Recently in PokerStars Turbo Takedown Category

Sunday’s $1 Million Turbo Takedown provided all of rollercoaster-like thrills one would expect from a tourney with such a unique structure. The 5,000-FPP buy-in attracted 10,742 players to come out and take their shot at that $100,000 first prize. Indeed, just making the top 4,000 guaranteed everyone at least a $90 payday. But with ten-minute levels and rapidly-climbing blinds (particularly during the first three hours), those 3,000 starting-chip stacks began to look small very quickly.

Eliminations came at a rapid clip. At the one-hour break, 6,452 players remained. Player sacc316 assumed the chip lead for a while during the second hour, and by the end of Level 9 the cash bubble burst. With 6,742 eliminations in 90 minutes, that meant more than 75 players hitting the rail per minute! It would take less than half an hour to lose another 2,000 players and reach the next pay jump. At the two-hour break, 1,690 players remained, with goleafsgo96 at the top of the leaderboard.

By Level 15, early chip leader sacc316 would be gone (in 1,250th) and the field shrunk to 1,000. At the four-hour break, goleafsgo96 was out (in 151st) and less than 100 remained. With 50 players left, Johnnina had built a large chip lead, moving up past 2.8 million, almost twice what second place toreyoops had. As the field whittled down to 30, Johnnina still had the lead, though WhooooKidd had started to gain ground. Just as he was about to take the chip lead, WhooooKidd took a big hit in a strange hand versus mirror99. Action had folded around to WhooooKidd who put in a standard-sized raise from the button. Then mirror99 shoved all in from the blinds for almost 1.4 million. WhooooKidd called, showing Ad-Jd, and was surprised to see mirror99 turn over Kd-2s. Surprise quickly turned to indignation, though, when a king flopped and WhooooKidd couldn’t catch up. With the help of that 2.8 million-chip pot, mirror99 would be chip leader with 27 left.

Johnnina would be back on top with 18 left, with mirror99 in second, and WhooooKidd sneaking back into contention in 5th. However Johnnina would lose most of that big stack when pocket sixes failed to outrun HooBangin’s Big Slick in an all in confrontation. Chip leader for much of the early evening, Johnnina would be eliminated short of the final table in 13th.

Not long afterwards, HooBangin would knocked out CockneyCall in 10th. CockneyCall had shoved all in from the small blind with pocket fours, but HooBangin was waiting for him in the big blind with Ks-Kh. The cowboys held up, and thanks to that hand HooBangin would take the chip lead to the final table:

Seat 1: moozzer22 -- 2,909,024
Seat 2: toreyoops -- 2,241,046
Seat 3: WhooooKidd -- 3,591,293
Seat 4: doucheburger -- 2,480,322
Seat 5: eldie2 -- 4,101,418
Seat 6: mirror99 -- 3,991,362
Seat 7: matkillers23 -- 5,298,821
Seat 8: HooBangin -- 5,876,650
Seat 9: QTgirlE3 -- 1,736,064

WhooooKidd looked like a possible contender here to perhaps take down the Takedown, but he’d end up being the first player eliminated from the final table. After about a dozen hands at the final table, players had reached Level 42 (blinds 70,000/140,000, antes 14,000). HooBangin raised to 325,000 from middle position and WhooooKidd called from the small blind. The flop came 7h-4h-As. WhooooKidd checked, HooBangin bet 560,000, then WhooooKidd check-raised all in for a bit more than 3.7 million. HooBangin snap-called, showing 7s-7c for the flopped set, well ahead of WhooooKidd’s Ah-Qh. The turn was the 8s and the river the 2d, and WhooooKidd was out in 9th.

About 15 hands later, HooBangin would claim another victim, this time the player on his left, QTgirlE3. The table had folded to HooBangin who raised to 340,000 in the cutoff, and QTgirlE3 reraised all in for 1,126,064 from the button. The blinds got out of the way, and HooBangin made the call, showing Js-Jh. QTgirlE3 had Ts-Td. The board ran out As-7d-6h-9c-2s, and in this, the last hand before the seven-hour break, QTgirlE3 was bounced in 8th.

