Costa, who is from Portugal, dominated the tournament from the first to the last hand. He was the Day 1A chip leader, the Day 2 chip leader and only lost his lead for a few moments on the final table. And while you may not think that is unusual, consider that this was his first attempt at a live tournament!

After starting the heads-up behind Henrique Custódio, Costa managed to recover ground and win when, after three shoves, Custódio had [ah][7h] against Costa's [6d][6c]. The board held the young man's pocket pair and Custódio finished runner-up for €15,700.

Visit the PokerStars Portugal Poker Series site to learn more about the tour and how you can qualify.

We arrive at the Airport at about 8:45, well in time. Our flight only leaves at 10:55 so we have all the time in the world to get some food and relax a bit. At that moment we get our first beat of the day. Off all the planes departing that morning, our flight is the only one that has a two hour delay. To avoid getting tilted we decide to upgrade to business class. It's only $500 each to get the upgrade, and for such a long flight, $500 is well worth it. So in the airport, we wait, and wait, and wait, and wait. Christophe goes KO in the VIP lounge and then finally at 12:15 we can go to the departure gate. Flying business class is pretty cool. It was actually the first time we did it on a long distance flight, and to be honest, it tastes like more. The chairs are almost as comfortable as beds and you get served very well. The stewardess asks you if you want a drink every five minutes, you get eatable food and they laugh with every joke you make. Travelling in style, we like.

We have a scheduled stop in Chicago where we have to wait for 4.5 hours to get our connecting flight to Vegas because of the previous delays. And 4.5 hours at an airport, again, is a pretty damn long time. Good thing we find a place where we can charge our laptops. So on some very uncomfortable, almost human-unworthy iron seats, we watch "The Sopranos" and the clock ticks time away a little faster.

Then finally it's time. Our plane is ready to take off. We enter, take our seat, pass out and wake up when the plane hits the ground. This is it. We arrive in Sin City. Now we get a second bad beat: Sybe our friend who is coming to pick us up from the airport has a car accident at 5 miles/hour. Nothing severe, but still the police, ambulance and even fire workers come to the scene where it happened to make sure he can't get to the airport to pick us up. Not a big deal, we just take a taxi, give the driver the address and we are on our way to the house. Oh wait, bummer, the taxi driver is not familiar with the address.

So he starts messing around with his GPS system that he's apparently using for the very first time. This guy is even worse with electronics than our own dad, "Bobbybusto". It's pretty tilting that the last part of the trip gets prolonged so annoyingly, but after some detours, driving in circles for $30, the driver sees the light and boom, ee arrive at the house!

The house we are staying at is amazing. It has seven bedrooms that all have their own bathroom. It has a big kitchen and a nice living room with a knight guarding the place. In the basement we have a chill & relax room with pool table, poker table and a home cinema. Outside we have a big pool, a Jacuzzi and a guest house.

A nice thing to note as well is that the house comes with a crazy hummer-style limousine named "The Kong" that drives us to the Rio where the WSOP tournaments are played every day.

The next day Matthias - alias "Action-Jackson" - jumps right into a $1,600 Deep Stack at the Venetian trying to go for success on the very first days of the trip. This doesn't really work out. Five hours after sitting down, he busts, gets back up and decides to hit the cash tables. The cashgames in Las Vegas are super-juicy. It's almost like the PokerStars cash game lobby. You can choose from hundreds of games trying to find a money table. The cashgames go very well the first couple of days. Matthias crushes the $10-20 games even taking shots at $10-20-40 in the Belaggio which is a huge game.

Unfortunately he gets unlucky in a big pot to Masa Kagawa, the rich Japanese businessman and high stakes player. This forces him to move back down in stakes and get back to the grind. In the meanwhile Christophe is very successful at the deep $2-5 games. Not seeming able to have a losing session, he's now up a ton and soon moving up to $5-10.

But being a poker player is not only about going strong in cashgames. Like all the other thousands of poker players coming to Las Vegas for the World Series of Poker, we register in multiple WSOP events, as well as Venetian Deep Stack tournaments in order to reach the highest glory, winning a tournament or even better, winning a bracelet!

The poker gods aren't really helping this first week. Everytime we are in stackin' chips mode, the pot for the chiplead goes the wrong way. But there is light at the end of the tunnel. Matt finishes in 94th place in the $1500 WSOP Triple Chance and as we speak is making a deep run in the $2,500 Venetian Deepstack. Will he outlast the entire field and go for king?

Read all about it by following us on twitter: @Crispokers and @mattionfire

Or follow us on our Facebook Page.

See you guys next week!

As many kings and queens that we saw on the felt of the Casino Canberra today, it was the unnerving number of aces that ended up in the hands of Sammy Huang that ultimately was the story of the day. Flying the flag for the Canberra locals, Huang was a dominant force on a tough final table through a combination of aggressive play and plenty of those wicked aces! His win was well-deserved and it's great to see the ANZPT Canberra trophy staying in home territory.

We started out this afternoon with Germany's Khiem Nguyen leading the way with all eyes on the short stacks to see who would fall first. Naz Sabaei and Mario Ljubicic were quick to go, before young gun Jarred Graham made a surprisingly rapid fall from grace. Graham was unlucky when his ace-king was outdrawn by the ace-jack of Takahiro Morooka and never recovered. Morooka couldn't make the most of his chips after a ruling technicality went against him to see him next to the cashier. Brett Chalhoub was equally unlucky and when David Gorr was eliminated with a king-high flush against Khiem Nguyen's full house, our final table line up was set within 70 minutes of play.

Khiem Nguyen maintained the chip lead and was always a dangerous force on the final table. James Broom entered as the short stack but was relentless in his attack as he endured a rollercoaster ride that would give the weak heart palpitations. Broom had to come from behind on several all-in clashes including surviving with king-ten against Andrew Watson's ace-queen, and then king-queen against George Graziani's dominant ace-queen.

It was the latter hand that left Graziani crippled and led to our first elimination of the final table. Graziani was all in with [ac][6h] against Tristan Bain's [qh][qc] and Tony Kambouroglou's [kh][kc] with the Toothpick taking the pot to land an early double knockout blow.

Andrew Watson lost a race with [ah][qc] against Khiem Nguyen's pocket sevens to be eliminated in seventh place, before a card-dead Luke Edwards couldn't survive with [qc][jd] against Leigh Warne's [ks][5c] to depart in sixth.

While the number of players were quickly decreasing, Sammy Huang's stack was just getting bigger and bigger, as his overbetting style was playing havoc with the small ball approach of Khiem Nguyen and James Broom. Huang picking up pocket aces with some regularity was also helping the cause, as Nguyen was showing visible signs of frustration.

Leigh Warne was next to go went Toothpick Tony woke up with another big pair when his [qs][qh] proved too strong for Warne's [ah][qc] to leave us four-handed.

Huang was the big stack and Broom was still nursing the short stack as a tight four-way battle ensued. The shorties were forced to move all in on multiple occasions, but they couldn't find any callers as the status quo remained for over an hour. Something had to give.

As the blinds ticked over, it was Germany's Khiem Nguyen who finally cracked when he three-bet shoved with [4s][4d] but Sammy Huang woke up with his favourite hand, [as][ac] and made an easy call. Nguyen couldn't find a four as his impressive tournament was halted in fourth place.

James Broom found some swagger when play reached three-handed with his nemesis in Nguyen now on the rails. Broom opened up his game and caught Toothpick Tony red-handed when he squeezed over the top of a raise and call. Broom tabled [ad][8d] as Toothpick sheepishly showed [5d][4c]. The board ran out [9d][td][ks][jh][tc] to eliminate Toothpick in third place as we entered heads-up play with the title on the line.

James Broom had a two-to-one chip disadvantage against Sammy Huang and despite a quirky Canberra heads-up rule that has the blinds in reverse to normal, Broom was confident in his heads-up game. However he forgot that Huang held all the aces!

After a preflop raise, and bet on the flop, Huang overbet shoved all in on the turn on a [jh][9d][qh][7d] board. Broom deliberated for some time before making the call with [qd][5d] for top pair and flush draw, but Huang once again opened [as][ah]. Broom was looking for a queen, five or diamond but it wasn't to be as the [7s] bricked the board to eliminate him in second place and crown Sammy Huang as our ANZPT Canberra champion!

The Canberra local qualified for this event through one of the $22+R 3xTurbo online satellites on PokerStars for the investment of just $42. He's now turned that into a whopping $73,700 in prize money!

Congratulations to Sammy on a wonderful achievement which is sure to create a buzz for poker in our nation's capital.

