Some people are eating a lot of junk food and rolling around in banana-flavored marshmallow cream (that's just me, I think). And then there is Team Online's Andrew Brokos, who has turned to poetry. He penned this on his personal blog and graciously allowed us to reprint it here. Enjoy.

An Ode to WCOOP

Three weeks gone by and thousands spent,

I fled my homeland for this event,

matched wits with the pros and the keyboard droolers,

but fell to a series of beats and coolers.

Pay attention, friends! Don't let those eyelids droop,

as I sing to you of my WCOOP.

On September 4th, bright and fresh,

I sat to find Liv Boeree on my left.

Immediately my equity took a dive,

without the benefits of meeting her live!

Nothing doing, quickly busted.

Have my long-dormant skills have gone rusted?

Another 6-max, another chance for Yahtzee,

Another seating draw beat, as I met with Raaszi.

He 4-bet shoved, my Queens held out,

and that was the end of de heer Veldhuis.

I ran over the table, never let up,

got down to two, and crushed it heads up.

Second table the same, got it heads up again,

but he made Kings and Queens, when I had Queens and Tens.

'Twas was not the end of the sweat for me,

a player I backed was heads up at table 3!

But the bad beat fairy was right on track,

And he bubbled the final table Ace-King to Ace-Jack.

The $1K no limit proved a dud,

and I got no help in the triple stud.

Ante Up is loads of fun,

until you get run down by the calling station.

I cashed the Razz, whiffed the 6-max,

Got the only river I couldn't bluff for stacks.

Five hundred no limit, ran up a stack,

lost it all to two gin cards, back to back.

In my next event, I chose to ignore

The way people play at a table of four,

bet and raised and like a klutz,

bluffed my stack into the nuts.

It's fun trying games you don't usually play,

a chance to run bad in whole new ways!

Not just beat but scooped, quartered and snowed!

I got Razzed and then I got PLO'ed.

Eight games sounds like so much fun,

but really it's eight times the bad ways to run.

And lest my spirits feel too jaunty,

Lady Luck found a cruel new way to taunt me.

I staked a player who won an event-

Surely such luck was Heaven-sent!

But wait, our deal was for no-limit, all.

He won his bracelet in triple draw.

I persevered, could not be routed!

Cashed the 200 rebuy, then got 3-outed.

In 8-game my third draw did not deliver.

Undeterred I check-raise bluffed the river!

Thirteen remaining, final table in site!

Made trips in Stud, but the draw won that night.

Five hundred heads up, won the first match first hand.

Second guy barreled off, but I made my stand.

Third round was costly but plenty of fun,

'till I gave all my chips to buck21.

My heads up luck was pretty squalid.

No money there; everyone's solid.

My 29th birthday came and went;

'twas nine long hours at the tables spent.

A five hundred rebuy and a PLO8?

Ice cream and cake will have to wait.

Ask luck for a present and what do I get?

Wrapped and delivered, 'twas set under set!

Bad luck? Bad play? All of the above,

lost two different stacks on thin value shoves.

Then the event I final tabled last year,

had him trapped 'till he turned a second pair.

Top pair and nut draw, what can you do?

Bound to lose it all when he's got top two.

Despair not, friends, and dry your eyes.

The Main Event approaches; deliverance is nigh!

One last chance for a million dollar prize.

It's that or my online bankroll's demise.

Hundreds of runners, hundreds of wishes,

hundreds of sharks, hundreds of fishes.

I woke Sunday morning with the will to crush,

a great table draw, and an early rush.

Trips, a set, full house turning gin,

and suddenly I'm chipleader, four hours in!

With the weak players out, the table got tougher,

The pots got bigger, the action got rougher.

'Twas a great time for cards but I couldn't catch any.

Thankfully I've got short-stack skills a-plenty.

3-bet, shove, push chips around,

Run up a stack with no showdown.

Then my raises got 3-bet, I got no traction.

Finally picked up Aces, but this time no action.

19 big blinds, 1 hour left in the day,

30 players to go until we got paid.

Card-dead for hours it's a beautiful thing

to finally look down at an Ace and a King.

I welcomed a flip, but there'd be no races,

my big Slick ran into a pair of Aces.

12 hours of play, was it worth all the trouble?

A fitting end to my series, to cooler and bubble.

So much misfortune, it hardly seems fair,

though I've got to admit, the opportunity was there.

Despite all the misery, pain, and despair,

I can't wait to do it all again next year!

So, Gordon stepped out the door of his apartment with garbage bag in hand like he had done hundreds of times since moving in. A garbage shoot wasn't far from his front door, so it was a simple procedure. Step out, toss the bag in the shoot, walk back in and register for WCOOP Event #8, a Triple Stud tourney. Nothing could be simpler.

If it hadn't been for that damned light, everything would've worked to plan. It was there, unexpectedly, on the door of the trash shoot.

"I have never seen this light on before," Gordon said. "It surprised me."

Just like poker, a moment of distraction can change the world. You miss that tell your opponent has when he has a strong hand. You miss the size of a bet. A pretty girl walks by and you don't hear your opponent say all-in before you call light. Or, a light appears on the garbage shoot door. Distraction is a sniper's bullet fired from a mile away.

The slam of this Barcelona distraction didn't sound like a bullet crack, or garbage sliding down a metal shoot, or the niggling little PokerStars alarm. No, this distraction sounded like a door closing. The door to an apartment. The locked door to Joel Adam Gordon's apartment behind which sat his keys, his phone, and the computer with which he intended to register for Event #8 of the 2011 WCOOP. What could be worse?

"It gets a little bit worse," Gordon said.

Anyone who walked by at that point would've seen the young man standing there by the garbage shoot wearing no more than a pair of boxer shorts and some flip-flops. The Barcelona sea breeze wasn't warm that day, my friends.

Gordon expected his brother to come by at some point with his key to the flat, but Gordon didn't know when. An hour passed as Gordon thought about missing Event #7. Another hour passed as he stood there shivering in his underwear and knowing Event #8 was coming up. A thought occurred to him.

"Locked out with no phone is never good, but locked out with just flip-flops and boxer shorts is pretty terrible on the day of a WCOOP event," he said.

Gordon cursed his distraction. He cursed the breeze. He cursed the fact his brother still hadn't come by. Finally, three hours into the naked ordeal, a savior.

"My brother saved me from being literally locked out of the Triple Stud Event that went on to be so important," Gordon said. "I don't think there was anyone who followed the WCOOP quest as closely as him."

That quest began simply enough. Gordon wanted to make the top ten on the 2011 WCOOP leaderboard. Getting locked out so early in the series would've made that hard, especially since Gordon went on to put on his pants and win the Triple Stud event that night.

What began on that evening in Barcelona went on to make Gordon a star. Not only did he win the WCOOP bracelet that night, he followed it up with ten total cashes and four final table finishes. WCOOP radio (both the English and Spanish versions) were calling to have him on the show. The PokerStars Blog was hounding him. Gordon realized that top ten just wasn't going to do anymore. He wanted to win. He started seeing his chiropractor more, a man happy to work on a successful "virtual athlete." Gordon was as focused as he had ever been.

It paid off in the closest of all possible races.

When all the points had been counted after the main event finished, Gordon had 295 points on the leaderboard. The problem was this: so did Canada's Big_Nemo.

There was more than just pride on the line. The winner of the Player of the Series trophy was guaranteed these prizes:

It came down to a tie-breaker.

According to the Player of the Series rules, in the event of a tie, the winner would be determined by who won the most money over the course of the series. Big_Nemo had grossed $49,174.10.

Gordon won... $96,097.55.

And the Player of the Series title.

Gordon is a gracious man. He wants to thank everybody. The radio hosts. The PokerStars Blog. His chiropractor. His brother. In the end, however, Gordon did it himself. That didn't stop him, however, from sharing a thought he discussed with this brother.

"Maybe I should do this routine of being locked out for a while before all the WCOOP events!" he said.

Congrats, Joel, on an amazing 2011 WCOOP performance. Now, go buy yourself an extra key to hide outside your flat. It may just come in handy during the 2012 Spring Championship of Online Poker.

Brought to you by the good people of PokerStars.tv, with the bubbly Nick Wealthall as commentator, you'll be able to grasp just what it takes to win the world's largest online poker tournament.

Enjoy!

But he won't leave.

Pedersen will be the last man standing, the last of his friends to go home, no matter where they are. It's compulsive. He knows no other way to be.

"I cannot miss out on anything," he explained.

It's this story Pedersen tells when offered the chance to say anything he wants about himself. He doesn't first offer anything about poker or his life outside it. He wants you to know only this: he'll be the last man standing. It's not so much a fierce competitive drive as much as the simple need to see everything to its end. To miss out on nothing.

This, perhaps, could go a long way toward explaining how Pedersen battled his way through more than 1,600 people, nearly all of whom had put up some equivalent of $5,200, for the title to the world's biggest online poker event of the the year. Early this morning, Pedersen (known to most on PokerStars as Kallllle) won $1,260,018.50 and the 2011 WCOOP main event title.

"This victory is the greatest you can achieve online," he said. "Together with the money, the prestige and the bracelet, this is a special feeling."

At age 15, Pedersen found his first job. He was a dishwasher in a cafe. The head chef took a liking to him.

"He insisted that I should have a nickname," Pedersen said, "which turned out to be Kalle."

It never made sense to Pedersen. Kalle was just the name of a former employee, and it didn't seem like much of a good nickname at all. Before long, all his co-workers were calling him Kalle. By the time he started playing poker, the name had stuck.

That start in poker came seven years ago when Pedersen started playing parttime. Three years later, he made the game his job. He focused on Pot-Limit Omaha and made some pretty big scores. He hit once online for sixty grand. He scored $80,000 live.

But never anything like this morning. Never $1.2 million.

Since then he's tried to wrap his head around the whole prospect of becoming an instant star. Sitting in his home in the seaside city of Aarhus, Denmark, Pedersen can't even figure out what to do with that kind of money. The best he can come up with 12 hours after seeing the cash appear in his poker account is maybe he'll invest in some property. Maybe. Who knows? He's a millionaire now, and he wasn't one 24 hours ago. Thats some heady stuff.

It all happened so quickly. It took him just two days to go from poker grinder to millionaire, to champion, to the talk of the poker world. It's enough to go to one's head.

"Well, now I am officially online world champion," he said with a smile. "So, the next step must be the live world champion."

Maybe so. Maybe it will happen. What's to stop it, anyway? After all, Pedersen isn't just a poker player. He isn't just the World Champion of Online Poker. He is a man that refuses to miss out on anything. That is, is given the chance, he will be the last man standing.

Every time.

Back when Chris Moneymaker was still an accountant, Joe Hachem was a chiropractor, and the World Series of Poker still fit in Benny's Bullpen, the WCOOP was born. There were only nine events, the Main Event buy-in was $1,000, and most of this year's field was still in middle school. Nine years later, well... it's a different world. Put it this way-- tonight's second-place finisher took home more than the combined prize pool of the 2002 WCOOP across all events.

Like the Cole Porter song says, times have changed.

Someone would come away from the 2011 WCOOP Main Event a new millionaire. And with 176 players still in contention after a full day of play, it was still anyone's game. That anyone turned out to be Thomas "Kallllle" Pedersen, a young Dane who broke free from the middle of the pack to put a stranglehold on the chip lead. After entering the final table with a giant lead, Kallllle put on a dominating performance, knocking out six of his eight opponents en route to a seven-figure score and his first WCOOP bracelet.

Following a 12-hour break, Day 2 commenced with each of the 176 remaining players guaranteed at least $13,422.75 for their efforts. The vast majority of the $8,135,000 prize pool was still up for grabs, with $1,464,300 set aside for first place.

Au revoir, ElkY

Of the four Team PokerStars Pros who advanced to Day 2, Bertrand "ElkY" Grospellier arrived with the shortest stack. Half an hour into play, the action folded around to the Frenchman on the button and he moved all-in for his last 12.5 big blinds with [Qs][9d]. Log1c007 was quick to reshove from the small blind, folding out takechip in the big. Although ElkY picked up a straight draw on the [Js][8d][3h] flop, log1c007's [As][Td] held up, the board double-pairing threes and jacks to end ElkY's run in 135th place. ElkY would later make an appearance at the final table, albeit as its host.

Gboro780 gutted, 2FLY2TILT wins Player of the Series

Only one man could separate Joel Adam "2FLY2TILT" Gordon from first place on the 2011 WCOOP Tournament Leader Board. Steve "gboro780" Gross would dethrone Gordon if he finished second or better in the Main Event, but his tournament came to an end quite early on Day 2. Gross three-bet shoved for his last 17 big blinds with pocket queens, but lost the race to frshman067's [As][Kd] to bust in 122nd place and lock up Player of the Series honors for Gordon. What does he earn for this sparkling achievement? How about more than $40,000 in tournament prize packages including an EPT Season 8 Grand Final package, a 2012 PCA package, and a SCOOP Main Event ticket. The trophy isn't bad-looking either. And the chip set is pretty snazzy too.

Team Pros fall, Petersen last red spade standing

Matthias De Muelder bowed out in 110th, and Johnny Lodden busted in 102nd place when his pocket jacks couldn't hold against [As][Ks], leaving Eugene Katchalov as the last Team PokerStars Pro in the Main Event. Katchalov, who earlier in the day finished runner-up in the $10,300 High Roller 8-Game event, went out in disappointing fashion, getting his money in with pocket kings on a [Jd][9h][3d] flop against Runninggreat's [Ad][Js]. The turn blanked with the [5c], but Runninggreat proved true to his name on the river, catching the [As] to eliminate Katchalov in 66th place.

Mickey "mement_mori" Petersen had a red spade placed next to his name only a couple of weeks ago and more than proved his mettle in this year's WCOOP with eight cashes and a final table appearance in Event #24 ($320 Stud). He also won the unofficial Team Online last-longer, grinding his way to a 52nd place finish. Petersen called WhySoSrsSon's four-bet shove holding [Ac][Kc] only to run right into [Ad][Ah]. The [As][7s][7d] flop sealed up the hand and Petersen departed with a $22,788 payday.

Chan, Stern sunk on the river

With two WCOOP and one SCOOP title already on his C.V., Terrence "Unassigned" Chan knows something about making final tables. Unfortunately for the poker pro and budding MMA fighter, he got extremely unlucky when his opponent rivered a set of eights against Chan's top pair to eliminate him in 36th place.

2 Months 2 Million star Dani "supernova9" Stern also saw his Main Event run come to an end via a devastating river card. Stern had a successful start to Day 2, moving into the chip lead within the first two levels of play and remained near the top of the pack for most of the day. When he picked up [Ad][Kd], Stern's three-bet successfully induced a shove from the aggressive Vojta_R. Stern quickly called and was do doubt delighted to be up against [7h][9h], but the board cruelly ran out [2c][4h][Qc][Jh][Kh], Vojta_R rivering a flush to eliminate Stern in 13th place.

The rise of Kallllle

With three tables remaining, Kallllle was just another guy with 45 big blinds, an average stack looking to go bigger. After picking up pocket tens in this hand against table big stack shuriken555, his stack climbed over the million-chip mark:

Fifteen minutes later, he moved up to 2.4 million after turning an ace-high flush and value-betting it to perfection, pilfering shuriken555's stack even further. 2.6 million became 3.78 when his [Ac][Js] rivered two pair after getting his money in against kwil20's [Ad][Ks] on a [Ah][Th][9c] flop. Soon thereafter, Kallllle picked up pocket aces and check-shoved on a king-high flop, Rekrampas making the call with [Ac][Ks]. The overpair held, and Rekrampas went out in 18th place while Kallllle moved up to 4.7 million.

By the time the field was thinned to 11, Kallllle was comforatbly in the chip lead with 5.3 million What a better time to flop quad tens?

Already up to 7.7 million, Kallllle picked up his largest pot yet when he eliminated huiiiiiiiiii in 11th place. All the money went in preflop, Kallllle six-bet shoving with [Ah][Qs] and huiiiiiiiiii calling off his remaining 2.26 million with pocket tens. Kallllle whiffed the flop but turned an ace, his chip count rocketing up to 10.7 million as the final table bubble loomed.

