Sullivan is a dedicated family man, and plans “some nice vacations” with his winnings, in addition to paying off college educations for his three kids (ages 25, 23 and 20). His wife Lisa is the epitome of a childhood sweetheart, as they met in kindergarten and married 26 years ago in college.

He learned poker playing around his grandmother’s table, and got his love of games at a young age from his Uncle Francis, who taught him chess, cribbage and other card games. He passed that love of games along to his children, who all play poker. “My son Michael is actually a very good player (again – just recreationally) and has taught me a few things. My daughter was at my side during the final four hours and the boys were following online at the same time.”

A self-taught recreational player, Sullivan has never read a poker book, and learned everything he knows about the game by playing, both live and online. Since he got onto PokerStars two years ago, he’s played the Sunday Million a few times, but his largest cash before the WCOOP was in the $6k range. Sullivan plays live when he makes it out to Vegas, preferring limit poker for cash games, but No Limit Hold’em for tournaments.

With no big card rooms close to his home, Sullivan enjoys the convenience of playing at PokerStars, saying “I’m sort of a late night person, so after the day is done, I’ll sit down and play without affecting my daily life too much.”

Like so many players, Sullivan has a dream of one day playing the Main Event at the WSOP. “I’ve entered some satellites, but have never qualified. I’m hopeful to be able to take a seat next year with some of my winnings (or maybe there’s a sponsor out there willing to invest in the poker world’s next 46 year old phenom??? – lol) Otherwise, I’ve always been successful at playing poker, even now on the bigger stages – I’m just not sure how this will affect the amount of play that’ll I’ll be doing. I know this win has to be considered a fluke … but it makes you think that maybe there could be some opportunity out there for me.”

Sullivan he wasn’t sure if he played against any “name” pros in the event, saying “This is going to sound really ignorant, but I wouldn’t have known a pro from an amateur during the tourney. I’m really not aware of any anyone’s screen names, etc. and so wouldn’t know. I do know there was substantial chatter at times and I assumed it was because there were more known names, but I tried not to pay much attention to that.”

A gentleman and a champion, Sullivan commented on his final opponent’s play in the event – “I’d like to commend Solovka on his play. He was so dominant at the final table that he allowed me to just sit back and wait for the heads up battle. And that heads up battle was extremely hard fought. I was beginning to think it would never end. I really deep down knew that my call on the last hand was probably not a good play, but he was wearing my patience down. The only reason I did call is that I still would have had a 2 to 1 chip lead and I thought I was playing well enough to win.”

PokerStars.tv is spending a lot of time putting together full highlight reels from the WCOOP final tables. Each show features expert commentary, revealed hole cards, and statistical analysis.

Below you will find the Event #6 highlight show, including portions of the marathon 200-hand heads-up battle.

Watch WCOOP Highlights: Event 6 - $530 NL Hold'em on PokerStars.tv

Other WCOOP Event #6 links

Calvin32 Claims $530 NLHE Title

WCOOP Event #6 Live Blog

The chip leader entering Day 2, pokrates, would maintain the lead in the early going, but eventually stumbled before going out in 31st. Among the many Team PokerStars pros who came out for this event, just one, Andre "aakkari" Akkari, had made it through the starting field of 7,351 to start Day 2. Akkari battled gamely, but eventually found himself all in with As-Qs against cassie13's Ac-Kc and couldn't outdraw his opponent, thus finishing in 47th place.

cassie13 would use Akkari's chips well, making it all of the way to the final table. It was almost 10:00pm Eastern time when the first hand was dealt to the final nine. Here's how it looked:

Seat 1: adonislee (United States) 11,182,6474 in chips
Seat 2: Papio Papio (Denmark) 1,175,610 in chips
Seat 3: Solovka (Russia) 22,993,538 in chips
Seat 4: cassie13 (Canada) 2,525,362 in chips
Seat 5: Yo Burger (Canada) 6,041,674 in chips
Seat 6: Roland_NL (Netherlands) 3,080,096 in chips
Seat 7: DUBBZZ (United States) 6,941,294 in chips
Seat 8: randomcrayon (United States) 3,072,334 in chips
Seat 9: Calvin32 (United States) 15,853,618 in chips

Thanks to those 10,000-chip starting stacks such a huge field, there were more than 73 million chips in play as the final table began. At that point, we were in the middle of Level 28, with blinds of 40,000/80,000 with an 8,000 ante.

Just a few minutes into the final table, the short stack, Papio Papio, would be the first to fall. After slipping down to just 715,610, Papio Papio open-shoved from the hijack seat, and after a few moments of contemplation cassie13 decided to reraise all in from the button for a total of 2,065,362 from the button. The others got out of the way, and Papio Papio turned over Ah-6s, while cassie13 had Qd-Kh.

So far so good, but then came the flop: Qh-8c-Ks. The turn was the 5h and the river the 5c, and Papio Papio was the final table's first casualty.

After 20 minutes, Yo Burger was the next to go. Chip leader Solovka -- sporting a gaudy 26-plus million-chip stack -- had put in a preflop raise and Yo Burger reraised all in for 4,583,224 total. Solovka called and showed Qs-Qd, ahead of Yo Burger's Ad-Ts. The board came 3d-4c-Kc-6c-6d, sending Yo Burger to the rail with the 8th place prize of $42,268.25.

Two hands later randomcrayon joined the parade of short-stacked players to the rail, pushing his last 2,892,334 all in with Kd-Qd and getting called by Calvin32 who held 5d-Ah. The board ran out As-9d-2d-5c-Ks, and you could color randomcrayon gone, having picked up $64,321.25. It took about 15 minutes for DUBBZZ to be eliminated in 6th, having endured one of the nastier beats of the final table. Down to a little more than 1.7 million, DUBBZZ got all of it in the middle with Jc-Kc on a Qs-Js-8h flop against Solovka who had 3h-3c -- very good shape, one would think. But the 3s spoiled DUBBZZ's buzz, and he was out in 6th, earning $95,563. See the hand below:

Solovka claimed yet another victim by knocking cassie13 out just a few minutes later. After Solovka raised preflop to 650,000, cassie13 reraised all in for 2,621,944.Solovka called, showing Ad-8d, well ahead of cassie13's Ah-6d. The board ran out 5h-5c-Tc-8s-9h, and cassie13 went home with $132,318 in 5th place.

Shortly afterwards, about 11:00pm, adonislee and Roland_NL both found themselves sitting on stacks of about 3.5 million. adonislee was the first to make a move. After Calvin32 raised to 825,000 from the cutoff, adonislee reraised all in and Calvin32 quickly called, showing pocket queens. adonislee had Ks-Jc, and after the community cards came out Ad-6h-10h-3s-3d, adonislee was out in 4th, pocketing $169,073. Ten hands later, Solovka then took care of Roland_NL, who shoved with pocket tens only to be pitted against Solovka's pocket jacks. The board came 4s-Ks-7c-4h-Qs, and Roland_NL took third-place prize money of $205,828.

As heads-up play began, Solovka enjoyed a commanding chip lead, with 53.8 million to Calvin32's 19.6 million. Early on Calvin32 suggested the possibility of a deal, but Solovka was not interested. The pair battled for 39 hands, and by the time they reached the next break, Calvin32 had worked his way back into the lead, with 46.2 million to Solovka's 27.2 million.

As they started back, Calvin32 again asked "you interested in running the numbers?" and Solovka again said no. They battled for 40 more hands, with Sokovka finally catching up to and overtaking Calvin32 just as the clock struck midnight.

The pair would battle back and forth for over two hours and 200-plus hands, with Solovka retaking the advantage, then losing it again in a huge hand in which Calvin32 rivered a full house, kings full of jacks. Finally, at about 1:10am -- something like 18.5 hours (of actual play) since the first hands of Event No. 6 were dealt -- we had our final hand.

Calvin32 had 60.9 million and Solovka 12.5 million when the latter raised all in from the small blind/button and Calvin32 called. Solovka turned over Kd-Jc, slightly ahead of Calvin32's Qc-9h. The flop came 6d-6c-9d, putting Calvin32 in the lead. The turn was the 8s and the river the 5s, and Solovka finished in 2nd place, claiming $306,169.15. Calvin32 took the bracelet and the $452,086.50 prize that goes with it.

2008 WCOOP Event #6 Final Table Results

1. Calvin32 $452,086.50
2. Solovka $306,169.15
3. Roland_NL $205,828
4. adonislee $169,073
5. cassie13 $132,318
6. DUBBZZ $95,563
7. randomcrayon $64,321.25
8. Yo Burger $42,268.25
9. Papio Papio $25,728.50

Congratulations to Calvin32! For more information about WCOOP Event #6, see the Day 1 live blog and wrap-up, as well as the Day 2 live blog.

1:12am--Calvin32 captures WCOOP Event #6 title

It had to happen eventually. It was just a matter of when.

After grinding Solovka down to 12 million in chips, Calvin32 had a decision to make. Solovka open-shoved for his whole stack. Calvin32 held Qc-9h. After a few seconds thought, he called to see Solovka's KdJc, Behind but live, Calvin32 watched the flop come out in his favor: 6d-6c-9d. The turn and river bricked and Calvin32 claimed the title. For his effort in the 200-hand heads-up battle, Calvin32 picked up the $452,086 first prize. Solovka's second place finish earned him $306,169. We'll have a full wrap-up of this two-day event in just a bit. In the meantime, you can watch the final hand play out below.

1:07am--200 hundred hands of heads-up

Our pair have now battled for 200 hands heads-up -- over two hours' worth. Calvin32 now has a sizable advantage, with 56.4 million to Solovka's 16.4 million.

12:51am--The pendulum swings back

Solovka had about 45 million when he raised to 1.65 million from the small blind/button. Calvin32 made the call.

The flop came 2s-4d-Js and both checked. The turn was the Jc, pairing the board. Calvin32 checked, Solovka bet 1.8 million, and Calvin32 check-raised to 4.2 million. Solovka called.

The river was the Kh. This time Calvin bet out 12 million, and Solovka called. Calvin32 showed Kc-Jh for the full house, and Solovka mucked, typing "wow" and "vnh" as he did.

With that 35.82 million-chip pot, Calvin32 retakes the advantage with 46.2 million to Solovka's 27.2 million.

12:41am--Chip counts at 18-hour mark

Level 37
Blinds 300,000/600,000, antes 60,000
Average chip count: 36,755,000
Players remaining: 2
First prize: $452,086.50

1. Solovka 45,711,283
2. Calvin32 27,798,717

12:28am--Solovka takes over

We just saw one of the biggest pots of heads-up play so far, one that put Solovka back in the lead.

12:12am--100 hands of heads-up

Our pair has now crossed the century mark in terms of number of hands played heads-up. Solovka now has the upper hand with 42.6 million to Calvin32's 30.8 million.

Lots of small pots (most 3 million or less) -- not too surprising with stacks this large and blinds still at 250,000/500,000.

11:56pm--Heads-up battle continues

Calvin32 and Solovka continue their battle, having warred heads-up for 75 hands now. Calvin maintained his lead after the break, but Solovka has just recently caught him and the two are virtually even at the moment, both having approximately 36 million chips.

