table for 248,000. With blinds at 50,000/100,000 ante 10,000, PanTangTyger shoved from the small blind for 1,143,860 as the chip leader pokerMJ got out of the way in the big blind. R|P(URL made the call leaving 4,758,156 behind and saw his Ah-Jd far behind the Ad-Qc for PanTangTyger. But, a solid heart flop of 4h-Jh-8h not only turned the tide in R|P(URL’s direction it left PanTangTyger with just two outs due to the flush redraw. The Ks and Kh on the turn and river gave R|P(URL the nut flush and bounce PanTangTyger quickly from the final table with $5,500.00 in ninth place.

Twenty hands later the short stack of wellin.171 went into the pot versus tpir90036. After wellin.171 opened the betting UTG for 360,000 with blinds at 50,000/100,000 ante 10,000, tpir90036 repopped from the small blind for 960,000. wellin.171 then shoved his remaining 1,684,798 which prompted a lightning quick call by tpir90036 who covered and left 2,428,896 behind. The suited big slick (Ah-Kh) for wellin.171 looked good, but the pocket kings (Kc-Ks) of tpir90036 outshone the suited slick. The board of Tc-5h-7d-4d-7s did not overcome the huge pre-flop deficit and wellin.171 will have to settle for gellin with the $10,000.00 he received in eighth place.

Three hands later when the blinds rose to 60,000/120,000 ante 12,000 the table folded around to the chip leader pokerMJ and he decided to play some big stack poker and press Pikhouweel all-in preflop. But, Pikhouweel saw thru the chip leader’s guise and made the call with his remaining 1,953,670 chips. The As-Jh for Pikhouweel was ahead of pokerMJ’s 9h-8s for the moment. A flop of Qs-9c-Td hit both players as Pikhouweel fell slightly behind with an open ended straight draw and two overcards versus pokerMJ’s pair of nines. No love came on the 5d turn or the 9d river giving pokerMJ trips and rolling Pikhouweel home in seventh place, good for $15,000.00

It’s not called the Turbo Takedown for nothing, as just four hands later our sixth place finisher was named. As with the last elimination, the hand folded around to R|P(URL still second in chips with 7,119,876 in the small blind as he raised to 360,000 with blinds still at 60,000/120,000 ante 12,000 into Atika. Only having a little over ten big blinds left, Atika shoved his remaining 1,361,184 chips into the middle and was quickly called by R|P(URL holding Ad-Qh. Atika’s attempt to re-steal with Qc-9h was exposed and the board changed nothing, running out: 5s-6s-Kd-As-9c sending Atika home to Budapest with a lot of something for nothing, $20,000 to be exact for sixth place.

For the next twenty hands only two hands saw any cards even put on the board as uh_oh64’s stack was taking hits from the fast play and increasing blinds to 70,000/140,000 ante 14,000. Facing a 320,000 UTG chip raise from mement_mori, uh-oh64 was next to act and shoved his remaining 1,608,726 chips hoping this was another hand to be decided pre-flop with Ad-Ts. pokerMJ had other plans as the chip leader woke up in the big blind and overshoved for over ten million chips. The original raiser, mement_mori didn’t want to dance and bowed out as pokerMJ flipped up pocket nines (9c-9s) for a race. The turn of 3h-3d-4h-5d gave some more life to uh_oh64 who could add any deuce to a ten or an ace as outs on the river. Sadly, the ten outer did not hit, as the 6h fell and the pocket nines of pokerMJ earned him the 3.6 million chip pot while uh_oh64 had to be consoled with the $25,000 he just won in fifth place.

Mostly pre-flop play occurred over the 90,000/180,000 ante 18,000 level and saw mement_mori surge from four million in chips to nine million. Then with four minutes remaining in the blind level he tangled with chip leader pokerMJ. pokerMJ raised from the button for 360,000 and mement_mori responded with a re-raise from the small blind to 1,250,000. tpir90036 found another things to do in the big blind and folded, while pokerMJ four-bet all-in for 9.5 million, mement_mori quickly called all-in while pokerMJ still had 561,592 behind:

pokerMJ Ts-Th
mement_mori Ah-Kd

Two big hands for the biggest pot of the tournament and big slick fell on the flop for mement_mori as the board read Ad-Ks-3s-5d-8s giving mement_mori two pair and the huge 18 million chip pot while leaving the former chip leader with scraps. Those scraps would be shipped to R|P(URL on the very next hand and pokerMJ who lead most of the final table bowed out in fourth place banking $32,500.00

Sitting between the two big stacks, tpir90036, fought valiantly like his avatar Link from the Zelda series of games. Several raises pre-flop bought another around of blinds, but his 3.7 million in chips compared to the 18 million for mement_mori and 11.5 million of R|P(URL was small and getting smaller. Blinds at 90,000/180,000 ante 18,000 tpir90036 raised from the button for 540,000 and was met by an all-in shove by mement_mori. tpir90036 made the call for his remaining 3.2 million showing Ad-9d building a pot of 7.6 million with pocket deuces (2c-2d) for the chip leader who still had 15 million behind. A huge flop of 3s-7d-6d for tpir90036 gave him the nut flush draw and two overcards for the win, but Princess Zelda’s hero did not get there as the Jh and Qc ran out the remainder of the board. tpir90036 will return to Hyrule (or Baltimore) with $40,000 extra to show in his third place effort.

Deals for the remaining prize money did not pass but a few lines of text, as heads-up play started with the bird avatars pecking for the biggest chunk of the $160,000 left:

mement_mori: 22,797,573
R|P(URL: 11,552,427

R|P(URL would pull even with mement_mori after the blinds hit 100,000/200,000 ante 20,000 and R|P(URL sniffed out a 2.5 million chip bluff by mement_mori on the river of a board showing 5s-6d-Kh-7s-4s. R|P(URL showed the eight high straight as mement_mori flashed the Jc-Tc for air and the two were virtually even in chips.

Several hands later R|P(URL took the lead 19 million to 15 million and the knockout blow came with the following hand as R|P(URL opening the betting from the button with a 600,000 chip raise. mement_mori responded with a re-raise to 1.8 million, which was topped by this Jenga building blocks of re-raises by R|P(URL for 5.4 million. A call for time was made by mement_mori who went all in for 15 million and was quickly called by R|P(URL:

R|P(URL Ah-Kd
mement_mori As-Qd

The board of 9d-6h-Th-3s-Kh gave R|P(URL a pair of kings as his preflop advantage was never questioned and R|P(URL became this month’s Turbo Takedown champion! mement_mori’s strong aggressive play bowed out as the runner-up and received $60,000 for his efforts. With no deal in place, R|P(URL received the entire $100,000

August Turbo Takedown Results

1. R|P(URL $100,000.00
2. mement_mori $60,000.00
3. tpir90036 $40,000.00
4. pokerMJ $32,500.00
5. uh_oh64 $25,000.00
6. Atika $20,000.00
7. Pikhouweel $15,000.00
8. wellin.171 $10,000.00
9. PanTangTyger $5,500.00

467 Sit and Go champions for the past month gathered today for the biggest share of the monthly Battle of the Planets giveaway. The players earned their way to the triple shootout with a $50,000 prizepool by winning a weekly race for points by playing a certain amount of SnG tourneys of ANY amount. No need to be a high roller for the shot at today’s $12,500 top prize, just manage to acquire enough points on your planet for a week and you’re in whether you are playing $3.30 SnGs or $5,000 ones!

Everyone who won their first table received $195.00; the final nine are assured $775.00. roo_400 won his table early on and has some very impressive MTT wins at the $55 level, also taking down a $215 tournament here last year good for $13,824. slip_18_ and Action Wub stretched the search for the final seat out for nearly 20 minutes past the rest of the table, and Action Wub came out on top after several all-ins by both players.

Here’s how the final table started out as all players start with the same amounts on the third leg of the triple shootout:

(click for larger display)

da itchy 84 (Steinbach)
doucheburger (Hidden Hills)
Einoeloclee (Tiel)
Mell15 (Viljandi)
natefive (Oakville)
roo_400 (Rosemere)
superbrian5 (Twickenham)
tron42 (Charlotte)
Action Wub (New Milford)

Just like last month, talks of a $4,000 split between the nine players began as soon as they were congratulated for reaching the final table. This time the talks were shut down before they really gained any ground as we continued to play towards the $12,500 first prize.

The first few blind levels saw some chip poking but true to a formula seen in the past few months for these events, the action simply shipped the smaller chips from side-to-side with no clear cut chip leader heading from 10/20 blinds to 15/30 blind levels.

At the first break tron42 started out to a small chip lead at 2,060 chips with 25/50 blinds coming up 12 minutes after the break, followed by Mell15 at 1,760 and Einoeloclee at 1,550 from the starting chip stack of 1,500.

Mid-way thru the 50/100 blinds level the final nine continue with the gnat bites at each other’s ankles with pre flop raises taking down the blinds or a quick three-bet making the original raiser duck for cover. tron42 has added to his lead chipping up to 3,305 and only Mell15 with 700 in chips felt any pressure from the increasing blinds.

Mell15’s tiny stack was the first to go from our final nine. The SpongeBob avatar could not soak up a win in a race with roo_400 for his last 500 chips. Blinds sitting at 50/100 and only five big blinds, Mell15 shoved from UTG with Ad-Qc and roo_400 got everyone else out of the way from one off the button by over-shoving for 1,775 in chips with 8h 8c. The board on the turn offered some counterfeiting outs while showing Jh-5c-Jd-9d but the 3h on the river gave the pot to roo_400. Mell15 returned to the pineapple under the sea with his newly acquired $775.00 in ninth place.

da ItchY 84 took a big blow while shoving for 1,090 in chips UTG with the blinds at 75/150. The table turbo folded as fast as Action Wub in the big blind called. As-9s for da ItchY 84 and pocket queens Qc-Qh for Action Wub. A flush draw nor an ace came on the board and da ItchY 84 was crippled with just 175 chips and facing the big blind of 150 on the next hand. Jack Straus won the World Series of Poker with his famous chip-and-a-chair and in the following two hands da Itchy 84 managed to climb back into contention by winning back-to-back all-ins and chipping up to 925 chips.

natefive saw an opening for some free chips as the table folded around to his small blind with blinds at 100/200 while holding just 1,080 after paying his blind dues. Open shoving into Einoeloclee who was sitting with 1,425 in chips. The rhino avatar woke up with some big horns and called immediately with pocket queens (Qh-Qd). Meekly natefive turned over his bluff of 8s-2h, the flop showed no love: Ks-Jh-4d but the turn gave natefive some outs with the 8c. But, no trips or deuce on the river meant natefive’s time was up in eighth place, taking home $1,200.00

The next victim of da ItchY 84’s comeback was superbrian5. With the blinds still at 100/200 da ItchY 84 shoved his suddenly relevant chip stack of 1,250 while open shoving from the button. roo_400 left his small blind, but superbrian5 called with only 690 chips after paying the big blind with pocket sevens (7s-7h). da ItchY 84’s Jd-Th was behind for exactly two seconds as the flop showed 8c-6d-Jc to give da ItchY 84 a big lead in the race. The 6h and Kc on the turn and river left the super one with nothing but air and $1,700.00 in seventh place.

Everyone at this final table is probably scratching from the da ItchY 84’s continued comeback as he collected yet another pelt. This time doucheburger found himself in desperate need of chips as the antes kicked in with blinds at 125/250 ante 25 and only holding 345 behind after paying the big blind and ante. da ItchY 84 raised to 545 UTG and folded around to doucheburger who called leaving himself 50 chips behind. On the flop of 7h-7s-4d doucheburger pushed all-in for his remaining 50 chips, and da ItchY 84 getting some decent pot odds, decided to make the call with his overpair pocket eights (8d-8s) versus doucheburger’s Qd-8c. The 5d on the turn gave doucheburger more outs to a split but the Js on the river sent the all-beef patty home in sixth place, banking $2,200.00 for his efforts.

tron42 was not knocked out by da ItchY 84, but took an exit in fifth place nonetheless. The blinds still at 125/250 antes 25, tron42 found Ad-9d UTG and shoved for 1,700 chips. Einoeloclee found a pair of ladies (Qh-Qs) right ahead of him and made the call leaving 510 chips behind. The rhino’s love for the ladies held up once again on a board of Jc-7c-5h-9s-8c and Einoeloclee finally held the chip lead with 4,485 in chips over the long time chip leader roo_400 who amassed his 4,070 in chips from steals and good flop play. The fifth place finisher, tron42, was deleted from the contest but his hard drive now contains an extra $2,735.00

roo_400’s roar was heard again moments later with blinds moving up to 150/300 ante 25 Action Wub made the call of roo_400’s push from the button while holding 1,310 in chips after putting his blinds and ante in to the middle. Action Wub’s pocket sevens (7d-7s) were well ahead of roo_400’s pocket deuces (2h-2s) but the flop of Ad-9c-2d gave roo_400 a set of deuces to put him in the lead. A 5d on the turn opened up some flush possibilities, but the Ah on the river gave the roaring lion roo_400 the chip lead with 6,280 and wubbed Action Wub out of the tourney with $3,350.00 in fourth place.