LoneHixx eliminated in 10th, final table set

LoneHixx had a bit less than 20 big blinds when he picked up pocket nines and three-bet shoved over Vojta_R's 120,000 opening min-raise. Vojta_R quickly called with pocket queens, leaving LoneHixx with less than a 20% chance of survival. Indeed the queens held up, the board running out [Jh][Js][3c][Ks][6h] to eliminate LoneHixx in tenth place and send the remaining nine players to the final table, each of them now guaranteed more than $81,000 for their two days of work.

Kallllle still held a dominant lead with more than double the chips of second-place Vojta_R as the final table got underway:

Seat 1: Vojta_R (5,011,956 in chips)
Seat 2: dan82mur (2,658,423 in chips)
Seat 3: BackDoorovic (4,495,888 in chips)
Seat 4: Kallllle (11,178,222 in chips)
Seat 5: OU THE NICK (2,154,581 in chips)
Seat 6: VadziMoney (1,422,861 in chips)
Seat 7: WhySoSrsSon (3,039,785 in chips)
Seat 8: jle90 (1,353,647 in chips)
Seat 9: goleafsgoeh (1,224,637 in chips)

Kallllle crushes souls, KOs dan82mur and OU THE NICK

Fifteen minutes in, dan82mur opened for a min-raise to 160,000 and Kallllle came over the top, three-betting to 354,678. Dan82mur decided to go with his [Ac][Td] and shoved for 2.22 million total, Kallllle making the call with [As][Ks]. Dan82mur's dominated hand did not improve, and Kallllle claimed his first scalp of the final table, sending dan82mur home in ninth place with an $81,350 score.

Short-stacked since there were 20 players remaining, goleafsgoeh was almost the next player out the door, open-shoving with [Ac][2s] and getting a call from Vojta_R with [As][Jd]. The [Qh][8s][3c] flop was no help for our Canadian friend, but the [2d] hit the turn to pair his kicker. The river was the [7h] and goleafsgoeh staved off elimination and raked in the 2.05 million pot. Instead, OU THE NICK was the next to go after getting the rest of his stack in the middle preflop with [Kd][Qc] against Kallllle's pocket nines. An eight-high board gave the 3.8 million pot to Kallllle, and OU THE NICK had to settle for eighth place. That was good enough for a six-figure payday, $122,025 zooming its way into his Stars account.

On the very next deal, Vojta_R opened for 166,666 and VadziMoney three-bet to 311,777 on the button. WhySoSrsSon folded the small blind and jle90 cold four-bet from the big blind, moving all-in for 1,346,147. Vojta_R said no thanks, but VadziMoney happily called with pocket aces. Jle90's pocket tens picked up an open-ended straight draw on the turn when the board read [8c][2s][9c][Js], but he couldn't get there on the river, the [Jd] falling to send him home in seventh place.

With six players remaining, Kallllle controlled more than half the chips in play with 16.4 million. VadziMoney was in second with 4.46 million, followed by Vojta_R (3.62 million), BackDoorovic (3.02 million), WhySoSrsSon (3.01 million) and goleafsgoeh (2.03 million).

Deal me in

Kallllle the wrecking ball's next victim was WhySoSrsSon, who four-bet shoved preflop with pocket jacks only to run into Kallllle's pocket kings. WhySoSrsSon found no help on the board and exited in sixth place, his slice of the pie totaling $222,085.50. His elimination inspired the five remaining players to broach the subject of a deal, Kallllle's stack towering over his four opponents at nearly 18.9 million.

The action was paused for nearly an hour as the quintet hammered out what was more or less an ICM chop, leaving $100,000 and the WCOOP bracelet on the table for the eventual winner. Here's a look at the chip counts when the action was paused, along with the payouts they negotiated:

Kallllle (18,829,721) - $1,160,018.50
VadziMoney (4,764,979) - $750,000
Vojta_R (3,792,043) - $710,000
BackDoorovic (3,092,983) - $650,000
goleafsgoeh (2,060,274) - $560,000

VadziMoney out in fifth, BackDoorovic busts in fourth

When the action resumed, BackDoorovic almost immediately doubled through Kallllle, his [As][2s] catching an ace on the turn against Kallllle's pocket nines. A few orbits later it was goleafsgoeh's turn to double, his pocket tens holding up against Kallllle's pocket sevens to take him up to 4 million in chips. Goleafsgoeh kept his foot on the gas and called a preflop four-bet from Kallllle, only to shove over his continuation bet on the [Ks][Th][8s] flop. Kallllle conceded the pot and goleafsgoeh moved up to 6.2 million. Unfortunately for him, most of those chips ended up in Vojta_R's stack when goleafsgoeh lost an 8.9 million chip coinflip, his [Ad][Qc] falling to [9d][9c].

VadziMoney, however, was the next to fall. Kallllle opened for 200,000 from UTG, VadziMoney three-bet to 420,000 and Kallllle came back over the top, moving all-in for 11.5 million. VadziMoney made the call, his [Tc][Td] a strong favorite over Kallllle's [Ac][5c]. The [Qh][9h][2h] flop looked good. So did the [4d] on the turn. But this is Kallllle we're talking about. And when you're in the middle of a run like his, it's practically a given that the [Ah] will hit the river. VadziMoney bowed out in fifth place, his $750,000 payday the second-largest share of the Main Event prize pool thanks to the five-handed deal.

Four minutes later, BackDoorovic opened for 200,000 and was met with a 423,467 three-bet from Kallllle. BackDoorovic called and they saw a [Js][Td][8d] flop. BackDoorovic checked, Kallllle bet 657,432, and BackDoorovic raised to 1.4 million. Kallllle took a few seconds to think before pushing all-in for 15.2 million and BackDoorovic, perhaps informed by Kallllle's light shove against VadziMoney, made the call with [Ks][Jd] for top pair. This time, however, Kallllle had the goods, turning over [As][Ad]. The [7d] turned and the [Qd] rivered, Kallllle making an ace-high flush to eliminate BackDoorovic in fourth place.

Goleafsgoeh eliminated in third place

Goleafsgoeh was truly the short-stack ninja of the tournament, maneuvering his way to a top three finish when it looked like he might not even clear the final 18. With the blinds up to 50,000/100,000 and 1.56 million remaining, goleafsgoeh four-bet shoved preflop with [Ad][Qh], but got a call from Vojta_R, who turned up [As][Kc]. Goleafsgoeh couldn't pull out one last miracle despite turning an open-ended straight draw, the board running out [Th][Jd][3c][9h][9s] to end his run in third place. It was a brilliant series for goleafsgoeh, who won a bracelet in Event #27 ($320 Badugi) and made nine cashes totaling over $589,000 to finish in 8th place on the WCOOP TLB.

Kallllle closes it out

Kallllle took almost a 2 to 1 chip lead into heads-up play:

Seat 1: Vojta_R (11,141,617 in chips)
Seat 4: Kallllle (21,398,383 in chips)

With over 100 big blinds in his stack, Vojta_R could afford to take his time against Kallllle. Small-ball was the name of the game and after twenty minutes of play, the counts had hardly moved. Kallllle got things rolling again when he five-bet preflop and got Vojta_R to fold, then picked up a 4.5 million pot when his [Td][4h] flopped top pair and turned two pair. Kallllle's stack climbed to 25.4 million, and this hand widened the gap even further. After flopping top pair, Kallllle let Vojta_R do his bidding for him, check-calling every post-flop street:

Five minutes later, all the chips were in the middle. Vojta_R opened for a min-raise to 280,000, Kallllle three-bet to 698,765, and Vojta_R shoved for his remaining 3.53 million. Kallllle made the call with [As][Th] and Vojta_R turned up pocket threes. It was all but over when Kallllle hit top pair on the [Ts][9h][2d] flop, leaving Vojta_R drawing only to two outs. The turn was the [5d] and the river was one pip too many, the [4h] falling to give Kallllle the hand, the pot, the WCOOP Main Event title, and $1,260,018.50 in earnings. For his runner-up finish, Vojta_R collected $710,000.

After 23 days, 62 events, and more than $47 million in prize money distributed, that is all she wrote for the 2011 WCOOP. From all of us at the PokerStars Blog, a hearty congratulations to all of this year's bracelet winners, and our hats go off to Kallllle for putting on a clinic in power poker at the Main Event final table.

Only seven months until SCOOP! Get those grind cribs ready.

2011 WCOOP Main Event ($5,200 NLHE) results

1. Thomas "Kallllle" Pedersen (Denmark) $1,260,018.50*
2. Vojta "Vojta_R" Ruzicka (Czech Republic) $710,000.00*
3. Mike "goleafsgoeh" Leah (Canada) $560,000.00*
4. BackDoorovic (Sweden) $650,000.00*
5. VadziMoney (Belarus) $750,000.00*
6. WhySoSrsSon (United Kingdom) $222,085.50
7. jle90 (Mexico) $162,700.50
8. OU THE NICK (Germany) $122,025.00
9. dan82mur (Romania) $81,350.00

For a closer look at the final WCOOP TLB results head over to the WCOOP page. And don't forget to tune in to the final Inside WCOOP webshow airing live tomorrow at 2pm EDT.

That brought us to Event 60, a $200 + $15 NLHE event. There was nothing particularly fancy about it - no short-handed tables, no knockout or shootout components. But there was one big perk for the tournament, and that was the impressive $1.25 million guarantee. Besides a bracelet up for grabs and a title to be proud of for years to come, there was to be hundreds of thousands of dollars awaiting that winner. Who didn't want a piece of that?

Day 1

Well, the final numbers showed that quite a few players wanted in on the action, and that pushed the prize pool well over the guarantee.

Players: 9,664
Prize pool: $1,932,800.00
Paid players: 1,260

Play was fast and furious for the first hours, and it was just past the seven-hour mark that the money bubble burst. That allowed players remaining at tables to be guaranteed a $347.90 payout.

There were quite a few members of the PokerStars team of players in the money, though some of them cashed out early. Team PokerStars Pro Toni Judet left in 1230th place, and Sandra Naujoks followed in 1208th. Newly signed Team Pro Ana Marquez was out in 1172nd, and Jonathan Duhamel was close behind in 1168th. Team PokerStars Online's Mathew "chipstar1" Didlick finished in 1075th place, followed by Team Pro Liv Boeree in 1044th, George "gkap13" Kapalas in 883rd, Jose "nachobarbero" Barbero in 851st, Jude "j.thaddeus" Ainsworth in 623rd, Matthias "mattidm" de Meulder in 542nd, Lex Veldhuis in 415th, JP Kelly in 328th, Team Online's Jorge "twin-caracas" Arias in 312th, and Team Pro Daniel "KidPoker" Negreanu in 183rd.

Action moved along toward the end of Level 33. With 72 players left in the field - exactly nine at each of the remaining eight tables - play was paused for the day.

The last Team PokerStars Pro standing was Victor Ramdin, sitting near the middle of the pack in 41st place with 843,468 chips. And the top ten on the leaderboard were as follows:

1st - PikkuHUMPPA (5,040,213)
2nd - The_Stat (4,978,730)
3rd - yarik1903 (3,695,220)
4th - All_in_at420 (3,220,424)
5th - luigy666 (3,194,835)
6th - X-Front (4,160,134)
7th - ministerborg (2,807,771)
8th - Mergen (2,757,323)
9th - csacsi111 (2,565,234)
10th - Flyboys007 (2,480,666)

Day 2

Level 34 kicked off the second day of play at 10:00 ET with blinds at 17,500/35,000 and a 4,375 ante. More than 10 players exited in the first 30 minutes of play.

It was soon after that Team PokerStars Pro Victor Ramdin took his last stand. He moved all-in for 458,761 chips preflop holding [Jh][9h], but thegwtg called from the big blind with [Ah][Ks]. The board came [Tc][4c][6s][Qs][4s], and the ace-high played with the pair of fours on the board to eliminate Ramdin in 56th place, which paid $2,995.84.

At break time after the first hour of play, only 44 players remained at five tables. The end of the second hour found only 27 players remaining, and 1WHALEN1 was atop the leaderboard with more than 8.5 million chips. Mergen was in second, and yarik1903 and X-Front were in neck-and-neck for third place.

A half hour later, only two tables were left in play, and yarik1903 had leapt to the top of the leaderboard with over 12 million chips. DeRp0kErGuRu jumped into second, and Veg 101 took third.

Over the next hour, several eliminations took place to head toward the final table. In the process, some players who started the day in the top ten on the leaderboard, such as PikkuHUMPPA and Mergen, busted from the tournament. Scorpion0999 exited in 12th place, and the elimination of ministerborg in 11th initiated hand-for-hand action.

On the very first hand of that, tikitten moved all-in preflop with [Ks][6c], and DeRp0kErGuRu called from the big blind with [As][Ah]. The rockets held up to the [4d][7d][Jh][Tc][2s] board and eliminated tikitten in tenth place with $10,243.84.

1WHALEN1 swims to final table with chip lead

Action at the final table began toward the end of Level 43, with blinds at 100,000/200,000 and a 25,000 ante. The players' starting stacks were as follows:

Seat 1: X-Front (9,164,935 in chips)
Seat 2: The_Stat (6,842,252 in chips)
Seat 3: DeRp0kErGuRu (10,040,976 in chips)
Seat 4: yarik1903 (15,974,839 in chips)
Seat 5: Veg 101 (8,570,524 in chips)
Seat 6: Zanjong (18,250,976 in chips)
Seat 7: tormos (4,021,132 in chips)
Seat 8: Flyboys007 (2,329,454 in chips)
Seat 9: 1WHALEN1 (21,444,912 in chips)

Flyboys007 started the table as its shortest stack and lost ground in the first round. Flyboys007 then moved all-in preflop with [Kd][Kc], a solid hand with which to do so. Veg 101 was the original raiser and called with [As][4s], and the amazing flop of [Ac][3d][4c] gave Veg 101 the two pair. The [5c] on the turn and [7s] on the river ended the tournament for Flyboys007, who won $14,979.20 for the ninth place finish.

Veg 101 not only climbed with the first elimination of the final table but then proceeded to double through Zanjong to climb into second place on the leaderboard. The_Stat then doubled through 1WHALEN1 in a pot worth more than 20 million to jump into the chip lead, and short-stacked tormos doubled through 1WHALEN1 to stay alive.

X-Front had taken a significant pot - worth almost 12 million chips - from DeRp0kErGuRu earlier in the action, and the latter never fully recovered. DeRp0kErGuRu pushed all-in preflop from the small blind with 5,706,971 chips, and original raiser Veg 101 called with [8h][8d]. DeRp0kErGuRu showed [Ad][Kd], and the race was on. It didn't last long, however, as the board came [Td][Jc][9c][3c][2c], leaving the pocket pair in control DeRp)kErGuRu exited in eighth place with $21,260.80.

Zanjong wasn't able to recover from the aforementioned Veg 101 double-up. Zanjong finally moved all-in preflop with [Kh][9h], and X-Front called from the big blind with [As][7d]. The board produced [Qh][Qd][6d][3h][Ts], and the ace kicker played with the flopped queens. Zanjong was eliminated in seventh place with $38,656.00.

Yarik1903 makes big leap

Yarik1903 waited for the right time to move and went up against 1WHALEN1 in this hand:

Yarik1903 then took over the chip lead by a decent margin, and 1WHALEN1 was relegated to the lower half of the chip counts.

Tormos doubled through Veg 101, which left the latter as the short stack as five hours of Day 2 was clocked. X-Front then moved up the leaderboard and battled yarik1903 for the top spot.

Veg 101 had less than 6.5 million and moved it all-in from the big blind with [Ac][2h]. Original raiser X-Front called with [Kd][Qd], and though the flop of [Tc][6h][Th] didn't change much, the [Qh] on the turn gave X-Front two pair. The [3c] on the river ended it for Veg 101, who took home $57,984.00 for sixth place.