11:30pm--Chip counts at 17-hour mark

Level 35
Blinds 200,000/400,000, antes 40,000
Average chip count: 36,755,000
Players remaining: 2
First prize: $452,086.50

1. Calvin32 46,273,717
2. Solovka 27,236,283

11:21pm--Calvin32 takes over chip lead

My, my how fortunes can change. Calvin32 just made a tough river-call to take over the chip lead. See the hand below.

11:15pm-No talk of deal

Solovka doesn't want to chop this thing up, so he and Calvin32 are effective playing heads up for the difference between first and second place: $146,000.

11:07pm--Chip counts at start of heads up play

Solovka (53,811,283 in chips)
Calvin32 (19,698,717 in chips)

11:02pm-Roland_NL turns $27 Steps win into $205,000

Calvin32 raised to 600,000 and saw Solovka re-raises up to 1,900,000. Then Roland_NL pushed all-in for 3,705,192. Calvin32 got out of the way and Solovka made the call with Js-Jd. Roland_NL was way behind with Td-Th and didn't catch. His third place finish earned him $205,828--not bad for a guy who got into the tournament for $27.

11:03pm--adonislee out in 4th

adonislee had slipped down to a bit more than 3.5 million, making him one of the table's two short stacks (with Roland_NL). Calvin32 raised to 825,000 from the cutoff, and adonislee reraised all in. It folded back to Calvin32 who with more than 14 million behind quickly called.

There was another reason why Calvin32 called quickly besides his chip stack. Namely, his hand: Qc-Qd. adonislee was looking for a king with Ks-Jc, but none would come and he's out in 4th, earning a cool $169,073.

10:54pm--cassie13 finishes in 5th place

Solovka had raised preflop to 650,000, and cassie13 reraised all in for 2,621,944 total. It folded back around and Solovka made the call.

cassie13 showed Ah-6d, well behind Solovka's Ad-8d. The flop was 5h-5c-Tc, and it looked like we might have a split. But the turn was the 8s, giving Solovka the upper hand. The river was the 9h, and cassie13 goes out in 5th, winning $132,318.

10:47pm-DUBBZZ can't dodge two outs, out in 6th

DUBBZZ came in for a raise to 750,000 and got a call from Solovka. The flop came down Qs-Js-8h and Solovka bet enough to put DUBBZZ all-in for a little less than a million. DUBBZZ called with Kc-Jc and was good against Solovka's 3h-3c. The turn...one of two sickening threes in the deck. DUBBZZ finished in sixth place, earning $95,563. Watch the sickness below.

10:37pm--ROI story of the night

Roland_NL has just revealed he qualified for this event in a $27 Steps tournament satellite. At this moment, he is guaranteed more than $95,000.

10:28pm--Life is good

Those few who have made the final table are obviously beginning to sense that feeling of accomplishment -- and perhaps even a bit of camaraderie -- as it starts to sink in just how far they've made it. Having outlasted a field of over 7,000 competitors, those remaining are starting to show their excitement.

Three of the remaining players -- Roland_NL, Calvin32, and cassie13 -- recently noted this was their first big tourneys. When the host congratulated them, cassie13 added "I love poker stars."

Who wouldn't, sitting among the final six of such a big event?

10:27pm--Chip counts at 16-hour mark

Level 33
Blinds 125,000/250,000, antes 25,000
Average chip count: 12,251,666
Players remaining: 6
First prize: $452,086.50

1. Solovka 31,527,317
2. Calvin32 15,455,856
3. adonislee 12,585,361
4. Roland_NL 6,200,192
5. cassie13 5,310,972
6. DUBBZZ 2,430,302

10:20pm--randomcrayon out in 7th place

It folded around to randomcrayon in the small blind who pushed all in for 2,892,334 total and Calvin32 -- sitting with well over 10 million -- called from the big blind.

randomcrayon showed Kd-Qd, and Calvin32 5d-Ah. An ace flopped, but so did two diamonds. No third diamond came, however, and randomcrayon is out in 7th, earning $64.321.25.

10:19pm-Yo Burger exits in 8th place for $42,268

Solovka came in for a raise to 500,000, promption Yo Burger to raise all-in for 4,583,224. Solovka made the easy call with Qs-Qd. Yo Burger was pretty much cooked with Ad-Ts. The board ran out 3d-4c-Kc-6c-6d and Yo Burger was out in 8th place. See the hand below.

10:12pm--Roland_NL doubles up

Roland_NL, who will quickly tell you the NL stands for Nethlerlands and not no-limit,just doubled through Calvin32 with pocket queens vs KJ all-in pre-flop. Both are now claiming this is their first big tournament. We'll leave you to determine the veracity of those assertions.

10:04pm--Papio Papio bounced in 9th

The table's short stack with just 715,610, Papio Papio shoved from the hijack seat, then cassie13 repopped all in for 2,065,362 from the button. All folded, and Papio Papio showed Ah-6s to cassie13's Qd-Kh.

The flop was bad for Papio Papio: Qh-8c-Ks. The turn and river were both fives, and Papio Papio is out in 9th, earning $25,728.50.

9:59pm-Final table in place

Our final nine are now looking at each other and read to fight for the nearly half million dollar first prize. Here's how they stack up

Seat 1: adonislee (11826474 in chips)
Seat 2: Papio Papio (1175610 in chips)
Seat 3: Solovka (22993538 in chips)
Seat 4: cassie13 (2525362 in chips)
Seat 5: Yo Burger (6041674 in chips)
Seat 6: Roland_NL (3080096 in chips)
Seat 7: DUBBZZ (6941294 in chips)
Seat 8: randomcrayon (3072334 in chips)
Seat 9: Calvin32 (15853618 in chips)

9:57pm--Housh Me out eliminated in 10th

With the blinds a whopping 100,000/200,000 and just 675,076 left in his stack, Housh Me pushed all in from under the gun and DUBBZZ called from the small blind. Housh Me would need some help with his Kd-9d versus DUBBZZ's Ad-10s.

The board came 8d-4h-7h-Qc-Jc, and Housh Me was knocked out in 10th place.

9:45pm--Solovka claims another; achen out in 11th

Solovka raised to 400,000 from button, and achen reraised all in to 3,827,729 from the big blind. Solovka called.

achen: 9s-9d
Solovka: Jc-Ac

The flop was Kd-2s-5h, and achen was still good. The turn brought the Ts. Still okay.

Then the river brought the Jd, giving Solovka the better pair and knocking achen out in 11th place, netting him $18,377.50. We now are down to ten players -- two five-handed tables playing hand for hand.

9:41pm-Splitsville for 'schnitzel

Porkschnitzel, in addition to having the best name left in the tournament, had yet to show he could actually lose. That changed just moments ago as he busted out in 12th place for $18,377.

9:36pm--Watch out for the Solovka express

Solovka maintains a huge chip advantage with over 20 million -- that's over a quarter of the chips in play with 12 players remaining.

At Solovka's six-handed table, no other player has more than 4.5 million.

9:25pm--Chip counts at 15-hour mark

Level 31
Blinds 80,000/160,000, antes 16,000
Average chip count: 6,125,833
Players remaining: 12
First prize: $452,086.50

1. Solovka 20,031,635
2. adonislee 10,188,641
3. Calvin32 8,486,594
4. porkshitznel 8,244,024
5. achen 5,631,858
6. Yo Burger 4,138,674
7. Papio Paio 4,133,610
8. DUBBZZ 3,315,855
9. randomcrayon 2,538,167
10. Housh Me 2,440,038
11. Roland_NL 2,303,542
12. cassie13 2,057,362

9:18pm--G_Midas loses his touch, eliminated in 13th place

Down to a little less than 2.4 million, G_Midas took a stand with pocket tens and was called by achen who held Big Slick. An ace flopped, and it only got worse from there (see below). G_Midas is out in 13th place, $12,864.25 richer.

9:16pm--pawnUz out in 14th place

Solovka raised from middle position and it folded back around to pawnUz in the small blind. With just 1.6 million, 6h-6s in the hole, and the possibility that Solovka's range could be pretty wide here, pawnUz decided this was the time to push.

Unfortunately for him, Solovka had a hand -- Qs-Qd. A queen on the flop and another on the river sealed it, and pawnUz is out in 14th.

9:13pm--Solovka messing with their minds, bro

A lot of back-and-forthing, but not a heck of a lot of change in the leaderboard at the moment, with Solovka building back up to 18 million and maintaining a sizable advantage over the field.

Did have one interesting exchange just now between Solovka and DUBBZZ. Solovka had raised preflop from middle position and DUBBZZ called from the button. The flop had come 7c-9c-Qh, Solovka checked, and DUBBZZ bet 390,000 into a 886,000 pot. Solovka called. Both checked the Ah on the turn.

The river brought the 4s, and Solovka fired 2.7 million out. DUBBZZ debated, then let it go. Then, afterwards, we saw in the chatbox:

DUBBZZ: sick bluff bro
DUBBZZ: unless you hit a set of 7s or 9s

9:07pm--And there is the slowdown

With 14 players remaining, the final table is in sight and players are taking no huge risks. The money jump between 14th place and the final table is $13,000. First place is worth nearly half a million bucks.

8:50pm--Good call for G_Midas

Chip leader Solovka raised to 285,000 from UTG and it folded around to G_Midas in the big blind who called. Both checked the 7h-Kh-Td flop. The turn brought the Kc. G_Midas checked, Solovka bet 320,000, and G_Midas called.

The river was the Qc. G_Midas checked again, and this time Solovka bet 1.45 million, enough to put G_Midas all in. After some thought, G_Midas made the call, showing Qh-Jc for queens and kings. Solovka showed Ac-3d, and G_Midas was back up over 4 million. Meanwhile, Solovka has slipped back toward the rest of the pack with 12.5 million.

8:49pm--Ten million chip pot for porkshitzel spells end for LYM333

LYM333 came in for a raise to to 390,000 and porkschnitzel called from the big blind. The flop came down Qs-5h-As. porkshnitzel checked, LYM33 bet 780,000 and porkshnitzel put LYM33 all-in for about 2.5 million more. No doubt the money was going in. LYM33 held Ah-Kc, but porkshnitzel held Qh-Qc. The board bricked out for LYM33 and he went out in 15th place for $12,864.

8:40pm--Ti0373 busted in 16th place in 10 million-chip pot

When the hand began, Ti0373 had over 5.3 million, with Solovka the only player at the table having him covered with 10.7 million. Solovka raised from middle position to 250,000, Ti0373 reraised behind to 600,000, and Solovka made the call. The flop came 3h-2d-Ac. Solovka checked, Ti0373 bet 500,000, and Solovka promptly check-raised to 1 million. Ti0373 called.

The turn brought the 8s. Solovka bet out 1 million this time, prompting Ti0373 to reraise all in with his remaining 3,768,774. Solovka called, turning over 2s-2c for the flopped set. Ti0373 showed 2h-Qh -- bottom pair and a badly-timed bluff. The river was the Jd, and Ti0373 was bounced in 16th. Solovka is now way up to 17 million -- more than twice his nearest foe.