PokerStars.net ANZPT Canberra Main Event results

1st Sammy Huang (Australia) (PokerStars Qualifier) - $73,700
2nd James Broom (Australia) - $46,900
3rd Tony Kambouroglou (Australia) - $27,470
4th Khiem Nguyen (Germany) - $22,780
5th Leigh Warne (Australia) - $18,760
6th Luke Edwards (Australia) (PokerStars Qualifier) - $15,410
7th Andrew Watson (Australia) (PokerStars Player) - $12,730
8th Tristan Bain (Australia) - $10,050
9th George Graziani (Australia) - $8,040
----
10th David Gorr (Australia) - $6,030
11th Brett Chalhoub (Australia) (PokerStars Qualifier) - $6,030
12th Takahiro Morooka (Australia) (PokerStars Qualifier) - $6,030
13th Jarred Graham (Australia) - $4,690
14th Mario Ljubicic (Australia) - $4,690
15th Naz Sibaei (Australia) - $4,690

So now it's time to pack up and head home (subject to volcanic ash) following a fantastic long weekend in Canberra. We've really enjoyed our time here and the poker room seem to really embrace the ANZPT which is fantastic. Many thanks to the tournament staff, dealers and the hospitality crew at the Casino Canberra for making us feel welcome and a part of the team.

Also many thanks to Cole Bennetts for his superb final table photography.

That's all we have for you from Canberra. If you're craving more tournament action, you might have heard of a wee tournament happening in Las Vegas at the moment. They call it the World Series of Poker. Stick to the PokerStars Blog for all the latest news and updates from there.

On the local scene, we have a six-week break before we head to Melbourne's Crown Casino for the first event of Season 5 of the PokerStars.net Asia Pacific Poker Tour. The APPT Melbourne will be a spectacular event with the Main Event running from July 29th until August 1st with online satellites running now on PokerStars.

Thanks for following our coverage at home and we look forward to seeing you in Melbourne. Until then, so long from Canberra!

Costa took advantage of his substantial lead and two long bubble periods to put pressure on his opponents and extent his lead further. The money bubble lasted one hour and fifteen minutes - and the final table bubble lasted 15 minutes more than that!

In both of them, Costa worked his stack well and it was he who busted the money bubble boy, João Bartolo, when he made trip fives to bust pocket aces.

Team PokerStars Pro, João Nunes bust a few places short of the money in a three-way pot where his A-Q lost a race against pocket jacks, with the third player also holding A-Q.

Play resumes today at 3pm CET (2pm GMT) and will only finish when a new champion of this PokerStars circuit is crowned. This is how the final table will start:

Seat 1: Alexandrino Caldeira, 124,000
Seat 2: Luís Fernandes, 135,500
Seat 3: Henrique Custódio, 160,500
Seat 4: Luís Barbosa, 124,000
Seat 5: Miguel Pereira, 96,000
Seat 6: Pedro Reis, 477,500
Seat 7: João Costa, 579,000
Seat 8: Paulo Nunes, 287,000

For full details about the tour, please visit the PokerStars Portugal Poker Series website, and if you want to follow live coverage of this final table, visit our sister PokerStars Blog in Portugal.

It's great to see a local shine through as Sammy Huang has survived the interstate invasion and steamrolled his way through the final table to claim a memorable victory.

Huang qualified for this event through one of the online $22+R 3xTurbo satellites on PokerStars for the investment of just $42. He's now turned that into an incredible $73,700 in prize money! Congratulations to Sammy on a wonderful achievement which has created a real buzz throughout the Casino Canberra.

That wraps up our live coverage from the tournament floor, but we'll have a complete wrap of the day's action for you very shortly.

7:25pm: James Broom eliminated in 2nd place; Sammy Huang wins!

The players were deep-stacked but you had a feeling that fireworks could explode at any moment with these two competitive, aggressive players. And so it happened.

James Broom started with a raise to 40,000 the small blind and Sammy Huang flat-called in the big blind (button). The flop landed [jh][9d][qh] and Broom checked it over to Huang who bet 100,000. Broom made the call.

The turn was the [7d] and Broom checked again to Huang who overbet the pot by moving all in! Broom had about 900,000 behind and Huang had him well covered as Broom spent some time in the tank contemplating his decision.

Broom quietly uttered "call" and tabled [qd][5d] for top pair with a flush draw, but incredibly Huang once again held [as][ah].

Broom was left needing a queen, five or diamond to stay alive but the river bricked the [7s]. The courageous run of James Broom ends in 2nd place for $46,900 as our Sammy Huang is crowned the ANZPT Canberra champion!

7:20pm: First blood to Broom

James Broom raised to 40,000 from the small blind before Sammy Huang re-raised to 140,000 in the big blind (button). Broom declared himself all in for around 900,000 and Huang made a reluctant fold.

7:15pm: We're a little backwards in Canberra

James Broom has just made us aware of a unique rule here in Canberra, and he's not too thrilled about it. In Canberra, when heads up, the button is the big blind - basically the reverse of the way heads-up poker is played almost everywhere else in the world.

It means that the button has a huge advantage, and it would be correct for the small blind to play more tight that usual. The small blind acts first preflop, but is then out of position for the rest of the hand.

7:10pm: We're heads up for the title!

This is it! The trophy and $73,700 is on the line as our two players have taken their seats and are ready to go for glory. Here are the chip counts as heads-up play gets underway.

Sammy Huang - 1,745,000
James Broom - 940,000

The cards are back in the air!

7:00pm: Tony Kambouroglou eliminated in 3rd place

James Broom opened with a raise to 40,000 on the button and Sammy Huang called in the small blind. Action was with Tony Kambouroglou in the big blind and he moved all in. Broom instantly called as Huang got out of the way.

Kambouroglou: [5d][4c]
Broom: [ad][8d]

Great read and call by Broom as he knew that Toothpick was on the squeeze and he was rewarded as the board ran out [9d][td][ks][jh][tc]. Toothpick is eliminated in 3rd place and he'll take home $27,470 in prize money.

There will now be a brief pause as we set up the final table for heads-up play.

6:40pm: Khiem Nguyen eliminated in 4th place

The blinds had kicked up and something had to give to break the stalemate. It was Khiem Nguyen who was the unfortunate soul to be removed from this quartet as Sammy Huang continues on his merry way.

James Broom opened to 45,000 before Nguyen moved all in for 217,000 from the button. After asking for a count, Huang called from the small blind as the other players stepped aside.

Nguyen: [4s][4d]
Huang: [as][ac]

Once again Huang had found the rockets and there were no surprises on the board of [7h][9c][ts][6s][6c]. Nguyen departs in 4th place after a fantastic tournament, collecting $22,780 in prize money. Meanwhile Huang now has well over half the chips in play with over 1.7 million chips.

6:35pm: Level up, blinds 10,000-20,000, ante 2,000

6:30pm: Success with a bluff

James Broom opened to 35,000 from the cutoff and Toothpick Tony made the call in the big blind. The flop landed [3s][8h][2s] and Toothpick check-called for 45,000 as the [4c] hit the turn. Toothpick checked it over to Broom who released a second barrel worth 75,000.

Toothpick when into the tank for a very long time - a good three or four minutes - before finally folding. It was the wrong decision as Broom showed [9d][td] for the air ball! Broom is back to 450,000.

6:25pm: Broom gets busy

The action has ground to a halt, with a few shoves by the short stack going uncalled as they battle valiantly to survive.

James Broom's rollercoaster ride continues after losing a pot to chip leader Sammy Huang. Broom has been pretty active but it's one step forwards, two steps back at the moment.

Broom opened to 35,000 and Huang called in the big blind to see a [ah][6s][4d] flop. Huang decided to lead out for 54,000 and Bloom floated a call but was forced to fold when Huang open-shoved on the [th] turn.

6:05pm: Toothpick wins with ace-high

It's been slow going recently with Toothpick Tony just collecting the only notable pot. James Broom had opened to 35,000 and Toothpick called in the big blind to see a [7c][9s][6s] flop.

Both players checked and a repeat [6d] hit the turn. Toothpick checked and Broom took a stab of 50,000. Toothpick looked him up before both players checked the [3c] river. Toothpick opened [ah][4d] for just ace-high but it was enough to take it down. Toothpick is back to 550,000 with Broom at 430,000.

5:45pm: Double double!

James Broom has done it again! Another double up and once again he had to come from behind. Broom open-shoved for 228,000 from the cutoff and Khiem Nguyen made the call on the button.

Broom opened [kh][qd] for live cards against Nguyen's [ac][9c]. However Broom just doesn't seem to miss in these all-in clashes and once again he connected with the board of [3h][qh][jd][6s][ts]. Broom is now back to 460,000 with Nguyen back down to 400,000.

5:40pm: Broom doubles in the dark

First hand back from the break, and James Broom open-shoved for 107,000 from the button. Once Sammy Huang made the call in the big blind, Broom admitted he hadn't looked at his cards!