Tormos heats up

Tormos and 1WHALEN1 got involved in a battle of the blinds, and 1WHALEN1 moved all-in with [5s][2d]. Tormos had his opponent covered - though not by much - and called with [Qs][Qc]. The queens easily held up to the [8h][Ks][6d][Th][7s] board, and 1WHALEN1 was harpooned in fifth place with $77,312.00.

The_Stat was also prepared to move all-in and did so from early position. Tormos reraised all-in to isolate from the small blind, which worked. The_Stat was at risk with [As][8h], and tormos showed [Th][Ts]. The flop of [Jh][2c][8c] gave hope to The_Stat with the pair of eights, but the [Tc] gave tormos the set of tens. The [9d] on the river ended it for The_Stat, who departed in fourth place with $96,640.00.

The final three players paused the tournament to discuss a potential deal, but there was no agreement to be made. Play resumed with X-Front in front of the chip counts, tormos in second, and yarik1903 in third.

Yarik1903 took a sizeable pot from X-Front to climb into first position, and tormos maintained second of the three. But X-Front then took this pot from yarik1903:

Yarik1903 got involved in the very next hand with tormos, and yarik1903 ultimately reraised all-in preflop with [Td][Tc]. Tormos called with [Ac][9d], and though the flop and turn of [7h][2h][Qd][Qh] left yarik1903 in the lead, the [Ah] on the river gave tormos the better two pair. Yarik1903 left in third place with $144,960.00.

Serious battle for serious cash

The final two players prepared for their match with these starting counts:

Seat 1: X-Front (42,709,747 in chips)
Seat 7: tormos (53,930,253 in chips)

It only took a few hands before X-Front was willing to risk it all, and the move paid off:

Tormos had work to do and managed a double-up with A-K versus Q-J. Eventually, tormos climbed over 40 million chips, but X-Front got aggressive and took more than 20 million of that back.

Finally, tormos pushed all-in for nearly 13 million holding [Kd][Ks], but X-Front called with [Ac][As]. The board of [4d][5d][9c][5s][5c] gave both players full houses, but aces full of fives won, leaving tormos out in second place with $207,776.00.

Netherlands' X-Front won the tournament and a WCOOP bracelet and $284,319.29 to go with the title. Congrats!

WCOOP Event 60 ($215 NLHE) Results:

1st place: X-Front ($284,319.29)
2nd place: tormos ($207,776.00)
3rd place: yarik1903 ($144,960.00)
4th place: The_Stat ($96,640.00)
5th place: 1WHALEN1 ($77,312.00)
6th place: Veg 101 ($57,984.00)
7th place: Zanjong ($38,656.00)
8th place: DeRp0kErGuRu ($21,260.80)
9th place: Flyboys007 ($14,979.20)

Want to know more about this 2011 WCOOP? All information from the series can be found on the main WCOOP page, along with the special stats page.

Seventy players, including many of poker's elite, came out for this one, thus creating an even $700,000 prize pool. That easily eclipsed the event's $500K guarantee. Scheduled to go two days if necessary, it looked possible from the outset that things might be settled sometime Sunday night. However, if players were to reach the end of Level 44 without a winner having been determined, the schedule was for those remaining to come back on Monday at noon ET to finish things out.

Only the top nine finishers would be getting paid, with the victor scheduled to earn a nifty $210,000. Play rotated through eight games -- limit 2-7 triple draw, limit hold'em, Omaha H/L, razz, stud, stud H/L, no-limit hold'em, and pot-limit Omaha -- with players spending 15 minutes on each.

DAY ONE

Fast starts, fast exits

There were but 31 players gathered around six tables when the first hands of limit 2-7 triple draw were dealt at noon ET on Sunday, but with three hours' worth of late registration the field was guaranteed to grow.

Indeed, by the two-hour break the field had more than doubled to 64 participants, although by then two players -- xcr2244 and hotmark777 -- had already seen their 10,000-chip starting stacks dissolve to nothing, thus making them Event #61's first casualties.

Just a few more would pony up the required stack of high society (plus three hundy) during the following hour to bring that total number of entrants to 70. Meanwhile, three familiar names on PokerStars' leaderboards -- Brian "$tinger" Hastings, kirbynator, Kevin "ImaLuckSac" MacPhee, and Event #37 ($109 8-game) winner Dan "djk123" Kelly -- had all suffered early knockouts, too, leaving just 65 to continue the bracelet battle.

At that early stage, Maria "Femmeonfelt"Ho had jumped out to the lead, followed by Paul "paulgees81" Volpe, and Event #4 ($320 PLO) winner bratpack1979.

#whenwillitend

As the fourth hour began, Team PokerStars Pro Bertrand "ElkY" Grospellier had slipped to short-stacked status, and soon was felled in 63rd-place by ParkerKane in a hand of seven-card stud.

About an hour later ElkY's teammate Theo Jorgensen lost most of his stack to Shawn "buck21" Buchanan in a pot-limit Omaha hand, then alex987 took the rest soon after to send Jorgensen out in 56th place.

Others felted as the field was trimmed to 50 included Andrey "Kroko-dill" Zaichenko, Dylan "ImaLucSac" Lynde, Ozenc "ozenc" Demir, lb6121, and Niki "RealAndyBeal" Jedlicka.

They were followed by Shawn "buck21" Buchanan (50th), Team PokerStars Pro Alex Kravchenko (49th), Steve "gboro780" Gross (47th), and Scott "BigRiskky" Clements (46th). It wasn't such a bad day for Clements, though, after having finished runner-up in Event #58 ($530 PLO heads-up) earlier on Sunday.

"Getting intense now"

It was around that point that Team PokerStars Pro Daniel "KidPoker" Negreanu tweeted he was "still in the 10k 8game and made a comeback. Getting intense now." Indeed, early on Negreanu had fallen to the bottom of the counts, but with 45 left he had battled back to an average stack.

Meanwhile the carnage continued, a group including Team Pros Jonathan Duhamel (44th) and Event #26 winner ($320 mixed HE) Noah "Exclusive" Boeken (40th), Mike "SirWatts" Watson (39th), and Fabrizio "SixthSenSe19" Gonzalez (37th).

By the the six-hour break the starting field had been cut exactly in half as just 35 remained. James "Andy McLEOD" Obst led the way with 43,830, followed closely by Femmeonfelt (43,320), and Event #17 ($215 2-7 NL) winner Brryann (40,483).

Soon after players returned Chad Brown of Team PokerStars found himself having to commit the rest of his short stack by fourth street versus two opponents in a hand of stud hi/lo, and failing to draw a winner found himself out in 34th place.

Others eliminated during the next hour included Event #59 winner ($2,100 H.O.R.S.E.) p3rc4 (33rd), e1mdopp (31st), and ChopChopChop (30th). Obst had a rough hour as well, sinking quickly from his leader status to the bottom of the counts and finally out in 29th. And Shaun Deeb followed shortly thereafter in 28th.

A few minutes later it was Team PokerStars Pro Sebastian Ruthenberg all in with his short stack before the flop in a limit hold'em hand versus Bryn Kenney. Ruthenberg had but [5h][2d] and Kenney [Kh][Jd]. The flop paired Kenney's jack, Ruthenberg couldn't catch up, and Ruthenberg was out in 25th.

The final four tables

They were down to just four six-handed tables, with TheHood, Team PokerStars Pro Ville Wahlbeck, and Femmeonfelt the leaders, each with more than 60,000 chips.

After knocking out Ruthenberg, Kenney would himself be eliminated next in 24th, followed by Jared "Harrington10" Bleznick (23rd) and Paul "paulgees81" Volpe (22nd).

They neared the next break, just before which skalexjung got into a razz battle with Team Online member and WCOOP superstar Anders "Donald" Berg. All in by sixth street, skalexjung ultimately ended with [4][5] / [7][Q][7][J] / [A] for a jack while Berg finished with [2][T] / [9][Q][A][5] / [4] for a winning nine, sending skalexjung out in 19th.

18 left, just nine cash

After eight hours of play, 18 players remained, half of whom would be cashing and half doomed to have spent the better part of their Sunday losing $10,300. At that point, Wahlbeck led with 86,658, with Femmeonfelt still up there with 83,040, and Matt "Hoss_TBF" Hawrilenko in third with 69,097.

Soon bratpack1979 was knocked out in 18th, followed by Alexander "joiso" Kostritsyn in 17th, the latter falling victim to Ostrov in a stud hand. Two-time LAPT winner Jose "Nacho" Barbero of Team PokerStars Argentina was next to go in 16th, also unable to make it through the stud round after Hawrilenko claimed the last of his stack.

Then vovtroy -- with the blinds 400/800 in the no-limit hold'em round -- shoved all in from UTG for 7,114 and got one caller in Team Pro Eugene Katchalov in the small blind. vovtroy had [9d][8d] and was hoping to catch something of use versus Katchalov's [Ad][9c]. But the board brought no help for vovtroy and he was out in 15th.

Pat Pezzin of Team PokerStars Canada was the next victim, also in the NLHE round. After his fellow Canadian teammate Negreanu min-raised to 1,600 from UTG, Pezzin reraise-shoved all in for 10,912 from one seat over, and when it folded back Negreanu called, typing "glgl" as he did.

Pezzin had the advantage with [Ah][Qd] to KidPoker's [Ac][9h]. But the flop came [4c][5s][9s], pairing Negreanu. The turn and river brought no help to Pezzin, and they were down to 13.

Soon after Alexey "LuckyGump" Makarov tested his luck by reraise-shoving his last 15,776 with [Ah][7s] and getting one caller in roi kin23 who held [Ad][Qd]. The better hand held this time, and Makarov was gone in 13th.

They reached the nine-hour break, with roi kin23 leading the final 12 with 106,603, followed by Ostrov with 91,176 and Femmeonfelt with 70,760.

The 2-7 triple draw round commenced, and soon Event #31 winner ($320 8-game) Vingtcent lost the last of his stack to "Donald" Berg after unfortunately drawing to a six-high straight versus Berg's [Ad][8h][7c][6h][2s]. Then Jon "PearlJammer" Turner jammed the last of his chips following the third draw versus Ostrov. Turner held [8h][7c][5h][3c][2d], but Ostrov had him beat with [8s][6h][5d][4c][3h]. Just 10 were left -- the money bubble -- and the tourney went hand-for-hand.

With 10 left, no less than four of those were members of Team PokerStars -- Negreanu (3rd), Berg (4th), Katchalov (8th), and Wahlbeck (10th). Meanwhile, all were chasing the two Russians, Ostrov and roi kin23.

Unfortunately for Wahlbeck, the Finnish pro would be the bubble boy after falling to roi kin23 in a limit hold'em hand. After calling roi kin23's preflop raise, Wahlbeck traded bets following a [Qc][6d][Tc] flop to go all in with [Td][9c] versus roi kin23's [Qd][8d]. The turn was the [6s] and river the [Ac], and roi kin23's queens and sixes were best.

In the Money

Not long after Wahlbeck's elimination, Matt "Hoss_TBF" Hawrilenko was the first to cash, his elimination coming in fairly excruciating fashion.

With the stakes 2,000/4,000, Hoss_TBF was down to 8,697 when he opened with a raise from the cutoff, then Brryann three-bet from the button. It folded back and Hawrilenko capped it, and Brryann called. The flop came [Ts][4d][8s]. Hoss_TBF pushed his last chips in, and Brryann called.

Hawrilenko had [Td][Th] for a set of tens, while Brryann had but [Ac][Js]. But the turn was the [7c] and river the [9h], giving Brryann a runner-runner straight and sending Hawrilenko out in ninth.

The game switched to Omaha Hi/Lo (stakes 2,500/5,000), and Ostrov soon was opening with a raise from UTG. TheHood made it three bets from one seat over, it folded back to Ostrov who reraised again, and TheHood called with the 2,044 he had left.

TheHood showed [As][Jd][6c][2c] and Ostrov [Qs][9d][4d][3s]. The board came [Tc][Qd][Js][7c][7c], and Ostrov's two pair beat those of TheHood who was eliminated in eighth.

Not long after that, Team Online member Anders "Donald" Berg called a preflop raise from Ostrov, then saw the flop come [Kc][4s][2d]. Berg check-called another bet, then the turn brought the [As]. At that point Berg pushed his last 3,350 forward and Ostrov called.

"Donald" had [Jd][9c][7d][3s] for a pair of sevens and a seven-low, but Ostrov had a wheel with his [9s][5s][5d][3h]. The river was the [7c], and Berg was out.

Just six remained!

Seat 1: Ostrov -- 269,157
Seat 2: Team PokerStars Pro Eugene Katchalov -- 70,246
Seat 3: Maria "Femmeonfelt" Ho -- 48,310
Seat 4: Brryann -- 74,761
Seat 5: roi kin23 -- 163,051
Seat 6: Team PokerStars Pro Daniel "KidPoker" Negreanu -- 74,475

From 6 to 2

They soon reached the 10-hour break, before which point chip leader Ostrov grabbed a chunk from Negreanu in a razz hand to make him the short stack with just over 40,000.

Negreanu soon collected those chips back from Ostrov in another razz hand, but as they moved into the stud round Ostrov's pushed back up over 320,000 while all five of his opponents hovered below the 100,000-chip mark. Indeed, by the time they'd reached stud hi/lo (stakes 3,000/6,000), Ostrov was up to 374,857 -- over half the chips in play -- while everyone else sat with between 6-12 big bets.

Everyone managed to hang on for the next 15 minutes, though, meaning all were still with chips when the game switched to no-limit hold'em (blinds 1,000/2,000, ante 250).

Immediately Katchalov survived an all-in with pocket nines versus Ostrov's [Ac][5h], the money going in on a [8c][7c][6d] flop that Katchalov managed to fade.

On the next hand, Femmeonfelt open-shoved 10,760 from early position and got two callers -- Brryann from one seat over and Ostrov from the big blind. Both checked down the [Kh][Qc][Jh][6c][As] board. Ostrov showed [Qd][9d] for queens and Femmeonfelt [Ks][3s] for kings, but Brryann had them both beat with [Ah][Jd] for two pair, sending Femmeonfelt out in sixth place.

Following the 11-hour break the game was pot-limit Omaha (1,000/2,000). Negreanu, down to 33,289, limped in from UTG, then Ostrov raised to 8,000 from one seat over. It folded back to KidPoker who called, and the pair saw the flop come [2c][Tc][5s]. Negreanu bet 19,000, Ostrov raised, and KidPoker called with the 6,289 he had left.

KidPoker: [Jh][9c][6h][6c]
Ostrov: [Ah][Jd][Ts][7h]

A club flush draw for Negreanu versus Ostrov's top pair of tens. The turn was the [2s] and river the [8d], and Ostrov's hand held.

"Good luck everyone," typed Negreanu from the rail, having been ousted in fifth place. "Absolutely incredible WCOOP," answered Schelger, referring to the fact that his finish here marked KidPoker's 15th cash of the series!

Once in the 2-7 triple draw round, roi kin23 evaded elimination in a tense hand with Katchalov, ultimately drawing a [9c][7h][6h][4h][2h] to the Ukrainian's [Jc][8s][7s][4s][3d]. It was still a very unbalanced table, however, with Ostrov up over 460,000 and roi kin23, Katchalov, and Brryann all sitting between 70,000-80,000.

Next came limit hold'em (stakes 5,000/10,000), and Brryann was the super-short stack with just 17,735. Then Ostrov raised from the button, Katchalov three-bet from the small blind, and Brryann reraised all in, getting calls from both opponents. The flop came [Ts][6d][Kh], and both Katchalov and Ostrov checked. Katchalov then bet the [5h] turn, getting a fold from Ostrov.

Katchalov had [9h][9s], but Brryann had [As][Ac]. Then came the river -- the [9d]! -- giving Katchalov a set and cruelly sending Brryann out in fourth.

Three-handed play began with Ostrov still way out in front with 432,087, Katchalov next with 175,117, and roi kin23 hanging in with 92,796.

