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2008 PokerStars Year In Review

Wednesday, December 31st, 2008

Every year on December 31st, we look back at the previous twelve months and think, "There is no way PokerStars will be able to outdo itself after this year." Every year, we are proven wrong.

In 2008, PokerStars broke nearly every record on the books. It topped itself in as many ways as it could. Its Team PokerStars Pro members continued to astound, winning events on the EPT, WPT, and at the World Series.

At this point, we could be tempted to proclaim that PokerStars will never have another year that is this good. However, as we have been proven wrong time and again, we think it best just to say, "Wow, what a year."

Here's a look back at what happened at PokerStars in 2008.

JANUARY

Bertrand "ElkY" Grospellier wins 2008 PokerStars Caribbean Adventure

It was not uncommon for a winner of the PokerStars Caribbean Adventure to become a member of Team PokerStars Pro. John Gale did it. So did Steve Paul-Ambrose. It was something entirely unique to see somebody do it in reverse. In January Team PokerStars Pro Betrand "ElkY" Grospellier won $2 million in the PCA.

Dustin "neverwin" Woolf sinks everyone's battleship

Dustin "Neverwin" Woolf beats out 64 players to win $48,000 in 2007 PokerStars World Championship of Battleship Poker.

At the time, he said, "I'm not cocky; I'm in the zone."

Dustin Mele wins PokerStars Passport

Doing well on the PokerStars Tournament Leader Board has always been a significant point of pride. Starting in January 2008, it became something worth quite a bit of money. Just ask Dustin Mele who won the PokerStars Passport. It afforded him the ability to--for nothing out of his pocket--go to ten big buy-in events around the world. For more on Dustin, read his autobigraphical post HERE.

FEBRUARY

18 year-old Mike McDonald becomes youngest ever EPT winner

It had to happen eventually and no one was upset to see nice-guy Mike "Timex" McDonald become the youngest person to ever win an EPT title. It happened in Dortmund, Germany and earned McDonald more than a title. He also picked up €933,600.

Mike "Timex" McDonald

Bigjoe2003 buys house with FPPs

In past years, we saw people buy books, trips, and cars with FPPs. In February of this year, we saw an FPP first. Well-known Supernova Elite Bigjoe2003 bought a house with his Frequent Player Points.

"I grew up in a trailer park, so being able to live in a million dollar house was always a dream of mine," bigjoe2003 said. "I greatly appreciate PokerStars' help in allowing me to reach that goal."

Big Joe's big house

Tim Vance, a PokerStars qualifier from St Louis wins EPT Copenhagen

In what will probably be the poker tournament quote of the year ("It's been nice playing with you sir, I call..."), Tim Vance won his first major event. The PokerStars qualifier from St. Louis, Missouri won €834,590.

.net qualifier goes to NBC heads-up event

It's a wild ride going from a freeroll on PokerStars.net to the $20,000 NBC Heads-Up Championships. That is exactly the ride Alisha Kunze got to take in February after winning a qualifier.

Alisha Kunze

MARCH

Victor Ramdin opens New York Stock Exchange

It's not uncommon to see a Team PokerStars Pro around a lot of money. It is less common to see one opening the world's biggest stock exchange.

That's exactly what Victor Ramdin did in March. And, in his defense, that was a long time before the market crashed, so don't go blaming him.

Michael Schulze wins EPT Warsaw

Michael Schulze successfully overcame Ricardo Sousa heads-up and was crowned EPT Warsaw Champion. For his efforts he won €609,782.

Michael Schulze

Frequent Player Points turn to gift horse

Just a month before, a PokerStars player turned his FPP points into a house. In March, PokerStars player blego151 decided to take a different path. He turned his points into a pretty good looking horse for his daughter.

The gift horse's honest to goodness registered name?

Midnight Gambler.

jorj95 becomes 2008's first Supernova Elite

The race to Supernova Elite only lasted until March when George Lind III, also known as jorj95, became the first player in 2008 to earn a million VIP Player Points. Like all Supernova Elites he earned free entry into the World Championship of Online Poker main event, as well as two big buy-in live events.

Hevad Khan wins Sunday Warm-Up

Team PokerStars Pro Hevad Khan kicked off his 2008 rush with a win in the PokerStars Sunday Warm-Up for nearly $100,000. The link above takes you to a full interview he did with the PokerStars Blog after his win.

APRIL

Hevad Khan wins again...this time at Foxwoods

Team PokerStars Pro Hevad Khan let his rush carry him from March to April. Just a few weeks after winning the PokerStars Sunday Warm-Up, Khan took down an event at the Foxwoods Poker Classic for more than $100,000.

Battle of the Planets begins

In April, PokerStars introduced its first SNG Tournament Leader Board. The Battle of the Planets is a weekly competition that pays out more than $3 million a year to SNG players. It will begin its first full year in 2009.

Jason Mercier wins EPT San Remo

The second-to-last EPT event of the season gave way to an American PokerStars qualifier from Florida winning the title in San Remo. This was the first year the European Poker Tour had held an event in Italy. Mercier won €869,000.

Gavin Griffin and Chad Brown join Team PokerStars Pro

Team PokerStars Pro grew a lot in 2008. The big time growth began with the introduction of Gavin Griffin and Chad Brown. Both new team members joined just in time for the EPT Grand Final, the same event Griffin had won the year before.

Glen Chorny is crowned the new EPT Grand Final Champion

In an affair fitting of its Grand Final name, the season-closing EPT event in Monte Carlo drew the world's best players. Canadian Glen Chorny took down the title and the monster €2,020,000 first prize.

Victoria Coren joins Team PokerStars Pro

After many years as a successful player, writer, and broadcaster, Victoria Coren took the next logical step. She signed on with Team PokerStars Pro.

MAY

Julien Nuijten wins first LAPT event

In May, the Latin America Poker Tour kicked off its first-ever event. The event in Brazil marked the beginning of a tour that would see its second season before the end of the year. Nineteen year old Julien Nuijten won the event for $228,000.

Turbo Takedown added to permanent tournament schedule

In February, PokerStars ran a trial version of what would eventually become the Turbo Takedown. The 5000 Frequent Player Point event now runs once a month with a $100,000 prize pool and guaranteed $20,000 first prize.

PokerStars continues support of Life Ball

PokerStars, a longtime supporter of AIDS research, once again helped sponsor Life Ball, a giant fund raiser and gala for the study of an AIDS cure. PokerStars and its players gave their hard-earned money to Life Ball 2008 to the tune of more than €150,000.

PokerStars opens Macau's first poker rooom

In May, PokerStars once again broke new ground by opening PokerStars Macau, Macau's first live poker room. The Grand Waldo Hotel and Casino card room kicked off with space for for 160 players. It continues to offer cash games and boast of a pretty nice weekly tournament schedule. See the ribbon cutting on the event HERE.

Valdemar Kwaysser wins LAPT San Jose

He had to travel from Hungary to San Jose to do it, but PokerStars qualifier Valdemar Kwaysser took down the Season 1 LAPT event in Costa Rica. His efforts earned him $280,000.

PokerStars celebrates Moneymaker anniversary

May marked the five-year anniversary of Chris Moneymaker's revolutionary achievement that set the poker world on a new course. As everyone remembers, Moneymaker used a $39 satellite entry to get into the World Series of Poker and win the entire thing for $2.5 million. To celebrate the anniversary, PokerStars created Team Moneymaker--a special crew of players to go to the 2008 World Series and play for $39.

JUNE

PokerStars players donate to China quake relief

After the tragic earthquakes in China, PokerStars and its players banded together to raise money for quake relief. PokerStars matched every dollar donated by its players and gave it all to the Red Cross to aid the suffering in China.