There would be no new chip-and-a-chair comeback story for da ItchY 84 this evening, as a big hand came down three handed when he open shoved from the button with 3,560 in chips with pocket jacks (Jd-Jh). roo_400 went back to his cave for this round, but Einoeloclee made the call with blinds at 150/300 ante 25 with Ad-Qc while leaving 1,100 behind. The race started poorly for the comeback kid as the flop showed Th-Ah-4c giving Einoeloclee the lead with a pair of aces. The 9s and 3h on the turn and river shipped to da ItchY 84 the $4,500.00 for third place while scratching his way up the pay scale.

The start of heads-up play saw the rhino versus the lion with the following chip counts:

Einoeloclee: 7,570
roo_400: 5,930

Heads up would last just ten hands, as roo_400 was crippled on the following hand: after roo_400 completed the small blind on the button with blinds at 150/300 ante 25, Einoeloclee checked in the big blind to see a monotone flop of 2s-Js-Qs. Check-check said the pair and the turn paired the board with the Jc and a check by Einoeloclee prompted roo_400 to bet 400 and Einoeloclee responded with a min raise to 800 which was called by roo_400. The Ts on the river completed a plethora of draws but didn’t phase Einoeloclee as he lead out for 1,800 into a pot of 4,050 and was called by roo_400 who left 1,905 behind. Jacks full of deuces for the rhino prompted a quick muck from roo_400 as he opted not to show.

The crippled roo_400 was able to survive one all-in, but the second one found himself all-in after a flop of 5s-7c-4d and his pair of fives with a gutshot draw (8c-5h) versus the flopped straight for Einoeloclee holding 8c-6d. Needing runner-runner for a boat or a six to chop the Qd and 8h did not provide and roo_400 added another big cash at PokerStars for $7,000.00 in second place.

Einoeloclee got the “lion’s share” as this month’s Battle of the Planets triple shootout freeroll champion netted $12,500! A congratulation to all that cashed, and be sure to start qualifying for next month’s competition starting today!

August Battle of the Planets Results

1. Einoeloclee (Tiel) $12,500.00
2. roo_400 (Rosemere) $7,000.00
3. da ItchY 84 (Steinebach) $4,500.00
4. Action Wub (New Milford) $3,350.00
5. tron42 (Charlotte) $2,735.00
6. doucheburger (Hidden Hills) $2,200.00
7. superbrian5 (Twickenham) $1,700.00
8. natefive (Oakville) $1,200.00
9. Mell15 (Viljandi) $775.00

By Steve Paul-Ambrose

WCOOP is coming and I'm already getting excited. I've had a month now to forget about the disappointment of the WSOP and now have another to get ready for this year's new and improved version of WCOOP, featuring a few new games and several higher buyin tournaments. The addition of the 10k NL and 25k Heads-Up should definitely make for some very tough fields and interesting final tables. And with the current size of the Pokerstars Sunday tournaments, I'm sure we'll see plenty of record-breaking fields in the smaller buy-in events.

As for myself, despite having my share of cashes the last 2 years of WCOOP, final tables, and more importantly bracelets, have eluded me. But I have high hopes for this year. I've really started to put some effort into learning the other games; playing more PLO and starting to do some stud and split games studying. Despite being a bit of a novice in the non-holdem games last year, I was able to make a couple deep runs in the relatively smaller fields and look forward to a shot at a final table this time around. I missed this year's chance at a WSOP bracelet, but a WCOOP bracelet would be a pretty nice consolation prize.

Good luck to everyone at the tables, and hopefully I'll see some of you at a WCOOP final table!

The PokerStars World Championship of Online Poker begins this Friday, September 5 at PokerStars.com. Steve Paul-Ambrose is a member of Team PokerStars Pro.

Macau is often called as the “Las Vegas of the East”, and for good reason. More gambling dollars flow through the doors of Macau’s 28 casinos (approximately USD $6 billion each year) than any other gaming destination on the planet, including Vegas.

Despite the role that the casino industry plays in both cities, the similarities between Macau and Las Vegas just about end there. Situated about 60 kilometres south-west of Hong Kong, Macau (or the Special Administrative Region of Macau as it is officially known) consists of a small portion of the Macau Peninsula plus the islands of Taipa and Coloane.

More than 500,000 people live in an area of less than 30 sq km, making Macau the most densely populated territory in the world.

Most visitors to Vegas arrive via air or across the Nevada Desert by road. In contrast, the majority of Macau’s tourists journey via high-speed ferry (or helicopter for the lucky few). The outline of the bridges that link the mainland with Taipa, the soaring Macau Tower and the remarkable lotus-flower shape of the Grand Lisboa Hotel slowly emerge from the haze to create a spectacular vista for travellers arriving via water.

Macau also provides visitors with a unique blend of Eastern and Western cultures, as it was China’s first and last European colony. Portuguese traders first settled in Macau in the 16th century and subsequently administered the region until the handover on December 20, 1999.

The Central People's Government is responsible for the Macau’s defence and foreign affairs, but Macau maintains its own legal system, police force, monetary system and culture.

The blend of east and west isn’t hard to spot. It’s there in buildings like the Portuguese influenced Real Senado (the Loyal Senate) and the 16th century A-Ma Temple, the Chinese temple from which the city’s name was taken. In restaurants and cafes, classic Chinese dishes might be finished with a Pastéis de Nata (Portuguese egg custard tart).

And there’s one other big difference between Vegas and Macau, where the desert heat is replaced by energy sapping, T-shirt sticking humidity (now we know how the athletes in Beijing felt during the 2008 Olympic Games).

In the past 12 months, Macau has started to embrace another element of Western culture: poker. In November 2007, the first No Limit Hold’em poker tournament ever played in the People’s Republic of China was held as part of the first season of the PokerStars.net Asia Pacific Poker Tour (APPT).

Given the success of that inaugural event, it’s appropriate that season two of the APPT opens at the venue that has quickly established a reputation as the hub of poker in Macau: the Grand Waldo Hotel and Casino.

The five-star Grand Waldo Hotel opened in 2006 and was the first one-stop hotel and entertainment resort in Macau. Overlooking the Pearl River, the People’s Republic of China lies not much more than a nine-iron away.

Such was the success of last year’s APPT Macau: Asian Poker Open and High Roller events, the Grand Waldo is now home to PokerStars Macau: the first live poker room to open in the world’s premier gaming locale.

Over the next 10 days, the world’s best players will return to Macau to contest two events – the HKD $25,000 buy-in Main Event and the prestigious High Roller event with a buy-in of HKD $150,000. Both events have a guaranteed prize pool of HKD $10,000,000.

Team PokerStars Pros who have arrived in recent days include 2005 WSOP champion Joe Hachem, three-time WSOP bracelet winner Barry Greenstein, 2006 Aussie Millions winner Lee “Final Table” Nelson, 2008 PCA champion Bertrand “ElkY” Grospellier, Isabelle “No Mercy” Mercier, Vanessa Rousso and Chad Brown.

Other players who can’t wait to experience poker Macanese-style include dual WSOP main event winner and 10-time bracelet winner Johnny Chan, six-time WSOP bracelet winner Men “The Master” Nguyen, his wife Van Nguyen (the first female to win an open WPT title), 2008 WPT Championship winner David Chiu and WPT Ladies Night IV victor JJ Liu.

Over the next nine days, we look forward to bringing you all the action from the biggest poker tournament ever held in Asia: the PokerStars.net APPT Macau.

If the rock singer Pink was here, she'd be singing "Get this Party Started!" The atmosphere is building in the Grand Waldo casino. The players can almost taste the anticipation in the air as they prepare their poker faces for the biggest ever poker party in Asia... Season 2 of the APPT Macau, sponsored by PokerStars.net.

Yep, everyone who's anyone and anyone who aspires to be someone in poker have descended on Macau, a city where there's so much neon that anyone who lives here and isn't a poker dealer works in the light bulb business. With even more casinos under construction, business forecasts are looking good.

Meantime, back at the Grand Waldo, there's some poker going on. The players have been warming up with some preliminary events. Today we saw the Team PokerStars Pro bounty tournament, where each of Bertrand "ElkY" Grospellier; Barry Greenstein; Hevad "RainKhan" Khan; Emad Tahtouh; Chad Brown; and Vanessa Rousso had a $5,000 bounty paid to any player who eliminated them. ElkY, the 2008 PokerStars Caribbean Adventure main event winner, championed the Team PokerStars Pro cause, with a solid effort making it to the final table of the bounty event, but still fell short, as players were much more willing to call the all-ins of bounty pros. Not to worry ElkY, you just got a bit more time to prepare for the PokerStars APPT Macau welcome party tonight...

ElkY - eyeing off an APPT title to go with his PCA championship

Let's not forget the ladies. The Ladies Event also took place today, and as a demonstration of the growth of poker's popularity in Asia, the vast majority of the competitors were of Asian descent. Some of the notable players who took part include Celina Lin, Van Nguyen (Men "The Master" Nguyen's wife), and Jeannie Hachem (Joe Hachem's wife). Although Hachem was eliminated early, both Lin and Nguyen both made it to the final table of the $1,000 buy-in event.

Day 1 of the Main Event begins tomorrow, but all the players are also looking forward to the APPT Macau welcome party tonight, at the Grand Waldo's most popular bar, the Monkey Bar. So although the "big poker dance" is tomorrow, you can bet your last tournament chip that there'll be dancing of another kind taking place this evening. Anyone who has been to a PokerStars party knows they are quality events, so if you couldn't make it this time, don't worry, as the PokerStars blog will be performing the... er... research to keep everyone informed on the APPT Macau social scene. Oh yes, there'll be some poker reported as well if you like that sort of thing.

by Adam "STUDstood" Roberts

In last week’s blog, I began covering the various necessities that you should adhere to in order to have a fighting chance to play poker professionally.

One of those items is bankroll.

To reiterate, as a budding (or even established) pro, you should have at least one full year’s expense money put aside before even thinking about attempting to play for a living.

Then, you will also need a playing bankroll. The amount you will need varies depending on the game limits you decide to play.

I feel that the smallest possible game limit you will have to compete in to give you a chance to earn enough money to support yourself (if you are good enough) will be $15/$30 online, or the live equivalent, $30/$60.
I cannot tell you which actual poker game to choose. That decision would have to be made by your ability to play the different games currently offered at the casino you play at. If you are skilled at split-pot games, I will say that playing these games online give you tremendous value, because the speed that each pot is chopped (by computer as opposed to a live dealer) allows you to play many more hands.

For our discussion today, I will use the $30/$60 limits online. I will also assume $60,000 USD for your yearly expenses – that’s the minimum you need to survive at your chosen status of living, for the purpose of this discussion.

I would say that $30,000 USD would be your minimum needed playing bankroll to try and play $30/$60 limit online poker at the professional level, in addition to the $60,000 USD that you have put aside for expenses.
To calculate your minimum bankroll, I would use a blanket 100x the minimum bet in whatever game and limit you choose to play, i.e., $100,000 for a $100/$200 limit game, and so on. Please remember that this assumes you have the skills to beat the game you are playing. No amount of bankroll is sufficient to survive long-term it you are a losing player, let alone play professionally. It’s essential that you are honest about your profit-making potential; that’s why the 2000-hour test is important before you attempt to play for a living.

To reiterate from my last blog, if you are making a commitment to try and do this, I would recommend playing at least 2000 game hours (approximately one year) in your poker game and limit of choice before making a determination whether you are skilled enough to play for a living.