When play resumed, HooBangin had a sizable chip lead, with his more than 11.6 million putting him well ahead of his nearest foes, mirror99 (5.2 million) and matkillers23 (5.0 million). About 20 minutes later, eldie2 open-raised to 720,000 from the button, and matkillers23 reraised all in for 2,526,821 from the big blind. eldie2 made the call, showing 9s-9c. matkillers23 turned over Kh-Ks. Looked like a good chance to double up for mattkillers23, until the flop came 7c-4s-9h. No king came to rescue him, and mattkillers23 was out in 7th.

HooBangin would resume the role of table assassin soon afterwards by knocking out toreyoops in 6th. A series of raises and reraises meant toreyoops had his entire stack of 1.34 million in the middle with Qs-Jd, not such a good spot to be in against HooBangin’s pocket rockets. The flop came Ts-Ah-9c, giving HooBangin a set but toreyoops a chance at a straight. But the 7h on the turn and the Qc on the river didn’t help, and we were five-handed. Six hands later, moozzer22 had slipped below the million-chip mark, and decided to push all in with pocket fives. eldie2 called with As-Kh, and won the race when the board came 9h-Ks-4c-Tc-Td.

With four players left, HooBangin began pushing his advantage, and soon had 17 million chips -- more than half of the chips in play. eldie2 was nearest with a little less than 8 million, with mirror99 and doucheburger sitting on the short stacks. doucheburger would double up once through HooBangin, spiking a trey on the river to with with pocket threes against HooBangin’s pocket fives.

At that point, eldie2 proposed the remaining four talk chop, and just as the players began to discuss it, eldie2 would suddenly lose most of her stack to mirror99 in most unfortunate fashion. On a flop of Js-7h-Qc, eldie2 bet 750,000, mirror99 check-raised to 2 million, and eldie2 called. When the turn came the 3s, mirror99 promptly shoved all in for 2,472,316 and eldie2 made the call. mirror99 showed Td-Tc, while eldie2 had Ah-Jd. But a ten came on the river, giving the 11.2 million pot to mirror99 and leaving eldie2 with just 830,947. mirror99 would finish the job a dozen hands later when his pocket sevens outran eldie2’s Ad-Th, knocking eldie2 out in 4th.

doucheburger would double up again through HooBangin, bringing the three remaining players’ stack sizes closer to one another. The subject of a deal was proposed anew, and negotiations began.

1. mirror99 -- 12,582,473
2. HooBangin -- 12,280,239
3. doucheburger -- 7,363,288

A “chip chop” was quickly agreed upon by all three players (see details below), with $20,000 left on the table for the eventual winner. Shortly afterwards, mirror99 began putting the pressure on both of his opponents with his frequent all in reraises forcing them to fold. By the time the eight-hour break rolled around, mirror99 had increased his lead with 17.74 million, to HooBangin’s 8.49 million and doucheburger’s 5.99 million.

During the break, mirror99 revealed that this was something of a momentous tournament for him, not just because of his success today.

mirror99: kinda funny - i made a commitment that this would be my last game of online poker - i have had the most outrageous luck - nice way to go!

Others lol’d, then two hands later, it was all over.

On the first hand back, mirror99 raised to 2 million from the button, HooBangin reraised all in from the small blind, and mirror99 called. HooBangin showed Ah-7h, while mirror99 held Ad-Qc. The board came 9d-3d-5c-2d-8c, and HooBangin was out in 3rd.

Then, on the very next hand -- the first of heads up -- doucheburger open-raised his last 5,508,801 from the small blind/button, and mirror99 called. doucheburger turned over Kh-7s, well behind mirror99’s Kd-9h. The flop of Jc-5h-7d was good for doucheburger, bringing him the needed seven. But the 9s gave the lead back to mirror99, and the Jd sealed it. Nice way to go, indeed!

Congratulations to mirror99 and all of those cashing in today’s $1 Million Turbo Takedown.