Soon, however, roi kin23 would lose the bulk of those chips, and had tumbled back to just 10,296 when -- the game still LHE -- he open-raised from the small blind and Ostrov called from the big. The flop came [2s][Js][Ks] and roi kin23 put the rest in, and Ostrov quickly called.

roi kin23 had [Qs][9c] and was ahead of Ostrov's [4s][3s], though only precariously so. The turn was the [2c] and roi kin23 was still okay, but the [4h] on the river paired Ostrov, knocking roi kin23 out in third.

Ostrov vs. Katchalov

Heads-up play began with Ostrov comfortably in front with 519,883 to Katchalov's 180,117. They soon moved into Omaha H/L (Level 43), where the stakes were 6,000/12,000. The pair battled on through the 12-hour break with Katchalov gradually chipping up.

Then came a sequence of pots in which Katchalov claimed either half, three-quarters, or a full scoop, and suddenly the Team PokerStars Pro had pulled close to even before falling back a bit as they began razz (1,000/1,800/6,000/12,000).

A few hands into razz Katchalov had crept back close to Ostrov, then after drawing a [7][5][3][2][A] nudged out into the lead with 354,517 to Ostrov's 345,483. Katchalov kept up the pressure, at one point moving up over 470,000 before slipping back to just under 400,000.

Finally the razz round concluded, meaning the two would have to wait another 11-and-a-half hours or so to sort out who would be claiming the coveted High Roller 8-game bracelet. The overnight counts:

E. Katchalov -- 396,517
Ostrov -- 303,483

DAY TWO

The dawn of a new day. Both players wanted to continue playing when action was paused at the end of Day 1, but they had to wait to finish out the heads-up duel. The re-start would last around 43 minutes and fewer than 160 hands.

The two began the re-start with Katchalov holding an approximate 93,000 chip lead. Play resumed with a round of Seven Card Stud (Level 45) with betting limits set at (8,000/16,000). Katchalov won seven out of the first 11 hands and his stack surged over a half a million, while Ostrov's stack slipped under the 200,000 mark.

"Finish him!"

Ostrov was on the ropes, but Katchalov failed to deliver the knock out blow. At his lowest point, Ostrov trailed Katchalov 6-1 in chips before he dug in and mounted a comeback. During the remainder of Stud, Ostrov banged away at small pots to give himself some breathing room. When the game switched to Stud Hi/Lo, Ostrov won a decisive hand with two pair against Katchalov's pair of Queens, that got him back to his Day 2 starting stack. Any gains Katchalov advanced early on Day 2 were quickly wiped out.

Katchalov was not about to give up so easily. He launched his own counter-attack in Stud Hi/Lo and scooped a pot with [5h][6c][8s][9s][7c][Ah][Kc]. His 8-7-6-5-A secured the low end of the pot, while his 9-high straight picked up the high end. Katchalov strengthen his lead to a 2-1 advantage (470,917 to 229,083).

The resilient Ostrov fought back and won a pot with two pair, Deuces and Sevens, to get within striking distance of the lead. Ostrov broke through to the other side when he won another pot with two pair, holding [3d][Kd][Kc][Qh][5c][Ac][Ad] for Aces and Kings, which propelled him into the chip lead -- 413,883 to 286,117.

The game switched to NL (2,500/5,000 blinds and 625 ante) and Katchalov found himself the hunted. He narrowly avoided an elimination when he doubled up with [Tc][Td] against Ostrov's [Kd][4c]. Ostrov even picked up a gutshot on the turn, but Katchalov dodged that bullet to stay alive.

Ostrov's lead was cut to around 72,000, but he won 14 of next 21 hands to extend his lead to over 5-1, including dragging a sizable pot with [8s][3s] for a full boat, Fives full of Eights.

On the final hand, Ostrov min-raised to 10,000, Katchalov shoved all-in for his entire stack of 122,734, and Ostrov called. Ostrov was ahead with [Ad][8c] against Katchalov's [Kd][Qh]. Katchalov improved his hand to a pair of Kings on a flop of [Ks][Js][3h]. The [As] spiked on the turn and Ostrov regained the lead, but Katchalov picked up a couple of more outs with a Broadway gutshot draw. The [4c] bricked on the river and Katchalov's run had come to an end. The Team PokerStars Pro finished in second place and won $140,000 for his runner-up performance.

You can view the final hand in the replayer...

Ostrov took down a WCOOP title and collected $210,000 for winning the $10K 8-game High Roller event. Congrats to Ostrov for mastering a difficult field of some of the premier mixed-game players in the world.

WCOOP Event #61 ($10,300 8-game High Roller) Results:
1st place: Ostrov ($210,000)
2nd: Team PokerStars Pro E. Katchalov ($140,000)
3rd: roi kin23 ($105,000)
4th: Brryann ($70,000)
5th: Team PokerStars Pro Daniel "KidPoker" Negreanu ($52,500)
6th: Maria "Femmeonfelt" Ho ($38,500)
7th: Team Online member Anders "Donald" Berg ($28,000)
8th: TheHood ($28,000)
9th: Hoss_TBF ($28,000)

The 2011 WCOOP is nearing its conclusion, but check out the WCOOP leader board page to see which players dominated this year's series.

We'll let Event #34's bracelet winner Shane "Shaniac" Schleger welcome you to the Twitter rail: "The 2011 #WCOOP homestretch is here. #Time2GetPaid."

Negreanu's "En Fuego" Week
Daniel Negreanu has been dancing around Europe with his computer in tow during this WCOOP, and "Kid Poker" has had himself one heck of a series. Negreanu came into Sunday with seven cashes already in the bag, and the hot streak would continue to be fueled by several more deep runs as the week grinded onwards. By the end of the week, that cash tally had grown to 13!

Sunday's trio of events brought Negreanu to his grind station in Budapest with this tweet: "Long Sunday tourney grind today on PokerStars with 3 big WCOOP events. 1 mill guarantee 10k HU then the 1k with a 1.5 mill guarantee."

Negreanu lost a flip with ace-king suited in the $215 buy-in Event #40, and the $1k buy-in Event #42 didn't go very well at all. In a three-bet pot, his pocket jacks were felled by an opponent with five-eight, leaving him with just the $10,000 Heads-Up, Event #41, to worry about.

Negreanu drew the UK's EunJong_Byun in the first round of that heads-up event, admitting, he had "no clue who he is." A short while later came the declaration of victory as he tweeted: "Yes! I won my 1st match in the sweet 16 now. 143 hands. A8 vs Ac2c Flop 8c23c we got it all in and it held. Phew."

In the second round, Negreanu was paired up with another unfamiliar opponent, Russia's "chopi7." Our hero handled business quickly once again: "Boom! Quick knockout in rd 2 onto the final 8. KhJh vs 95 board K95Q 2 hearts I hit 10. Was ahead 17,500 to 2500 before the hand anyway."

The win marked the eighth cash of the WCOOP for Negreanu, but he had his sights set on the bracelet after dispatching opponent "26071985" in the third round with this tweet: YES! I'm in the semi-final! A3 vs AT flop 346 he check raised I called. Turn Ace he check-raised all-in and I called. Guaranteed 48k!"

On the other half of his bracket, Negreanu's fellow Team Pro Max Lykov was also fighting for a spot in the semi-finals.

"Play the winner of the Maxim Lykov (Team Pro) vs Piston87 match," Negreanu tweeted. "I've played tons of 5k heads ups with Piston. He's super tough, both are." Unfortunately for Lykov, he fell in the round of eight, and Piston87 went on to knock off his second consecutive Team Pro in the semis. There wasn't much tweeting from Negreanu until it was over:

"Busted in semis: KQ raised he 3 bet 67 flop K85 bet call. Turn 9 he bet I call. River 9 he bet I tanked and called. Oh well, was fun!"

Negreanu's ninth cash came the very next day amidst some serious hotel troubles. Having relocated to London, Negreanu was having difficulty finding suitable accommodations.

"Booked nicest suite at Hiton Metropole," he tweeted. "All standard rooms have WI-FI suite doesn't. Whoever made that decision deserves a smack in the head." He'd resist the urge to smack heads, but Negreanu did take his cue to leave the hotel: "Hilton you just lost my business for 17 nights paying an absurd amount cause you were too stupid to have wireless internet in your "top room"".

Hotel number two. How about the Ritz, Mr. Negreanu? It wasn't much better, apparently. "This is the dumbest room ever! Lol I HATE old fashioned anything. This place even has a dress code #leavingtmr." Negreanu checked right back out of the Ritz, a decision that cost him $1,000. "One more thing about Ritz: your hotel is snooty and you are thieves! I spent 15 min in the room and had to BEG for a discount. #ritzsucks."

Hotel number three, and Negreanu finally found a suitable place to set up his grind station for the day. He quickly fell back into game mode:

"@DNChips #WCOOP44 42,943 avg 47,623 142/286 blinds 1k-2k. 16 more till my 9th cash. Hope to go all the way. Just doubled KK vs AQ." As he plodded along deeper into the morning, he mentioned that he was getting sleepy, but he was able to shake off the cobwebs as things became more serious. "I'm deep in #WCOOP44 2080 players started just 56 left and I'm 7th in chips. 5am here in London but I'm starting to wake up!"

A couple of hours later, Negreanu was granted some sleep at the end of a profitable day: "17th place out of 2080 I can be proud of that. 20 bbs left I went all in with A3 in the small blind. Big blind had AQ. So tired wow. Gnite."

It was now nine cashes and counting for Negreanu, but the effects of that long Monday meant a short and unsuccessful Tuesday. Still, Wednesday dawned with newfound energy and motivation. "Back to work in an early #WCOOP49 going for cash #10. Didn't play too well yesterday, was exhausted. Better effort today. Follow@DNChips."

Event #49 didn't go too well, but the day would get better before it was over. Starting with cash number ten: "WCOOP50 got 2453 we are down to 244. My 10th cash of the series. To see chip updates in your feed follow @DNChips still WCOOP51 also." Even better, Negreanu's eleventh cash didn't have to wait long, either. A couple of hours later came this tweet: "It's official, WCOOP cash #11 still in 50 and 51. 48 of 2500 players left in 50 and 117 of 907 in 51. I'm enjoying this but want MORE."

The two deep runs would come to an end in the twenties again. "Out of WCOOP50," came the first bit of unfortunate news, "23rd out of 2500 ugh. AJ suited vs QT suited he flopped a Queen. Still in WCOOP51 51 players left. Something's gotta give!" Nothing gave. Soon thereafter came this tweet to end his night: "Oh brother. Out of WCOOP51 in 21st place. 17 hours of play, I'm exhausted. #ontothenextone."

The "next one" was just a few hours later, and Negreanu came ready to play again. "18 hours of online poker. Slept 7. Woke up 5 min ago, and I'm back to playing WCOOP52. I'm enjoying this very much, but what a grind!"

Whether he could feel it or not, Negreanu had another pair of WCOOP cashes in store for him on Thursday, too. "I'm en fuego this WCOOP," he noted astutely. "In money in #52 for 12th cash and have a big stack. Also have a big stack in #53. Exhausted but really enjoying it."

Event 52 ended thusly: "104th dang it! Ran KK into AA again and couldn't suckout this time AND he had me covered. Still in the other two events. Very frustrating..." Even with another deep run spoiled, he was still "lucky and playing good online poker," as he racked up cash number 12. And then 13. "In the money again," he told us about Event #53. "Cashed in straight WCOOP 50-53. Above avg stack for now. 13th cash of series but haven't run when it counts!" It was another close-but-no-cigar situation, and Negreanu was forced to settle for another min-cash. "Kind of a cooler but oh well. 34th place. Another near miss. I need a drink!"

Well deserved, Daniel. As of Friday, he was in the top ten on the WCOOP leader board, and he deserves a pat on the back (and a room upgrade) for an impressive, 13-cash WCOOP so far.

The Others Do Work, Too
It wasn't all about Negreanu this week, though, and several members of our PokerStars family were tweeting about their own deep runs in bracelet events.

On Monday, Jude Ainsworth was fighting right alongside Kid Poker in Event #44, tweeting:

"Still going in WCOOP -44. 25 out of 56. Just below av stack. My deepest run yet. :)".

From Thailand, Team Online's Daleroxxu was keeping a close eye on the play-down. He tweeted: "I am hosting the #WCOOP-44 final table. Currently down to 18 players with Jude Ainsworth and @RealKidPoker still in."

Way to ruin everything, Dale. Just a few minutes later, he admitted his cooler powers with this tweet: "I just jinxed Jude Ainsworth and @RealKidPoker, they just busted on consecutive hands. 16 players left in #WCOOP-44." Ainsworth went out in 18th place and Negreanu in 17th.

As evidenced even in that small way, Daleroxxu has had an unfortunately poor series. His Sunday started by getting two-outed from Event #40, or at least that's what we inferred from his frustrated tweet: "FFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFF UUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUU."

The next tweet gave the details: "Busto #WCOOP-40 in 330BB pot. I 5-bet AA pre and 3 bet all in on T94 flop. Guy had QQ. B**ch of Hearts on turn."

A couple of days later, he managed to build a stack in Event #51 before this tweet: "so tilted, something is going to get broken."

Apart from poker, though, things seem to be going rather well in the world of Dale. Monday was good: "Eating a whole load of delicious spa cuisine food that I just had delivered and watching the new Breaking Bad episode. Mondays don't suck."

A day earlier, he had been using KFC delivery to fuel his Sunday grind, providing this glimpse of his feast...

Belgium's Matthias de Meulder took to Twitter during Event #42, keeping his fans updated on what was his deepest run of the series so far. "Still in the running in #WCOOP42!" he announced. "Have 510k in chips which is 9th out of the remaining 157 players." De Meulder would go on to finish Day 1 in fourth place of the remaining 111 players, and it wasn't long before the field was reduced to the final three tables on Day 2. "Still in #WCOOP42. Have 1.2million in chips, last 27!" A short while later came another good update: "15 players remaining in #WCOOP42 $1050NLHE on @PokerStars. I'm 8th in chips. COMON!" But then, the bad news: "uuughhh busto in 12th place."

Here's hoping that De Meulder, Negreanu, or another member of our Team PokerStars family can snag some of the final few WCOOP bracelets up for grabs for the final day's action today.

Live on a deserted island with 18 backstabbing strangers and a television crew? Make like Demi Moore in the film Indecent Proposal? Go vegan for a year? Leave Anytown, USA behind for a grind crib in Mexico?

You'd be amazed, especially when it comes to poker players.

The WCOOP Main Event is a game-changer. People will quite literally move house and home to be able to play in it. Its list of champions reads like a who's who of the modern poker world. Tyson Marks. Yevgeniy Timoshenko. Carter King. The WCOOP Main Event made all three instant millionaires and this year, two more players will etch their name on that list. A $5 million prize pool and $1 million to first place was already guaranteed before cards went in the air, but by the time registration closed, 1,627 players had bought in for $5,200 apiece, the prize pool swelling to $8,135,000. Both champion and runner-up are set to earn seven figures, the top prize a staggering $1,464,300 and second at just over a million.

The various PokerStars "Teams" were out in force today, Team Online's Anders "Donald" Berg the first of the red spade army to hit the rail. He was followed out the door by Noah Boeken, Ivan Demidov, Chad Brown, Daniel Negreanu, Ville Wahlbeck, Sebastian Ruthenberg, Marcin Horecki, and Liv Boeree, who all exited during the early going. Four Team Pros, led by Eugene Katchalov, advanced to Day 2 along with Team Online's newest addition, Mickey "mement_mori" Petersen.

Nice Katch

Although Katchalov ended the day strong, he was in rough shape by Level 8, down almost 75% of his 20,000 starting stack. Katchalov fell to 6,300 in chips after running his pocket tens into Black88's pocket aces, but luckily picked up [Qc][Qs] two hands later. With the blinds at 125/250, Katchalov opened for 500 and Black88, in the small blind, was the lone caller. Black88 check-called 750 on the [Js][9s][6d] flop, another 1,850 when the [5h] hit the turn, and 3,183 on the river, Katchalov shoving as the [6c] fell to pair the board. Black88's [Jc][Tc] was no good and Katchalov doubled back to 13,000.