If over that time you have not earned enough to pay for your expenses, you’re probably not ready to turn pro.
In the old days, articles used to be written with regards to how much you should make per hour in your game and limit of choice. It used to be a rule of thumb that a professional should earn at least one big bet per hour, i.e., $60 per hour in a $30/$60 limit game. Although this theory can be used as a guideline, the reality is that you will need to make enough money to cover your yearly expenses, whether that amount is more or less than whatever “one big bet per hour” is in the game and limit of your choice. This guideline was formulated in the pre-online world, where all games were played in casinos, at a slower pace than online.

In today’s poker world, if you work 2000 hours in a $30/$60 limit game over 2000 hours, and earn $60,000 (enough to cover your expenses) , I would still consider you a professional, even though you earned only $30 per hour.

There should also be strict money management guidelines which must be adhered to for you to have a chance at success. They too apply to all different games and limits. In my opinion, these guidelines can be even more important than actual ability as a poker player. I will cover those next week.

In the meantime, I would like to remind you that you can generally find me in either the $10/$20 or $30/$60 limit games in the Stud high, Stud 8 Hi/Lo, or Razz games on our site, as well as the $215 buy-in weekly Stud Hi/Lo tournament (with a $10k guarantee) that we offer every Saturday at 16:45 pm ET.

If you are interested in reading any of my past blogs, click HERE. If you would like to contact me further with any questions or suggestions, please do so at adamr@pokerstars.com>. Thank you.

The PokerStars European Poker Tour is giving you a chance to pick your favorite player poker on the EPT.

The first-ever EPT Awards are just a couple of weeks away in Barcelona. On September 9, the eve of the Season 5 opening event in Barcelona, some of the best players from around the world will show up and be recognized for all the work they put in during Season 4 of the European Poker Tour.

While several awards will be presented that night, one award stands out: The EPT People's Choice Award. This is your chance to recognize your favorite player's efforts. Use whatever criteria you like: the player's game, contribution to poker, entertainment value, or whatever you think is best.

If you need some help getting started, here are the Top 50 players from Season 4 of the EPT.

Ready to make your vote? Click HERE to make your choice.

For more information, visit the EPT Awards homepage.

The second season of the Asia Pacific Poker Tour is about to begin in Macau and now PokerStars has kicked off satellites for the second stop on the tour.

PokerStars is now running satellites for the APPT event in Seoul, Korea. The event runs September 26-28 at the Paradise Walker-hill Casino.

PokerStars players can win their seat in Seoul in cash and FPP qualifiers starting at $2.20 or 50 FPP credits. Seats are also available in Steps sit-and-go satellites starting at $7.50 or 500 FPP credits.

The APPT Macau prize package is worth $6,000, and includes tournament buy-in, hotel accommodation and money for expenses.

To register for an APPT satellite tournament, open the PokerStars lobby, click ‘Events’ and ‘APPT’.

For more information, visit the APPT Seoul homepage.

Well, we don't know about you, but we're exhausted. This was one big Sunday of tournament poker, and we watched a goodly portion of it.

If you missed it, we spent Sunday live-blogging the whole of both the PokerStars Sunday Warm-UpPokerStars Sunday Million. Over the course of fourteen hours, we saw a ton of good poker, not to mention a fairly large chunk of prize money getting picked up by the players.

The upshot of all if it was Supa4real won the Sunday Warm-Up and NFrost_10 took down the Sunday Million. Meanwhile, Team PokerStars Pro Andre Akkari took third place in the $109 rebuy event for more than $36,000.

A special note before we get to the results. Next week's Sunday Warm-Up is going to be extra attractive this coming Sunday. The guarantee has been bumped up at $1 million for the week and all players will have a chance to rebuy once in the first two hours.

Final table results for this weekend's events are below. Congratulations to all of this week's winners.

PokerStars Sunday Million Final Table Results
Based on finishing order and two-way deal

1. NFrost_10 (United States) $170,900.91
2. es_dame (Denmark) $140,900.91
3. karelli (Poland) $84,638.40
4. Duffs#1fan (United States) $69,524.40
5. SonnyInMtl (Canada) $54,410.40
6. lecharentais (Poland) $39,296.40
7. kidkanada99 (Canada) $26,449.50
8. hidden1s (United States) $17,381.10
9. afiopeneyes2 (United States) $10,579.80

PokerStars Sunday Warm-Up Final Table Results

1. Supa4real (Netherlands) $101,250.00
2. goodvibe1 (Germany) $71,250.00
3. Dudelinio (Germany) $48,750.00
4. tallgeir (Norway) $38,625.00
5. vanky (Netherlands) $30,750.00
6. lordhuttyx (United States) $23,250.00
7. RuudGullit (Denmark) $15,750.00
8. EDWARDHOPPER (Denmark) $9,750.00
9. GB2005 (United States) $6,750.00

PokerStars Sunday Two Hundred Grand Final Table Results

1. Crisper (Argentina) $22,566.01
2. pete royal (Germany) $15,796.21
3. Jukeboksi (Finland) $11,283.01
4. le copeau (France) $9,026.41
5. jwvdbrenk (Netherlands) $6,769.81
6. Ragaboo (United States) $4,513.21
7. KingKaiserK (United Kingdom) $3,384.91
8. pioumatmou (France) $2,256.61
9. Racing CdeM (Uruguay) $1,692.46

PokerStars $215 Weekly PL Omaha Final Table Results

1. mozitas (Uruguay) $5,565.10
2. dj_ponytale (Norway) $3,737.00
3. Pokers uheld (Denmark) $2,828.00
4. Grande Joe (Italy) $1,919.00
5. AmazingErvin (United States) $1,414.00
6. Nylez-bluf (Netherlands) $1,060.50
7. AJKHoosier1 (United States) $858.50
8. zezao27 (Brazil) $757.50
9. SCAINS2 (Germany) $606.00

PokerStars $215 Weekly Stud Hi/Lo Final Table Results

1. The Omaholic (United States) $3,360.00
2. gaffel (Norway) $2,240.00
3. stefong (United States) $1,568.00
4. fabsoul (France) $1,120.00
5. wineguytx (United States) $896.00
6. ronpraha (United States) $784.00
7. HelloImNew (United States) $672.00
8. MickBt23 (United States) $560.00

PokerStars $215 FL Hold'em Final Table Results

1. stolz (United States) $6,000.00
2. monk-dogg (United States) $4,000.00
3. smoesmom (United States) $2,400.00
4. ButterflyE77 (United States) $2,000.00
5 bam013 (United States) $1,600.00
6. PokerEwok (United States) $1,300.00
7. PearlJammer (United States) $1,100.00
8. cltrn (United States) $900.00
9. maxteam (United States) $700.00

PokerStars $215 PL Omaha Hi/Lo Final Table Results
Based on finishing order and three-way deal

1. tmt326 (United States) $3,973.66
2. buckethead21 (United States) $4,327.55
3. andkrav (Russian Federation) $3,825.09
4. thret (Australia) $2,312.50 $3,936.20
5. duggins_edge (United States) $1,625.00
6 poppet29 (United States) $1,312.50
7. ronpraha (United States) $1,062.50
8. The Omaholic (United States) $875.00
9. vcehorosho (United States) $687.50

PokerStars Sunday Second Chance Final Table Results
Based on finishing order and two-way deal

1. rusostreet (United States) $51,073.75
2. Ericb09 (United States) $43,006.25
3. Smooth Ice (United States) $30,000.00
4 sunshine7718 (Canada) $22,500.00
5. Grey fox 33 (Costa Rica) $15,750.00
6. hg18l7 (United States) $12,750.00
7. jackmeplz69 (United States) $9,750.00
8. shallowcal (United States) $6,750.00
9. Zuked (Canada) $4,200.00

PokerStars $215 HORSE Final Table Results

1. sagwise (United States) $12,500.00
2. thret (Australia) $7,950.00
3. bhnndt (United States) $5,625.00
4. jandave (United States) $4,000.00
5. tarcards (United States) $3,100.00
6 ZHOAG (United States) $2,250.00
7. Siren (United States) $1,725.00
8. djLongtime (United States) $1,250.00

PokerStars $215 FL Omaha Hi/Lo Final Table Results
Based on finishing order and two-way deal

1. My Brim Low (United States) $5,967.00
2. Mormak (United States) $5,967.00
3. shaundeeb (United States) $3,717.90
4 TurnRiva (Australia) $2,754.00
5. mmzzqq (United States) $1,836.00
6. emptyseat88 (United States) $1,530.00
7. MrCasino (United States) $1,224.00
8. joe_5741 (United States) $918.00
9. charder30 (United States) $765.00

PokerStars $215+R NLHE Final Table Results

1. Roothlus (United States) $51,250.00
2. exposabre (Canada) $37,500.00
3. Sooners (United States) $28,250.00
4. Believer82 (United States) $21,250.00
5. All_in_at420 (United States) $14,750.00
6. djk123 (United States) $11,250.00
7. sacker (United States) $8,750.00
8. chipitmyway (United States) $6,250.00
9. ComeOnPhish (United States) $4,375.00

PokerStars $530 NL Hold'em Final Table Results

1. Waters81 (United States) $91,250.00
2. C.K. (Brazil) $66,450.00
3. ale3560 (Brazil) $50,000.00
4. BOKPOWER (Netherlands) $37,500.00
5. djalminha (Spain) $26,250.00
6. CKOTUHA (Russian Federation) $21,250.00
7. respect82 (Netherlands) $16,250.00
8. THE__D__RY (United States) $11,250.00
9. xuongxx (United States) $7,000.00

PokerStars $55 Daily Eighty Grand Sunday Special Final Table Results

1. Horst Heftig (Germany) $24,421.50
2. TheBigRaiser (Italy) $17,185.50
3. p W î (United States) $11,758.50
4. sexymelva (United States) $9,316.35
5. deborahk (Spain) $7,416.90
6. boul_quake (France) $5,607.90
7. jeffbeesdat (United States) $3,798.90
8. JackAdi (France) $2,351.70
9. Ko-C (Netherlands) $1,628.10

PokerStars $109+R NL Hold'em Final Table Results

1. TheNew (United States) $67,617.50
2. DaPokerGun (Slovenia) $48,977.00
3. aakkari (Brazil) $36,550.00
4. tiger76 (United States) $27,412.50
5. tr0nni (Norway) $19,188.75
6. JaySick88 (United States) $15,533.75
7. bigboybunk (United States) $11,878.75
8. puffinmypurp (United States) $8,223.75
9. TrueblueStar (United States) $5,117.00

PokerStars Sunday $5,200 Freezeout Results
Based on finishing order and two-way deal

1. Andy McLEOD (Australia) $42,000.00
2. HouseeLover (Sweden) $38,000.00

It’s one of those things you’ve just come to expect in life. Birds gonna fly, fish gonna swim, dogs gonna bark, and PokerStars gonna beat the guarantee in the Sunday Million. With a symmetrical 7,557 players in the field, the prize pool for the biggest weekly tournament in poker was an incredible $1,511,400.00. The top 1,080 players got a piece of the pie, but nobody’s slice was bigger than NFrost_10, who took down $170,900.91 for first place after a deal that left $30,000 to play for when the field thinned from thousands down to just two. With just a couple of weeks before the WCOOP, PokerStars unveiled the new live blogging feature for this week's Sunday Million.

If one person in a poker tournament is ecstatic, 7,556 are less so. One of the less happy was final table bubble boy Roolender, who put on a display of ruthless aggression on the final table bubble that was impressive to watch. His chip stack went up and down like a roller coaster, but he finally found himself all in with Kc-Qc to Duffs#1fan’s Ad-10d. Duffs#1fan hit an ace on the 4d-5h-Ah flop, and Roolender was drawing thin. No help on the turn or river, and Roolender finished in 10th place for $7,557.00. That hand gave Duffs#1fan the chip lead going into the final table, but es_dame and NFrost_10 were close behind.

Afiopeneyes2 started the final table on the shortest of short stacks, and wasted no time moving all in preflop with Kd-Qc. NFrost_10 made the call with Ad-3d, and sent afiopeneyes2 to the rail when the board ran out 4s-6d-5s-6h-5d. Afiopeneyes2 picked up $10,579.80 for 9th place. That hand put NFrost_10 solidly in third place on the leader board, within striking distance of the chip leaders.

Shortly after kidkanada99 was crippled, SonnyInMtl moved all in preflop with Ah-Kh. Hidden1s called with Ac-Js, and several bigger stacks went into the tank weighing the option of busting two players. Finally the big stacks got out of the way, and it was heads-up to the 9c-7h-5c flop. No help on the Ad turn or the 6d river for hidden1s, and SonnyInMtl dragged the pot as hidden1s picked up $17,381.10 for 8th place.