8:32pm--OldVoin eliminated in 17th place

OldVoin had fallen down below the 500,000-chip mark and finally decided to make a stand with Ad-7h. Didn't work out for OldVoin, who is elminated in 17th place, pocketing $9,188.75. Here's how the hand went:

8:29pm--Aces come just in time for pawnUz

pawnUz was down to 1,847,480 -- which sounds like a lot of chips but puts one at the bottom of the leaderboard at the moment -- when he picked up pocket rockets under the gun. Doubly good timing, actually, as Solovka was dealt Qs-Qc. They got it all in preflop, and pawnUz's aces held up, pushing him up to 3.9 million. Solovka still has a healthy 5.18 million.

8:25pm-Asked and answered

So we wonder who would win in a fight between Jack Bauer and Dexter the serial killer. We now know. Kenny Rap's next went up against Yo Burger's Bauer. Kenny Rap is out in 18th.

8:19pm--Who is gonna blink first?

Just had a huge staredown contest right before the break between a couple of big stacks on Table 1. Both G_Midas and Ti0373 had just about 6.5 million -- 3rd and 4th, respectively -- at the start of this one.

G_Midas raised to 240,000 from the cutoff, Ti0373 reraised to 610,355 from the small blind, and G_Midas called. The flop came all babies: 4d-4c-2c. Ti0373 bet 420,465, and G_Midas promptly raised to 1.2 million. Ti0373 then reraised to 1,979,535 total, sending G_Midas into the tank for several seconds before letting it go.

That hand pushed Ti0373 near the chip lead (see below), while G_Midas remains in the top ten.

8:17pm--Chip counts at 14-hour mark

Level 29
Blinds 50,000/100,000, antes 10,000
Average chip count: 4,083,888
Players remaining: 18
First prize: $452,086.50

1. randomcrayon 8,715,920
2. Ti0373 8,367,810
3. porkshitznel 5,794,232
4. Yo Burger 5,178,715
5. LYM333 4,987,692
6. Solovka 4,676,288
7. G_Midas 4,647,904
8. Calvin32 4,548,572
9. adonislee 4,341,391
10. achen 3,563,081

8:10pm--It's not pretty, is it?

Chip leader adonislee just threw up on his computer. Or we can only assume he did. Just watch.

8:05pm-Listen to WCOOP live!

If you'd like to read about, watch, and listen to WCOOP coverage at the same time, be sure to check out the PokerStars WCOOP Live Stream of Event #6 Day 2.

8:01pm--Who would win?

You know, we've always fought about who would win between Batman and Spiderman, but tonight we ponder a different question as we watch Table 6. Looking at Kenny Rapp and Yo Burger's player icons, we wonder who would win in a battle between Jack Bauer and serial killer Dexter? Click on the image below to decide for yourself.

7:58pm--achen achin' for action

A couple of hands ago, achen open-raised from the button and Roland_NL repopped it from the big blind, forcing achen to fold.

Then achen tried again, open-raising to 197,869 to middle position. It folded around to Ti0373 in the big blind who again reraised achen -- to 425,738. achen thought a moment, then fired all in for a total of 2,602,789. Ti0373 thought a few seconds, then let it go.

achen now has a bit more than 2.8 million (currently 12th place). Ti0373 has slipped to about 6.5 million (currently 3rd).

7:49pm--Deep stacks gettin' deeper

A series of preflop raises over on Table 1 has enabled Ti0373 to push past the 8 million-chip mark and into second place. Our chip leader is still adonislee who has now moved over 10 million.

7:48pm-porkshnitzel goes whole hog

After getting over some disconnection problems, porkshnitzel has just take the wrapper right off RandomCrayon. After the hand you see below, porkshnitzel is up to more than 5 million

7:43pm--Down to two tables, 18 left

Missolson was just eliminated in 20th place. Shortly thereafter, SexSeen pushed all-in for 595,047 from under the gun, and cassie13 called from the small blind. SexSeen showed 5h-4h, while cassie13 had Kc-Kh. The board came 9s-6c-Qh-Jh-8c, and SexSeen is out in 19th. Both Missolson and Sexseen earn $7,351 for their play these last two days.

Players are now guaranteed more than $9,000 apiece.

7:34pm--Something to ponder

It looks like porkshitznel has momentarily disconnected over on Table 8, leaving everyone to sit and wonder if that is really how you spell that.

7:28pm--Twenty left

With the eliminations of MizouClipper (22nd) and Jl3607 (21st), both of whom earned $7,351, we are now down to 20 players.

Chip leader at the moment is adonislee, who is coming close to reaching the 10 million-chip mark. Solovka is far behind in second place with about 6.4 million.

7:23pm--Recent eliminations

Three more have been knocked from the tourney, each earning $7,351: maureen73 (25th), jrss1322psu (24th), and jolmer (23rd). Watch how jolmer went out, courtesy of G_Midas, complete with unfunny, superfluous river card:

7:18pm--qngeen hits the rail in 26th place

Calvin32 raised to 135,000 from middle position, then qngeen reraised all in behind for a total of 616,119. Jl3607 then repopped it from the big blind, shoving his stack of 874,942 in the middle. Calvin32 got out of the way.

Jl3607: Ac-Kc
qngeen: Qc-Kh

The board came As-7c-6d-5c-Qd, and qngeen was eliminated in 26th place, earning $7,351.

7:12pm--Oh, I have me a raise button here, too, thank you

Housh Me had been laying low for the last few hands, hovering around the 1.1 million mark. After a recent hand in which he folded his small blind, giving the big blind a walk, DUBBZZ typed "is that your only button" -- apparently a dig at Housh Me's tight play.

Apparently the "Fold" button is not Housh Me's only button, as this is how the very next hand played out:

7:07pm--Not the way viebu envisioned the end, one would think

viebu, down to just 503,040, was in the small blind when achen open-shoved all in for more than a million from the button. viebu made the call, showing Ac-7s. viebu was probably surprised (and pleased) to see achen turn over 7c-3h.

Then the flop came Jh-3d-6h, and viebu was probably no longer pleased. The turn was the 5c and the river the 9c, and viebu is out in 27th, earning $7,351 for two days' work.

7:00pm--27 remain

We are now down to just three tables. Recent eliminations include troy1919 (30th place), UGA_FELON (29th), and Ynenk03 (28th).

6:56pm--Chip counts at 13-hour mark

Level 27
Blinds 30,000/60,000, antes 6,000
Average chip count: 2,625,357
Players remaining: 28
First prize: $452,086.50

1. LYM333 7,362,792
2. adonislee 6,453,969
3. Solovka 6,226,519
4. G_Midas 4,397,792
5. Calvin32 4,249,422
6. Roland_NL 3,869,613
7. pawnUz 3,518,126
8. porkshitznel 3,227,791
9. Ti0373 3,060,755
10. OldVoin 3,052,697

6:48pm--Wild Kingdom

Table 8 features a battle you might see on the Discovery Channel. Player avatars includes a tiger, a baboon, a dog, and...Andy Black. Click the image to see nature's fury...and furry.

6:45pm--pokrates eliminated in 31st place

Our chip leader beginning Day 2 has been eliminated. Having seen his chips steadily decline over the last 90 minutes to a bit less than half a million, pokrates was eliminated:

6:39pm--Recent elminations

A short-stacked Coox got it all in on a flop of 6h-6d-3h versus Ti0373. Coox had Ah-3s for two pair, but Ti0373 had 3d-3c for the flopped boat. No runner-runner aces for Coox, and he's eliminated in 34th place.

PatMan103 was bounced in 33rd shortly thereafter.

Then we had a hand over on Table 7 in which bogjavul123 shoved all in with his last 615,926 on a flop of 4s-3h-2c, and was called by OldVoin. bogjavul123 showed Ad-7c, while OldVoin had Ac-Kh. The turn and river were both eights, and bogjavul123 was eliminated in 32nd.

6:33pm--Calvin32 makes a good straight man

Shortly after that hand with adam001, Calvin32 knocked out another opponent -- Maw8 -- again making a straight to do so. Maw8 goes out in 35th place. Here's how that hand went:

6:29pm--The fall of adam001

With the board showing 8c-Qs-9s-2c, adam001 pushed all in for more than 1.1 million and was called by Calvin32. adam001 showed Ac-Kc for overcards and a flush draw, but Calvin32 had Jc-Tc for the flopped straight.

The As came on the river, and adam001 was eliminated in 36th place. That hand gave Calvin32 a stack of 3,787,598, and he's since increased his stack to more than 4.6 million, pushing into 3rd place presently.

6:24pm--See video highlights of the WCOOP on PokerStars.tv

Over at PokerStars.tv, you can watch interviews with Team PokerStars Pros, live webcasts, video blogs, and more. You can also watch video highlights of the World Championship of Online Poker, such as this one recounting event #3, the $215 limit hold’em six-handed event from September 7th:

Watch WCOOP Highlights: Event #3 - $215 Limit Hold'em (6 max) on PokerStars.tv

6:20pm--shaamo shoves, then is shown the door

DSRasmussen just got bounced in 38th place after running pocket fours into maureen73's pocket aces. Then came the untimely demise of shaamo, who had earlier in the day challenged for the chip lead. After enduring some rough hands, shaamo had slipped to 1,173,267. Then the following hand took place.

shaamo open-raised from middle position to 111,111, and LYM33 called behind. adonislee also called from the big blind. The flop came 9h-Jd-5d. adonislee and shaamo both checked, then LYM33 bet 240,000. adonislee check-raised to 600,000, and shaamo shoved all in. LYM333 got out of the way, and adonislee called.

adonislee showed Jc-8h for top pair, while shaamo had Ad-6d for the flush draw. The turn was the 5c and the river the 2c, and shaamo's day is done. He's out in 37th place.

6:17pm--juuuiice runs dry

Down to 504,424, juuuiice shoved all in with Ah-Qd and was called by Calvin32 who held Qs-Qh. No ace came to save juuuiice, who goes out in 39th.

6:13pm--Half of Day 2 gone

Just an hour and half into Day 2 action and we've already lost half the field. While trying to predict when this will end is a fool's errand, we feel safe in saying, it's going to take a great deal longer to lose the second half. Over/Under anyone?

6:10pm--Running without the ball

Some of the best poker players in the world can run without the ball. The fun starts when two opponents do it at the same time. Check out this hand from Table #8 and try to figure out what the players have before the grand reveal.

6:08pm--LYM333 puts the hurtin' on another

After chip leader LYM333 raised preflop, gomera1931 reraised all in for a total of 616,733 and LYM333 called. gomera showed 8s-8h and LYM33 Ah-2h.

The board was truly agonizing for gomera1931: Kd-Td-Qh-Kc-Qc. That queen on the river counterfeited his hand, and gomera1931 is out in 40th. Meanwhile, LYM333 moves up over the 8 million mark, furthering his lead.

6:01pm--More fall by the wayside

We are now down to just 40 players. Here's how a few of the more recent bustouts occurred:

slidensmash called a bet from bogjavul123 on a flop of Ts-Js-Ad, putting himself all in. slidensmash had 9s-8s for a straight flush draw, while bogjavul123 had pocket jacks for a set. The turn was the Kc and the river the Td, and bogjavul123's boat sent slidensmash out in 43rd place.

adonislee used Ad-Kh to knock out kizza_om's pocket tens. A king flopped, and kizza_om hit the rail in 42nd.

