Visser steamrolled the final table of the event, 6-Max No Limit Hold’em, on his way to the bracelet and $135,687,64 in prize money! Along the way, he took out Scott “dorinvandy” Dorin, a WCOOP champion this year in Event #5. By the time the tournament ended, it was a sleepy Ruben who grabbed the gold, as the event started at 10:30 PM his time, and took nearly 16 hours to complete!

Visser got his start playing 5 Card Draw, Pot Limit Omaha and No Limit Hold’em in the school cafeteria with friends, but says “I was terrible and just loved to bluff way too much.” He read a few books, made his first deposit on PokerStars, and his poker career took off!

Like so many young players, Visser has focused on the online game even with a casino close by. The convenience of playing from home and the ability to multi-table make online poker his preferred method of playing. He considers No Limit Hold’em his best game, and after watching the replay of Event #26, we tend to agree!

At 19, many of us were just learning the ways of the world. This young champion not only is pursuing a degree in Business and has claimed a WCOOP title, but also runs an instructional poker website! When not stacking opponents, Visser enjoys lots of sports, including field hockey, snowboarding and tennis.

Visser has yet to find the same level of success live as online, so he plans to use some of his winnings to buy in to upcoming EPT events, as well as the Master Classics of Poker in Amsterdam. We’re sure that it won’t be long before this WCOOP champion has many more titles to his name. Congratualations to Ruben “rubenrtv” Visser on taking down Event #26!

You probably think you know exactly how he did, the plays he made, where he was fortunate, and when he made the best play at the table. Well, you might know part of the story, but you don't know the whole thing and you won't until you watch the PokerStars.tv highlights show.

To see the whole final table played out with the hole cards revealed, check out the Event 26 highlight show below.

Watch WCOOP Highlights: Event 26 - $320 NLHE (6-max) on PokerStars.tv

Other Event 26 news

WCOOP Event #26: rubenrtv runs over final table and wins $320 NLHE 6-Max title!

WCOOP Event 26 NLHE Six-Max Live Blog

As with many of the tournaments, this was also a six-max event. With only a half-dozen at each table, players are able to utilize more complicated strategies, see more action, and get a better feel for their opponents. Short-handed play appeals to many players, and that is what PokerStars gives them. And with only a few days left in the WCOOP, people registered early and were anxious to get in on this NLHE six-max action.

In fact, a total of 3,273 players bought in to Event #26, which provided a $981,900 prize pool to be split among the last 480 players standing. And with a first prize of $152,194.51, there would be some competition for that respectable total and the WCOOP title.

Among the masses were numerous Team PokerStars Pros, along with several names made famous by past WCOOP performances. From the corresponding 2007 event, four of the final tablists - PeachyMer, pape85, Pillars, and winner pes4fans - were looking to make the final table of this tournament an annual occurrence. And players who have already captured a 2008 WCOOP title were looking for a second, including shane147, cwp394, dorinvandy, Mary717, Ulett_23, jonasof87, Randers, Mildred53, Huxfluxen, Andy McLEOD, and luvgamble.

Soon after the event began, some of the pros took an early exit, like Katja Thater, John Duthie, Chris Moneymaker, Chad Brown, Greg Raymer, and Alex Kravchenko. Following in the next few levels were Alex Gomes, Humberto Brenes, Bertrand Grospellier, Andre Akkari, Tom McEvoy, Luca Pagano, William Thorson, Lee Nelson, Marcin Horecki, and Isabelle Mercier. Gavin Griffin and Victor Ramdin made a run through the first few levels but couldn’t maintain, and Raymond Rahme, Hevad Khan, and Bill Chen followed them to the rail.

When the money bubble approached, there were three players eliminated in hand-for-hand action, but the shortest stack, and thus the bubble player, was banaan60. The remaining 480 players were guaranteed $461.49 for their tournament finishes. Among those in the race to the money window was Team PokerStars Pro Dario Minieri, who finished in 402nd place. The 2007 $320 NLHE 6-Max champion pes4fans then left in 223rd place to forfeit his run at a back-to-back titles, and Team PokerStars Pro Vanessa “LadyMaverick” Rousso took 211th place.

As the field thinned, pape85 was finally eliminated in 99th place; the last player standing from the 2007 WCOOP corresponding event final table. And the last Team PokerStars Pro standing, Steve “stevejpa” Paul-Ambrose, was ousted in 86th place. Also on the virtual chopping block was well-known pro Shane “shaniac” Schleger, who looked strong but got hit hard in the end when his A-K ran into pocket aces, ousting him in 44th place.

With only three tables left, more money was at stake and play noticeably slowed. When short stacks moved, however, eliminations followed. alleykat was ironically taken out by tunafish919 in 18th place, rimmer27 left in 17th, chubb10 in 16th, and BongBob left in 15th place. Joe “ender555” Ebanks was the next to go. Ebanks was an online qualifier for the LAPT San Jose Event who made a deep run in this WCOOP to finish in 14th place, only missing the final table by a handful of places. And toweliestar finally left the tournament in 13th place. All of them were awarded $6,382.36 for their outstanding performances.

When the field had been condensed to two tables, it was tunafish919 who was first to depart in 12th place, courtesy of MangosPapa. McNugent was eliminated in 11th at the hands of dorinvandy, and MangosPapa was sent away by xPeepx in 10th, all of whom received $8,346.16. Longtime short stack bmwmcoupe finally succumbed to one of his many all-in moves and finished in ninth thanks to dorinvandy, pro player Sowerss was eliminated in eighth by HT-Max, and xPeepx was taken out by tRaMp$d0PrAy in seventh and on the final table bubble. The last three eliminations were good for $10,800.91 each.

At nearly fourteen hours after the start of the tournament, the final table was set. The players, seating assignments, and chip counts were as follows:

Seat 1: HT-Max (2516269 in chips)
Seat 2: tRaMp$d0PrAy (2881644 in chips)
Seat 3: dorinvandy (1697266 in chips)
Seat 4: rubenrtv (4351507 in chips)
Seat 5: BB_ShiNing (403601 in chips)
Seat 6: MCLegend (1241713 in chips)

Not long after the action got underway between the final six, BB_ShiNing was at risk as the short stack and saw an opportunity after tRaMp$d0PrAy opened for a raise preflop. BB_ShiNing moved all-in with Ad-4c, and tRaMp$d0PrAy called with Ah-Kh. The board didn’t help the endangered player with Tc-Ac-3d-9d-Qd, and BB_ShiNing was out the virtual poker room door in sixth place with $17,183.26.

By watching earlier action, one would have anticipated a win from dorinvandy in this event, but the other players’ aggression and passion to win would have been ignored. dorinvandy went into the hand with well over one million in chips and raised to start the action from the button. rubenrtv reraised, and dorinvandy pushed all-in for 1,394,766 with pocket sevens, but rubenrtv called with pocket kings. The board was inconsequential to dorinvandy with Qc-8s-8h-2h-5c, and he was forced to accept a fifth place finish and $31,499.36. But added to his previous win in 2008 WCOOP Event #5 and other WCOOP cashes, that put dorinvandy over the $650,000 mark for this series alone. Stellar performance.

With four players remaining, they asked that the clock be stopped to discuss a deal. When the tournament administrator came back with initial payout numbers calculated by traditional chip count methods, the two short-stacked players balked. Clearly, everyone wanted to come to an agreement, but it took them approximately twenty minutes to do so. Upon conclusion of the talks, it was determined that rubenrtv would receive $125,687.64, HT-Max $92,000, MCLegend $84,500, and tRaMp$d0PrAy $84,500. They would play to determine the ultimate winner, however, who would receive the remaining $10,000 and the WCOOP bracelet.

Play continued, and not long after, tRaMp$d0PrAy put his remaining 1,422,280 chips in the pot with pocket jacks, and the seemingly-unstoppable rubenrtv called with pocket nines. The board determined the outcome on the flop when it came 8d-Qd-9d-4s-8h, giving rubenrtv a set and sending tRaMp$d0PrAy to the virtual rail in fourth place with the agreed-upon $84,500 payout.

Three-handed play was possibly not intended to continue for long, as HT-Max looked to move with Ad-Js preflop. rubenrtv called with pocket sixes that held up after the board produced 2c-8c-8h-Kd-7c. HT-Max was eliminated and given $92,000 for his third place finish.

Heads-up play began with rubenrtv holding a massive lead over his opponent. rubenrtv had 10,848,594 in chips to the 2,243,406 of MCLegend. Though it looked like an easy task, MCLegend was not having it. Battling through, MCLegend eventually overtook rubenrtv and gained a 5/1 chip advantage, only to lose it and find the two close to even. But when rubenrtv doubled through MCLegend with A-4 versus A-8 and the board produced two more fours for rubenrtv’s trips, rubenrtv went back to his significant lead.

The final hand still found MCLegend trying to battle back from a deficit. rubenrtv made the initial raise to 100,000, and MCLegend called to see the 7c-Jd-Ks flop. One round of betting led to the Ah on the turn. MCLegend bet 300,000, rubenrtv raised it up to 1,007,250, and MCLegend pushed all-in for 3,283,666 with 7h-6h and bottom pair. rubenrtv called with Qs-Tc for the straight, and the river was an irrelevant Qh.

McLegend made a valiant effort to win the title but fell one short with a second place finish worth the previously-agreed upon $84,500. rubenrtv stole the show in this event and came out on top with a first place finish worth $135,687.64 and the WCOOP bracelet.

For all of the action as it happened during Event #26, read through the $320 NLHE 6-Max Live Blog.

Have a story? E-mail to blog@pokerstars.com. Click refresh to see the latest information.

8:37am--rubenrtv wins Event #26, MCLegend finishes second

rubenrtv beat MCLegend in heads-up play to win the No-Limit Hold’Em Event #26. The final hand allowed rubenrtv to add $10,000 and a bracelet to the already agreed upon $125,687.64 he will pocket for a hard-fought victory, making the total prize $135,687.64.

MCLegend had 3,525,891 of the 13 millions chips entering the final hand. With the blinds at 25,000/50,000, rubenrtv raised pre-flop to 100,000 with Tc-Qs. MCLegend called with 6h-7h. The flop came 7c-Jd-Ks and rubenrtv bet 137,225. MCLegend called. The turn decided the tournament when the Ah gave rubenrtv the nut straight. All the remaining chips went in there, and the Qh river was inconsequential. rubenrtv was the champion!

MCLegend still took home $84,500 for an outstanding effort and ultimate second place finish.

8:29am--Another resurgence

Maybe it's the bracelet. Or maybe it's the $10K that is at stake. Either way, neither player wants to go down without a fight.

MCLegend just pulled out the latest unexpected comeback. With just one million of the 13 million chips, MCLegend just used several all-ins to reach six million. As usual, though, rubenrtv has started to reassert himself in usual determined fashion.

