With the Spring Championship of Online Poker (SCOOP) only days away and players looking to hone their skills in preparation of it, the Sunday Million welcomed a total of 7,906 players to the virtual felt to compete for a prize pool that became $1,581,200, gently putting the $1.5 million guarantee to a quiet shame.

The massive crowd of players quickly thinned, and when the money bubble approached, Bushman kindly went out in 1171st place on that bubble to allow dirkdiggler9 to cash for $316.24 and numerous others to follow. And with that, the field dwindled further to move toward the final nine players and the last table of the tourney.

At that point, it was bakaunko who pushed all-in with his short stack of 3,204,476 preflop holding pocket threes. bbs99 called from the small blind with pocket jacks, and it looked like the final table bubble would burst. But the flop came 6d-3h-5c to give bakaunko the advantage with trips. The 2c on the turn allowed that to hold, but the Jh on the river gave bbs99 the better set, leaving bakaunko ousted in tenth place with $7,906.00 for the bubble spot.

With that, the final nine players were established as follows:

Seat 1: Liqqa (6,120,206 in chips)
Seat 2: reef2287 (7,994,226 in chips)
Seat 3: ckingusc (14,669,864 in chips)
Seat 4: *xen (10,831,038 in chips)
Seat 5: Rabbiej (4,577,660 in chips)
Seat 6: 1GENERAL_TAO (6,775,126 in chips)
Seat 7: bbs99 (16,753,871 in chips)
Seat 8: tpreston (4,310,041 in chips)
Seat 9: bigsexyKN (7,027,968 in chips)

With bbs99 in the chip lead from the start of the action, Zachary "ckingusc" King was not far behind and looking to add another title to his already impressive resume. Many will remember him for his 2008 WCOOP main event win only a few months ago. To remind yourself of that brilliant win, watch our WCOOP main event highlight show right here...

Though action began rather slowly, bigsexyKN had no complaints as he doubled through bbs99 to stay alive. But eliminations would come soon.

With tpreston sitting on one of the shorter stacks, the move was inevitable. After reef2287 started the hand with a preflop raise, tpreston reraised all-in with Ad-Kc, but reef2287 called with pocket kings. The board came an uneventful Jc-Td-7d-3c-9h, and tpreston accepted $11,068.40 for the ninth place finish.

Rabbiej wasn't afraid to move some chips around and soon doubled through bigsexyKN to climb to over 9 million chips. But soon after, looking at a raise from *xen, Rabbiej reraised all-in with As-Jc. There wasn't much hesitation on the part of *xen to call with pocket kings, and the 3c-7s-8h flop came down in support of that. The 2h on the turn was good for the pair as well, and the Ks on the river just solidified the outcome that gave Rabbiej an eighth place finish and $18,183,80 to go with it.

Next at risk was bigsexyKN, who started the hand with a raise. When ckingusc came in for a reraise, bigsexyKN pushed all-in for more than 9 million chips with Ad-Kc. ckingusc called with Ah-Jd but caught the key card on the flop of Jc-Qs-3h. The 6d on the turn and 8h on the river made it hold, and bigsexyKN was out with a seventh place finish worth $27,671.00.

The next significant hand began with *xen making an all-in move preflop but 1GENERAL_TAO calling all-in for his last 8,925,126 with pocket jacks. *xen turned over Kc-Qd, and the race was on. That was until the flop came Td-Ts-Qh. With an uneventful 4h on the turn and 3c on the river, *xen won the pot with the higher two pair, and 1GENERAL_TAO was forced out in sixth place with a $40,320.60 consolation prize.

The tournament life of Liqqa was the next to be on the line with the short-stacked player all-in preflop holding Jh-8c in the small blind. But reef2287 was there with the call and Ad-8h, the dominating hand. The board ran out Qd-Kc-8d-As-6c, and that was all it took to eliminate Liqqa in fifth place, which was worth $56,132.60.

Despite reef2287's elimination of Liqqa, reef2287 was unable to gain much momentum and finally pushed all-in preflop with 9c-2s from the small blind. But ckingusc wouldn't let that go and made the call with pocket eights from the big blind. The board brought nothing for the short stack when it produced Js-4d-3d-7s-As to eliminate reef2287 in fourth place with $71,944.60.

Three-handed play began and continued for some time, and with ckingusc uninterested in any chop talk, the trio played it out. Finally, after an initial raise by ckingusc, bbs99 raised it up, but ckingusc did the same. bbs99 responded with an all-in move with pocket deuces, and ckingusc called with Js-8s. The board gave ckingusc the advantage on the flop when it came 9d-3d-Jc, and the Ks turn and 4s river finished the hand, leaving bbs99 out in third place with $88,547.20 for the effort.

Heads-up action started with the following counts:

Seat 3: ckingusc (48,778,949 in chips)
Seat 4: *xen (30,281,051 in chips)

As ckingusc extended the chip lead, it was up to *xen to look for a spot and make a serious move to reverse the trend. That happened when *xen pushed all-in preflop with Ah-Kd versus the pocket fours of ckingusc. The board came Ac-5h-9d-8c-9h, giving the double-up to *xen, along with the chip lead.

The heads-up battle soon verged on epic, as *xen kept the chip lead for some time but ckingusc never gave up or got involved without the goods. ckingusc took a 12 million-chip pot to tighten the difference between the two at one point, but *xen continued to chip away at the 2008 WCOOP champion.

Eventually, ckingusc found his spot. The hand started with a raise from *xen, a reraise from ckingusc, and all-in move by *xen, and an all-in call from ckingusc with pocket eights, which were up against the Ks-Th of *xen. The board brought 6s-Ts-Qd-Kh-8s to give ckingusc the double-up and the 2-to-1 chip lead.

It only took a few hands for *xen to feel the need to push, and he did it preflop with pocket nines. It just so happened that ckingusc woke up with pocket jacks on the same hand and had *xen dominated. The board reduced the short stacks' outs as it came 2c-7h-Ks-8s, and the Jc only served to seal the deal and give *xen a second place finish. A solid payout of $130,607.12 was the reward.

With that, Zachary "ckingusc" King, became the latest Sunday Million champion, with a $193,697.00 prize to show for it. More importantly, King added a Sunday Million title to his solid list of online poker accomplishments, which included the impressive 2008 WCOOP main event victory in September of 2008, which was worth $1,265,432 and much respect in the poker community. With this Sunday Million title and nearly $200,000 to add to his resume, the young poker pro can be proud of this victory. Congratulations!

Sunday Million Results for 03/22/09:

1st place: ckingusc ($193,697.00)
2nd place: *xen ($130,607.12)
3rd place: bbs99 ($88,547.20)
4th place: reef2287 ($71,944.60)
5th place: Liqqa ($56,132.60)
6th place: 1GENERAL_TAO ($40,320.60)
7th place: bigsexyKN ($27,671.00)
8th place: Rabbiej ($18,183.80)
9th place: tpreston ($11,068.40)

For more information on ways to register and qualify for upcoming Sunday Million tournaments, visit the Sunday Million page.

As for tonight's action at the $215 buy-in Sunday Warm-up 4,353 easily crushed the $750,000 guarantee again and ramped up the first prize to $112,307,40 and assured five figure paydays to eight different players.

Here's how we arrived at the final nine:

A nice run by Team PokerStars Pro Noah "Exclusive" Boeken (199th place winning $957.66) ended on an open button push with Ah-9s and lara15fiona awaited in the big blind with Ad-Qs. lara15fiona would promptly flop broadway and sent the Dutch pro out of the tournament. With three tables left, not to mention several hours later, lara15fiona would still be using Boeken's chips on a run towards the final table but ultimately finishing a respectable 23rd place ($1,828.26).

Joining lara on this late table run was none other than James "mig.com" Mackey who's 2007 WCOOP main event final table netted him almost $600,000 for third place (report found here) and winning Event #14 ($1,050 NLHE) the same year for another $580,212.50, read about that win here.