Skjervøy got it all in with pocket nines preflop, only to run up against G_Midas's pocket tens. The tens held up, and Skjervøy was out in 41st.

5:52pm--Chip counts at 12-hour mark

Level 25
Blinds 20,000/40,000, antes 4,000
Average chip count: 1,670,681
Players remaining: 44
First prize: $452,086.50

1. LYM333 6,298,949
2. Solovka 4,895,024
3. pokrates 3,371,990
4. G_Midas 3,290,560
5. pawnUz 3,095, 126
6. Roland_NL 2,948,695
7. Yo Burger 2,572,279
8. Housh Me 2,339, 435
9. adonislee 2,090,315
10. SexSeen 2,067,047

Team PokerStars Pro Andre "aakarri" eliminated in 47th place.

5:48pm-Andrea Akkari out in 47th place

Today was just not Andre "aakkari" Akkari's day. After putting on a great show for his Brazilian fans, the Team PokerStars Pro has just exited in 47th place for $5,880. See his elimination below.

5:41pm--LYM333 our first six million dollar man

A rapid change of fortune for shaamo after losing over half of his stack to LYM333 in a huge, 5.3 million-chip pot -- possibly the largest of the tournament thus far. shaamo slips to 1,468,989 and 20th place on this one, while LYM333 surges into the chip lead with 6,358,949. Here's how the hand played out:

5:36pm--Much ado about nothing

When shaamo, currently in 2nd place with 3.57 million, raised to 72,999 from middle position, and LYM333, currently in 3rd with 3.49 million called behind him, it looked like we might be in for a big one.

Then short-stack mishder4245 pushed all in for 346,751 from the small blind, prompting shaamo to fold. LYM333 called, showing Ah-2h, well behind mishder4245's Ac-Td.

The flop was 9h-Js-Qh, and mishder4245 was still ahead, but had to sweat a possible flush for LYM333. The turn was the Qd -- still okay. Then the As came on the river, making it a chopped pot.

mishder4245 lasted five more hands. He'd shove again with pocket deuces, get called by shaamo's Big Slick, and watch a king flop and no help come on the turn or river. mishder4245 is out in 51st. Meanwhile, shaamo is approaching the 4 million chip mark.

5:27pm--Missouri Tiger fans on the rail

While the game of the day is poker, one player still in Day 2 is drawing interest for his screen name. MizouClipper is still alive today and entertaining his fellow Missourians with talk about Mizzou football. As one rail fan noted...

rivergyde [observer]: go mizzou....only football we got in missery now

5:25pm--pokrates picking it up

After taking it easy early on (and getting off to a slow start), chip leader pokrates has become active again as we move through Level 24. pokrates has picked up several small pots with preflop raises and/or continuation bets on the flop, building back up over the 4.8 million mark -- a good 1.4 million ahead of shaamo who is currently in second place.

5:15pm--58 remain

As we begin Level 24 (blinds 15,000/30,000, antes 3,000), we have lost 14 players thus far today, leaving us 58 players on seven tables. So far all of those who have busted out today have received $5,513.25 for their efforts.

5:08pm--Eights propel Solovka up leaderboard

horryclutch raised from the hijack seat to 100,000, and it folded to Solovka who reraised to 225,500 from the small blind. TXSooner518 folded his big blind, then horryclutch reraised all in for 716,278. Solovka, having horryclutch well covered, made the call.

Solovka 8d-8s
horryclutch Kc-Ac

The flop was an intriguing 9d-8c-3c, giving Solovka a set but horryclutch a flush draw. The turn was the Js and the river the Kd, and horryclutch is out in 62nd place.

That hand gave Solovka 2,733,954 in chips, currently good for 4th place.

5:01pm--Chip leader sitting tight

End of Day 1 chip leader pokrates has yet to win a pot during the first 20 hands at Table 1. After starting the day with a little more than 4.57 million, pokrates had dribbled down to 3,995,387 -- still good enough for first place at the moment.

4:53pm--Vamooooooooooo!

As the sole surviving member of Team PokerStars left in the field, Anre Akkari is already enjoying quite a rail, most notably from his Brazilian fans. He's lost a few chips in the early going and is down to 869,000.

4:51pm--Housh Me cannot be hushed

Not to be deterred by that early rebuff, Housh Me soon thereafter put in another preflop raise -- this time to 100,000 -- and was reraised by jvtilt who pushed all in for a total of 783,623. Housh Me made the call, leaving himself just 153,690 behind.

jvtilt showed Ac-Ks, and Housh Me Js-Jh. See how it played out:

4:46pm--Don't even think about it

In the second hand of play, Table 5 folded to Housh Me on the button who raised 3x to 75,000. shaamo -- currently in second place with more than 3.63 million -- wasn't about to let Housh Me take his small blind that easily, and promptly reraised to 210,000 to claim the pot.

4:45pm--Shuffle up and deal

The virtual cards are in the air as we begin the journey to see who will claim the $452,086.50 first prize.

4:40pm--Let's play some poker

We are about five minutes away from the restart of Event No. 6, the $530 no-limit hold'em event.

The 72 players who are returning each put in 11 hours of play yesterday (22 levels), and have had just about that long (i.e., approximately 11 hours) to rest up for today. Look below for a complete list of current chip counts.

3:40pm-Day 2 set to begin

The final 72 players, including Team PokerStars Pro Andre Akkari, in the WCOOP Event #6 $530 No-Limit Hold'em contest will resume play today at 16:45 ET. Join us here for the action when it begins.

For more information check on the WCOOP Event #6 Day 1 report and the WCOOP Event #6 Live Blog.

Here are the chip counts from Day 1.

Level 23
12,500/25,000 ante 3,000
Average Stack 1,020,972

pokrates -- 4,571,526
shaamo -- 3,666,172
pawnUz -- 2,501,626
LYM333 -- 2,395,878
bogjavul123 -- 2,236,854
porkshitznel -- 2,132,541
SexSeen -- 1,866,713
kleath -- 1,699,480
kizza_om -- 1,689,202
Yo Burger -- 1,615,411
achen -- 1,553,474
JI3607 -- 1,524,887
qngeen -- 1,495,019
vgreen22 -- 1,458,141
Ynenk03 -- 1,443,242
Maw8 -- 1,329,472
Solovka -- 1,280,703
Chess1956 -- 1,264,999
10 UDR PAR -- 1,264,878
AJKHoosier1 -- 1,233,531
billzfan86 -- 1,170,919
randomcrayon -- 1,078,446
aakkari -- 1,056,706
Housh Me -- 1,042,313
tofu -- 989,264
G_Midas -- 950,915
viebu -- 928,536
UGA_FELON -- 903,077
jrss1322psu -- 894,894
gomera1931 -- 884,471
Kenny Rap -- 876,543
jolmer -- 863,788
Papio Papio -- 847,801
Turkishmcfly -- 844,356
sunhunter83 -- 807,069
vietcong01 -- 806,093
jvtilt -- 801,123
Coox -- 787,176
Calvin32 -- 761,636
adonislee - 758,318
DSRasmussen - 737,085
slidensmash - 736,985
KeyserSoze11 - 728,262
mishder4245 -- 698,500
maureen73 -- 696,521
Missolson -- 678,802
adam001 -- 666,011
troy1979 -- 638,602
cassie13 -- 634,633
Dilith -- 634,236
missle9 -- 616,765
gardenking -- 615,228
max_potv600,520
juuuiice -- 584,712
Skjervøy -- 569,722
OldVoin -- 563,968
jkdanmark -- 557,489
MizouClipper -- 548,657
Ti0373 -- 517,979
Roland_NL -- 492,340
amcawker -- 466,296
intraday -- 463,389
lostrom -- 455,910
PiMaster -- 446,723
Rabscuttle - 437,748
DUBBZZ -- 399,742
Sashimi360 -- 392,990
horryclutch -- 390,639
jahwise -- 384,057
Patman103 -- 325,267
Moetman -- 296,509
TXSooner518 -- 256,520

The $530 buy-in no-limit hold'em event of the WCOOP has always been the most popular of the WCOOP tournaments. Last year, PokerStars guaranteed a $2,000,000 prize pool that attracted a field of 6,025 players. In anticipation of a rise in player participation this year, PokerStars offered a $3,000,000 guaranteed prize pool.

The result?

7,351 players registered to compete for a $3,675,500 prize pool, with 1,080 making the money. Final tablists will each earn at least $25,728.50, and first prize will net the champion $452,086.50 (assuming no deals are made).

Among the numerous Team PokerStars Pros who played in Event #6, Chad “ChadBrownPRO” Brown, Barry “barryg1” Greenstein, Isabelle “No Mercy” Mercier, Lee “LeeNelson” Nelson, Hevad “RaiNKhaN” Khan and Vanessa “Lady Maverick” Rousso recently competed in the PokerStars APPT Macau Main Event. Time zone differences and jet lag were not going to stop these pros from playing in the largest WCOOP event to date.

Orel Hershiser made sure to join in on the action even though he was battling it out on another screen for the WCOOP Event #5 High-Roller No-Limit Hold'em bracelet. Hershiser fell just short of the money in Event #6, but you can read about his final table finish in the High-Roller tournament in the Event #5 recap.

After level two, Team PokerStars Pro Noah "Exclusive" Boeken was seventh on the leaderboard, but a tangle with jahwise knocked him out of the top ten. After calling Boeken's 900-chip raise in the big blind with blinds at 150/300, jahwise checked the Jc-Jd-Qd flop. Boeken followed through with a continuation bet of 900, which was met with a check-raise by jahwise to 3,167. Both players checked when Jh fell on the turn, and a bet of 4,867 on the river Ac by jahwise brought a call from Boeken. Jahwise flipped up Qh-Qs for a flopped boat of queens full of jacks and Boeken mucked. Boeken fell to 30,991 in chips while jahwise shot near the top of the leaderboard with 70,367.

Boeken took another major hit when his pocket aces fell to the turned two pair of iso_o.

Boeken was eliminated shortly thereafter in 2,930th place.

By level seven, almost two-thirds of the field had been eliminated. Andre “aakari” Akkari led all Team PokerStars Pros with 63,727 in chips, but that was nowhere near the 118,172-chip stack of NemoStars22 who was leading the field at the time.

As level 11 approached, attention started to turn to the number 1,080. Because only 1,195 players survived the first ten levels, the money bubble was fast approaching. Would some players tighten up, hoping to have some cash to show for outlasting over 6,000 opponents? Would others start to apply more pressure on the shorter stacks, hoping that those players will be more inclined to fold to the money?

Mlinderbt seemed to take the former view, and Andre “aakari” Akkari appeared to take the latter when both tangled in this hand:

The money bubble finally burst during level 12 in spectacular fashion. Five players busted out within seconds of each other, and forty players were out within a matter of two or three minutes. SindyJizz was the unlucky finisher whose exit in 1,081st place opened the flood gates for others who had been hanging on by their fingernails. By the start of level 13, only 749 players remained.