PokerStars $1 Million Turbo Takedown Final Table Results:
(amounts reflect three-way chop, leaving $20K for eventual winner)

1. mirror99 -- $83,426.69
2. doucheburger -- $53,709.34
3. HooBangin -- $62,863.97
4. eldie2 -- $32,500.00
5. moozzer22 -- $25,000.00
6. toreyoops -- $20,000.00
7. matkiller23 -- $15,000.00
8. QTgirlE3 -- $10,000.00
9. WhooooKidd -- $5,500.00

With everyone showing up to the final table with more then 20 big blinds and a slow structure this is sure to be a lengthy battle for an incredible prize pool that is completely funded by Frequent Players Points (FPPs). Only grinding out those FPPs on the cash, sit and go, and multi-table tournaments will get you into this massive event. 11,962 either bought in with the 5,000 FPP entry fee or managed to weave thru the many satellites that are offered daily to reach this event that paid out in 4,000 places with $100,000 going to our winner tonight. A tough hand of KK vs. AA for sjemmy from Rotterdam and our final table of nine was set.

Seat 1: riffery (4893590 in chips)
Seat 2: HipsterDufes (1801996 in chips)
Seat 3: kipa58 (5752600 in chips)
Seat 4: roybaauw (4932239 in chips)
Seat 5: nsewell4 (7700895 in chips)
Seat 6: gambler2k4 (2240724 in chips)
Seat 7: jitterbug777 (1868552 in chips)
Seat 8: Badboy Orrie (3107026 in chips)
Seat 9: papa333 (3588378 in chips)

Riffery made the first big move of the final table after tabling pocket Kings to dominate nsewell4’s AKo. After a board of blandness, riffery’s newly acquired nine million chip stack was good enough for a solid lead over second place kipa58 early in the final table with blinds at $50,000/$100,000 ante $10,000. Almost like watching a well oiled hockey power play, the disks of money were moving swiftly across the felt for nearly the first hour of the final table the chips merely shifted from side to side as riffery’s stack was depleted a little, then roybaauw who got several chips from riffery placed those newly acquired chips in the stack of gambler2K4 and HipsterDufes on back-to-back all ins preflop.

Sometimes the best hand pre-flop does win but takes a little while longer to get there. Riffery’s under the gun raise was called by roybaauw while everyone else got out of the way. A flop of Qd 3s 6s got riffery to check to roybaauw who calmly put out a $600,000 chip bet leaving $2.8 million behind. Aggressive the entire final table riffery answered with all-in shove for his chip leading stack of $7.4 million. But, roybaauw saw thru the huge check raise and found his QcJs well ahead of riffery’s AcJc. The seven of diamonds on the turn left just three cards to dodge, but roybaauw’s agility to dance around those outs on the river wasn’t good enough as the Ace of the diamonds spiked and added to riffery’s chip lead. $5,500.00 for FPPs is points well-spent by our ninth place finisher roybaauw.

Gambler2K4 was slowly acquiring chips in the first hour as he called raise from kipa58 with KcQc. The 2s Kd 7s flop found no one’s attention as they both checked. The Queen of spades on the turn gave Gambler2K4 top two pair, and when kipa58 checked to him a $400,000 bet went into the middle. Kipa58 answered with a check-raise all-in which gambler2K4 quickly called only to see the one-outer on the turn hit for kipa58’s pocket queens. Still alive with two kings left in the deck, gambler2K4 watched the four of diamonds fall and left us with ten grand in his bankroll for poker, craps, roulette, or whatever gambler2K4 chooses to make his next wager on while finishing in eighth place.

The massive stacks of kipa58 and riffery pushed the other players to jockey for position among themselves. HipsterDufes tried to breach the solid wall of chips having riffery on his right and kipa58 on his left by push his remaining $1.8 million in chip with blinds at $80,000/$160,000 ante $16,000 into kipa58’s big blind. HipsterDufes’ Kh9h wasn’t thrilled to see the call sign flashing as kipa58 turned over pocket threes for a race. Two hearts on the flops looked great, but a closer look told a sad tale as the three of hearts gave kipa58 a set of threes and a commanding lead. No flush filled on the turn and river and HipsterDufes will have an extra $15,000 in seventh place to keep up with the latest fashion trends.

Out of the shorter stacks nsewell4 has made the biggest moves to challenge the big stacked players to his right. His efforts were helped after racing pocket Tens versus the all-in from Badboy Orrie (Boston Bruins fan in the Netherlands perhaps?) who held AKo. A coordinated flop of 6s 7h 8d helped no one, two of spades on the turn had nsewell4 looking further up the pay scale, and the Queen of clubs on the river sent Mr. Orr flying to the ice but alas no goal this time as in a highlight reel shot shown time and time again on Sportscenter. Badboy Orrie gets $20,000 for his efforts in sixth place tonight.