8:23am--rubenrtv back in command

It didn't take long for rubenrtv to assume his natural position atop the two-person leaderboard. He did so by hitting three fours on the flop while MCLegend had the nut flush draw. All the chips went into the pot and MCLegend now has a 12/1 chip lead.

8:16am--rubenrtv battles back

All it takes is a couple double-ups. rubenrtv just had a few that propelled him back to respectability. MCLegend's 5/1 chip lead didn't last very long. Right now, MCLegend has around seven millions chips; rubenrtv has six million chips.

8:12am--MCLegend closes gap

MCLegend was able to get close to even in chips when he had K-Q vs. rubenrtv's K-8. Then, MCLegend claimed a significant chip lead after this hand:

8:07am--Heads-up play begins!

The final two players in this event have started heads-up action with the following chip counts:

rubenrtv 10,848,594
MCLegend 2,243,406

8:06am--HT-Max knocked out in third place by rubenrtv

rubenrtv just made HT-Max a thing of the past. HT-Max was knocked out in third place when all the chips got into the pot pre-flop.

The pot of 5,114,028 chips went to rubenrtv and his pocket sixes. HT-Max had Ad-Js. The board came 2c-8c-8h-Kd-7c, and HT-Max’s tournament was over. He still left in third place and earned $92,000 for his effort.

7:58am--rubenrtv giving out lessons

rubenrtv knows how to play poker. That is obvious by his performance in this tournament. The Dutch player shares his expertise, too. rubenrtv explained during the earlier negotiations that he is a poker instructor. Right now, he's giving out free lessons to the other players at the table.

Actually, they are not free. There is another $10K at stake for the winner.

7:50am--HT-Max, MCLegend winning pots

MCLegend and HT-Max have won the last eleven pots at the three-handed final table. But they have not been able to dent rubenrtv’s massive chip stack. rubenrtv still has more than the other two players combined with over seven million chips.

7:38am--Breaking with the final three

There are three remaining players as we enter Level 27.

Level 27
Blinds: 20,000/40,000, ante 4,000
Average chip count: 4,364,000
Players remaining: 3

Remaining player chip counts:

rubenrtv 7,816,993
HT-Max 3,055,114
MCLegend 2,219,893

7:34am-- tRaMp$d0PrAy knocked out in fourth place

tRaMp$d0PrAy had the best hand when he got his remaining 1,422,280 chips into the pot pre-flop, but it just didn’t hold. rubenrtv hit a set of nines on the flop, and tRaMp$d0PrAy’s pocket jacks were negated.

tRaMp$d0PrAy settled for the $84,500.00 he agreed upon in a deal for fourth place.

7:31am--Actually playing poker again

They are back to deciding a winner – on the table. Rubenrtv still has more than twice many chips as his nearest competitor. He’s using those chips to his advantage, pushing the other players around.

7:26am--A deal is done

After lengthy negotiations, a deal has finally been struck. Tournament leader rubenrtv handled the negotiations and was very flexible. Here is what the final four players decided:

Rubenrtv: $125,687.64
HT-Max $92,000
MCLegend $84,500
tRaMp$d0PrAy $84,500

First-place: additional $10,000 + WCOOP bracelet

With that, play resumed.

7:18am--Final four discuss a possible deal

Upon the elimination of dorinvandy in fifth, the final four players asked the administrator to stop the clock and provide chip count numbers. He came back with the following numbers, with the caveat that they will play it out so that the winner receives an additional $10,000 and the WCOOP bracelet:

rubenrtv $139,123.23
HT-Max $90,233,85
MCLegend $78,939.26
tRaMp$0PrAy $78,390.30

The two short stacks, who were offered the least amounts of money in the potential deal, were the first to say no to the deal. After fifteen minutes, talks continued...

7:00am--dorinvandy forced to settle for fifth place

rubenrtv had long ago assumed the role as tournament dominator and extinguisher. At one point, however, that role belonged to dorinvandy, winner of WCOOP Event #5.

dorinvandy came up short in this one thanks to rubenrtv. With the blinds at 15K/30K with a 3K ante, dorinvandy raised from the button to 70K. rubenrtv reraised to 208,225 and dorinvandy pushed all-in for his remaining 1,394,766. rubenrtv made the easy call with pocket kings. dorinvandy has pocket sevens and the board came Qc-8s-8h-2h-5c.

dorinvandy was out and had to settle for $31,499.36. Add that to the $621,030.59 he had won in WCOOP action prior to this event and dorinvandy’s vault is going to be pretty full with cash soon.

6:59am--rubenrtv nearing 5 million chip mark

Though rubenrtv did come to the table with the chip lead, it was the winning of a pot worth more than 1.2 million from tRaMp$d0PrAy during five-handed play that put him near the 5 million chip mark. No other player is within striking distance yet.

6:53am--dorinvandy adding to his vault

dorinvandy entered this tournament as the biggest money earner in WCOOP action this year with earnings totaling $621,030.59. That number is only going to increase with this performance.

A win would put dorinvandy near a staggering $800K. Even though he still has over one million chips, dorinvandy is currently the short stack among the five players at the final table.

6:40am--BB_ShiNing first final table casualty, finished in sixth place

BB_ShiNing was the short-stack at the final table and subsequently the first player dismissed. tRaMp$d0PrAy was once again the eliminator.

tRaMp$d0PrAy opened the raising pre-flop with Ah-Kh. BB_ShiNing reraised all-in for
331,601. tRaMp$d0PrAy made the easy call. With BB_ShiNing holding Ad-4c, he was in big trouble. The Tc-Ac-3d-9d-Qd provided no help. BB_ShiNing was out in sixth place but still earned $17,183.26.

6:35am--Final table players want something extra for 14 hours of play

Keeping the mood light, the players have engaged in a little entertaining conversation about extra perks they would like for playing such a long tournament.

HT-Max: yo stars people imo you should add something to the price pool. playing 14 hours straight is just torture, so that would be nice ^^
rubenrtv: ya i want a hellmuth book, a stress star and a moneymaker staredown poster plz
HostScott [Support]: All that money isn't enough? :-)
HT-Max: plus cookie basket imo

6:27am--We have our final table!

After nearly 30 minutes of actual hand-for-hand play, xPeepx left the crowd to make way for the six finalists to be seated at the final table. Their chip counts and seating assignments at the start of action was as follows:

Seat 1: HT-Max (2516269 in chips)
Seat 2: tRaMp$d0PrAy (2881644 in chips)
Seat 3: dorinvandy (1697266 in chips)
Seat 4: rubenrtv (4351507 in chips)
Seat 5: BB_ShiNing (403601 in chips)
Seat 6: MCLegend (1241713 in chips)

6:24am--xPeepx misses final table, out in seventh

xPeepx was knocked out in seventh place and earned $10,800.91. He just missed making the coveted final table.

xPeepx had 1,114,742 chips prior to his final hand of the tournament. tRaMp$d0PrAy is the one who knocked him out. There was plenty of pre-flop action, with tRaMp$d0PrAy starting with a raise to 44,980. xPeepx reraised to 155,750, tRaMp$d0PrAy came back and made it 442,800, and xPeepx called.
The flop came As-8s-4s. xPeepx pushed all-in for 669,942, and tRaMp$d0PrAy called. tRaMp$d0PrAy had Ac-Kc, and xPeepx had Ah-9c. xPeepx needed a nine to survive. It did not happen. Instead, the 3c and 6h ended xPeepx’s long tournament run.

At least he managed to last long enough to collect the five-digit payout.

6:16am--BB_ShiNing having timing problems?

Since prior to hand-for-hand play, BB_ShiNing has been experiencing some kind of delay. Each time it is his turn to act, there is a delay before folding or he is timed out. A fellow player wrote in the chat box: "seriously man do you have to bike on a hometrainer to get electricty for internet?"

At one point, BB_ShiNing seemed to return to action and pushed all-in but got no callers. Since that time, there has been some action from BB_ShiNing, who is by far the shortest stack remaining.

5:58am--A break amidst hand-for-hand play

The seven remaining players take a 15-minute break, and they will return to the following information:

Level 25
Blinds: 10,000/20,000, ante 2,000
Average chip count: 1,870,285
Players remaining: 7
First prize: $152,194.51

Remaining player chip counts:

rubenrtv 4,276,357
HT-Max 2,632,313
tRaMp$d0PrAy 1,644,913
dorinvandy 1,567,691
MCLegend 1,270,213
xPeepx 1,120,687
BB_ShiNing 479,826

5:43am--Final table is near, hand-for-hand in progress

We’re just one more elimination away from the final table being set. It looks like dorinvandy will be at his second WCOOP final table this year, unless he somehow goes out in the current hand-for-hand play. rubenrtv is best positioned for the final table with over four million chips. All he has to do is survive hand-for-hand play.

5:40am--Sowerss eliminated in eighth place

Professional poker player Sowerss couldn’t seem to catch a break at the final few tables but was not afraid to move his chips around in attempts to accumulate more.

Sowerss raised from the small blind to 48,000, but HT-Max reraised all-in from the big blind. Sowerss called all-in for his last 349,410 with Ac-Qh, and HT-Max showed the less-desirable Ad-3d. The board looked harmless for Sowerss with 9c-Ts-4s-9d, but the river came a 3h, and that was all she wrote for Sowerss. He left the tournament in eighth place with $10,800.91.

His departing comment was, “fsdagsdhdgf.” That about summed it up.

5:30am--bmwmcoupe finally exits in ninth place

bmwmcoupe held on for as long as he could. He even doubled up several times while on life support to remain in the tournament another 20 or so minutes. But eventually, bmwmcoupe was forced to make a move. It resulted in a ninth-place finish.

From the small blind, bmwmcoupe went all-in pre-flop for his remaining 103,659 chips with 6s-8c. Sitting to his left was none other than Mr. Terminator himself – dorinvandy - who called with Ac-Td.
dorinvandy, as has been the case most of the tournament, hit his cards immediately and knocked out another competitor. The 4c-Ts-Tc-3s-Jd gave dorinvandy trip tens and made bmwmcoupe settle for ninth place and the $10,800.91.

5:15am--MangosPapa eliminated in 10th place

After xPeepx made an initial raise to 35,550, MangosPapa reraised to 99,000 and was called by xPeepx. The flop came 2d-2c-6h, and MangosPapa bet 127,000. xPeepx raised all-in with Jc-Jh, and MangosPapa called all-in and covered with Tc-Td. The turn and river brought 9s and 6c, and the tournament was over for MangosPapa, finishing in 10th place with $8,346.16 in prize money.

5:11am--McNugent the latest victim, finishes 11th

The blinds had crept to 6,000/12,000 with a 1,200 ante when McNugent needed to make a move with only 417,941 chips. From late position, McNugent raised to 30,000, only to have dorinvandy reraise to 96,000. That’s when McNugent decided to risk it all and reraise all-in. dorinvandy called.

dorinvandy had Ah-Ks and McNugent had pocket fives. There was no drama. The flop came out As-3s-Kh. dorinvandy had top two pair, and the 2h and 8s on the turn and river didn’t change anything.