As some started to set their sights on the $452.086.50 first prize, others started to see their day coming to a close. If you followed the Event #6 Live Blog throughout the day, you would have noticed that Team PokerStars Pro William Thorson was having a rollercoaster day. After gaining some momentum after level 11, Thorson hit a rough patch when his flopped set was flushed away.

Meanwhile, shaamo was the first player to hit the million chip mark. Shaamo started this hand with 923,502 in chips and got the final boost when his As-Ks took down the Th-Tc of smellmuth.

Play paused for the day after the completion of level 22. From a starting field of 7,351, only 72 players remain.

Here is how the leaderboard looks going into Day 2:

Level 23
Blinds 12,500/25,000, antes 2,500
Average chip stack: 1,020,972
Players remaining: 72
First Prize: $452,086.50

Top Ten Chip Counts:

1. pokrates 4,571,526
2. shaamo 3,666,172
3. pawnUz 2,501,626
4. LYM333 2,395,878
5. bogjavul123 2,236,854
6. porkshitznel 2,132,541
7. SexSeen 1,866,713
8. kleath 1,699,480
9. kizza_om 1,689,202
10. Yo Burger 1,615,411

Team PokerStars Pro:

Andre “aakari” Akkari (1,051,706 in chips)

Alex "AJKHoosier1" Kamberis and Kenny Rap have also survived to Day 2. Kamberis has won more than $600,000 in PokerStars tournaments in the last three years, and Rap has earned nearly $400,000 in tournaments in the same time period. Both players are sitting in the top half of the leaderboard.

Play resumes at 4:30pm ET later today, and the PokerStars team will be providing updates via the Event #6 Live Blog. Want to hear how the pros rate the action? Tom McEvoy, Vanessa Rousso, Chris Moneymaker and Victor Ramdin will be providing expert commentary on Event #6 starting at 7:30pm on PokerStars.tv - WCOOP Live. Following the conclusion of Event #6, PokerStars.tv will also present a highlight show which will include analysis of key hands, with all cards shown face-up.

In 2004, the WCOOP was in its third year. PokerStars offered a $530 buy-in no-limit hold'em tournament for the first time that year. 1,642 players registered to compete for a total prize pool of $821,000. The winner of Event #6 stands to win more than half of that in this year's tournament. Some say that poker growth has stagnated, but if participation in this year's WCOOP Event #6 is any indication, the naysayers are clearly in the wrong.

5:04am - Day 1 complete, 72 survive

Day 1 of WCOOP Event #6 has ended, with 72 players remaining. Action (and live blogging coverage) will resume at 4:30pm ET later today.

Level 23
Blinds 12,500/25,000, antes 2,500
Average chip stack: 1,020,972
Players remaining: 72
First Prize: $452,086.50

Top Ten Chip Counts:

1. pokrates 4,571,526
2. shaamo 3,666,172
3. pawnUz 2,501,626
4. LYM333 2,395,878
5. bogjavul123 2,236,854
6. porkshitznel 2,132,541
7. SexSeen 1,866,713
8. kleath 1,699,480
9. kizza_om 1,689,202
10. Yo Burger 1,615,411

Team PokerStars Pro:

Andre “aakari” Akkari (1,051,706 in chips)

Eliminated:

Alex “Allingomes” Gomes (300th)
Hevad “RaiNKhaN” Khan (504th)
Luca Pagano (585th)
William Thorson (596th)
Barry “barryg1” Greenstein (2,511st)
Bill Chen (2,436th)
Noah “Exclusive” Boeken (2,930th)
Marcin “Goral” Gorecki (2,934th)
Humberto “Humberto B.” Brenes (3,098th)
Lee “LeeNelson” Nelson (3,769th)
Alex Kravchenko (3,905th)
Tom McEvoy (4,029th)
Victor Ramdin (4,942nd)
Greg “FossilMan” Raymer (5,388th)
Chad “ ChadBrownPRO” Brown (5,685th)
Ray Rahme (5,948th)
John Duthie (6,207th)
Isabelle “No Mercy”Mercier (6,335th)
Vanessa “Lady Maverick” Rousso (6,526th)
Dario Minieri (6,818th)
Chris “Money800” Moneymaker (6,848th)
Katja Thater (7,158th)

4:40am - That suits Akkari to a tee

Andre “aakkari” Akkari is the last Team PokerStars Pro standing. After sitting on a below-average chip stack for a while, Akkari decided to mix it up by raising to 42,500 from middle position with Kc-7c. 10 UDR PAR, who was sitting on the button, was the only caller. When the flop came 9c-2h-Qc, Akkari bet 75,000, which prompted 10 UDR PAR to raise to 225,000. Akkari then re-raised all-in to 481,880. 10 UDR PAR made the call and tabled Ks-Qh for top pair. Were there any clubs left in the deck? Plenty. The 2c fell on the turn, and the Tc fell on the river, giving Akkari the flush and a much needed double up.

4:30am - Feeling under par? Have some juice!

The name of the game is chip accumulation. Sometimes you can pick on the short-stacks at the table, but other times you can’t help but confront the big-stacks. And when two big-stacks collide, there are often shake-ups in the leaderboard. Take this hand for example. 10 UDR PAR started the hand with 1,211,158 in chips, and juuuiice was sitting with 1,153,556. After 10 UDR PAR limped in for 15K, juuuiice raised to 63.5K and 10 UDR PAR made the call. 10 UDR PAR check-raised from 96K to 192K on a flop of 6d-5h-7c, and juuuiice called. 10 UDR PAR continued with the pressure by betting 105K after the Jd fell on the turn. This time, juuuiice raised to 380K, with 10 UDR PAR making the call. Who would have the last word? When the Jh hit on the river, 10 UDR PAR led out for 150K, folding juuuiice. After collecting the 1,303,500 pot, 10 UDR PAR jumped to 1,878,658 in chips. Do you think you know what the players held? Watch the hand and take a guess.

4:20am - Player to watch: Kenny Rap

Another fresh face in our top ten chip counts as of the last hour is Kenny Rap. His success on PokerStars goes back a long way, with nearly $400,000 in tournament earnings in the past three years alone. He also had strong performances at the 2007 WCOOP - five cashes that include one final table in Event #14 NLHE last year.

Kenny is currently playing at table #19.

4:01am - End of hour number ten chip counts, one more hour to go on Day 1

Level 21
Blinds 7,500/15,000, antes 1,500
Average chip stack: 639,217
Players remaining: 115
First Prize: $452,086.50

Top ten chip counts:

1. LYM333 1,787,294
2. viebu 1,615,330
3. vgreen22 1,608,414
4. pokrates 1,599,793
5. achen 1,599,619
6. Kenny Rap 1,530,848
7. bogjavul123 1,526,554
8. porkshitznel 1,455,516
9. 10 UDR PAR 1,393,158
10. JI3607 1,371,675

Team PokerStars Pros:

Andre “aakari” Akkari (518,980 in chips)

Eliminated in the Money:

Alex “Allingomes” Gomes (300th)
Hevad “RaiNKhaN” Khan (504th)
Luca Pagano (585th)
William Thorson (596th)

3:54am - Answer: The same number of ways you can skin a cat

Question: How many ways can you double up in a poker tournament? For billzfan86, the technique is simple: (1) call a middle-position raise to 36,000 while holding As-Qc, (2) flop a full house on a board of Qs-Qh-Ac, (3) smooth call opponent’s 75,000 bet after the flop, (4) call again when opponent bets 120,000 after the turn, (5) call when opponent bets enough to put you all in on the river and (6) collect 1,163,430 in chips. For those of you who learn better by watching, check out the replay below:

3:30am - Chatterbox heaven

The chat boxes are blowing up at two tables in particular. While numerous friends, family members, and fellow players watch the players in these WCOOP events, there are two players garnering a great deal of attention in the chats.

First is Team PokerStars Pro Andre Akkari, who has an international chat going on around him, though he seems to stay out of the fray. He is playing his game and trying to stay above average in chips as we go deeper into this tournament. Chat sample:

shizer [observer]: aakkari is by far the best MTT pstar player
pd0gg: hevads good
yipyapsap [observer]: hevads good....andre is Great...

Second is AJKHooser1's table, which is boasting of well-known online players like SCTrojans and BeLOWaBOVe, all of whom are railing their friend. One observer keeps typing, "AJK for PREZ." Now that would be interesting.

To follow the chat on their tables, AJKHoosier1 is on #524, and aakkari is on #688.

3:20am - Player to watch: AJKHoosier1

Guess who recently appeared in the top chip counts? (Hint: It's in the title of this entry.) AJKHoosier1 is soaring past the 1 million chip mark and just broke into the top ten. With some very aggressive play, he sits with more than 1.3 million and increasing with each word typed here. This online pro player has over $600,000 in winnings on PokerStars in the last three years alone, and he is presumably looking to capture his first WCOOP title and bracelet.

He's certainly making a run at it late tonight. Check out his action, if you're so inclined, on Table 599.

2:54am - Big stacks tangle for 1.5 million in chips

Fresh off the break, the action at Table 267 kicked off with a confrontation between Solovka (chipleader at the break) and achen (third in chips at the break). By the time the river card was dealt, almost 1.5 million in chips was sitting in the middle of the virtual felt. Who made the big all-in move on the river and skyrocketed to almost two million chips? Watch and see.

Did you watch? We highly recommend it, but if you didn't we'll tell you that the answer to the above question is achen.

2:48am - End of hour number nine data, for informational purposes only

Level 19
Blinds 5,000/10,000, antes 1,000
Average chip stack: 401,693
Players remaining: 183
First Prize: $452,086.50

1. Solovka 1,426,821
2. lostrom 1,348,376
3. achen 1,201,750
4. shaamo 1,153,913
5. Housh Me 1,015,796
6. juuuiice 942,738
7. Coulabdoul 866,367
8. JI3607 849,292
9. AiP5 845,122
10. Turkishmcfly 839,481

Team PokerStars Pro:

Andre “aakari” Akkari (500,421 in chips)

Eliminated in the Money:

Alex “Allingomes” Gomes (300th)
Hevad “RaiNKhaN” Khan (504th)
Luca Pagano (585th)
William Thorson (596th)

2:26am - Nut versus second nut, but the only pair is on the board

Who needs a pair? Not Achen. His Ah-Ks for nut no pair took down a 293K pot when it bested the second nut no pair of RockoSanchez. OldVoin, who said "bliad'" after the cards were revealed, might have had the best hand from start to finish, but he folded to achen’s re-raise all-in. achen now has more than a million chips and is sitting toward the top of the leaderboard.

2:15am - Money matters more as payouts increase

It is that time of the tournament, folks, where the money jumps start looking better each time. Players are now in the 181th place - 216th place range where they receive $3,675.50 for eliminations, but if they hold on another pay level, they'll get $4,043.05. And yes, as luck would have it, payouts increase the longer players stay in the tournament. (Genius concept, no?)