Another player who is familiar to late play in big online tournaments, grebnrets86, was sitting near the top of the leaderboard with two tables left, just two weeks ago claimed the runner-up prize in the Sunday Warm-up ($76,014.00).

mig.com would knock out mppowerm in 11th after turning a set of nines against mppowerm's A8o to leap from mid pack to near the top in chip counts. After dishing out some chips and taking them back via steals, mig.com would send ronnyr3 home as the bubble boy when mig.com turned up Ad-Th to ronnyr3's Kh-Qd and neither connected on the Js-Jc-6d-9c-6c board and Mackey's Ace high produced our final table.

Seat 1: don_beppe (2612658 in chips)
Seat 2: Buton77 (12005148 in chips)
Seat 3: Ar Schaflme (4502712 in chips)
Seat 4: grebnrets86 (3781982 in chips)
Seat 5: dj_ponytale (2621644 in chips)
Seat 6: DeacNutt (1684826 in chips)
Seat 7: p5an (2705570 in chips)
Seat 8: mig.com (8973176 in chips)
Seat 9: Quagmire (4642284 in chips)

Buton77 wasted no time to expandhis lead as the fifth hand at the final table he would be responsible for its first knock-out. With blinds at 80,000/160,000 ante 16,000 and folded around to don_beppe in middle position, he would open shove for his 2.5 million chips with pocket eights (8c-8d) and receive a snap call by Buton77 on his direct left. Buton77 turned up a slightly better pocket pair of aces (Ah-Ac) which would hold on the 3c-Ks-2s-3s-As board. don_beppe would have to settle for ninth place and the $7,051.86 that came with it.

Fifteen hands would go by before DeacNutt and Ar Schaflme would actually produce cards in the middle of the board. Post flop play went by quickly however with DeacNutt taking down the 849,424 chip pot with a 640,000 chip flop bet.

At the break the chip counts stood as shown below with Buton77 stack dwarfing the field and mig.com sitting in second:

Seat 2: Buton77 (15256806 in chips)
Seat 3: Ar Schaflme (2877000 in chips)
Seat 4: grebnrets86 (5068982 in chips)
Seat 5: dj_ponytale (1923744 in chips)
Seat 6: DeacNutt (2673438 in chips)
Seat 7: p5an (2164570 in chips)
Seat 8: mig.com (8440176 in chips)
Seat 9: Quagmire (5125284 in chips)

Mackey would claim his first final table victim in the form of p5an. Folded around to p5an sitting on the button with the short stack and pocket sevens (7c-7h) a push seemed to be an easy decision. Unfortunately, that 460,000 pre-flop pot would not be sliding his way as mig.com woke up with pocket kings (Kh-Kd). The kings proved to be enough on the 4c-3h-Tc-2h-4h board with mig.com being the benefactor of the 3.8 million chip pot increasing his total to nearly nine million. For eighth place p5an got a five figure send off in the form of $10,882.50 added to his PokerStars account.

Six hands later, the other big gun at the table, grebnrets86 would get his hands deep into the battle for that $112K first prize as he tangled with Ar Schaflme pre-flop. Folded around to Ar Schaflme in the cutoff he would shove his remaining 2.8 million into the middle and got a customer in the form of a re-raise from grebnrets86 on the button. The blinds got the message to sit this one out. Ad-Td for grebnrets86, a dominated As-7h for Ar Schaflme, and there was no drama once again as grenbnrets86 would flop two pair and river the nut flush on the Tc-Qd-Ah-Kd-9d board for the 6.1 million chip pot sending Ar Schaflme home in seventh place ($17,412.00).

You know how people compare the live game with the speed of the online game? Well, the next bust out happen quicker then I could type out the amount won by Ar Schaflme! The very next hand grebnrets86 sended another player out of his seat. Opening from the cutoff for 478,987 grebnrets86 would push DeacNutt's in the big blind into making a decision for his chips. The decision was clear that Ah-Jc was the hand to double-up or go home with as DeacNutt shoved his nearly two million chips into the middle. grebnrets86 would make the call with pocket ducks (2h-2d) and the race was on for DeacNutt's tournament life. Only this race lasted slightly longer then a bad TV sitcom pilot, as grebnrets86 would flop a set of twos and river a boat on the 2s-9h-5h-6d-9c board leaving DeacNutt with nothing left to hold but the $26,118.00 he received in sixth place.

Eight hands later would be the biggest hand of the tournament to this point as the two heavyweights would collide for all of their chips pre-flop. mig.com would start the betting by raising to 510,000 with the blinds at 100,000/200,000 ante 20,000. grebnrets86 would counter with a re-raise from the small blind to 1.6 million. To which Mackey had an answer of "all-in", and grebnrets86 took a look at his cards and responded likewise.

grebnrets86: [Td-Ts]
mig.com: [5h-5s]

Well behind, Mackey still had 177K chip in his stack but wouldn't need them, as the pretty looking five of diamonds hit the 5d-Js-9h flop. 8d on the turn opened up straight possibilities as well as the other two tens, but Ad came instead and grebnrets86 couldn't improve on his runner-up finish this evening and had to settle for a $34,824.00 bad beat story in fifth place. Mackey's stack would take over the chip lead as a result of the 22.1 million chip pot.

dj_ponytale tried to dance with the seemingly bulletproof Mackey next as he would shove as 1.9 million chips in from the cutoff and getting a call from Mackey on the button. This time it was mig.com's turn to dominate as his Ah-9c was ahead of dj_ponytale's Ad-6d. The Kh-Qd-4d flop heavily favored dj_ponytale as he got some light with the nut flush draw. 9s on the turn changed nothing, and the As on the river stopped the music for dj_ponytale in fourth place for $43,530.00, perhaps enough for a new turntable.

Buton77 would snag a five million chip pot off mig.com to pull the race closer two hands later. Quagmire stayed out of their way until he faced a push holding Ks-Jc from Mackey into his big blind. mig.com only held Jh-9d and with the 8s-Ad-As-4s-5h board, 7.5 million chips and a new life headed into Quagmire's stack. But, with the blinds moving up to 125,000/250,000 ante 25,000 moves would need to be made to hang on to those chips. Buton77 raised to 615,000 into Quagmire's big blind and with a little more force in his stack he would shove over the top for 6.2 million total with just 2d-9d hoping to increase his stack even more. Buton77 had the cards to make the call and did while exposing pocket sevens. A deuce would hit the flop but the 2h-6c-Jc-3d-Th board showed Buton77's sevens were the victor. $52,236.00 was Quagmire's to keep in third place as heads-up play was about to begin.

Buton77 (23,569,374 in chips)
mig.com (19,960,626 in chips)

Fairly even stacks as both players would begin their joust for the $112K first prize with the blinds still at 125,000/250,000 ante 25,000.

The first minor shot came with mig.com taking down a 3.75 million chip pot when they both agreed to finally see a flop of 6s-7c-8s after the two traded pre-flop raises and mig.com's 2.25 million chip bet took it down. Buton77 would counter back while taking his own 4.55 million chip pot a few hands later when his 2.7 million chip bet on a flop of Qs-3d-Qh was not called and he regained his small chip lead.

"Along as there are outs, you still have a chance to win" might be tad overstated and bland to read. But when there's a $30K difference in prize money on the line, a roller coaster of emotions going from elation to defeat and back to happy-land again might require a strong heart watching those outs produce on the board.

The final hand started out innocently enough as Buton77 raised to 600,000 from the button and got a call from Mackey to see a 8h-As-Th flop. mig.com checked as Buton77 followed thru with a bet of 815,000. Then the fireworks started, mig.com check-raised to 2.5 million, Buton77 countered with a three-bet to six million, and mig.com made it four bets for nearly twenty million. Definitely, a nut check holding just middle pair with $30K on the line and Ts-6s, but Buton77 would make the correct call and mig.com showed the semi-bluff of 9d-7h. An open ended straight draw for Mackey would fill on the 6d turn but still gave Buton77 outs to a boat.