McNugent was out in 11th place with a $8,346.16 parting gift.

5:03am--bmwmcoupe unwilling to leave

He was crippled. In a hand against BB_ShiNing, all of the money was in preflop, and bmwmcoupe had his opponent barely covered. bmwcoupe had Ac-Kc, and BB_ShiNing showed pocket aces. The board came Ks-2d-Qs-9h-Js, and bmwmcoupe was left with less than 30,000 in chips.

However, bmwmcoupe was able to double through rubenrtv with A-K against K-9. And bmwmcoupe did it again with A-5 versus the Q-T of MCLegend. Still and all, the comeback kid had less than 200,000 in chips and remained the severe short-stack of the group.

4:50am--Five-minute break for 11 finalists

Level 23
Blinds: 6,000/12,000, ante 1,200
Average chip count: 1,190,181
Players remaining: 11
First prize: $152,194.51

Remaining player chip counts:

rubenrtv 3,029,507
dorinvandy 2,205,679
HT-Max 1,923,643
tRaMp$d0PrAy 1,717,840
MCLegend 1,503,158
Sowerss 737,000
xPeepx 595,278
McNugent 449,466
MangosPapa 424,152
bmwmcoupe 293,146
BB_ShiNing 213,131

4:49am--tunafish919 swims with the fishes in 12th place

tunafish919 was the severe short-stack at the final two tables before being knocked out in 12th place and earning a $8,346.16 reward.

tunafish919 had just 158,328 when he pushed from late position with pocket nines. MangosPapa called with Kc-Jd as the blinds were 5,000/10,000 with a 1,000 ante. The flop of 3c-4c-Ah looked good for tunafish919. The Ad on the turn was also good. But the Jh on the river ended tunafish’s run after twelve hours of play.

4:43am--And then there were two...tables

The remaining twelve players have been reseated in their virtual chairs at the final two tables of the tournament. rubenrtv is currently leading the pack, and tunafish919 and BB_ShiNing are the short stacks.

4:40am--toweliestar eliminated in 13th place

MCLegend and toweliestar had tangled several times. When MCLegend managed to double through toweliestar, the latter was in critical condition.

toweliestar pushed all-in from the small blind for his last 103,762 with Kc-5d, and MCLegend called with As-Qs. The board brought Ts-4c-8c-8s-8d, and MCLegend's ace kicker won it. toweliestar was out in 13th place with $6,382.36 to show for it.

4:29am--ender555 busts out in 14th

ender555 wasn’t in bad shape when he was knocked out in 14th place. He just ran Ah-Ks into pocket queens. HT-Max was holding the queens and eventually claimed the 1.6 million chip pot. The board of 3s-2s-Td-6s-3c didn’t help ender555.

Instead, ender555 lost had all his 817,383 chip in pre-flop action and was kicked out in 14th place. He settled for $6,382.36.

4:24am--BongBob takes 15th place

Bongbob had just 86,138 chips and was forced to push on the button with Kh-Td. Tunafish919 called with Ac-9d and won the pot of 180,276 chips with two pair, aces and nines, when the board showed As-8c-7s-Qd-9s.

BonbBob was eliminated in 15th place to earn $6,382.36.

4:20am--chubb10 goes out in 16th place

chubb10 went out in 16h place despite flopping a straight. chubb10 began the hand with 954,103 chips and raised preflop to 21,000 with Qc-Th. rubenrtv called with Ad-9h.

The flop came 8d-9d-Jd, giving rubenrtv the nut flush draw and chibb10 the straight. The raising went like this: rubenrtv checked; chubb10 bet 36,000; rubenrtv raised 73,225 to 109,225; chubb10 raised 210,775 to 320,000; rubenrtv raised 899,804 to 1,219,804 and was all-in; chubb10 called 612,303 and was all-in. Exhausting.

When the 6d came on the turn the tournament ended for chubb10 with a 16th place finish and $6,382.36 prize.

4:12am--MCLegend finally won a showdown

Two short stacks at Table 415 doubled through MCLegend. First it was tunafish919 with K-Q winning over A-7 when a queen hit the board, then BongBob took a turn with pocket jacks over A-K. At that point, MCLegend sat with less than 200,000.

Finally, however, when that short stack went into the pot with A-T against the pocket sevens of BongBob, the board brought A-J-K-A-Q to give MCLegend the straight and the satisfaction of winning one showdown.

4:03am--rimmer27 finishes in 17th place

The significant short-stack, rimmer27 pushed all-in from the button with Ah-8c and was called by chubb10’s Kc-Jd. The flop came 2d-10c-Js-7h-6d, and rimmer27 was out in 17th place with a $6,382.36 payout.

3:46am--A short break for the 17 finalists

Level 21
Blinds: 4,000/8,000, ante 800
Average chip count: 770,117
Players remaining: 17
First prize: $152,194.51

Remaining player chip counts:

dorinvandy 2,182,629
rubenrtv 1,149,654
chubb10 1,000,728
ender555 972,635
McNugent 855,517
xPeepx 843,068
toweliestar 840,704
tRaMp$d0PrAy 765,274
BongBob 712,665
bmwmcoupe 709,985
BB_ShiNing 611,355
MangosPapa 608,623
Sowerss 591,843
HT-Max 575,121
MCLegend 421,469
rimmer27 161,875
tunafish919 88,855

3:41am--alleykat eliminated by tunafish919 in 18th place

In a strange twist of online-poker-moniker fate, tuna conquered the kat.

alleykat had once again been chipped down to little more than 25,000 with blinds at 3,500/7,000. When tunafish919 raised it up from first position, tRaMp$d0PrAy called, alleykat finally pushed all-in. The two other players call to see the flop of 8d-Tc-Td. tunafish919 bet 35,000, and tRaMp$d0PrAy folded. At that point, alleykat showed Ks-Qs, but tunafish919 dominated with Ac-Qd. The turn and river were the irrelevant Jd and 3h, and tunafish919 sent alleykat to the rail in 18th place.

alleykat hung on to that short stack to make it to the final three tables and finally left with $6,382.36 for it.

3:36am--MangosPapa doubles

Just as play began on the final three tables, MangosPapa doubled up with AQ vs. Sowerss’ AJ. MangosPapa doubled to 474,488 chips.

3:32am--Three tables remain

With the elimination of MSU10s in 19th place, the field has thinned to 18 players seated at three tables. Those finishing 13th through 18th will leave with $6,382.36.

The last set of eliminated players received $4,909.51 for their efforts, and they were:

19th place: MSU10s
20th place: klkkenny
21st place: TG3400
22nd place: thekidkey
23rd place: iaindockeryg
24th place: hamazriya

3:18am--ender555’s climb

Last time we checked in on ender555, he was stuck at around 350K. Well, that was the case until he found A-K vs. Antilopen’s pocket queens. A king on the flop allowed ender555 to take the pot of 719,800 chips, and now he’s up to 950K. It’s been a nice climb for ender555, who is now in third place.

Nobody, however, is in the same stratosphere right now as chipleader dorinvandy, who has over two millions chips.

3:15am--Meow! alleykat doubles with quads

With less than 50,000 in chips, alleykat finally pushed all-in with pocket tens but was called by MCLegend with pocket jacks. In the end, MCLegend found four cards on the board to give him a flush, but alleykat found quads. Check it out:

3:06am--The unlucky seat next to dorinvandy

If you’re sitting the right of dorinvandy right now at Table 105, you’re tournament life is in danger. First, it was jonasof87 who went from the chipleader to the rail real quickly. Then it was govshark2. He too went out at the hand of dorinvandy, whose A-K beat pocket sixes.

Next in line was INW85, who couldn’t win with A-Ks. Guess who was there for the knockout? dorinvandy, of course. dorinvandy hit a set of nines.

The latest victim was 50km. It took just one hand for 50km to be sent to the rail by … dorinvandy! 50km couldn’t win with pocket nines, as dorinvandy had KQo and hit a queen on the river.

Luckily for the rest of the field, the seat to dorinvandy’s right is currently empty.

3:00am--alleykat lounging around with ultra-short stack

alleykat has been the short stack in this tournament for more than a level now, not even moving in to attempt to pick up blinds and antes. Finally, alleykat did raise to do just that, but the player still only sits with 75,000. The average chip stack right now is 523,680.

2:48am--The singing GARDOCK

Playing online poker can be tedious and monotonous. Sometimes you need something to keep you busy.

GARDOCK is keeping busy by singing, or virtual singing in the chat box. And he has a wide variety of tastes, from rap to pop. GARDOCK, however, has been losing chips and currently has just 155K. The singing isn’t helping his results right now.

2:41am--Pardon us for a 5-minute break

Level 19
Blinds: 3,000/6,000, ante 600
Average chip count: 436,400
Players remaining: 30
First prize: $152,194.51

Top ten chip counts:

rubenrtv 983,788
McNugent 886,258
dorinvandy 865,585
Sowerss 844,172
BB_ShiNing 761,520
HT-Max 625,929
xPeepx 597,381
toweliestar 554,025
BongBob 527,189
klkkenny 458,974

2:35am--dorinvandy tops million mark

Ever since winning that huge hand against the now departed jonasof87, dorinvandy has not slowed down. Instead, he’s got just the momentum to build. dorinvandy was over the one-million mark and comfortably in the chip lead until losing the last hand before the break to Sowerss and dropping out of first. Sowerss is now in the top five.

2:25am--jonasof87’s two-time dream ends

For a while it looked like jonasof87 was going to make a run at another WCOOP tournament victory by maintaining a solid first place spot on the leaderboard. Then came the cooler against dorinvandy. Then jonasof87 ran into MSU10’s pocket jacks. And it wasn’t going to get any better.

Shortstacked with just 84,877 chips, jonasof87 pushed all-in pre-flop with pocket nines and was called by GARDOCK’s Ah-4s. The board came 2d-Jc-2s-Ad-3h and jonasof87 was out in 39th place with $2,700.23.

2:23am--Let’s discuss money

Well, there’s not much to discuss, really. But with 36 players left in the tournament, we thought you’d like to see the payout schedule for the remaining in-the-money finishers.

31st-36th place: $3,191.18
25th-30th place: $3,927.61
19th-24th place: $4,909.51
13th-18th place: $6,382.36
10th-12th place: $8,346.16
7th-9th place: $10,800.91
6th place: $17,183.26
5th place: $31,499.36
4th place: $52,040.71
3rd place: $81,497.71
2nd place: $110,954.71
1st place: $152,194.51

2:08am--WPThero is out

Just like that it eneded for WPThero. Pocket tens weren’t enough to save him. WPThero’s opponent had a jack in his hand and hit a jack on the flop, and another on the river for good measure.

WPThero finished 43rd and left with $2,307.47.