PokerStars lobbies get new look

Everybody was familiar with PokerStars old lobby and tables. At the same time, there comes a time in everybody's life when a little change is good. With that in mind, PokerStars began offering a new slick theme for its lobby.

Daniel Negreanu wins fourth bracelet

It was only a matter of time before Daniel Negreanu did it again. He's won tournament after tournament, and he knew he would pick up his fourth bracelet eventually. He did it during the 2008 World Series. Negreanu won the $2,000 Limit Hold'em event for more than $204,000.

PokerStars sends man to top of the world

PokerStars' headquarters sits on the Isle of Man in the UK. In June, a police officer from the Isle found himself at the highest point in the world--with a little help from PokerStars. The link above is his story, in his own words.

Barry Greenstein wins World Series Razz bracelet

Barry Greenstein already had two World Series bracelets to his name, but that wasn't enough. He tore through the Razz at the World Series and picked up his third bracelet.

William Thorson, Marcin Horecki join Team PokerStars Pro

Just in time for the World Series Main Event, two of Europe's top poker pros joined poker's most elite team of players. William Thorson and Marcin Horecki hit the ground running in late June.

JULY

PokerStars launches PokerStars.tv

PokerStars has long been an innovator, but in July it did something so spectacular it needed a whole new website. PokerStars launched a brand new web TV platform for video blogs, live coverage of PokerStars events, and replays of online events. You can watch at PokerStars.tv.

Brazil's Alexandre Gomes joins Team PokerStars Pro

Alexandre Gomes, a 25-year-old lawyer from Curitiba, Brazil, had been leaving behind his profession in law and slowly but surely gravitating toward poker. He finally made the decision to join Team PokerStars in the middle of the World Series. He was the second Brazilian to join the Team (Andre Akkari was the first).

PokerStars throws massive World Series party

PokerStars has always been known for its huge parties, but this year's World Series party took the cake. Burlesque celebrity Dita von Teese was the star of the show for the thousands of people in attendance.

The PokerStars Six make World Series final table

The World Series had a name for its four-month-delayed final table players: the November Nine. Two thirds of those players came straight from the PokerStars ranks. The PokerStars six left Vegas for four months with $900,000 in their pocket and a chance to play the final table in November.

AUGUST

Jose Miguel Espinar wins LAPT Punta del Este

The first season of the Latin American Poker Tour came to a close in Punta del Este, Uruguay. Spaniard Jose Miguel Espinar took down the final event.

SEPTEMBER

Mats Sundin hits the PokerStars ice

PokerStars has built a great team of poker professionals. In August, it added a hockey legend to its ranks. Mats Sundin signed on with PokerStars as one of its ambassadors.

PokerStars launched biggest WCOOP ever

The World Championship of Online Poker gets bigger every year. 2008 was no different. PokerStars guaranteed at least $30 million in prize money over the 2 1/2 weeks of tournaments. What's more, tournament organizers added new events this year, including some big high-roller events with event buy-ins as high as $10,000 and $25,000.

Eddie Sabat wins APPT Macau

The Asia Pacific Poker Tour kicked off its second season in Macau. Eddie Sabat helped celebrate by taking down the event and winning $453,851.

British claim first WCOOP bracelet

Folks from the UK have played a lot of WCOOP events. A lot. But they had never won a WCOOP bracelet until Shane147 took down Event #1 of the 2008 WCOOP.

Nam Le wins APPT High Roller event

Everybody in American professional poker knew the name Nam Le. Now, everyone in Asia knows it after he won more than $3.7 million Hong Kong dollars in the high roller event of the APPT's second season in Macau.

Sebastian Ruthenberg wins EPT Barcelona

Sebastian Ruthenberg was a Shooting Star from Germany before he went to Barcelona. He came out as an EPT champion, winning €1,361,000.

Stevesbets defeats ElkY in $25,000 heads-up event

It's not very often one finds a $25,000 event online. When PokerStars' WCOOP ran the the heads-up event for the first time, it saw online phenom stevesbets go up against Team PokerStars Pro Betrand ElkY Grospellier. Stevesbets took it down and won more than half a million bucks.

ckingusc wins WCOOP championship bracelet and $1.26 million

The World Championship of Online Poker was one for the books--the record books--with nearly $40,000,000 in prize money. The biggest money went to ckingusc who picked up $1.26 million for the championship win.

Yoshihiro Tasaka wins APPT Seoul

The second event of the second season on the APPT saw Yoshihiro Tasaka picking up $80,155.

OCTOBER

Chris Moneymaker wins Million Dollar Men TOC

The three PokerStars World Series champions faced off against the PokerStars Six in a single table event for bragging rights. The first of the champions, Chris Moneymaker, took it down.

Michael Martin wins EPT London

Everybody's favorite nice guy Michael Martin came tantalizingly close to winning the EPT Grand Final in March. In London, he actually took down the title.

Jason Mercier wins...again

Jason Mercier, winner of the EPT event in Italy just a few months earlier in San Remo, went to London and won the Million Pound Showdown for £516,000.

Daniel Craker wins APPT Auckland at home

It's one thing to win a big event. It's another thing to win a big event with your hometown crowd around you. That's exactly what Daniel Cracker did at the APPT event in Auckland.

ElkY wins on WPT

ElkY may not have won a WSOP bracelet this year. He came close to winning a WCOOP bracelet several times. That said, he won an EPT title in January. And then in October, ElkY won on the WPT. He took down the Festa al Lago event for $1.4 million after beating out a field of 368 people. He wrote about it HERE.

Hevad Khan wins $1 million at Caesars

We talked a lot about how Hevad Khan had a great year. It got even better at the end of October when he won $1 million at the Caesars Palace Classic.

NOVEMBER

Ryan Fee wins LAPT San Jose

The second season of the LAPT came before the first season was even a year-old memory. American player Ryan Fee took the short flight to Costa Rica and blitzed his way through the tournament for a victory he called "easy."

Peter Eastgate wins 2008 World Series

After waiting for months to play the final table of the World Series, Peter Eastgate took down the Main Event bracelet. Eastgate, at 22, became the youngest ever Main Event winner. He won $9,152,416.

Van Marcus wins APPT Manila

Van Marcus has racked up his share of big cashes on the APPT, but he had yet to achieve the title of champion. He did it in Manila.

Joao Barbosa wins EPT Warsaw

Joao Barbosa was already a rising star on the European Poker Tour, but that wasn't enough. So, he won EPT Warsaw and €367,141.

Negreanu takes down British Columbia Poker Championship

ElkY won a couple of big titles. So did Hevad Kahn. Daniel Negreanu is not one to be outdone. So, he went home to Canada and took down the British Columbia Poker Championships for $371,000. You can read about his victory in his trip report.

DECEMBER

PokerStars sponsored Thiago Camilo

PokerStars is pretty well known for sponsoring some pretty big events. It happened again in Brazil when PokerStars raced around the track with Thiago Camilo.

PokerStars introduces Russian Poker Tour

PokerStars has tours in almost every part of the world, but its empire has not reached capacity. Enter the Russian Poker Tour, a brand new series kicking off in 2009.

Martin Rowe wins APPT Grand Final

The APPT concluded a successful second season in Sydney, Australia. The title went to hometown hero Martin Rowe who won AUD $1,000,000.

Vanessa Rousso wins APPT Tournament of Champions

In mid-December Vanessa Rousso took some time out of her day to take down the APPT TOC and win some big cash for the No Limit, No Profit Initiative, a charity set up to aid cancer research.

World Cup sets live final teams

After a month of qualifying and battle, the PokerStars World Cup of Poker V set its live final teams. They will meet Janaury 6 in the Bahamas to determine the World Cup of Poker champion. For a look at recent World Cup news, click here.