You see where this going?

River: Td

Tens full boat for Buton77 and at the end of the roller coaster, the $112,307.40 for this week's Sunday Warm-up Champion! Mackey added yet another huge tournament score in second place banking $78,354.00 as the runner-up.

Be sure to check PokerStars.TV tomorrow as the hole cards of the final table will be exposed to all with great commentary.

Sunday Warm-up Results (03-22-09)
1. Buton77 $112,307.40
2. mig.com $78,354.00
3. Quagmire $52,236.00
4. dj_ponytale $43,530.00
5. grebnrets86 $34,824.00
6. DeacNutt $26,118.00
7. Ar Schaflme $17,412.00
8. p5an $10,882.50
9. don_beppe $7,051.86

by Host Bob

Prior to the final team selection tournament, there were still six members of the All Star Challengers team that had not secured a match in the All Star Week line-up. With only five spots left to fill, at least one person was going to miss out.

As it turned out, two of those six were finally able to break through. Dutch Supernova Elite busto_soon rode comfortably into third place and selected Isabelle Mercier as his single opponent for the series. The result delighted his legions of railbird fans who had been eagerly awaiting this chance to cheer. 1ofaKind420, a 2008 Yearly TLB Top 50 player, made harder work of qualifying but did enough to take the fifth spot for the day. He will take on Lee Nelson in Sunday's 16:00 ET Stud Hi/Lo match.

The day's other qualifiers are already firmly entrenched in the All Star Week schedule and will be challenging for the team MVP award. The first man to choose from Sunday's games was Pole kAmIkAdZeE. His fourth match for the week will be the potentially crucial final match of the series against Greg Raymer.

Second choice went to the red-hot Supernova Elite 'psimalive', who made it three in a row today - a unique feat during the week's tournaments. He exercised his option on the 12:00 ET match with Vicky Coren. It was another four-time winner that took the remaining match in the schedule. Sumpas will take on Chad Brown in the penultimate match of All Star Week.

Battle commences for real tomorrow, and you can follow all the action here on the blog. The full schedule of matches is as follows:

Monday
Match 1 [NLHE] 12:00 Vicky Coren Vs Sumpas
Match 2 [NLHE] 14:00 Lee Nelson Vs kAmIkAdZeEe
Match 3 [STUD] 16:00 Chad Brown Vs Bookie1978
Match 4 [NLHE] 18:00 Isabelle Mercier Vs PKerBL
Match 5 [NLHE] 20:00 Dennis Phillips Vs bluffblocker

Tuesday
Match 1 [NLHE] 12:00 Katja Thater Vs oblowski512
Match 2 [NLHE] 14:00 Marcin Horecki Vs kAmIkAdZeEe
Match 3 [PLO8] 16:00 Noah Boeken Vs Canuck
Match 4 [NLHE] 18:00 Alex Kravchenko Vs VOLCANO360
Match 5 [NLHE] 20:00 JC Alvarado Vs 666 INRI

Wednesday
Match 1 [NLHE] 12:00 ElkY Vs VOLCANO360
Match 2 [NLHE] 14:00 Victor Ramdin Vs Aryamehr
Match 3 [PLO] 16:00 William Thorson Vs Canuck
Match 4 [NLHE] 18:00 Vanessa Rousso Vs PKerBL
Match 5 [NLHE] 20:00 Chris Moneymaker Vs bluffblocker

Thursday
Match 1 [NLHE] 12:00 ElkY Vs PKerBL
Match 2 [NLHE] 14:00 Vanessa Rousso Vs Sumpas
Match 3 [LHE] 16:00 Ylon Schwartz Vs Aryamehr
Match 4 [NLHE] 18:00 Alex Kravchenko Vs oblowski512
Match 5 [NLHE] 20:00 Chris Moneymaker Vs Gunslinger3

Friday
Match 1 [NLHE] 12:00 Katja Thater Vs GoMukYaSelf
Match 2 [NLHE] 14:00 Andre Akkari Vs bluffblocker
Match 3 [5CD-limit] 16:00 Barry Greenstein Vs Canuck
Match 4 [NLHE] 18:00 Humberto Brenes Vs psimalive
Match 5 [NLHE] 20:00 Daniel Negreanu Vs lordhuttyx

Saturday
Match 1 [NLHE] 12:00 Victor Ramdin Vs psimalive
Match 2 [NLHE] 14:00 Steve Paul-Ambrose Vs Sumpas
Match 3 [O8] 16:00 Greg Raymer Vs Canuck
Match 4 [NLHE] 18:00 Humberto Brenes Vs kAmIkAdZeEe
Match 5 [NLHE] 20:00 Joe Hachem Vs 666 INRI

Sunday
Match 1 [NLHE] 12:00 Vicky Coren Vs psimalive
Match 2 [NLHE] 14:00 Isabelle Mercier Vs busto_soon
Match 3 [STUD8] 16:00 Lee Nelson Vs 1ofaKind420
Match 4 [NLHE] 18:00 Chad Brown Vs Sumpas
Match 5 [NLHE] 20:00 Greg Raymer Vs kAmIkAdZeEe

by Host Bob

In contrast to the fresh faces produced by Friday's team selection tournament, all five of Saturday's winners were already booked into the All Star Week schedule.

The first match selection fell to Canuck (a name we've been hearing a lot this week), who stuck to his previous form and chose the day's non-NLHE option. He will take on Greg Raymer in an intriguing Limit Omaha Hi/Lo contest. After going zero from four in the early stages of team selection, American Supernova Elite psimalive has produced two wins in two days. He used his second choice on the 14:00 ET match with Team PS Pro captain Victor Ramdin.

kAmIkAdZeEe returned to the winner's circle on Saturday, after three days outside the top five players. His third match of All Star Week will be against Humberto Brenes at 18:00 ET. The result puts him firmly back in the race for the team MVP title.

Also gaining a third spot in the All Star Week itinerary was 2008 WCOOP Main Event final tableist Sumpas. The Swede will come up against 2006 PCA champion Steve Paul-Ambrose.

The prospect of a clash with Joe Hachem awaited the final member of the top five. The honour fell to a Supernova Elite hailing from Germany, 666 INRI. Joe is one of only a handful of players with lifetime live tournament winnings in excess of $10,000,000, so 666 INRI has an intimidating task ahead of him. With just five matches remaining after this game, it could be a crucial clash.

There are now ten players with two or more matches on the All Star Week card - all of whom will be in with a chance of securing the MVP award. The 1-Stamp PokerStars Passport will hinge on who has the talent and the nerve to claim victory in their respective matches.

The fans are currently backing the Pros to win by 996 votes to 699. The Challengers will be determined to prove a lot of people wrong!

by Host Scotty

There were sighs of relief from several members of the All Star Challengers team on Day 5 of team selection, as we saw three new names appear on the All Star Week schedule.
After multiple near misses, lordhuttyx, GoMukYaSelf and psimalive all secured a first match in next week's series.

lordhuttyx squeezed in this time around with the lowest stack, and found himself with a tricky match against Daniel Negreanu in the 20:00 ET slot. GoMukYaSelf has had a tough run in the daily selection tournaments and will be delighted to finally gain a berth in the All Star Week. He held second place when discussions began and decided to take on Friday's opening match against WSOP Razz bracelet winner Katja Thater.

psimalive got to choose right after GoMukYaSelf and selected Team PokerStars Pro's most colorful character as his opponent - Humberto Brenes. Costa Rica's Godfather of Poker has been quite a handful in his appearances in the Weekly TLB challenge matches. He'll be a tricky obstacle to overcome in the 18:00 ET Match 4.