The micro-stacked kidkanada99 was all in after calling the big blind on the very next hand, and found two opponents as es_dame completed the small blind and Duffs#1fan checked the big blind. The two chip leaders checked it down to the river as the board ran out 10d-3c-4s-10h-2s. Es_dame showed Kd-Jc, and both opponents mucked as kidkanada99 was eliminated in 7th place for $26,449.50.

Lecharentais held on for a few minutes after kidkanada99 busted, but eventually headed to the rail in 6th place ($39,296.40). After moving in several times preflop and picking up the blinds and antes, lecharentais found a caller in karelli, who picked up Kc-10c in late position and made the call. Lecharentais tabled 8h-6h, and karelli’s king kicker was good on the board of Qs-3s-7d-5c-5d.

Es_dame reclaimed the chip lead with the next bustout, sending SonnyInMtl to the rail in 5th place. On a board of 10s-10h-6c, SonnyInMtl moved all in with Kh-Qc. Es_dame quickly called with Ks-6s for two pair, and SonnyInMtl was left looking for a king or a queen. None came as the final board read 10s-10h-6c-5s-7h, and SonnyInMtl picked up $54,410,40 for 5th place.

With chip lead in hand, es_dame next took out Duffs#1fan, who went to the rail in 4th place. On a flop of Js-3h-8s, Duffs#1fan led out. Es_dame raised with pocket threes for bottom set, and quickly called when Duffs#1fan moved all in over the top. Duffs#1fan tabled As-9s for the nut flush draw, but no spade came on the turn or river, and es_dame busted Duffs#1fan in 4th place for $69,524.40.

The final break saw es_dame in the chip lead, with karelli on a short stack -
es_dame - 39,207,518
NFrost_10 - 25,311,860
karelli - 11,050,622

It only took a few minutes after players returned from break for everything to sort out, as NFrost_10 quickly took karelli out in 3rd place. NFrost_10 raised preflop, and karelli moved all in with Ac-7s. NFrost_10 called with As-Jh. Nothing out of the ordinary happened as the board ran out 9s-5c-Jd-7h-10d, and karelli picked up $84,638.40 for 3rd place.

The players paused briefly once heads-up play began to discuss a deal, and quickly agreed on an even chop of the remaining money. Karelli’s elimination had moved NFrost_10 almost dead even with es_dame in chips, so each player took home $140,900.91, with $30,000 left to play for.

Heads-up play only took a few hands, as NFrost_10 wasted no time taking a small chip lead and exploiting it. With the tournament nearing clock nearing 3AM, all the chips went in the middle on a flop of Js-9s-7s. Es_dame showed Jc-4s for top pair with a flush redraw, while NFrost_10 tabled 9d-8s for middle pair with a better redraw. The 2s on the turn sealed the deal for NFrost_10, and the 6h on the river was irrelevant as NFrost_10 picked up a total of $170,900.91 for his Sunday Million Victory.

Congratulations to NFrost_10 and all the players who cashed in this week's Sunday Million!
The Final Table finishers and payouts looked like this after a deal between the final two players –

1) NFrost_10 - $170,900.91
2) es_dame - $140,900.91
3) karelli - $84,638.40
4) Duffs#1fan - $69,524.40
5) SonnyInMtl - $54,410.40
6) lecharentais - $39,296.40
7) kidkanada99 - $26,449.50
8) hidden1s - $17,381.10
9) afiopeneyes2 - $10,579.80

For a little fun today, we're going to live blog the PokerStars Sunday Million. Over the next eleven hours or so, Carol Kline, Johnny Kampis, Jen Newell, and John Hartness will be on hand to bring you the latest information on the Sunday Million. Have a story for us? E-mail to blog@pokerstars.com. Here's the Sunday Warm-Up Live Blog.

2:43am - NFrost_10 takes down the Sunday Million!

After making a deal which left $30,000 on the table, NFrost_10 wasted no time in claiming the chip lead from es_dame. After jockeying for position for a few hands, all the chips went in the middle on a flop of Js-9s-7s. Es_dame showed Jc-4s for top pair with a flush redraw, while NFrost_10 tabled 9d-8s for middle pair with a better redraw. The 2s on the turn sealed the deal for NFrost_10, and the 6h on the river was irrelevant as NFrost_10 picked up a total of $170,900.91 for his Sunday Million Victory. Congratulations to NFrost_10 and all the players who cashed in this week's Sunday Million!

Check back here soon for the recap of all the final table action.

2:40 am - Let's Make a Deal!

With chip stacks nearly equal, the two remaining players agreed to an even chop of first and second-place money. With $30k left in the middle for the eventual winner, es_dame and NFrost_10 each claimed $140,900.91 for their tournament. $30,000 is not peanuts, so the players played on.

2:35am - karelli out in 3rd, discussions of a deal break out

NFrost_10 raised preflop, karelli reraised all-in with Ac-7s, and NFrost_10 called with As-Jh.
The board came out 9s-5c-Jd-7h-10d, and it was over for karelli in 3rd place for $84,638.40. Once play got down to heads-up, the tournament was paused while the players discussed a deal.

2:30am - Players on break - es_dame in chip lead with 3 to go

With only three players remaining, es_dame has a significant chip lead, with nearly 40 million in chips. The stacks for the remaining three players are -

es_dame - 39,207,518
NFrost_10 - 25,311,860
karelli - 11,050,622

2:26am - es_dame back in the lead, Duffs#1fan headed home in 4th place

After busting SonnyInMtl in 5th place, es_dame took back over the chip lead and set his sights firmly on first place. His next victim was Duffs#1fan, who got the last of his chips in the middle with the nut flush draw on a board of Js-3h-8s. Duffs#1fan led out at the flop, es_dame rasied, Duffs#1fan moved all in over the top with As-9s, and es_dame called with pocket threes for bottom set. No spade on the turn or river for Duffs#1fan, and he finished in 4th place for a $69,524.40 payday.

2:21am - SonnyInMtl heads home in 5th, es_dame reclaims the chip lead

SonnyInMtl shoved the last of his chips in the middle with Kh-Qc on a flop of 10s-10h-6c. Es_dame made the call with Ks-6s, a nightmare hand for SonnyInMtl. Looking for a king or a queen, SonnyInMtl found only the 5s-7h on the turn and river, and was eliminated in 5th place, good for $54,410.40.

2:17am - lecharentais busted in 6th place

On a short stack for much of the final table, lecharentais moved all-in preflop time with 8h-6h. Karelli called with Kc-10c, and the board came Qs-3s-7d-5c-5d. Karelli's king kicker was good, and lecharentais was out in 6th place, taking home $39,296.40.

2:14am - The chip lead, they are a'changing.

Duffs#1fan took the chip lead into the final table, but a big elimination by es_dame vaulted him into the chip lead for a few hands. Then NFrost_10 took over the chip lead by moving in over the top of Duffs#1fan's preflop raises. The top three spots on the leader board stayed close as the players all made their moves at the $185,902.20 first place money.

2:08am - And then there were six - kidkanada99 busted in 7th

On the short stack, kidkanada99 went to the rail in 7th when he tangled with es_dame and Duffs#1fan. Kidkanada99 was all in after calling the big blind, and es_dame completed the small blind with Kd-Jc. Duffs#1fan checked the big blind, and the two chip leaders checked down the board of 10d-3c-4s-10h-2s. Es_dame's K-J was good, and kidkanada99 was frozen out in 7th place for $26,449.50.

2:04am - hidden1s out in 8th

SonnyInMtl pushed all-in preflop, and hidden1s called. Several players went into their time bank before folding, but it was heads-up to the flop. SonnyInMtl had Ah-Kh, and hidden1s showed Ac-Js. The board came 9c-7h-5c-Ad-6d, and hidden1s was out in 8th for $17,381.10.

1:57am - afiopeneyes2 busted in 9th place

The short stack to start the final table, afiopeneyes2 wasted no time getting the last if his chips in the middle with Kd-Qc. NFrost_10 made the call with Ad-3d, and the board ran out 4s-6d-5s-6h-5d. NFrost_10's kicker played, and afiopeneyes2 was the first casualty of the final table, finishing in 9h place for $10,579.80. NFrost_10 moved solidly into third place with that hand, closing the gap between himself and the chip leaders.

1:54am - Roolender's tournament ends and the final table is set

On the final table bubble, es_dame held a slight lead over NFrost_10, but the bubble wasn't to last long. After just a couple of hands of hand-for-hand play, Roolender all-in with K-Q of clubs versus A-10 of diamonds of Duffs#1fan. The board came 4d-5h-Ah-3c-9c, and it was over for Roolender in 10th place for $7557.00. Duffs#1fan took over the chip lead as the final table began, holding a slim lead over es_dame and NFrost_10.

1:50am - The Final Table draws ever nearer

As the remaining players sniff the final table and the big paydays that await there, the play tightens up with lots of all-in moves preflop, but very few calls. In one hand that bucked the trend, SonnyInMtl doubled through lacharentis with pocket nines against lecharentis' 7-6. Then all heck broke loose and we went from 12 players down to 10 in the blink of an eye. Or two hands, but some people blink slowly.

First off, VegaNevada moved the last of his chips in the middle with Ac-Qh, running into Duffs#1fan holding pocket Jacks. The Jacks held up, and VegaNevada was done in 12th place, good for a $7,557.00 payday. Then FatHeadMF went all-in with Ks-Jc and met with Ad-Js. The virtual dealer gave them Ac-4s-Qc-6h-9d, and it was all over for FatHeadMF in 11th place.

1:42am - afiopeneyes doubles up

afiopeneyes2 finally pushed 1,871,300 into the middle with As-10c and was called by SonnyInMtl who had pocket queens. The board showed Ks-3s-Ah-Ac-3d, and afiopeneyes2 doubled up. Roolender, who had lost a significant number of chips since moving into second place, doubled through VegaNevada when Roolender's pocket sixes held up against VegaNevada's A-Q. No help on the board for VegaNevada, and Roolender moved back into second place behind es_dame.

1:35am - Roolender making a move up the leader board

afiopeneyes2 doubled through es_dame with A-10 versus pocket fives when a 10 came on the flop. The board of 3c-10h-3d-8h-6c didn't help, and es_dame lost some chips. in a pot of nearly 5 million. While that was happening, Roolender became the second player to cross the 10 million chip mark, moving into second place.

1:29am - fast action after the break

Just after the break, Outfielder71 moved all-in with Ah-Js against the pocket eights of karelli. The board gave nothing to the shorter stack when it came 10d-2s-Kh-Kc-7d. Outfielder71 was forced to accept 15th place and $5,289.90 for it.

Maggie32198 fell just seconds later when Roolender's pocket Queens held up against maggie32198's Ad-Qd on a board of Kh-4d-6d-7s-9s. Maggie32198 had to settle for close but no cigar on the final table, finishing in 15th. At almost the same moment, uchi14 headed to the rail in 14th for $5,289.90

1:25am - Slower play but accelerated attempts to catch chip leader

After taking out several players in the last hour, kidkanada99 has moved into second place in the chip counts, within striking distance of es_dame's big stack.

At the same time, a short-stacked waltby made a stand from early position with pocket fives, and FatHeadMF made the call from the big blind with Ac-9h. The flop of As-Jc-Kd left waltby drawing thin, but the Qh on the turn added a few additional outs to a chop. The 7c on the river wasn't one of them, and waltby was eliminated in 16th place for $3,778,50.

With the next money jump of just over $1,500 kicking in, play slowed a bit and players went on a 5-minute break.

1:15am - Commanding chip lead held by es_dame with over 10 million in chips

With two tables remaining, it was clearly es_dame in the lead, but NFrost_10 and VegaNevada were both making a serious attempt to catch up.

Speaking of chip leaders, the chip leader coming into this level is the first casualty of these final two tables. Moving all-in on a steal attempt with Ks-3s preflop. Kidkanada99 limped in with pocket sixes and called ahhhhhsht's raise. The board ran out Qh-4d-3c-7d-4s, and kidkanada99 moved one step closer to the final table, while ahhhhhsht took 18th place and a $3,778.50 cash.

es_dame was not to be outdone in the elimination game, taking out laafii just seconds later. laafii moved all-in from the big blind with pocket threes after es_dame raised from the button. es_dame quickly called with Ad-Js and hit an ace on the flop to send laafii home in 17th place with $3,778.50.