Dancing is not a forte of mine, but Jitterbug777 literally tap danced his up the pay ladder with steals and catching a few double ups with his short stack. All songs end eventually and the sweet footed Jitterbug777 had to face the music with big slick versus kipa58’s pocket twos all-in pre flop with his remaining $1.5 million in chips and blinds at $90,000/$180,000 ante $18,000. With a board of 9c Js Jh Qs, Jitterbug had several outs to counterfeit kipa58’s deuces but the 3d hit the river and his great short stack play earned him $25,000 in fifth place.

With less then ten big blinds papa333 found Ah6h in the small blind pushing his remaining $938,396 in chips with only riffery standing in his way of gathering some much needed chips pre-flop. But, the cagey riffery held pocket fours to make the easy call. Much like the previous bust-out hand the pocket pair withheld a minefield of outs as 5h 3h 8s was laid out on the flop. But, papa333 could not find any help to give the kids in his hand on the turn and river. $32,500 in fourth place money is good for a year or two of college for papa333’s kids at home, depending on the new dorm room costs of course.

Then the two big stacks became one. Several preflop raising wars broke out during three handed play with kipa58 coming over the top of riffery and visa versa. Finally riffery decided to stand up to the other chip bully and they played the biggest pot of the tournament after some preflop betting and all the money into the pot on the turn of 7c 8d 7d Th

Riffery: Qs Qc
Kipa58: Kh Td

Riffery dodged the trips and two pair outs on the river and banked the massive $21 million chip pot. Later they would tangle again, but this time the money went in preflop as kipa58 shoved his remaining $6.4 million in chips holding AJo and riffery made the call with pocket tens. It’s the night for pocket pairs as riffery’s hand held up and he would take a 6:1 chip advantage into heads-up play against nsewell4. The third place finisher, kipa58, will enjoy $40,000 for his play tonight.

With blinds at $150,000/$300,000 ante $30,000 nsewell4 managed to double up off riffery and chopped his large chip lead down to 2.5:1 but riffery’s constant button raises and re-raises have made this heads-up battle seemingly one-sided. One stretch saw the chip leader take down nearly ten hands in a row with only two of those even seeing a flop. Riffery’s aggression would gain all the chips lost during the double up, and then some while expanding his lead to a 10:1 margin.

Nsewell4 was down to his last $3 million in chips while finding big slick all ready to do battle as he shoved his remaining chips against riffery’s big blind. Riffery called with KsQc but the huge chip lead could take the wound. First aid was not needed as the flop showed 6s Qd Th turning nsewell4 into the player needing three outs. The inside broadway straight never filled and Nsewell4 will receive a sizable $60,000 as a consolation prize. Showing once again that aggression wins tournaments, riffery goes to valuetown and receives $100,000 for his PokerStars Million Dollar Turbo Takedown win!

PokerStars $1 Million Turbo Takedown Final Table Results

1. riffery (Netherlands) $100,000.00
2. nsewell4 (United States) $60,000.00
3. kipa58 (Latvia) $40,000.00
4. papa333 (United States) $32,500.00
5. jitterbug777 (United States) $25,000.00
6. Badboy Orrie (Netherlands) $20,000.00
7. HipsterDufes (Canada) $15,000.00
8. gambler2k4 (United States) $10,000.00
9. roybaauw (Netherlands) $5,500.00

Upon reaching the final table of a tournament with over 10,000 runners a player is usually looking at a decent payday. But, how often are you staring at a possible $100,000 win from a freeroll? The Turbo Takedown lets anyone with Frequent Players Points (FPPs) to turn their points into some serious cash. A multitude of satellites from the 50 FPPs MTT to 1,000 FPPs Sit and Gos to reach the 5,000 FPPs buy in for this tourney are available at all times. 4,000 players enjoyed turning their FPPs into at least $90.00 and the final nine are assured $5,500.00 for their nearly eight hours of work.

With dav3477’s shortstack going down in tenth place, the final nine was set.