The remaining qualifiers for the day both secured their third matches in All Star Week. Supernova Elite bluffblocker finished this selection tournament with the chiplead and chose to take on a man he has already encountered numerous times at the PokerStars tables - Andre Akkari.

Completing the quintet of Challengers for Friday was Canuck. He kept up his run of taking the non-NLHE option by agreeing to face Barry Greenstein at Limit 5-Card Draw. He will also be seen in the PLO and PLO8 matches of All Star Week.

In qualifying for a third time, bluffblocker and Canuck moved into a three-way tie for the Challengers MVP award with PKerBL. There are five other team members that have two games apiece that will be looking to improve in the last two days of team selection over the weekend.

Come back to the blog to find out which of the Challengers is rising to the occasion, or follow the action for yourself at 16:00 ET on the PokerStars software. The team selection tournaments can be found under the Events > Special tab, alongside the supporter tourneys and the All Star Week matches themselves.

In the late hours of Day 2, Tournament Director Mike Ward began joking with 20 year-old Norwegian Karl Hevroy. Ward called the young online poker player "Houdini." At first, it was an inside joke between the two men. Tonight, it has a lot more meaning.

Hevroy is, in fact, the LAPT's master of escape. No matter how dire the situation, no matter how deep the hole, no matter how sure the lock, Hevroy managed to get free. The result? One very impressive feat of magic, $283,500, and an LAPT title.

Three hundred twenty-seven players started this event three days ago. The top 36 walked away with cash, but the big money was handed out tonight at the final table.

Nine people from around the world made it to this ultimate felt. Here's how they stacked up going into final table action (you can learn more about the players at our LAPT Punta del Este final table profiles report).

Seat 1: Andre Ventura 103,000
Seat 2: Oliver Rowe 412,000
Seat 3: Bolivar Palacios 167,000
Seat 4: Waldemar Cago 263,000
Seat 5: Karl Hevroy 1,079,000
Seat 6: Magno Aragao 153,000
Seat 7: Angel Guillen 572,000
Seat 8: Alejandro De Arruabarrena 397,000
Seat 9: Ron Wasiel 134,000

Andre Ventura was the comeback story of the tournament. At the end of Day 2, Ventura got pocket sixes in against queens and was crippled to 13,000 chips--less than one big blind. Within an hour, Ventura had doubled up a few times and made the final table.

On the very first hand of the final table, Angel Guillén came in for a raise. Ventura pushed all in with pocket queens and got got called by Guillén's A-7. Ventura doubled up and looked to go deep. It took a minor cooler to bust him.

After Ventura opened for 41,000, Oliver Rowe reraised to 101,000, Ventura moved all in for 153,000 total and Rowe quickly called. It wasn't pretty: Ventura's Jh-Jd against Rowe's Qs-Qd. Ventura's chorus of railbirds started chanting "Jota! Jota! Jota!" imploring for a jack on the flop for their man.

The flop, though, came down 9h-5h-2s. The "jota" chorus turned into the "corazon" choir when the Kh appeared on the turn, Ventura picking up a flush draw, but he couldn't get there, the 3d landing on the river to eliminate him in 9th place.

Magno Aragao was without a doubt one of the most affectionate poker players we have ever seen. When someone won, when someone lost, when someone looked like they just might need it, Aragao offered a giant, warm, manly hug. In our time as poker reporters, we have only one person offer so many hugs. That top spot was once held by Gentleman John Gale at the 2005 PokerStars Caribbean Adventure. Mr. Gale, you have some competition in the Department of Affection.

Eventually, there came a time when Aragao needed a hug. Under-the-gun and with only 30,000 remaining, Magno Aragao dribbled his remaining chips into the middle and got two callers in Oliver Rowe and big blind Karl Hevroy. The flop came down Ts-7c-5c. Hevroy checked, Rowe bet 40,000 and Hevroy folded. With no more action to be had, the cards were turned up. Aragao held Qd-Qc to Rowe's Jc-Td.

The room buzzed as Aragao's pocket queens were revealed. Were we going to witness yet another amazing comeback? The turn was the 8h. Now Aragao was really sweating, as Rowe could win with a ten, a jack or a nine. And the river... was the 9h, making him a jack-high straight.

The always-affectionate Aragao hugged his opponent before heading out to collect his $26,640 in winnings.

It had only been a couple of days since we saw Bolivar Palacios take seventh place in the LAPT Mexico event. Today, he came here looking to better that performance. He was in pretty good shape to do that after a couple of timely double-ups in the early going. His Panamanian Rat Pack of poker players cheered him with as much gusto as any other group in the room. Finally, Palacios picked up a big hand and got his chips in with two black queens. He was racing against Alejandro De Arruabarrena's As-Ks.

All looked well on the early part of the board. The first four cards came out 5d-4h-4s-7c. Then that ugly Kd fell on the river and Palacios was out in seventh place...again. He earned $37,740.

If you're the kind to root for an underdog, Waldemar Cogo was your man today. Short-stacked for his entire time here, he managed to turn one big blind into a couple of money jumps. Every time it looked like he was out, the cards brought him back in. Ultimately, he used the last of his nine lives. With the action folded to the small blind, Oliver Rowe completed, Cogo moved all in and Rowe made the call. It was the Ks-7h for Rowe, dominating Cogo's Kh-3s. The board ran out Kc-5s-2d-Jd-4s and Cogo headed out the door in sixth place. He won $48,840.

With Cogo gone, most of the stacks at the table were pretty big. We expected things to go slowly. They did not.

The next big hand was the kind that could make a player give up the game forever. On a flop of Js-9s-3h Oliver Rowe led out for 50,000 from the small blind and Karl Hevroy called.

The Kd came on the turn and Rowe considered for several minutes before settling on a bet of 115,000. Hevroy moved in and Rowe quickly called, showing 3d-3c for bottom set to Hevroy's Kc-Qh. The young Norwegian who entered the final table as the dominant chip leader was now drawing to only four outs that would save his tournament life.

What happened next was the stuff of tin foil hats. The Th landed on the river. Hevroy made a king-high straight and claimed the rest of Rowe's stack. Rowe's face told the story.

With Rowe out of the way, short-stacked Ron Wasiel finally gave up the ghost. He got the rest of his chips in on a flop of Td-Ts-9s and Karl Hevroy made the call. Wasiel was in a tough spot, his Js-9c up against Hevroy's pocket jacks. The 8c on the turn gave him some outs to a chop should a seven or a queen appear, but the 3c hit the river, giving the hand to Hevroy and sending Wasiel to the rail in fourth place.

We all started to learn our lesson on the next hand. The lesson?

Don't ever count out Karl Hevroy when he's behind.

Angel Guillen opened from the button for 64,000. Hevroy bumped it to 210,000 from the big blind and Guillen quickly moved all in. Hevroy made the call.

Guillen had his opponent dominated, holding the Ac-Jh to Hevroy's As-Tc. But remember what we told you...

The flop came down Qd-Ts-6c, pairing up Hevroy. The crowd roared in a mixture of celebration and total disbelief. The turn was the 6h, the river was the 7d, and just like that, Hevroy had claimed another victim.

And so we went to heads-up play. How long would you expect it to take when Hevroy had a nearly 6-1 chip lead on Alejandro De Arruabarrena?

Answer: One hand.

Alejandro De Arruabarrena completed the small blind and Karl Hevroy checked his option. The flop came down 9c-9d-8s. Hevroy checked over to De Arruabarrena, who bet 70,000. Hevroy called. The turn brought the 4h and another check from Hevroy. De Arruabarrena fired another 100,000, Hevroy moved all in and De Arruabarrena called.

It was all over as soon as the cards were turned up. Hevroy had flopped the nut full house with 8h-9h. De Arruabarrena was drawing dead, holding the Qd-Js. No river card was necessary, but for posterity's sake, we'll let you know it was the 4c.

Hevroy leapt from his chair and embraced his friends on the rail. It's probably the most emotion we've ever seen from a Scandinavian poker player.