Salvatore Bonavena wins EPT Prague

The EPT season would go on into 2009, but the last event of the year came in December in Prague. The title went to Salvatore Bonavena who won €774,000.

Imric_est wins World Blogger Championship of Online Poker

For the first time, PokerStars turned the World Blogger Championship of Online Poker into a series of events. This year, Imric_est took down the championship title and will be playing at the PokerStars Caribbean Adventure in 2009.

PokerStars breaks tons of records

PokerStars hosted World Record week and shattered just about every record it could find. From the biggest ever poker tournament, to the biggest number of players online, to the biggest Sunday Million, to the biggest Sunday Warm-Up, PokerStars broke them all.

***

Thank you all for a great year and your visits to the PokerStars Blog. Happy New Year. We'll see you in the Bahamas to kick off what is sure to be a fantastic 2009.

Posted in PokerStars news, Pokerstars | Comments Off

World Cup of Poker: the British are coming!

Wednesday, December 31st, 2008

Team Ireland landed in the finals of the World Cup of Poker IV, England did it the year before, and Scotland did it the year before that. 2009, however will see these nations gathered together under the banner of Team United Kingdom as they go for the gold in the Bahamas.

Under World Cup of Poker regulations, Team U.K. received an automatic berth in the finals and will be represented by Team PokerStars Pro Vicky Coren, two freeroll qualifiers, one TLB leader, and one magical mystery player whom as of press time, is still to be determined.

To those of you who follow the tournament scene on PokerStars, the name "allinstevie" should be extremely familiar. Hailing from Omagh, Northern Ireland, 26-year old Stephen Devlin is one of the U.K.'s top online players, having notched victories in the $109 NLHE freezeout, the $55 NLHE deep stacks, and the $25k guaranteed in 2008. His largest online score this year, however came when he final tabled the Sunday Warm-Up on August 31st, finishing 7th for $21,000. A huge Manchester United fan, Devlin brings a good deal of live tournament experience to the table for Team U.K., having played in a slew of EPT and WSOP events in addition to playing the PCA Main Event last year.

The thing Devlin (seen left in photo below) is most excited about in the Bahamas, though? The weather, obviously. "It's frickin' freezing here at the moment" he reports of the Irish winter.

Freeroll qualifier Sean "N!GHTMAR3" Flaherty loves nothing more than to go out with his mates, have a laugh and play some online poker. Flaherty caught the poker bug after watching a televised tournament and made his way to PokerStars, where he taught himself the game. The World Cup finals will mark Flaherty's first live tournament experience.

Also earning his way in on a freeroll is Derek "Purr of Aces" Morris. A veteran online player, Morris has twice represented Great Britain at the World Cup of Poker. The 39-year old lives in Lancashire, England and works as a bookmaker's assistant when he's not making final tables on PokerStars (he claims over 400 of them). Like his teammate Stephen Devlin, Morris brings a significant amount of live tournament experience with him, having competed in two EPT events, a WPT event, and countless tournaments on the Grosvenor U.K. Poker Tour.

Morris with a Bahamian local he met at his last PCA

When asked about the prospect of spending a week on Atlantis, Morris said "I'm looking forward to the weather, trying the new dolphin cay, and sipping a few cocktails to be honest. My daughter is pretty devastated that the Jonas Brothers are playing in Atlantis two weeks before we arrive. Shame on you Stars!" he teased.

Posted in PokerStars World Cup of Poker, Pokerstars, V, worldcupofpoker, worldcupofpokerv | Comments Off

World Cup of Poker: Team Germany returns to the finals

Tuesday, December 30th, 2008

Joined by Team PokerStars Pro Katja Thater, Team Germany made the finals of last year's World Cup of Poker, but unfortunately had to say "Auf Weidersehen" in seventh place. Now, after plowing through five teams of their fellow countrymen, Team Germany 1 is set to make a repeat appearance with Thater again as its fearless leader.

Yes, you read that right-- five teams. The German player base has grown so much that rather than compete within one of the European divisions, Germany occupies its own division like the United States and Canada. Among our four qualifiers are three amateurs and one rising young pro who will attempt to bring the crown home to the motherland.

20-year old Bastian "mados4k" Wulff is the first to admit that he got extremely lucky in the freeroll qualifying matches that earned him a spot on Team Germany. Only having learned the game recently, Wulff primarily plays freeroll MTTs on PokerStars and the World Cup finals in the Bahamas will mark his first live tournament experience.

Like Wulff, Peter "SmArTdOg1970" Schmidt is another World Cup finalist whose poker experience is largely confined to playing freerolls. The 38-year old auto mechanic from Esslingen is excited not only to play poker on the world stage but to represent Germany in the process.

"I´m very proud to play for my country and who can say in his life (that he had) the chance to win a world championship!" said Schmidt.

40-year old Georg "josha45" Geissler earned his spot on Team Germany via his TLB status for 2007. Married for 14 years and the father of three daughters, Geissler works as a marketing VP for a high-tech machinery company. He discovered PokerStars in 2006 and also plays in a live game at the Casino Wiesbaden once a week. Geissler is especially excited to travel to the Bahamas--last year he won a seat to the PCA but was unable to play due to health issues. This year, he looks forward to experiencing the warm weather and will represent Germany in the World Cup with someone special on his mind, his grandmother, who recently passed away.

"She would have (been) too excited about it as she always supported me, loved playing cards as well and taught me this when I was young," Geissler related.

Our final player is TLB qualifier Thomas Boekhoff who first caught the eye of the poker media with his impressive 14th place finish at the 2008 EPT Grand Final in Monte Carlo, for which he took home €76,000. The 21-year old took up poker in 2006 and dropped out of school shortly thereafter to pursue a career as a poker professional. He can often be found playing up to 40 tables simultaneously.

Boekhoff admitted to us that he isn't too familiar with the island nation he's about to experience. "(I) don't know much about the Bahamas, I actually thought it was somewhere around New Zealand to be honest... just looking forward to have some nice relaxing days,' said Boekhoff.

Sun. Sand. Crystal-blue water. Fruity drinks. Awesome cash game action. That's all you need to know.

Posted in PokerStars World Cup of Poker, Pokerstars, V, worldcupofpoker, worldcupofpokerv | Comments Off

World Cup of Poker: Viva Italia!

Monday, December 29th, 2008

In the poker year that was 2008, Italy made a lasting impression. Luca Pagano was voted the EPT Player of the Year. Dario Minieri won his first World Series of Poker bracelet and Max Pescatori won his second. San Remo hosted their first EPT event, and though American Jason Mercier took down that title, three Italians went on to make the final table on the tour's most recent stop in Prague, where Salvatore Bonavena came away with the title, wrapped in Il Tricolore as he posed for his winner's photo.

Fittingly enough, in a year where Italy had such a significant impact on the poker world, it will represent the continent of Europe for the first time in the World Cup of Poker finals. Two freeroll qualifiers and two Tournament Leaderboard achievers will be heading down to the Bahamas to see if they can add one more title to Italy's till.

Leading the team into battle will be Team PokerStars Pro and EPT player of the year Luca Pagano. While this will be his first time at the World Cup, his live tournament experience is many years long and could serve his team exceptionally well.

Pennisi "Omaruccio" Omar is a self-described "nice boy from Sicily" who is no stranger to the gambling world. By day he works managing a firm that sells and leases slot machines and by night he feeds his online poker hobby, playing multi-table tournaments on PokerStars.

Though he had a rough start when he first started playing in January 2006, Omar persevered and posted excellent tournament results in 2007, earning him the second spot on Italy's Tournament Leaderboard. Omar also loves to travel and is not only excited about getting to experience the Bahamas, but is especially intrigued by the World Cup format.