Broom opened [qh][5s] and found himself with one overcard to Huang's [jc][js]. But that's all he needed, as the board was spread [as][8h][qc][8c][tc]. Broom doubles to 225,000 with Huang back to 1.25 million.

5:35pm: Play resumes

The four remaining players are back to battle it out. Here are the approximate chip counts at the break:

Sammy Huang - 1,360,000
Khiem Nguyen - 650,000
Tony Kambouroglou - 560,000
James Broom - 110,000

The cards are once again back in the air!

This week, the new start time was firmly in place, and there was no special guarantee. Well, that is if you don't consider the weekly $1 million guarantee special. (If you don't, we'd like to say, "Huh?") But so many people were charged up about the $1 million and the new place on the Sunday schedule that the crowd of players was quite substantial. When registration was complete, the following numbers were given:

Players: 6,889
Prize pool: $1,377,800
Paid players: 990

Quite a large field and well beyond that guarantee. We'll say that's special.

After the initial hours passed, the money bubble came and went to ensure that everyone in that top 990 would receive a minimum of $316.89 for their efforts.

Only two Team PokerStars Pros made it into that group. Slovakian Dag Palovic left in the early stages of the payment process in 738th place, but moving forward was fellow pro and German representative Sebastian Ruthenberg. Ruthenberg held up for awhile but eventually exited in 283rd place.

Played moved on to find out two tables remaining into the tenth hour, and hand-for-hand play was in action just 15 minutes into the next hour. But only five minutes later, it was Pessagno who risked it all from the big blind with [Kd][6c], but jAKIELOL had [Ks][Qd] in the small blind, and that hand stayed best through the [3s][8s][3c][5d][As] board. Pessagno was gone in tenth place with $7,715.68.

Patorojas86 pulls ahead to start action

Level 37 kicked off the final table with blinds at 125,000/250,000 and a 25,000 ante. Players' starting chip counts were:

Seat 1: jAKIELOL (5,193,973 in chips)
Seat 2: suckerfishtw (8,438,106 in chips)
Seat 3: AA1284 (6,227,707 in chips)
Seat 4: 321Gentleman (3,581,858 in chips)
Seat 5: patorojas86 (12,809,178 in chips)
Seat 6: mikexace (8,530,627 in chips)
Seat 7: Thorup1 (9,170,616 in chips)
Seat 8: SLUUUURP (5,098,959 in chips)
Seat 9: Seraph14 (9,838,976 in chips)

Play started off relatively cautiously, though there were some players pushing the action.

And about 15 minutes into the table, it was time for the shortest stack to make a move. When mikexace opened for a raise, SLUUUURP reraised all-in with [Kc][Qs]. Mikexace called with [4d][4h], and the fours held up to the [Ac][6h][Ts][2c][9c] board. That left SLUUUURP out in ninth place with $10,677.95.

Suckerfishtw and Seraph14 got into a raising war preflop, and suckerfishtw ultimately moved all-in with [Ac][Qd]. But Seraph14 called and turned over [Kh][Kc]. The flop of [Qc][6d][Th] gave a pair of queens and hope to suckerfishtw, and the [Jc] on the turn provided even more outs. But the [4d] on the river left Seraph14's pair of kings the winner, and suckerfishtw swam off in eighth place with $16,533.60.

Mikexace makes moves

With that pot, Seraph14 climbed into the top spot on the leaderboard and began to battle for first position with mikexace. Patorojas86 was relegated to third and wasn't finding much momentum at the table. But after mikexace took a pot worth nearly 7.7 million chips from patorojas86, the latter was unable to recover.

Patorojas86 was in the big blind got involved with jAKIELOL preflop to see the [Tc][7c][Th] from the dealer. When jAKIELOL bet, patorojas86 check-raised all-in with [Js][9s], and jAKIELOL called with [As][Kh]. The [5d] turn and [Ks] river left jAKIELOL with the two pair and the pot, as patorojas86 left in a surprising seventh place with $30,311.60.

AA1284 had a rough time but managed a double through Thorup1 to stay alive. But only a few hands later, AA1284 looked down at [Kd][Kh] from the small blind and moved all-in. Original raiser mikexace called with [Ac][Qs], and the flop of [Qd][6h][Ad] gave him two pair. The [Jc] on the turn didn't do much, but the [Qh] made a full house for mikexace. AA1284 was forced out in sixth place with $44,089.60.

Some double-ups were in order going forward, as 321Gentleman did it through Thorup1, and Thorup1 then did the same through jAKIELOL. But when jAKIELOL doubled through mikexace, jAKIELOL took the chip lead as well as the chips. It happened like this:

Then 321Gentleman doubled through mikexace, as did Thorup1. And suddenly, mikexace was the short stack of the group.

When jAKIELOL made a raise on the very next hand, mikexace reraised all-in with [Ah][8d]. JAKIELOL called with [Kc][Ts], which looked to be the losing hand through the [2s][5d][2c][7s] on the board. But the [Kd] on the river changed that and gave jAKIELOL two pair. Mikexace went from the chip lead to out in fifth place, which was worth $57,867.60.

Seraph14 doubled through Thorup1, and 321Gentleman did the same courtesy of jAKIELOL.

Final four agree to a deal

During the 11.5-hour break, the four remaining players decided to take a look at chip-chop numbers. The tournament was paused, and they quickly agreed. With $20,000 set aside to be added to the eventual winner's prize, the payouts would be as follows:

Seat 1: jAKIELOL (25,437,959 in chips) = $159,768.45
Seat 4: 321Gentleman (14,326,064 in chips) = $123,079.90
Seat 7: Thorup1 (14,423,327 in chips) = $123,401.03
Seat 9: Seraph14 (14,702,650 in chips) = $124,323.28

With good luck wishes all around, play resumed. And jAKIELOL was the clear aggressor, pushing into an even bigger lead over the other three players.

Thorup1 was anxious to make a move, the first time resulting in a split pot with jAKIELOL when both players held K-8. The second time, it was Seraph14 in the hand with [As][Td], which dominated the [Ah][7d] of Thorup1. The board of [4h][9s][9h][Kc][Tc] did not change the outcome, and Thorup1 exited in fourth place with $123,401.03.

Seraph14 began to put the moves on and took a pot worth more than 18.6 million chips from jAKIELOL to take the lead. The two then battled on the very next hand with a preflop raising war that led to jAKIELOL moving all-in with [8d][6d]. Seraph14 made the call with a solid [Kc][Ks], which turned into a full house on the [Qd][Kd][6s][Js][Jc] board. That left jAKIELOL out in third place with $159,768.45.

Seraph14 takes strong lead into heads-up

The final two prepared to duel with these starting chip counts:

Seat 4: 321Gentleman (7,286,064 in chips)
Seat 9: Seraph14 (61,603,936 in chips)

There was no giving up for 321Gentleman, despite the chip deficit. The first double-up came for 321Gentleman with K-7 over Q-8, and the second was T-8 over 8-7. But Seraph14 maintained a sizeable lead.

The two then battled preflop to see the [Kd][Td][6d]. Seraph14 bet all-in, and 321Gentleman check-called all-in in the hopes of another double-up and showed [Ad][4h] for the nut flush draw. Seraph14 showed [As][Th] for the pair of tens, and with no flush on the [5c] turn or [2s] river, 321Gentleman had to leave in second place with $123,079.90.

Seraph14 of Slovakia claimed the Sunday Million victory and the $144,323.28 that went with it. Congrats!

Sunday Million Results for 06/12/11 (reflecting deal):

1st place: Seraph14 ($144,323.28)*
2nd place: 321Gentleman ($123,079.90)*
3rd place: jAKIELOL ($159,768.45)*
4th place: Thorup ($123,401.03)*
5th place: mikexace ($57,867.60)
6th place: AA1284 ($44,089.60)
7th place: patorojas86 ($30,311.60)
8th place: suckerfishtw ($16,533.60)
9th place: SLUUUURP ($10,677.95)

*based on four-way deal

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

5:15pm: Leigh Warne eliminated in 5th place

Leigh Warne's tournament has come to an end and again Toothpick Tony was the destroyer.

The chips were in preflop with Warne going with [ah][qc] but Toothpick showed [qs][qh]. Both players' tournaments hung in the balance, as the board ran out out [ks][ts][2h][5c][8h] to leave Toothpick's ladies in front to take it down.

Warne collects $18,760 for his 5th place finish while Toothpick is up to 580,000.

5:05pm: Nguyen collects with top pair

Toothpick Tony opened with a raise from under the gun to 32,000 and picked up two callers in Khiem Nguyen and Sammy Huang to see a flop of [qh][2c][5s]. Action checked around and the turn brought the [7s]. Action again checked to Nguyen on the button who bet 55,000. Huang folded but Toothpick made the call as the [8s] completed the board on the river.