De Arruabarrena was gracious and shook the young man's hand, wearing the same bewildered look that so many opponents have shown after playing a hand with this one-man wrecking crew.

Afterward, Hevroy could barely speak. Just a few days ago, he was having trouble withdrawing money from his online account. He borrowed $4,000 from a friend to buy in. Now, he is $283,500 richer.

"I'm so happy, I don't feel like I know anything. It's so sick," Hevroy said.

If there's any way to sum it up, it was this final quote from the man with the trophy.

"I had a few moments where I was in danger," he said,"and then I luckboxed my way out of it."

Congratulations to Karl Hevroy on his knockout win.

For a look back at our coverage from the day, check out any of the links below.

Final table player profiles Level 19 live updates continued
Level 20 live updates
Level 21 live updates
Level 22 live updates
Level 23 live updates

Of course, we hope you take the time to go over to PokerStars.tv and check out all the great video blogs there. If the Spanish or Portuguese word is more your style, please head over to the coverage on the PokerStars Spanish blog and PokerStars Brazilian blog

For a complete look at the winners in this event, see our LAPT Punta del Este payouts page.

The next stop on the Latin America Poker Tour will be our final of the second season. Join us in just a few weeks as we cover the finale in Mar del Plata, Argentina.

All photography Joe Giron/IMPDI

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Last update 9:12pm

9:12pm-- Karl Hevroy wins the LAPT Punta del Este ($283,500), Alejandro De Arruabarrena eliminated in 2nd place ($155,420)

I think the entire room agrees. It's good to be Karl Hevroy. And we all want to run as well as he does.

Heads-up play took exactly one hand. Alejandro De Arruabarrena completed the small blind and Karl Hevroy checked his option. The flop came down 9c-9d-8s. Hevroy checked over to De Arruabarrena, who bet 70,000. Hevroy called. The turn brought the 4h and another check from Hevroy. De Arruabarrena fired another 100,000, Hevroy moved all in and De Arruabarrena called.

It was all over as soon as the cards were turned up. Hevroy had flopped the nut full house with 8h-9h. De Arruabarrena was drawing dead, holding the Qd-Js. No river card was necessary, but for posterity's sake, we'll let you know it was the 4c.

Hevroy leapt from his chair and embraced his friends on the rail. It's probably the most emotion we've ever seen from a Scandinavian poker player. De Arruabarrena was gracious and shook the young man's hand, wearing the same bewildered look that so many opponents have shown after playing a hand with this one-man wrecking ball.

Congratulations to Karl Hevroy, our newest LAPT champion. We'll have a full wrap-up of all the final table action shortly.

9:06pm--Back in action

Heads-up play has just started. Blinds will go up in a matter of minutes.

8:59pm--Time to go

The players are coming back from dinner. While we wait, check out what our chip leader had to say before play started today.

Watch LAPT Punta del Este S2: Karl Hevroy - Final Tablist on PokerStars.tv

7:48pm--Updated heads-up chip counts

Karl Hevroy -- 2,927,000
Alejandro De Arruabarrena --543,000

7:41pm--Dinner break

Before we get to the heads-up match, the players are going for a bite of dinner. We'll be back at 9:00pm local time.

7:32pm-- Angel Guillen eliminated in 3rd place ($99,120)

Don't ever count out Karl Hevroy when he's behind.

Angel Guillen opened from the button for 64,000. Hevroy bumped it to 210,000 from the big blind and Guillen quickly moved all in. Hevroy made the call.

Guillen had his opponent dominated, holding the Ac-Jh to Hevroy's As-Tc. But remember what we told you...

The flop came down Qd-Ts-6c, pairing up Hevroy. The crowd roared in a mixture of celebration and total disbelief. The turn was the 6h, the river was the 7d, and just like that, Hevroy had claimed another victim.

"Luckbox," Hevroy said, patting his chest and looking back at the crowd.

With that, we're now on a 75-minute dinner break. We'll be back just before 9 p.m. local time (EDT+1).

7:22pm-- Ron Wasiel eliminated in 4th place ($82,160)

Ron Wasiel got the rest of his chips in on a flop of Td-Ts-9s and Karl Hevroy made the call. Wasiel was in a tough spot, his Js-9c up against Hevroy's pocket jacks. The 8c on the turn gave him some outs to a chop should a seven or a queen appear, but the 3c hit the river, giving the hand to Hevroy and sending Wasiel to the rail in fourth place.

Here's an interview with Wasiel from a little earlier.

Watch LAPT Punta del Este S2: Ronald Wasiel Final Tablist on PokerStars.tv

7:06pm-- Oh, the humanity... Oliver Rowe drowns on the river, finishes fifth ($59,960)

It was the kind of hand that could make a player give up the game forever. On a flop of Js-9s-3h Oliver Rowe led out for 50,000 from the small blind and Karl Hevroy called.

The Kd came on the turn and Rowe considered for several minutes before settling on a bet of 115,000. Hevroy moved in and Rowe quickly called, showing 3d-3c for bottom set to Hevroy's Kc-Qh. The young Norwegian who entered the final table as the dominant chip leader was now drawing to only four outs that would save his tournament life.

And in a stroke of luck that made us all want to break out our tin foil hats, the Th landed on the river. Hevroy made a king-high straight and claimed the rest of Rowe's stack.

Wow. I mean, just... wow.

"Just like your queen from last night!" exclaimed a railbird as Hevroy circled the table in a daze.

"This is worse," he replied.

Hevroy is still stacking up his massive lake of chips, but our estimate puts his chip count close to the 2 million mark.

Here is an interview we did with Rowe...back when we all still believed in justice.

Watch LAPT Punta del Este S2: Oliver Rowe Final Day on PokerStars.tv

6:57pm--Anyone want to see a flop?

In the 22 minutes that have ticked off the clock since returning from break, we've seen precious few flops. A pre-flop raise has been typically met with a reraise from the blinds and then a fold from the opening bettor. While Karl Hevroy and Angel Guillen still control most of the chips in play, Ron Wasiel's stack has been whittled down quite a bit by the blinds and antes.

6:30pm--On break

Players are on a short break before coming back to 15,000/30,000/3,000 blinds. Updated chip counts are:

Seat 2: Oliver Rowe 613,000
Seat 5: Karl Hevroy 1,052,000
Seat 7: Angel Guillen 760,000
Seat 8: Alejandro De Arruabarrena 450,000
Seat 9: Ron Wasiel 295,000

Click refresh to see the latest updates.

Last update 5:51pm

6:11pm--A moving look at the final table

Watch LAPT Punta del Este S2: Final Table Intro on PokerStars.tv

6:01pm--Hevroy takes a chunk out of Guillén

Karl Hevroy raised from the small blind and Guillén called out of the big (it's becoming a bit of a common thing these days). The flop fell Kh-Jh-7d and 90,000 came out of Hevroy's stack. Guillén called. The Qc on the turn slowed both players down. They checked and saw the Jd on the river. Now, Hevroy bet 170,000. Guillén seemed to be considering a raise, but eventually just called to see Hevroy's A-J.

5:51pm-- Waldemar Cogo eliminated in sixth place ($48,840)

Waldemar Cogo has used the last of his nine lives. With the action folded to the small blind, Oliver Rowe completed, Cogo moved all in and Rowe made the call. It was the Ks-7h for Rowe, dominating Cogo's Kh-3s. The board ran out Kc-5s-2d-Jd-4s and Cogo headed out the door in sixth place.

5:39pm--Cogo can't, won't, and don't stop

Waldemar Cogo just keeps doubling up. He doesn't have a lot of chips, but as long as he keeps winning, he's not going anywhere. Just a couple of hands after doubling through Angel Guillén once, Cogo did it again.

Cogo went all in for his final few chips from the button and got the call Guillén in the big blind.