"What I find exciting in the Bahamas tournament is the fact that there will be a team work-- you play for your own nation and the win depends on every single member of the team. That is very different from other live tournaments," said Omar. "A World Cup win would be an indescribable emotion and a deep personal satisfaction."

Michele "mm-mh" Migliore is coy when it comes to his background, preferring to keep a low profile. A recreational player for the last decade, Migliore qualified for Team Italy via his TLB standing. Though he enjoys the online game, Migliore also comes to the table with some significant live tournament experience, having played three WSOP Main Events in addition to cashing in tournaments at the Orleans Open, the Foxwoods World Poker Finals, and the Master Classics of Poker in Amsterdam.

Joining our TLB duo is freeroll qualifier Valeriano "BILLIKO" Bilancetti. In addition to playing online, the 32-year old often plays live in a private game at the Casino San Remo.

Rounding out the quartet is Gerardo "gvilla2" Fabrizio, whose road to the World Cup Finals began when he finished in the top nine of a 552 player freeroll qualifier. The 23-year old electrician has been playing poker for three years, but began taking the game seriously only this year when he became an active participant in poker strategy forums. Aside from playing on PokerStars, he also plays frequently in local tournaments.

What's he looking forward to the most in the Bahamas? "Doubtless the beautiful place!" he replied.

Will the names Migliori, Omar, Fabrizio, and Bilancetti be etched into Italian poker history alongside Minieri and Pagano? Stay tuned...

Posted in PokerStars World Cup of Poker, Pokerstars, V, worldcupofpoker, worldcupofpokerv | Comments Off

PokerStars World Record Weekend Results

Monday, December 29th, 2008

We may be in the middle of PokerStars' World Record Week, but this weekend was where the biggest action happened. In just the span of one day, we saw the world's biggest ever poker tournament, the biggest ever Sunday Million, the biggest ever Sunday Warm-Up, and more than $12 million in real cash tournament prizes awarded to PokersStars players.

Oh...and while we're mentioning broken records, we should also mention that Sunday around 3:30pm ET, we saw the biggest number of people ever logged into PokerStars. As you can see in the screen capture below, the number topped out at more than 250,500 players (click on the image for a full-size version).

Perhaps the most talked about attraction all week long was PokerStars' attempt to break the Guinness World Record for the largest ever poker tournament. The players came through--all 35,000 of them. Not only was it a win for PokerStars, it was a pretty significant win for stan34powa who topped the field of 35,000 to win the Guinness World Record tourney and $30,000.

The Guinness World Record attempt may have been the tournament with the most players, but the PokerStars Sunday Million dwarfed everything with its prize pool. The tourney pulled in a whopping 16,260 players who played for a $3,252,000 prize pool. Not only was it a monster Sunday Million, it was also one where the winner cut no deals and collected a $331,378 prize. Many congratulations go to lp_Saki Saki from Sweden. Read how he did it in the 12/28/08 Sunday Million report.

If that's not enough broken records (and yes, I'm perfectly aware I'm starting to sound like one), the Sunday Warm-Up eclipsed its largest ever number of players this weekend. When the tournament finally settled on a total number, it looked like 5,836 playing for a $1,167,200 prize pool. Hr_Herman went into the final table with one of the smaller chip stacks but emerged with the victory and $147,067. Read all about it in the 12/28/08 Sunday Warm-Up report.

Oh, that should be enough, right? Well, it's not. Not only was PokerStars rocking and rolling in the record-breaking department, it was also celebrating the last Sunday of the month (and year). That meant it was time for the PokerStars Turbo Takedown and the Battle of the Planets Triple Shootout. Turbo Takedown honors (and $100,000) went to perky246 (read the full report HERE). In the Battle of the Planets showdown, el cuCut ran the table and came out with the victory (full report HERE).

You think that's it? Well, it's not.

This weekend also marked the time when the members of Team PokerStars Pro would face off against each other and determine the team's captain. Who won? After a tough heads-up battle with Daniel Negreanu, Victor Ramdin walked away with the win. We provided full coverage of the match. You can see the whole live blog HERE or read the Team PokerStars Pro Championship match wrap-up.

You think that's all? Well, that's all we have room for here, but there were still tons of other major tournaments on Sunday. For a full breakdown of winners from the big weekend, visit the (12-28-08) PokerStars Sunday Tournament Results page.

Congratulations to PokerStars for its record-breaking weekend. Moreover, congratulations to all the players who raked in the big cash.

Posted in PokerStars Sunday Tournaments, Pokerstars, World Record Week, sundaytournaments, worldrecordweek | Comments Off

Stockholm’s lp_Saki Saki is no Swedish fish, topping record Sunday Million field

Monday, December 29th, 2008

Sunday Million logo.jpg The fields were super-sized during World Record Week and December 28th's special edition of the Million drew a mind-boggling 16,260 players to the felt creating a prizepool of $3,252,000, easily surpassing the $2.5 million guarantee placed on the event in honor of World Record Week. As the tournament neared the end of its fourth hour, 2.475 of those players made the money, with Katja Thater winning the Team PokerStars Pro last-longer, making a deep run that ended in a 134th place finish.

Podarok ended up the final table bubble boy, busting out in 10th place when salmor turned a flush against his flopped two pair. With that, we had our final nine, their stack sizes looking like this:

Seat 1: lp_SakiSaki (31,505,955 in chips)
Seat 2: manifest23 (13,908,936 in chips)
Seat 3: kharak (14,643,069 in chips)
Seat 4: MauryFishant (2,944,989 in chips)
Seat 5: salmor (26,352,162 in chips)
Seat 6: Beufford (13,892,416 in chips)
Seat 7: La_Alvarado (12,286,663 in chips)
Seat 8: AAmerican (35,907,574 in chips)
Seat 9: k0rt (9,458,236 in chips)

Kharak was the first player to exit the final table. After AAmerican opened for 1.5 million with blinds of 250,000/500,000, khrarak moved all in for 10.8 million and salmor called from the big blind. AAmerican gave it up and kharak revealed Ah-Qc to salmor's 9d-9h. The first race of the final table went to the underpair, as the board ran out Jc-8c-4d-6d-4h, eliminating kharak in 9th place for a $22,764 payday. Next to go was La_Alvarado, who from the small blind shoved over the top of lp_SakiSaki's 1.5 million opening raise and MauryFishant's flat-call. Lp_SakiSaki folded but MauryFishant made the call. La_Alvarado was in trouble, his Ac-Td dominated by MauryFishant's As-Js. La_Alvarado couldn't catch up on the eight-high board and he hit the rail in 8th place, collecting $32,520.

Nearly 30 minutes would pass before the next elimination. With blinds up to 400,000/800,000, MauryFishant opened for a min-raise to 1.6 million. AAmerican shoved for just over 3.9 million and MauryFishant made the call, showing Qh-Jh to AAmerican's Ad-5h. A queen hit the flop, though and AAmerican could not improve, finishing in 7th place for $50,406. Four hands later, salmor would get very unlucky against lp_SakiSaki. With the board reading 7c-6s-5c-7h, salmor moved all in on the turn holding As-7d, only to run into lp_SakiSaki's flopped straight with 4s-8s. The 3d fell on the river and salmor was out in 6th, earning $73,170.

Manifest23 was the short stack as play turned five-handed, and with only seven big blinds left, he needed to make something happen quickly. He moved in on a steal from the cutoff, but Beufford looked him up, showing pocket sixes to his 3c-6c. No help on the board for manifest23 and he collected $97,560 for his 5th place finish.