12:55am - Final 23 players trying to catch es_dame

One player who will no longer be in that hunt is panchita69, who moved all-in over the top of northerngent's preflop raise with Ac-Jd, only to find SonnyInMtl holding pocket aces in the small blind. Nothing unexpected happened, and panchita69 was done in 23rd for a $3,022.80 prize.

The next to fall in a flurry of bustouts was puffinmypurp when he moved all-in over the top of afiopeneyes2 with Qh-9h. afiopeneyes2 tabled pocket sevens, and the board ran out 8s-2h-Ks-6d-3c. puffinmypurp was done in 22nd place.

Nuscas left the party next when he and kidkanada99 tangled for a final time. Nuscas open-shoved preflop with pocket sixes, and kidkanada99 made the call with Ac-Qh. The ace on the flop made things tough on Nuscas, and the running broadway cards made a straight for kidkanada99 and left Nuscas out in 21st.

northerngent was next to get in on the action, moving all-in with Ah-Kh and finding himself in a classic race against VegaNevada who held pocket jacks. The flop of 5d-7s-9h was no help to either player, but the Jh on the turn not only gave VegaNevada a set but gave northerngent a flush draw. The 7h on the river was a heart northerngent did not want to see, as it gave him the flush but filled up VegaNevada. northerngent went to the rail in 20th place.

And all the while, chip leader es_dame stays out front, claiming more chips for his growing virtual stacks when his As-Kh held up against pokrjoker78's Ah-Jd on a board of 5d-Qd-Qs-8h-3h. pokerjoker78's elimination in 19th sent the remaining players to the final two tables, while pokrjoker78 picked up $3,022.80, just before the next pay jump.

12:40am - Down to 3 tables, final table inches closer

The chip leader of only a few minutes ago, ahhhhhsht took a hit in a pot with karelli when pocket deuces lost a coinflip to karelli's Kc-Js.

Aceupmyslv7 went to the rail in 27th place when VegaNevada had not only an Ace but a six up his sleeve. All the money went in on the 2h-3s-6s flop and Aceupmyslv7's 5c-7d couldn't catch the four for the straight as VegaNevada had top pair, top kicker and improved to two pair on the river. Aceupmyslv7 picked up $3,022.80 for his finish.

Next to fall was highfloor33, who was the micro-stack as the hand began and whose 10s-6s was no good against NFrost_10's Ac-3s. After picking up a pair of sixes on the turn, it was NFrost_10 who made top pair and kept it to win the hand. highfloor33 finished in 26th place.

On table 430, es_dame continued the run and broke the 10 million chip mark, a 6 million chip lead over the nearest competitor.

Raynee headed to the rail in 25th place when his QhQs was cracked by NFrost_10's pocket eights on a board of 8c-3s-10h-2d-7s. The two-outer sent Raynee to the rail in 25th place.

Shortly thereafter, waltby won a coin flip in decisive fashion when he called IveGotToejam's all in preflop with pocket tens to IveGotToejam's Ah-Jh. A ten on the flop and another on the river made for a decisive exit for IveGotToejam, who got $3,022.80 for 24th place. (He can now attend to that toejam problem.)

12:25am - ahhhhhsht returns from break with chip lead

Coming back from break, there has been no shortage of action. A new table for ashhhhhsht, but the chip lead remains his to defend.

TeamSwindler was the first player to go after the break when his As-Qd went all in preflop against Duffs#1fan, who had pocket 9's. The board came 2c-3s-10s-7s-Jd, and TeamSwindler was eliminated in 35th place.

As play is fast and furious at the last four tables, es_dame moved up the chip ladder when a set of Aces flopped to bust Jesper_H. es_dame now sits in second place behind ahhhhhsht.

12:11am--Roolender ruling Table 2

Roolender eliminated another player at Table 2 after flopping trips with As-6s against the Ah-7h of Bjolle. After collecting 1.38 million from the pot, Roolender climbed to second on the leaderboard.

12:05am--His game is not in the crapper

Ahhhhhsht has flushed away several opponents at his table and is now our chipleader with 4.88 million. Forty-five players remain.

11:55pm--Roolender eliminates one player and cripples another

Action at Table 2 seems to have been fast and furious of late. The following three players were all-in pre-flop in this hand (chip counts are after blinds and antes): Sumpas (738,289 in chips), Roolender (1,039,722 in chips) and HitUR2outer (1,400,597 in chips). Roolender's Ah-Qd was behind HitUR2outer's Ad-Kh pre-flop, but both Roolender and Sumpas flopped a queen. Roolener's ace kicker was better than Sumpas' 9 kicker, and Roolender took down the 2.3 million chip pot. Sumpas was eliminated on the hand, and HitUR2outer dropped to 361K.

11:51pm--Who will we make jokes about now?

G Depardieu’s run has sadly ended. Grinded down to 367K, G Depardieu pushed all in with A-7, but ran into A-J. He finished in 59th place.

11:48pm--900K three-way pot won with nut no pair

SnowwwMan, who was sitting toward the top of the leaderboard with 2.4 million in chips, raised to 158K. Otto Doctor re-raised to 343K all-in, drifto88 called the all-in for less and SnowwwMan called as well. It was Ad-Qh for Otto Doctor, As-Jh for SnowwwMan and Ac-8c for drifto88. The board ran out 7h-9s-5c-7c-Kd, and Otto Doctor's nut no pair was best.

11:34pm--Manine in top three

Manine moved up the charts by winning a more than 2 million pot against former top ten chipholder CONI2AD. Manine’s jacks held up against the A-K of his opponent and Manine now has 2.35 million in chips.

11:32pm--HitUR2outer hits two big pots in a row; misses third

In the first hand, HitUR2outer's Ks-Qs was up against the Ad-Qc of crazy_teeth after HitUR2outer open shoved pre-flop. The flop was Kd-4s-As, giving HitUR2outer second pair and the nut flush draw. The 3h on the turn was no help, but the 3s on the river gave HitUR2outer the winning hand and the million chip pot.

Then, HitUR2outer raised to 100,771 pre-flop. GARFIELD25 raised to 921,034 all-in and HitUR2outer called. GARFIELD25 needed significant help, as his Ad-Jc was against HitUR2outer's As-Qh. Neither player improved, and HitUR2outer skyrocketed to 2.6 million in chips.

A few hands later, HitUR2outer got it all-in pre-flop against Roolender. HitUR2outer's 7h-7c was behind the Td-Tc of Roolender. The board ran out 6c-4s-4h-4d-5s, and HitUR2outer dropped back down to 834K.

11:24pm--Roolender finds another snowman

After getting it all-in pre-flop against WufflerL, Roolender found himself behind with Ac-8s against Kd-Kh. The flop was 7h-6d-8d, putting WufflerL in good position to double up, but the river 8c sent WufflerL to the rail. Roolender moved into the top ten on the leaderboard with 1.4 million in chips.

11:21pm--Pokrjokr78 takes chip lead

Pokrjokr78 is now up to 2.1 million after his pocket jacks held up against Skintz’s pocket tens.

11:20pm--Another pay jump

With only 88 players remaining, each is guaranteed at least $2,115.96 for his or her efforts.

11:10pm--Top ten chip leaders after the sixth hour; 98 players remain

Level 25
Blinds 20,000/40,000, antes 4,000
Average chip count: 771,122
Players remaining: 98
First Prize: $185,902.20

1. G Depardieu 2,079,393
2. Sumpas 1,929,720
3. puffinmypurp 1,867,042
4. CONI2AD 1,768,249
5. Songuku 1,740,844
6. oscartotti 1,734,434
7. mesc4u 1,645,016
8. uchi14 1,560,710
9. pokrjokr78 1,534,466
10. juliotexas1 1,497,480

11:04pm--Kevin “BeLOWaBOVe” Saul eliminated

Saul couldn’t win a coin flip and is gone from the Sunday Million. Rasmus73 raised to 75,000 and Saul pushed the rest of his 237,500 into the pot. Rasmus73 called and it was his Ad-Ks versus Saul’s Jh-Jd. The board came 7d-4h-Kh-Ac-8s and Saul finished in 123rd place.

10:58pm--And the Academy Award goes to…

We have a new chipleader and his screename is G Depardieu. In a key hand several players limped. After a flop of 2h-Jc-Qd, G Depardieu bet 55K and bukithepro raised to 461K after others got out of the way. G Depardieu called and showed Tc-9s for the open-ended straight draw while bukithepro showed 2s-2d for a set of deuces. Luck was on G Depardieu’s side when he hit the Ks on the turn. The river did not pair the board and G Depardieu was up to 2 million in chips.

10:45pm--Don’t count out Cyrano

After being on life support recently, G Depardieu is back in the top 10 in chips with 1.16 million.

10:41pm—SonnyInMtl rides tens to chip lead

In a pivotal hand, SonnyInMtl raised to 40K and former chipleader Frytki re-raised to 111K. SonnyInMtl called. The flop came 6h-6s-8s and SonnyInMtl led out for 140K. Frytki raised to 460K and SonnyInMtl pushed all in for 193K more. After Frytki called his hand was revealed to be Kh-As while SonnyInMtl was ahead with Td-Th. The turn was the 7h and the river wasTs making a full house for SonnyInMtl, who was up to 1.8 million after the hand. Frytki dropped to 494K.

10:40pm--Bigpulp pummeling the table

Bigpulp has crept into second place on the leaderboard after winning two big pots in short succession. In the first hand, Bigpulp rivered Broadway against the flopped top pair top kicker of GRINDER-HFX for an 852K pot. Three hands later, Bigpulp took down a 387K pot when he re-raised patricklaw after a flop of Ah-2c-8d.

10:23pm--Songuku and asher tangle in two pots

After calling Songuku's pre-flop raise to 45K, asher check-called another 45K after the flop brought 6h-Tc-8c. After the Th on the turn, asher check-raised Songuku's 75K bet to 150K. Songuku made the call. Both players checked after the Qc fell on the river. Asher showed 2c-2h, and Songuku mucked. After starting the level with 1.1 million in chips, Songuku dropped to 725K.

Two hands later, Songuku took down a 464K pot against asher. Both asher and mass.mike called the 45K pre-flop raise from Songuku. The flop was 6c-6d-2h. Songuku bet 60K, asher called and mass.mike folded. Both players checked the turn (8d). Songuku fired another 90K on the river (4s) and asher called again. Songuku showed Qh-Qs and asher mucked. Songuku got back to 990K after the hand.

10:19pm--Kevin "BeLOWaBOVe" Saul moving up the leaderboard

Saul is making nice progress as the tournament winds down below 215 players. In one hand, bapvegas raised to 30K and Saul called on the button. After a flop of Ts-8h-2h bapvegas checked and Saul bet 32,461. Bapvegas check-raised to 90K and Saul pushed. Bapvegas folded and Saul is up to 743K.

10:11pm--Top ten chip leaders after the fifth hour; 245 players remain

1. Frytki 1,488,020
2. Songuku 1,129,381
3. poquer1 1,055,001
4. tassen1 847,095
5. uchi14 846,877
6. chekdstak 778,874
7. superbeuk 736,157
8. Duffs#1fan 724,624
9. kipa58 698,780
10. waltby 674,288

10:08pm--Frytki takes big chip lead

Two chipleaders just tangled and Frytki came out the beneficiary of the exchange. In the hand Frytki raised to 28K and Don Laeso re-raised to 48K. Frytki called. After a flop of 9d-Jc-3s, Frytki bet 60K and Don Laeso raised the minimum. Frytki then re-raised to 288K and Don Laeso called. The turn was the 5h and Frytki led for 215K, which caused Don Laeso to tank and fold. After the hand Frytki was up to 1.43 million in chips and Don Laeso dropped to 485K.

10:02pm--Duffs#1fan is not oscartotti

After flirting with the million chip mark, oscartotti suffered a minor set-back when his 9c-9d was bested by the Jc-8d of Duffs#1fan. Oscartotti raised pre-flop to 36K, Duffs#1fan re-raised to 90K and oscartotti called. Duffs#1fan pushed all-in on a flop of 3c-5c-8c. Oscartotti's pair of 9s was best, but Duffs#1fan had a better flush draw. The 2c came on the turn, giving Duffs#1fan the J-high flush and the 725K pot. Oscartotti dropped to 633K in chips after the hand.

9:51pm--First to reach a million

Frykti and poquer1 are the first players to hit the million chip mark. Frykti currently has 1,066,421, and poquer1 has 1,048,401.