But as in every event, the bigger jumps don't happen until the last two tables are in play. At that point, the minimum cash will be $9,188,75, and it goes up exponentially from there. And it's pretty much a guarantee that the players have seen those numbers, including the $452,086.50 first place prize, and thought about how rewarding that would be.

2:02am - Milestone moment for shaamo

After nine and a half hours of play in WCOOP Event #6, we finally have our first player to reach the million chip mark. Shaamo started the hand with 923,502 in chips and got the final boost when his As-Ks took down the Th-Tc of smellmuth. Watch the action unravel here:

1:45am - Former chipleader gets set up by tos69

Earlier we reported about JI3607’s commanding chiplead, but over the past couple of orbits, the rest of the field has started to catch up. Shortly after the break, JI3607 took his pocket jacks against the pocket tens of tos69. Will JI3607 further add to his stash? Well if the headline hasn’t given it away, watching the hand replay surely will.

1:30am - End of hour eight information, for your viewing pleasure

Level 17
Blinds 3,000/6,000, antes 600
Average chip stack: 261,601
Players remaining: 281
First Prize: $452,086.50

Top ten chip counts:

1. JI3607 853,831
2. lostrom 798,234
3. Chess1956 736,001
4. KeyserSoze11 719,802
5. Dilith 672,259
6. adonislee 656,690
7. Solovka 632,031
8. Ti0373 630,491
9. Coulabdoul 624,667
10. KingGorn 616,425

Team PokerStars Pro:

Andre “aakari” Akkari (390,312 in chips)

Eliminated in the Money:

Alex “Allingomes” Gomes (300th)
Hevad “RaiNKhaN” Khan (504th)
Luca Pagano (585th)

1:26am - Splits are also found outside of the Olympics

Team PokerStars Pro Alex “Allingomes” Gomes was looking to double up to an average chip stack while holding Ah-Qc against Auryon’s Ad-Js. Unfortunately for Gomes, a dominating hand isn’t always a winning hand. The flop and the turn looked good for Gomes, but watch the hand replayer to find out how Gomes ended up settling for a split.

And just like that, Gomes has now been eliminated. Allingomes will settle for 300th place in this WCOOP event for a $2,572,85 prize.

1:20am - Andre Akkari knows how to make money

Team PokerStars Pro Andre Akkari has been sitting above average in chips for quite awhile this evening, though during this level, he hit a blockade. When his pocket jacks went in against the pocket eights of John_Coffee3, an eight spiked on the river, and Akkari shipped more than 90,000 of his chips to his opponent. He lost a few subsequent hands - to Uncle Tilt, perhaps - to see his stack decrease all the way to the 200,000 range, but in the past several minutes, he has catapulted back up to near 400,000. This guy knows how to make money, and he's going for it right here at Table 688.

Over the summer, Akkari talked to PokerStars.TV amidst the WSOP madness about how to make money in Vegas. Check it out:

Watch WSOP 08: Andre's Tips On Making Money In Vegas on PokerStars.tv

1:00am - Top top third best

Team PokerStars Pro Alex “Allingomes” Gomes took a significant hit to his chip stack when he flopped top pair top kicker against dbslim and 10 UDR PAR and lost to both players. Although top top can be a winning hand in many situations, you’ll never believe what the flop brought for Gomes’ opponents. Watch the hand unfold here:

12:50am - 2008 WCOOP final tablists playing on

The beauty of the WCOOP is that some players hop in for one or two tournaments to try out their skills on the big stage, and others settle in for two and a half weeks of as many events as they can play.

Take, for example, the list of players who made the final tables in Events 1-4 in the past two days. A number of them played in Event #6 here today, and here is how they fared:

Event #1 - $215 NLHE 6-max

First place finisher shane147 played today but finished early, fourth place finisher - DOV - hung in there but missed the money, and sixth place scarface_79 finished in the middle of the pack today.

Event #2 - $215 PL 5-Card Draw

Second place wedlowjones and fifth place nathalie111 both finished just outside the money in this tournament, and sixth place xoxol73 took an early leave of the tables.

Event #3 - $215 Limit Hold'em

Winner cwp394, runner-up #1PEN, and fourth place finisher Bdbeatslayer all just missed the money, and eighth place finisher BadcardsAA was eliminated in the middle of the event today.

12:35am - End of hour number seven chip counts

Level 15
Blinds 2,000/4,000, antes 400
Average chip stack: 164,820
Players remaining: 446
First Prize: $452,086.50

Top ten chip counts:

1. JI3607 822,731
2. ChOoTh 547,605
3. Solovka 543,883
4. adonislee 489,090
5. billzfan86 470,371
6. Ruguebye 460,644
7. TXSooner518 456,193
8. LUFCBas 454,493
9. HuggyHB12 436,647
10. Guimp 427,400

Team PokerStars Pros still in the running:

Andre “aakari” Akkari (249,967 in chips)
Alex “Allingomes” Gomes (267,743)

Recent Eliminations:

Hevad “RaiNKhaN” Khan (504th)
Luca Pagano (585th)
William Thorson (596th)

Eliminated (yes, they are still eliminated and will likely remain that way):

Barry “barryg1” Greenstein (2,511st)
Bill Chen (2,436th)
Noah “Exclusive” Boeken (2,930th)
Marcin “Goral” Gorecki (2,934th)
Humberto “Humberto B.” Brenes (3,098th)
Lee “LeeNelson” Nelson (3,769th)
Alex Kravchenko (3,905th)
Tom McEvoy (4,029th)
Victor Ramdin (4,942nd)
Greg “FossilMan” Raymer (5,388th)
Chad “ ChadBrownPRO” Brown (5,685th)
Ray Rahme (5,948th)
John Duthie (6,207th)
Isabelle “No Mercy”Mercier (6,335th)
Vanessa “Lady Maverick” Rousso (6,526th)
Dario Minieri (6,818th)
Chris “Money800” Moneymaker (6,848th)
Katja Thater (7,158th)

12:26am - Pulling away from the pack

Our current chipleader, JI3607, has started to pull away from the rest of the field, now almost 300,000 ahead of ChOoTh who is in second place on the leaderboard. JI3607 started this hand with 613,279 in chips but picked up over 200,000 more after eliminating Qcity1 in this hand:

12:18am - The Rain has fallen

Having lost some ground since the last break, Hevad "RaiNKhAN" was put in a position to move, but his middle pair came up against Big Slick, and this is how it played out:

12:05am - Ciao, Luca!

Team PokerStars Pro Luca Pagano had been steadily increasing his chip count for the past several levels. Sitting with 91,894, he entered a hand that would be his demise. Proofrock made an initial pre-flop raise to 7,000, which was called by Luca in the SB and motorgirl101 in the BB. The flop came 9h-Tc-Ac, and all three checked. The 6c on the turn brought a bet of 40,000 from Luca, but motorgirl101 pushed all-in for 88,643. Proofrock left the scene, and Luca called, which put him all-in. Luca showed 9d-9s for trips and his tournament life, but motorgirl showed 8c-7h for the straight. An 8d on the river didn't do it, and Luca Pagano was eliminated in 585th place.

11:54pm - Flushed away

When you have a pocket pair and you flop a set, you hope to get action on your hand. Sometimes, however, it’s not the kind of action that you want. Team PokerStars Pro William Thorson went from 110,573 in chips to 32,631 in chips when his flopped set got flushed away in this hand:

And soon after, the Team PokerStars Pro was out. William Thorson was eliminated in 596th place, which was good for $1,102.65.

11:50pm - Aces for Alex

Team PokerStars Pro Alex Gomes is on the rise. Picking up pocket aces early in this level, he made them work for a 79,306 pot and a 134,367 chip stack going forward. Here's how it went down:

11:35pm - Somewhere else to be?

The field is dwindling fast at this late hour on a Sunday night. In the first 10 minutes of this level alone, 50 players have been eliminated. If there is somewhere else to be, I must have misplaced my invitation. Errr, that's okay. This is the WCOOP! It only comes around once a year, and we have a front row seat. This is online poker's "Super Bowl."

Notable eliminations in the past few levels:

VietCutie - 784th place
Ylon "TenthPlanet" Schwartz - 1000th place
BodogAri - 1083rd place

11:15pm - Superstitious beware of level 13

Level 13
Blinds 1,250/2,500, ante 250
Average chip count: 98,144
Players remaining: 749
First prize: $452,086.50

Top ten chip counts:

1. Mannydarx 396,303
2. Guimp 366,565
3. DMETALFEEN 352,348
4. h4x0r06 337,699
5. voyager7o9 334,952
6. pacino06 334,552
7. LYM333 328,780
8. Rivalen 322,502
9. gipsy74 322,485
10. forbz1 320,494

Team PokerStars Pros still holding strong:

Andre “aakari” Akkari (161,167 in chips)
Alex “Allingomes” Gomes (95,539)
Luca Pagano (76,494)
Hevad “RaiNKhaN” Khan (127,963)
William Thorson (123,898)

Eliminated:

Barry “barryg1” Greenstein (2,511st)
Bill Chen (2,436th)
Noah “Exclusive” Boeken (2,930th)
Marcin “Goral” Gorecki (2,934th)
Humberto “Humberto B.” Brenes (3,098th)
Lee “LeeNelson” Nelson (3,769th)
Alex Kravchenko (3,905th)
Tom McEvoy (4,029th)
Victor Ramdin (4,942nd)
Greg “FossilMan” Raymer (5,388th)
Chad “ ChadBrownPRO” Brown (5,685th)
Ray Rahme (5,948th)
John Duthie (6,207th)
Isabelle “No Mercy”Mercier (6,335th)
Vanessa “Lady Maverick” Rousso (6,526th)
Dario Minieri (6,818th)
Chris “Money800” Moneymaker (6,848th)
Katja Thater (7,158th)

10:56pm – Early leader slipping once more...

William Thorson just moved up to 133,000 after a sizable pot against one of the early tournament leaders Mokers. It was worth 48,800 when the chips were swept Thorson’s way...

10:50pm-- The bubble

No long drawn out strategic approach to the bubble in Event 6, instead, it burst with a mighty boosh with five players busting out within seconds of each other.

The title of unluckiest finisher went to SindyJizz whose exit in 1,081st place opened the flood gates for others who had been hanging on by their finger nails to finally loosen their grip; 40 players out in a matter of two or three minutes.

What are they playing for?
1st $452,086.50
2nd $306,169.15
3rd $205,828.00
4th $169,073
5th $132,318
6th $95,563
7th $64,321.25
8th $42,268.25
9th $27,728.50
10th to 12th $18,377.50
13th to 15th $12,864.25
16th to 18th $9,188.75
19th to 27th $7,351.00
28th to 36th $6,615.90
37th to 45th $6,248.35
46th to 54th $5,880.80
55th to 72nd $5,513.25
73rd to 90th $5,145.70
91st to 117th $4,778.15
118th to 144th $4,410.60
145th to 180th $4,043.05
181st to 216th $3,675.50
217th to 252nd $3,307.95
253rd to 288th $2,940.40
289th to 324th $2,572.85
325th to 360th $2,205.30
361st to 405th $1,837.75
406th to 450th $1,470.20
451st to 720th $1,102.65
721st to 1080th $735.10

10:48pm-- Huge pot for Andre the Giant

While he doesn't wear size 26 boots like the former famous wrestler, Team PokerStars Pro Andre “aakkari” Akkari just applied the knee breaking figure eight to his opponent’s chip stack after a big scare on the flop…

10:30pm – Pagano’s pursuit of lead continues

Team PokerStars Pro Luca Pagano has gone from critical to in contention in the space of a level and now has close to 70,000 thanks to a neat hand with pocket threes...