2:05am--shaniac shaken, stirred, and finished in 44th place

The last level for shaniac was a roller coaster. With nearly 300,000 in chips, he tangled with MCLegend, who used Ad-Js against the pocket fives of shaniac to double through when a jack hit on the flop. An observer noted, “well that just poured cold water on my balls.” Eloquently spoken.

shaniac then doubled through McNugent with his Ac-Qh held up against the As-Jh of McNugent. The chip stack of shaniac grew to nearly 200,000 from that victory.

But it wasn’t long before the ride was over. McNugent raised to 13,000, bellemene reraised all-in, shaniac came over the top with another all-in raise, and McNugent called it all. shaniac showed As-Kd, bellemene had pocket nines, and McNugent showed pocket aces. The board came 5c-5h-Td-Jh-4d to give McNugent the entire pot.

shaniac finished the tournament in 44th place with $2,307.47 for his efforts.

2:00am--dorinvandy overtakes jonasof87

Forget the top ten, dorinvandy is now the leader after getting involved in this huge hand with fellow WCOOP champ jonasof87.

The flop couldn’t have been any worse for jonasof87. This was all he could muster after the hand: “god what a luckbox you are.”

1:48am--dorinvandy’s lucky seven

dorinvandy just jumped into the top ten on the heels of a very generous flop. With 229,139 chips, he raised pre-flop to 10,000 with 4s-7s. MSU10s called with Ad-9s.

The flop came 7c-Ah-7h, giving dorinvandy three sevens. Each player put 32,000 in post-flop and dorinvandy’s remaining 165,429 went in on the turn. The 5s on that turn and Ks on the river didn’t change anything, and dorinvandy collected the 461,878 chips and moved into ninth place overall.

1:42am--Sowerss soars into top five

The online pro has made an incredible comeback. As Sowerss steadily climbed from that 100,000 mark mentioned earlier, he had chipped up to over 200,000 and hit two key pots to catapult himself into true contention in this tournament.

First, Sowerss eliminated opponent MoeDobbs, whose money went into the middle after the Kc-2s-9h-3c-5d board appeared. MoeDobbs had 6c-5c for that pair of fives, but Sowerss had Kh-Qd for top pair. He scooped the 337,142 pot.

Second, Sowerss had just hurdled the 400,000 mark when he took a pot from shaniac worth nearly 90,000 with nothing but an A-Q in his hand and a pair of fives on the board.

The last hand happened just before the last break, and it put him in fourth position on the leaderboard.

1:35am--Table of champions

Four players at Table 105 have quite a daunting task ahead of them. kingkong814, GARDOCK, MineOneOne and MSU10s have two WCOOP champions sitting with them at Table 105. That’s because jonasof87 and dorinvandy are now stationed right next to each other.

jonasof87 also happens to be the chipleader right now, as he has been for several levels.

1:34am--Break it up or break it down - just break

Level 17
Blinds: 2,000/4,000, ante 400
Average chip count: 218,200
Players remaining: 60
First prize: $152,194.51

Top ten chip counts:

jonasof87 724,800
toweliestar 621,320
GARDOCK 460,239
Sowerss 446,322
vikkyG85 424,631
rubenrtv 391,468
BB_ShiNing 379,102
HT-Max 373,629
thekidkey 368,930
cwp394 333,257

1:25am--ender555 becomes motionless

It’s been a while since we checked in with ender555. And not much has changed, except the size of everyone else’s chip stack.

ender555 appears stuck in quicksand just barely over 200,000 chips. Still there is no need for panic, as he remains above average in chips.

1:18am--WPThero in building mode

WPThero is on the rise after capturing 158,232 chips and eliminating Transeporter. All the chips went in pre-flop with WPThero holding Ac-Kd vs. Transeporter’s Ah-Jd. The board came 6d-9h-7c-7s-Qs, and WPThero was up to 294K. Just like that, he could be a factor.

1:13am--Sowerss slipping

It has been a rough level for Sowerss, who lost a large pot to Markush13 and hasn’t been able to gain much traction since.

Sowerss raised the pot from early position to 6,000. shaniac called, but Markush13 reraised to 20,000. Sowerss bumped it to 63,991, prompting a fold from shaniac and a reraise all-in from Markush13 for 135,104. Sowerss called with pocket jacks, but he was up against the pocket queens of his opponent. The board ran blank, and Markush13 doubled through Sowerss.

Sowerss is maintaining with little more than 100,000 in chips.

1:06am--stevejpa stalls out in 86th place

Steve “stevejpa” Paul-Ambrose never was able to pick up momentum. The lack of chips forced him to push his AQo. He ran into 50km’s AK. stevejpa had just over 80K in chips prior to his final hand. Blinds were at 1K/2K with a 200 ante.

The final Team PokerStars Pro left in this event was eliminated in 86th place and won $1,472.86.

12:59am--Steve Paul-Ambrose gives tips

Ever wonder how the fields of these WCOOP tournaments become so massive? You might already know... It's the amazing qualifiers that PokerStars runs so that for just a few dollars, anyone can compete in these events for hundreds of thousands of dollars in prize money. Team PokerStars Pro Steve Paul-Ambrose knows a few things about qualifiers and shared them with PokerStars.tv. Take a gander here:

Watch WSOP: Steve Ambrose's Qualifying Tips on PokerStars.tv

12:48am--donnystack to the left

Life just became a bit more difficult for jonasof87. When the WCOOP champ was moved to a different table, he was placed to the right of donnysack. That means it’s going to be more difficult to push around the table with his big chip stack, like jonasof87 was doing at the previous table.

donnystack is a Supernova Elite player who already has two NLHE WCOOP cashes this year. donnystack currently has close to 250K; jonasof87 leads the tournament with close to 650K.

12:45am--pape85 goes deep but not able to make back-to-back finals

pape85 returned from the last break with only 25,200 in chips. Looking to make something happen, it was all-in time. On the first hand of the current level, pape85 shoved all-in and got no callers. Three hands later, he pushed in the small blind with no takers. And again…and again, the all-in attempts were left uncalled.

Ring, ring… He got a caller. When Roland62 made a raise, pape85 moved all-in from the big blind with Kd-Jh. Roland62 called with Ad-8s, and pape85 was going to need some help to double-up in that spot. The board couldn’t have been much worse for the all-in player, as it came 8d-Ac-3d-2c-Ks.

The last player remaining from the 2007 corresponding WCOOP event final table has been eliminated in 99th place for $1,276.48 and his second 2008 WCOOP cash.

12:37am--stevejpa talking the talk

stevejpa doesn’t just come to the table, play some hands, and get on with his life. He bunkers down and gets involved in the game, including the chat. Steve Paul-Ambrose is easily one of the chattiest Team PokerStars Pros.

Today is no different. stevejpa has been engaged in talk throughout the entire last level. It has continued into this level as well. Handsome SOB, the player to his right, is one of the players that is holding a conversation with stevejpa. They also happen to be tangling on the table simultaneously.

12:28am--A short break for some peaceful reflection

Level 15
Blinds: 1,000/2,000, ante 200
Average chip count: 120,110
Players remaining: 109
First prize: $152,194.51

Top ten chip counts:

jonasof87 411,875
cwp394 366,640
ender555 329,252
rubenrtv 311,370
toweliestar 278,669
alleykat 273,471
vikkyG85 270,464
donnysack 252,552
GARDOCK 247,379
hamazriya 228,846

Team PokerStars Pro Remaining:

Steve “stevejpa” Paul-Ambrose 83,986 (67th place)

12:16am--ACESEDAI loves aces

PokerStars Supernova Elite player ACESEDAI has made it fairly deep in several WCOOP events so far this year. This is ACESEDAI’s fourth cash in this year’s WCOOP, and it looks like he’ll be in this event a bit longer, too.

ACESEDAI just doubled to 78,230 when he got all-in pre-flop with As-Ts vs. pocket fours. The board came Ad-5d-Ac-Jc-6d and ACESEDAI won the pot from justdec.

12:12am--shaniac back in the top 20

Shane “shaniac” Schleger had dropped from the top 20 on the leaderboard for the better part of the current level, though his approximate 130,000 chip stack was still above average. But winning a race can change that.

Solovka raised from late position to 4,400, and shaniac reraised 9,000 more from the big blind. Solovka reraised all-in with pocket tens, and shaniac called with Ac-Jd. The board kept up the suspense until the turn card as it ran out 3c-2d-Kd-Js-8h, and that jack gave shaniac the higher pair as he eliminated Solovka. The 81,934 pot put shaniac back in the top 20.

12:03am--Haven’t we see this before from jonasof87?

jonasof87 is making a case for his second WCOOP title this year. While his chip stack was already healthy prior to the break, it has gotten even bigger here after. Jonasof87 is now at 383K and in second place.

He moved up the leaderboard on this hand, when he also knocked out twosips.

11:58pm--Funny money jumps

As we watch the field thin to only less than 140 players, there is an interesting money jump to mention. Players eliminated from 133rd to 144th receive $1,030.99, 132d place gets $1,080.09, and 121st to 131st shall have $1,080.10 bestowed upon them. Oh yes, the player who busts in 132nd place will receive one less cent than the next player to go. That's gotta hurt.

11:46pm--stevejpa takes a hit

stevejpa just lost 25K when the player to his right, Handsome SOB, pushed all-in. stevejpa called with Ac-Jh. Handsome SOB had pocket kings and won the pot. Still, the final Team PokerStars Pro playing has 75K remaining. That is just below average.

11:40pm--Winners always want more

It’s really just a natural tendency. If you have a lot of chips, you want more. If you have a lot of money, you always want more. Well, two players remaining in this event apparently want more from this year’s WCOOP as well.

Two winners, jonasof87 and dorinvandy, are still at the tables. dorinvandy won the High-Roller NL Hold’em Event #5, pocketing $617,925.00. jonasof87 won the NL Hold’em [4-max] Event #9 for $95,410.00.

Still, both are in search of the $152,194.51 first-place prize in Event #26. It must be true, you always want more.

11:30pm--ender555 just beginning

As mentioned recently, Joe “ender555” Ebanks was hanging tough in fourth chip position, but he has taken it a few steps further in less than one level. He soared to first place on the leaderboard and is ready to fight it out at the tables with Roland62 for that spot. With less than 170 players left in this race to the finish, ender555 is readying for the long haul.

11:11pm--Chip counts at six-hour mark; last hand before the break sends TG3400 into the chip lead

Level 13
Blinds 600/1200, antes 125
Average Chip Count: 69,269
Players Remaining: 189
First Prize: $152,194.51

1. TG3400 239,290
2. Transeporter 222,748
3. twosips 199,584
4. ender555 196,057
5. Roland62 185,293
6. MoeDobbs 180,616
7. vikkyG85 171,700
8. Round42 165,656
9. donnysack 164,533
10. SilverSocks 160,698

Team PokerStars Pro Remaining:

Steve “stevejpa” Paul-Ambrose 96,993 (47th)

Team PokerStars Pro eliminated since last break:

Vanessa “LadyMaverick” Rousso (211st)

11:00pm--Lady Maverick rides into the sunset, out in 211th place

A short while ago, Team PokerStars Pro Vanessa “LadyMaverick” Rousso was eliminated from the tournament after an unfortunate river card gave her opponent WPThero a flush. Rousso earned $736.42 tonight for her finish.