Cogo: Kh-Jc
Guillén: 5c-Td

The board ran out Ah-Th-Kc-3s-2d and the Little Cogo (his nickname, not one we gave him) is still here.

5:30pm--Bolivar Palacios eliminated seventh place ($37,740)

It;s only been a couple of days since we saw Bolivar Palacios take seventh place in the LAPT Mexico event. Today, he came here looking to better that performance. He was in pretty good shape to do that after a couple of timely double-ups in the early going. Finally, he picked up a big hand and got his chips in with two black queens. He was racing against Alejandro De Arruabarrena's As-Ks.

All looked well on the early part of the board. The first four cards came out 5d-4h-4s-7c. Then that ugly Kd fell on the river and Palacios was out in seventh place...again.

5:23pm--Moving up

The remaining seven players are now on 12,000/24,000/2,000 blinds.

Click refresh to see the latest updates.

Last update 5:11pm

5:20pm--Half-million pot in battle of the blinds

After play folded around to the blind, Karl Hevroy raised to 60,000 out of the small blinid and Angel Guillén called in the big. The flop showed Qd-2d-6h. Hevroy bet out 80,000 and Guillén called. The turn brought the 3c. Hevroy didn't slow down and put out a bet of 150,000. Guillén, again, called. The river was the 9d. Hevroy finally backed off and checked. Guillén checked, too.

Wanna guess their hands?

Hevroy had 8-5 to Guillén's 8-6 and Guillén raked a pot worth more than half a million chips.

5:11pm-- Magno Aragao eliminated in 8th place ($26,640)

Under-the-gun and with only 30,000 remaining, Magno Aragao dribbled his remaining chips into the middle and got two callers in Oliver Rowe and big blind Karl Hevroy.

The flop came down Ts-7c-5c. Hevroy checked, Rowe bet 40,000 and Hevroy folded. With no more action to be had, the cards were turned up.

Aragao Qd-Qc
Rowe Jc-Td.

The room buzzed as Aragao's pocket queens were revealed. Were we going to witness yet another amazing comeback?

The turn was the 8h. Now Aragao was really sweating, as Rowe could win with a ten, a jack or a nine. And the river... was the 9h, making him a jack-high straight.

The always-affectionate Aragao hugged (hugged!) his opponent before heading out to collect his $26,640 in winnings.

5:07pm--Waldemar Cogo stays alive again

With only enough chips to pay his big blind, Cogo had no choice in the matter. When play folded to Oliver Rowe on the button, he pushed all-in to drive small blind Bolivia Palacios out of the pot. After Palacios folded, Cogo realized he was ahead.

Oliver Rowe -- Qs-6c

Waldemar Cogo -- Ad-3c

The board ran out Ks-5-s-5c-9c-Kh and Cogo lived to see another hand.

5:02pm-- Now that's a pot

After a thus-far subdued level of play, Angel Guillen and Oliver Rowe finally obliged us with a bit of action. Guillen opened for 42,000 and Rowe made the call. Guillen led out for 51,000 on the Ts-8s-5d flop and was met with a raise from Rowe to 151,000. Not content to give it up, Guillen three bet to 451,000. Apparently it was enough for Rowe, who mucked his hand.

4:43pm-- Another double for Wasiel

Ron Wasiel just earned another double-up courtesy of Magno Aragao. The action played out almost exactly the same as last time, Wasiel moving in for 104,000 from early position and Aragao making the call from the big blind. This time, though, Aragao had the best hand with 5c-5d, racing with Wasiel's Ad-Qc. The board ran out As-7d-2s- Qs-2c, Wasiel making aces up to double his stack and then some to 246,000. Aragao was left crippled with less than a big blind.

4:31pm-- Guillen playing back at Palacios

Bolivar Palacios opened for 60,000 and Angel Guillen made the call. The flop came down 8s-5s-4h. Palacios led at it for 80,000 only to have Guillen almost immediately move in. Looking a bit frustrated and taking off his sunglasses, Palacios reluctantly folded and gave up the pot to Guillen, who currently sits in second place in the chip count.

4:20pm-- Ron Wasiel doubles through Magno Aragao

Extremely short-stacked, Ron Wasiel moved in for his remaining 62,000 and with the action folded around to Magno Aragao in the big blind, he made the call. Wasiel showed the Ad-7d while Aragao turned up the 3c-5c. The Qs-9d-4s flop was safe for Wasiel, but the 6h on the turn gave him pause, Aragao making an open-ended straight draw. A deuce, three, five, or seven could do it for Aragao, but the river fell the As and Wasiel earned a reprieve with a double-up to just over 150,000.

4:16pm-- Updated chip counts

Here's how our remaining eight players stack up as of the first break:

Seat 2: Oliver Rowe 539,000
Seat 3: Bolivar Palacios 313,000
Seat 4: Waldemar Cogo 78,000
Seat 5: Karl Hevroy 1,237,000
Seat 6: Magno Aragao 174,000
Seat 7: Angel Guillen 542,000
Seat 8: Alejandro De Arruabarrena 333,000
Seat 9: Ron Wasiel 64,000

4:12pm--New level

After the break we'll be at 10,000/20,000/2,000 blinds.

Click refresh to see the latest updates.

Last update 4:00pm

4:00--SIETE!!!!!!!!!

Play folded around the the blinds and Bolivar Palacios almost immediately announced "All-in." The only thing faster was Waldemar Cogo's call

Cogo: Ad-Ts

Palacios: Ah-7h

"Lucky siete!" Palacios' crowd yell from the rail. "Vamos siete! Siete! Siete! Siete!"

From this side of the room, but to the guys waving a Panamanian flag scarf, it seemed sure to come. The flop came Kh-2d-3d, but it didn't quiet down the Panamanian Rat Pack.

"SIETE!: they screamed

And there it was. The 7c.

Palacios jumped in the air and landed with both feet flat on the ground, mouth agape, and his arms flexed (think King Kong if Fay Wray had just offered him special favors).

Palacios got a key double up and Cogo is now on the short stack.

We're on a 15 minute break.

3:33 pm-- Hevroy hits the turn

On a flop of Kh-7d-4h, Waldemar Cogo checked over to Karl Hevroy, who bet 52,000. Cago came along with a call and both players checked the 8c on the turn. The river fell the Ad and was met with checks again. Cogo had middle pair on the flop with 9h-7h, but Hevroy caught up on the turn with Ts-8d. Hevroy dragged the pot, adding to his already-formidable chip lead.

3:27pm-- Bolivar Palacios not letting up on the gas

Thus far, Bolivar Palacios has been playing quite aggressively despite his short stack, opening more than his fair share of pots. After open-shoving from early position, and Alejandro De Arruabarrena pondered a call, Palacios taunted, "This game is made for men... I'm not afraid of you!" De Arruabarrena must have believed him, as he gave up his hand and ceded another pot to the Panamanian.

3:09pm-- Andre Ventura eliminated in 9th place ($21,000)

Andre Ventura opened for 41,000, Oliver Rowe reraised to 101,000, Ventura moved all in for 153,000 total and Rowe quickly called. It was a bit of a cooler-- Ventura's Jh-Jd against Rowe's Qs-Qd. Ventura's chorus of railbirds started chanting "Jota! Jota! Jota!" imploring for a jack on the flop for their man.

The flop, though, came down 9h-5h-2s. The "jota" chorus turned into the "corazon" choir when the Kh appeared on the turn, Ventura picking up a flush draw, but he couldn't get there, the 3d landing on the river to eliminate him in 9th place.

3:00pm--Blinds up!

After finishing off the last half of Level 19, we're now in for one hour of 8,000/16,000/1,000 blinds.

Click refresh to see the latest updates.

