Over the past past couple of weeks, eligible poker bloggers across the globe have been engaged in a battle of poker, blogging, and live tweeting in an effort to pick up thousands of dollars in prizes. Today, we got the final winner envelopes and we can now announce the champions.

Without further ado, here are your winners.

Best Blogger Award

Paul Jones, known on Twitter as TheRoyalRaiser makes his home on his blog of the same name.

When the competition opened, he posted this video announcing what he would do with the $5,000 if he won the Best Blogger category.

In case you missed it, Jones said he would use 25% of his winnings for his family, 25% for a UKIPT buy-in, and then donate the rest to charity.

In the end, his writing throughout the WBCOOP festivities earned him the money and distinction of Best Blogger.

"I'm speechless!" he declared. "It was a great competition from the start. Half of the prize will go to Temple Street Children's Hospital in Dublin Ireland. The hospital relies so much on public donations."

Best Live Tweeter

Some folks might argue the world of social media has made Twitter even more relevant than the world of blogging. The full debate is one for another day. For now, we must congratulate Agnes Archibong-Omon who plays and tweets under the name cardkahleesi.

Her posts to Twitter during the event caught the attention of PokerStars' social media team and earned her $1,000 for her efforts.

"Winning the prize is really a bloody good icing on the awesome cake that was #WBCOOP 2012," she said. "Thank you to the PokerStars crew."

Player of the Series

Finally, WBCOOP paid close attention to how these bloggers and tweeters actually fared at the tables. During the course of the many WBCOOP events, Bartosz Oder, aka wilczybobek, had a stellar series and ended WBCOOP on top of the leaderboard.

There was more than the honor of winning at stake. For his efforts, Oder wins a WBCOOP 2012 trophy, a live event or online package for any global PokerStars sponsored event, a 2012 SCOOP Main Event Medium ticket, and a special edition chip set.

Here's how he stacked up against the rest of the field.

2012 WBCOOP Player of the Series leaderboard final

1. wilczybobek (Poland) 295
2. murmur666 (Spain) 260
3. AJEI (Dominican Republic) 255
4. LParreira (Portugal) 250
5. mifox (Ukraine) 235
6. AkrilGIRL (Peru) 215
7. nobody777888 (Russian Federation) 215
8. Erdoganas (Lithuania) 210
9. MariusTrif (Romania) 205
10. murmuc75 (Hungary) 205

To see the full results, visit the WBCOOP leaderboard page.

Congratulations to all the WBCOOP winners for all your hard work and the payoffs. We'll see you again next year for more WBCOOP festivities.

WBCOOP Best Bloggers By: Donnie Peters On Thursday, February 23, the World Blogger Championship of Online Poker (WBCOOP) kicked off. On this year's schedule are 31 events stretching until Sunday, March 4. The submissions for the WBCOOP are now closed and plenty of players have gotten in on the action. In order to qualify, bloggers were asked to send a 500-word blog post or short video telling what you would do with $5,000 if you won the WBCOOP's Best Blogger prize.

On PokerNews, a contest was held where various bloggers would submit blog posts and people would vote for the best blogger. There were plenty of submissions, but not everyone could get voted to the top. With 311 votes on his blog post titled, "WBCOOP 2012 The epic beginning of our poker blogging journey!" Radostin Minchev is sitting number one.

Right at the beginning of his post, Minchev states that "this is the very beginning of his blogging journey" and goes on to say that the blog is aimed as "A way for me to show you that the more you believe the bigger you can be." From there, Minchev gives a little background on how his poker career and outlines a few of the things it takes to be a successful player.

After the introduction, Minchev opens up with honesty and says that the main reason he started this poker blog was for the WBCOOP. As for the $5,000 he'd earned for winning WBCOOP Best Blogger? Minchev sites some hardship with being able to land a successful, full-time job in his country, but says he's been able to always find time for his first love -- poker. Working on his game throughout the years and saving some of his salary in order to build a small bankroll, Minchev eventually made his first real-money deposit and claims, "my life turned 180 degrees."

Unable to consistently move up limits due to regular withdrawals in order to sustain himself, Minchev claims winning this $5,000 would, "help me be the person I know I'm supposed to be , the player I'm supposed to be." He also goes on to be very thankful of all that PokerStars has offered him and allowed him in his life, saying, "PokerStars gave me the hope and did what my home country couldn't, it turned my potential in profit."

Along with the over 300 votes, Minchev's blog post has 21 comments. Much of them are wishing him good luck in the competition along with other positive comments. Reading the comments section truly shows the camaraderie within the game of poker and especially within the world of poker blogging. You can find Minchev's blog HERE..

The person with the second most votes comes in at 195, which is still a ways off of Minchev. This blog comes from a man named Ernestas, who is originally from Lithuania, but now resides in Edinburgh where he is studying. Known on PokerStars as "Wernestas" and "WeRnIS" to most people, his blog can be found HERE.

In his WBCOOP blog post, Ernestas states that "shock" would be the first thing that would pop into his mind if he won the Best Blogger prize. That's very understandable as $5,000 is a good chunk of change for most people. "If I won such prize, I could barely speak for several days and it would be such a big honor for me. When I would actually understand what happened, I would start thinking what to do."

So, what would he do? First, Ernestas says he would withdraw some of the money in order to pay for some of his study expenses, which we believe is the smart thing to do. From there, he'd spend the rest of the money he left online for poker, where he prefers online tournaments to cash games. He also mentioned that he'd like to purchase some poker books in order to better his game and also invest in a poker chip set so he could play with his friends.

Then there are live tournaments, which Ernestas mentions that he'd like to be able to play a bit more of. Winning $5,000 could certainly allow him some room to buy-in to some smaller events and hopefully go on to become a star.

In the end, Ernestas is very genuine in everything he says. He finishes the post by saying, "My expectations are not big, I am just a simple man, but if I won any award in this competition, I would see it as a trophy. And I really value such trophies, they show what you have made that others did not, it shows what skills you have, and it shows your strengths. I would like to thank PokerStars for creating such competitions, it helps you to show your creativity, share your ideas."

Siting in third with the most votes is Paul and his blog can be found HERE. He has 118 votes, which is a good way off of the top two, but still a very respectable number. Closely behind him is Arkly with 110 votes and his blog can be found HERE.

All together there have been tons and tons of blog posts made about the WBCOOP and the series is now running. Every tournament awards Spring Championship of Online Poker (SCOOP) tickets to the highest finishers, and everyone who cashes will also be invited to play the 2012 WBCOOP Main Event. On top of having a shot at the Best Blogger award, PokerStars is giving away a second award for $1,000 to the Best Live Tweeter. That's a reminder for the playing bloggers to be sure they are sticking to their social media duties while grinding the events on the schedule.

Now, a special announcement: we here at the PokerStars Blog have just been asked to keep our eyes open for a couple of bloggers who are doing exceptional work while WBCOOP is running. Over the next few days, we'll be picking two wildcard bloggers who will join the top ten from PokerNews to go on to the finals and PokerStars WBCOOP judges.

So, keep writing, and make sure we know you're writing!

This week, the PokerStars World Blogger Championship of Online Poker kicked off with thousands of dollars in prizes on the line. They'll go to the people who not only put their blood, sweat, and tears into the practice of writing about the game we all love.

Hundreds upon hundreds of bloggers from around the world wrote their best 500 words on what they would do if they won the $5,000 best blogger prize. Everyone who did now has a chance at winning some big money over the next week and half.

The first three events played out yesterday. Now there will be several events a day until March 4 and the $5,000 WBCOOP freeroll.

Our advice: if you know a blogger, be a friend and get him or her some coffee, Red Bull, or other suitable stimulant. It's a blogger's job to write about WBCOOP, and that will keep them busy enough. Now, they have to play three events per day, too. It's going to be a grind, but in the end, some of them might have enough sleep-deprivation experience to be astronauts.

Good luck to all the bloggers in the coming week!

In honour of the anniversary, PokerStars has graciously decided to host the World Blogger Championship of Online Poker. The series is a great chance for any of you bloggers out there to score some major cash and tournament prizes. If your blog has been active for more than a couple months and you have some regular posts....do check out the link! Not only will you potentially profit from this tournament series, but I am sure you will pick up some more followers to your blogs.

Whether your blog is about food or fashion, surely you can mash together 500 words to describe how you would spend $5,000, the prize for the best blogger of the series! There is even a $1,000 prize for the best live tweeter among other prizes for the leaders of the pack.
For me, spending $5k is something easily done, and if anyone struggles with ideas...I can surely make recommendations. To start:

• A hot tub
• Hermes handbag (trust me, they are beautiful)
• Four night stay for two at the Sparkling Hill resort in Vernon, BC (you could actually do this twice for $5k)
• Buy cases and cases of Earthquake (or a similar California Zinfandel)
• Rent a room in WizardofAhhs sweet house
• Diamonds - need I say more?

I think you get the idea...and now, years down the road, this blog will serve to give people ideas for what to get me for birthdays, celebrations, anniversaries, etc.

But in all seriousness, this will be a super fun series, paying tribute to all of you out there who have had the ambition to get your thoughts down on the world wide web. The schedule is set, 31 tournaments over 11 days, there is something for everyone! If you have questions, make a comment, check out my Facebook fan page or send me a tweet @talonchick.

I should probably also mention that for every Team Online member you bust, you will be credited with T$11 that can be used for future tournaments (but please...don't let that be your primary motivation)! If you are new to PokerStars, be sure to take advantage of the other promotions available to you at the same time.

See you on my territory.

To check out the rest of talonchick's posts, visit talonchick.com

Back in 2005, WBCOOP was a way to celebrate the efforts of people using the new-ish communication medium. Today, WBCOOP returns as a salute to the people who still spend their hard-earned words in a medium that's already said goodbye to its younger days. These are the die-hards. These are the people who, like us, still believe it takes more than 140 characters to tell most stories well. These are the poker bloggers of the world.

This afternoon, PokerStars announced WBCOOP was back with thousands of dollars in prizes and the biggest schedule it's ever had. Bloggers who win their way into the main event will have a chance to share in the $5,000 prize pool. Beyond that, there are a ton of other big prizes up for grabs:

The WBCOOP events kick off on February 23. The $5,000 main event runs March 4 at 10am.

One important reminder about this year's event: you can't just enter a URL to be eligible. You have to submit a full blog post. You're a blogger. Now prove it!

If you're a blogger and want to see if you're eligible for this year's events, head on over to the WBCOOP entry page.

Good luck! Now....get to writing.