By Level 17, Katchalov was sitting on 41,000 when he tripled up to 125,000, snapping off [Ad][Jd] and [Kd][Kc] with [As][Kh] on an ace-high board. Later on, he found himself in yet another [Tc][Td] vs [Ah][Ad] showdown, this time on the good end of it for a 160,000 pot. By the end of Day 1, Katchalov was on a very comfortable stack of 273,015, placing him 37th of the 176 players who advanced to Day 2. The Ukranian Team Pro still has some unfinished business to attend to first in Event #61 ($10,300 High Roller 8-Game). Day 1 of that tournament concluded with Katchalov heads-up with Russia's Ostrov for the bracelet and the $210,000 first-place prize. Action resumes in that event at 12:00 EDT, two hours before the Main Event starts back up.

TLB turmoil

Even if Katchalov wins both remaining WCOOP events, he still can't ascend to the top of the WCOOP Tournament Leader Board. That spot has been occupied for weeks now by Joel Adam "2FLY2TILT" Gordon, who is tied at 295 points with Big_Nemo, but wins the tiebreaker with more overall WCOOP earnings. The WCOOP TLB race isn't just for stat geeks and prop bettors-- it's serious business with serious prizes at stake. First place earns an EPT Season 8 Grand Final package , a 2012 PCA package, and a SCOOP Main Event ticket along with a special edition PokerStars chip set and a champions' trophy. That's more than $40,000 worth of loot.

Big_Nemo jumped into the fray early, trying to rack up some last-minute points, but busted out during Level 10. 2FLY2TILT took advantage of the late registration period and bought in during the fourth hour, but didn't last much longer than his rival, losing 30,000 chips in the span of two hands. In the first, he put 16,440 in the middle preflop with [Ah][Qs] after Nastasia1209 four-bet shoved with pocket kings. Two hands later, Flagellator opened for a min-raise to 1,000 and 2FLY2TILT shoved for his remaining 13,807 holding pocket fives. JUVELNEO re-shoved for 21,445 behind him with [Ah][Kd] and Flagellator ducked out of the way, leaving the board to run out [Kh][Qs][6h][2s][3c].

With that, 2FLY2TILT's 2011 WCOOP came to an end, after one win, four final tables, and 10 cashes. Only one man stands between 2FLY2TILT and the TLB win-- Steve "gboro780" Gross, who advanced to Day 2 with 201,117. Currently sitting in sixth place with 230 points, Gross can only pass 2FLY2TILT if he finishes second or better in the Main Event.

Lodden thinks

While the always-volatile Johnny Lodden is known to build and punt off a monster stack faster than I can type "six-bet Scandi," the Norwegian Team Pro made one of the gutsiest calls we witnessed all night. In a hand against Event #17 winner Brryann, Lodden was put in a tough spot on the river with top pair and a weak kicker on a coordinated board, but correctly picked off Brryann's all-in bluff to win a 141,000 pot. He advanced to Day 2 with an above-average stack of 231,518.

"Chark" coolered

If you've ever railed Humberto Brenes in a live tournament, you've no doubt heard him bellow "Humberto no bluff!" Although Brenes was true to his word in this hand, the result wasn't exactly what he'd planned. The Costa Rican "Chark" was cruising along with about 16,000 in chips when he picked up [Ac][Ad] and decided to play it a little coy, smooth-calling jgorcampanha's 1,875 opening raise, KKremate called as well and they went three-handed to a [Ks][Td][5h] flop. The action checked to Brenes, who bet 3,662. KKremate was the only caller. The turn brought the [8c] and KKremate checked to Brenes, who moved all-in for 10,180. KKremate insta-called, turning up [Ts][Th] for middle set. The [Kh] on the river boated up KKremate, and sent Brenes' pocket rockets up in flames, sending him to the rail in 596th place.

Bubble Bryn

With only four minutes left to play on Day 1, the Main Event reached the money bubble with 190 players remaining. It was well-known circuit regular Bryn Kenney who burst it, calling akia66's three-bet shove with pocket tens, only to run into pocket kings. The surviving 189 players were all in the money, guaranteed at least $13,422.75 for their 12+ hours on the grind, while Kenney left empty-handed. As the final minutes of Day 1 ticked away, more than a dozen players were eliminated, leaving 176 to return Monday to continue their quest for WCOOP gold.

The 2011 WCOOP Main Event will recommence at 14:00 EDT on Monday and play down to a winner. Blinds are at 2,500/5,000 with a 625 ante and the average stack is 184,886 (37 big blinds). Here's a look at the top stacks, the surviving Team Pros, and other familiar faces who advanced to Day 2. Less than 24 hours from now, two of them will be millionaires.

Place your bets...

2011 WCOOP Event #62 ($5,200 NLHE Main Event), Day 1 top ten chip counts

1. NUTZBOT (Russia) 649,769
2. dan82mur (Romania) 600,527
3. zivziv (Israel) 587,440
4. tonkaaaa (Canada) 494,260
5. lb6121 (United Kingdom) 465,817
6. ThePateychuk (Russia) 460,641
7. SantaZzz (Ukraine) 458,036
8. Big Huni (Costa Rica) 438,229
9. sexygee (United Kingdom) 424,339
10. TheLipoFund (Mexico) 417,848

Team PokerStars Pro/Team Online* chip counts

Eugene Katchalov (Ukraine) 273,015
Matthias De Muelder (Belgium) 254,278
Johnny Lodden (Norway) 231,518
Mickey "mement_mori" Petersen* (Denmark) 177,253
Bertrand "ElkY" Grospellier (United Kingdom) 42,426

Other notables advancing to Day 2

Terrence "Unassigned" Chan (Canada) 332,029
Tom "kingsofcards" Marchese (Canada) 293,915
Jared "harrington10" Bleznick (Mexico) 288,784
David "Gunslinger3" Bach (Panama) 226,848
Shawn "buck21" Buchanan (Canada) 214,943
Steve "gboro780" Gross (Canada) 201,117
Alexander "Assassinato" Fitzgerald (Costa Rica) 185,406
Joep "Pappe_Ruk" Van Den Bijgaart (Netherlands) 133,434
Mike "goleafsgoeh" Leah (Canada) 85,923

Don't miss the final episode of WCOOP Radio tomorrow, streaming live at 15:30 EDT and tune in on Tuesday for a complete WCOOP wrap-up on the Inside WCOOP webshow, featuring hosts Joe Stapleton and Nick Wealthall. They're enough to make even the most jaded grinders crack a smile.

Day 1

This HORSE event drew names from around the world to compete in the five-game mix, which consisted of Limit Hold'em, Omaha Hi/Lo, Razz, Stud, and Stud Hi/Lo. The 15-minute levels for each game in rotation ensured a lot of action. Let's start with the basics:

Players: 141
Prize pool: $282,000
Paid players: 24

A solid number of PokerStars players were in the field, though one who finished not long after the tournament began was Team PokerStars Pro Jonathan Duhamel, the second player to exit the event.

Further along, Team Pro Daniel "KidPoker" Negreanu departed in 91st place, followed by Noah "Exclusive" Boeken in 89th. PokerStars Team Online's Anders "Donald" Berg finished in 79th, and Team Pros Eugene Katchalov (61st place) and Pat Pezzin (57th place) were also out. Team Online's Mickey "mement_mori" Petersen left in 48th place, and Team Pro Vanessa "LadyMaverick" Rousso left in 35th place, a few spots short of the money.

The money bubble burst, courtesy of bubble player rockstar2, and Team Pro Ivan Demidov became the first to cash in the tournament with $3,525.00 for 24th place. Chad "ChadBrownPRO" took home $4,935.00 for 16th place, and Andre "aakkari" Akkari just missed the final table with a $6,345.00 payout for 12th place.

Moving along much faster than anticipated, Day 1 saw the unpredicted start of the final table.

In the LHE round, BrynKenney was the shortest stack of the group and made a preflop raise. Mitdadu reraised, and BrynKenney called. The flop came [Ac][Qd][9d], and a bet from mitdadu was called by BrynKenney. The [8d] on the turn prompted another bet from mitdadu, and BrynKenney responded with an all-in call for his last 7,341 chips. BrynKenney showed [Ks][Td], but mitdadu turned over [Ah][Kc] for two pair. BrynKenney didn't make his straight on the [9s] river and was eliminated in eighth place with $7,755.00.

Still in LHE, A1Jags was the only players under 100K and got involved with mitdadu, who was in the big blind, preflop. But it was after the [7h][Ac][Js] were dealt on the flop that the betting was capped, leaving A1Jags with less than 25K in chips. The [8d] on the turn allowed A1Jags to put out a bet, but mitdadu check-raised, and A1Jags then moved all-in. Mitdadu called with [8c][8h] for the turned set, and A1Jags showed [As][Qh] for top pair. The [5d] came on the turn and sent A1Jags out in seventh place with $9,870.00.

Team Pro Alex Kravchenko of Russia was riding a very short stack during the Razz round and was dealt [5d] to start. He raised, and Operga reraised with [3s]. Betting was then capped, and Kravchenko took a [Qc] on fourth street. Operga opened with a bet showing [Qd], and Kravchenko raised all-in. Operga called and ended up with [6s][2s][3s][Qd][Ac][5s][Tc] for a 6-5-3-2-A low, which bested the [7h][4h][5d][Qc][8h][As] hand of Kravchenko. The Team Pro exited in sixth place with $12,690.00.

In the subsequent Stud round, Team Pro Bertrand "ElkY" Grospellier raised with a [8d], and p3rc4 reraised with [5h] to prompt the other players to fold. ElkY raised again all-in, and p3rc4 called. Their final revealed hands:

ElkY: [Kh][Ad][8d][3h][7c][Js][6s]
p3rc4: [Qh][Qs][5h][5d][8h][3d][3c]

The two pair of p3rc4 was clearly the best hand, and ElkY exited the tournament in fifth place with $15,510.00.

When that level ended, play was paused to give the remaining players some well-deserved rest.

Day 2

It was 14:00 ET on September 25 that Day 2 began, and action was in Level 45, a Stud Hi/Lo round with 8,000/16,000 blinds and a 1,600 ante. The starting chip counts for the remaining four players were:

p3rc4 (485,108)
mitdadu (292,022)
turataika (234,475)
Operga (45,895)

Only one of the final four was new to 2011 WCOOP final tables, and turataika was looking to make the most of the experience with a victory in Event 59.

The other three were looking to best their previous final table performances. P3rc4 finished sixth in Event 35 (NLHE), mitdadu took fifth in Event 9 (NLHE), and Operga made it to sixth place of Event 24 (Stud).

Operga out

Operga didn't take long to make a move, but the all-in resulted in a split pot with p3rc4. Several hands later, Operga moved all-in on third street with [7s] showing, and turataika made it happen with [Ts]. When all of the cards were dealt, Operga had [Ac][Qd][7s][Tc][9c][7h][3h] and a pair of sevens, but turataika showed [8d][8s][Ts][9s][6c][2s][4s] for the spade flush. With no low hand, Operga had to leave in fourth place with $23,970.00.

No more for mitdadu

Mitdadu was in trouble during three-handed play, especially after losing a pot worth 176K to p3rc4. Reduced to a stack of less than 30K, mitdadu finally got involved just as the new level of Omaha Hi/Lo began. Mitdadu pushed all-in preflop, and both other players called. Turataika and p3rc4 checked down the board of [8d][6d][5c][9s][Kd], and mitdadu showed [Kh][Jh][Qd][Ts] for the rivered pair of kings. However, turataika showed [5d][Td][Qc][Qh] for the flush to take the high pot, and p4rc4 had [4c][3h][Th][8h] for the low. The split pot left mitdadu out in the cold with $33,840.00 for third place.

Finland versus Norway

The last two players began their match in Level 47 with these chip counts:

Seat 6: p3rc4 (867,119 in chips)
Seat 8: turataika (190,381 in chips)

Though turataika made an initial surge over the 300K mark, p3rc4 doled out the aggression and whittled turataika down to near 125K.

Finally, after the first break of the day, razz was the game in play. Third street brought a [2h] for p3rc4 and [4h] for turataika. A raise and reraise brought a [4c] for p3rc4 and [2s] for turataika, which prompted a bet from turataika and check-call from p3rc4. Betting was capped after a [3s] for p3rc4 and [2d] for turataika on fifth, and turataika moved all-in on sixth. The complete hands were soon revealed:

p3rc4: [7c][8s][2h][4c][3s][Jh][8d]
turataika: [As][5s][4h][2s][2d][4d][Kc]

Turataika couldn't win the hand and had to accept $43,710.00 for the second place finish.

Norway's p3rc4 won the WCOOP tournament, the gold bracelet, and $61,335.00 in cash. Congrats!

WCOOP Event 59 ($2,100 HORSE) Results:

1st place: p3rc4 ($61,335.00)
2nd place: turataika ($43,710.00)
3rd place: mitdadu ($33,840.00)
4th place: Operga ($23,970.00)
5th place: Team PokerStars Pro Bertrand "ElkY" Grospellier ($15,510.00)
6th place: Team PokerStars Pro Alex Kravchenko ($12,690.00)
7th place: A1Jags ($9,870.00)
8th place: BrynKenney ($7,755.00)

The 2011 WCOOP is coming to an end, but all information from the series can be found on the main WCOOP page, along with the special stats page. And check out the WCOOP Radio shows.

A total of 401 action-seekers came out for this one, thus carrying the prize pool up over the $200K mark to $200,500, well above the tourney's $125 guarantee. The top 64 finishers would make a profit, requiring those hoping to come out ahead to make it through to the fourth round.

The 64 doing so stood to earn at least $802, with the final 32 guaranteed at least $1,604. Players making the round of 16 (and day 2) were all getting at least $2,406, with the quarterfinal winners then ensuring themselves $6,416 paydays. Making the final four (Round 8) and losing earned one $14,035, finishing runner-up was worth a $26,065 prize, and the winner would take home a cool $50,125 for two days' work.

Each match saw players begin with 7,500 chips, with the 15-minute levels starting with 25/50 blinds, then moving to 30/60, 40/80, 50/100, 60/120, 80/160, 100/200, and 125/500.

DAY 1

Saturday saw five rounds played, trimming the field from 401 to 16.

Round 1 (401 to 256)

Some were lucky enough to draw byes, some won their way into the second round, and some didn't make it beyond their first match. In the latter group were included Team PokerStars Pros Eugene Katchalov, Jonathan Duhamel, Daniel Negreanu, Bryan Huang, and George Danzer.

Jorge "twin-caracas" Arias, and Event #16 ($215 PLO) winner Anders "Donald" Berg of Team Online didn't make it, either.

Round 2 (256 to 128)

A few representatives of Team PokerStars did find spots in Round 2, however.

Alexis "J0hnny_Dr@m@" Zervos, a Team PokerStars Greece Challenger, was an early second-round casualty. Zervos was nearly even in chips with his opponent, Cashcid, when the two players saw a flop come [7c][Qh][3c]. Several bets later all of J0hnny_Dr@m@'s chips were in the middle with Zervos holding [Ac][Ad][Kc][4s] for a flush draw while Cashcid had flopped top set with [Qd][Qc][10h][6d]. The turn was the [3h], giving Cashcid a boat and making the flush-making [4c] on the river no good to Zervos.

Bertrand "ElkY" Grospellier also went out early in the second round, falling to B_Lindberg after they got it all in following a [2s][Jh][Kd] flop. B_Lindberg had middle set with [Jd][Js][7h][5c] while Elky was drawing with [Ks][Qh][10s][7d]. The turn and river brought two sevens, giving both players full houses though B_Lindberg's was best.

b0caNer0 later knocked out Team Online member Raymond Wu. Soon after the red-hot 2FLY2TILT -- winner of Event #8 ($215 Triple Stud) -- wiped out Stavros "IDOLLS" Kalfas who like Zervos is a Team PokerStars Greece Challenger. And Dale "Daleroxxu" Philip of Team Online also fell in the second round, losing to basten05. Philip flopped a bottom set of deuces and got it all in versus basten04's flush draw, but the flush came on the turn and with no river help Philip was out.