Here’s how the hand played out:

10:53pm--No stranger to late stage tournament play, ender555 has a top 5 stack

Joe “ender555” Ebanks qualified online for the LAPT San Jose event and currently is well positioned for a late run tonight, sitting in 4th place with 200 players remaining. All are guaranteed at least $785.52, although everyone still has an eye for that $152,194.51 first place prize.

Check out Ebanks' run to the LAPT event here.

10:50pm--Reigning champ finally eliminated

Last year's WCOOP $320 No-Limit Hold'em six-max champ pes4fans has finally been eliminated in 223rd place after his Qd-Jd couldn't outrun ClaudioReyna's pocket nines. pes4fans picks up $687.33 for his efforts tonight.

We do have one member of last year's final table still alive, however, as pape85, who finished third last year, is hanging on with 37,612 chips.

10:44pm--Four card bingo, errr... WCOOP Event #25’s Pot Limit Omaha tourney is currently down to 80 players

If you want to catch up on the other WCOOP event running tonight, check out the live blog brought to you tonight by Stephen Bartley, Johnny Kampis, Jason Kirk, and Dave Behr.

Follow the link to the wrap draws and runner runner quads here.

10:43pm--Paul-Ambrose back in the hunt

Some call king-nine a "dog" hand. Well, for Team PokerStars pro Steve "stevejpa" Paul-Ambrose, that dog could hunt. He picked up a nice 50K-plus hand with Kc-9c, and has now chipped up to 107,293, putting himself in position to make a deep run tonight.

10:36pm--Changes atop leaderboard

Hoss_TBF has slid back a bit here in our sixth hour of play. He still has more than 110,000 chips, but is now sitting at the bottom of the top 20 as a host of other players have surged past him.

At the top of the leaderboard at the moment we find twosips with 182,609, followed by Roland62, Transeporter, vikkyG85, and altonham.

We've just moved into Level 12, meaning the blinds are now 500/1,000 with an ante of 100. We are down to 231 players at the moment. There will be a 15-minute break at the end of this level.

Currently the average chip stack showing over 53,000

10:30pm--Chips finding way to shaniac's stack

Two big hands for Shane "shaniac" Schleger over at Table 403.

In the first, Godfatti raised to 2,400, Casesi called, then shaniac raised to 7,800 from the big blind. Godfatti folded, and Casesi called. The flop came 9h-6s-4c. Casesi checked, shaniac bet 5,800, and Casesi called. The turn was the 4s. Same dance: Casesi checked, shaniac again bet 5,800, and Casesi called.

The river brought the Qh. This time Casesi check-called a smaller bet of 3,800 from shaniac. Schleger then showed Js-Jd, and Casesi mucked. That turned out to be a 49,520-chip pot after all that betting.

On the next hand, shaniac and ClaudioReyna saw the flop of 4d-9d-5h from the blinds, and ended up getting all of ClaudioReyna's chips in the middle. ClaudioReyna had 2c-9c for top pair, but shaniac had 4s-9s for two pair. Luckily for ClaudioReyna, the 5s on the turn and Js on the river meant a chopped pot.

Schleger is now up to 62,186.

10:23pm--Everything I learned about poker I learned as an online railbird

Excellent poker strategy tips on how to beat those tough NLHE table (in jest) at Vanessa Rousso’s table #529:

rimmer27: make the nuts in a big pot
WPThero: haha
WPThero: solid advice
rimmer27: yeah i should make a vidoe
rimmer27: :)
WPThero: haha
WPThero: "sooo i dont know what to do so i am going to bluff raise"
rimmer27: lol
WPThero: wouldnt be diff then nlhe ones
WPThero: "im going to get it in behind and try to get there"
rimmer27: lol

10:22pm--pes4fans still hanging on

pes4fans has been sitting on less than 10K for most of the period since the cash bubble burst. He just picked up pocket aces, and survived an all in against ACESEDAI's pocket kings. He sits on 14,371 at the moment.

10:16pm--Top of the money list, top of the leaderboard

If you were to slide over to the statistics page for this year’s WCOOP (follow the helpful link here) and click on “Money won by player,” you will find dorinvandy’s name at the top with $621,030.59.

Granted nearly all of that is from his win in Event #5’s $10,300 high roller tournament. However, he is attempting tonight to show he’s not a one-hit wonder. Currently stacked at 109,000 and already in the money, he’s well on his way to another big cash tonight.

10:13pm--300 remain

Exactly three hundred players remain, sitting at 50 six-handed tables.

10:06pm--Chip counts at five-hour mark; Hoss still boss

Level 11
Blinds 400/800, antes 75
Average Chip Count: 38,964
Players Remaining: 336 (next prize level is 330th receiving $530.22)
First Prize: $152,194.51

1. Hoss_TBF 150,459
2. dorinvandy 131,211
3. wNwNw1 130,117
4. heybude 120,985
5. Miikkel 120,715
6. UGotJanked 119,818
7. altonham 117,303
8. clarkatroid 115,216
9. ender555 109,161
10. Bleialf 107,080

Team PokerStars pros remaining:

Vanessa “LadyMaverick” Rousso 53,302 (76th)
Steve "stevejpa" Paul-Ambrose 23,081 (238th)

Eliminated since last break:

Dario Minieri (402nd)
Hevad "RaiNKhaN" Khan (512nd)

10:01pm--Rousso on a roll

As Team PokerStars Pro Vanessa “LadyMaverick” Rousso shows in the picture below, this is how you take control of a 6-max table. She is sitting on 58,000 in chips after this string of wins.

9:58pm--Ship it to shaniac

Shane "shaniac" Schleger has chipped up over on Table 403 to 30,960. Meanwhile, pes4fans has slipped down to just 6,894.

9:48pm--X marks the spot on the turn, Dario loses big pot, out in 402nd

Team PokerStars Pro Dario Minieri was crippled after a hand with XTheDecanoX. He had called a 1,200 chip raise from the big blind to see a flop of 6c-9d-8h. Minieri checked, XTheDecanoX bet 3,000, then Minieri check-raised to 8,400 total. XTheDecanoX then reraised again to 24,000. Minieri pushed for his remaining 13,698 and XTheDecanoX called with his remaining stack, with Minieri getting 6,693 chips back:

DarioMinieri: 9s-9c
XTheDecanoX: Qc-Qs

A flopped set for Minieri, and an overpair for XTheDecanoX. But the Qd on the turn sent the Italian pro reeling for a one-outer on the river. The Kh was not it. Five hands later Minieri was out in 402nd place.

9:43pm--Hoss_TBF assumes chip lead

Player kikka66 raised to 1,800, Hoss_TBF reraised to 6,600, kikka66 shoved all in for 24,269 total, and Hoss_TBF -- with over 120K to start the hand -- made the call.

Hoss_TBF showed Kd-As, and had kikka66's Qs-Ks dominated. The flop was all treys -- 3d-3s-3h. Then the As came on the turn, giving kikka66 some faint hope. But the river was the 2c, and kikka66 was eliminated in 424th.

Hoss_TBF has cruised into the chip lead now with more than 158,000, a good 35K ahead of his nearest foe, heybude.

9:37pm--LadyMaverick rides the bubble right, gains 28,000 in chips.

Shortly after the bubble burst, Team PokerStars Pro Vanessa Rousso has gained 28,000 chips off two hands.

The first was with an extreme short stack that required a little divine intervention -- a two-outer on the river.

On the other hand Rousso managed a nice 4,800 chip value bet on the river of Kh-4s-Qc-2c-Tc after her opponent LeKnave checked and called, then saw Rousso turn over Kc-Jc for the winner.

Rousso is now stacked at 46,000 in chips.

9:34pm--Mutual respect at Table 403

Defending champ pes4fans is still at his same tough table, and now Shane "shaniac" Schleger -- sitting on short stack at the moment with 14,623 -- has joined them as well. Pretty much everyone at the table is in agreement at this point that the group -- Godfatti, ACESEDAI, Casesi, shaniac, ClaudioReyna, and pes4fans -- are making for a difficult time.

The chips have evened out over there, though, with no one having more than 35K at the moment.

9:30pm--Slipped right through his fingers, banaan60 is tonight’s bubble boy

Three players lost their all-ins while we were hand-for-hand but the shortest stack was banaan60 who was eliminated in 481st, thus bursting the dam for the short stacks. During the few minutes after the bubble burst, we have seen 20 more eliminations in rapid successsion, all of whom received $461.49 for their work.

Hoss_TBF and clarkatroid have joined chip leader The-Toilet 0 at the top of the leaderboard with over 100,000 in chips as we start level 10 with blinds at 300/600, ante 50.

9:23pm--Bubble time brings out the time bank, chat comedy

We are only eight more eliminations away from the cash bubble bursting. As we await that moment, we just noticed pttorch decide to give up his big blind as PlayaPlz’s stack is healthy enough to bully him into a fold:

PlayaPlz: i use to play with bubble wrap a lot when i was a kid
NemoStars22 [observer]: i hate playing in tournies
NemoStars22 [observer]: and just missing the money
NemoStars22 [observer]: cause i make a dumb call
PlayaPlz: lool
pttorch: ok then i will fold
raceoffroad [observer]: 22 till money lol
Dealer: Duckslayer2k, it's your turn. You have 15 seconds to act
Duckslayer2k: lol wat does playing iwth bubble wrap have anything to do with it?
pttorch: he is stalling
pttorch: like me
PlayaPlz: hes stallin
PlayaPlz: for the bubble
PlayaPlz: so i wanted to use a bubble refrence
PlayaPlz: :(
Duckslayer2k: oh
pttorch: can you blame him

9:21pm--Champion until dethroned

Last year's WCOOP $320 NLHE 6-max champ pes4fans is still alive with 28,450 chips. He's ready for a table change, though. He's been chatting with tablemate ClaudioReyna, and both agree their current table is tougher than average.

pes4fans is determined, though...

pes4fans: i want to get deep in this event
pes4fans: thats my dream

9:13pm--Khan meets his end

PS pro Hevad "RaiNKhaN" had taken a big hit a couple of orbits back, having run his pocket jacks up against Puff Adder's pocket aces. He was down to just 8,915 when the following hand took place.

It folded around to Khan in the big blind completed to 200. Player smerks then raised to 1,750 in the big blind, prompting Khan to push all in for 8,865. smerks called, turning over Ac-Kh, well ahead of Khan's Ah-7d. Khan couldn't suck out, and he's out in 512th.