Toothpick checked and Nguyen bet 86,000. Toothpick quickly made the call but mucked when Nguyen tabled [qd][td] for top pair.

4:50pm: Huang finds aces

After a failed limp-re-raise in a blind battle with Khiem Nguyen, James Broom opened the action a few hands later with a raise to 25,000. Again Nguyen was in a punishing mood as he three-bet to 65,000 on the button. The twist was Sammy Huang getting in on the action with a flat-call from the small blind. Broom smelt a rat and folded as the two players saw a flop of [kd][5c][qh].

Huang checked to Nguyen who bet small - just 65,000. Huang instantly declared himself all in, and just as quickly, Nguyen slammed his cards down into the muck in disgust. Huang proudly showed his [as][ac] for another monster hand as he climbs to 1.25 million. Nguyen is on 480,000 with Broom at 210,000.

4:30pm: A splinter for the Toothpick

Leigh Warne has taken a bite out of Toothpick Tony. Warne opened to 27,000 before Toothpick three-bet to 75,000. Action folded back to Warne who announced himself all in for 267,500 in total. Toothpick gave it some quick thought but decided to let it go.
Toothpick slips to 490,000 with Warne up to 350,000.

4:20pm: Level up, blinds 6,000-12,000, ante 1,000

4:15pm: More for Sammy

Khiem Nguyen opened with what he intended to be a raise, but he threw out the wrong chip denominations and was ruled to a call. That brought in Sammy Huang and the two blinds to see a flop of [qd][2s][qs]. Action checked around and the turn was the [ks]. Action checked to Nguyen who bet 22,000 with Huang making the call.

The river was the [6s] to put four spades on board but that didn't slow Nguyen who bet out 58,000. Huang thought for a moment and matched the bet. It was a good call as Nguyen tossed his cards face down into the muck in resignation. Huang is now up to 1.1 million.

4:05pm: Sammy Huang, the million dollar man

Sammy Huang is continuing on his merry way with another big pot against James Broom. Huang opened with a raise before Broom three-bet from the small blind. Huang called and the two took a flop of [9s][6c][3h].

Broom led out with a bet of around 85,000 but Huang instantly moved all in and Broom folded just as quickly.

"See I can fold ace-king!" chucked Broom, referring to their clash earlier today. Broom is back on the short stack with 180,000, with Huang now up over one million in chips.

3:55pm: Luke Edwards eliminated in 6th place

After Leigh Warne raised from the small blind, Luke Edwards moved all in for around 100,000 from the big blind. Warne made the call.

Edwards: [qc][jd]
Warne: [ks][5c]

Warne was in front with his king and it stayed that way as the board bricked out [ts][3h][6d][7d][as]. Edwards heads home in 6th place for $15,410 in prize money.

3:45pm: Edwards chops one

Luke Edwards has been very quiet at this final table as he struggles to find any cards to ship his short stack into the middle.

When he finally did find [ad][9d] and moved all in, James Broom quickly called and tabled the same hand - [ac][9c]. Edwards was happy to be freerolling on the [8h][jh][5d] flop, but the [kc] turn and [2d] river left both players to chop it up. Edwards is still the short stack with 100,000 chips.

3:30pm: Andrew Watson eliminated in 7th place

Andrew Watson opened with a raise from the cutoff to 22,000 before Khiem Nguyen made it 60,000 to go from the small blind. Action back with Watson and he moved all in for around 240,000 with Nguyen making the call.

Watson: [ah][qc]
Nguyen: [7d][7h]

The race was on but Watson missed everything on the board of [3c][5s][ks][8h][2c]. Nguyen takes the pot and moves up to 650,000 with Watson heading to the cashier in 7th place for $12,730 in prize money.

3:20pm: Level up, blinds 5,000-10,000, ante 1,000

3:15pm: George Graziani eliminated in 9th and Tristan Bain eliminated in 8th place

WOW! A huge double KO has seen two players sent to the cashier as cult hero "Toothpick Tony" has stormed right into title contention.

The action started with Tristan Bain opening to 17,000 before the short-stacked George Graziano moved all in for 26,500. Play was then with Toothpick who announced a re-raise to 53,000. Bain wasn't going anywhere as he moved all in for 253,500. Toothpick thought for a few moments before making the call!

Bain: [qh][qc]
Graziano: [ac][6h]
Toothpick: [kh][kc]

The board bricked out [3c][6s][3d][4h][7c] to leave the kings in front. Toothpick covered both players as they were eliminated in sensational fashion. Graziano picks up $8,040 for 9th while Bain will pocket $10,050 for 8th place. Meanwhile Toothpick is up over 550,000 chips!

3:10pm: Yabba Jabba dooooo!

James Broom doesn't mind doing things the hard way, but even he shed a bead of sweat before nailing a river to double up through the unlucky George Graziani.

Broom open-shoved for 122,000 from under the gun and action folded around to Graziani on the button who made the call.

Broom: [kd][qd]
Graziani: [ad][qs]

Broom was in trouble but the board arrived [6c][6s][5s][7h][ks] to land Broom a stunning three-outer river to stay alive! Broom doubles to 260,000 with Graziani now left crippled.

2:55pm: Sammy puts the foot down

Sammy Huang has extended his chip lead after again pounding on Germany's Khiem Nguyen.

Nguyen opened to 16,500 from under the gun before Huang three-bet to 42,000 next to speak. The table folded around and Nguyen made the call to see a flop of [qd][tc][5c].

Nguyen checked it over to Huang who bet 53,000. Nguyen called and the turn brought the [7s]. Nguyen checked again and Huang didn't hold back as he made it 100,000 to go. Nguyen made a reluctant fold as he slips to 360,000 with Huang now up to 800,000.

2:40pm: Broom lays down a monster

With the board reading [td][kd][7h][jh][ts], James Broom was sitting in the tank contemplating an 84,000-chip bet from Khiem Nguyen. It represented almost half of Broom's stack and he was clearly having a tough time with the decision.

Broom leant right in close to Nguyen on his direct left and with hand over his mouth was virtually whispering into his ear. Broom didn't stop chattering but it was totally inaudible and Nguyen didn't react in the slightest. It was almost awkward to watch but after a few minutes of trying to get a reaction, Broom eventually folded a surprisingly strong [9s][8s]! We've seen Broom make call downs with fourth pair, now he's folding a straight!

Nguyen pads his stack to 460,000 with Broom down to 185,000.

2:20pm: Level up, blinds 4,000-8,000, ante 500

2:05pm: Broom lands a quick double up

The short stack of our final table, James Broom has landed a quick double up at the expense of Andrew Watson.

Action folded to Watson on the button and he raised it to 13,500. Broom was in the small blind and he declared himself all in with Watson making a quick call.

Watson: [ad][qs]
Broom: [kc][tc]

The flop landed [ac][2c][jh] which interested both players as Watson hit a pair but Broom picked up straight and flush draws. The turn was the [as] to leave Broom needing a club to stay alive. He called for the [3c] but instead the [4c] arrived which was just as pretty to give Broom the flush to double up to 250,000. Watson is back to 300,000.

2:00pm: Final table kicks off!

The players are back following the break and ready for the ANZPT Canberra final table!

Here's how they will line up with approximate chip counts:

Seat 1: Luke Edwards (Australia) (PokerStars Qualifier) - 170,000
Seat 2: George Graziani (Australia) - 157,000
Seat 3: Tony "Toothpick" Kambouroglou (Australia) - 272,000
Seat 4: Andrew Watson (Australia) (PokerStars Player) - 425,000
Seat 5: James Broom (Australia) - 118,500
Seat 6: Khiem Nguyen (Germany) - 590,000
Seat 7: Sammy Huang (Australia) (PokerStars Qualifier) - 447,000
Seat 8: Tristan Bain (Australia) - 280,000
Seat 9: Leigh Warne (Australia) - 225,000

The players have satisfied their media commitments and been introduced "rock star style to the audience here at the Casino Canberra - all that was missing was some pyrotechnics and theme music!

The final table is now underway with 21:31 left in this level with the blinds at 3,000-6,000 with an ante of 500.

It's a fantastic line up and should produce a thrilling finale. Here's a little more background about our ANZPT Canberra final table participants...

Seat 1: Luke Edwards (PokerStars Qualifier) - Barwon Heads, Victoria

Luke Edwards is a 26-year old who works in the IT industry. He has been playing poker for five years after being inspired by none other than the great Tony Hachem. Luke is no stranger to ANZPT final tables after finishing second to Brotha D in last season's ANZPT Darwin event. Luke claims he is a nit who has been running like God, so he'll be looking to bring that form into the final table and rely on his previous experience to go one place better!