9:46pm--Noted online pro on the rise

Kevin "BeLOWaBOVe" Saul is moving up on the field. He just won a nice pot to get to 484K in chips, putting him in the top 30.

9:45pm--Over the four figure mark

We’re now under 325 players, meaning all remaining participants will receive at least $1,057.98.

9:35pm--G Depardieu takes a big loss

G Depardieu lost about a third of his stack to superbeuk when the latter showed Ac-Kh after a board of Qd-Kd-9h-7d-4h and the former mucked. G Depardieu is now down to 600K and superbuek is up to 790K.

9:30pm--Poquer1 makes a stab at Nuscas

At the start of the hand, Nuscas had a top-five chip-stack of 630,227. Poquer1 raised to 16,000 and called Nuscas' re-raise to 56,000. After the 2s-9d-2h flop, Nuscas bet 144,000 which was enough to put poquer1 all-in. Poquer1 made the call and showed As-9s for top pair top kicker. Nuscas showed Ah-Kh. The turn was the Qh, giving Nuscas a flush draw, but the river bricked out. Nuscas dropped to 483,540 in chips after the hand.

9:19pm--G Depardieu doesn’t need green card to capture chip lead

Our favorite Frenchman just won two big pots to take over the leaderboard. First, he slowplayed a full house to perfection. In that hand, G Depardieu called a raise to double his big blind from compris after powerscr also called. After a flop of 2c-2h-Kc all three players checked. G Depardieu led out for 6K after the 9d hit the turn and both opponents called. The river brought the Ah and G Depardieu led out for 6K again. Compris folded and powerscr raised to 30K. G Depardieu re-raised to 54K, enough to put powerscr all-in. The hands shown were 2d-Ks for G Depardieu and Qs-As for powerscr.

On the second hand, G Depardieu called a re-raise all-in from compris, who held Kc-6c. G Depardieu tabled Ad-9s and the board did not help compris. G Depardieu is now up to 936K.

9:09pm--Kipa58 takes a 100K hit

Just back from the break, kipa58 lost a race with 8-8 when BrandonPL hit an ace on the flop. BrandonPL started the hand with 99,819 in chips and re-raised all-in after kipa58 raised to 18,000 pre-flop. Kipa58 has now dropped out of the top ten on the leaderboard.

9:00pm--Top ten chip leaders after four hours; 579 remain

1. greenrizla 578,641
2. kipa58 571,554
3. G Depardieu 528,117
4. drifto88 500,591
5. _PAVO BARIC_ 491,056
6. toetagU 483,112
7. callmejimmy 473,532
8. Nuscas 433,588
9. Frytki 431,646
10. eatyourstac 423,748

8:59pm--Greenrizla joins the 500K club

Greenrizla raised pre-flop to 13,500 from the hijack position, Cryp2Nite re-raised all in to 35,886 from the small blind and greenrizla made the call. Cryp2Nite’s 5d-5h could not stay ahead of Greenrizla's Kd-Jh when the flop came 2c-9h-Js. Greenrizla scooped an 81K pot and moved into the chip lead with 578,641.

8:53pm--My hero, the poker player

Could we have a famous actor in our midst? G Depardieu is now second in chips with 538K.

8:45pm--Three players over 500K; 134198 not one of them

The top three in chips now are kipa58 at 541K, drifto88 at 531K and callmejimmy at 508K. 134198 had a rough stretch, including calling an all in with A-8 versus A-A and is down to 290K.

8:32pm--134198 has 546,918

134198 won another big pot when he called a 69K all-in bet from Ut Prosim. Ut Prosim held 8c-Tc and 134198 had Ac-5s. The board ran off Jh-6s-2s-9h-6c and our chipleader now has almost 550K.

8:21pm--The bubble has burst

The bubble recently burst. All remaining players are guaranteed $302.28.

8:20pm--Superbeuk moves into the top three

Superbeuk has joined 134198 and pimplar as the only three players with over 300k in chips. Superbeuk called a 15,000 pre-flop raise from jopieono, and the two players saw a flop of 7c-Kd-Ts. Superbeuk check-raised jopieono to 78,000, which would have put jopieono all in after his initial bet of 15,000. Jopieono folded and superbeuk scooped a 67k pot.

8:18pm--134198 at it again

Perhaps seeking early parole, 134198 has taken a big chip lead after sniffing out a big bluff. On this hand, 134198 raised to 7K and JERRY called. After a flop of Th-Qh-Kh, JERRY check called 12K. Both players checked the turn of Ks, and after the river came Qs JERRY bet all in for 74K. 134198 called and JERRY showed 7d-9h for a stone-cold bluff. 134198 held 6d-Qd for queens full and took down the 190K pot. He now has 484K in chips for a 160K chiplead over pimplar.

8:12pm--134198 wins a big one

Perhaps playing from prison, 134198 wins a big pot with cowboys versus A-10 and A-8 and is now up to 386K.

8:09pm--Eliminations should start slowing down

We are down to 1,150 players, 70 from the money bubble.

8:06pm--134198 moves on up

He hasn't won many big pots recently, but 134198 has chipped up considerably by aggressive play and has increased his stack from 227,589 at the break to 340,123 now, giving him a nearly 40K chip lead at the moment.

7:57pm-- Hols_think sniffs out bluff

Murdoc.73 limped in middle position and called Hols_think’s raise to 7,500. On a flop of 6h-Ad-5s, Hols_think led out for 7,500 after Murdoc.73’s check and called Murdoc.73’s check-raise to 17,500. Both players checked the turn and the river. Hols_think flopped top pair with As-Jc, which bested Murdoc.73’s Qd-Jd. Hols_think finished the hand with 240,979 in chips, which solidifies this player’s position in the top ten.

7:52pm--Top ten chip counts at end of hour number three; 1,338 remain

1. callmejimmy 282,511
2. 134198 227,589
3. Denis1180 225,380
4. afiopeneyes2 224,833
5. HooBangin 218,954
6. kipa58 210,879
7. Hols_think 210,497
8. annekechillo 199,274
9. Mr_BigQueso 195,998
10. Bayesian 194,989

7:46pm-- Larry Bird can’t beat King Kong

At least not in poker. Pe-T raised in middle position to 4,999, Isabelle Mercier re-raised all in to 28,050 and Pe-T made the call. It was Ks-Kc for Pe-T against Mercier’s 3h-3d. The board of Tc-Kd-Ac-7s-Jc was of no help for Mercier, and she was eliminated in 1,363th place.

7:44pm--Pimplar down, kipa58 up

Two of the chipleaders just tangled in a big pot. Kipa58 raised it to 6K, BrandonPL called and pimplar re-raised it to 18K. Kipa58 then made it 40K, BrandonPL folded and pimplar called. After a flop of Ts-3s-7d, pimplar checked and kipa58 bet 76K. Pimplar tanked and folded. Pimplay was down to 123K while kips58 moved up to 201K.

7:33pm--1,580 players left

500 more until the money

7:22pm--Annekechillo flops boat and brings opponent along for the ride

SirGutShot raised to 3,125 on the button and annekechillo called from the small blind. Both players checked the 8h-9d-9h flop. After the 7d hit on the turn, annekechillo bet 2,400 and SirGutShot called. The river was the 5d. SirGutShot led out for 6,650 after annekechillo checked, but annekechillo responded by raising to 14,400. SirGutShot called the additional 7,750 and mucked after annekechillo showed 9c-8c for a flopped full house. Annekechillo currently sits atop the leaderboard with 170,640 in chips.

7:19pm--Lee Nelson eliminated

Nelson pushed all in at the wrong time. He posted his big blind of 1,200 and only originator54 called. Nelson put the rest of his 12K in chips in the middle and originator54 called instantly with 8s-8d. Nelson showed Ks-8h. A flop and turn of Qh-7h-Ad-2h made it interesting by giving Nelson a flush draw, but the 5d hit the river and Nelson was eliminated in 1,933rd place.

7:15pm--Now under 2,000 players

7:02pm--William Thorson eliminated

The Team PokerStars Pro was put out in 2,498th place after his A-K ran into K-K all-in preflop and he could not improve.

6:55pm--Steve Paul-Ambrose eliminated

Steve Paul-Ambrose was eliminated in 2,521st place after his A-2 failed to improve against the A-Q of his opponent. Ambrose is still in the hunt in the Sunday Warm-Up with 298,261 in chips. Live blogging coverage of the Sunday Warm-Up can be found here.

6:47pm--Top ten chip counts at end of hour number two; 2,781 remain

1. PiKappRaider 123,296
2. CARP_DIEMM 110,182
3. vikkyG85 109,338
4. Nino773 108,155
5. annekechillo 103,355
6. G-millman 100,378
7. king muscles 100,347
8. IRENE666 99,815
9. strahhh25 97,572
10. soad_live 95,829

6:41pm-- William Thorson doubles up twice

Team PokerStars Pro William Thorson has doubled up twice in the last three hands. Sitting on a short stack of 2,136, Thorson pushed all in after a raise to 1,600 from JABRONI-17. Thorson’s Ac-Ad was ahead of the 8c-9c of JABRONI-17, but a flop of 8h-Kh-3s gave JABRONI-17 a bit of help; however, the turn and the river bricked out and Thorson was back to 5k in chips. Two hands later, Thorson called an all-in raise from wheels0271. It was the As-Jc of wheels0271 against Thorson’s Kd-Tc. Thorson hit a ten on the flop and the turn and the river were no help for wheels0271. Thorson had 10,694 in chips after the hand.

6:38pm--Two more Team PokerStars Pros out

Humberto Brenes and Andre Akkari have been eliminated, one right after the other. Akkari finished in 3317th place while Brenes was one spot better in 3316th place.

6:35pm--Less than 3,000 players remain

6:24pm--casa2674 surges toward the top of the leaderboard

Casa2674 has won four of the last six pots at Table 885. The first was a split 62,020 pot where casa2674 flopped the second nut flush draw on a board with two clubs, turned a Broadway draw and rivered Broadway. BrahCheeChoo rivered the same straight. In the next hand, casa2674 raised to 2,400 pre-flop and was called by mr erics21. Casa2674 bet all in on a flop of 9d-8h-7s and mr erics21 folded.

Two hands later, casa2674 defended the big blind after a button raise to 2,400 from ROONEY_DIVES. Again, casa2674 bet all in on a flop of Kh-Qs-2s. ROONEY_DIVES made the call and showed Kc-Js. Casa2674 showed Qd-2c for two pair and eliminated ROONEY_DIVES. Immediately after that elimination, casa2674 was back in action again, holding Kc-Kh against the Qs-Qc of mr erics21. The board did not help mr erics21 and he was eliminated. After this flurry of activity, casa2674 was at 78,574 in chips.

6:20pm--The 100K barrier has been broken

As the field has dwindled to nearly 3,500 players, pokerdream08 became our first player to crack 100K in chips. Pokerdream08 now has 104,409 in chips.

6:16pm--Under 4,000 players

The final table is only minutes away...

5:59pm--No mercy for GS4fun

After doubling through GS4fun a few hands earlier, Isabelle Mercier tangled with GS4fun again. Mercier called GS4fun’s pre-flop raise to 1,200, and the players saw a board of 8d-4h-Qd. GS4fun bet another 1,200, Mercier raised to 4,000 and GS4fun re-raised all in to 17,325. Mercier made the call with Ah-Qc. GS4fun’s Kh-Ks was ahead on the flop, but the Ac on the turn gave Mercier two pair. GS4fun could not hit a king on the river to survive. Mercier now sits at 39,375.

5:58pm--Lee Nelson takes a hit

Team PokerStars Pro Lee Nelson just lost about 40 percent of his chips. After sneekwater raised to 1,800, Nelson re-raised to 4,200. Sneekwater called and the two saw a flop of Ad-9s-6s. Nelson pushed and sneekwater called all in for 6,500 with Ah-Qh while Nelson showed Jc-Jh. The turn and river were bricks and Nelson was down to 17K.

5:54pm--Third of field gone

We're now under 5,000 players. Just a few more hours until the final table...

5:45pm--Mercier outraces GS4fun to double up

After a raise to 1,200 from GS4fun, Team PokerStars Pro Isabelle Mercier re-raised to 4,000. GS4fun re-raised all in to 20,250, which had Mercier covered. Mercier made the call with As-Kd and was racing against GS4fun’s Qc-Qd. On a board of 8d-Ad-7c-Js-7d, Mercier survived elimination and chipped up to 18,800.