10:20pm -- The fight back continues

UcancallmeMr started it all, raising pre-flop to 4,554. A modest raise on his part, given that his stack stacks at 280K. KingGorn call on the button but not to be outdone William Thorson re-raised on the small blind. No fear.

UcancallmeMr got out of the way, so too KingGorn. Thorson happily mucked his cards for a welcome 16,512 pot.

“laid down a big hand for u there William” said UcancallmeMr.

10:18pm-- 75 players to the bubble, who's wants the money and who's wants the chips?

We're nearing the bubble for $735.10 to 1080th place, and some clean air for the bubble boy in 1081. While facing that three-bet for their tournament life who is going to press their luck and hope for no whammies, and who's going gamble and try for that huge $452,000 payday plus the WCOOP bracelet?

10:10pm-- End of hour number five chip counts, the bubble nears

Level 11
Blinds 750/1500, antes 150
Average chip stack: 61,514
Players remaining 1,195
First Prize: $452,086.50

1. UcancallmeMr 293,404
2. Voyager7o9 265,760
3. ScoopCity 261,010
4. Twisted22 252,842
5. Dilith 252,733
6. Strategovic 233,914
7. Mary 717 227,355
8. Achen 220,766
9. Jumper17 216,999
10. X22magriel 215,897

Recent eliminations:

O Hershiser (1,309th)
Unixangel (1,332nd)
DeOhGee (1,369th)
JohnnyBax (1,379th)
55lucky55 (1,838th)

Team PokerStars Pros

Andre “Aakari”Akkari (70,268 in chips)
Alex “Allingomes” Gomes (17,747)
Luca Pagano (42,934)
Hevad “RaiNKhaN” Khan (55,230)
William Thorson (81,790)

Eliminated:
Barry “barryg1” Greenstein (2511st)
Bill Chen (2436th)
Noah “Exclusive” Boeken (2,930th)
Marcin “Goral” Gorecki (2,934th)
Humberto “Humberto B.” Brenes (3,098th)
Lee “LeeNelson” Nelson (3769th)
Alex Kravchenko (3905th)
Tom McEvoy (4029th)
Victor Ramdin (4942nd)
Greg “FossilMan” Raymer (5388th)
Chad “ ChadBrownPRO” Brown (5685th)
Ray Rahme (5948th)
John Duthie (6207th)
Isabelle “No Mercy”Mercier (6335th)
Vanessa “Lady Maverick” Rousso (6526th)
Dario Minieri (6818th)
Chris “Money800” Moneymaker (6848th)
Katja Thater (7158th)

9:50pm – Stormy weather for Luca but still on course

Team PokerStars Pro Luca Pagnao has been in the shadow of the likes of William Thorson, Noah Boeken and Barry Greenstein today but is still in Event 6, although the outlook for the Italian is looking less rosy than it did a short time ago.

With blinds now set at 600/1,200 with a 100 ante Luca had fallen from an earlier perch of more than 40,000 to his current 26K.

S D Mikee B raised 3,600 from late position only to be re-raised by breid525 on the button, 8380 in total. It was now on Pagano in the big blind who called. There was no chasing Mikee B from the pot who also called for the 7c-6s-8s flop.

Both active players checked the flop to see the Qd on the turn. Now it was Mikee B moving all-in, 23890 in total. Luca got out of the way leaving it up to breid525 to spoil Mikee B’s day. The river was the 3c. Would this do it?

Mikee B turned over Kc-Qc whilst Breid 525 could only manage Ah-Td. It forced Breid to the rail whilst Mikee B now sits with more than 50,000 in front of him.

9:40pm-- PokerStars.TV to show final table highlights of select events, including tonight's Event #5 $10,000 NLHE High Roller tourney

Much like Event #1's coverage below, you'll be able to find playback of the big event tonight on PokerStars.TV:

Watch WCOOP TV Event 1 - $215 Hold'em (6 max) on PokerStars.tv

9:27pm – The rise and rise of William Thorson

As any virtual railbird understands, it’s not easy keeping track of every table and each player at it during a WCOOP event, but one table that has kept our attention for over eight levels now is table Thorson. The Team PokerStars Pro’s triumphant march continues, peaking recently at more than 120,000. This hand helped a little...

9:25pm-- Andre “Aakkari”Akkari nearly doubles up after slipping below average

Finding one pip higher then your opponent is a great way to double up, and Team PokerStars Pro Andre “Aakkari” Akkari found himself with a sizable pre flop lead in this hand…

9:14pm-- Railbirds offering a different heads-up match with RaiNKhaN

idnt69 [observer]: khan ill play with you someday whats your highest rank on halo
Dryyyyy [observer]: khan ... 1v1 valhalla swords?????
Dryyyyy [observer]: and camo ???

The rail seemed to have picked up the Team PokerStars pro Hevad Khan’s affinity for Halo and offering a slightly different head-to-head battle versus the “let’s play for rolls” challenge. You can find Hevad chatting about is 25 tabling and video game player exploits at PokerStars.TV, follow the link to his videos and more on all of our Team PokerStars pros.

9pm -- The situation at the break

Level 9
Blinds 500/1000, antes 75
Average chip count: 41,578
Players remaining: 1768
First Prize: $452,086.50

1. TXSooner518 207,759
2. modaddy 166,919
3. Mary 717 166,813
4. voyager7o9 157,922
5. Jl3607 156,542
6. Skjervoy 150,461
7. Pipedream17 149,401
8. DrunknStupor 144,301
9. Strategovic 143,234
10. Maden2k 143,016

Team PokerStars Pros
Andre “Aakari”Akkari (59,813 in chips)
Alex “Allingomes” Gomes (38,621)
Luca Pagano (41,872)
Hevad “RaiNKhaN” Khan (25,070)
William Thorson (944,08)

Eliminated:
Barry “barryg1” Greenstein (2511st)
Bill Chen (2436th)
Blodders03 (2,879th)
Kongsgaard (2,886th)
Shaniac (2,907th)
Noah “Exclusive” Boeken (2,930th)
Marcin “Goral” Gorecki (2,934th)
Humberto “Humberto B.” Brenes (3,098th)

8.50pm -- Luca involved in a three-way pot and comes out the better for it

Well, he has more chips at least. Team PokerStarsPro Luca Pagano got in nearly half of his remaining stack with pocket kings pre-flop against two short stacks. See below just how he ended up after the climax...

8.40pm -- An affair to remember, RaiNKhaN finds trips jacks to nearly double his chips

Team PokerStarsPro Hevad “RaiNKhaN” Khan made a flat call of 2,400 after an UTG+1 raise from ZT Cattle, with Affairante in middle position squeezing Khan while raising 15,425 all-in. ZT Cattle abandoned ship, while Khan made the call leaving 6,840 in chips behind for a massive 34,450 chip pot.

Khan: Jc-Jd
Affairante: 8d-8s

The flop of 2s-Js-Th was a huge one for Khan and by the 6h on the turn Affairante was drawing dead. The Team PokerStars Pro moved back to over the average chips with 41,290, while Affairante busted in 2,256th place.

8.25pm -- Ah, the hottie avatars will draw you in… then take all your chips

Currently sitting 16th in chips on table 574 is someone familiar with the username “VietCutie”. No doubt to the attractiveness of her picture and sizable chip stack. She has quite a history on PokerStars with a victory in the daily $100 with re-buys good for $36,450 and last year nearly making the final table of the WCOOP main event, bowing out in 15th place for $41,222.

8.10pm -- Antes coming up as modaddy leads the pack

Level 8 in 15 minutes will bring the antes into play as we move into hour four of the tournament. Currently with blinds at 400/800 the average is hovering around 30,000 chips with modaddy from San Jose sitting on top with 147,579.

Close behind sitting in 3rd with 117,395 in chip is 2006 WCOOP Event #12 final tablist mrrain. See the final table report from PokerStarsBlog here.

7.50pm -- The situation at the break

Level 7
Blinds 400/800, antes 50
Average chip count: 27,398
Players remaining: 2,678
First Prize: $452,086.50

1. NemoStars22 118172
2. A_Fausto_A 117497
3. Mrrain 112395
4. Mokers 109850
5. Skjervoy 107723
6. PiS.ToTo 104158
7. Gobblerthree 103209
8. TXSooner518 101839
9. Golfinn3 101735
10. Dw2006 101639

Team PokerStars Pros
Andre “Aakari”Akkari (63,727 in chips)
Barry “barryg1” Greenstein (46,000)
Bill Chen (12,712)
Alex “Allingomes” Gomes (42,177)
Bertrand “ElkY” Grosspellier
Luca Pagano (59,388)
Hevad “RaiNKhaN” Khan (16,265)
William Thorson (61,434)

Eliminated:
Blodders03 (2,879th)
Kongsgaard (2,886th)
Shaniac (2,907th)
Noah “Exclusive” Boeken (2,930th)
Marcin “Goral” Gorecki (2,934th)
Humberto “Humberto B.” Brenes (3,098th)
THE_D_RY (3,121th)
Josh prager (3,125th)
Lee “LeeNelson” Nelson (3769th)
Alex Kravchenko (3905th)
Tom McEvoy (4029th)
Victor Ramdin (4942nd)
Greg “FossilMan” Raymer (5388th)
Chad “ ChadBrownPRO” Brown (5685th)
Ray Rahme (5948th)
John Duthie (6207th)
Isabelle “No Mercy”Mercier (6335th)
Vanessa “Lady Maverick” Rousso (6526th)
Dario Minieri (6818th)
Chris “Money800” Moneymaker (6848th)
Katja Thater (7158th)

7.40pm -- Aces cracked sends Exclusive into hiding

The turn call from former Sunday Million final tablist iso_o with almost 16,000 chips in the pot was fine, but with the seven of clubs on the turn, left the Team PokerStars Pro looking for some hope on the river...

7.30pm -- Giant leaps of the William kind

We’ve been keeping track of William Thorson today because wherever and whenever he plays there tends to follow a streak of excitement. Today has been no exception.

As reported earlier despite being down to just a few grand he bounced back with avengence. He’s now racing towards the leaders with moe than 50K thanks to two particular hands; the first for a 40K pot...

Then this one for close to 30K thanks to a pair of jacks...

7.20pm – Greenstein marches on

No one really expected one bad hand to knock a player like Barry Greenstein off of his game. He was quickly making up for lost chips with a pot worth more than 10,000.

With Greenstein in the big blind and the action folded around to Von Anka on the button, Anka made it 1,200 before Greenstein upped that to 7,400 in total. With just a few chips short of 4,000 Anka immediately pushed in and with 26,000 behind Greenstein called.