Three other Team PokerStars Pros did win their way into the third round. First Noah "Exclusive" Boeken made it, taking the last of Saage's chips when Boeken's [Ac][Ah][8h][5s] held up against Saage's [Kc][Ks][7d][3c]. Then Theo Jorgensen (a.k.a. "Theo J") finished off robomallo in similar fashion when his [Ad][Ah][Qh][3s] remained best versus the latter's [Ks][Kc][9h][8d].

Finally, after nearly two hours, Team Pro Richard Toth's match with Vee Show77 was the very last to conclude in Round 2. The pair got all of Vee Show77's chips in the middle following a [9d][7d][8c] flop, with Toth holding [10h][8d][6d][3h] for a made straight and flush draw and Vee Show77 [9h][9c][7h][5s] for top set. The turn and river both brought diamonds and no pairing of the board, and finally everyone could begin the next round.

Round 3 (128 to 64)

This was the bubble round, as the top 64 finishers stood to earn at least $802 for winning here, while the losers took home zip.

Jorgensen actually busted on the very first hand of his match versus Krumpir. Take a look at how that happened:

Richard Toth took about 45 minutes to whittle liran9 down under 4,000 chips, all of which finally went in on a [3c][6s][5h] flop. liran9 had [Td][8h][6h][5d] for two pair while Toth had [Kc][Ts][7c][4s] for a straight. Toth's hand held, and he'd made the money.

The battle between Exclusive and Jim "Mr_BigQueso" Collopy took longer, with Boeken carrying a 2-to-1 chip advantage into its second hour. Then, after calling a preflop raise from Boeken, Collopy checked the [Ks][8c][Td] flop, Boeken bet, and a series of raises saw Collopy all in with [Kh][Qh][Jh][6h] versus Boeken's [Tc][Th][9s][2d].

The [Ad] turn gave Collopy Broadway, but the [Ac] on the river meant Boeken had boated up, sending Mr_BigQueso to the and Boeken into the money.

All 64 matches were done within a couple of hours, with 2FLY2TILT, bastinho06, ender555, Exclusive, Iftarii, K_0_S_T_Y_A, LuckyGumb, Patonius2000, phinomenon, Toth, and Vingtcent among those joining Toth and Boeken in the next round.

Round 4 (64 to 32)

As happened to Jorgensen in the previous round, Richard Toth's match in Round 4 was over in a flash as he was done in by Scott "BigRiskky" Clements in just five hands.

Clements had taken the early advantage when Toth three-bet him and BigRiskky called to see a flop come [3c][9d][5c]. Toth led, Clements raised, and a few bets later Toth was all in with [9s][7d][5h][3s] (two pair) versus Clements' [Jc][8s][4c][2s] (flush and straight draws). The turn was the [6d], giving BigRiskky a straight, and after the [Ts] river Toth was the first player of the event to be paid, collecting $802 for his efforts.

Noah "Exclusive" Boeken had a better time of it, though, in his match versus coldgear. Over the first half-hour Boeken had cut coldgear down under 3,000, all of which went in on a [Ks][8h][Jh] flop. Boeken had the lead with [Ad][As][6c][5d] versus coldgear's [Qd][Th][Ts][7h], then backdoored two pair as the turn and river came [6d][5s].

After more than an hour-and-a-half, 777GADO777 finally finished off tjooh26, and the fourth round was complete. Here's a look at how all of the round-of-64 matches went:

S Class over Rebuy Roope, Big Riskky over Richard Toth, valitsius over bastinho06, TheCleaner11 over kaizersoze28, ender555 over lmmm0rtal, ILIOS72 over YDA4AMO9, Vingtcent over K_0_S_T_Y_A, nathkpk over 2FLY2TILT, Patonius2000 over tracyer, Kempe4ever over Iftarii, No Limit NL over jaxx_is_back, sry2good4u over A.Ryzhenkov, Sykoen over Big_Nemo, DeFrag3 over RiskStar, birs320 over sushini2, RuiNF over THEDUTCH4141, mounteast over antpedro14, zivziv over Michail1111, Betudontbet over fever4ever, phinomenon over 1dönertasche, kay3000 over Ti0373, mahtipeluri over aces_acehigh, GodlikeRoy over LuckyGump, DaMethod over CardsAreLive, Krumpir over saphire1, 777GADO777 over tjooh26, NigDawG over MrP0P, Exclusive over coldgear, B_Lindberg over hbk7, MiPwnYa over lowballeric, Kallllle over KingsandKals, and dendroid over basten05.

Round 5 (32 to 16)

Those losing in this round received $1,604. In fact, it didn't take long for the first player to be handed that sum, as mounteast knocked out zivziv on the very first hand!

Others moving on within the first half-hour included valitsius who beat TheCleaner11, phinomenon who knocked out Betudontbet, and NigDawG who took down the last remaining Team PokerStars Pro, Noah "Exclusive" Boeken.

NigDawG had 9,200 to Boeken's 5,800 when he called Boeken's preflop four-bet, then got Exclusive to commit it all following a [Tc][9h][5s] flop. NigDawG had [Qc][Js][9c][7d] versus Boeken's [Ad][Ah][9d][8s]. The turn was the [4h], but the [Qd] river gave NigDawG two pair and the match, ending Boeken's quest for a second WCOOP bracelet this year (after winning Event #26, $320 mixed hold'em)

By the end of the first hour, Scott "BigRiskky" Clements had eliminated S class, Patonius2000 had beaten Kempe4ever, RuiNF had moved on versus birs320, mahtipeluri bounced kay3000, 777GADO777 outlasted Krumpir, and MiPwnYa took care of B_Lindberg.

That left five matches going, and soon No Limit NL said sayonara to sry2good4u, DeFrag3 sunk Sykoen, ILIOS72 ended ender555's run, and Vingtcent sent nathkpk to the rail.

They were nearing the two-hour mark when DaMethod found a way to defeat GodlikeRoy. Those two were actually almost dead even in chips when they got it all in preflop with both players holding monsters, DaMethod with [As][Ah][8h][3s] and GodlikeRoy [Ad][Qd][Tc][9c], with DaMethod's ultimately drawing a flush to beat GodlikeRoy's two pair.

Finally, dendroid had cut Kallllle down to just over 1,000 chips when the latter pushed all in before the flop with [Jd][9c][8s][3s] only to see dendroid turn over [Ac][Ad][Kc][Js], then flop a Royal Flush when the first three cards came [Tc][Qc][Jc]!

The sweet sixteen was set, and players took about 14 hours to rest before resuming on Sunday.

DAY 2

Round 6 (16 to 8)

Cards went back in the air at 10 a.m. ET for the sixteen returners, who were matched up as follows: BigRiskky vs. valitsius, ILIOS72 vs. Vingtcent, No Limit NL vs. Patonius2000, DeFrag3 vs. RuiNF, mounteast vs. phinomenon, DaMethod vs. mahtipeluri, 777GADO777 vs. NigDawG, and dendroid vs. MiPwnYa.

The first 15-minute level saw three matches quickly concluded, with the losers all collecting $2,406.

NigDawG jumped out to a quick lead over 777GADO777, and was up over 10,000 when he opened for 125 and got a call. The flop came [6d][4d][8h]. 777GADO777 checked, NigDawG bet 150, 777GADO777 made it 500, and NigDawG called. The turn was the [Jc]. 777GADO777 checked again, and an undeterred NigDawG fired 750. 777GADO777 check-raised once more, this time to 3,500, leaving himself but 50 chips behind. NigDawG reraised back, and 777GADO777 called all in.

777GADO777: [Js][7s][5c][5d]
NigDawG: [9d][9d][4h][4s]

A set of fours for NigDawG and a straight for 777GADO777. The river brought the [Jd], pairing the board to send 777GADO777 out and put NigDawG into the quarterfinals.

mounteast also made it through in less than 10 minutes. He'd jumped ahead of phinomenon early, then had his opponent down under 3,000 chips when they got it all in on a [Kc][Td][6c] flop with mounteast holding [Ac][Kd][Ks][9c] for top set and the nut flush draw versus phinomenon's [Tc][7c][6s][2d] for bottom two and a worse flush draw. The turn and river both brought clubs, giving mounteast the better flush and sending phinomenon packing.

Soon after it was Scott "BigRiskky" Clements knocking off valitsius. Clements had quickly reduced his opponent's stack to just 2,155, which valitsius soon risked with [Ks][Kh][Qc][Ts] against BigRiskky's [Ad][Qd][Jd][2s]. The board came [2d][Qs][8s][5d][7d], giving Clements the winning flush.

Three more matches were over within the first half-hour. DaMethod and mahtipeluri were nearly even at the start of Level 2 (30/60) when they got it all in on the flop in a straight draw-vs.-flush draw situation. Both draws came, and DaMethod ended with the flush and all the chips. Take a look:

ILIOS72 polished off the last of Vingtcent's stack shortly thereafter. The latter was all in after a [Kd][Ts][8d] flop with [Ah][As][4c][2c] (aces) versus ILIOS72's [Kh][Js][Th][6d] (top two). The turn was the [4d] and river the [6s], and Vingtcent was out.

Then RuiNF decimated DeFrag3's stack in a hand that saw RuinF all in on a [Jd][5d][6s] flop with [Ad][Kh][6h][3d] against DeFrag's [Jc][7d][6c][5h]. The [Qd] fell on the turn, giving RuiNF the diamond flush, and after the [2s] river DeFrag3 was suddenly down below 1,000 chips. It would take another dozen hands, but finally RuiNF claimed those, too, to move on.

The final two sixth-round matches pushed onward. MiPwnYa was well ahead of dendroid, the latter having slipped down under 2,000 chips, while No Limit NL and Patonius2000 were nearly even.

They were nearing the 45-minute mark when dendroid finally got his short stack all in on a [2s][5s][9h] flop hoping his [Ah][As][Td][3h] was good. It was for the moment, as MiPwnYa had [Kd][Ts][9d][7c], and was still so after the [8d] turn. But the river was the [Kh], giving MiPwnYa a second pair and the match.

"that was the only all in of the match," MiPwnYa pointed out while chatting to the railbirds afterwards. "its only fair i suck out."

The chatting continued, with MiPwnYa noting he hoped Patonius2000 didn't make it through to the quarters as he believed him to be the toughest player remaining in the field. MiPwnYa wouldn't get his wish, however, as not long after crossing the one-hour mark, Patonius2000 filled the last spot in the quarterfinals.

Patonius2000 and No Limit NL were still fairly close in chips when the latter opened with a min-raise to 240 from the button, Patonius2000 three-bet to 720, and No Limit NL called. The flop came [8d][4c][Qs]. Patonius2000 bet 720, No Limit NL made it 3,600, Patonius2000 reraised all in, and No Limit NL called with the 2,742 he had left.

No Limit NL had [Kh][Kd][Qh][3c] while Patonius2000 had [Ac][As][Tc][3s]. The turn and river came [4s][4h], giving Patonius2000 the better full house and sending No Limit NL out as the last to collect $2,406.

Round 7, Quarterfinals (8 to 4)

We mentioned up top that heads-up PLO was a high-action game. Well, this round certainly proved that thesis, with three of the four matches over and done within the first 10 minutes!

Patonius2000's sixth-round match took the longest, but here his was the first to conlcude. Having quickly jumped out to a better than 2-to-1 lead versus RuiNF, Patonius2000 watched his opponent open with a raise to 125, then reraised to 375 and RuiNF called. The flop came [9d][6s][Th]. Patonius2000 checked, RuiNF bet 396, Patonius2000 raised to 1,650, RuiNF reraised all in for 4,290 total, and Patonius2000 called.

RuiNF had [Ks][Tc][8h][7c] for a flopped straight while Patonius2000 held [Kd][Js][Td][7h]. The turn brought the [8d], giving Patonius2000 a higher straight, and after the [3c] river Patonius2000 was the first one through to the final four. Meanwhile, RuiNF picked up $6,416 for making it this far.

Just a moment later, Scott "BigRiskky" Clements had a big lead versus ILIOS72 with 11,931 to the latter's 3,069 when ILIOS72 opened for 150 from the button. Clements made it 444 to go, and his opponent called. The flop came [2d][Jc][Th], and BigRiskky led for 465. ILIOS72 raised to 2,283, leaving himself but 342 chips, and when Clements reraised ILIOS72 called to go all in.

ILIOS72 had [Td][7c][6h][4d] and BigRiskky [Qc][Qs][Js][Tc]. The turn was the [5h] and river the [Ac], meaning Clements' hand was best. BigRiskky was in the semis, while ILIOS72 was on the rail.

Meanwhile, DaMethod took a big pot early on to seize the advantage over mounteast. Down to 4,673, mounteast raised to 150, DaMethod reraised to 450, and mounteast called. The flop came [2s][Jd][8s]. DaMethod led for 738, mounteast raised to 2,200, DaMethod reraised back, and mounteast called with his last 2,023.

mounteast: [Jh][8d][6h][5c] -- top two pair
DaMethod: [As][Kd][5s][2h] -- nut flush draw

The turn was the [Qd] and mounteast still led, but the [9s] river brought the flush, sending DaMethod further along and mounteast out of the tourney.

The fourth and final quarterfinal match wouldn't end so hastily, although it looked as though it might. NigDawG built a big lead during the first 15-minute level, and by the middle of Level 2 had MiPwnYa down hovering around just 1,000 chips. But MiPwnYa battled back, and by the end of Level 2 the pair were close to even.

They'd moved into the third level when MiPwnYa had taken the advantage with 8,682 to NigDawG's 6,318. MiPwnYa then called a preflop raise from NigDawG and the two saw a flop come all diamonds -- [8d][2d][Ad]. MiPwnYa checked, NigDawG bet 260, MiPwnYa check-raised to 880, and NigDawG called.

The turn brought a fourth diamond, the [Jd]. This time MiPwnYa bet 1,680, and NigDawG made the call.

The river was a non-significant-looking [5s]. MiPwnYa pushed out a bet of 5,520, more than the 3,558 NigDawG had left, and after a bit of thought the latter called. NigDawG had [Qc][Tc][7d][5c] for a queen-high flush, but MiPwnYa had the nuts with [Kd][Th][9d][6s] and had earned the last spot in the semis.

Round 8, Semifinals (4 to 2)

So far on Sunday Scott "BigRiskky" Clements -- owner of two WSOP bracelets in Omaha (one PLO, one O/8) -- had played two matches, each ending in less than 10 minutes. That trend continued in the semis, where BigRiskky again finished off his opponent, Patonius2000, in short order.

This time BigRiskky took care of things even more quickly. In fact, it took just a single hand!

Things started with an opening min-raise to 100 by BigRiskky, then a three-bet to 300 by Patonius2000 which Clements called. The flop came [2d][Td][Ks]. Patonius2000 bet 400, and BigRiskky called. The turn was the [5s]. Patonius2000 checked this time, and Clements bet about three-fourths of the pot -- 1,170. Patonius2000 pushed back to the tune of 4,910, Clements reraised all in, and Patonius2000 called.

Patonius2000 had [As][Kh][Js][8c] for the spade flush draw and a pair of kings, while Clements held top set with [Kd][Kc][Th][5d]. The river was the [Ah], and just like that Patonius2000 was out, having earned $14,035 for making the semis.

The other semifinal match between DaMethod and MiPwnYa would take a little longer, with MiPwnYa taking an early lead and then pushing out close to 12,000 to DaMethod's 3,236 by the middle of the second 15-minute level. Then came a hand in which DaMethod opened for 144, MiPwnYa made it 432, and DaMethod called.