5:41pm--Top ten chip counts at end of hour number one; 5,688 remain

1. Lystig 57,350
2. deboneman 56,587
3. quote123 56,500
4. bfrusina 52,975
5. packpower04 52,105
6. strahhh25 50,300
7. ADDENDA 46,600
8. VARICO 46,165
9. pokerdream08 46,000
10. krazy28 44,712

5:34pm--Queens hold for Akkari again

Pocket queens have netted Andre Akkari another large pot. Pre-flop, porzerjr raised to 1,200 and Akkari re-raised to 3,300. Porzerjr made the call. On a flop of 7c-8c-5c, porzerjr bet all in for 3,775 and Akkari called. Porzerjr showed Ks-Qs to Akkari's Qc-Qh. The turn and the river were no help for porzerjr, and Akkari chipped up to 21,275.

5:28pm--Victor Ramdin eliminated

Victor Ramdin was felled by an inferior flush. He raised to 900 preflop and was called by rtrtrtr. After a flop of 6d-4c-5c, Ramdin bet another 900. Rtrtrtr raised to 3,000 and Ramdin re-raised all in to 7,000. Ramdin held 3c-6c for a pair, straight draw and a straight flush draw and rtrtrtr held Ac-8c for a better flush draw. The Kc hit the turn, leaving Ramdin with two outs to the straight flush but the Kh hit the river and Ramdin was eliinated in 6,000th place.

5:24pm--Team PokerStars represented

Of the 7,557 players participating today in the Sunday Million, seven of them are Team PokerStars pros. They include Andre Akkari, Humberto Brenes, Isabelle Mercier, Lee Nelson, Steve Paul-Ambrose, Victor Ramdin and William Thorson.

5:21pm--Ramdin's rollercoaster ride

Short-stacked Victor Ramdin doubled up to 9,350 when he got it all in preflop with Ad-Jc versus Ts-Th and the board ran out Kd-2c-Qh-5c-Ah, but lost most of those chips on the next hand. In the second hand, he held 7d-8d and called two bets on the flop and turn with a board of 5d-4h-7c-Js. When the Tc hit the river, both Ramdin and his opponent, S4ILBO4T, checked. S4ILBO4T showed 7s-Ks and won with his kicker. Ramdin is down to 5,300.

5:08pm--Andre Akkari doubles up

Team PokerStars Pro Andre Akkari started the hand as a short stack with 3,925. Akkari raised to 600, niclas237 re-raised to 1,500 and Akkari pushed all in. Niclas237 made the call and tabled A-K. Akkari showed Q-Q. Niclas237 did not improve on a board of J-T-9-5-J. Akkari currently has 8,050.

5:04pm--Steve Paul-Ambrose doing double duty

When Steve "stevejpa" Paul-Ambrose started his afternoon, he was playing six single-table tournaments and the Sunday Warm-Up. He's playing in the Sunday Million right now, but likely more focused on the tournament he started earlier. At this hour, Paul-Ambrose is in the Top 20 in chips of the Warm-Up. To follow his exploits, check out the Sunday Warm-Up Live Blog

4:57pm--Pokrjoker78 is chip leader

Player Pokrjoker78 leads the Sunday Million in the early going with 39,225 chips. He just won a big pot when he made a call of an all-in holding only pocket twos on a rainbow board of T-9-9-5-4. His opponent Jim Bee was bluffing with A-K and Pokrjoker78 took down a nearly 20K chip pot.

4:49pm--More than $185,000 for first

Registration is now closed and there are 7,557 players in today's Sunday Million, which creates a total prize pool of $1,511,400. Of those players, 1,080 will get paid and first place will receive $185,902.20.

4:42pm--Victor Ramdin takes a big hit

After chipping up to 15K early, Team PokerStars Pro Victor Ramdin took a big hit when his pocket aces were cracked by the flopped set of nines of KM-6. He is down to 5K after the hand.

4:30pm--PokerStars Sunday Million off and running

The PokerStars Sunday Million has just begun with 7,200 players and counting. Registration is still open.

4:25pm--PokerStars Sunday Million about to begin

The PokerStars Sunday Million will begin in just a few minutes. With thousands in the field, the final table money is once again going to be huge. Late registration will be open, so get your seat while you still can.

There's no justice in tournament poker; there's only survival. At the end of a grueling tournament, the winner isn't the player who knocked out the greatest number of other players, or the player who was dealt the best starting hands most frequently, or even the "best" player (if such a thing can even be determined). The winner is simply the player who survived longer than any other player. Surviving in and of itself is a skill, to be sure. When you outlast a field of almost 3,600 players, survival takes on a whole new dimension.

3,599 players registered for the Sunday Warm-Up today to vie for a prize pool of $750,000. Eight and a half hours later, 3,590 had been eliminated, leaving nine players vying for a first prize of over $100,000. Here's how those players measured up at the start of the final table:

(Click image for full version)

Seat 1: goodvibe1 (3125226 in chips)
Seat 2: vanky (3620984 in chips)
Seat 3: Supa4real (6992395 in chips)
Seat 4: Dudelinio (3842824 in chips)
Seat 5: tallgeir (8572505 in chips)
Seat 6: GB2005 (1103480 in chips)
Seat 7: lordhuttyx (2034545 in chips)
Seat 8: EDWARDHOPPER (2634407 in chips)
Seat 9: RuudGullit (4063634 in chips)

For a tournament that played more quickly than many expected, it was perhaps no surprise that only four minutes passed before the first elimination of the final table. GB2005, who came to the final table with the shortest stack, made a stand with Big Slick. He found himself up against the opponent with the biggest stack, tallgeir. tallgeir, holding the queen of spades and the eight of spades, had two very live cards against GB2005's ace-king. GB2005 was in great position to survive the hand when neither player picked up a pair on the flop or the turn, but an unlucky river queen made top pair for tallgeir. The rich got richer at GB2005's expense, but it wasn't all lemons for GB2005. He walked away with $6,750.

The big stacks continued to exert pressure on their smaller brethren for several hands until two of the shorties decided to tango on their own. EDWARDHOPPER, in 7th place at the start of the final table, opened with a raise to 398,000. Perhaps his raise looked fishy to Vanky, who moved all-in holding Ah-2s. EDWARDHOPPER made a snap call with pocket kings, but like GB2005 before him, his leading hand did not hold up. Vanky made a five-high straight when the board ran out 5-3-9-9-4. EDWARDHOPPER's tournament life expired with that river card. He finished in 8th place and earned $9,750.

Meanwhile, the other of the shortest stacks at the table, lordhuttyx, inched up the payout ladder. With tallgeir wielding one of the biggest stacks on his immediate right, lordhuttyx couldn't find many spots to pick up pots. He finally found one when action folded to tallgeir in the small blind and tallgeir open-shoved. With Ah-3c in his hand, lordhuttyx may have believed that he was ahead of a good portion of tallgeir's range. This time, he was correct; tallgeir opened Qh-6c after lordhuttyx called. For the third time, it looked like the best hand would lose after the flop came 5-Q-5, but lordhuttyx survived when an ace hit the turn.

That survival bought lordhuttyx some chips and most importantly some time. It put him more on par with the medium stacks, who with the elimination of the shortest stacks had themselves become the new short stacks. RuudGullit found himself with just fifteen big blinds remaining and elected to open-shove Ad-6h from the button. goodvibe1 made a quick call with Ah-Js. The hand went suck-resuck when the flop came 6-K-9 and a miracle jack then appeared on the turn. For the second time in a row, the best hand held up. RuudGullit hit the rail in seventh place, earning $15,750 along the way.

goodvibe1 followed up that elimination by sending lordhuttyx to the rail a few hands later. All the money went in preflop. goodvibe1 again had the best hand, with his pocket jacks leading lordhuttyx's pocket sevens. There was no survival miracle for lordhuttyx this time. By doubling up against tallgeir ten minutes prior, and with the elimination of RuudGullit in the interim, lordhuttyx won $23,250 for finishing in sixth place.

Only five players had survived to this point in the tournament. The shortest among them, Vanky, perhaps concerned for his own tournament survival, suggested chopping the tournament based on chip equity. Supa4real was willing to look into the numbers, but goodvibe1 typed out a very curt "no chop sry". Play continued. Vanky busted in fifth place just four minutes later when his ace-queen couldn't out-race goodvibe1's pocket jacks. He won $30,750.

It was the third elimination in a row for goodvibe1, who had amassed the biggest stack. He added to it by eliminating tallgeir in fourth place just a few hands later. In a raised pot, tallgeir made a half-pot bet on a 3c-Ks-9c flop. goodvibe1 raised to 1.5 million and tallgeir called. When the turn blanked, the two players kept raising until tallgeir was all in. He had middle pair with Qh-9s, but goodvibe1 had top pair with Kh-8d. tallgeir failed to survive the hand when the river didn't bring him a miracle card. It must have been a disappointing end to tallgeir's tournament, but the $38,625 probably took away some of the sting.

With tallgeir's elimination, only three players remained: Dudelinio, Supa4real and goodvibe1. goodvibe1 had done most of the heavy lifting to that point of the final table, with Dudelinio and Supa4real winning small pots along the way and otherwise staying out of the line of fire. That changed in a hurry.

goodvibe1 came in for a raise which Supa4real re-raised to about 1.8 million. Imagine what his reaction must have been when Dudelinio put in the third raise, all-in for just over 3.8 million. With over 6 million chips up for grabs, Supa4real had to call about 2 million more and did so after goodvibe1 obligingly got out of the way. Supa4real's Ah-9h was dominated by Dudelinio's Ac-Qc, but Supa4real had one very large advantage: he wasn't the one at risk of elimination. Dudelinio couldn't survive the hand after the board ran out 6c-2s-9s-5h-Ad. Dudelinio won $48,750 for third place. Just like that, 3,599 players had been whittled down to the final two.

Going into heads-up play, goodvibe1 had the chip lead, courtesy of all of the player he eliminated from the final table. For the first ten to fifteen minutes of heads-up play, the players traded pots. Supa4real would make a little headway against goodvibe1's chip lead, only to lose a few pots and wind up right back at square one. Each player was doing an excellent job of hanging onto his chips and surviving.

Finally, two hands occurred almost back-to-back that decided the tournament. For the first time in heads-up play, goodvibe1 elected to reraise after Supa4real had raised. When Supa4real called, almost 5.7 million chips wound up in the middle. goodvibe1 made a stab at the flop with a bet of 2.8 million, but didn't take long to fold after Supa4real moved all in.

That pot pushed Supa4real into the chip lead for the first time. Just a few hands later, he eliminated the tenacious goodvibe1. Both players limped into the pot for the first time and took a J-4-J flop. goodvibe1 checked, then raised to 1.6 million after Supa4real bet 500,000. With plenty of ammunition, Supa4real called and went to the turn.

When the turn came down the nine of spades, goodvibe1 again checked. Perhaps sensing weakness, Supa4real took another stab with a bet of 1.6 million. goodvibe1 instantly check-raised all-in for a total of 7 million, putting Supa4real to the test. He made an incredible call. His Qc-4d for two pair, jacks and fours, was in the lead against goodvibe1's huge draw with Kc-9c. The river blanked out, allowing Supa4real to win the pot and the whole tournament. He was the ultimate survivor, winning a cool $101,250. goodvibe1 took down $71,250 for his second-place finish.

The final table results were as follows:

1. Supa4real$101,250
2. goodvibe1 $71,250
3. Dudelinio $48,750
4. tallgeir $38,625
5. vanky $30,750.
6. lordhuttyx $23,250.
7. RuudGullit $15,750.
8. EDWARDHOPPER $9,750.
9. GB2005 $6,750.

For more detail on the tournament, be sure to check out the complete live blog of this event.

For a little fun today, we're going to live blog the PokerStars Sunday Warm-up. Over the next eleven hours or so, Brad Willis, Martin Harris, David Aydt, and Dave Behr will be on hand to bring you the latest information on the Sunday Warm-Up. Have a story for us? E-mail to blog@pokerstars.com.

10:14pm-- Incredible call nets Supa4real the win!

On the heels of the unusual pre-flop re-raise from goodvibe1, both players limped into the pot and took a J-4-J flop. goodvibe1 checked, then raised to 1.6 million after Supa4real bet 500,000. With plenty of ammunition, Supa4real called and went to the turn.