Last update 2:55pm

2:55pm--Magno Aragao forcing the action

Magno Aragao is not going to be content to sit back and get blinded out today. Two hands ago, he pushed all-in pre-flop and got the blinds and antes. On the next hand, Bolivar Palacios raised to 30,000. Aragao wasted no time before pushing all-in again. Palacios took a long time to fold, but eventually put his cards in the muck. Palacios told Aragao, "I'll see your hand later." While Palacios may see the cards on TV at some point, he's going to have to wonder today. Aragao didn't show his hand before raking in the chips.

2:43pm--New LAPT record

This is the first time in its two season history that the LAPT has had a prize pool of more than $1 million.

2:40pm--Hey, Mom! I'm on the TV!

If you've ever hung around the 441 production crew (the same folks who do the fantastic work for the ESPN WSOP broadcasts, you know the TV stage is pretty spectactular. It's no different here. The guys behind the cameras are top pros. They're here today to make stars of the nine men left in the tournament.

2:34pm-- Andre Ventura doubles through Angel Guillen

Angel Guillen kicked off the action with a raise to 29,000, Andre Ventura moved all in for 102,000 and Guillen made the call. It was Qc-Qs for Ventura against Guillen's As-7h. The flop came down Qh-5s-2d, Ventura letting out a deafening roar as he flopped top set. The 4h on the turn gave him a bit of a sweat as Guillen picked up a gutshot wheel draw, but the 6c on the river game Ventura a much-needed double up on the first hand of the final table.

2:30pm-- And... we're off

Our fearless tournament directors have introduced our nine final table players to the audience in both English and Spanish and play is now underway.

2:15pm--Final table about to begin

With 29 minutes left in Level 19, the final table players are taking their seats. We will begin shortly.

Here is a little bit about the final table players.

Seat 1: Andre Ventura (Brazil) 103,000 -- You may look at Andre Ventura's chip stack and wonder if he's at all happy with being the shortest stack at the table. Consider this: just an hour before play broke for the night, he only had 13,000 chips--not even enough to pay the blinds. After getting crippled with pocket sixes against pocket queens,

Ventura battled back to make the final table. The 28 year-old hedge fund manager is a married man, but after not having a vacation in two years decided to come to Punta with his buddies. He's been playing online since 2004, but this is his first live event.

Seat 2: Oliver Rowe (Canada) 412,000 -- If you look at Oliver Rowe the right way, you might think he's a South America revolutionary.

With a bit of scruff on his face and a particular kind of cap, he could pass pretty well. In fact, the online poker pro is from Vancouver, Canada. S

oft-spoken and hard to read, Rowe came out of Day 1 with the chip lead and powered through Day 2 to make the final table.

Though he's played the World Series Main Event and a tournament on at APPT, this is his first big live cash. Rowe qualified for this event through a PokerStars Steps tournament.

Seat 3: Bolivar Palacios (Panama) 167,000 -- Bolivar Palacios, born and still living in Santiago de Veraguas, Panamá was an industrial engineer for 5 months until he received a check for $300 and deposited it online. Since that deposit, he has cashed for $350,000 in lifetime winnings online. Now a professional poker player for a year, he has two final tables under his belt. He took seventh place in the LAPT Mexico event and now is ready to play his second. He think he is a better online tourney player than live tournament player, but he seems to be proving his theory wrong so far this week.

He is a member of the "rat pack of Panama" along with his best friends, Jose Severino, Victor Lemos and Jose Miguel de la Guardia.

Seat 4: Waldemar Cogo (Brazil) 263,000 -- Waldemar Cogo hails from Ponta Porã in Mato Grosso.

Retired and living strong at 64 years old, he's living the high light afteer a career seeling auto parts. Cogo only started playing online poker a couple of months ago. This is his first live tournament ever.

Cogo carries himself quietly and plays with a general calm that is an example to anybody who plays.

Even when doubling up just before the final table, Cogo barely raised his voice.

Married with three daughters, Cogo is known in his home town as "Coguinho"...short for "Little Cogo."

Seat 5: Karl Hevroy (Norway) 1,079,000 -- Karl Hevroy had a problem with his buy-in. He couldn't withdraw enough money from his account in time to buy into the event. Fortunately, the 20-year-old politics student had some friends to call on. Hevroy had met a bunch of Peruvians buddies at EPT Copenhagen and decided to come visit. The friends were headed to Uruguay for the LAPT, so he joined them. It turned out to be a good decision. He's the chip leader in this event with nearly double the chips of his closest competitor. Hailing from Bergen, Norway, Henvroy is a long way from home, but already showing he has adapted well to warmer climes.

Seat 6: Magno Aragão (Brazil) 153,000 -- Hailing from Rio de Janeiro, Magno Aragão was chip leader on Level 3, but ended up losing most of his chips before the end of Day 1.

At 42 years old--married with three kids--he chalked up his Day 1 losses to fatigue. After making it to Day 2, he hoped to make the money. He did more than that.

After spending the entire day on the short stack, he "climbed the ladder step by step" and made the final table.

The aluminum company owner also likes to drive rally cars in his spare time.

Seat 7: Angel Guillén (Mexico) 572,000 -- Angel Guillen hopes to be the first Mexican to win the coveted title of LAPT champion. The opportunity is source of pride not only for him, but for Mexico in general.

Guillén represents the PokerStars-sponsored Team Mexico. Guillén has been playing poker professionally more than two years.

His day job consists of live cash games, and on Sunday he likes to sit back and relax while cashing in the Sunday 500. Having recently placed 51st in the PCA, Guillén is still hungry for a live tournament victory and hopes Friday will be that day.

Seat 8: Alejandro De Arruabarrena (Argentina) 397,000 -- Alejandro De Arruabarrena is looking at an ideal situation for any sport: beautiful weather and homefield advantage. De Arruabarrena has been playing poker for the past four years in Uruguay, and he's done well. He's won five tournaments in Uruguay. His most recent victory was in December. When he's not tearing up the Uruguayan poker scene, this father of two returns to his day job of importing computers and electronics. De Arruabarrena recently discovered the joy of online poker. He joined PokerStars under the name of 'Alex6818' and has been spending his Sundays on the virtual felt. De Arruabarrena feels confident about Friday, and expects to improve his homegame record to 6-0.

Seat 9: Ron Wasiel (USA) 134,000 -- Normally a $10 rebuy tournament player on Pokerstars, Wasiel is about to embark on his biggest poker performance ever. The union painter from the south Chicago, Illinois suburbs is playing on only his second big live event ever. He played one event on the APPT in Macau, but didn't manage to cash. Now, he's made it all the way to the final table. The return on his investment looks to be a good one. He got into this event through a PokerStars $10 3x chance qualifier. Now he stands to make a minimum of $21,000. No matter how he paints it, it's a good showing. "Hey, I made it," he said as he walked off the stage on Day 2. "I didn't expect to be here tomorrow." You are, sir. You are.

by Host Bob

The fourth day of All Star Challengers team selection was one for repeat winners - with four of the five qualifiers for the day already lined up to play an All Star Week match.

The most prolific among the four is Australian 'PKerBL', who has now secured three matches in the All Star Week line-up. The former Sunday Million champion (May 11, 20008) eliminated 'lordhuttyx' into sixth place to gain the chiplead and first choice of opponent for Day 4 of All Star Week. His confidence is clearly high, as he selected ElkY for his next opponent. His teammates breathed a sigh of relief.

Second option fell to the only debutant in the All Star Week schedule 'Gunslinger3'. It may be his first appearance in this promotion, but 'Gunslinger3' is no greenhorn. In addition to a Sunday Million win, he has several WSOP final tables under his belt and more than $1m in live tournament winnings. His 20:00 ET Match 5 meeting with Chris Moneymaker appears to be one of the highlights of the series so far.

Next in the chip count pecking order was 'oblowski512', a winner from Day 2's selection tournament. He is one of the two wildcard qualifiers in the team, and he is quickly showing he is among equals in the All Star Challengers team. He has added a game with Alex Kravchenko to his earlier date with Katja Thater.