The flop came [4c][9s][Jh]. MiPwnYa bet 600, DaMethod raised to 2,664, MiPwnYa reraised back and DaMethod committed the last 140 chips he had behind. DaMethod had [9d][6h][4h][3c] for two pair while MiPwnYa had [Ah][Jc][Th][7d] for top pair of jacks. The turn was the [Ac], giving MiPwnYa the better two pair, and after the [2h] river MiPwnYa had claimed the other spot in the finals.

Round 9, Finals (2 to 1)

Just one match remained, Scott "BigRiskky" Clements versus MiPwnYa.

The first hand was accompanied by a brief bit of table chat between the finalists:

MiPwnYa: glgl
BigRiskky: Chop or play?
MiPwnYa: play
BigRiskky: gl
MiPwnYa: u2 sir

MiPwnYa was focused and ready. He'd already claimed one WCOOP bracelet this year in Event #25 ($215 PLO), and was locked in on scoring number two.

BigRiskky took an early lead in the match, but MiPwnYa quickly grabbed it back, and over the first 10 minutes rapidly pushed out to a commanding 4-to-1 chip lead over Clements.

They were still in Level 1 (blinds 25/50), starting their 45th hand, with MiPwnYa up to 13,333 to BigRiskky's 1,667. MiPwnYa raised to 124, BigRiskky made it 372, and MiPwnYa called. The flop came [9c][8s][Kc], and Clements bet 744, leaving himself but 551 behind. MiPwnYa raised, BigRiskky called, and their cards were revealed:

MiPwnYa: [Ks][Jc][8d][7d]
BigRiskky: [Jh][8c][7h][6c]

Two pair for MiPwnYa and straight and flush draws for Clements. The turn was the [Qs] and the river the [8h], giving MiPwnYa a full house and the bracelet!

Congratulations to MiPwnYa, Event #58 champion -- his second WCOOP bracelet this year!

WCOOP Event #58 ($530 PLO Heads-Up) Results:
1st place: MiPwnYa ($50,125)
2nd: BigRiskky ($26,065)
3rd (tie): DaMethod ($14,035)
3rd (tie): Patonius2000 ($14,035)
5th (tie): NigDawG ($6,416)
5th (tie): mounteast ($6,416)
5th (tie): ILIOS72 ($6,416)
5th (tie): RuiNF ($6,416)

We're just about an hour away from the start of the big one, the 2011 WCOOP Main Event, the $5,200 buy-in no-limit hold'em tourney that the entire poker world will be watching over the next couple of days. Head over to Radio WCOOP to see what they're saying about it.

A total of 831 players joined the fun for Event #55, among them Team PokerStars Online member Andrew "foucault82" Brokos, who shared his excitement via Twitter just as play began. "THIS is the event that I final tabled last year," he tweeted. "Two times!"

Indeed, Brokos finished third in this same event last fall, landing him a better than six-figure score. And by "Two times!" the 53rd-place finisher in this summer's WSOP Main Event meant a variation on the standard "one time" refrain with which we are all familiar.

After buying in for $530, players started with 7,500 chips. Brokos and his fellow competitors would combine to re-buy 562 times and purchase 515 add-ons, each giving them 7,500 more chips for another $500. As a result, the prize pool ultimately totaled $954,000, easily exceeding the event's $600K guarantee. The top 108 finishers would divide up that loot, with $172,674 reserved for the winner.

By the time the two-hour rebuy period had concluded, squee451, 1-ronnyr3, and Sphinkx87 had risen to the top of the counts, each hovering around 60,000. Almost two hours later there were 500 players left, at which point NoMorePoka led the way with more than 100,000, with xalkidas and ramondemon77 his closest competitors.

After six hours they were down to 194 left. Speedpokah was in first with just over 300,000, followed by de bluffer with about 258,000 and timoros with just over 216,000.

At that point Shane "shaniac" Schleger of Team Online was on the front page of the leaderboard in fifth place, hoping to match his performance in this year's Event #34 ($320 2-7 Triple Draw) in which he claimed the bracelet.

Several others from Team PokerStars were still alive as well, including Brokos with a below-average stack. He'd add some chips over the next hour-and-a-half, but Se7enTr3y would knock him out shy of the money in 138th, which meant no "two times" for foucault82.

Just before the eight-hour mark the bubble burst, and by the time the break arrived just 101 players were left. tuk-tuk17 led them all with more than 460,000, with NCompetition his closest competition with just over 330,000.

By then just four representatives of Team PokerStars remained with chips: Schleger (57th), Ana Marquez of Team PokerStars Spain (65th), friend of Team PokerStars Pierre "Zoutechamp" Neuville (75th), and Bertrand "ElkY" Grospellier of Team PokerStars U.K. (91st). However, of that quartet Schelger would be the first to go. All in with pocket jacks against DYBYDX's [As][3c], an ace flopped and shaniac was soon out in 95th place ($2,098.80).

Not long after that Marquez would get her stack all in versus gavonator following a flop of [Tc][Js][7d]. Marquez held [Jh][7h] for two pair, but gavonator had flopped better with [Jd][Ts]. No help for Marquez came thereafter, sending her out in 69th place ($2,671.20).

About nine-and-a-half hours in there were 50 players left, with triantafill, respect82, and Arnie_D leading the way. "ElkY" Grospellier would fall in short order, running [As][Kc] into de bluffer's [Kh][Kd] to be knocked out in 47th place ($3,148.20).

By the 11-hour mark they were down to 28, with Lilla London out front with about 1.18 million. The only other player with more than a million was Fabrizio "SixthSenSe19" Gonzalez in second with nearly 1.07 million. A familiar name on the WCOOP leaderboards, Gonzalez in fact took this same break over in Event #57 -- the $215 no-limit Omaha Hi/Lo event -- while also sitting in second place (with 34 left)!

Play continued, and soon they were down to just two nine-handed tables. Neuville had become short-stacked, and a hand arose in which he called Lilla London's preflop reraise, then shoved a [9c][Ts][Jc] flop. Lilla London called with [Ks][Kc], but Neuville turned over [Kh][Qs] for the flopped straight. The hand held, and Neuville had doubled back to survive with just 18 players left.

Lilla London would slide further, then after running pocket sevens into Davjey's pocket tens would be knocked out in 15th ($8,395.20). Soon they'd made the 12-hour break, and just 14 remained, with "SixthSenSe" Gonzalez now in front with almost 2.1 million, Dajvey next with 1.91 million, and de bluffer third with 1.63 million. (Gonzalez was still alive in over Event #57, too, where he was in ninth with 10 players left.)

After the break, DYBYDX went out in 14th ($8,395.20) after his [Ac][Kd] failed versus Se7enTr3y's [6h][6s]. Then Dajvey used pocket jacks to wipe out grazniesu4ki in 13th (also $8,395.20), the latter pairing his queen on the turn with [Ad][Qd] but Dajvey rivering a straight.

A little while later it was Pierre "Zoutechamp" Neuville knocking out xalkidas in 12th ($10,303.20) when the Friend of PokerStars' [9s][9h] held versusd xalkidas' [Ah][Jc]. Then AceSpades11 open-shoved with [Kh][8c], was called by fabstinho who held [Ac][Jc], and the better hand held, sending AceSpades11 railward in 11th ($10,303.20).

Hand-for-hand play commenced on the two five-handed tables, and several minutes passed with no eliminations. Then, just before the 13-hour break, Brryann found himself all in with [Kd][Js] versus fabstinho's [Ah][Td]. The flop came [9h][Ks][Ts], giving both players pairs but Brryann the better one. Then the [Jd] turn improved Brryann to two pair. But the [Ad] on the river gave fabstinho a better two pair, sending Brryann -- winner of this year's WCOOP #17 ($215 2-7 NL Draw) -- out in 10th ($10,303.20).

They were down to nine.

Seat 1: Se7enTr3y -- 953,696
Seat 2: HR_Dub -- 2,216,686
Seat 3: Arnie_D -- 1,697,328
Seat 4: Friend of Team PokerStars Pierre "Zoutechamp" Neuville -- 1,333,423
Seat 5: respect82 -- 657,454
Seat 6: de bluffer -- 1,704,143
Seat 7: Dajvey -- 2,269,119
Seat 8: SixthSenSe19 -- 1,033,203
Seat 9: fabstinho -- 2,444,948

fabistinho, Dajvey, and HR_Dub were out in front as the final table began, with respect82 the short stack. And Fabrizio "SixthSenSe19" Gonzalez was starting his second simultaneous WCOOP final table of the night as he was still alive over in Event #57 with just six players left!

It would take awhile before the first final table knockout. The blinds were 20,000/40,000 and respect82 was still the short stack when he opened with a raise to 88,888 from middle position. It folded to fabstinho in the big blind who reraised to 198,765. respect82 then made it 520,000 to go, fabistinho reraised over the top, and respect82 called with the 358,078 left behind.

respect82 showed [Ah][Qs] and fabstinho [9d][9s]. The flop came [5d][3d][9h], giving fabstinho a set and two cards later respect82 was out in ninth.

Not long after the blinds were the same when SixthSenSe was the one raising to 88,888 from middle position. It folded to Arnie_D who made it 200,000 from the small blind, then "Zoutechamp" Neville reraised all in for 966,410 from the big blind. SixthSenSe19 got out, but Arnie_D called with his remaining 686,243 chips.

Arnie_D had [Qh][Qd], but had run into Zoutechamp's [Ad][Ac]. The board came [8h][6d][As], giving Neville a set of aces. The [6s] improved him to a full house, making the [Qc] on the river no matter and sending Arnie_D out in eighth.

A little while later the blinds had moved up to 25,000/50,000 when SixthSense19 again opened, this time to 111,119 from late position. Once more the blinds woke up with hands, with Se7enTr3y reraising all in to 845,571 from the SB, HR_Dub reshoving over the top for more than 2.55 million, and SixthSenSe19 stepping aside.

Se7enTr3y had [Ac][5d] and HR_Dub [Kd][Kc], and when the flop came an eye-popping [Ks][Jh][Kh], it was already over for Se7enTr3y who soon hit the rail in seventh.

The remaining six players played on through the 14-hour break, with HR_Dub well out in front with more than 4.32 million, his nearest foe Fabrizio "SixthSenSe19" Gonzalez with a little over 2.1 million. Gonzalez was still alive over in Event #57, though would soon be ousted in fourth place. (Read all about SixthSenSe19's run in Event #57 here.)

Meanwhile, de bluffer was the new short stack with less than 880,000, and with the blinds up to 30,000/60,000 de bluffer open-shoved his stack from the small blind with [Ad][4d] and got called by Dajvey in the big blind holding [Kd][Td]. The flop was okay for de bluffer, coming [Jc][8d][7c]. But the [Th] turn paired Dajvey, and after the [2s] river de bluffer was gone in sixth.

Finally Gonzalez's dual-final-table runs would come to an end, but not after a bit of misfortune for SixthSenSe19. After he opened with a minimum-raise to 120,000 from the button, leader HR_Dub reraised to 330,000 from the big blind. Gonzalez reraised back to 633,319, HR_Dub shoved all in, and SixthSenSe19 called to commit his entire stack of 1,736,465.

Gonzalez had HR_Dub dominated with [Ah][Kh] versus the latter's [As][Jc]. The flop came [8c][Qd][4s] and SixthSenSe19 still led. But the turn was the [Jd], putting HR_Dub in front. The river was the [3c], and SixthSense19 had a fifth-place finish to go with the fourth he'd registered over in Event #57.

Next it was fabstinho min-raising to 120,000 from under the gun. Pierre "Zoutechamp" Neuville reraised all in from the small blind to 1,242,605, Dajvey folded in the big blind, and fabstinho called. Neuville had [Ad][Kc] and was hoping to catch versus fabstinho's [Jc][Jh]. But the board came [Tc][6s][Qh][3s][3h] and the Friend of PokerStars was out in fourth.

HR_Dub continued to build his lead with three left, eventually moving up over 8.8 million to fabstinho's 4.35 million and Dajvey's 1.1 million.

The blinds then moved up to 40,000/80,000, and HR_Dub opened a hand with a min-raise to 160,000 from the button. Dajvey responded with an all-in push from the small blind for 1,099,058, fabstinho stepped aside, and HR_Dub called.

Dajvey: [Ah][Tc]
HR_Dub: [6s][6c]

The race was on. The flop came [6d][7d][8h] -- a set for HR_Dub, but hopes for a straight for Dajvey. But the turn was the [Jh] and river the [Ks], and Dajvey was gone in third.

Heads-up play began with HR_Dub way out in front with 10,048,468 to fabstinho's 4,261,532. fabstinho would battle for nearly 15 minutes, during which time HR_Dub would gradually chip away at his opponent's stack, knocking fabstinho back down close to 2 million.

Then, with the blinds at 50,000/100,000, fabstinho raised to 200,000 from the small blind/button, HR_Dub shoved, and fabstinho called, showing [Ts][Td] to HR_Dub's [As][3s]. The [Ad][2h][Qh] flop paired HR_Dub once, then the [3d] paired him again. The river then came the [Kh], and finally, after 14 hours and 46 minutes, a winner had been determined.

Congratulations to HR_Dub for claiming the Event #55 for Canada and a payday of better than $172,000. And congrats also to Fabrizio "SixthSense19" Gonzalez for making two WCOOP final tables in a single night!

WCOOP Event #55 ($530 No-Limit Hold'em 1R1A) Results:
1st place: HR_Dub ($172,674)
2nd: fabstinho ($124,020)
3rd: Dajvey ($93,015)
4th: Friend of Team PokerStars Pierre "Zoutechamp" Neuville ($69,642)
5th: SixthSenSe19 ($49,131)
6th: de bluffer ($39,591)
7th: Se7enTr3y ($30,051)
8th: Arnie_D ($21,083.40)
9th: respect82 ($12,211.20)

Still one more wild weekend of WCOOPin' left to go, including the big $10,300 8-game (Event #61) and the $5,200 Main Event (Event #62). For the full skinny regarding schedule and satellites, check the WCOOP site.

Event 56 of the PokerStars WCOOP tournament series featured a six-max limit hold'em tournament with a $1,050 buy-in. A field of 284 players created a $284,000 prize pool, continuing the tradition of going over the listed guarantee. The final 36 runners make the money as a $62,000 payday will go to the winner. In the end, it was 2011 WSOP bracelet winner Joe "ender555" Ebanks adding a WCOOP bracelet to his many successes in short-handed hold'em events.

Team PokerStars Pro and Team PokerStars Online were well represented in the field, but just two would make the moneyas Team Canada Pro Pat Pezzin and Team Online player Randy "nanonoko" Lew both made deep runs. Lew was eliminated at the hands of Pezzin in 14th place, while Pezzin went deeper, hoping to make his third WCOOP final table.

It was a battle of survival between Pezzin and PikkuHUMPPA, the two shortest stacks among the remaining seven players. The limits were at 8,000/16,000 with Pezzin down to 21,214 chips at the three-handed table and in the big blind. Joe "ender555" Ebanks raised from the button as Roenepoen decided to fold in the small blind. Pezzin gave it some thought, as this conversation happened:

ender555: "slowrolling ?"
Pat Pezzin: "ya"

Pezzin then three-bet for his remaining chips and Ebanks called qiickly. When the hands were revealed, Ebanks held the dominating hand - [ks][7d] to Pezzin's [tc][4s]. The board ran out [Qc] [6c] [8d] [9h] [Qs], meaning Ebank's king-high was good, preventing Pezzin from making his third WCOOP final table. The Canadian earns $7,668 for his seventh place finish, while the remaining players were seated at the final table:

Final Table Chip Counts:

Seat 1: RiverBoom (231,197 in chips)
Seat 2: Roenepoen (555,260 in chips)
Seat 3: PikkuHUMPPA (95,186 in chips)
Seat 4: vitapur (529,181 in chips)
Seat 5: Joe "ender555" Ebanks (329,122 in chips)
Seat 6: StoneFace007 (390,054 in chips)

PikkuHUMPPA hung around long enough to make the final table, and for a brief time the Finnish player moved up the leaderboard into 4th in chips. However, tangling in this hand with StoneFace007 would be a crippling blow:

Two hands later, the rest of PikkuHUMPPA's chips were collected by Ebanks. The limits were at 10,000/20,000 as Roenepoen raised and PikkuHUMPPA called all in with Ebanks calling from the big blind. Both players with chips checked on the [Th] [8c] [4c] flop and [As] turn. Ebanks bet on the river when the [qd] hit the river and Roenepoen called. Ebanks turned over [js][9s] for a rivered straight, as Roenepoen and PikkuHUMPPA mucked, the latter earning $11,360 for the sixth place finish.