Seat 1: 2 irmaos (4174965 in chips)
Seat 2: dickson007 (5854383 in chips)
Seat 3: stortv (3686318 in chips)
Seat 4: iupeli (6372889 in chips)
Seat 5: cRRusher (2077120 in chips)
Seat 6: hustler730 (2307848 in chips)
Seat 7: Chaesi (4635706 in chips)
Seat 8: YWEplay (1597058 in chips)
Seat 9: Bratcat (1051713 in chips)

With blinds at $70000/$140000 ante $14000, the short stacked Bratcat was the first to seek a double up, and found it against 2 irmaos when Bratcat picked off the re-steal with A2o versus Q9o for 2 irmaos. The board brought a bunch of broadway cards but none that changed the preflop advantage and Bratcat was back in contention.

Bratcat wasn’t done there, with a few preflop steals he chipped up enough to be able to do some real damage. On two consecutive hands he sent players to the rail. The first victim was stortv who found AQo on the button and raced off his chips versus Bratcat’s pocket eights. With a 2d 8c 4h, stortv was down to a runner runner wheel to escape the flopped set. A king on the turn gave stortv $5,500.00 for his ninth place effort.

The very next hand YWEplay thought his pocket jacks would provide a much needed double up while one off under the gun, but found himself well behind the pocket queens of Bratcat. A set for both players by the turn left YWEplay hoping for the miracle jack on the river. Unfortunately the river card was not paint but $10,000 for YWEplay’s eighth place finish should boost his hourly poker earnings.

Starting dead last in chips meant Bratcat just had a little more work to do. By eliminating the eighth place finishers he wasn’t finished. Pocket nines are a favorite for certain 11 time World Series of Poker bracelet holder, and while making quads versus seventh place finisher iupeli, Bratcat might learn to like them as well. Another victim of AQo at the final table, iupeli quickly found himself behind a flopped set on a Kh 8c 9c board needing running cards for a straight, the turn brought no life and the fourth nine on the river just rubbed it in. The aussie iupeli can feel good about the $15,000.00 he gets to take home for his seventh place finish. Maybe he can join a fellow aussie and Team PokerStars Pro Joe Hachem in next year’s WSOP?

The extremely aggressive 2 irmaos found himself staring down a sizable call for his remaining three million in chips. A button raise from Bratcat, 2 irmaos called in the small blind, only to have dickson007 fire out a squeeze push from the big blind. Bratcat got out of the way and 2 irmaos made the call. His pockets eights would usually be a decent starting hand while down to six players, but dickson007’s pocket queens made a sizable mountain to overcome. With the board running out without changing the preflop advantage, 2 irmaos took in $20,000 for his 5,000 FPPs in sixth place.

After Bratcat cooled down a bit, it was Chaesi’s turn to take some chips and dash some dreams of the $100,000 payday. With blinds at $100,000/$200,000 antes $20,000 and only ten big blinds left hustler730 tried to steal Chaesi’s big blind from the small blind with KTo. Chaesi’s A4o was enough to make the call as hustler730 did not have an extra king or ten up his sleeve when the board ran out in Chaesi’s favor. $25,000 in fifth place will help hustler730 find a new car bring his ladies around in.

cRRusher only found a few spots to play at the final table, and with pocket tens on the button it looked like a great spot to take some chips off dickson007 raising behind. Pocket Aces are tough to get a person to fold preflop, and cRRusher’s preflop disadvantage versus dickson007’s rockets did not find a third ten on the board. Adding five figures ones bankroll is always nice, the $32,500.00 banked by CRRusher’s fourth place finish should help him enjoy a couple more MTT’s at PokerStars in the years to come.

All good things come to an end, bachelor parties, a cool drink poolside while in Vegas, and for Bratcat a run of cards at this final table. A board of 8h 3d 4c 3s and facing a three million chip raise of his 1.25 million chip bet from dickson007 while holding a third trey in his with Kc 3h dreams of a double up were probably dancing around, until after his shove and a call by dickson007 showed him the bad news. The fourth trey was sitting in dickson007’s hand with an ace kicker. No king on the river for Bratcat meant $40,000 for third place and a $34,500 improvement from his starting final table short stack.

Heads up play between Chaesi and dickson007 started fairly even in chips with dickson007 holding 17.7 million to Chaesi’s 14 million. Dickson007 initiated chop talks but Chaesi had no reply and the two traded chips for a while about ten hands. After the chip trades and another attempt at chop talks, dickson007 decided to use some tricks from Q’s laboratory and won the final five hands of the tournament. Taking two hands preflop, then another post flop, dickson007’s nut flush made on the river in a 17 million chip pot left Chaesi with 3.5 million in chip and mucking his cards as fast as the interface would allow.