The win came at the end of a big week for the world's poker bloggers. 2011 WBCOOP consisted of six preliminary events and one big main event. At stake over the course of the week was $58,000 in tickets to some of PokerStars biggest events. At the end of it, dexali took the lion's share of the prizes for the main event victory. That effort was worth $4,860 in event tickets.

Here's how the main event final table finished up:

2011 WBCOOP main event final table

1. dexali
2. LocoNaider
3. isingo
4. ElEvil
5. MARNO28
6. raphaelzani
7. fragnfuchs
8. Phil Deez 11
9. Homeplaya5!

During this weeks competition, WBCOOP organizers tracked how each player performed over the entire series. The player with the most points at the end of the week would pick up $5,000 worth of PokerStars live event packages. When it was all said and done the prize went to Russia's Dramaturg. Here's how the rest of the leaderboard shook out.

2011 WBCOOP Leader Board Rankings

1. Dramaturg (Russia)
2. md_joel (United States)
3 - 4. Byxl (Bosnia and Herzegovina)
3 - 4. PokerWorks (United States)
5 - 6. dexali (Hungary)
5 - 6. Glavir (Russia)
7. MoneyShuffle (Netherlands)
8. uvyiah (Russia)
9. Petrovich91 (Russia)

Congrats to all of the winners in 2011 WBCOOP. See you next year.

Topping the WBCOOP Leader Board after the first night of play was the Netherlands' MoneyShuffle.

WBCOOP Event #1 was a PLO freeroll for 540 poker bloggers around the world. When it was done, MoneyShuffle had picked up two $215 SCOOP tickets, two Sunday Million tickets, and a seat in the WBCOOP Main Event.

Here's a look at the top finishers and current rulers of the leaderboard.

1. MoneyShuffle (Netherlands)
2. Petrovich91 (Russia)
3. veryjosie (United States)
4. kroni123 (Austria)
5. x_ROSH125_x (United Kingdom)
6. BBeil (Hungary)
7. visok20 (Portugal)
8. trikosha (Russia)

WCOOP 2011 runs the rest of this week, culminating in the big main event on January 30th with thousands of dollars in SCOOP tickets on the line.

Entry into WBCOOP 2011 is free for all verified poker bloggers. To see if you qualify and how you can enter, visit the official WBCOOP page.

The PokerStars World Blogger Championship of Online Poker returns on January 24 with six days of qualifying tournaments followed by a final on January 30. Up for grabs, a spectacular $58,000 in Spring Championship of Online Poker (SCOOP) tickets.

And new for this year, we introduce the WBCOOP Leader Board for your chance to win even more prizes. Every time you play in a WBCOOP event you'll win leader board points. The player with the most points at the end of the seven tournaments wins $5,000 worth of PokerStars live event packages to the tournaments of your choice. We could end up blogging about you.

For more on how the leader board works, including points structure, as well as the latest rankings, please take a look at the WBCOOP Leader Board page.

Entry into WBCOOP 2011 is free for all verified poker bloggers. To see if you qualify and how you can enter, visit the official WBCOOP page.

A lot has changed since then.

Technology has given us new blogging platforms, new blogging styles, and yea verily, Twitter.

This year, WBCOOP awarded prizes for more than simply how the bloggers played in the events. It also recognized some of the best live-blogging and Twitter posts. Here are the winners.

Best Live Blog

Winner: Daleroxxu: $425 in SCOOP tickets

Runners-Up: RGC2005, BamBamCan, Conan776 : $33 in SCOOP tickets

Best Twitter Posts

Winner: the_cloud71: $425 in SCOOP tickets

Runners-up: ZomBParadox, MI_Turtle, cparsley: $33 in SCOOP Tickets

Congratulations to all the winners. We'll see you in the next World Blogger Championship of Online Poker.

The WBCOOP started on January 25 and ran throughout the course of the week with a little bit of everything - NLHE, PLO, and even an 8-game mix. All tournaments gave away entries to Spring Championship of Online Poker tournaments, which players can then use in the coming months when the 2010 SCOOP gets underway. For many of us who don't play as much as we'd like, the chance to parlay a freeroll into the possibility of significant money is, as mentioned, a treat.

Today, a total of 2,062 bloggers took seats in the WBCOOP Main Event for SCOOP tickets of various values: $22 tickets to 46th - 136th place, $55 tickets to 28th - 45th place, and $215 tickets to 10th - 27th place. (There were also SCOOP tickets awaiting those who did the best live event blogging and best tweeting throughout the series.) And that brought us to the fight for the final table.

It was serious business. No one at the last two tables was leaving without a fight. But it finally came down to hand-for-hand play and took only a few minutes to see lordTasse push all-in with pocket jacks and BelaLany call with [Qd] [Kd]. The flop hit the latter with [7c] [Ks] [3c] for top pair, and the [6s] turn and [9h] river ended it for lordTasse, who was awarded a SCOOP ticket worth $215 for the effort.

In Level 31, with blinds at 3,600/7,200 and a 900 ante, the final table began with chip counts as follows:

Seat 1: BelaLany (615,412 in chips)
Seat 2: ErickRiveraD (402,949 in chips)
Seat 3: luvrhino (522,812 in chips) out of hand
Seat 4: lostsoul311 (470,822 in chips)
Seat 5: metsapull (958,908 in chips)
Seat 6: hanktankus (447,078 in chips)
Seat 7: sprocket66 (414,709 in chips)
Seat 8: cardinal23 (697,514 in chips)
Seat 9: kalamiis (624,796 in chips)

Though metsapull headed into action with a significant chip lead, it took only one hand - a double-up of lostsoul311 with K-Q over a failed flush draw - to change that. The lead then went to lostsoul311, while metsapull fell to the middle of the pack until slowly but surely chipping back up. Though many several levels than passed without any heart-stopping action, this hand caught everyone's attention pretty quickly:

And there were still nine players. Until one hand crippled luvrhino. Upon moving all-in preflop with pocket kings, hanktankus called with A-D of diamonds and caught the ace on the turn. That left luvrhino with little more than 35,000 to play on. It only took a few more hands for the all-in move to come, which received two callers - lostsoul311 and hanktankus. They checked the [9c] [Kd] [Ks] flop, but when lostsoul311 bet the [6s] turn, hanktankus folded. lostsoul311 then showed [Kc] [8c] for the flopped trips, while luvrhino had to show [9d] [5d] for two pair. The [2h] on the river ended the run for luvrhino, who picked up a $2,100 SCOOP ticket for a day's work and ninth place finish.

The action sped up a bit. BelaLany raised a hand preflop, and ErickRiveraD reraised. BelaLany came over the top all-in, and ErickRiveraD called all-in for his tournament life with pocket kings. BelaLany showed [As] [Ks], and the board came [Td] [8s] [Jd] [5s] [7s] to river the flush and eliminate ErickRiveraD in eighth place, which was worth a $2,100 SCOOP ticket.

In super-fast mode, several more players exited the tournament. The first incidence started with metsapull and BelaLany going to see a [2h] [Qd] [5s] flop, at which point metsapull bet, BelaLany raised, and metsapull called all-in with pocket jacks. But BelaLany showed [Qc] [9c] for top pair, and the [Ks] turn and [4h] river allowed that to remain the best hand. metsapull was eliminated in seventh place with a $2,100 SCOOP ticket.

Moments later, hanktankus and cardinal23 went to see a flop of [(c] [Jh] [Th]. The initial bet came from cardinal23, but hanktankus check-raised. cardinal23 called all-in for 323,615 chips and showed pocket jacks for the set. But hanktankus turned over [Ks] [Qc] for the flopped straight. The [Qd] and [2h] completed the board and eliminated cardinal23 in sixth place with that $2,100 SCOOP ticket.

Action slowed for a time, as the five remaining players began to see the light at the end of the tournament. However, kalamiis had been sitting out for quite a few levels at that point and was in short-stacked position because of it. Upon that player's eventual return, hanktankus was found to be dominating the table with more than 2 million chips. But as play continued, kalamiis continued to experience internet connection issues, which didn't bode well for any of the tired players.

Finally, many levels later, one player left the fun. The hand started with hanktankus and BelaLany limping in and lostsoul311 checking the big blind option. After the flop of [4h] [3h] [Th], lostsoul311 bet out, hanktankus called, but BelaLany raised it up. lostsoul311 responded with an all-in reraise, which pushed hanktankus out. BelaLany called with [Jh] [Ts] for top pair, and lostsoul311 showed only [Ah] [7s] for ace high. The [Kc] on the turn and [8c] on the river allowed the pair of tens to hold, and lostsoul311 was eliminated in fifth place with a $2,100 SCOOP ticket.

It was well into the tenth hour of the tournament that sprocket66 found an opportunity to chip up, doing it via a double-up through BelaLany. That put sprocket66 and BelaLany in the 1.5 million-chip range and hanktankus only holding a lead by a slight margin. kalamiis was still disconnected and losing chips as a result, having been relegated to a stack of less than 300K. In time, BelaLany took several big pots to climb well over the 2 million mark, sitting solidly in top position.

Finally, it came time for someone to make a move. The hand began with sprocket66 and BelaLany checking out a flop of [2s] [Kd] [3h], which they both checked to see the [7c] on the turn. The bet came from BelaLany, the raise from sprocket66, and more action led to sprocket66 pushing all-in with [Kh] [Td] for top pair. But that was trumped by the [Ks] [7h] and two pair of BelaLany, which held up through the [8d] on the river. That left sprocket66 out in fourth place with - you guessed it - a $2,100 SCOOP ticket.

The disconnection problem for kalamiis led to a diminishing chip stack that was put all-in automatically by being in the big blind. BelaLany was there with [Qs] [Jd], and kalamiis had [Qd] [Tc]. The board blanked with [7s] [2d] [6h] [9s] [Kh], and kalamiis was ousted in third place.

Heads-up play then began with the following chip counts:

Seat 1: BelaLany (3,996,009 in chips)
Seat 6: hanktankus (1,158,991 in chips)

The two battled for some time before hanktankus felt the ability to make a double-up attempt, which succeeded:

But in order to get ahead, it was going to take another double-up. The two started the hand innocently enough by limping in to a [5s] [9d] [2c] flop, at which point the betting and raising ultimately led to hanktankus moving all-in with [5c] [2d], but that two pair was outdone by the [9s] [2h] of BelaLany. And when the [9c] hit on the turn, BelaLany had the full house. The [3c] on the river ended the tournament, with hanktankus finishing in second place for the $2,100 SCOOP ticket.

The winner of the WBCOOP Main Event and the $3,150 SCOOP buy-in was BelaLany of Munich. Congratulations from the PokerStars blog!