Seat 2: George Graziani - Sydney, New South Wales

George Graziani is a 38-year old motor mechanic from Sydney who describes himself as a "top bloke". We like top blokes so it's great to see this amateur reach his first major poker final table. He has been playing poker for four years after his mates got him into the game. George credits "solid play" as helping his reach this stage of the tournament and he will be keen to go all the way!

Seat 3: Tony Kambouroglou - Sydney, New South Wales

One of the cult heroes of Australian poker, Tony Kambouroglou is easily identifiable in any poker tournament by his trademark toothpick. A painter by trade, "Toothpick" has been playing poker for five years in both cash games and tournaments. With over US$200,000 in career tournament earnings, Tony has plenty of experience and support at today's final table as he strives to become the first toothpick to win an ANZPT title.

Seat 4: Andrew Watson (PokerStars Player) - Wollongong, New South Wales

Another fine product of the 'gong, Andrew Watson is a 24-year old with an impressive online and live poker resume. Andrew is known for his runner-up finish in last season's ANZPT Queenstown event, but he's also one of the country's finest online poker talents. Under the moniker "higher wattage", Watson is currently ranked 3rd online in Australia and will be a real threat here on this final table.

Seat 5: James Broom - Melbourne, Victoria

One of the most dangerously talented players in the country, James Broom is known for playing any two cards, anywhere, anytime. The 2008 Melbourne Championships Main Event winner has one previous ANZPT final table to his credit, a ninth place at the inaugural event in Adelaide back in 2009. Interestingly, this is the first tournament cash for Broom since that result, so he'll be keen to make this a big one. He has also final tabled the PokerStars Sunday Million and Warmup amongst an impressive online resume.

Seat 6: Khiem Nguyen - Wiesbaden, Germany

Khiem Nguyen is the only International player on this final table. Originally from Germany, Khiem is currently based out of Brisbane as he travels around the world on a backpacking-poker adventure. Khiem has been playing for five years and has built up a very impressive poker resume that includes a 2010 EPT Germany side event trophy, a third place in the 2010 Master Classic of Poker in Amsterdam worth over €140,000 as well as a third place in the Macau Millions this April for HK$200,000. Khiem was the chip lead entering the final day of play and will be hard to stop!

Seat 7: Xiuming "Sammy" Huang (PokerStars Qualifier) - Bonner, Australian Capital Territory

Sammy Huang is the lone local on this final table after being introduced to the game six years ago by his friends. Sammy enjoys both No Limit Holdem and Pot Limit Omaha and has several tournament results to his credit including runner-up in the 2009 Macau Poker Cup Red Dragon for HK$268,465 in prize money. Sammy was inspired by the greats of the game in Johnny Chan and Doyle Brunson and will be looking to replicate their greatness with victory here this afternoon.

Seat 8: Tristan Bain - Melbourne, Victoria

Tristan Bain is another of the talented, young guns at this final table. At 25-years of age, Tristan has been playing poker for four years after previously working as a dealer at Crown Casino. Interestingly, he is coached by none other than James Broom. That explains his aggressive style which was highlighted by his shove with six-eight offsuit to burst the bubble late last night. Away from poker Tristan enjoys AFL and golf, and he has ambitions to one day play high stakes poker all around the world.

Seat 9: Leigh Warne - Melbourne, Victoria

Leigh Warne is a 33-year old salesman from Melbourne who is another from the James Broom brood. The good mates have been playing together for several years, with Warne normally found in the cash games up to $5/10NL. Warne did final table the Melbourne Championships final table back in 2006, but he'll be looking to go a little further than his sixth place finish on that occasion.

Team Online Martin AABenjaminAA Hruby was able to find the right cards while cashing in 324th place ($362.43). Team PokerStars pro Jan Heitmann was found a little higher up the pay ladder but after losing a pair of flips bowed out in 154th place ($679.56). Sebastian Ruthenberg also enjoyed a long run tonight but was stopped by iberbiber as pocket sevens for the UK pro was not able to dodge [Ac][8c] on a [Kd] [Kc] [9d] [Ad] [4d] as Ruthenberg collected $776.64 in 131st place. That left Spanish Team PokerStars pro Juan Maceiras looking to add to his bankroll from the huge €315,000 cash for 5th place at the EPT Madrid Grand Final. With the blinds sitting at 6K/12K ante 1.2K Maceiras would open shove from early position for 218,711 as it folded to BetrThanPhil (who almost snagged a SCOOP watch a few weeks ago in Event #35-L) in the cutoff holding [Ac][Qh] and covering Juan's stack. BetrThanPhil would make the call as Maceiras turned over [Kh][Td]. Despite flopping an open ended straight draw, Macerias would watch the [6d] [Qc] [Jd] [2h] [4s] board end his tournament night in 94th place ($906.08).

Just after the nine and half hour mark only ten players and two tables remained as hand for hand play trickled into the 80K/160K ante 16K level. migsgreen was hanging on with just 1.1 million facing a raise to 480,000 chips from Ab4r4 in the cutoff. Holding [Th][Jh] in the big blind migsgreen fired the rest of his missiles into the middle and got a call from ab4r4 who showed [As][4d]. The jack in the door was good for migsgreen but the second card paired up Ab4r4's ace [Jc] [Ad] [4c] [8c] [2h] and held for the 2.3 million chip pot shipping $3,883.20 to migsgreen for tenth place and starting our final table below:

Seat 1: juancito10 (2896654 in chips)
Seat 2: Grizzlypower (8047090 in chips)
Seat 3: iberbiber (1938681 in chips)
Seat 4: mister MH (2964530 in chips)
Seat 5: circuslover (1663584 in chips)
Seat 6: kronkol (3432072 in chips)
Seat 7: BetrThanPhil (6139493 in chips)
Seat 8: Ab4r4 (3613674 in chips)
Seat 9: pastika (1664222 in chips)

It pays to knock out the Team PokerStars players

Two of our final nine got the distinction of knocking out the resident pros. BetrThanPhil was better than Juan Maceiras and iberbiber took down Sebastian Ruthenberg before both players assured themselves $5,177.60 for making tonight's final table.

Ok, maybe it doesn't pay that well to knock out the Team Pros

With the blinds at 80K/160K ante 16K only Grizzlypower and BetrThanPhil held more than 20 big blinds as the rest of the pack would need to pick a spot soon. Iberbiber's spot was holding [Jd][Ad] in the small blind calling the chip leader's shove from the button with 1.6 million chips. Grizzlypower would need some help to add to the chip lead flipping up the dominated [Ah][3c], and that help wasted no time showing up as the first card on the board paired up the trey, holding on the [3s] [4h] [As] [Qc] [8s] board to bump iberbiber out in ninth place ($5,177.60).

1-2-3 DODGEBALL!

The time comes in every tournament where you are sitting with a pocket pair hoping it finds a way to dodge a bunch of outs. Ab4r4's turn to start bobbing and weaving came in the hand below:

All-in preflop for 1.2 million holding pocket sixes [6d][6c] Ab4r4 was looking to parry his way through the board cards as kronkol held [Ac][Qd]. The flop [Jc] [8c] [Tc] added more balls being thrown at the Switzerland player as kronkol picked up straight and flush draws to his overcards. The scoring hit came on the turned [9h] as the [3h] on the river did not salvage a chopped straight and Ab4r4 claimed eight place cash ($8,090.00).

Exiting from the big top

Just two hands later BetrThanPhil was already enjoying a decent stack of chips and facing the short stack 1.1 million chip shove by circuslover in the big blind. BetrThanPhil would make the call as well as the chip leader Grizzlypower for a potentially messy pot. The two chip leaders decided not to prod each other and checked down the [3h][6s] [Ad] [8d] [6h] board. BetrThanPhil was first to show, turning up two pair [Jh][Ah] as Grizzlypower and circuslover could only muck their hands while watching another 3.6 million chips slid over to BetrThanPhil. circuslover ride at the carnival came to end in seventh place ($14,562.00).

Two aggressive big stacks enter only one leaves

As mentioned with circuslover's elimination, Grizzlypower and BetrThanPhil held the chip lead with aggression and both of them got their chips in the middle preflop with the blinds at 125K/250K ante 25K for a whopping 12.8 million chip pot. Watch the results below:

The big hand showed to be a big cooler for Grizzlypower holding big slick [As][Kh] to BetrThanPhil's aces [Ad][Ac]. No miracles [6c] [4d] [6h] [9d] [4c] and no chips for Grizzlypower as the former chip leader's growl became a soft as a whisper exiting the final table cave in sixth place ($21,034.00).