Chaesi received QJo on the button the very next hand and with blinds at $150,000/$300,000 antes $30,000 he shoved his remaining chips into the pot. Dickson007 turned over A9o after quickly calling, and an ace on the flop quickly chilled the coin flip, but a ten on the turn would open up straight possibilities that were closed just a quickly by the 5 on the river. Chaesi will be able to take his $60,000 for second place back to his small town in Switzerland while dickson007 is this month’s Turbo Takedown champion!

While you could use those FPPs for the great merchandise from the PokerStars FPP store, I think dickson007 is glad he used 5,000 of them for a few hours of cards and the $100,000 that come with being the last one with chips.

Here are the final table payouts. Congrats to all 4,000 players who cashed!

1. dickson007 - $100,000.00
2. Chaesi - $60,000.00
3. Bratcat - $40,000.00
4. CRRusher - $32,500.00
5. hustler730 - $25,000.00
6. 2 irmaos - $20,000.00
7. iupeli - $15,000.00
8. YWEplay - $10,000.00
9. stortv - $5,500.00

It’s the type of turbo tournament you don’t see every day. The buy-in is Frequent Player Points. The prize pool is a whopping $1 million. First place comes in at a cool $100,000.

When PokerStars tried out the Turbo Takedown earlier in the year, there were a lot of folks who thought it was going to be a one-off deal. When it was over and done with, the players begged to see it again. This month, PokerStars decided to add the Turbo Takedown to its monthly line-up of big money tournaments.

Sunday was a huge day at PokerStars. In all, PokerStars guaranteed more than $4 million in prize money over the course of the day. Twenty-five percent of that guaranteed purse was locked up in the Turbo Takedown. Twelve thousand players entered. The top 4,000 players walked away with cash. The final table players were guaranteed no less than $5,500—more than a dollar for every Frequent Player Point it took to enter.

Here’s what the final table looked like as the final nine convened to fight for the $100,000 first prize.

Seat 1: jolan (3837770 in chips)
Seat 2: Stompato (3142875 in chips)
Seat 3: nevada_nl (1535572 in chips)
Seat 4: Schmidl89 (4676163 in chips)
Seat 5: LFmagic (3235038 in chips)
Seat 6: Pokerguden (6539700 in chips)
Seat 7: biggboss120 (3544949 in chips)
Seat 8: stonz0steel (4312826 in chips)
Seat 9: L_Sprewell (5175107 in chips)

The chip stacks were still deep enough at the top of final table play that players played for around an hour before the first player busted out. In the meantime, thanks in part to making quad aces for a 4 million chip pot, jolan jumped out to a commanding lead. Nearly an hour into final table play, jolan had more than 11 million chips. It didn’t last forever, though, when his pocket sixes fell to Pokerguden for a 7 million pot.

After an hour, it came to the point where someone finally had to go. After PokerGuden limped in with pocket sixes, stonz0steel pushed all-in with AQ. A six on the flop and no miracles to come and stonz0steel was out in 9th place earning $5,500.

Seconds later Stompato found the rail after getting all-in with AQ versus L_Sprewell’s K8 and jolan’s AK. Nobody paired until the river. That’s when L_Sprewell hit his eight, doubled through jolan, and knocked out Stompato in eighth place. Stompato earned $10,000 for his finish.

Flood gates opened, one-time chip horder jolan went to the rail in quick fashion. He got it all-in preflop with AJ versis Pokerguden’s pocket queens. The ladies held and jolan found himself on the rail, but $15,000 richer.

LFmagic departed just a few hands later. He got his short-stack in with KT versus Schmidl89’s KQ. Schmidl89 made two pair and LFmagic was out in sixth place, earning $20,000.

For the briefest of moments, players discussed a quick chop. Just as soon as the discussion began, though, it ended and play resumed five-handed.

At first it looked like players might lock it down again. Instead, nevada_nl pushed all-in with QT. Pokerguden quickly isolated with AK. He flopped his ace and sent nevada_nl out in fifth place, good for $25,000.