WBCOOP Main Event Results for 01/31/10:

1st place: BelaLany ($3,150 SCOOP buy-in)
2nd place: hanktankus ($2,100 SCOOP buy-in)
3rd place: kalamiis ($2,100 SCOOP buy-in)
4th place: sprocket66 ($2,100 SCOOP buy-in)
5th place: lostsoul311 ($2,100 SCOOP buy-in)
6th place: cardinal23 ($2,100 SCOOP buy-in)
7th place: metsapull ($2,100 SCOOP buy-in)
8th place: ErickRiveraD ($2,100 SCOOP buy-in)
9th place: luvrhino ($2,100 SCOOP buy-in)

To find out who wins the best live blogging and tweeting SCOOP tickets, check back with the PokerStars blog. Though we can't win our own contest, we can still let you know who deserves your attention for taking down the bonus awards! And keep eyes peeled for the SCOOP schedule, which will be listed here when it is released.

He's been writing there for a couple of years now. I'll be honest, here. I was understanding everything just fine until I got to his recent training in pick-up artistry. The blogger has a bit of the James Van der Beek thing going on, and apparently his buddies--professional pick-up artists by the sounds of it--are taking full advantage. Frankly, that's as much as I gleaned before my wife started looked over my shoulder and asking, "Why are you looking at pictures of a bunch of hot girls in Vegas?"

All of that said, last night our hero was playing some $200NL when he realized he was doing pretty well in the third event of the 2010 World Blogger Championship of Online Poker. So, he started to focus and, in his words, "owned the entire tournament."

That was a tournament that featured 1,843 of the world's bloggers fighting it out for bragging rights and thousands of dollars in tickets to the Spring Championship of Online Poker.

WBCOOP continues tonight with another NLHE event. Good luck to all the bloggers in tonight's tournament.

And congrats to skllzdatklls for his big win, and apparent ability to score in Vegas.

So, when we watched the end of the first event of the 2010 World Blogger Championship of Online Poker...well, we were more than a little put off by the winner's screen name.

DevlsBnkroll.

We looked at it once, twice, and a third time.

"Devil's Bankroll."

Well, damn.

It's our job to seek out people like this and report on their success. But, we also have a long-running problem with...well, the devil.

With all of that said, we did our jobs and we are happy to report that the author of the winner's blog is not, in fact, the devil. It's this guy.

The 28-year-old man from central Florida writes the blog "A Slice of Poker History," a relatively young site that takes you on a tour through the man's live and online poker life over the past six months or so.

Last night, the blogger won a $1,050 entry to the Spring Championship of Online Poker after taking down the first WBCOOP freeroll of the week, a No-Limit Hold'em contest featuring 1,740 of the world's bloggers.

While his WBCOOP finish was a nice score, he has bigger plans. He told us today, "I plan on focusing a series of blogs in the near future on the need for an effective and easy to use system for backers to be connected with the masses of young and highly talented players. Essentially, the need to change the system to make it easy and secure to use for both sides of the deals."

So, keep an eye out for that. Our first winner will be looking for feedback from bankrolls of all sizes. Even the devil's size (which is still a matter of debate).

During last night's six-hour contest, the winner and countless other people were posting on Twitter about their experience. We're following along that way from our @PokerStarsBlog account and we suggest you do, too.

Tonight we'll watch the bloggers go after a Pot-Limit Omaha contest with tons more SCOOP money on the line. Good luck to everyone playing.

And congrats to DevlsBnkroll. We're really glad you're not the real devil.

PokerStars has been running competitions for the world's bloggers since 2005 and this year, January 25-31, it's doing it again. On the line in 2010 are thousands of dollars worth of entries to the 2010 Spring Championship of Online Poker. Best of all, it's free--but only to the people who spend their time and effort writing about the game we all love.

Winners of this years event will get tickets to SCOOP ranging form $11 all the way up to $3,150. Even better, this year PokerStars is awarding individual prizes for efforts off the poker table, including Best Live Event Blogger, Best Tweeter, and more.

The last time WBCOOP ran, 369 bloggers played the main Main Event and blogger Imric_est walked away with the title.

If you are a poker blogger and would like to see if you're eligible to to play in this year's event, head on over to the World Blogger Championship of Online Poker page for all the information you'll need.

A final total of 369 poker-playing scribes made it through those six events to play in today's culminating event, with some serious prizes on the line. Those finishing in 46th-100th all earned Step 3 tickets. The next 18 (28th-45th) each would receive $109 tournament entries. Those finishing 19th-27th were looking at $215 tourney entries -- i.e., free spots in PokerStars' popular Sunday Million.

The 10th-18th place finishers would earn $320 tourney entries. Then came the final table, and the serious prizes, culminating with a PokerStars Caribbean Adventure package worth a gawdy total of $14,300.

Lots of good stuff to be had. And, beyond the prizes, some good stories to write about as well.

BigSlickNut was our first casualty today, "winning" the so-called Gigli award (no cash value) for finishing last. TNSpaceman, Pinkypollo, and PRO_rANDY all grabbed some chips in the early going, though all three would not make it to the final hundred.

At the one-hour break, peggydee held the chip lead -- peggy would eventually finish in 40th place. At the two-hour break, 170 players remained with Rex Ferric atop the leaderboard. Rex would end up in 35th.

At about the two-and-a-half hour mark, we'd already made it down to 100 players and the money (so to speak). At the three-hour break, Olimpinho had emerged as our chip leader, and would remain either near or at the top for much of the remainder of the afternoon. After four hours of play, the field had shrunk down to just 20 players, with Olimpinho still in front with 337,578, twice the stack of nearest competitor BuddyDank who had 164,591.

Before we reached the five-hour mark, LaxStarr1995 went out in 10th place and we had our final table. Here was the scene as the first hand of the final table was being dealt:

Seat 1: Littlemage (252,668 in chips)
Seat 2: HappyPixel (198,444 in chips)
Seat 3: TarHeel1641 (58,778 in chips)
Seat 4: Imric_est (309,530 in chips)
Seat 5: SmileyHere (251,764 in chips)
Seat 6: Priitk (326,512 in chips)
Seat 7: Olimpinho (77,536 in chips)
Seat 8: Lesage88 (195,666 in chips)
Seat 9: Tiibo (174,102 in chips)

On the very first hand of the final table, one of the short stacks, Olimpinho, pushed all in only to see HappyPixel reraise all in behind. The others folded, and Olimpinho showed 6s-6c vs. HappyPixel's Ad-Ts. The flop came Td-9c-2h, and HappyPixel was quickly way ahead. The turn was the 2c and the river the 4d, and Olimpinho (from Brazil) was out in 9th place, earning a $530 tourney entry for his efforts.

Shortly thereafter, SmileyHere was the next to go in 8th place. After Imric_est had open-shoved all in for nearly a quarter million, SmileyHere called with his last 104,208 and everyone else got out of the way. Again, we had another race, with Imric_est's 8h-8d up against SmileyHere's Js-Ah. This time the pocket pair held up, as the flop brought another eight (8s-9d-5c) and the two deuces on the turn and river made Imric_est a boat. SmileyHere (of the U.S.) was out in 8th place, earning a Step 5 ticket for doing so.

After the next break, HappyPixel was eliminated after shoving all in with pocket sixes only to run up against Imric_est's pocket kings. The board brought no help, and HappyPixel (from the U.K.) landed in 7th place, earning a $1,050 PokerStars tournament buy-in. Tiibo (Finland) would go out just two hands later, again at the hands of Imric_est. Tiibo pushed with 5d-6d, Imric_est called with Ad-Kd, and the board came 6c-Jc-As-8d-3h, knocking Tiibo out in 6th. Tiibo received a Spring World Championship of Online Poker Main Event entry -- worth $1,575 -- for his finish today.

We were down to five. This time Tarheel1641 (U.S.) would push all in, and once again Imric_est was waiting there with the big stack and a hand. Tarheel1641 had ace-four, Imric_est had ace-ten, and the board ran out As-Js-5c-6h-Ts. Tarheel1641 was out in 5th, earning a Step 6 ticket (worth $2,100).

Littlemage (from Hungary) was the next to go. And yes, Imric_est was the one responsible once more.

Action had folded to Littlemage in the small blind who pushed his short stack of 175,961 all in with Jh-6c, and Imric_est called with Jd-Ad. The board came 8s-5c-Ks-2s-5h, and Littlemage was gone in 4th place. For his efforts, Littlemage earned a free SCOOP Main Event entry, plus a Step 6 ticket -- together worth a cool $3,675!

Just five minutes later, Priitk open-raised to 80,000 from the button and Lesage88 pushed all in for 277,207 from the small blind. Imric_est stepped aside, and Priitk made the call. Lesage88 showed Ac-Qh, dominating Priitk's Ks-Qs. Until the flop, anyway, which came Kd-Tc-5d. The turn (9s) and river (7c) didn't save Lesage88 (Switzerland), and he was out in 3rd, having won a European Poker Tour package worth $7,500!

At the start of heads up, Priitk had a healthy chip advantage of 1,242,856 to Imric_est's 602,144. In just the second hand of heads-up, however, the pair essentially switched their stacks.

In that hand, Priitk raised to 60,000 from the small blind/button, and Imric_est called from the big blind. The flop came Ad-Qh-4d. Imric_est checked, Priitk bet 80,000, Imric_est minimum-raised to 16,000, Priitk shoved all in, and Imric_est called. Imric_est showed Kd-Qd for middle pair and a flush draw, while Priitk had As-Js for top pair. The turn was the Ks, giving Imric_est two pair. The river was the 9s, and suddenly Imric_est had the 2-to-1 chip advantage.

Imric_est maintained the lead for the next several dozen hands, having Priitk on the ropes a couple of times, but Priitk managed to wiggle free. The closest call came when Prittk was all in preflop with Ts-6d versus Imric_est's As-Jh, but two sixes flopped and Prittk survived.

Finally, on the 107th hand of heads up play came the climax of today's story. With the blinds 30,000/60,000, Imric_est raised to 90,000 from the small blind/button, Prittk shoved all in for 490,174 total, and Imric_est called.

Imric_est: 9d-Qh
Prittk: Kh-8c

The flop came 9h-4h-9s, giving Imric_est a commanding lead in the hand. The turn was the Ac, making the 8s on the river meaningless.

Prittk (from Estonia) was our runner-up, winning a EPT prize package, a SCOOP Main Event ticket, and a Step 6 ticket -- prizes worth a total of $11,100 altogether.