BetrThanAces? Didn't think so

With the blinds holding at 125K/250K ante 25K for a few more hands, BetrThanPhil took a little hit to his massive stack while doubling up pastika but still held an eight figure pile of chips. After kronkol raised it up to 750K from the small blind, BetrThanPhil slyly gave the raise a little bump to 1.25 million. Holding just 219,844 more behind, kronkol called showing a suited ace [Ad][9d]. kronkol would need some diamonds to overcome the pocket aces [Ac][Ah] that seemed to have reappeared in BetrThanPhil's hand. Drawing dead by the turn [Ts] [4c] [Ks] [7d] [Qs] kronkol watched another tournament life fall to BetrThanPhil's aces, finishing in fifth place ($27,506.00). This would be kronkol's second fifth place finish in the Sunday Warm-up equaling his February 2010 feat.

Fans love quick deals (and so do bloggers)

Team Online's Andre Coimbra heeded the call of our remaining four to hash out a deal, and in less time than it took to type this sentence the players took home the below amounts with $10,000.00 set aside for the winner.

pastika: $76,627.71
BetrThanPhil :$74,609.26
mister MH: $55,550.51
juancito10: $51,154.13

Take it on the run baby

Just one hand after splitting up the cash, pastika put the two smaller stacks on the defensive with a shove from the button. juancito10 looked down at a decent [Js][Kh] and made the call for his remaining 3.6 million chips as mister MH folded the big blind. pastika's [Jc][Qh] went searching for a lady and found her quickly on the flop [3h] [Qc] [4s]. Kings managed to stay off the turn [6h] and river [8s] as juancito10 profited almost $14K more from making the deal one hand earlier, taking home $51,154.13 in fourth place.

Too much pastika in the pie

Taking down five of six hands in a row, pastika (which sounds like a rare spice but actually is a tackle and bait shop in Wisconsin) continued to increase the chip lead going into the 150K/300K ante 30K blind level. After min-raising from the button, pastika would call mister MH's 4.5 million chip shove from the small blind. mister MH showed pocket eights [8h][8s] and pastika would need to shake and bake a bit for the win again, as his pocket fives [5c][5s] were dominated. 9.4 million in the middle and all of it would slide to pastika after another two outer spiked, this time with a dramatic five on the river [Qc] [2d] [Th] [Ts] [5h] ending mister MH's night in third place ($55,550.51). The win set up the potential long heads-up battle below.

Potential not reached, winner found quickly

Two aggressive players but both had plenty of chips to fight it out for the extra $10K and title of Sunday Warm-up champion. pastika's 20.6 million to BetrThanPhil's 11.6 would find all of their chips in the middle preflop after just six minutes of heads-up play. BetrThanPhil was ground down to 8.6 million and blinds sitting at 200K/400K ante 40K when the decisive hands played out below:

BetrThanPhil [4d][4h]
pastika [Ac][7h]

A race for the win as pastika would need to catch something one last time to deny BetrThanPhil the title. It would wait for the turn but sure enough a seven managed to appear on the [Kc] [Ks] [5c] [7d] [8c] board ending BetrThanPhil's night as the runner-up ($74,609.26) shipping the extra $10K to our champion pastika!

$500,000 guaranteed Sunday Warm-up results (06-12-11)
(* denotes part of four-way deal)
1. pastika (Czech Republic) *$86,627.71
2. BetrThanPhil (Canada) *$74,609.26
3. mister MH (Netherlands) *$55,550.51
4. juancito10 (Spain) *$51,154.13
5. kronkol (Netherlands) $27,506.00
6. Grizzlypower (Germany) $21,034.00
7. circuslover (United Kingdom) $14,562.00
8. Ab4r4 (Switzerland) $8,090.00
9. iberbiber (Canada) $5,177.60

Just like that our final table has been set with the dramatic elimination of Aussie Millions champ David Gorr.

We caught the action from the turn on the board of [qs][6c][4c][6d]. Gorr fired 17,000 and Khiem Nguyen made the call to see the action card [8c] hit the river. Gorr checked and Nguyen overbet the pot, tossing out 65,000 into a pot of about 50,000. Gorr responded with a check-raise all in!

"I have to call you!" exclaimed Nguyen as he opened [8s][8h] for a full house. Gorr showed [kc][9c] for the king-high flush. After a countdown of chips Nguyen just had him covered to rake in the monster half-million chip pot. Unfortunately Gorr is our final table bubble boy finishing in 10th place which will jump him to fourth spot on the ANZ Player of the Year rankings.

With that, we'll take a few moments to catch our breath as the players redraw and setup for the final table. Back soon!

1:15pm: Chalhoub flushed on the river

Brett Chalhoub is out in 11th place in unfortunate fashion. He was all in for around 85,000 chips with [ac][kh] and looked set for a double up against Tristan Bain's [ah][js] but the board ran out [7h][5d][9h][5h][qh]. Four hearts on board gave Bain the nut flush to eliminate Chalhoub in 11th place for $6,030.

1:10pm: Gorr doubles through Warne

David Gorr opened with a raise to 13,000 and found two callers in Andrew Watson and Leigh Warne to see a flop of [3h][9d][5h]. Action checked to Gorr who bet 13,000 again. Watson folded but Warne raised to 40,000. Gorr responded by moving all in and Warne made the call with [kh][jh] for a flush draw, but Gorr held a set with [3c][3s].

The turn [6s] and river [kc] bricked out to double Gorr to over 250,000 and leave Warne with 240,000.

1:05pm: Takahiro Morooka eliminated in 12th place

Well, I guess it just wasn't meant to be for Takahiro Morooka. After the earlier controversy, Morooka was again on the short stack and he committed those chips with [ah][kd] following an opening raise from Khiem Nguyen. The overnight chip leader made the call but found himself dominated holding [as][th].

However the board ran out [2d][2c][9d][4h][td] to spike a pair on the river for Nguyen and eliminate Morooka in 12th place. He collects $6,030 for his tournament efforts.

1:00pm: Morooka crosses the line

What's a final day without a little controversy? Leigh Warne and Takahiro Morooka have just tangled in a pot with Morooka the unfortunate victim of a rule technicality.

Morooka had opened to 13,000 before Warne three-bet to 33,000 from the blinds. Morooka declared himself all in and his stack was moved into the middle.

Warne then asked the dealer to bring in the bet amounts so that he could see the raise amount. As the dealer started to bring in the chips, Morooka, who doesn't speak great English, thought that Warne had folded so he slid his cards into the middle, crossing the hard line which applies here in Casino Canberra.

He retrieved his cards once it was pointed out that Warne had indeed not folded, but Warne was well aware that the line plays here in Canberra. He called for the floor for a ruling. After the situation was explained to the staff, and Warne pleaded his case adamantly that the cards had crossed the line, it was ruled that Morooka's cards were indeed mucked. Morooka was forced to forfeit the 33,000 while the remainder of his stack was returned as Warne raked in the main pot. You'd love to see common sense prevail in this situation but rules are rules!

12:55pm: Jarred Graham eliminated

Jarred Graham couldn't recover from that previous blow and has been bundled out in unlucky 13th place.

Action folded around to Graham in the small blind who moved all in for around 60,000 with [kd][2d] but Khiem Nguyen made the call with one of the worst hands Graham could see - a dominant [ah][2h].

The flop was [ts][as][9s] and Graham was left calling for running spades, but it wasn't to be as the [5c] turn and [4h] river completed the board. Graham will be disappointed to depart in 13th place as he'll collect $4,690 for his efforts in Canberra.

12:45pm: Level up, blinds 3,000-6,000, ante 500

12:40pm: Broom and Graham dented

Two of our higher profile players have just taken a pair of pretty bad beats to leave them on short stacks.

In a three-bet pot, James Broom and Sammy Huang went to war on a flop of [td][6h][5h]. Huang had led out from the blinds and Broom moved all in. Huang called with [as][kc] for just ace-high as Broom tabled [qs][qs].

"How can you call?" questioned Broom, sensing the impending doom that was about to unfold.

The [9s] turn changed nothing but the [kd] on the river gave Huang the 350,000-chip pot and left Broom with just 60,000.

On the other table, Takahiro Morooka found a fortunate double up when he moved all in for 61,500 with [ac][jc] and Jarred Graham made the call with [as][kh]. The board ran out [js][4d][ah][9d][6h] to give Morooka two pair for the double up. He celebrated excitedly but Graham wasn't amused as he slips to 70,000.

12:35pm: Ljubicic lucks out

Mario Ljubicic was another of the very short stacks entering play here today, but he's been unable to find the doube up required to stay alive.

Ljubicic moved all in from under the gun and found two callers in the blinds in Andrew Watson and Leigh Warne. Both live players checked down the board of [qh][8c][6c][5d][qd].

Ljubicic showed [jd][tc] for just jack-high which was no good as Watson took it down with [ac][8d]. Ljubicic heads to the cashier to collect $4,690 for 14th place.

12:30pm: Gorr grabs gutterball

Aussie Millions champ David Gorr has found a fortunate double up to stay alive. He opened to 11,500 from middle position before Khiem Nguyen moved all in over the top. With about 60,000 behind, Gorr reluctantly made the call with [qc][js] and saw the bad news as Nguyen opened [jc][jh].