9:08pm--Looking for another silver lining

After making the final table of Event #1 and netting $136,894 after a four-way chop, SilverSocks is back again tonight looking to top that score with a WCOOP bracelet and the $152,194.71 first place prize. He is currently in 13th place with nearly 70,000 in chips.

Check out the link to Event #1's PokerStarsBlog recap for the final table report of SilverSocks’ big score.

8:59pm--Not so fast says The-Toilet 0, takes down nearly 60K pot, regains lead

altonham’s perch on top of the leaderboard was short-lived as The-Toilet just sniffed out a bluff for a 58,179-chip pot from PeepOnTheSky.

After some raising preflop, PeepOnTheSky and The-Toilet 0 saw a flop of 4h-Kh-5c. The-Toilet 0 fired a 4,500-chip continuation bet which was called. The Qs came on the turn caused PeepOnTheSky to push his remaining 20,727 in the middle, sending The-Toilet 0 into the tank. His decision was the correct one as The-Toilet 0 called, leaving 53,046 behind. He turned over his pocket jacks (Jc-Jh) which was ahead of Sky’s 3s-5s. The Ad on the river gave the huge 58,179 pot to The-Toilet 0.

8:57pm--Chip counts at four-hour mark; Toilet still playing above the rim

Level 9
Blinds 200/400, antes 50
Average Chip Count: 23,008
Player Remaining: 569 (89 eliminations to the money)
First Prize: $152,194.51

1. The-Toilet 0 115,200
2. altonham 90,805
3. SAspeedoSA 77,235
4. twosips 75, 216
5. Soliboy 66,998
6. wylke 66,535
7. Hoss_TBF 65,604
8. wNwNw1 64,041
9. ender555 60,613
10. SilverSocks 60,032

Team PokerStars pros remaining:

Dario Minieri 44,610 (44th)
Vanessa "LadyMaverick" Rousso (114th)
Hevad "RaiNKhaN" Khan (221st)
Steve "stevejpa" Paul-Ambrose (338th)

8:52pm--Python817 takes bite out of Paul-Ambrose's stack

Team PS pro Steve "stevejpa" Paul-Ambrose raised to 800 and was called by Python817 in the cutoff. The flop came 7s-2d-Tc. Paul-Ambrose checked, Python817 bet 1,450, and stevejpa called. The turn was the As. Paul-Ambrose again checked, Python817 bet 3,750, and Paul-Ambrose once more made the call.

The river was the 3c. The PS pro again checked. Python817 bet 7,000, and after thinking a bit, Paul-Ambrose called. Python817 showed Ad-Td for two pair, aces and tens, and Paul-Ambrose mucked.

Python817 now has 36,299, while stevejpa has slipped to 16,886.

8:45pm--He may or may not be Sammy Farha, but altonham is currently leading

With the cigarette-chomping, high-stakes player’s picture as his avatar, altonham, hailing from Channahon, is leading the tourney with 87,530 chips with eight minutes to go before the next break.

The average stack is now five times the starting stack of 4,000. Exactly 600 players remain, meaning we’re 120 places to the money.

8:36pm--El Kabong! Dario takes down 26K pot

Team PokerStars Pro Dario Minieri is still out on Table 308 collecting chips as shown in this big 26,550-chip pot with el majico1.

Minieri raised from the small blind to 900, and elmajico1 called the extra 600 from the big blind. The flop came down 6c-Kc-3s and like clockwork the aggressive Minieri fired a 1200-chip bet, and el majico stayed in by calling. The turn was the 8c, and another 3000 was pushed out by Minieri. He was called once again.

The 5d came on the river and this time Minieri stepped it up with a 8100-chip bet which was called. Minieri showed aces (Ac-Ad), and el majico mucked.

Minieri gained chip status to 42,360 while el majico1 slipped back to 9,777.

8:32pm--Hoss is boss

Chips equal power. No doubt about it. When the big stack calls one's bet, it tends to slow one down.

We're seeing Hoss_TBF having a good tourney thus far. Just now bl0wback raised to 800 from UTG and it folded around to Hoss_TBF who called from the small blind. The flop came 9h-9c-3h. Hoss_TBF checked, and bl0wback bet 1,425. Hoss_TBF thought a few seconds then called.

Argh, thinks the preflop raiser, sitting with less than 15,000 chips to Hoss_TBF's 55K-plus. What could he have? The turn was the Qd. Hoss_TBF checked, and bl0wback checked behind. The river was the 2h, and both checked again. Hoss_TBF showed pocket sixes, and bl0wback mucked.

Right now Hoss_TBF is up to 62,022, good for fifth place at the moment.

8:22pm--Alcohol fueled mis-click or mis-direction?

That’s for Team PokerStars Pro Vanessa “LadyMaverick” Rousso to decide as she recently relieved some chips from JohnFR who may or may not be under the influence at the moment:

JohnFR: I woulda raised to 650 instead honestly =P
LadyMaverick: i believe ya :)
JohnFR: of course you do, I'm the ghost that never lies
JohnFR: did I mention I'm drunk?
JohnFR: and I like to make stuff up?
LadyMaverick: not yet

8:17pm--My name is jonas(of87)

The WCOOP Event # 9 champ, jonas0f87, is currently sitting at Table 223 and has cracked the top 20 in chip stacks with 48,375 in chips as he attempts to win his second bracelet of the 2008 WCOOP series.

For a replay of his run to the Event #9 win check out the live blog here.

8:12pm--KO-ed, kourtesy Khan

Team PokerStars pro Hevan "RaiNKhaN" Khan raised to 625 from UTG+1/the hijack seat, and pokerpelle99 called from the big blind.

The flop came 9c-Ts-8h. pokerpelle99 checked, RaiNKhaN bet 975, and pokerpelle99 check-raised all in for 4,820 total. RaiNKhaN called, showing pocket nines for the flopped set. pokerpelle had Ad-Jd for an open-ended straight draw.

The turn was the 6h and the river the Kd, and pokerpelle99 is out in 799th. Khan moved up into the top 100 on that hand with 29,657.

8:06pm--Enough is enough

Team PokerStars pro Hevad "RaiNKhaN" Khan had been holding steady at around 11,000 in chips. However, another player at the table -- NDGrinder59 -- had been giving Khan and the rest of the table headaches for the last few orbits.

Short-stacked at less than 5,000, NDGrinder59 started reraising all in every time anyone at the table open-raised. It worked several times, prompting NDGrinder59 once to ask in the chatbox why they were all "opening so light?"

Khan had open-raised from the button a couple of times, only to fold to NDGrinder59's all in reraise from the big blind. Finally, once NDGrinder59 had built up to more than 9,000, Khan fought back. Good timing, too, as NDGrinder59 held Ad-Js and Khan Ac-Kc. Khan's hand held up, and Grinder59 hit the rail.

Khan is now up to 24,262.

8:00pm--The Toilet swirls the competition as we start hour four

Out on Table 59, The-Toilet 0 is currently enjoying a sizable 10,000 chip lead over second place koolkeith13 as we add antes into the formula with blinds at 125/250, antes 25. With 856 players remaining just 10 minutes the break and 6-max tables we’re sure to see a lot of action by the short stacks in this hour.

7:50pm--Chip counts at three-hour mark; flushing the competition, The-Toilet 0 leads

Level 7
Blinds 125/250, antes 25
Average Chip Count: 13,496
Players Remaining: 969
First Prize: $152,194.51

1. The-Toilet 0 67,729
2. Soliboy 52,095
3. hamazriya 50,601
4. mr. steal 46,547
5. SAspeedoSA 46,270
6. YRWTHMELTHR 45,715
7. DontGoBroke 44,969
8. burt boutin 41,666
9. bingoe1 41,619
10. MoeDobbs 41,323

Team PokerStars Pros Remaining:

Steve "stevejpa" Paul-Ambrose 27,361 (72nd)
Dario Minieri 25,549 (96th)
Vanessa "LadyMaverick" Rousso 21,908 (147th)
Hevad "RaiNKhan" Khan 13,962 (387th)

Team PokerStars Pros eliminated since last break:

Victor Ramdin (1,172nd)
Gavin Griffin (1,194th)
Raymond Rahme (1,358th)
Bill Chen (1,571st)

7:44pm--Kind of looks like the Terminator

My Brim Low has a picture of Patrik Antonius as his avatar. We all now how intimidating an expressionless Antonius can appear at the tables.

Just now came a hand in which the board read 3h-6h-4s-As-Qh. My Brim Low fired out a bet of 3,450 into a pot of 5,100, forcing stich420 to fold. The only player left was manu94, who sat and studied that picture of Antonius...

manu94: heart?
My Brim Low: call
manu94: maybe
My Brim Low: gl
manu94: nh

manu94 folded, and My Brim Low took the 5,100-chip pot, showing 5d-4d as he did. My Brim Low is now up to more than 36,000.

7:40pm--stevejpa likes queens

A short-stacked jjmich pushed for 3,718, diskodoris called behind him, then Team PokerStars pro Steve "stevejpa" Paul-Ambrose reshoved all in, forcing diskodoris out of the hand. jjmich showed pocket fours, Paul-Ambrose showed Qc-Qh, and the queens held up.

Paul-Ambrose is now up to 30,161.

7:37pm--Racing for chips, Ramdin falls short of the finish line in 1172nd

After slipping below average in chips, but still very viable with 7,297 in chips with blinds at 100/200, Team PokerStars pro Victor Ramdin took his battle with big slick pre-flop with LaPoCaFlame’s pocket queens (Qd-Qs).

The board ran out 8d-3c-Jc-3s-2d as the queens held up for the 14,894 chip pot and eliminated Ramdin in 1172nd.

7:31pm--My Brim Low riding high

You might recall how earlier we reported player My Brim Low commiserating with Gavin Griffin about their near misses in last night's $530 NL 2-7 Single Draw event (Griffin finished 17th; My Brim Low 20th). At the time My Brim Low was low in chips as well, down below 2,000. While Griffin has been knocked out, My Brim Low has made a nice turn around.

He picked up a 23,360-chip pot just now when a king on the river that gave espnman a set also gave him a straight. My Brim Low is currently up over 30,000 in chips, which places him just below the top 30 at the moment.

7:25pm--Griffin gone

Team PokerStars pro Gavin Griffin had been chipping his way back into contention, but then came a hand with manu94 that ended his day.

Griffin had raised to 450 preflop and manu94 called, then on a flop of 7s-9c-As manu94 again called Griffin's bet of 650. The turn was the Ts. Griffin checked, manu94 bet 1,200, and Griffin just called. The river was the Th, prompting the players to get it all in.

See here how it happened that Griffin hit the rail in 1,194th:

7:24pm--That's gonna sting in the morning, the battle between BeL0WaB0Ve and Dario Minieri is done

As the two tangled pre-flop with above average stacks (12K for BeL0WaB0Ve and 16K for Minieri), BeL0WaB0Ve first raised to 558, Minieri then raised to 1800 from the button, BeL0WaB0Ve then 4-bet to 4858 which was met by a 5-bet shove by Minieri and a call from BeL0WaB0Ve.