And Imric_est (also from Estonia) gets the big one -- the PokerStars Caribbean Adventure prize package, worth $14,300. Congratulations to Imric_est and to all of those who won prizes today! See a full list of all of those prizes by clicking here. And read more about today's event by checking out the WBCOOP Main Event live blog.

We now look forward to all players' accounts of today's action on their respective blogs.

WBCOOP Main Event Results (final table):

1. Imric_est (Estonia)
2. Priitk (Estonia)
3. Lesage88 (Switzerland)
4. Littlemage (Hungary)
5. TarHeel1641 (U.S.)
6. Tiibo (Finland)
7. HappyPixel (U.K.)
8. SmileyHere (U.S.)
9. Olimpinho (Brazil)

9:12pm--That's a WBCOOP wrap!

That does it for the 2008 WBCOOP grand finale. Big congratulations to all of our prize winners today, especially the overall winner, lmric_est, who will be traveling to the sunny beaches of the Bahamas in January.

Thanks for joining us today!

9:10pm--lmric_est wins the 2008 WBCOOP Final! Priitk is your runner-up as the Estonians go one-two

lmric_est opened for a standard 3BB raise to 90,000, Priitk moved all in for 490,174 and lmric_est made the call.

Priitk Kh-8c
Imric_est Qh-9d

The flop all but sealed the win for lmric_est, coming down 9s-9h-4h. The turn was the Ac, the river was the 8s, and somewhere in Roela, Estonia, a loud scream was likely heard as lmric_est won himself a PokerStars Carribean Adventure package worth $14,300!

Priitk, also hailing from Estonia, played a hard-fought match picked up a European Poker Tour package, a SCOOP Main Event ticket, and a Step 6 ticket worth $11,100.

9:03pm--Small-ball

Though this final table has to have set some sort of speed record, our final two players are, for the most part, playing careful, small-ball poker in their heads-up battle. Though a few decent-sized pots have been exchanged like the one below, their chip counts remain relatively close to where they started, with Imric_est at just over 1.2 million and Priitk with about 650,000.

8:59pm--Battle of the prize packages

As the final two compete in this ultimate battle of the bloggers, let's take one final look at the prize packages up for grabs.

Second place is a combo deal that includes a European Poker Tour package, SCOOP main event ticket, and Step 6 ticket, all of which is worth a combined total of $11,100.

First place is one prize package that will take that player to the Bahamas in a few weeks to compete in the PokerStars Caribbean Adventure, which is worth $14,300.

Technically, either prize could be parlayed into a great deal more than its value, and both prizes are well worth the time to be played for tonight. And all of this from a freeroll? Amazing.

8:54pm--lmric_est's ace high is up, it's.... good!

lmric_est raised to 75,000 from the button and Priitk called. lmric_est led out for 100,000 on the Qd-9c-9d flop and Priitk came along wiht a call. Both players checked the Qd on the turn and checked it again when the Ts hit the river. lmric_est's ace kicker with Ad-2d in the hole was good against Priitk's Jh-3c and he raked in the 356,000 pot to take his stack up to 1.2 million. Priitk was left with 621,000.

8:46pm--Heads-up begins!

With the elimination of Lesage88 in third place, the final two players began their heads-up match with the following chip counts:

Seat 4: Imric_est (602144 in chips)
Seat 6: Priitk (1242856 in chips)

8:45pm--Lesage88 eliminated in 3rd place, is EPT-bound!

Priitk opened for a raise to 80,000 from the button, Lesage88 moved all in for 277,207 from the small blind and Priitk made the call. Though Lesage88's Ac-Qh dominated Priitk's Ks-Qs to start, the flop came down Kd-Tc-5d, pairing up Priitk. The turn was the 9s, the river was the 7c and Lesage88 could not improve. Though he hit the rail in 3rd place, we'll be seeing him on the European Poker Tour next season-- he just earned an EPT package worth €5,300!

8:43pm--Littlemage out in 4th

Down to four-handed, action folded around to Littlemage who open-pushed with Jh-6c from the small blind for 175,961. lmric_est called from the big blind with Jd-Ad. Tough spot for Littlemage.

The board came 8s-5c-Ks-2s-5h, and Littlemage was gone in 4th place. For that 4th place finish, Littlemage scored a SCOOP Main Event entry, plus a Step 6 ticket -- together worth a cool $3,675!

8:37pm--TarHeel1641 booted in 5th place

TarHeel1641 open-shoved for 216,444 and Imric_est made the call. Unfortunately, TarHeel1641's A-4 was dominated by his opponent's A-T. No love for TarHeel1641 on the As-Js-5c-6h-Ts board and the lone American remaining made his exit in 5th place, good for a Step 6 ticket.

8:35pm--Tiibo tko'ed in 6th

Just two hands after HappyPixel's elimination, Tiibo open-shoved for 123,186 from the cutoff and it folded back around to lmric_est who called out of the big blind. Tiibo showed 5d-6d for suited connectors and a lot of potential. Meanwhile, lmric_est hoped his even better suited connectors -- Ad-Kd -- would hold up.

The flop came 6c-Jc-As, giving lmric_est an even greater advantage. The turn was the 8d and the river the 3h, and Tiibo was out in 6th place, earning a SCOOP Main Event ticket for his efforts (worth $1,575).

8:34pm--HappyPixel eliminated in 7th place

Blinds are up-- and they're big. 8,500/17,000 with a 2,125 ante to be precise. Over 36,000 is in the pot to start and our seven remaining players are doing whatever they can to pick up that dead money, primarily by shoving all in pre-flop. With 217,355 left in his stack, HappyPixel open-shoved only to have Imric_est move all in behind him for 251,210. The rest of the field folded as the cards were turned up.

HappyPixel 6d-6c
Imric_est Kd-Kh

HappyPixel was looking for that third six, but couldn't find it on the Th-4d-3h-2s-4s board. For his 7th place finish he earned a $1,050 PokerStars tournament buy-in, which should certainly ease the blow.

8:28pm--Play slows...and they take a break

At the seven-player mark, play slowed tremendously. Maybe a five-minute break will rejuvenate them...

Level 31
Blinds 8,500/17,000, ante 2,125
Average chip count: 263,571
Players remaining: 7
First prize: $14,300 PCA Package

1. Priitk - 506,512
2. lmric_est - 289,460
3. Tiibo - 249,352
4. Littlemage - 241,836
5. HappyPixel - 198,230
6. TarHeel1641 - 195,194
7. Lesage88 - 164,416

8:13pm--SmileyHere grins way to 8th place

lmric_est open-shoved from UTG for 235,752, and SmileyHere called with his last 104,208 chips. The rest of the table folded, and lmric_est showed 8h-8d to SmileyHere's Js-Ah.

The flop came 8s-9d-5c, giving lmric_est a set and making SmileyHere frowney. The turn and river were both deuces, and SmileyHere goes out in 8th place. That Step 5 entry may turn SmileyHere's frown upside down, though.

8:12pm--Olimpinho KO'ed in 9th place

On the first hand of final table action, Olimpinho open-shoved for 76,036, HappyPixel moved all in for 196,944 behind him, and the rest of the table folded. On their backs...

Olimpinho 6s-6c
HappyPixel Ad-Ts

Ace-ten proved once again to be Olimpinho's kryptonite, outflopping his pocket sixes when the first three came down Td-9c-2h. The turn was the 2c, the river was the 4d, and Olimpinho was eliminated in 9th place, much to the chagrin of his flock of Brazilian railbirds.

8:09pm--And we have our finalists!

The exact final table chip counts going into nine-handed action were as follows:

Seat 1: Littlemage (252668 in chips)
Seat 2: HappyPixel (198444 in chips)
Seat 3: TarHeel1641 (58778 in chips)
Seat 4: Imric_est (309530 in chips)
Seat 5: SmileyHere (251764 in chips)
Seat 6: Priitk (326512 in chips)
Seat 7: Olimpinho (77536 in chips)
Seat 8: Lesage88 (195666 in chips)
Seat 9: Tiibo (174102 in chips)

8:08pm--LaxStarr1995 out in 10th

Down to 10 players, we were five-handed. Lesage88 folded UTG, then SmileyHere raised to 36,000. LaxStarr1995 then reraised all in to 71,154. Olimpinho and Littlemage both folded, and SmileyHere made the call, having LaxStarr1995 covered.

SmileyHere showed Tc-Ks and LaxStarr1995 7h-7c. We had what we like to call a race situation, Vince.

The board came Qs-8h-Ts-Ac-9h, and SmileyHere took it with a pair of tens. LaxStarr1995 is out in 10th place, the last of those who have earned a $320 tourney buy-in. We've reached the final table!

8:05pm--Olimpinho crippled

Once our far and away chip leader, Olimpinho has dipped to less than seven big big blinds. He open-shoved for his entire 188,000 and Littlemage gave him action, making the call with Ah-Td to Olimpinho's 3d-3s. The flop was Kd-9c-9d, the turn was the 6d, but the Kh on the river counterfeited Olimpinho's pair and Littlemage took down the hand with two pair, kings and nines with an ace kicker. Olimpinho was left with only 77,000.

7:59pm--TiJoao out in 11th place

Littlemage had just doubled through TiJoao the hand before when his pocket rockets held up against TiJoao's Big Slick, leaving TiJoao with just 15,542. Then Littlemage raised all in preflop from late position (for more than 125,000), and it folded to TiJoao in the small blind. He thought a moment, then called. The big blind folded, and TiJoao showed 4d-3d. He'd need help against Littlemage's Tc-Ah.

Help didn't come, as the board ran out 9d-7s-Jh-As-3h, knocking TiJoao out in 11th place.

We're hand-for-hand again until we reach the final table.

7:57pm--BuddyDank smoked in 12th place

Priitk opened for 20,000, TarHeel1641 moved all in for 173,704, BuddyDank called all in for 73,054 from the big blind, and Priitk called all in as well, creating a massive, 250,000+ rock-em-sock-em three-way all-in pot.

BuddyDank 9h-9d
Priitk Ah-Ad
TarHeel1641 As-Kc

Both Priitk and BuddyDank's tournament lives were on the line as the flop came down Kh-7c-5d. The turn was the 8c, the river was the 3c and BuddyDank couldn't catch a nine or a straight card to stay alive. Priitk took down the monster pot, good for the chip lead, TarHeel1641 made out almost even on the hand and BuddyDank made his exit in 12th place.

7:54pm--JBug40 unluckily squashed in 13th place

Action folded to JBug40 who raised all in to 65,436 from middle position. Littlemage quickly repopped it right behind for 80,418 total. The table folded back around, and JBug40 revealed Kc-Jd, overcards to Littlemage's 9d-9h.