Next to go was biggboss120. Hard to say what he had, but he got it all-in pre-flop and couldn’t beat L_Sprewell’ s A9 on a [4s Js 2d 9h] [5c] board. For fourth place, biggboss120 picked up $32,500.

Three handed, the remaining players were rather evenly stacked. After playing for an hour without losing a player, the final table had lost six players in just twenty minutes. It took just a few more minutes for L_Sprewell to lose about half his stack after continuation-betting a 2c 9d 7h flop and folding to Pokerguden’s push. He stood a very good chance of getting it all back against Schmidl89, all-in pre-flop with KJ to Schmidl89’s KT. The board gave L_Sprewell two-pair, but gave Schmidl89 Broadway. L_Sprewell earned $40,000.

Heads up, Schmidl89 jumped out to an early lead. When the players hit a break, Schmidl89 had 23 million to Pokerguden’s 12 million. It only took ten minutes for Pokerguden to chip away and take over the chip lead. However, with every hand with 700,000 pre-flop, it was not a contest that was going to last forever.

Schmidl89 would not go away, however. He doubled up once when Pokerguden missed a flush draw. Then, flopped two pair and got paid off on it. He was the chip leader again, and he would not give it up.

The final hand was a monster. Schmidl89 came in for a standard raise, Pokerguden re-raised with pocket kings, and Schmidl89 called. The flop came Th 9d 2h, Pokerguden pushed, and Schmidl89 called with Qh Td. The board put out two more hearts, giving Schmidl89 the flush and the victory.

Here are the full final table results.

PokerStars Turbo Takedown Final Table Results May 2008

1. Schmidl89 Austria) $100,000.00
2. Pokerguden (United States) $60,000.00
3. L_Sprewell (Spain) $40,000.00
4. biggboss120 (Netherlands) $32,500.00
5. nevada_nl (Netherlands) $25,000.00
6. LFmagic (United Kingdom) $20,000.00
7. jolan (United States) $15,000.00
8. Stompato (France) $10,000.00
9. stonz0steel (United States) $5,500.00

If you missed out on the action this month, fear not. The PokerStars Turbo Takedown will be back at the end of June. Between now and then, FPP satellites will be running and give you a shot at one of the biggest ROIs in online poker.

No matter who you are, if you're a poker player, you're always looking for that big score. Everybody has different ways of finding it. Some players grind out their cash over a period of many years. Some players get it all in one big tournament.

PokerStars is now offering its players a chance to hit the big score in just a matter of hours.

After a successful trial in February, the PokerStars Turbo Takedown is returning as a permanent monthly fixture in the tournament schedule.

PokerStars players will only have to put up 5,000 Frequent Player Points for a shot at a first prize of $100,000 and a total prize pool of $1,000,000. If the last Turbo Takedown is any indication, it won’t take long to get to the money. Last time, the bubble burst less than two hours after the start of the tournament.

In February, top honors went to German PokerStars player mombasi, who won $200,000.

One interesting feeature of the Turbo Takedown is that it’s not all about the big win. It's also about making it a lot easier to win some real cash. PokerStars is paying out 4000 places and limiting the tournament to a maximum of 12,000 players. So, a minimum of one in every three players will cash.

The Turbo Takedown will take place on the last Sunday of every month at 14:30 ET, starting on May 25th. Satellites start from as little as 10 Frequent Player Points and are running around the clock.

The $2 Million PokerStars Turbo Takedown seemed to come out of nowhere. Just a week before it was set to play, it popped up on the PokerStars software and offered just about everybody in the PokerStars community a chance to play for some of the biggest money of the day.

It was a concept rarely seen in the world of online poker: A buy-in with no dollar sign in front of it and a prize pool that grabs the attention of the highest of rollers. No surprise, it attracted nearly ten thousand players to the virtual felt on a Sunday afternoon.

The structure was an interesting one. It started fast and then gradually got a bit slower. The bigger the prizes, the more poker there was to play. It made for a final table that started just seven hours after it began, but left the players with some room to breathe.

Here's what the final table looked like when it began.