RiverBoom finished in fifth, earning $17,040. Limits increased to 12,000/24,000 as RiverBoom was down to 18,325 chips raising all-in. Vitapur called from the big blind holding [5c][3h] as RiverBoom held [Ah][2s]. The board ran out [8s] [9h] [5d] [Qc] [6c], as bottom pair was good enough to send the Dutch player to the rail.

At one point, this is how the chips were distributed as the limits were bumped up to 16,000/32,000:

StoneFace007 - 1,211,054
vitapur - 607,426
ender555 - 256,360
Roenepoen - 55,160

What transpired was surely a surprise to the chip leader, suffering a massive collapse to finish fourth for $22,720. A series of losing hands for StoneFace007 meant the chip lead would quickly disappear, with Ebanks taking the chip lead by flopping a set in this hand as the limits climbed to 20,000/40,000:

Another run of losing hands pushed StoneFace007 to wonder what happened. Now holding just 39,894 in chips, StoneFace007 called all-in after Ebanks made an opening raise as vitapur called from the big blind. The flop came down [Ks] [8s] [Qh] as Ebanks and vitapur checked. The turn brought the [5c] as vitapur bet 40,000 and Ebanks decided to pass. Vitapur held [5s] [5h] for a turned set of fives as StoneFace007 was drawing dead with [ah][6c] as the [ts] completed the hand history as three players remained.

The curse of the chip leader would strike again as vitapur held half the chips as Ebanks was down to under six big bets. Ebanks held a wide experience advantage over his opponents and was able to get paid off in several key hands to get back into contention. Ebanks doubled through vitapur when his pocket sevens held against A-K. Roenepoen would take a turn with the chip lead, but could not stop Ebanks from running over the table.

Vitapur had the best avatar among the three with a picture of their dog, but Ebanks Don King avatar would send some double shot power to eliminate the Canadian in third, earning $32,660. The action was now at 25,000/50,000 as Ebanks raised from the button as vitapur called from the big blind. Vitapur check-called Ebanks bet as the first three cards were [Kd] [4c] [Td]. When the [qh] hit the turn, vitapur bet 50,000, Ebanks re-raised to set vitapur all in, calling their remaining chips. Vitapur held [kc][9h] outkicking Ebanks [kh][2c]. However, it was Ebanks who binked the [2s] on the river to earn the checkmark and hold a nearly 3-1 chip lead, poised to earn his first WCOOP title.

Roenepoen gave it a valiant effort, especially when down to just two big bets four-handed to give Ebanks a bit of a battle. However, the online poker veteran with over $3m in online tournament winnings has plenty of experience in closing when heads-up. Ebanks held a 3-2 lead with limits at 30,000/60,000 when holding [kh][2h] turned into a very profitable situation in the largest pot of the final table:

Two hands later, Ebanks locked up all the chips, earning a $62,480 score. Ebanks raised from the small blind as Roenepoen called. The flop came down [kc][9d][4c] as both player put in four bets to cap the action. The [Ad] on the turn led Roenepoen to bet out, Ebanks re-raised and Roenepoen called off their remaining chips. Ebanks held [kd][9h] for two pair while Roenepoen was drawing dead, holding [kh][8d], left drawing dead. The inconsequential [3h] on the river meant Joe "ender555" Ebanks was the victor as Roenepoen cashed in for $43,594 for a runner-up finish.

WCOOP Event 56: $1,050 Limit Hold'em (Six-Max) Final Table Results:

1st: Joe "ender555" Ebanks - $62,480
2nd: Roenepoen - $43,594
3rd: vitapur - $32,660
4th: StoneFace007 - $22,720
5th: RiverBoom - $17,040
6th: PikkuHUMPPA- $11,360

The closing weekend of the WCOOP brings plenty of high buy-in tournament action, concluding with the $5,200 Main Event with $1,000,000 guaranteed to the winner. Be sure to check out the PokerStars Blog for recaps and hit up www.WCOOP.com for the schedule, results, stats, and more!

That said, it can be a nuanced game, too, one that challenges players like no other poker variant. "I have limited experience," tweeted Team PokerStars Pro Daniel "KidPoker" Negreanu prior to the start of today's $215 buy-in NLO H/L tourney. "But I genuinely believe that no-limit Omaha H/L is the most skillful form of poker I've ever played. Love the game."

There were 951 players total who loved the game enough to join the fray in this one, thus building a nifty prize pool of $190,200, easily crushing the event's $75K guarantee. The top 126 finishers would get paid, with $34,236 due the player able to scoop every last chip.

Unsurprisingly, the pace was blistering, with more than 700 players hitting the rail before the three-hour mark, among them Negreanu who couldn't get momentum going early on, then saw klafti76 take the last of his chips. Joining "KidPoker" on the rail were 20 of his fellow members of Team PokerStars.

At that point just 211 remained, with Giotin, C. Darwin2, Fabrizio "SixthSenSe19" Gonzalez, Pokerccini, and brutalizer20 sitting atop the counts.

Among those left were just three reprentatives of Team PokerStars -- Pat Pezzin of Team PokerStars Canada, Nuno Coehlo of Team PokerStars Portugal, and Jorge "twin-caracas" Arias of Team Online -- all of whom were sitting with below-average stacks. Soon Arias would go out in 159th, then Pezzin in 141st, neither still around when the money bubble burst about an hour later.

Not long after that there were just 100 players left, with Gonzalez having moved out in front with more than 213,000. Meanwhile, "SixthSenSe16" was also riding high in the top 10 of Event #55 ($530 no-limit hold'em) with just 40 remaining.

Coehlo hung on for a while with a short stack, but eventually found himself all in versus two opponents, dimaintt and hardcore1976. Both checked down the [6d][9h][2c][9c][9s] board which didn't help anyone very much as dimaintt turned over [Ac][Kd][Jh][Th] for the winner. Coelho mucked and departed, out in 79th place ($456.48).

By the five-hour mark they were already down to just 34 players, with Neptune04 having taken a big lead with 505,021. But Fabrizio "SixthSenSe19" Gonzalez was lurking in second with 265,856 -- incredibly, the same position (second) he was in with 28 left over in Event #55! marroca5, Cule100, and KaLiF1204 rounded out the top five.

An hour later they'd made it to the 15-minute break that comes after six hours of play, at which point just 10 players from the 951 who began the tourney still possessed chips. KaLiF1204 had pushed into first as the only player with over a million, sitting at 1,022,908, with nemisoi next (834,467) and gumasta third (549,176).

Meanwhile, Fabrizio "SixthSenSe19" Gonzalez was still alive in ninth place (with 229,458). Gonzalez was still thriving over in Event #55, too, where he enjoyed that break with the chip lead with 14 players left.

The blinds were getting big (10,000/20,000), and the all-ins were coming quickly as several of the remaining ten players would find themselves at risk yet surviving over the next few minutes. Finally it was marroca5 going out in 10th (for $1,902), busting with [Ah][9d][7h][3c] versus BBOY3110's [As][Ts][6d][2d] when the [Qs][Jd][Kc][3h][Tc] board gave the latter a straight.

The final nine were set.

Seat 1: Neptune04 -- 414,572
Seat 2: titovka24 -- 278,789
Seat 3: karolinaD -- 409,620
Seat 4: nemisoi -- 991,447
Seat 5: KaLiF1204 -- 483,189
Seat 6: BBOY3110 -- 518,693
Seat 7: SixthSenSe19 -- 460,178
Seat 8: gumasta -- 447,176
Seat 9: UlDuffer -- 751,336

It would take about an orbit-and-a-half for the first elimination of the final table to come. With the blinds up to 12,500/25,000 (3,125 ante), it folded to titovka24 in late position who raised to 50,000, and BBOY3110 called from the big blind. The flop came [Th][4c][2s] and BBOY3310 checked. titovka24 shoved all in for 127,539, and BBOY3310 called, turning over [Kc][5c][4h][3c] versus titovka24's [As][Ts][7c][4d].

The turn brought the [3s] and the river the [Ah], giving BBOY3310 the wheel for a straight and the nut-low -- better than titovka24's 7-4-3-2-A and two pair -- and thus sending titovka24 out in ninth.

Just two hands later, it was nemisoi opening for 55,250 from middle position, then gumasta reraising all in for 427,176 from the big blind. nemisoi called, showing [Ac][Qs][Qc][5s] to gumasta's [Ad][As][8d][8s].

The community cards came [2c][4c][Kh][Qd][9c] -- no low hands, and nemisoi's club flush meant gumasta was gone in eighth.

Shortly after that one UlDuffer open-shoved all in from the button for 1,180,086 and karolinaD called from the big blind with the 79,491 he had left. It was UlDuffer's [As][Ad][Qd][5h] versus karolinaD's [Ah][9h][6h][6s]. The [Qs][8d][3d][Th][2c] board gave neither a low and made UlDuffer's pair of aces the best high, thereby sending karolinaD off in seventh.

The remaining six played for a while, pushing through the seven-hour break as UlDuffer moved out in front and BBOY3310 slipped to short-stacked status. Finally, with the blinds up to 20,000/40,000, BBOY3310 raised his last 283,519 all in from the button and UlDuffer called from the big blind.

UlDuffer: [Kd][Ks][Qc][8c]
BBOY3110: [Kh][Qh][Td][4d]

A couple of high hands going at it, and after the board came [7d][5c][5h][As][8h] it was UlDuffer's kings and fives that ended up best. BBOY3110 was out in sixth.

The remaining five played a couple of orbits, then came a huge hand between nemisoi and KaLiF1204. nemisoi open-shoved 791,000 from middle position, KaLiF1204 called with the 726,188 he had left from one seat over, and all others folded. nemisoi showed [As][Ah][8h][3d] and KaLiF1204 [Ad][9d][3h][2h].

The [2c][5h][Qc] flop held some promise at least for a low with which KaLiF1204 might survive with some chips. But [Ac] turn didn't fulfill that promise. Nor did the [Kd] river, and nemisoi's set of aces were best, knocking KaLiF1204 out in fifth.

With four left, SixthSenSe19 had become the short stack, and soon he was pushing his last 397,053 in from the small blind and getting a call from UlDuffer from the BB. Gonzalez had [8d][4d][3c][2d] and UlDuffer [Ac][Jc][7d][6d]. The board came [Qh][4h][7s][3d][Qc], giving both players two pair plus low hands. But UlDuffer's 7-6-4-3-A low and queens and sevens beat Gonzalez both ways.

SixthSense19 was out in fourth, but his night would continue as at the time he was leading over in Event #55 with nine players remaining. (Gonzalez would eventually finish fifth in Event #55, which you can read all about here.)

The remaining three decided to talk about a possible deal, and the tourney was soon paused in order to do so. At the time UlDuffer led with 2,173,274, nemisoi was next with 1,637,188, and Neptune04 third with 944,538.

With the aid of Team Online member Adrienne "talonchick" Rowsome, "Chip chop" numbers (leaving $1,500 on the table) were proposed, and the discussion commenced.

UlDuffer: what ye think?
nemisoi: i'm ok
UlDuffer: yea plo8 is flipping anyway
talonchick (TeamOnline): (nlo8)
UlDuffer: lol

After a bit more talk, Neptune04 said he'd "rather gamble" than lock up the somewhat-better-than-third-place money he was being offered. "alrighty! play on!" said talonchick, and the others wished each other luck as cards were once again dealt.

A little later the trio had pulled close to even with one another, at which point UlDuffer propsed "3 way even chop?" nemisoi said it was okay, and after Neptune04 said "thinking" UlDuffer said "flipping coins here for 10k imo." Neptune04 thought a little longer, then typed "quite enjoying playing," and so they continued.

Soon after Neptune04 probably wasn't enjoying things quite as well after losing nearly all of his chips to nemisoi -- a more than 2.6 million-chip pot -- when nemisoi's [Ad][Kh][5c][3h] outdrew Neptune04's [Ac][Ks][7c][2d].

Neptune would triple up once, but would soon be bounced in third place after going all in with [Ad][Jc][9s][4c], getting called by nemisoi's [Th][5s][3c][2c], then watching the board come [Js][3s][6s][6d][4s] to give nemisoi a six-high straight and a six-low. Just two remained.

Heads-up play began with nemisoi out in front with 2,768,076 to UlDuffer's 1,986,924. The two immediately asked the tourney to be paused again in order to talk about a deal. While the numbers were being calculated, they chatted a bit about the situation.

UlDuffer: gl man
nemisoi: u 2
nemisoi: i want it bad rly
nemisoi: the bracelet
UlDuffer: me2 bra me2

Finally the numbers were proposed -- $29,502.65 for nemisoi, $27,959.35 for UlDuffer, and $1,500 and the bracelet left to play for -- and the pair bartered a bit further but ultimately accepted those figures.

nemisoi and UlDuffer battled for what would eventually total 21 hands, during which period nemisoi increased his lead, pushing close to 3.3 million while UlDuffer slipped to 1.45 million. Finally the last hand arrived.

Blinds were up to 30,000/60,000, and nemisoi opened with a minimum-raise to 120,000 which UlDuffer called. The flop came monotone -- [7h][Kh][8h] -- and both players checked. The turn was another heart, the [Ah]. UlDuffer bet 102,000, nemisoi made it 300,000 even, UlDuffer pushed all in for 1,328,174 total, and nemisoi called.

UlDuffer: [Kc][6c][3d][4s]
nemisoi: [Ad][3h][2c][2s]

No flushes, and nemisoi had the lead both ways with a pair of aces and a just-barely-better low of 8-7-3-2-A. The [Tc] on the river didn't change the situation, and nemisoi had won.

Congratulations to nemisoi for outlasting 950 others to claim the bracelet in Event #57 in less than eight hours! And that's yet another bracelet for Russia, who appears to be making a push to win most overall by any country at this year's WCOOP.

WCOOP Event #57 ($215 NL Omaha H/L) Results (*reflects two-way deal):
1st place: nemisoi ($31,002.65)*
2nd: UlDuffer ($27,959.35)*
3rd: Neptune04 ($18,449.40)
4th: SixthSenSe19 ($13,789.50)
5th: KaLiF1204 ($9,586.08)
6th: BBOY3110 ($7,608)
7th: karolinaD ($5,706)
8th: gumasta ($3,804)
9th: titovka24 ($2,282.40)

Still a few events left on the WCOOP schedule. Check it out over at the WCOOP site, where you can also look up results from the last three weeks' worth of action. And don't forget about Radio WCOOP, broadcasting daily in four languages!

This is where we would insert a word from our sponsors if you were watching this unfold on TV. But this is PokerStars, where we give you what you want when you want it, where people dream big and win big. So no commercials for erectile dysfunction or diaper rash. On to the details.

Not only did "sporty" make it to the final table and cash--she cashed for $55,175 in seventh place. Big money for any tournament, but huge money for a freeroll.

Considering that prior to this, her biggest win was $1700 in a $5 rebuy the previous year, this was an absolutely huge result, regardless of the buyin. Considering it was all for free, it was an overlay of gigantic proportions. As a matter of fact, she's still having a hard time processing the whole thing. "I still can't believe it, especially from a freeroll," she remarked. "Thank you PokerStars!"

Now that she has a bigger bankroll to play with we may be seeing more of her at the tables, but in the meantime, you can count on the fact that the radio will be playing in the background when she does.

To get all the updates on the WCOOP and for your chance to score big in the freerolls check out WCOOP radio. And for more about the women who cashed in WCOOP see the PokerStars Women page.