The board came 5c-6s-Ah-4d-8d, and JBug40 was eliminated in 13th place.

7:49pm--blahdy bounced in 14th place

blahdy's last 14,201 in chips went in with the 3h-4c and TarHeel1641 called the 6,201 balance from the big blind with Kc-7c. Though blahdy paired up when the flop came down Jc-Tc-4h, TarHeel1641 had outs with an overcard and a flush draw. He filled it when the 2c turned and blahdy went out as our 14th place finisher.

7:44pm--Artanis11 out in 16th; marc_26 gone in 15th

Artanis11 shoved all in for 77,549 with 4d-Qc, and found himself up against Tiibo's Ah-Ac. When the flop brought the case ace, Artanis11 said "ruh oh." But there was hope -- the flop was 2c-5c-Ad, meaning a trey could save him. Alas, the turn was the Ks and the river the 9d, and Artanis11 was out in 16th.

Then after Priitk had raised from middle position, marc_26 repopped all in to 53,543 from the big blind and Priitk called. marc_26 showed 4s-4h and Priitk showed Kd-Qd. The board came 7h-Jd-Jh-Ks-8h, and marc_26 was gone in 15th.

7:42pm--justalady42 eliminated in 17th place

Whittled down to only a few thousand in chips, justalady42 was all in from the small blind before the deal. BuddyDank limped in and Artanis11 checked his option from the big blind. Both players checked the Kc-Qh-6c flop. When the 7c came on the turn,Artanis11 checked, BuddyDank bet 7,000 and Artanis11 folded. BuddyDank turned up Ac-2c for the nut flush, leaving justalady42 drawing dead with her Kh-Tc. The 4h hit the river and justalady42 hit the rail in 17th place.

7:37pm--kolmteist krushed in 18th

Tiibo raised to 17,500 from middle position, and it folded around to BuddyDank who called from the small blind. kolmteist also called from the BB. The flop came 5s-Jh-7h. BuddyDank checked, kolmteist pushed all in for 47,692, Tiibo called, and BuddyDank folded.

kolmteist showed 2h-4h for the flush draw, while Tiibo held Js-Ts for top pair. The turn was the 8s and the river the 9s, and Tiibo's backdoor flush sent kolmteist home in 18th place.

7:33pm--Fubsy63 falls in 19th place

With less than sevn big blinds remaining, Fubsy63 pushed all in for 41,645 from under the gun. Tiibo moved all in behind him for a bit over 84,000 and the rest of the table folded. It was a race situation, Tiibo with 8d-8c for the pair and Fubsy63 with Ah-Ks for the overcards. The board ran out Qc-7c-7h-9h-9c and Fubsy couldn't improve, hitting the rail in 19th place.

With 18 players remaining, we've moved up a pay level-- everyone is now guaranteed at least a $320 tourney buy-in.

7:29pm--All ins all around

With blinds at 3,000/6,000 (plus 750 antes), even those with the average stack of 92,250 are feeling urgency at this point, and thus we are seeing all ins frequently on all three of the remaining tables.

Coming back from the break over on Table 39, we saw Artanis11 survive an all in. Then NitroHUN survived one. Then TarHeel1641 survived one.

Then the streak came to an end. NitroHUN pushed all in for 67,689 and HappyPixel happily reraised behind him. The others folded, and the cards flipped over -- Tc-Ts for NitroHUN and Ac-9c for HappyPixel. The flop came Qs-Ah-7c, and NitroHUN was way behind. The turn was the 9s and the river the 3s, and NitroHUN is out in 20th place.

We are now hand-for-hand until we reach two tables.

7:25pm--Break it up!

Players just returned from a five-minute break and are headed into the fourth hour of play with the following statistics:

Level 25
Blinds 3,000/6,000, ante 750
Average chip count: 92,250
Players remaining: 20
First prize: $14,300 PCA Package

1. Olimpinho - 337,578
2. BuddyDank - 164,591
3. lmric_est - 141,265
4. HappyPixel - 116,283
5. kolmteist - 102,631
6. TiJoao - 102,063
7. blahdy - 101,397
8. Lesage88 - 86,229
9. TarHeel1641 - 80,721
10. Tiibo - 76,966

7:21pm--rockman255 rolls out in 21st place

Down to ten big blinds with 50,000 remaining in his stack, rockman255 moved all in pre-flop from middle position. BuddyDank moved all in over the top for 69,641 from the small blind, and kolmteist gave up his big blind. BuddyDank's As-Tc was in good shape against rockman255's 6d-7c and things stayed that way on the Qc-8h-3c flop. The turn and river were both jacks and BuddyDank's ace-high held up to send rockman255 to the rail in 21st place.

7:14pm--teamdobb eliminated in 22nd place

teamdobb made his last stand with Kh-6c and moved all in for 25,662, earning a call from TarHeel1641 with Ks-9h in the big blind. The flop was a disaster for teamdobb and utterly perfect for TarHeel1641, coming down Qh-Jh-Tc. Yep, that's a king-high straight, boys and girls. teamdobb was left only with outs to a chop, missing them when the turn and river came the 7s and the Jc to eliminate him in 22nd place.

7:08pm--Baalim bounced

Baalim raised all in to 28,008 from UTG+1, and Tiibo reshoved all in for 70,028 right behind. The table folded back around, and Baalim showed Ac-Kh vs. Tiibo's Th-Tc. There were no aces or kings among the community cards -- 8h-5h-Qs-3c-5s -- and Baalim was eliminated in 23rd place.

Tiibo now has 108,216.

7:04pm--Mo' fo' Olimpinho

Only moments after Olimpinho crossed the 200,000 chip mark, he crossed the 300,000 chip mark after knocking out Sentex in 25th place.

Olimpinho opened for his usual 7,444 and Sentex made the call from the big blind. The flop was As-Qc-9h. Sentex checked it over to Olimpinho, who bet 11,444. He called, and they saw the 6d hit the turn. Sentex checked again, Olimpinho bet 24,444, Sentex moved all in for 47,330 and Olimpinho made the call. It was a battle of the kickers, Olimpinho's Ah-Jd just edging out Sentex's Ad-Tc. No miracle ten on the river for Sentex and he hit the rail while the pot sent Olimpinho's stack up to 303,634 -- twice as much as Imric_est's 146,000 for second chip position.

7:01pm--pdxrogue hits the rail

TiJoao limped from UTG, then pdxrogue pushed all in from the button for 16,897. It folded around to SmileyHere who called from the big blind, and TiJoao called as well.

The flop came 7d-Qh-Tc. SmileyHere checked, TiJoao bet 9,000, and SmileyHere folded. TiJoao showed 7s-7c for the flopped set, well ahead of pdxrogue's 3s-3c. The turn was the 3d, giving pdxrogue a lower set and faint hope. But the river was the 6h, and pdxrogue was out in 26th.

6:56pm--Olimpinho turns his rockets on RealNaxer

Our chip leader continues to roll. In this latest piece of Olimpinho carnage, he got the betting started with an opening raise to 7,444. RealNaxer reraised to 18,000 and Olimpinho four-bet him to 44,444. That was enough for RealNaxer, who shoved for 87,496 total and Olimpinho made the call for the additional 43,000 and change.

RealNaxer 8s-8c
Olimpinho Ad-Ah

The board ran out Kh-7c-4h-9c-Jc and Olimpinho won the 180,000 pot. With over 219,000 in his stack, he has over 100,000 more chips than his closest competitor.

6:53pm--I'm telling you what I have with my bet size

Tiibo raised to the curious-looking total of 8,888 from middle position, and Cwik1 reraised all in for 26,000 even. Tiibo called.

Turned out that weirdly-sized bet may have been a tell, as Tiibo showed 8c-8s. Meanwhile, Cwik1 had Ts-As and the race was on. The board came Kd-Jc-2d-7s-Kc, and Cwik1 was eliminated in 28th place.

We are down to three tables! The next nine to go out all win $215 tournament entries!

6:49pm--Tarheel1641 slams another

olinsha open-shoved from middle position for 16,899, and Tarheel1641 called from the big blind. olinsha showed 4c-Ad, while Tarheel1641 had a big, Tyler Hansbrough-like hand of Kd-Kh.

The board came Qd-5s-6h-8d-3s, and olinsha was out in 33rd. After picking up another nice pot shortly afterwards, Tarheel1641 now has 88,821 (9th place).

6:45pm--Rex Ferric out in 35th on another coinflip gone awry

Rex Ferric had maintained a healthy stack throughout this event, but just made his exit in 35th place. Baalim opened the pot for 5,400 and RealNaxer popped him to 15,000 before Rex Ferric shoved for his remaining 33,043. Baalim got out of the way but RealNaxer called the extra 18,000, his Jh-Js racing against Rex Ferric's Ac-Qd. Ks-Jc-4s-6d-5s on the board and Rex Ferric's tournament was at an end, while RealNaxer moved into the top ten with 92,446 in his stack.

6:42pm--Reverse psychology

TwistedEcho, down to just 1,313, found himself all in automatically when the big blind (now 2,000) reached him. The table folded around to Littlemage on the button who after thinking for a while raised to 5,000. NitroHUN folded the SB, and it was TwistedEcho's pocket nines against Littlemage's Tc-8s.

"T" typed TwistedEcho. Repeatedly. "TEEEEEN." The board came 5h-4d-2h-2s-8c, and despite TwistedEcho's twisted pleas, he'd survived.

Four hands later, TwistedEcho pushed all in from the cutoff with Td-Ah and was called by both Sentex and Lesage88. When the turn showed a board of As-8d-Qh-Kc, Lesage88 went ahead and bet out to push Sentex out of the hand -- he'd turned Broadway with Jd-Th. The river was the 6h, and TwistedEcho was eliminated in 38th place.

6:41pm--BuddyDank snaps off kings to survive

Short-stacked with 17,979 in chips, BuddyDank open-shoved with his Ah-3h from late position, but was met with a quick call from csillagka on the button, who turned up pocket kings. The flop hit Mr. Dank, however, coming down Ac-Tc-Th. The turn was the 5s, the river was the 8d and BuddyDank survived, cracking kings to double his stack to 41,508.

6:38pm--Live from Hungary

Who knew you could watch football at midnight in Hungary. Well, there is one guy who knows. He's currently among the leaders in WBCOOP. "It's midnight here in Hungary and I'm watching Minnesota vs Atlanta," NitroHUN wrote. He's 19 years old and looking to grab one of the top prizes. He notes. "I only made my first deposit a week ago. Wish me good luck."