DarioMinieri: Ac-Qh
BeL0WaB0Ve: Ks-Kd

The flop of 9d-8d-Tc gave the Team PokerStars pro a gutshot straight draw to go with the three aces left in the deck as BeL0WaB0Ve remained well ahead in the hand.

But, the turn of Jc gave Minieri the straight leaving BeL0WaB0Ve with just three outs to a higher gutshot straight, and did not fill with the 4c on the river.

BeL0WaB0Ve has been eliminated, and Minieri is now a huge stack with over 31,000 in chips after this 24,316 chip pot.

7:16pm--Small blind special for Griffin

Team PokerStars pro Gavin Griffin just doubled up again, though it took several steps to get there.

espnman raised to 300 (the minimum), and My Brim Low called in the cutoff. Griffin then called from the small blind, and manu94 came along as well from the BB. The flop came 6h-5h-3s. Just the sort of flop the blinds might like. And indeed, Griffin bet 850, manu94 called, and the others abandoned ship.

The turn was the 3c. Griffin checked, manu94 bet 2,400, and Griffin called. The river brought the 5c, putting two pair on board. Griffin shoved his last 2,120, and manu94 called. Griffin turned over 4s-5s for a full house. manu94 showed 3h-Kh for a lesser boat, and Griffin took the 11,940-chip pot.

7:14pm--10K the hard way

No, she’s not throwing craps, but Team PokerStars Pro Vanessa “LadyMaverick” Rousso is collecting chips as she just took a 10,225 chip pot off Miikkel as she raised pre-flop to 300 and was 3-bet by Miikkel to 900. Rousso called to see a flop of Kc-6s-7h and Miikkel sent 1225 into the pot after Rousso checked.

Rousso called to see the 2s on the turn, a check-call again of Miikkel’s 2875 chip bet.

On the 3h river, Miikkel gave up the gig as both of them checked to see Rousso’s second pair with 4c-7c was good for the pot.

7:08pm--Did I play too tight?

With exactly 6 minutes left in Level 5, Team PokerStars pro Raymond Rahme has been eliminated in 1,358th place.

As we noted earlier, Rahme has been sitting out all day. So now we know the answer to the question of how long one can survive a tourney with this structure without playing a hand.

Rahme did, however, outlast over 1,900 of our 3,273 entrants!

7:03pm--One was enough, two is just overkill

Team PokerStars Pro Dario Minieri has been picking on Tehp as in a previous post, this time Minieri had to come from behind with this hand:

Quads gave Minieri the pot and he is now stacked with 16,500 in chips as Tehp has been eliminated.

6:58pm--Double up for GG

Player johnny79 raised to 380 from under the gun, and iacog4 repopped it to 1,000 from the button. Perhaps surprising both, Team PokerStars pro Gavin Griffin reraised all in from the small blind for 3,530. johnny79 got out of the way, but iacog4 came along for the ride.

GavinGriffin: Qc-As
iacog4: Qd-Ks

The board came Th-Td-2c-Ts-3d, and Griffin doubled up to 7,590.

6:55pm--silvajm leads the pack, first to top 40,000 chips

We’re just 10 minutes to the next blind level of 100/200. As silvajm out on Table 102 has cracked the 40,000 chip mark and over half the original 3,273 player field is now sitting on the sidelines or have pulled up a dozen SnGs to make back their entry fee.

6:47pm--PokerStars.TV will be highlighting tonight's Event #26

The highlights of tonight’s Event #26 can be found on PokerStars.TV starting tomorrow.

As an example: here’s the highlight reel of Event #19 $25,500 buy-in Heads-Up NLHE tourney won by stevebets.

Watch WCOOP Highlights: Event 19 - $25,500 NLHE Heads-Up on PokerStars.tv

6:40pm--Chip counts at two-hour mark; not a strong hour for the Team PokerStars Pros

Level 5
Blinds 75/150
Average Chip Count: 7,572
Players Remaining: 1,728
First Prize: $152,194.51

1. silvajm 40,715
2. teneight108 36,544
3. Br@die 30,977
4. ender555 29,393
5. Dsavo 29,249
6. HAVRICS M 27,368
7. s0m0kami 26,794
8. dirkdiggler9 26,572
9. 50km 26,238
10. philivey6922 26,128

Team PokerStars pros in Top 100:

Steve "stevejpa" Paul-Ambrose 20,775(35th)
vanessa "LadyMaverick" Rousso 19,669 (43rd)

Eliminated since last break:

Alexandre "Allingomes" Gomes (1,961st)
Humberto "Humberto B." Brenes (2,185th)
Bertrand "ElkY" Grospellier (2,261st)
Andre "aakkari" Akkari (2,285th)
Tom McEvoy (2,429th)
Luca Pagano (2,508th)
William "William" Thorson (2,595th)
Lee "LeeNelsonP*" Nelson (2,607th)
Marcin "Goral" Horecki (2,635th)
Isabelle "NoMercy" Mercier (2,703rd)

6:33pm--Pillars knocking 'em down

Pillars, who finished 5th in this same event in last year's WCOOP, just knocked out Joseba in 1,827th place. Joseba had pushed a short stack all in with 8h-9h, and Pillars called with Ac-Jh. Both an ace and an eight flopped, but Joseba couldn't catch up. Pillars now has 13,888, a good bit above the current average of 7,281.

Of the others who made last year's final table, 2007 WCOOP $320 NLHE 6-max winner pes4fans currently has 5,875, and pape85, who finished 3rd last year, has 5,230. PeachyMer, last year's runner-up, has been eliminated today in 1,894th.

6:27pm--Fours good for teneight08

Player teneight08 just flopped a set and got paid nicely as LittleBluff had the misfortune of making two pair on the same board. With that hand, teneight08 vaults into the early chip lead with 35,553 here halfway through Level 4. See how it played out:

6:25pm--Have a big stack? Please report to Table 324

With four stacks well above average, Miikkel (21,000), Bagnoli.71 (11,440), Steveinhants (11,000), and Team PokerStars Pro Vanessa “LadyMaverick” Rousso (17,000) Table 324 will probably produce the chip leader soon as we’re 10 minutes away from the second break.

6:20pm--Rebound for Dario

Team PokerStarsPro Dario Minieri lost a big chunk of his chip stack to BeL0WaB0Ve previously has regained those chips at the expense of Tehp in the following hand:

After Minieri open raised from UTG+2, Tehp 3-bet Minieri from the button to 900 chips after starting with over 10,000 chips. Minieri called to see a flop of 2d-2c-Td, Minieri checked while Tehp bet 1,100, Minieri check-raised shoved his remaining 3,650 chips and was called.

DarioMinieri: Kh-Kc
Tehp: Jd-Jh

A bit of a cooler for Tehp, but new life for Minieri as the board ran out Ts and Ad on the river to slide the 9,250 chip pot to the Team PokerStars Pro.

6:15pm--Commiserating at Table 345

Right now Team PokerStars pro Gavin Griffin and My Brim Low are at the same table. The pair ran into each other last night as well near the conclusion of Event No. 24, the $530 No-Limit 2-7 Single Draw event.

GavinGriffin: how'd you end up in the 2-7 last night?
My Brim Low: man i was 1/20 and got 20th
My Brim Low: so sick
My Brim Low: lost 5 huge pots
GavinGriffin: oh, I thought you were still in when I busted...
My Brim Low: what place u get?
GavinGriffin: 17
My Brim Low: sigh
My Brim Low: we suck :(
GavinGriffin: ya, i didn't win a pot for like the last hour that had more than the antes

Both Griffin and My Brim Low earned $2,000 for their efforts in Event No. 24. In this event, Griffin currently has 5,586 while My Brim Low has 1,796.

6:11pm-- Stop moving thank you very much!

Trying to track down Team PokerStars Pro Vanessa “LadyMaverick” Rousso is a tad tiring tonight as she’s made her third table change in four levels.

Currently sitting on Table 324, she holds nearly 16,000 in chips, go for a top 50 chip stack with the blinds at 50/100.

6:08pm--Paging Ray!

Curious how long one might last in a tourney like this without playing a single hand? Right now Team PokerStars pro Ray Rahme is giving us an indication, as he's yet to show.

As a result, he's outlasted over 1,000 players, as we currently have 2,203 of our original 3,273 entrants still alive.

The blinds so far have cost Rahme a decent chunk of his original 4,000-chip stack, as he currently has 2,310.

6:07pm--1,000 players ready for the cash games

We are passing the 1,000 players eliminated mark just prior to the blinds going up to 50/100 for level 4.

There are still over 2,000 players remaining as 480 players will receive some cash tonight to add to their cash game stacks when the final flush draw does not come in.

6:03pm--You win, I win, no one wins

Team PokerStars pro Steve "stevejpa" Paul-Ambrose has been predictably aggressive over on Table 406, building up a stack of more than 10,000 early on. On a recent hand the table folded around to Paul-Ambrose on the button who raised to 150. A short-stacked (2,115) wobbly-au reraised to 500 from the big blind, prompting Paul-Ambrose to reraise all in.

wobbly-au called, showing Ah-Jh. Paul-Ambrose turned over As-9d.

The flop came 8s-Qc-9c, giving Paul-Ambrose the early advantage. But the Td on the turn gave it back to wobbly_au, making him a straight. Then the Jd on the river gave everyone a straight, and the pair chopped.

A few hands later, grimteh would knock out wobbly_au. Meanwhile, Paul-Ambrose is now up to 11,245.

5:58pm--Griffin defends blind, loses

Player manu94 raised 3x to 150 from under the gun and it folded around to Team PokerStars pro Gavin Griffin who called from the big blind. The flop came 2s-7s-7d. Hammer time, anyone?

Griffin bet 200, and manu94 just called. The turn was the 3c, and Griffin bet a tentative-looking 350. manu94 called. The river brought the Kc.

This time Griffin checked, and manu94 bet 900. Griffin called. manu94 showed As-Kd for kings and deuces, and Griffin mucked. manu94 now has a bit more than 7,000, while Griffin is sitting on 6,725.

5:54pm--Victor Ramdin turns some chips:

After raising to 200 from UTG+2, Team PokerStars Pro Victor Ramdin and dananddan, who called from the button saw a flop of Td-4h-4c.

Ramdin follwed through with a 350 chip bet which was called, a larger bullet of 1050 chips on the turn card of Kd by Ramdin was reflected back to him by dananddan as he min-raised to 2100. Ramdin wasn’t going anywhere as he set the short stacked dananddan all in with a 3-bet min-raise to 3150, dananddan called to see the bad news.