'Sumpas', the only Scandinavian on the team, took the fourth spot and chose Vanessa Rousso from the two remaining Pros. 'Sumpas' is also lined up to play Vicky Coren in the opening match of All Star Week.

The final pairing for the day sees 'Aryamehr' take on Ylon Schwartz at Limit Hold'em. It was clear from the discussion of the players that no-one really liked the look of this game, so there will be great relief if 'Aryamehr' can score an upset.

After four days of play the race for the MVP title is wide open. 'PKerBL' has a slender lead, but there are seven others all tied on points behind him.

So far eleven of the twenty Challengers have locked up at least one berth in the All Star Week line-up. There are still fifteen open spots available - you can find out who will fill them here on the PokerStars blog.

Welcome to the Latin American Poker Tour, where the sun shines, the breezes are warm, the beef is plentiful and grown men can sound like psychiatric patients when the cards don't fall their way.

64 players returned to action today, 36 would earn prize money and nine would make the televised final table. With a second-chance event running in the main ballroom, the remaining field moved to a smaller adjacent room adorned with camera-friendly lighting and ringed with red curtains. Alberto Font and Oliver Rowe came into Day 2 as the chip leaders, with 135,000 and 136,000 respectively, though only one of them would reach the final table.

Alex Brenes' Day 2 started and ended on the TV featured table. The tournament's third-shortest stack coming into play today, Brenes moved all in for 22,600 from under-the-gun and Magno Aragao made the call from the button. It was a race situation with Th-Ts for Brenes and the Ad-Jd for Aragao. The flop was Kh-Qs-7d, Brenes still leading, but the Td on the turn made Aragao an ace-high straight. It also gave Brenes a set and some hope of survival if the board paired on the river, but it blanked out with the 2h and Brenes exited stage left. Brenes finished in second place in Season 1's installment of this event, but a final table repeat for him just wasn't in the cards.

Brazilian pro Christian Kruel had been playing a tight, calculated game the entire tournament and seemed a shoo-in to go deep, but he would hit the rail well before the money. Kruel ultimately got his chips in the middle with a monster draw, holding Ah-Qh vs. his opponent's pocket kings on a Js-Th-8h flop. The turn and river blanked out for him, however and his tournament came to an end.

It took four hours of play for us to hit the money bubble, which was burst by Alberto Araujo. Down to less than three big blinds and with the action folded to him, Araujo moved all in from the small blind. It was up to Oliver Rowe in the big blind.

"You have the odds, you have to call!" quipped Araujo, who was already out of his seat in eager anticipation.

Rowe couldn't have liked the 3d-6c he saw, but nevertheless was compelled to call. Araujo turned up Kd-Qs.

The flop, though, came down Jd-7c-3s, pairing up Rowe. The Ad came on the turn, giving Araujo outs with a king, a queen or a ten, but the river was another three, and Rowe took it down with trips, leaving Araujo as Punta del Este's bubble boy.

Once our remaining 36 players were in the money, the chips really started flying. We lost ten players in the space of an hour, including three who busted on the same hand and ended up splitting the $2,780 difference between 28th and 27th place three ways.

With three tables remaining, a trio of players began taking control of the action and collecting most of the chips. Ron Wasiel, a house painter from suburban Chicago, started flopping two pair like it was nothing. First he cracked Gabriel Loyo's pocket kings with A-Q when the flop came down A-Q-5 to send him to the rail. Only minutes later, Ricardo Goncalves moved his short stack in from the button with A-6 and Wasiel called from the big blind with K-6, the flop coming down K-6-9.

Oliver Rowe took the chip lead early in the day when he opened from UTG for 20,000 only to be met with an all-in reraise to 115,000 from Alberto Font. With 165,000 behind, Rowe made the call for most of his chips and saw his A-K hold up against Font's 9s-7s to vault him over the 300,000 chip mark. He ended the day with 412,000, good for third in chips.

The story of the late evening, though was Karl Hevroy, aka the one-man Norwegian wrecking ball. He of the perfectly messy blonde hair knocked out Walter Arakaki in 20th place when his A-Q flopped trips against pocket fives. Minutes later he did away with 19th place finisher Hernan Reyes, his 7h-7c flopping a set against Reyes' Kh-Ts. 17th place finisher Adolfo Vaeza also hit the rail courtesy of Hevroy, as did Octavio Bernardini (12th), and Alejandro Bonnanato (11th).

On the final table bubble, Hevroy's Houdini-esque powers would give all of us a relatively early night. On the very first deal of hand-for-hand play, Rommer Prado pushed for 120,000 with Ad-Jd and Hevroy made the call with Qs-Jh.

"How can you call with that?" asked Prado in Spanish as the board ran out Tc-Ts-2h-7d-Qd. The room exploded and our final table players celebrated around Prado's grief.

Our final nine will return at 2 p.m. local time (EDT+1) tomorrow to crown a new LAPT champion. Here's how their chip counts stack up:

Seat 1: Andre Ventura 103,000
Seat 2: Oliver Rowe 412,000
Seat 3: Bolivar Palacios 167,000
Seat 4: Waldemar Cago 263,000
Seat 5: Karl Hevroy 1,079,000
Seat 6: Magno Aragao 153,000
Seat 7: Angel Guillen 572,000
Seat 8: Alejandro De Arruabarrena 397,000
Seat 9: Ron Wasiel 134,000

If you missed any of our live coverage today, click on any of the links below to relive all the action.

One room to one table
Level 12 live updates
Level 13 live updates
Level 14 live updates
Level 15 live updates
Level 16 live updates
Level 17 live updates
Level 18 live updates
Level 19 live updates

Or, if you'd rather read all the gory details in one of South America's native tongues, check out the PokerStars Spanish Blog or the PokerStars Brazilian Blog. And for more details on who finished where, click on the LAPT Punta del Este prizes page.

All photography © Joe Giron, IMPDI

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Last update 11:45pm

11:45pm--Final table to begin at 2pm Friday

Join us here for a live coverage of the final table Friday at 2pm. We'll be back with a full wrap-up in just a bit.

11:30pm--Final table chip counts

Karl Hevroy 1,079,000
Angel Guillén -- 572,000
Oliver Rowe -- 412,000
Alejandro De Arruaballena -- 397,000
Waldermar Cogo -- 263,000
Bolivar Palacios -- 167,000
Magno Aragao 153,000
Ron Wasiel -- 134,000
Andre Ventura -- 103,000

11:15pm--Rommer Prado eliminated 10th place ($18,320)

The final table of nine is set, Rommer Prado was just beat in a dirty, dirty way. He pushed all in for nearly 120,000. Karl Hevoy called with Q-J. Prado asked in Spanish, "How can you call with that?" The board ran out Tc-Ts-2h-7d-Qd. The room exploded and our final table players celebrated around Prado's grief. Prado finishes 10th for $18,320.

11:00pm-- Alejandro Bonanata eliminated in 11th place ($18,320)

Making his last stand with Kd-Th, Alejandro Bonanata moved all in from middle position only to run smack into Karl Hevroy's pocket aces. Though the Ks-Js-8d flop paired him up, the Ah on the turn made Hevroy a set, leaving him drawing only to a queen. The river came the 2s, though and Bonanata's tournament came to an end. He'll go home with $18,320 as well as the autographed fossil he earned yesterday by knocking out Greg Raymer.

10:45pm--Octavio Bernardini eliminated in 12th place ($18,320)

As it looks right now, there's no stopping Karl Hevroy, who just added even more to his massive stack by taking out Octavio Bernardini. Their money went in a flop of Qc-Ts-7s, each having hit a piece of it-- Bernardini with Ah-Td for middle pair and Hevroy the Ac-Qd for top pair. There was no help for Bernardini when a deuce hit the turn and an eight the river, leaving him to hit the rail.

10:30pm-- Blinds up!

The blinds have climbed up once more, with our final twelve playing 6,000/12,000 with a 1,000 ante.