With the field down to four k0rt broached the subject of a deal, but lp_SakiSaki quickly put the kibosh on it. Then, only about twenty seconds later k0rt was all in against lp_SakiSaki and in great shape, with Kc-Kd vs. lp_SakiSaki's Ad-Js. Though the flop was a seemingly safe-looking 9h-8c-6c, lp_SakiSaki turned the Qh and rivered the Tc to make a runner-runner straight and sent k0rt to the rail with a one-two punch and $130,080 in his pocket for 4th place.

Beufford was the next to bring up a chop, asking if his opponents wanted to "look at numbers". With 70 million in chips to Beufford's 54.2 million and MauryFishant's 37.3 million, lp_SakiSaki again declined, preferring to play it out for the full amount. Though MauryFishant won a few small pots early on in three-handed play, his stack began to dwindle steadily while lp_SakiSaki turned up the aggression. He may have been tightening up, he may have been utterly card-dead, but when he found 3c-3h on the button, he raised to 4.8 million, only to have lp_SakiSaki move in for his entire 101 million stack from the big blind. MauryFishant made the call, and was crushed to see lp_SakiSaki turn up Kc-Kd. The flop was Jh-7h-4s, and though MauryFishant got a ray of hope on the turn when the 5c fell and he picked up a gutshot straight draw, the 2d on the river sealed his elimination in 3rd place. He earned $162,600 for his finish--which, on a "normal" weekend, would be close to the Million's top prize.

As lp_SakiSaki and Beufford went heads-up, their chip counts looked like this:

Seat 1: lp_SakiSaki (127,356,568 in chips)
Seat 6: Beufford (35,243,432 in chips)

Lp_SakiSaki began heads-up play with a nearly 4-1 chip lead over Beufford. The two mostly traded small pots, lp_SakiSaki grinding Beufford down to a low of 21.3 million to his 141.2 million, but Beufford was able to double up to 42 million when he made two pair and lp_SakiSaki's straight draw failed to materialize. Beufford appeared to be gaining momentum and at one point narrowed the gap to a 5-3 chip deficit, but ultimately, it would not be enough to overcome lp_SakiSaki. On the final hand, lp_SakiSaki opened for 2.8 million from the button and Beufford called. Beufford led out for 4.2 million on the 8h-2d-2c flop and lp_SakiSaki came along with a call. The turn was the 4c and Beufford made a massive all-in overbet for his remaining 50.7 million in chips and lp_SakiSaki practically beat him into the pot, showing 2h-8d for a flopped full house! Beufford and his Kd-8c were drawing nearly dead--only the case 8 could end the hand in a tie. The Ts fell on the river, though and lp_SakiSaki took down the largest non-WCOOP tournament ever held on PokerStars, banking $331,378.80 for his win. Beufford earned $227,640 for his runner-up finish.

After playing for huge stakes with no chop of the prize money, here's what our nine finalists took home:

Sunday Million Results for 12/28/2008
1st place lp_SakiSaki ($331,378.80)
2nd place Beufford ($227,640)
3rd place MauryFishant ($162,600)
4th place k0rt ($130,080)
5th place manifest23 ($97,560)
6th place salmor ($73,170)
7th place AAmerican ($50,406)
8th place La_Alvarado ($32,520)
9th place kharak ($22,764)

For more information on how to register or satellite in to the Sunday Million, hit up the Sunday Million page.

Posted in PokerStars Sunday Million, Pokerstars, sundaymillion | Comments Off

World Record Week: stan34powa tops field of 35,000 to win in Guinness World Record tourney

Monday, December 29th, 2008

PokerStars went for the record books this weekend--the Guiness Book of World Records to be precise, putting together the largest poker tournament in history--a 35,000 player, $10+1 buy-in event with a guaranteed prize pool of $500,000. Selling out days before cards ever went on the screen, the capped starting field hit the felt at 4:30 pm EST and a whopping 8,750 of them hit the money less than three hours later. With a tournament of this gargantuan size, would it surprise you that eighty players were lost during hand-for-hand play on the bubble as the action on 876 tables played out?

As we reached the final table of ten, the stack sizes looked like this:

Seat 1: Goldman007 (9,863,968 in chips)
Seat 2: gustave44 (11,654,326 in chips)
Seat 3: stan34powa (11,516,965 in chips)
Seat 4: Nekochan48 (8,822,692 in chips)
Seat 5: alepolice (9,373,489 in chips)
Seat 6: meiky777 (20,884,333 in chips)
Seat 7: FuFish (6,384,140 in chips)
Seat 8: n0ideahh (7,239,435 in chips)
Seat 9: rumred14 (4,506,500 in chips)
Seat 10: ONE_TIMEE (14,754,152 in chips)

FuFish, who was being cheered on by an enthusiastic bunch of railbirds, was unfortunately the first to be eliminated from the final table. With the blinds at 250,000/500,000 with a 62,500 ante, gustave44 opened for a raise to 1.5 million from middle position, FuFush moved all in for 5.75 million and gustave44 made the call, turning up Kh-Qs to FuFish's pocket sevens. With a king on the flop and a queen on the river, the overcards outran the underpair and FuFish finished in 10th place, good for $1,500.

Next to exit was ONE_TIMEE, who fell to Goldman007 on a blind vs. blind hand. After open-shoving from the small blind for 6.2 million and getting a call from Goldman007 in the big, ONE_TIMEE was no doubt verbalizing the clarion call of his screen name as he awaited the flop, his Kd-9s trailing Goldman007's Ks-Js. The flop, though, was Jc-7h-2c, making top pair for Goldman007 and ONE_TIMEE could not catch running cards to improve, ending his long day of poker with an extra $2,000 in his account for his 9th place finish.

After a much-deserved break, the final eight returned to blinds of 500,000/1,000,000 and an ante of 125,000. Stacks were shallow, with the average stack at that point at about 13 big blinds. Even dominant chip leader meiky77 only had 32 big blinds. This action was going to move fast.

Seated under the gun and facing the 1,000,000 big blind on the next hand, alepolice pushed in for 1.6 million. Meiky777 flat-called from UTG+1 and the action folded around to stan34powa, who moved all in for 9.9 million from the small blind. Neckochan48 gave up his big blind and meiky777 mucked as well, leaving their two opponents heads-up. Alepolice's Ks-9s was dominated by Nekochan48's Ac-Kc and he could not improve, hitting the rail in 8th place for $2,500.

Four hands later, stan34powa opened for 2.75 million and n0ideahh made his stand, moving in for 3.1 million with Qd-Js. Stan34powa called the additional 385,000 with pocket sevens and they held up to send off n0ideahh in 7th place. Two hands after that, Nekochan48 curiously limped in from UTG and the action folded around to gustave44 in the small blind. He moved all in for 19.6 million only to have stan34powa move all in for 19.9 million from the big blind. Nekochan48 got out of the way and the cards were turned up, gustave44's Ad-Ts trailing stan34powa's Qc-Qs. The flop was a tantalizing As-Ks-2s, gustave44 flopping top pair but stan34powa still in it with the nut flush draw. The turn was the 2d, but the river was the 3s, making both players a flush, stan34powa's the higher one as gustave44 exited in 6th place.

Rumred14 started talks of a chop once play became five-handed, but no one was ready to talk deals yet. He'd be the next player to get action, moving all in pre-flop for his remaining 9.1 million and earning a call from Nekochan48 in the big blind, who had him slightly covered. It was a race situation, Nekochan48 holding pocket sixes and rumred14 the Ad-Ks. The board ran out As-8c-3d-Tc-Jd and rumred14 doubled up, crippling Nekochan48 to only 585,209, all of which was posted in the small blind on the next hand. Nekochan48's 4d-Ts could not improve against rumred14's Ah-Td and he was eliminated in 5th place, collecting $7,500.