"You're drawing pretty slim," laughed Gorr as the flop was dealt [4h][8s][ts]. It was a good one for Gorr as he picked up some gutshot straight draw outs. The [2d] turn was a brick but the [9s] on the river landed Gorr the straight for the double up. Gorr is up to 150,000 with Nguyen slipping to 250,000.

12:20pm: Sibaei silenced

Naz Sibaei is the first casualty of the day after he moved his last 25,500 in from middle position and found two callers in Andrew Watson and David Gorr.

The two live players checked down the board of [2h][th][jh][2d][ks] until the river where Watson bet 15,000. Gorr folded and Sibaei opened [as][kh] for top pair, but the king delivered a straight for Watson with his [ac][qs].

Sibaei finishes in 15th place and collects $4,690 for his efforts in Canberra.

12:15pm: Play is underway!

The fifteen final day players have unbagged their chips and are ready to get down to business! Day 3 of the ANZPT Canberra Main Event is underway!

We have 28:01 to play of Level 16 with the blinds at 2,500-5,000 with a 500 ante.

Australians love nothing more than a public holiday. So while the Republican movement continues to rally against the Royal family, they will probably jump at the chance for a Monady morning sleep-in, thanks to the celebration today of the Queen's Birthday.

The Queen's Birthday long weekend in June is often noted in the calendar as a time to make a quick holiday interstate (usually minus the volcanic ash), but it's also a date which is building some tradition here at Casino Canberra. It seems an ideal date for the ANZPT to roll into town, and that history and tradition will be reinforced today with our final table.

We return with fifteen hopefuls, with some talented cats amongst them including Jarred Graham, David Gorr, James Broom and chip leader Khiem Nguyen. Here's how they will line up:

Table 5
Seat 1: Tristan Bain (Australia) - 263,300
Seat 2: Xiuming "Sammy" Huang (Australia) (PokerStars Qualifier) - 191,400
Seat 3: Brett Chalhoub (Australia) (PokerStars Qualifier) - 119,700
Seat 4: James Broom (Australia) - 203,700
Seat 5: Tony Kambouroglou (Australia) - 255,000
Seat 8: Luke Edwards (Australia) (PokerStars Qualifier) - 233,200
Seat 9: Gioreio Graziani (Australia) - 187,800

Table 6
Seat 1: Jarred Graham (Australia) - 95,500
Seat 2: Naz Sibaei (Australia) - 35,500
Seat 3: Khiem Nguyen (Germany) - 325,600
Seat 4: Andrew Watson (Australia) (PokerStars Player) - 233,900
Seat 5: Leigh Warne (Australia) - 311,600
Seat 6: Mario Ljubicic (Australia) - 39,300
Seat 8: David Gorr (Australia) - 112,500
Seat 9: Takahiro Morooka (Australia) (PokerStars Qualifier) - 77,700

By the end of the day we'll be doing some crowning of our own as we recognize a new champion of Australian poker. I have it on good authority that the Queen will be celebrating her birthday by railing our live coverage of the ANZPT Canberra Main Event right here on the PokerStars Blog. We hope that you will too!

Now 42 players come back for Day 2, with Day 1A leader João Costa top with 204,700 chips.

Among the survivors are Team PokerStars Pro João Nunes, who bagged 38,800 chips after a solid performance which included the elimination of EPT Vilamoura Season 6 winner, António Matias.

Fifteen players will make the money, with the winner getting €24,460 from the €89,630 prize pool created by 132 players.

Check out the Portugal Poker Series website to learn more about this new PokerStars circuit.

So, this morning when ESPN's poker Twitter feed mentioned Ramdin's name, it became clear that's the Team PokerStars Pro from the Bronx is again being noticed outside the PokerStars Blog realm. He's once again letting his game speak for him.

With the 2011 World Series of Poker only a couple of weeks old, Ramdin is still alive and in the money in the $1,500 HORSE event. Already guaranteed more than $7,000, Ramdin is marking his fourth cash of this year's WSOP. With 17 players remaining, Ramdin sits in eighth place.

Ramdin's WSOP resume goes back to 2003 when he notched his first Series cash. His 20th place finish in a pot-limit hold'em tourney earned him less than $4,000. Since then, he's put up 22 total WSOP cashes worth more than $300,000.

Ramdin is no stranger to HORSE, either. In 2008, Ramdin made the final table of this same event. He placed 7th for more than $32,000. If Ramdin manages to make the final table today, it will be his fourth in the past eight years.

Good luck today, Victor, in the chase for your first WSOP bracelet.

They're a happy bunch and will sleep well tonight knowing they are a minimum of $4,690 wealthier. Some will be more than satisfied with that, but there are a few others who want nothing more than to go all the way to claim the title and $73,700 first place prize.

Along the way today there was plenty of roadkill, with the biggest of them all falling in the opening minutes of the day.

Team PokerStars Pro Tony Hachem was in dire need of a quick double up and when he looked down and found the pocket rockets it seemed like a perfect opportunity. However a cruel river gave his opponents trips and Hachem departed.

Other high profile casualties included ANZPT Adelaide champion Octavian Voegele, ANZPT Sydney winner Michael Kanaan, day one chip leaders Scott Kerr and Leo Boxell, Rennie Carnevale, Michael Guzzardi, Sal Fazzino and ANZ Player of the Year contenders Oliver Grujic, Sebastian Pagana and Graeme Putt.

It left the door open for reigning Aussie Millions champion David Gorr as the only player in the current POTY top ten to remain in contention. Gorr battled for long periods today on a short stack, and had to survive some intense duels with the ultra-aggressive James Broom, but Gorr managed to make it through the day and can now finish as high as second in the rankings with a good result tomorrow.

As players approached the money stage, the likes of Luke Edwards, Jarred Graham and Germany's Khiem Nguyen moved through the field to grab the chip lead. Nguyen was particularly impressive as he picked the right spots to throw jabs and accumulate. When he eliminated David Steele he shot into the chip lead and never relinquished that position as he enters the final day of play as our chip leader.

When George Moussa's courageous run came to an end in devastating fashion at the hands of a creative Tristan Bain, the bubble had burst and we were in the money. Here's the redraw for play tomorrow:

Table 5
Seat 1: Tristan Bain (Australia) - 263,300
Seat 2: Xiuming "Sammy" Huang (Australia) (PokerStars Qualifier) - 191,400
Seat 3: Brett Chalhoub (Australia) (PokerStars Qualifier) - 119,700
Seat 4: James Broom (Australia) - 203,700
Seat 5: Tony Kambouroglou (Australia) - 255,000
Seat 8: Luke Edwards (Australia) (PokerStars Qualifier) - 233,200
Seat 9: Gioreio Graziani (Australia) - 187,800

Table 6
Seat 1: Jarred Graham (Australia) - 95,500
Seat 2: Naz Sibaei (Australia) - 35,500
Seat 3: Khiem Nguyen (Germany) - 325,600
Seat 4: Andrew Watson (Australia) (PokerStars Player) - 233,900
Seat 5: Leigh Warne (Australia) - 311,600
Seat 6: Mario Ljubicic (Australia) - 39,300
Seat 8: David Gorr (Australia) - 112,500
Seat 9: Takahiro Morooka (Australia) (PokerStars Qualifier) - 77,700

We'll recommence play at 12:15pm tomorrow (GMT+10) and play all the way down until a new ANZPT champion is crowned. Looking at the lineup, it's set to be a stellar final table and should provide plenty of great highlights from the nation's capital. Until then, enjoy your Sunday evening and we'll see you tomorrow!

The bubble has burst on George Moussa to leave us with fifteen very happy players. Of course Moussa wasn't so thrilled especially considering his elimination hand.

Moussa opened from the cutoff to 11,000 before Tristan Bain shipped it all in from the small blind to put maximum pressure on the short stacks. Moussa made the call for his tournament life with [ad][kh] as Bain held live cards holding [8c][6s].

With the second table sweating the action and praying for a bad beat, the board delivered [5h][6h][9c][3h][7s]. Bain paired the flop and improved to a straight on the river to leave a distraught Moussa heading for the nearest exit.

That wraps up our live coverage. It's difficult to know our chip leader but Tristan Bain, Khiem Nguyen and Leigh Warne are the most likely suspects. We'll have exact counts and a full wrap of the day's activities for you shortly.

10:20pm: Swan busts; We're on the bubble!

Oliver Swan has been eliminated to leave ourselves on the money bubble. In a raised pot, Swan moved all in for his last 31,100 from the big blind on a flop of [2d][5h][9h]. James Broom thought for a moment before folding but Leigh Warne snap-called with [tc][th]. Swan had plenty of outs with his [kh][qh] for flush draw and overcards, but couldn't connect on the [9c] turn or [9s].