VictorRamdin: As-Ks
dananddan: Ah-Ts

While he flopped good, he turned worse, and dananddan got no help from the river 2h and exited the tournament as Victor Ramdin too the 5,535 chip pot and now stands at 9,500

5:42pm--Didn’t take long for that to happen, Minieri and BeL0WaB0Ve clash in a big pot

BeL0WaB0Ve raised from the UTG to 150 with blinds at 25/50, Dario Minieri re-raised to 450 from the cutoff. BeL0WaB0Ve called to see a flop of 5d-Jh-8h and checked as did Minieri.

Qh on the turn spoked some interest as BeL0WaB0Ve pushed out a 615 chip bet and was called by Minieri.

The 7h on the river set the fireworks between the two tournament giants, as BeL0WaB0Ve bet 1250 and was raised by Minieri to 3200 total which set BeL0WaB0Ve all-in.

Nut flush for BeL0WaB0Ve (Ah-Qd) and the second nuts for Minieri (Ac-Kh) as BeL0WaB0Ve is now at 8,305 and Minieri slipped to 3,600.

5:38pm--Griffin spikes money card on river

Near the end of Level 2, Team PokerStars pro Gavin Griffin was involved in a big hand. Action started with Griffin raising to 90 from under the gun, Bhoth calling behind him, and the rest of table getting out of the way. The flop came single-suited -- 7s-4s-6s. Undeterred, Griffin bet out 150, and Bhoth called. The turn was the 5d.

This time Griffin bet 240, and Bhoth raised to 600. Griffin called.

The river was the 3s. A provocative card, that. Griffin quickly pushed all in, and Bhoth just as quickly called.

Griffin: 5s-5h
Bhoth: Ts-As

Oof! Cooler for Bhoth, as his flopped ace-high flush was snuffed out by Griffin's straight flush! Bhoth is gone, and Griffin is up to more than 10,000 as we begin Level 3.

5:32pm--Chip counts at one-hour mark

Level 3
Blinds 25/50
Average Chip Count: 4,800
Players Remaining: 2,722
First Prize: $152,194.51

1. Br@die 19,395
2. Tankmaestro 18,545
3. BoyArgentina 18,170
4. peanut337 17,820
5. PeepOnTheSly 17,315
6. muchbetter 16,983
7. kleath 16,900
8. BillChapel 16,710
9. dirkdiggler9 15,210
10. badcallm8 15,160

Team PokerStars Pros in the top 100:

Vanessa "LadyMaverick" Rousso 12,865 (33rd)
Gavin Griffin 10,375 (87th)

Team PokerStars Pros eliminated this hour:

Katja Thater (2985th)
John Duthie (2997th)
Chris "Money800" Moneymaker (3043rd)
Chad "ChadBrownPRO" Brown (3054th)
Greg "Fossilman" Raymer (3068th)
Alex Kravchenko (3094th)

5:26pm--Run for cover on Table 308

With PokerStars MTT tournament leaderboard regular BeL0WaB0Ve and Team PokerStars Pro Dario Minieri out on Table 308 there’s sure to be some chips flying. As seen by Minieri stack has already climbed to nearly double the starting stack.

5:20pm--Semi-bluff that works out in the end

Already sitting on nearly a double starting stack at 9797 chips, Team PokerStars Pro Vanessa Rousso pushed some luck luck into the middle with this three way hand:

She is now near the top of the leaderboard at 14,400 chips.

5:13pm--Duthie discovers pocket rockets Aero1441-dynamic

Team PokerStars pro John Duthie raised 3x to 90 from UTG+1/the hijack seat, and it folded to Aero1441 in the small blind who reraised to 275. gbecks folded his big blind, and Duthie called.

The flop came 6d-3h-Qc. Aero1441 bet 333, and Duthie called. The turn was the 3s, pairing the board. This time Aero1441 checked, and Duthie bet 810 (nearly a third of his remaining chips). Aero1441 called.

The river was the Jc. Aero1441 shoved all in for 2,417, a bit more than Duthie had left. Duthie made the call.

Aero1441 showed As-Ah, better than Duthie's Jd-2h. Duthie is out in 2997th place. Meanwhile, Aero1441 now has 7,530.

5:07pm--dirkdiggler9 knocks out Brown, Kmanl23

Just had a massive three-way all-in hand involving dirkdiggler9, Kmanl23, and TeamPokerStars pro Chad "ChadBrownPRO" Brown that resulted in the latter two hitting the rail early. The trio would get it all in on the flop, with Brown gunning for a flush, and Kmanl23 playing his flopped two pair.

But dirkdiggler9 would outdraw them both, and he's suddenly up to 15,000 even, good enough for 5th place early on.

Here's how the hand played out:

5:10pm--Short stacked after running into aces, Katja Thater out

Team PokerStars Pro Katja Thater ran her suited big slick (Ad-Kd) into trusoldieruk’s pocket rockets (As-Ac) to knock the German pro down to 710 chips. Two hands later Thater attempted to push trusoldieruk off second pair with a shove for 575 chips on the flop of 3d-6h-Qd. Unfortunately, trusoldieruk wasn’t going anywhere with his 6s-5s and called as Thater flipped over Jd-Ah.

The rest of the board ran out 7h and Tc, sending Thater home in 2985th.

5:06pm--Things that make you go hmmmm…

Out on Katja Thater’s table a hand between daNutz15 and trusoldieruk had daNutz15 scratching his head in chat. daNutz15 raised from the cutoff to 60 chips and got a call from trusoldieruk. Monotone flop of Kh-3h-5h and daNutz15 lead out again for 140 which was called. A Tc on the turn got a slowdown from daNutz15 as he checked and trusoldiereruk try to steal the pot with a 200 chip bet, but daNutz check-raised to 585 total which was called.

A river of the Qs prompted the odd bet of 1338 from daNutz15, which trusoldieruk shoved for 2617 chips more all-in and was called immediately for less by daNutz15 for his remaining 797 chips.

trusoldieruk turned over the post oak bluff 8c-Jh and the daNutz15 had the flopped flush with 6h-2h and collected the 5870 chip pot while doubling up.

5:01pm--Prize pool just shy of $1 million

Registration is now closed as we begin Level 2 (blinds 15/30). A total of 3,273 runners have come out for today's short-handed no-limit hold'em event, creating a total prize pool of $981,900 -- nearly double the $500K guarantee!

The top 480 finishers will get paid today, with first place netting $152,194.51. Those landing at the bottom end of the cash schedule will get $461.49 for their efforts today.

4:57pm--Good read or gamesmanship?

owenshouse just bounced back a little after that hand with Team PokerStars Pro Bill Chen. owenshouse raised to 60 and Moneyball16 called from the big blind. The flop came Js-3s-3h. Moneyball16 checked, owenshouse bet 40, and Moneyball16 check-raised to 165. owenshouse called.

The turn was the Ad. Moneyball16 bet out 300, and owenshouse called. The river was the 5h. Moneyball16 checked, owenshouse bet 440, and Moneyball16 took his time before finally folding, giving owenshouse the pot.

The ensuing chat:

Moneyball16: i had JJ
owenshouse: ty
owenshouse: you folded j s full
owenshouse: no way

4:53pm--Never can have enough money or jewelry

shane147, cwp394, dorinvandy, Mary717, Ulett_23, jonasof87, Randers, Mildred53, Huxfluxen, Andy McLEOD, and luvgamble fresh off his Event #24 win, are still in and attempting to become the first double 2008 WCOOP bracelet winner.

4:48pm--Chen chips up

Team PokerStars pro Bill Chen raised to 50 from UTG+1. (That would be two-and-a-half times the big blind, math fans!) It would fold around to owenshouse who called from the BB.

The flop came all babies -- 5d-3h-2d. owenshouse checked, Chen bet 60 (a little over half the pot) and owenshouse called. The turn was the 5c. Again, owenshouse checked, and this time Chen bet 160. owenshouse promptly check-raised to 460, and Chen called.

The river was the 3d, making the board 5d-3h-2d-5c-3d. owenshouse bet 820, and Chen raised it to 1,640. owenshouse took his time, then appeared to disconnect. Not sure what his intentions might've been there at the end, but he ended up folding. Chen took the 2,790-chip pot and is up to 5,560.

4:44pm--Kings work for defending champ

PERRINS-08 raised to 80 from UTG+1, and 2007 WCOOP $320 6-max champ pes4fans called from the big blind. The flop came Th-Js-3h. pes4fans checked, PERRINS-08 bet 100, and pes4fans called. The turn was the 3c, pairing the board. pes4fans again checked, PERRINS-08 bet 160, and pes4fans minimum-raised to 320. PERRINS-08 called.

The river was the 5d.

This time pes4fans led for 720, and PERRINS-08 made the call. pes4fans showed Kd-Kh for kings and treys, while PERRINS-08 showed Ah-Jc for the lesser two pair. pes4fans jumps out to 5,730 here in the early going.

4:40pm--Don't get too comfy

While they start with 4,000 chips (with blinds of 10/20) and thus should have some time here at the outset to settle in, short-handed play generally means one can never be too comfortable.

Indeed, not even ten minutes into play, we have already seen no less than 40 of the 3,000-plus entrants already hitting the rail, including EDUARD_II, lordhuttyx, and not a good start for former WSOP Main Champs as TeamPokerStars pro Chris "Money800" Moneymaker and Greg "FossilMan" Raymer have also busted.

4:37pm--25 players had something better to do

$320 spent for 5 minutes or less of poker today for the unlucky 25 players who have already busted from the tournament. We have cracked the 3,000 player plateau which continues to rise with more people trickling in as most tables are playing 4 or 5 handed at the moment to allow those players a quick seat.

4:32pm--6-max players love the action

A quick scan of those who have entered today's tourney reveals four of the six players who made last year's final table for this event -- the $320 NLHE 6-max event -- are back to take another run at the bracelet.

Those four are PeachyMer, pape85, Pillars, and last year's champ, pes4fans. Click here to read about last year's final table.

Registration for this event remains open through Level 1 (the first 30 minutes of play).

4:30pm--Team PokerStars Pros in the field today:

Already smashing the $500,000 guarantee, the prize pool is well over $900,000 as late registration is still open.

Andre “aakkari” Akkari
Alexandre “allingomes” Gomes
Bill Chen
Chad Brown
Dario Minieri
Bertrand “ElkY” Grospellier
Greg “FossilMan” Raymer
Gavin Griffin
Marcin “Goral” Horecki
Humberto “Humberto B.” Brenes
John Duthie
Katja Thater
Alex Kravchenko
Vanessa “LadyMaverick” Roussso
Lee Nelson
Luca Pagano
Chris “Money800” Moneymaker
Isabelle “NoMercy” Mercier
Hevad “RaiNKhaN” Khan
Raymond Rahme
Steve “stevejpa” Paul-Ambrose
Tom McEvoy
Victor Ramdin
William Thorson

WCOOP Event #26 begins at 4:30pm ET

Join us here for coverage of WCOOP Event #26, $320 No-Limit Hold'em Six Max when it begins at 4:30pm ET.