6:35pm--Olimpinho takes chip lead with 100K pot

Olimpinho opened for 5,444 from under the gun and WMZeus, directly to his left, put in a reraise to 14,000. The action folded back around to Olimipinho, who made the call. The flop was Ts-9d-3s. Olimpinho used up nearly his entire time bank on his decision to move all in for 69,406 on the flop, putting WMZeus to a decision for his remaining 33,591 in chips. After a bit of a think, WMZeus made the call and saw the bad news-- his unimproved Ah-Kd was up against Olimpinho's Js-Jc. The turn was the 9h, the river was the Jd and Olimpinho dragged the 100,000 pot to vault him into the chip lead with over 137,000 and eliminate WM Zeus.

6:29pm--50 left

Just 50 players remain. Lesage88 just became our new chip leader after winning a three-way hand on Table 21. Lesage88 raised to 6,000 from UTG, Rex Ferric called from the cutoff, and SmileyHere also called from the big blind. All three checked down the board of 6d-2h-4d-5s-Qh. SmileyHere showed As-9s, Lessage88 Jc-Js, and Rex Ferric mucked. That hand took Lesage88 up to 98,043 and first place.

Once we get down to 45, all of those finishing 28th-45th will be earning a $109 entry into a PokerStars tournament of their choice.

6:28pm--True romance

MrAckley needs a win today for more than just the cash and chance to play in the Bahamas. He writes, "Soon to be engaged. Please to send me to the Bahamas so I can pop the question there." MrAckley made the final WBCOOP final table in 2005. Living in Fairbanks, AL ("where it gets ridiculously cold," he says), he takes care of his elderly father during the day and what he calls "an evil puppy" at night.

6:24pm--Priitk rides them cowboys

Imric_est kicked off the betting with a 4,500 opening raise, which was three-bet all in for 20,152 by Medino0308. Priitk moved all in for slightly more behind him and Imric_est got out of the way when the action was folded back around to him. Medino0308's As-9s needed some serious help against Prittk's Kh-Ks, and the 3-3-3-T-8 board brought none of it. Priitk jumped up to the top ten in chips with 46,029 while Medino0308 hit the virtual rail in 53rd place.

6:21pm--Ballim bowls 'em over; two more go down

Ballim raised to 4,000 from middle position, thelivewire reraised all in for 10,807, and bosta_de_boi -- with less than 2,000 chips to start the hand -- called. Baalim called as well, showing Td-9d. bosta_de_boi had 7h-Ad. And thelivewire had Kc-3h.

The board came 7s-3s-Th-8s-5c, giving Baalim the hand with a pair of tens and knocking out thelivewire in 60th place and bosta_de_boi in 61st.

6:20pm--Rex Ferric drops 20K on coinflip

rockman255 moved all in pre-flop for 16,248 and Rex Ferric, one of the tournament's largest stacks at 53,754 made the call. It was a classic race situation, Rex Ferric's Ad-Kd up against rockman 255's pocket sevens. 9-4-9-9-Q on the board and Ferric couldn't catch up, the 35K pot heading rockman's way. The hand evened up the two players' stacks, Rex Ferric left with 37,331 to rockman255's 35,396.

6:18pm--Returning from break number three

And as they did, the top ten chip counts and other pertinent info was as follows:

Level 19
Blinds 750/1,500, ante 175
Average chip count: 30,245
Players remaining: 61
First prize: $14,300 PCA Package

1. Olimpinho - 96,013
2. peggydee - 62,778
3. csillagka - 62,404
4. TarHeel1641 - 54,430
5. Rex Ferric - 53,754
6. kolmteist - 53,493
7. Baalim - 50,793
8. NitroHUN - 49,216
9. teamdobb - 47,878
10. cardacious - 45,562

6:17pm--Somewhere, from the top of Mt, Olympus (er...Lousiana)

It's hard to say why anyone is still playing. With a guy named WmZeus in the field, the end seems like a foregone conclusion. WmZeus is actually David Griggs, an 18 years old living in West Monroe, Louisiana. He made the final table in Tuesday's preliminary event and claimed his spot in the final.

6:14pm--Recent Eliminations

In the flurry of post-bubble eliminations, we lost Loretta8, o-hole-ne, Tom Bayes, j7gibson, Donegal, SushiSam, and ABVidale.

6:11pm--Two birds with one stone for NitroHUN

With 17,505 to start the hand, Rakewell1 shoved all in from the button when the table had folded to him, swerte_nmn decided to call with his last 11,390 from the small blind, and NitroHUN (who had 22,196 to start) decided to play as well, calling from the big blind.

swerte_nmn: Qc-Qh
NitroHUN: Kh-As
Rakewell1: 4h-Jc

Bad enough when one of the blinds wakes up with a hand, though Rakewell1. But both?

The board came 4d-7h-9d-Kc-Ah, and NitroHUN had knocked out both swerte_nmn (in 75th place) and Rakewell1 (in 74th). NitroHUN is up to 52,916 after that one.

6:10pm--JBug40 and the suck, re-suck

LuparFiend opened the betting with a raise to 3,400 and was met with a reraise to 7,500 from JBug40. Undeterred, he four-bet it to 12,500, JBug40 moved all in for 4,672 more and LuparFiend quickly called. LuparFiend's pocket tens were in dire shape against JBug40's K-K...that is until the flop came down Qs-Tc-8d, making him middle set. The turn was the harmless 5c, but LuparFiend's dreams were dashed as the Kc appeared on the river, giving the re-suck and the 26,000 pot to JBug40, who made a higher set. LuparFiend was left with only 7,200.

6:08pm--A little bit about our remaining players...

Once the players got into the money, we asked them to give us a little information about themselves.

Since then we have discovered that thelivewire is married with three kids. We remember him from a few years back when he came in third in WBCOOP.

In another e-mail, dOdGyGrD write, "It's 3am in Dubai and I just made the top 100. How long to win a place in the PCA I wonder. I'm Rick Theobald, a freelance writer for the likes of Bluff and Flush magazines. I have to say, having played in the last few of these, this year has been great, and not only because I locked up a prize!"

6:05pm--Where'd everybody go?

It took exactly 10 minutes for us to go from 100 players to 75. Olimpinho remains out in front with 92,488, followed by csillagka with 82,611.

6:03pm--Going for broke

The all ins are coming quickly now that the bubble has burst. MultiRulez just got bumped in 95th place when his Kc-Ah couldn't catch up to TarHeel1641's pocket rockets.

AllJyn92 got bounced in 89th when Td-9d was no match for ABVidale's pocket kings.

jrgiacon2 then pushed with 8c-8s and was up against peggydee's As-7s. An ace flopped, jrgiacon couldn't come back, and he's out in 80th.

5:59pm--Up4Poker can't luckbox this one

After working a short stack for the last level or so, Up4Poker finally succumbed. He open-shoved for his remaining 2,968 with Jh-9s and was called by Baalim with Ac-Qd. The flop was Kd-Td-2s. The turn was a jack, though, making Baalim the nut straight and sending everyone's favorite luckbox to the rail in 97th place.

5:55pm--100 remain

...of the 369 who began the day. Suddenly it occurs to us, with 369 players, all of whom keep their own blogs, could this possibly become the most meticulously chronicled online poker tournament in history?

Something tells me these last 100 might have more to say about it tomorrow than the other 269. That's because these 100 have all made "the money" (so to speak). Those finishing 46th-100th are all guaranteed at least Step 3 entries. The big prizes await, however. (Click here for details.)

5:52pm--TNSpaceman blown out of orbit, PRO_rANDY hits the rail

Down to 3,118 in chips, TNSpaceman called all in for less after Sorror I made a pre-flop shove for 6,871. TNSpaceman's Q-Q was up against A-Q, and the Kd-9c-3h flop looked safe enough. The turn was the 6c, another safe card, but the Ah spiked on the river, sending him to the rail in 126th place.

Eliminated in a similar fashion was PRO_rANDY, who moved all in on a Ks-Ts-8h flop holding Kc-Qd, only to have DonBartos hit the Ah on the river for his A-Q to take it down and send him to the rail.

5:49pm--Olimpinho out in front

Olimpinho has catapulted to the top of the leaderboard following a couple of huge hands over on Table 45. First Olimpinho scored a 23,000-plus chip pot with pocket aces against LParreira's pocket kings. Then a 32,986-chip pot came Olimpinho's way after he and Cynders 1 decided to get it all in on a flop of 5c-Qc-5h (see how that one played out below).

Olimpinho now has 75,948, over 15,000 ahead of nearest competitor csillagka.

5:47pm--Up4Poker's stack falls on triple-barrel bluff

Up4Poker was cruising along, vacillating between 13K and 15K in chips after his K-J vs. A-K double-up...until this hand came along.

In a three-way limped pot the flop came down Jd-5h-3s. sillidillen, in the small blind checked to Up4Poker in the big, who put out a bet of 900. thelivewire called from position and sillidillen folded. The turn came the Kc. Up4Poker fired again, this time for 1,200, but thelivewire wasn't going anywhere-- he made the call. The river was the 7s and Up4Poker took one more shot at it, betting 2,000. thelivewire called.

Up4Poker's 5s-9s was no match for thelivewire's pocket tens. thelivewire vaulted up past 20,000 in chips while Up4Poker was left with 7,658.

5:42pm--AllJyn92 wins all in

Down to 7,598, Muppinger decided pocket queens was good enough to push all in, but unfortunately AllJyn92 was waiting there with pocket aces. The board came 6h-9h-5h-2h-8c, and Muppinger is out in 113th. AllJyn92 is up to 25,606. That's 16th place out of the 110 players remaining.

5:36pm--LaxStarr1995 doubles through PRO_rANDY

With nearly 20,000 in chips to start the hand, PRO_rANDY called LaxStarr's 925 opening raise from the big blind and the two saw a flop of 8s-5h-3s. PRO_rANDY check-called a 1,250 bet from his opponent. When the turn came the 8d, PRO_rANDY checked again, LaxStarr1995 fired out 2,450, and PRO_rANDY shoved over the top for 17,073. LaxStarr1995 made the call for the rest of his chips.

Both players had overpairs, LaxStarr1995's J-J well ahead of PRO_rANDY's 9-9. The Kh hit the river and the 22K pot was shipped to LaxStarr1995, while PRO_rANDY was knocked all the way down to 8,477 in chips.

5:31pm--MultiRulez on the rise

Four players limped to see a flop of 7c-Qs-4c. MultiRulez led out from the small blind for 800, and both MrAckley and SiresNme called. Hurricane010 then raised to 2,500. MultiRulez called, as did MrAckley. Then SiresNme reraised all in for 6,602 total. Hurricane010 responded by pushing all of his 18,015 in the middle as well. Then MultiRulez called with his last 8,970!