A dozen unanswered open-pushes later, meiky777 opened for 6 million with blinds of 750,000/1.5 million. Goldman007 reraised to 10.5 million and meiky777 four-bet to 15 million, setting Goldman007 all in. He quickly called and turned up As-Ac to meiky777's Ah-4h. Though Goldman007 was in one of the best pre-flop situations a player can be in when it comes to hold'em, the flop opened doors for meiky777, coming down 6s-3h-2s. The turn was the Kh, but the river was the disastrous 5d, making meiky777 a six-high straight and bouncing a very unlucky Goldman777 from the tournament in 4th place. Though he came out on the wrong end of that hand, he still managed to turn $11 into $10,000 in the space of eight hours.

Rumred14 asked about a chop again when play was three-handed and the chip counts had evened up. Once again, his suggestions were met with silence from his opponents. Only a few minutes later, rumred14 called meiky777's 3 million opening raise and they saw a flop of Th-8s-7s. With rumred14 holding Qs-Js for straight and flush draws and meiky777 with 7c-8c for bottom two, it was inevitable that the money would go in the middle. The turn, though was the 8h, making meiky777 eights full of sevens and leaving rumred14 drawing dead. Rumred14 took home $15,000 for a stellar performance.

As heads-up play kicked off between meiky777 and stan34powa, the chip counts looked like this:

Seat 3: stan34powa (37,213,054 in chips)
Seat 6: meiky777 (67,786,946 in chips)

After all the open-shoving that marked most of the play at the final table, the 57-hand heads-up battle was a real back-and-forth chess match, with the lead constantly swinging back and forth between our final two players. Stan34powa wrestled the lead away from meiky777 when he made kings and fives against meiky777's sevens and sixes, but meiky777 took it back just as quickly after stan34powa attempted a river bluff with ace high and meiky777 called him with two pair. The pendulum kept swinging, with neither player taking more than a 7-3 chip lead, until this hand came up:

Meiky777 limped in from the small blind and stan34powa checked. The flop was 8h-5s-3s and stan34powa checked to meiky777, who bet 2.5 million. Stan34powa raised to 7.5 million and meiky777 shoved over the top for 31.2 million. Stan34powa called, having meiky777 covered and the hands were revealed--stan34powa with 2d-8d for top pair and meiky777 looking to improve with Ac-Kd. The turn, though was the Js, the river was the 7s and it was all over. Stan34powa had outlasted 34,999 opponents to win the world's largest-ever poker tournament and $30,000 for his performance. Runner-up meiky777 added $20,000 to his bankroll.

With no deals made, here's how the final table finished up:

Guinness World Record Attempt $500,000 Guaranteed

1. stan34powa $30,000
2. meiky777 $20,000
3. rumred14 $15,000
4. Goldman007 $10,000
5. Nekochan48 $7,500
6. gustave44 $5,000
7. n0ideahh $3,500
8. alepolice $2,500
9. ONE_TIMEE $2,000
10. FuFish $1,500

Posted in Pokerstars, World Record Week, worldrecordweek | Comments Off

perky246 Was Wide Awake For Victory in $1 Million Turbo Takedown

Monday, December 29th, 2008

On a weekend laden with free money getting tossed into the ring, why not join PokerStars' biggest monthly freeroll? For 5,000 FPPs you receive a seat for a shot at a prize pool worth $1 million and a $100,000 first place prize. Tonight's $1 Million Turbo Takedown featured 9,532 players that "bought-in" or worked the satellite circuit to reach the final nine shown below:

(Click image for larger picture)

Seat 1: pezi2000 (5,844,901 in chips)
Seat 2: BigDennys (2,745,539 in chips)
Seat 3: plattsburgh (1,939,168 in chips)
Seat 4: krissyb24 (3,374,825 in chips)
Seat 5: lexwilly (865,053 in chips)
Seat 6: Shogu (3,359,768 in chips)
Seat 7: joehenry (1,779,972 in chips)
Seat 8: perky264 (5,434,185 in chips)
Seat 9: GKnight00001 (3,252,589 in chips)

lexwilly had to make something happen early and often to get into the deep money at this final table. Something happened early that negated the often, as six hands into the final table with blinds at 60,000/120,000 ante 12,000 lexwilly found himself open pushing his remaining 1,051,053 from middle position with pocket sixes. He got action from perky264 in the cutoff with Ac-7c who called creating the nearly 2.4 million chip pot. Top two flopped for perky264 on the board of 7d-As-3c-Qc-5d leaving lexwilly hanging in ninth place for $5,500 from his 5,000 FPPs spent.

Three hands later plattsburgh, Shogu, and GKnight00001 got into a three-way hand that would leave one person in eighth place. All three checked the flop of 4s-Ks-Kh, and then on the turned 6s, GKnight00001 led out for 240,000 from the big blind. plattsburgh responded with a shove for 1.3 million and Shogu took some ninja cover as GKnight00001 made the call holding just As-3h for the nut flush draw. Seeing the flush draw and not a king made plattsburgh's pocket jacks (Js-Jd) very happy. But the river 3s turned that smile upside down as GKnight00001 held the larger flush and collected the 3.7 million chip pot while $10,000 real cash was shipped to plattsburgh for his eighth-place finish.

Short on chips with ever-growing blinds means you must push when you get a chance. joehenry took that chance when the table folded to his button while holding just 361,972 chips (only three big blinds). perky264 folded in the small blind while GKnight00001 could make a math call with any two, but actually held a decent Ac-Ts. Unfortunately for joehenry he did not have the live cards he was hoping for with Th-9c. A flush board for both players ran out 4c-Kc-Ah-6c-2c but GKnight00001's nut flush toppled the nine kicker flush for joehenry. Slaying another dragon, GKnight00001 knocked off his second opponent and joehenry received $15,000 for his seventh-place finish.

Shogu managed to increase his short-ish stack after netting a nut flush against GKnight00001, knocking him off his steed for once in a 5.1 million chip pot. BigDennys also tried to get out of the short stack hole by putting a squeeze play on perky264's 319,500 chip raise from the cut-off and a call by GKnight00001 on the button. A push of 2.4 million chips from the big blind with hopes to collect the 933,000 in the middle went south in a hurry for BigDennys' Ah-6h as perky264 had 6 million chips behind after making the call with As-Qh. Queen on the flop of 3h-Qs-4c left BigDennys gasping for some runner-runner skillet combo, but the Kc and Jh on the turn and river left BigDennys searching for a grand slam breakfast in sixth place but with an extra $20,000 to tip the third shift waitress with.

Chip deals sour quickly when we just can't all get along. While five-handed the remaining players got the chip-chop numbers but couldn't form a circle of friendship large enough to split up the remaining prize pool. So, onward they played until pezi2000 found himself calling the all-in push of GKnight00001. Both players formed a 5.4 million chip pot with GKnight00001 leaving only 341,523 chips behind with the blinds at 90,000/180,000 and ante of 18,000. Ac-Jh for GKnight00001 was well ahead of pezi2000's Ah-7s as a battle of the zeros was won by the gallant GKnight00001 when the board produced 6d-5s-6c-2h-6h and sent pezi2000 home with $25,000 in fifth place.

krissyb24 was the thorn in the side of the deal talks and that proved to be a costly decision as he got short-stacked with 3.4 million chips and blinds at 90,000/180,000 ante 18,000 decided to pushed those chips from the big blind eliciting calls from button perky264 and small blind GKnight00001. With 11 million chips in the middle both perky264 and GKnight00001 checked down the board of Kh-Qd-Ad-Jh-9d to reveal GKnight00001's pocket black jacks for the set. krissyb24 mucked his hand without showing and was awarded fourth place, good for $32,500.