The next player eliminated will go home empty-handed while the remaining fifteen will bag up their chips with a minimum $4,690 in their back pocket.

10:10pm: Moussa stays alive

George Moussa has collected a very timely double up when his [qc][qd] held in a preflop clash with Tristan Bain's [jc][js]. The board ran out [4c][kh][9h][3d][9d] as Moussa doubled his stack of 39,800.

Bain wasn't too happy as he tossed out the chips one at a time, to the annoyance of floor staff. Bain slips to 145,000.

10:00pm: Broom stays aggressive

David Gorr opened with a raise to 11,000 on the button before James Broom three-bet to 27,000 in the small blind. Gorr quickly called and they saw a flop of [qc][9d][4d]. Both players checked and the turn was the [7d]. Again it went check, check, to the free [9s] on the river.

Broom slid out a stack worth 20,000 and Gorr took a moment before making the call. Broom opened [7c][6h] for nines and sevens which was enough to collect the pot.

9:55pm: Level up, blinds 2,500-5,000, ante 500

9:50pm: Vandersluis vanquished

Roy Vandersluis is the next to go after he moved his short stack into the middle with pocket sixes against the ace-queen of David Gorr.

Another lady spiked on the flop to pair up Gorr and eliminate Vandersluis from the tournament. The Aussie Millions champ is the only player in the ANZ POTY top ten still alive as he is on track for his third cash of the season. He's up to 180,000 chips.

9:35pm: Slow going

It's been very slow going over the last half an hour, with no action to report. There are no real short stacks under pressure so it looks like we could be here for a while yet.

Much of the slow going has come from Toothpick Tony and his antics with his stacks sitting mixed and unorganized. This resulted in a very slow hand against Khiem Nguyen.

Toothpick opened to 15,500 before Nguyen raised to 43,000. Toothpick stood and declared himself all in, and it took three mathematicians to work out his stack size. 169,100 was the tentative amount agreed upon and after the clock was called on Nguyen he let it go. Ninteen players remain.

9:10pm: Maklouf picked off

Last year's ANZPT Canberra runner up, John Maklouf has put in a great repeat performance but fallen just short of reaching the cash.

He was the short stack of the field with just 21,800 in chips which he committed with [as][6c]. Toothpick Tony made the call with [kd][5s] and connected on the board of [kh][9d][tc][qd][4h].

On a nearby table, Lee Holtzapffel was also eliminated to leave ourselves with 19 players remaining.

8:55pm: Play resumes

The 21 remaining players are back on the felt with six more eliminations required until we reach the money and the end of the day's play.

At the end of the last level Khiem Nguyen reclaimed his spot on top of the chip count leaderboard with the elimination of David Steele. Nguyen holds 350,000 to be well out in front.

8:25pm: Edwards survives four barrels from Graham

Jarred Graham had been running over his table but he just hit a roadblock in the form of Luke Edwards. It started with Graham min-raising to 6,000 and Edwards calling on the button. Brett Chalhoub came along in the big blind to see a flop of [6c][as][9c].

Action checked to Graham who bet 13,500. Edwards made the call as Chalhoub got out of the way. On the [qh] turn, Graham bet again for 24,400 and Edwards made the call as a big pot was brewing.

The river fell the [td] and Graham released another barrel worth a hefty 36,200. Edwards shrugged and declared a call as Graham tabled [ah][9s] for two pair, but he'd been rivered as Edwards showed [ac][tc]. Graham slips to 150,000 with Edwards pushing 200,000.

8:05pm: Gorr and Vandersluis double; Kerr busto

The short stacks aren't going easily here as we have two more double ups to report.

Andrew Watson's wealth didn't last long as he ran his ace-king into the [as][ah] of Aussie Millions champion David Gorr. The board fell [tc][qd][4h][3s][8d] to give Gorr a big double up to 145,000. Watson is back down to 135,000.

Meanwhile overnight chip leader Scott Kerr is on the ropes after being crippled in unfortunate fashion against Roy Vandersluis. The chips were in preflop with Kerr's [ah][ks] appearing set for a chop when Vandersluis opened the same hand - [ac][kc]. That is, until the board ran out [4s][5c][jd][8c][3c] to give Vandersluis a flush to double to 77,000.

Kerr was crippled to just 8,000 chips which he lost moments later as our day one chip leader was eliminated.

8:00pm: A couple of doubles

Roy Vandersluis has found a much-needed double up when he open shoved for 15,700 with [as][ts] and John Maklouf made the call with [qc][qd]. Vandersluis got some help when the board ran out [jd][3c][2c][ad][jc] to spike his ace and double to 37,000. Maklouf is down to 40,000.

On a nearby table James Broom and Andrew Watson went to war preflop in a cutoff versus small blind battle. Broom went with [ah][js] but Watson held a dominant [ac][ks] which held on the [7d][ad][7h][3c][kc] board. Broom is back down to 110,000 with Watson now looking strong on 203,000.

7:55pm: Morooka coolers the Toothpick

A cooler of a hand has seen the short-stacked Te Wiremu Mcgarvey run into two monster hands as Takahiro Morooka doubled up through Toothpick Tony.

Morooka opened with a raise which Mcgarvey flat called, before Toothpick put in the three-bet. Morooka flat-called as Mcgarvey called all in for his last chips.

The flop landed [8c][ts][2h] and Toothpick bet 14,000 into the side pot. However Morooka wasn't going anywhere as he moved all in for 48,700. Toothpick called it off with [kh][kc] but Morooka held the rockets with his [as][ac]. Meanwhile things weren't looking good for Mcgarvey with his pocket nines.

The turn was the [8d] and river the [7h] to see Mcgarvey eliminated and Morooka more than doubling up to 147,000. Toothpick slips to 80,000.

7:45pm: Level up, blinds 1,500-3,000, ante 300

7:40pm: Double for Maklouf

Te Wiremu Mcgarvey opened with a raise to 5,000 before John Maklouf moved all in for a total of 31,700. Mcgarvey made the call with [as][jc] to be racing with Maklouf's [7c][7h].

The board fell [qc][qd][2h][6c][9s] to leave Maklouf's pair in front for a double up to 65,000. Mcgarvey slips to 25,000.

7:30pm: Holtzapffel sets up Boxell

Leo Boxell's mighty run in the ANZPT Canberra Main Event has come to an end. The fan favourite made the call when Lee Holtzapffel pushed all in on a flop of [6h][jh][7h]. Boxell opened [js][ts] for top pair but Holtzapffel had flopped a set with his [7s][7d].

The turn was the [as] and the river [qc] to double up Holtzapffel to around 70,000 chips. Boxell was left with just a few hundred in chips which disappeared moments later as Boxell hit the rail.

7:25pm: Bain flushes Davey

Tristan Bain has jumped up with the tournament chip leaders in a massive clash with Peter Davey. The chips were in on the turn with the board reading [jh][ah][qs][7h]. Davey pushed with [9h][6h] but Bain insta-called with [qh][4h].

The river was the [9d] and after a countdown of chips, Bain just had him covered to eliminate Davey and jump Bain up to nearly 200,000 chips.

7:15pm: Nice call by Broom

We only saw the action on the river, but obviously Leo Boxell's story wasn't quite convincing enough as James Broom made a pretty heroic call. The board read [td][7d][qh][3d][2h] and Boxell tossed out 18,000 into the middle, but Broom made the call.

Boxell opened [9s][8s] for a missed straight draw as Broom's light call with [jc][7c] was a beauty. Broom is back up to 200,000 with Boxell back down to 50,000.

7:05pm: Moussa takes out a shorty

We've lost our first player post-dinner as George Moussa has taken care of one of the short stacks of the field. Moussa made the call when his opponent moved all in for 8,700. Moussa showed [kh][tc] and was in dominant shape against [qs][ts].

The short-stacked player had already stood from his chair and put on his jacket in preparation of the bad news, which indeed arrived on the [ac][3h][jc][jd][qh] board. Moussa makes a straight to move up to 160,000.

7:00pm: Boxell pulls the stop and go

"Not a bad recovery from 12,000," chuckled Leo Boxell after raking in another pot. From the small blind, he'd called the raise from Lee Holtzapffel to 9,300 from under the gun. They saw a [jc][9h][8c] flop and Boxell immediately moved all in to put Holtzapffel to a decision for his tournament life.

Holtzapffel thought for a long time before folding as Boxell gets himself back to 80,000.

6:45pm: Play resumes

The 32 players have returned from dinner with only a hunger for more chips! Jarred Graham is out in front with Khiem Nguyen, Mario Ljubicic and James Broom the next best.

We'll be continuing this evening until we reach the money for our final fifteen players.