A board of Jc-6c-Qd-7h-Jd was good to the Team PokerStars Pro who held Qc-9h. But it was the end of the things for Von Anka, eliminated holding Ad-Th. Greenstein back up to 37,823.

7.15pm -- No rest for the recent 2008 WCOOP bracelet winner cwp394

After a 16 hour marathon that ended this morning, winner of Event #3 $215 Limit Hold Em’ WCOOP bracelet, cwp394 can be found back at it today. With blinds at 200/400 he is currently at table 806 with 15,025 in chips and looking for further improve on his massive $73,385 win.

7.05pm – PokerStars ambassador still on for a perfect game

Baseball pitchers are known for using brute strength and speed or the craftiness of picking corners with changeups. All those tools are in use today for PokerStars sports ambassador Orel Hershiser as he approached hour three with nearly double the average chips at 31,523 with blinds sitting at 200/400.

7pm -- Greenstein grounded by ace-queen

Minutes after the break and into level five Team PokerStars Pro Barry Greenstein had a slight setback after an impressive start which had seen him up to 44,000...

6:50pm-- End of hour two chip counts

Level 5
Blinds 200/400
Average chip count: 16,092
Players remaining: 4,567
First Prize: $452,086.50

Team PokerStars Pros:

Andre “Aakari”Akkari (28,304 in chips)
Barry “barryg1” Greenstein (42,333)
Bill Chen (17,956)
Alex “Allingomes” Gomes (40,027)
Noah “Exclusive” Boeken (35,240)
Marcin “Goral” Gorecki (8,879)
Humberto “Humberto B” Brenes (19,817)
Alex Kravchenko (7,535)
Lee “LeeNelson” Nelson (17,176)
Luca Pagano (32,175)
Hevad “RaiNKhaN” Khan (26,500)
Tom McEvoy (7,975)
William Thorson (22,340)

Eliminated:
Victor Ramdin (4942th)
Greg “FossilMan” Raymer (5388th)
Chad “ ChadBrownPRO” Brown (5685th)
Ray Rahme (5948th)
Bertrand “ElkY” Grosspellier (6110th)
John Duthie (6207th)
Isabelle “No Mercy”Mercier (6335th)
Vanessa “Lady Maverick” Rousso (6526th)
Dario Minieri (6818th)
Chris “Money800” Moneymaker (6848th)
Katja Thater (7158th)

6:46pm-- Bad news for William Thorson's table after a double up

If you watch William Thorson play in a live event he’s clearly a dominant force at any table he plays. Well, you get the same impression watching him online.

Despite at one stage being down to less than 4,000 his stack now measures in excess of 22,000 thanks to a 22k pot against blodders03.

Folded to Thorson in the cut off, he made it 900 to go with blodders03 the only caller from the big blind. On a flop of Kh-Kc-3c blodders03 came out firing, making it 3,500 which Thorson called. blodders03 had bet 7,300 almost before the turn card 6s appeared onscreen with Thorson wasting no time in calling with the last of his stack. All-in it was no or never.

There can be few sights in the game better than seeing your aces hold up, and that’s exactly what happened for Thorson. Blodders03 turned over 4c-6h which even the river card 2c couldn’t improve.
A big haul for Thorson now looking even mightier, his stack up to 22,340.

6:36pm-- Big stack moves in on Exclusive’s table

Noah “Exclusive” Boeken was enjoying the table chip lead until second in chips jahwise decided to drop by and immediate tangled with the Team PokerStars Pro. After calling Exclusive’s 900 chip raise in the big blind with blinds at 150/300, jahwise checked the Jc-Jd-Qd flop, Boeken followed thru with a continuation bet for 900 which was check-raised by jahwise to 3167 total.

Check-check on the third jack of hearts falling on the turn, and a bet of 4867 on the river Ac by jahwise brought a call from Boeken.

jahwise flipped up the flopped boat of Queen full of Jacks (Qh-Qs) while Exclusive mucked his hand and fell to 30,991 in chips while jahwise shot near the top of the leaderboard with 70,367.

6:29pm-- End of the road for Chad Brown

The end was not long in coming for Chad Brown after the 8K pot he’d lost a few moments before. In the very next hand Brown, now in the small blind, watched as two limpers joined the pot and saw the 6d-Kd-9h flop.

Brown checked and it was str8flushin5 in the big blind betting first, 600 which was called by littlela in middle position. With the button folding it was back to Brown who instantly re-raised, a total of 2,200. Str8flushin5 folded but littlela called for a turn card Tc.

Now Brown moved all-in. It was 6,020 for his opponent to call, which he did, showing Ad-9d to beat Brown’s Kh-Qs and send the Team PokerStars Pro out of the tournament in level 3.

6:21pm-- Sets are gold, Team PokerStars Pro William Thorson adds to his stack

William Thorson is still firing, despite earlier setbacks. He just saw off one opponent to give his own stack a welcome boost....

6:18pm-- Recent notable eliminations:

Ray Rahme in 5948th
John Duthie in 6207th
2007 WCOOP Main Event champ “ka$ino” in 6246th

6:10pm – Brown loses a few but still in the black

Chad Brown in the big blind. The action returned to him after a bet of 500 by L1 Y1NG in middle position sat with nearly 14,000. Brown has roughly the same and called for a flop of 9c-7h-Th. L1 Y1NG made it 600 this time, re-raised by Brown 1,800 in total. Both players checked the Qd on the turn to see the river card 4c. A big bet by Brown, 3,400 making for a pot just over 8,000.

“QJ?” asked L1 Y1NG.

Brown kept quiet. Y1NG called showing Td-Js, good for the pot with the Team PokerStars Pro showing Ad-8s, down now to 8,420.

6:01pm-- Team PokerStars Pro Ray Rahme is out

Short stacked and needed chips to start making a run at the money today, Team PokerStars Pro Ray Rahme needed chips but unfortunately found himself a little behind in this hand...

5:45pm-- End of first hour, Noah "Exclusive" Boeken in the top ten

Level 3
Blinds 100/200
Average chip count: 11,297
Players remaining: 6,507
First Prize: $452,086.50

1. Batera 43,350
2. Mokers 40,885
3. billusnail 39,875
4. buck21 39,649
5. ssonyboy 38,150
6. wmdbaker 38,150
7. Exclusive 38,125
8. caprioli 38,000
9. helstokk 37,470
10. matt0278 36,665

Team PokerStars Pros:

Andre “Aakari”Akkari
Barry “barryg1” Greenstein
Bill Chen
Chad “ ChadBrownPRO” Brown
Alex “Allingomes” Gomes
Bertrand “ElkY” Grosspellier
Noah “Exclusive” Boeken
Greg “FossilMan” Raymer
Marcin “Goral” Gorecki
Humberto “Humberto B” Brenes
John Duthie
Lee “LeeNelson” Nelson
Luca Pagano
Hevad “RaiNKhaN” Khan
Ray Rahme
Tom McEvoy
Victor Ramdin
William Thorson

Eliminated:

Isabelle “No Mercy”Mercier (6335th)
Vanessa “Lady Maverick” Rousso (6526th)
Dario Minieri (6818th)
Chris “Money800” Moneymaker (6848th)
Katja Thater (7158th)

5.28pm – Different story for Victor

Whilst his fellow Team PokerStars Pro Dario Minieri succumbing to an early all-in against pocket nines, Bronx man Victor Ramdin had a different story on table 776, getting the better of it against P0ker D0h, to the tune of a 14,492 pot...

5:26pm-- Late Registration is now closed, line up for the huge payouts

We’ll be paying out 1080 places today in this $530 event. If you burst the bubble you’ll receive at least $735.10 but should you make the final table, check out the huge amounts below…

1. $452,086.50
2. $306,169.15
3. $205,828.00
4. $169,073.00
5. $132,318.00
6. $95,563.00
7. $64,321.25
8. $42,268.25
9. $25,728.50

But, be prepared to sit for awhile as the final table is most likely 15 hours away.

5.15pm – Trouble in store for Minieri

When Team PokerStars Pro Dario Minieri plays a hand the poker world watches. At least that’s what it felt like a few moments ago. After losing a few thousand in the opening stages Minieri found himself tangling with macck100 with a disappointing outcome for the young Italian, busted in the second level of the day...

5:10pm-- Orel Hershiser showed his heads-up chops on TV, now see if he’s got the online game

PokerStars player Orel Hershiser is looking to strike out a few fellow players today as he takes to the tables with over 7,000 others in search of a massive $450K+ first place prize for the winner today. Hershiser is joined by a number of sports celebrity ambassadors such as Wimbledon champ Borris Becker and hockey all-star Mats Sundin.

4.55pm – Friendly flops

A hit for William Thorson early on but the best players can always find a way back, as he just demonstrated...

4:52pm-- Always interesting to wonder who’s behind the name

Is it really him? Right now billionaire real estate mogul DonaldTrump could be playing out on table 258. Will he shout “YOU’RE FIRED!” with choice words about his opponents play after each bust out?

That’s the advantage to playing poker, as long as you have the buy-in, everyone is welcome to join in on the fun.

4.45pm – Fourteen flashes and fold

We’re underway in Event 6 with blinds in this first level set at 25/50. On table 86 sits one of the new boys to Team PokerStars Pro, Sweden’s William Thorson. Anyone thinking that the opening hands of a two day event like this bring only small pots would be way off the mark here with a big pot quickly taking shape between Thorson and chippoman.

Both had most of their original 10,000 starting stack with Thorson on the button and chippoman in the big blind. It was folded to Thorson who raised to 150 with chippoman the only caller to see a 4c-Qc-6c flop.

Checked to Thorson, he bet 250 which was called. The Js on the turn and again Thorson came out betting after it was checked to him, 550 now. This time though his volley of fire was returned with prejudice, a raise back to the Swede of more than 1,305, a total of 1,855. Thorson called for the river card, 9h.

No checking this time, chippoman pushed in, 6,925 leaving Thorson with the decision to make. I counted 14 flashes of the Thorson avatar, then a fold. An early hit for the new boy.

4:41pm-- Joining us for the party today

A parade of Team PokerStars Pros will be playing today. If you ever wonder where to find the pros, simply select the "request" tab in the main lobby, then choose "Find a Team PokerStars Pro" from the drop down and volia!

Andre Akkari, Barry Greenstein,Bill Chen, Chad Brown, Dario Minieri, Alex Gomes, ElkY, Noah Boeken, Greg Raymer, Marcin Gorecki, Humberto Brenes, John Duthie, Katja Thater, Vanessa Rousso, Lee Nelson, Luca Pagano, Chris Moneymaker, Isabelle Mercier, Hevad Khan, Ray Rahme, Tom McEvoy, Victor Ramdin and William Thorson.

For the bios on your favorite Team PokerStars Pro, follow this link to the PokerStars.com Team PokerStars Pro's page

8:28am--WCOOP Event #6 $530 No-Limit Hold'em begins at 4:30ET

What a sad day. No Sunday Million to keep us occupied. But wait! How about a Sunday Three Million? That's right. WCOOP Event #6, $530 No-Limit Hold'em, has a $3 million guarantee. The two-day event kicks off at 4:30pm ET. We'll cover the whole thing here. Join us then.