Shogu would gain some chips for GKnight00001 with a Ac-Kc vs. Ad-6s showdown that chopped into GKnight00001's stack and gave Shogu 8.3 million chips with the blinds escalating to 100,000/200,000 ante 20,000. Three-handed poker would be played for over 30 hands until GKnight00001 took a couple of nicks to his armor and was blinded down to 2.3 million when perky264 raised to 489,500 from the button and GKnight00001 responded from the small blind with a three-bet to 1.4 million. perky264's final answer? Let's play. They formed a 7.7 million chip pot, Kd-Jh for perky264 and Ah-2h for GKnight00001. GKnight00001 looked well on his way back to the round table with the 6c-6h-5d flop, but was sent to the dungeon as the Jc fell on the turn and no ace 9c on the river. $40,000 to save a fair maiden was transferred to our third-place finisher GKnight00001.

perky264 would start heads up play with 19.5 million to Shogu's nine million as the two had some wiggle room to play for a while and still no deal in place. The two traded blinds for over 20 hands, but perky264 got the bigger pots as he sliced at the ninja's stack until he pushed all-in from the button with 4.7 million chips left. perky264 with 23.7 million had enough to safely cover and made the call with Kd-Qd. With As-3c for Shogu the race was short and sweet for this month's $1 Million Turbo Takedown champion. 5h-Kc-2c gave perky264 a big lead but three aces and four fours were out there for Shogu to collect the 9.7 million in the middle.

The ninja left in a cloud of smoke after the 6s and 9d fell on the turn and river handing the victory to perky264.

Here's the final money tally with no deals, perky264 snagged the entire $100,000!

December $1 Million Turbo Takedown

1. perky264 $100,000
2. Shogu $60,000
3. GKnight00001 $40,000
4. krissyb24 $32,500
5. pezi2000 $25,000
6. BigDennys $20,000
7. joehenry $15,000
8. plattsburgh $10,000
9. lexwilly $5,500

Posted in PokerStars Turbo Takedown, Pokerstars, promotions, turbotakedown | Comments Off

Hr_Herman Knocks One Out of the Park in Sunday Warm-up Win

Monday, December 29th, 2008

As part of World Record Week here at PokerStars, several tournaments received a money injection into their guarantees. The Sunday Warm-up, normally a guaranteed $750,000, became a $1 million guarantee, and just so people would not confuse this tournament with the "Sunday Million" the marquee weekly PokerStars tournament's guarantee was bumped up to $2.5 million!

The added guarantee wasn't necessary as a record 5,836 showed up for the Sunday Warm-up to boost the prize pool to a staggering $1,167,200.

The stars of MTT's at PokerStars came out swinging as TLB regular BeL0WaB0Ve put in a valiant effort in 21st place. He led with a commanding lead during several portions of the tournament but ran into the force from down under known as Andy McLEOD who defeated BeL0WaB0Ve's K-Qs with A-To that connected a rivered two pair to overcome BeL0WaB0Ve's flopped top pair, sending him home. The Aussie has been a force on the TLB standings with Sunday Million final tables, and nearly getting Australia into the World Cup of Poker (being played next month as part of the PokerStars Caribbean Adventure).

In Andy-like fashion, he ran over the table with a variety of head-turning plays, and once the table came back to their senses, he was the one standing tall with the most chips. Here's how the final table started off with aforementioned Andy McLEOD with the final table chip lead:

(Click image for larger picture)

Seat 1: Andy McLEOD (13,573,358 in chips)
Seat 2: Hr_Herman (3,975,211 in chips)
Seat 3: zmeyer (4,242,287 in chips)
Seat 4: groengras (3,943,729 in chips)
Seat 5: Tehanu (7,989,306 in chips)
Seat 6: KKgeoroAA (2,646,560 in chips)
Seat 7: totaloser (10,787,241 in chips)
Seat 8: Iceman1278 (4,573,710 in chips)
Seat 9: 69CANA69 (6,628,598 in chips)

It took nearly 30 minutes for Andy to claim his first victim, but KKgeoroAA was short-stacked with blinds at 200,000/400,000 ante 40,000, and facing a 800,000 chip raise from Andy McLEOD while in the big blind. KKgeoroAA responded with a push for his remaining 1.2 million behind his big blind with Kh-Tc. A snap call by Andy McLEOD with Ah-Ks proved to be the right one as the aggressive player had the cards to back up the bet this time and the Jc-2d-6c-9d-8d changed nothing. 3.8 million chips to Andy, and KKgeoroAA was the first to fall in ninth place earning $8,170.40

This set off an explosion of action as on the very next hand Andy McLEOD raised from UTG+2 to 800,000 and groengras pushed for 6.8 million from the cut-off. Button and small blind folded but Iceman1278 made the call in the big blind with Ad-Ks for his remaining 4.4 million. Andy McLEOD folded and groengras' three-bet steal attempt was exposed as he turned over Qd-6s. Neither player hit the 5c-2s-5h-Th-9d board and the 11 million chip pot was shipped coolly to Iceman1278 while groengras was left with 1.9 million. Two hands later groengras tried shoving again but Andy McLEOD was waiting in the wings, dominating the Th-6c of groengras with As-Ts. Andy hit his ace on the board of Js-3h-Jh-Ah-3d sending the aggressive groengras to the rail with $14,006.40 for eighth place.

The very next hand, terminator Andy McLEOD again knocked out a rival as 69CANA69 open-shoved his remaining 2.8 million on the button and with 15 million in chips, Andy McLEOD gambled a bit and made the call with Kd-Jc. It proved to be the right thing as 69CANA69 turned over the dominated Kh-4h. Five cards later, Jd-3c-9s-7c-9d, and the 6.3 million chip pot increased his lead to 19.2 million, nearly double of Iceman1278 in second place with 10.7 million. A seventh-place finish for 69CAN69 earned him $22,176.80

Sixth place was decided in a huge 18.2 million chip pot with the blinds increasing to 250,000/500,000 ante 50,000, when a three-way, all-in preflop chip battle broke out.

Andy McLEOD: Js-Jh
totaloser: Ac-Qh
Tehanu: 6c-5c

Tehanu had 4.1 million and totaloser 6.7 million as Andy covered both as all three pushed all-in to see a flop of 7d-4c-Kc. Tehanu flopped the world with an open-ended straight and flush draws. The turn 2h gave the lead back to Andy McLEOD, but the cruel Qs on the river missed Tehanu's huge draw and beat Andy McLEOD for the main pot shipping 18.2 million chips totaloser's way and sending the unlucky Tehanu out in sixth place, earning $33,848.80

In fifth place, and for the first time, Andy McLEOD decided to let someone else do the deed as Hr_Herman started things off with a 1.5 million chip raise UTG and zmeyer to his immediate left three-bet his remaining six million chips. Lucky pocket sevens for Hr_Herman were good enough to make the call as the race was on against zmeyer's Kd-Qd. The jackpot flop of 3c-6h-7h hit Hr_Herman's set and left zmeyer drawing dead to a chop. The 5c provided some ooohs and ahhhs but the 8s handed $45,520.80 for fifth-place money to zmeyer.

He might lose sometimes but those sometimes are far less then the ones he wins. Andy McLEOD once again was in the eye of the storm as Iceman1278 tried to push his remaining 6.3 million chips into a 10.8 million chip pot and claim it with the board showing 5h-3c-7d. Andy sniffed out the Ad-8h bluff from Iceman1278 with ace high himself but with a better kicker as his Ah-Kd was in the lead. 2d and Td later and Andy McLEOD landed the 19 million chip pot into his lap and the Iceman1278 was a melted memory in fourth place with $57,192.80

Andy would lose many of those chips to Hr_Herman on a 30 million chip preflop all-in hand with Hr_Herman holding pocket kings (Kh-Kd) and Andy Jd-Td. The board was an enticing 7h-Th-6h-5h.... 3h. Andy McLEOD still held 11 million in chips while totaloser sat in second with 16.3 million.