MrAckley, seeing three all ins ahead of him, typed the LOLCATSish "holy crap i has huge draw" before stepping aside.

MultiRulez: Qc-Ac (nut flush draw)
SiresNme: Qh-Kc (top pair)
Hurricane010: 7d-7h (middle set)

The turn was the Ks, and Hurricane010 was still ahead. But the river was the Jc, completing MultiRulez' flush and awarding him the huge 34,092-chip pot.

5:29pm--ZClub outruns mattythatguy

After csillagka limped in for 400, ZClub made it 1,600 to go, only to be raised all in by mattythatguy, who shoved for his remaining 5,465. csillagka ran for cover, but ZClub made the call, committing his last 3,053 in chips. ZClub's A-K outraced matthythatguy's J-J when a king flopped, good for the 10,356 pot. mattythatguy was left with only two big blinds after the hand.

5:27pm--Dropping like...you know

In the 12 minutes that have passed since the second break, 32 players have been eliminated! Of the 138 that remain, 100 will win prizes while the rest will go home empty-handed.

5:23--Three-chip disadvantage means Photograph17 finished

BuddyDank was down to 4,860 chips, while Photograph17 had 4,857. Almost even. Both surely took note of that fact when BuddyDank decided to call Photograph17's all in. BuddyDank had pocket kings, and Photograph17 had Jd-As. The board came 3s-2s-8d-2d-9d, and the three measly chips BuddyDank had behind suddenly mushroomed to 10,554. Meanwhile, Photograph17 was out in 148th.

5:21pm--Loretta8 passes 30K

Loretta8 didn't waste any time in acquiring chips early in this event and he just took down a key pot to turn his average stack into a monster one.

Loretta8's 810 opening raise was called by djhomeschool and they saw a flop of Kc-6s-6d. Loretta8 bet 1,200 and djhomeschool called. The turn brought the 4c, a 2,400 bet from Loretta8 and another call from djhomeschool. The 7h fell on the river and Loretta8 shoved for 9,241, which earned a call from djhomeschool. Both players had a king in their hands, but Loretta8's A-K outkicked djhomeschool's K-T to earn him the massive 28,112 pot.

Only a few hands later, Loretta8 passed the 30,000 chip mark and currently holds the tournament's third largest stack.

5:20pm--A couple of comments from the field

At the break, we asked the field to give us a couple thoughts on the tournament and tell us a bit about themselves.

Tom Bayes said, "I like green chile, badugi, and deuce-to-seven lowball. NL holdem is my least favorite game." Oh, and despite the fact Tom Bayes is still in the event, he said, "djhomeschool is the guy I want to see win."

How kind.

CUdeP remarked, "This is the best tourney I have played ever. Thank you very much for this. I´m dreaming with some big prize and starting to playing higher tournaments."

5:14pm--QQ in BB = good times for dOdGyGrD

dOdGyGrD just picked up what might have been one of the largest pots of the tournament after taking most of espanhol_pt's stack following a preflop all-in confrontation. espanhol_pt had open-raised from the button, dOdGyGrD reraised to 2,450 from the big blind, espanhol_pt shoved for 9,905 total, and dOdGyGrD called. dOdGyGrD showed pocket queens, well ahead of espanhol_pt's Qc-As. The board came 4s-7s-3c-4d-Kh, and dOdGyGrD claimed the 19,450-chip pot.

espanhol_pt, down to just 470 chips after that hand, was eliminated in 169th on the next hand.

5:10pm--170 players alive at second break

Level 13
Blinds 175/350, ante 45
Average chip count: 10,852
Players remaining: 170
First prize: $14,300 PCA Package

1. Rex Ferric - 42,062
2. Priitk - 28,906
3. peggydee - 28,871
4. Loretta8 - 28,112
5. Simka11 - 26,376
6. Cynders 1 - 25,423
7. Baalim - 23,698
8. DonBartos - 23,079
9. CUdeP - 22,790
10. guto1515 - 22,781

4:57pm--Recent Eliminations

Blogger notables heading to the rail in the last few minutes include Obie34, Easycure, ZeemJr, and lightning36

4:55pm--Stacks on the rise

A glance atop the leaderboard shows a few players closing in on the 30,000-chip mark at the moment. Priitk is in the lead currently with 29,748, followed by Rex Ferric with 29.032, and CUdeP with 25,840.

We are now down to 200 players.

4:51pm--Ladies Save ZClub

ZClub hadn't been able to get anything going so far, and down to only 1,347 in chips, he got most of them in pre-flop and the rest of them in on the flop with Q-Q vs. thelivewire's K-T. Ad-5c-3d-Ac-4d on the board and ZClub earned a much-needed double up (and then some) to 4,324.

4:47pm--Long live the king; the king is dead

Shortly after that double-up through TNSpaceman, micon's day abruptly ended after a big hand versus shearin88. On a flop of 7c-Qc-9d, micon decided the multiple draws afforded by Jc-Tc were good for gambling, and shearin88 came along for the ride with a set of nines. The set held up, and micon was out 233rd.

4:44pm--Micon Doubles through TNSpaceman

TNSpaceman doubled up quite early on with pocket aces, but just saw his stack halved by the man they call the "King of All Degenerates"-- micon.

In a three-way limped pot, TNSpaceman led out at the Th-7s-2c flop for 300. Both micon and LaNaranjita called. The turn came the 7d, pairing the board and TNSpaceman took another shot at the pot, betting 600. micon called and LaNaranjita folded. The river fell the Ad. TNSpaceman slowed down and checked,but was met with a shove from micon for his last 1,887. TNSpaceman made the call.

TNSpaceman's 9h-Ts for two pair, tens and sevens couldn't match micon's sevens full of aces with A-7 in the hole and micon doubled to 6,484. TNSpaceman was knocked down to 5,278.

4:41pm--Here come cowboys; gadzooks64 doubles up

gadzooks64 raised to 600 from middle position, and the table folded around to schmengie who called from the big blind. The flop came 4c-5s-Th, and schmengie checked. gadzooks64 bet 1,000, and schmengie check-raised all in for 6,615 altogether. gadzooks64 called with her last 3,320, showing Kc-Kh for the overpair. "oops" typed schmengie, as he showed Jd-Jh.

The turn and river both brought sevens, and gadzooks64 doubled up to 10,165. schmengie is now at 2,295.

4:38pm--o-hole-ne doubles through PRO_rANDY in battle of the big stacks

PRO_rANDY, continuing to play with agression and abandon, opened yet another pot for 3 big blinds and found a caller in o-hole-ne. PRO_rANDY fired out 920 at the Kh-7c-2d flop, o-hole-ne put in a min-raise to 1,840, and PRO_rANDY called. The Jh on the turn gave PRO_rANDY pause and he checked, allowing o-hole-ne to fire out a bet of
1,590. PRO_rANDY made the call. The river was the 3h and both players checked.

o-hole-ne turned up Qs-Js, having paired up on the turn after raising the flop with air, crushing PRO_rANDY's pocket tens. o-hole-ne jumped out to 16,955 in chips while PRO_rANDY was left sitting on 15,978.

4:33pm--That's gonna leave a mark

Just saw a wince-inducing elimination over on Table 36. A short-stacked forstuvning had pushed all in for 1,987 with As-Js, and ABVidale, having him comfortably covered, made the call with Qs-Qd. The flop came Ac-2h-6d, and forstuvning was suddenly way ahead. The turn was the 4c. Still good. Then came the river... the Qc.

"No... Noooo!" typed forstuvning. In green, of course, as he had been rudely removed from the table, ending the day in 261st. Meanwhile, ABVidale is up to 15,397 -- that's top 15 at the moment.

4:31pm--8-game winner out of the mix

DjFog86, winner of the mixed 8-game qualifier is out of the 2008 WBCOOP after having his aces cracked by Kd-Qd on an all diamond flop.

4:26pm--Luckbox lives up to his name

Blogger Up4Poker is affectionately known as "The Luckbox" by his peers and demonstrated just how he got that name on this hand vs. kapiuksheing. Up4Poker opened for 375 and kapiuksheing made the call. On the Kc-6h-2h flop, Up4Poker checked, kapiuksheing made a small bet of 240, and Up4Poker check-raised all in for his remaining 2,429. kapiuksheing called and turned up As-Kd to Up4Poker's Ks-Js. No problem for the Luckbox, though... as the Jh spiked on the turn to make him two pair. No ace on the river and Up4Poker doubled to 5,923 in spectacular fashion.

4:21pm--Oh, and just one more thing...

Columbo777 started late today, and so had blinded down a bit by the time he finally took his seat late in the first hour. Down to 3,305, it appeared the time had come to solve the Case of the Dwindling Chips.

The table had folded around to Columbo777 who completed from the small blind. Player titcar, who had Columbo777 covered, raised to 360, prompting Columbo777 to repop it all-in. titcar quickly called, showing Ad-Ac, well ahead of Columbo777's 5c-5d.

The board came 9d-2c-Kd-Jc-Tc, and Columbo777 was free to walk his dog, having ended the day in 280th. titcar currently has 6,695.

4:16pm--Oh captain! my Captain! Our fearful trip is done

Speaking of OhMyCaptain's elimination...

Down to 1,993 chips, OhMyCaptain decided the time had come to right the ship. After DidiTKN raised to 320 from the button, OhMyCaptain pushed all in from the small blind, and DidiTKN called. OhMyCaptain showed 9d-Ac, and DidiTKM Tc-Ts. The board came 3d-7s-Qc-Kh-8h, and OhMyCaptain sailed away in 289th. DidiTKM has since chipped up to 12,703, good enough for the top 20.

4:15pm--Recent eliminations

Since the end of the first break we've lost esteemed bloggers OhMyCaptain, asphnxma, and NumbBono.

4:10pm--GRobman humbled, badblood44 in need of bandages

In the first hands after the first break, both badblood44 and GRobman went off to find other activities for the Sunday afternoon. GRobman was crippled before the break and came back with an eye on doubling up. It didn't work out. Badblood44's chips went to fellow poker blogger Donegal in a TT vs KK battle on a 334 flop. You can find badblood44 at the Badugi tables. GRobman will be somewhere combing his hair and admiring himself.

4:08pm--A visual of the rake's progress

As an added bonus, we have the visual for the Rakewell1 hand:

4:05pm--Rakewell1 rakes one in

Vegas rounder and oberserver of all things infuriating, blogger Rakewell1 just benefited from a timely double-up with AK vs A9. That was as entertaining for him as his recent observation the advertisement in Vegas that advertised steak "just off the casino floor" was for us.