When the turn came down the nine of spades, goodvibe1 again checked. Perhaps sensing weakness, Supa4real took another stab with a bet of 1.6 million. goodvibe1 instantly check-raised all-in for a total of 7 million, putting Supa4real to the test. He made the call and opened Qc-4d for two pair, jacks and fours(!). goodvibe1 was on a draw, albeit a very large draw with Kc-9c. The river blanked out, allowing Supa4real to win the pot and the whole tournament.

A full recap of the final table can be found HERE.

10:13pm-- Times-a-changin'; Supa4real takes over chip lead

A rare preflop reraise just backfired for goodvibe1. After Supa4real opened for 1 million, goodvibe1 re-raised to 2.8 million. Supa4real called, then moved in on the Td-Qh-6d flop after goodvibe1 made a half-pot bet. We could only imagine the sigh of frustration as goodvibe1 folded his hand.

10:12pm--Wanna play heads up for $30,000?

Just in case you're not paying close enough attention, what we're witnessing here is essentially a $30,000 heads-up sit-and-go. Not that there is anything wrong with that. First place is $101,250. Second place is $71,250.

10:08pm-- Not much movement

After ten minutes of heads-up play, little has changed. Supa4real briefly threatened to take over the chip lead by winning a series of small pots, but goodvibe1 sniffed out a bluff and made a great river call with top pair to reset the chip counts to what they were ten minutes ago.

9:58pm--Heads-up chip counts

Here's how the two remaining players stack up at the start of heads-up play.

Seat 1: goodvibe1 (22882846 in chips)
Seat 3: Supa4real (13107154 in chips)

9:54pm--And suddenly, it's heads up

Supa4real must have been tired of watching goodvibe1 take all the chips. After goodvibe1 came in for a raise, Supa4real re-raised. He couldn't have liked it when Dudelinio came over the top all-in for 3,850,648. Supa4real had to call 2,040,648 more and did so after goodvibe1 folded. Dudelinio showed Ac-Qc to Supa4real's Ah9h. Say goodnight, Dudelinio. The board showed 6c-2s-9s-5h-Ad. Dudelinio won $48,750 for third place.

9:51pm-- goodvibe1 barrelling towards the finish line

Just five minutes after turning down a chop, goodvibe1 eliminated another of his opponents. Sitting in the big blind, he called a raise from the small blind, tallgeir. The flop was 3c-Ks-9c. tallgeir led out with a half-pot bet of 750,000, but goodvibe1, with a commanding chip lead (and, we would soon discover, the best hand), raised to 1.5 million. tallgeir called, then led out for 750,000 again on a blank turn. A raising war ensued, with tallgeir eventually all in. He showed Qh-9s for middle pair and was in rough shape against goodvibe1's top pair with Kh-8d. tallgeir missed the river and was bounced in fourth place, earning $38,625.

9:50pm--No curse yet for goodvibe1

Goodvibe1 has silenced any silly talk about the no-chop curse. He just busted vanky. Goodvibe1 came in for a standard raise with JcJs and vannky came over the top all-in with Qs-Ad. When you're running good, you're running good. Goodvibe1's race was a winner on a ten-high board. Vanky finished in fifth place for $30,750.

9:46pm--goodvibe1 must be feelin' it

Five-handed is often the place you see a talk of a chop. The story is no different tonight. Goodvibe1 wanted none of it.

Supa4real: we could look at the numbers
goodvibe1: no chop sry
vanky: ok

And that's that. And so the players commenced with re-raising the chip leader.

9:40pm-- Dudelinio finds gold with suited connectors

With five players remaining and 2.5 million in his stack, Dudelinio opened for 750,000 holding 8h-9h. The big stack, tallgeir, threw his weight around holding A-T and raised enough to put Dudelinio all in. Dudelinio called and promptly flopped top two pair, which held up through the river.

9:38pm-- Chip counts at break
Level 33
Blinds 125,000/250,000, antes 25,000
Average chip count: 7,198,000
Players remaining: 5
First Prize: $101,250.00

Seat 1: goodvibe1 (9716470 in chips)
Seat 2: vanky (6464280 in chips)
Seat 3: Supa4real (9176506 in chips)
Seat 4: Dudelinio (2602824 in chips)
Seat 5: tallgeir (8029920 in chips)

9:30pm-- goodvibe1 takes out lordhuttyx

The good times kept on rolling for goodvibe1. lordhuttyx open-shoved with pocket sevens, only to discover that goodvibe1 was sitting on pocket jacks, an easy call. The jacks held up, bouncing lordhuttyx from the tournament in 6th place with an extra $23,250.

9:28pm-- RuudGullit can't overcome domination

With fifteen big bets left in his stack, RuudGullit open-shoved Ad-6h from the button. goodvibe1, sitting in the small blind with 4.5 million, elected to call with Ah-Js. He was in a dominating position that was quickly reversed on a 6-K-9 flop. Perhaps channeling his screenname, goodvibe1 found a good vibe when the turn came Jd. There was no re-suck on the river for RuudGullit. He was eliminated and earned $15,750.

9:20pm-- lordhuttyx's ace almost isn't enough

With just 1.5 million chips, lordhuttyx has been tight, choosing not to tangle with most of his opponents. When chip leader tallgeir open-shoved from the small blind, lordhuttyx took a chance with Ah-3c. He was ahead of tallgeir's Qh-6c, but it looked like disaster when the flop came 5-Q-5. An ace on the turn bailed out lordhuttyx and allowed him to double up to 3 million.

9:14pm-- EDWARDHOPPER goes broke in 8th place, and not in a pretty way

EDWARDHOPPER, the man of all caps, had 1,721,407 to start and open-raised to 398,000. Vanky pushed all-in and got the fast call from EDWARDHOPPER's KdKc. Vanky held Ah-2s. Wanna guess what the board looked like at the end? We'll just tell you...5c-3d-9h-9s-4h. Not pretty, not funny, but decidedly the end for EDWARDHOPPER. He picked up $9,750.

9:07pm-- GB2005 unlucky in 2008

We have the first elimination of the final table. With blinds at 80,000 and 160,000, tallgeir opened from the button for 640,000. GB2005 quickly reraised all in with the hand that many players dread -- ace-king. tallgeir, with chips to burn, made the call and showed two live suited cards: Qs-8s. Neither player improved by the turn, but on the river GB2005's tournament ended when tallgeir paired his queen. With that pot, tallgeir moved to over 10 million in chips and GB2005 was eliminated in 9th place. His payday was $6,750.

9:03pm--Final table set

The final nine are in place. Here are the chip counts.

Seat 1: goodvibe1 (3125226 in chips)
Seat 2: vanky (3620984 in chips)
Seat 3: Supa4real (6992395 in chips)
Seat 4: Dudelinio (3842824 in chips)
Seat 5: tallgeir (8572505 in chips)
Seat 6: GB2005 (1103480 in chips)
Seat 7: lordhuttyx (2034545 in chips)
Seat 8: EDWARDHOPPER (2634407 in chips)
Seat 9: RuudGullit (4063634 in chips)

9:01pm--tjechw bubbles final table

It was a good call with a bad result. It was an all-in raise to tjechw's big blind. He made the call with two black fives and was up against AsJs. Needless to say, he lost the race and went out in 10th place for $4,500.

8:55pm-- Connolly the latest casualty

Short on chips, Connolly moved in for 1.5 million with a small ace. He was called by tallgeir who had a bigger ace and finished with a flush. Connolly never improved and was bounced from the tournament in 11th place, $3,150 richer.

8:53pm--p0ck3tp3ar goes to war without pocket pair...or pear

With only 808,000 in chips left, p0ck3tp3ar open-raised for nearly all his chips and got re-raised by vanky. He called for the few thousand more with Ah-7d. Vanky held 9c-Ac. Neither hand paired and vanky's kicker played. p0ck3tp3ar finished in 12th place for $4,500.

8:52pm-- CASINOICE iced

lordhuttyx was behind when all the chips went in the middle, but his cards were suited and live. Both players hit the flop in a big way, with CASINOICE flopping two pair. Unfortunately for him, his two pair made the nut flush for lordhuttyx. CASINOICE ha d two chances to fill up, and missed them both. He was eliminated in 13th place and earned $3,150 for his efforts.

8:49pm--RUS_FISH hooked and fileted

With only 724,024 chips in his stack, RUS_FISH cast his last lure with Ad-4d. RuudGullit took the bait and call with Jh-Kd. RUS_FISH was cooked by the turn on a board of 8s-Ts-Qd-9h-2c. He finished in 15th place, picking up $3,150.

8:42pm-- sebmenk find no love with the ladies

sebmenk found exactly what he was looking for: Qc-Qh. He came in for a raise to 300,000 and Supa4real came back at him for 800,000. The rest of sebmenk's 1,638,288 chips went in and it was the pocket queens vs Ah-Jc. The board was not as pretty as sebmenk's hand. It rann out 2d-Jd-Ks-4d-Ad to eliminate sebmenk in 16th place for $1,875.

8:40pm-- nafudoma loses battle of the blinds

nafudoma must have felt good when he moved in his whole stack of 1.7 million from the big blind after tallgeir opened the action from the small blind with a raise. Things went south for nafudoma from there. tallgeir called with Ad-Tc, which dominated nafudoma's Ac-9s. He took the lead on an 8-9-K flop, but the turn and river were a queen and a jack to make a straight for tallgeir. He eliminated nafudoma in 17th place and cracked the 5-million chip mark at the same time.

8:37pm-- tdomeski crippled, then eliminated

Two tough hands in rapid succession resulted in the elimination of tdomeski from the tournament in 18th place. First, he called the all-in bet of lordhuttyx, who had pushed from the button with pocket eights. tdomeski's Kd-Jd took the lead when the flop came K-J-T, but an 8 on the turn made a set for lordhuttyx. Neither player filled up on the river.

That left tdomeski with just over 100,000 chips, which went in on the next hand after a raise by Dudelinio from late position. Dudelinio's pocket nines were well ahead of tdomeski's 6c-4d, and even moreso when the flop came down nine-high. Although tdomeski ended the hand with trip 4s, he couldn't top Dudelinio's full house, nines full of fours.

8:33pm-- webster426 86'd

With fewer than one million chips, webster426 shove with K9 offsuit and got called by AhJh. A flop with one ace and two hearts was all he needed to see. He was eliminated in 19th place for $1,575.

8:32pm-- Top ten chip counts at end of hour number seven; 19 remain

Level XXIX
Blinds 50,000/100,000, antes 10,000
Average chip count: 1,890,000
Players remaining: 19
First Prize: $101,250.00

1. Supa4real 4,136,113
2. Dudelinio 3,774,969
3. goodvibe1 2,865,876
4. tallgeir 2,859,641
5. Ruudgullit 2,613,185
6. tjechw 2,418.940
7. GB2005 2,337,175
8. EDWARDHOPPER 2,234,316
9. Conno!!y 2,052,436
10. sebmenk 1,628,288

8:31pm-- oknergard out in 20th

tallgeir raised to 240,000 from the hijack seat, and oknergard, sitting to his left, reraised all in with his remaining 720,000-plus chip stack. It folded back around and tallgeir called, showing Kd-Jd. oknergard showed Ad-8d.

The flop was Qs-10h-3c, and oknergard was still ahead, but tallgeir had a lot of outs. One came on the turn -- the Ks. And the Ac on the river sealed it, bouncing oknergard in 20th place. tallgeir is up to 3 million.

8:29pm-- Cruel river sends Se7enTr3y home in 21st place

GB2005 raised to 180,000 from the cutoff, and Se7enTr3y reraised all in for a total of about 543,192 from the big blind. GB 2005, having about 1.4 million behind, made the call.

Se7enTr3y showed 8d-8c, and GB2005 turned over Ac-4h. The flop and turn -- 9d-2s-9h-10h -- were fine for Se7enTr3y. But the Ah on the river stole it away, knocking him out in 21st place.

GB2005 is up to 2.2 million.

8:26pm-- PyroWalter flames out in 22nd place

A bit of a cooler for the flame thrower PyroWalter. After nafudoma had raised to 240,000 from middle position, PyroWalter reraised all-in for his remaining 1,396,996 chips with Jd-Jc. But an instacall from Supa4real from the big blind -- who had him covered -- spelled trouble.

nafudoma folded, and Supa4real turned over Ad-Ah, well ahead of PyroWalter's jacks. Neither player improved on the 3h-3c-