Pre-flop play dominated the next 20 hands, then totaloser and Andy McLEOD got into a preflop all-in with Andy holding one million behind and the blinds moving up to 300,000/600,000 ante 60,000. Pocket sevens for totaloser and Ad-Th for Andy McLEOD, and the flop provided all the love Andy would need as the Td-4s-3s gave him the lead with top pair. 8d on the turn and an unnecessary Ac on the river for two pair sent totaloser home with an unloser-like $68,864.80 in third place.

"Chop?", asked Hr_Herman.

Andy politely declined and they played one of the quickest heads up matches seen in the Sunday Warm-up. With blinds still at 300,000/600,000 ante 60,000, and Hr_Herman holding a 35.8 million to 22.4 million chip lead, they played nine hands with the big hand coming on hand number six when Hr_Herman came in for a 1.8 million chip raise on the button and was called to see a flop of 3d-9c-Ac. The 2.4 million chip continuation bet was called by Andy McLEOD as was the 6.6 million turn bet when the 6h fell. After the 7d splashed the river, Hr_Herman splashed the pot with a push that would leave Andy with either the victory or 1.9 million in chips.

Andy got 1.9 million in chips as Hr_Herman turned over Ad-Ts for flopped top pair to overcome Andy's second pair with Jd-9s. One double up later, the two faced off for the final hand as Hr_Herman's Tc-4s overcame Andy McLEOD's Js-6h on the turn when the board played out 3h-6c-9d-Ts-Ks to become this week's Sunday Warm-up champion!

Both players scored six-figure paydays as Andy McLEOD received $101,546.40 as the runner-up and Hr_Herman got $147,067.20 for the win.

Sunday Warm-up Results 12-28-08

1. Hr_Herman $147,067.20
2. Andy McLEOD $101,546.40
3. totaloser $68,864.80
4. Iceman1278 $57,192.80
5. zmeyer $45,520.80
6. Tehanu $33,848.80
7. 69CANA69 $22,176.80
8. groengras $14,006.40
9. KKgeoroAA $8,170.40

Posted in PokerStars Sunday Warm-Up, Pokerstars, sundaytournaments, sundaywarmup | Comments Off

World Record Week: Ramdin Victorious in Team PokerStars Pro Championship Match

Sunday, December 28th, 2008

Every team needs a captain and why should Team PokerStars Pro be any different? The details are still under wraps about the PokerStars All-Star Weekend, a new online team competition debuting next year, but to settle the captain's job, Team PokerStars Pro decided to do it as only poker players know how--they played for it. All 29 members of the team were on hand Sunday afternoon to go for the title, with the added bonus of a $30,000 prize pool that would be divvied up among the top three finishers' favorite charities. This being a true pro's match, the 8-game format was used, the rotation encompassing 2-7 triple draw, limit hold'em, Omaha hi/lo, razz, stud, stud hi/lo, no-limit hold'em and pot-limit Omaha.

The first hour saw five players exit including Greg Raymer, Tom McEvoy, Andre Akkari, Humberto Brenes and EPT creator John Duthie, who confessed to drinking "a bit too much mulled wine" as he railed the action. The table talk between the pros was lighthearted and often hilarious throughout the tournament, notably when Isabelle Mercier and Bill Chen attempted to recruit Victor Ramdin to the practice of Bikram yoga.

"What is bikram is that all u can eat buffet?" quipped Ramdin.

The field shrunk to 14 after the second hour and only thirty minutes later we arrived at our six-handed final table after Daniel Negreanu eliminated Alex Kravchenko in 7th place on a pot-limit Omaha hand. Here's how the chip counts looked as the final table got under way:

Seat 1: ChadBrownPRO (6,820 in chips)
Seat 2: RaiNKhAN (4,092 in chips)
Seat 3: Bill Chen (2,984 in chips)
Seat 4: Money800 (17,739 in chips)
Seat 5: VictorRamdin (19,500 in chips)
Seat 6: KidPoker (6,865 in chips)

Bill Chen was eliminated from the tournament on the first hand of final table play. In a hand of 2-7 triple draw vs. Chad Brown, Chen bricked on the third draw, ending up with A-8-7-5-2 against Brown's 8-7-6-3-2 to send him to the rail in 6th place. Next to fall was Brown himself, also on a triple draw hand. Brown was all in before the third draw against Victor Ramdin, who stood pat while Brown drew one. Ramdin's 7-6-5-4-2 crushed Brown's 9-8-7-4-2 and he was out in 5th place.

Triple draw would also spell the end of Hevad "Rain" Khan, who got in all in on the second draw against Victor Ramdin. Once again, Ramdin made a monster 7-6 low, besting Khan's T-9 and the "Bulldozer" drove off in 4th place. With Khan's elimination, Moneymaker, Ramdin and Negreanu were all in the money, guaranteed a payday for their charities.

Continuing on his rampage, Victor Ramdin also took out 3rd-place finisher Chris Moneymaker. Playing limit hold'em, Moneymaker called Ramdin's button raise from the big blind and they saw a flop of Kc-8s-5s. Both players checked to the turn, which fell the 6h. Moneymaker led out, Ramdin raised, Moneymaker moved in the last of his chips and Ramdin called, turning up As-Ks for top pair top kicker to Moneymaker's Kh-7d. The river was the 5h, not the four, seven or nine Moneymaker was hoping for and Ramdin took down the pot as Moneymaker hit the rail. The 2003 WSOP Champion's efforts today earned $5,000 for the charity of his choice.

Moneymaker's elimination left Victor Ramdin and Daniel Negreanu to duke it out to see who would become team captain. Here's what their chip counts looked like as they began heads-up play:

Seat 5: VictorRamdin (32,972 in chips)
Seat 6: KidPoker (25,028 in chips)

Negreanu put Ramdin on the ropes early, whittling his stack all the way down to 2,772 in chips at one point before Ramdin stormed back, winning or splitting 11 out of the next 12 pots and evening back out their chip counts. Their final hand came in stud hi, where Ramdin started off with buried eights and improved to queens up by the river after a raising war with Negreanu. Though Negreanu had made a pair of sevens on fifth street with running flush and straight possibilities as well, he couldn't improve and Ramdin's two pair held up to win him the Team PokerStars Pro Championship and $15,000 to his charity. For his stellar play, Negreanu earned $10,000 for his charity.

Congratulations to a very worthy champion and Team PokerStars Pro's new team captain, Victor Ramdin! And don't forget -- later this week, you will be able to watch the whole match on replay with all the players' hole cards exposed...stay tuned.

Posted in Pokerstars, Team PokerStars Pro, World Record Week, worldrecordweek | Comments Off

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Archive for December, 2008

2008 PokerStars Year In Review

World Cup of Poker: the British are coming!

World Cup of Poker: Team Germany returns to the finals

World Cup of Poker: Viva Italia!

PokerStars World Record Weekend Results

Stockholm’s lp_Saki Saki is no Swedish fish, topping record Sunday Million field

World Record Week: stan34powa tops field of 35,000 to win in Guinness World Record tourney

perky246 Was Wide Awake For Victory in $1 Million Turbo Takedown

Hr_Herman Knocks One Out of the Park in Sunday Warm-up Win

World Record Week: Ramdin Victorious in Team PokerStars Pro Championship Match