4:02pm--Whew...first break

Level 7
Blinds 50/100, ante 10
Average chip count: 5,990
Players remaining: 308
First prize: $14,300 PCA Package

1. peggydee - 17,262
2. Medino0308 - 17,200
3. Rex Ferric - 15,010
4. sleddog - 14,970
5. csillagka - 14,082
6. WMZeus - 13,727
7. PRO-rANDY - 13,665
8. Rakewell1 - 13,170
9. on_thg - 12,825
10. blahdy - 12,600

Play will resume momentarily.

3:58pm--TBPauly Doubles Up Tom Bayes

pillango and Tom Bayes both limped in for 50 and were met with a raise from lenCindahood to 250. TBPauly flat-called, pillango gave up his hand and Tom Bayes called as well. The flop came down Qs-7h-6c. Tom Bayes checked, lenCindahood bet 550, TBPauly shoved for 3,710, and Tom Bayes shoved behind him for his remaining 5,080, leading lenCindahood to get out of the way. The cards went on their backs:

Tom Bayes 7d-6d
TBPauly Qc-Jc

Bayes was far ahead with two pair to TBPauly's top pair, and his hand held up through the 2d on the turn and the Kc on the river. THe 8,845 pot was shipped to Tom Bayes, increasing his stack to 10,215, while TBPauly hit the rail in 341st place.

3:54pm--It wasn't a blind steal, after all

It folded to chezchez2 who raised 4x to 240 from the button. Vandalar called from the small blind, and pickup09 folded the BB. The flop came 4d-7c-Ah. Both checked. The turn was the 5c. Vandalar checked, chezchez2 bet 320, and Vandalar called. The river was the 9s. Vandalar checked, chezchez2 bet 640, then Vandalar surprisingly check-raised all in for a total of 6,735.

chezchez2 suddenly had a decision to make. After thinking for a while, chezchez2 made the call with his last 5,050. Vandalar showed 6s-7s for a pair of sevens. chezchez2 showed Ac-As for a set of aces.

That pot pushed chezchez2 up to 12,580, while Vandalar has tumbled all of the way down to 1,045 for the busted move.

3:45pm--Easycure takes it easy on OhMyCaptain

Easycure limped in for 60 from UTG+1, DidiTKM completed from the SB, and OhMyCaptain checked his option in the BB. The flop came 2d-7d-Jc. DidiTKM checked, OhMyCaptain bet 180, Easycure called, and DidiTKM got out of the way. Both checked the Ac on the turn. The river was the 8c, putting a possible backdoor flush on board. OhMyCaptain checked, Easycure bet 180, and OhMyCaptain called. Easycure showed Qh-As for top pair, and OhMyCaptain mucked.

Easycure now has 6,205, while OhMyCaptain slipped to 2,763 on that hand.

3:44pm--PRO_rANDY Grinds Out a Double

PRO_rANDY is tearing up his table, having already doubled his starting stack in the space of only a few hands. After making a full house against FANTOMEX, who had turned trip fours, PRO_rANDY took down three consecutive pots to chip up to 8,300. Then came this hand.

PRO_rANDY opened for 150 and got one caller in C8meplacton. The flop was Jc-6c-3c. C8mepacton checked, PRO_rANDY bet 225 and C9meplacton called. The turn was the 4d and C8mepacton check-called a 525 bet from PRO_rANDY. The river fell the Kh and C8mepacton check-called another bet, this time for 1,125. PRO_rANDY turned up Qc-8c for the flush and raked in another 4,075 chips to take his stack up to 10,405. He's currently among the top ten in chips.

3:41pm--SushiSam needs some sake

It's time to celebrate at SushiSam's table. Why? Well this is one helluva board.

[8c 4c 2h 4d] [Ks]

Why so hellish? Well, consider SushiSam held a four in his hand.

Consider his opponent,PNEWS_ITALIA, held pocket kings.

Now, consider SushiSam also held the case four in his hand.

"I can't believe it," SushiSam said.

3:40pm--sleddog leading the pack

Forty minutes in and so far 30 of our starting field of 369 have fallen by the wayside. Right now sleddog has the most chips of the 339 players left with 14,750, with Pinkypollo close behind with 14,720.

3:33pm--LoneRhino looks for another way to Bahamas

After winning Event #6 yesterday, LoneRhino looked in good form for today's event. It was not to be. He's out after the first half hour of play.

3:31pm--peggydee harpoons TheUKShark

TheUKShark just met an unfortunate, early end after flopping trip nines against peggydee. Unfortunately for TheUKShark, peggydee also flopped trips, and peggydee's bigger kicker meant TheUKShark was just about dead in the water. Here's how it happened:

3:28pm--MrAckley "Tight!"

Bloggers are sometimes like dealers. They have a lot of gamble in them. Not so much the case at MrAckley's table. "We might see a flop one in five hands," he said. MrAckley final tabled the first ever WBCOOP in 2005.

3:25pm--Obie34 Flushes the Competition

j7gibson opened for 160, and Obie34 made the call. j7 gibson led out for 200 on the Qc Td 7d flop and Obie34 called. The turn brought the Ad and j7gibson bet another 200 but was met with a raise to 600. Undeterred, he called 400 more. The river was a dangerous-looking Js, putting a possible straight out there to go with the possible flush. j7gibson checked, Obie34 bet 1,200 and j7gibson called.

The crafty Obie34 showed 8d-9d for a flush and raked in a hefty pot to start his tournament, increasing his stack to 6,550.

3:22pm--gadzooks64 spooks Shishio13

Player gadzooks64 -- who managed to make the top 72 in the first three WBCOOP preliminary events -- just picked up a few chips here at the outset of play. Shishio13 raised preflop from middle position to 120, and it folded around to gadzooks64 who called from the BB. The flop came As-6d-2h. gadzooks64 checked, Shishio13 made a continuation bet of 210, and gadzooks64 called. The turn brought the 2s, prompting gadzooks64 to bet 570 into the 675-chip pot. Shishio13 stepped aside.

Shishio13 now has 4,580, while gadzooks64 has 5,350.

3:16pm--Pinkypollo pole-vaults into lead

Pinkypollo has jumped out to an early lead, thanks to a huge hand versus Virrr. Preflop, Virrr had raised to 90 from UTG, Pinkypollo reraised to 150, and it folded back around to Virrr who called. The flop came 3d-Ks-9c. Virrr checked, Pinkypollo shoved all in for 8,330, and Virrr called for 4,655. Virrr showed Kc-Js for top pair, but Pinkypollo had Ad-Kh for top pair, better kicker. The turn was the 2d, the river the 5h, and Virrr hit the rail in 362nd.

Pinkypollo meanwhile sits atop the leaderboard with 13,330.

3:15pm--Blood spilled early

badblood44 opened for a 75 chip raise and RevmodPoker made the call. badblood44 led out at the 9c 3d 2s flop for 120, RevmodPoker popped him with a min-raise to 240, and badblood44 retaliated with a three-bet to 660. RevmodPoker called. The turn fell the 9s, pairing the board. badblood44 fired again, this time for 500 and RevmodPoker flat-called. The river was the Kh. badblood44 slowed down and ultimately check-folded to RevmodPoker's 750 river bet, conceding the 2,500+ pot.

badblood44 was down to 3,015 after the hand while RevmodPoker shot up to 6,200.

3:13pm--LParreria looking to go back-to-back

The 2007 WBCOOP champion is LParreria showing some early strength today. In the first fiteen minutes of play, he has doubled his stack to more than 10,000.

3:04pm--TNSpaceman rockets ahead

TNSpaceman open-raised to 60 from the cutoff, donkulate reraised to 200 from the button, the table folded back around and TNSpaceman called. The flop came 9h-2c-2d. TNSpaceman checked, donkulate bet 180, and TNSpaceman called. The turn was the 8h. TNSpaceman again checked, and this time donkulate bet 420. TNSpaceman promptly check-raised to 1,120. donkulate thought a moment, then called the reraise.

The river brought the 6c. TNSpaceman pushed all in for 2,280, and donkulate made the call. TNSpaceman showed 9d-9s for the flopped boat, while donkulate mucked. TNSpaceman is up to 8,810, while donkulate slips to 1,020.

3:03pm--GRobman humble as always

Anyone who has ever played live or online with GRobman knows he is as self-effacing and humble as any blogger in the business. GRobman qualified this week in one of the no-limit hold'em contests and today is proving the old adage, it's hard to be humble when you're this damned good. He said as the event began, "I'm honored to be playing in the Poker Stars Blogger Championship. I'm sure the other bloggers are equally honored to be playing with me."

3:02pm--Gigli honors go to BigSlickNut

Poker bloggers have a tradition of awarding the Gigli designation to the person who busts first from their tournament. That honor, named after the tragic Ben Affleck flick, goes today to BigSlickNut. He called all in with pocket queens on a 2c-5h-9h flop against Ah-7h. Sure enough, a heart fell on the river. Sorry, BSN.

3:01pm--Cards on the screen!

The first cards have been dealt, and we have a casualty in the first minute of play. BigSlickNut from Huntsville left the tournament in 369th place; more information to come. Action may be faster than anticipated today.

2:55pm--Ready for kickoff!

It seems that the players in today's much-anticipated event are taking their virtual seats at 41 tables and gearing up to win some phenomenal prizes today. With the final 100 survivors "in the prizes," if you will, we're looking for some exciting action at the kickoff with 369 players.

2:00pm--WBCOOP Main Event to begin shortly

The main event of the 2008 PokerStars World Blogger Championship of Online Poker will begin at 3:00pm ET.

PokerStars has already given away $50,000 worth of prizes in the prelim events. Now, it's time to fight for the $50,000 worth of Main Event prizes.

The 369 qualifiers from the six preliminary events will be fighting for the following prizes.

1st--PokerStars Caribbean Adventure prize package
2nd--European Poker Tour prize package, SCOOP, Main Event ticket, Step 6 ticket
3rd--European Poker Tour prize package
4th--SCOOP Main Event ticket + Step 6 ticket
5th--Step 6 ticket
6th--SCOOP Main Event ticket
7th--$1,050 Tournament entry
8th--Step 5 ticket
9th--$530 Tournament entry
10th-18th--$320 Tournament entry
19th-27th--$215 Tournament entry
28th-45th-- $109 Tournament entry
46th-100th-- Step 3 ticket

Join us here for all the action at 3pm ET.