Seat 1: Karsten85 (2298010 in chips)
Seat 2: mmmy17 (1602090 in chips)
Seat 3: mombasi (4108659 in chips)
Seat 4: D.Nowitzki (2448035 in chips)
Seat 5: TXSooner518 (4520003 in chips)
Seat 6: tobededope (3873262 in chips)
Seat 7: BleedBlue33 (2719149 in chips)
Seat 8: oakblack (1872790 in chips)
Seat 9: qbgoose (5358002 in chips)

Oakblack was the first of the final table players to find the rail. With the blinds at 50,000/100,000/10,000. BleedBlue33 came in for a raise to 222,222. Oakblack decided he was going to get it in before the flop and pushed for nearly two million more. BleedBlue33 called with AK, up against oakblack's AQ. Neither hand improved and oakblack went out in ninth place. He won $11,000 for his effort.

Next out was D.Nowitzki (no, not that one...). He got AJ all-in versus mombasi's pair of nines. Nowitzki bricked on all five streets and went out in eighth place for $20,000.

Mombasi took out the seventh place finisher, as well. He held AQ and got mmmy17 all-in with QJ. By the river, the both had straights, but Mombasi's was Broadway. Mmmy17 picked up $30,000 for seventh place.

Shortly thereafter, the sickness began. Karsten came in for a raise from the button and mombasi called from the small blind. The flop came out 9s2h3s and mombasi bet about 500,000 at it. Karsten pushed for another 1.5 million. Mombasi called with only A7. Karsten showed Q9 and was ahead all the way until the river...when an ace hit. Karsten finished in sixth place for $40,000.

Karsten's exit and chip gave mombasi a chip lead to be admired. He sat with more than $12 million chips, more than twice what anybody else at the table had.

With one sick beat out of the way, qbgoose likely felt great getting his chips in the middle with KK, especiall up against tobededope's AK. It was a short-lived taste of success. An ace on the flop crooppled qbgoose. Left with fewer than 200,000 chips, we was able to stick around long enough to stick to the pattern of busting to mombasi. For fifth place, qbgoose picked up $50,000.

If the Mombasi Busts the World Story is getting old, you may want to take a break, because just a few minutes later, he sent TXSooner518 out in fourth place. It was Q8 all in pre-flop versus TXSooner518's J9. A jack on the flop gave TXSooner518 the lead. A queen on the turn turned it around and TXSooner518 went out in fourth place for $65,000.

Three-handed play lasted a long while and broke the Mombasi streak. BleedBlue33 got his final 1.8 million in the middle with Q5. Problem was, he ran into tobededope's A3. An ace on the flop was enough to send BleedBlue33 out in third place. He earned $80,000.

Heads up, talk of a deal began. Tobededope held about 15 million to mombasi's 13 million. The players couldn't reach an agreement and it would soon become the mombasi show. Just a few hands later, mombasi flopped a set of deuces to beat tobededope's pair of fives. After that, it was over in just a couple of hands . Mombasi completed his table-thrashing and took down the $200,000 first prize.

Congratulations to all the players.

Here are the final table results.

1. mombasi (Germany) $200,000.00
2. tobededope (Germany) $120,000.00
3. BleedBlue33 (United States) $80,000.00
4. TXSooner518 (United States) $65,000.00
5. qbgoose (Canada) $50,000.00
6. Karsten85 (Germany) $40,000.00
7. mmmy17 (Brazil) $30,000.00
8. D.Nowitzki (Germany) $20,000.00
9. oakblack (United Kingdom) $11,000.00

This morning, PokerStars announced it will host the biggest tournament of the week on February 17, at 14:30ET. The no-limit hold'em event has a $2 million guarantee, and get this...you can't enter with money. The entry fee is 10,000 Frequent Player Points.

Now, you may be of a mind to not drop 10,000 on one tournament. Understandable. There's a lot you can do with 10,000 FPP credits. PokerStars figured that out, as well. Starting today, you will be able to start playing qualifying satellites for as little as 10 FPP credits.

PokerStars has already posted the payout table on the $2 Million PokerStars Turbo Takedown page. First prize is an astounding $200,000.

That's right. Two hundred grand guaranteed first prize for an FPP entry.

Regardless of whether you make it to first place, you still stand a good chance of walking away with cash. PokerStars is paying deep in the Turbo Takedown. One in every three players will cash.

To register directly, click on EVENTS and SPECIAL in the PokerStars Lobby. Or, if you prefer, click on EVENTS, SPECIAL, and FPP SATELLITES to qualify for less.

Good luck!