by Chris Edge
The brainchild of PokerStars' very own 'Promotions Bob', All Star Week was given its premier airing in March, 2009 - a series of heads-up matches designed to test the mettle of various members of Team PokerStars Pro, pitted against their slightly lesser-known counterparts, making up The Challengers.

Spearheaded by Team Captain Victor Ramdin, the Pros were made to sweat as the Challengers pushed them all the way before falling at the last, 18-17.

Entering the half-way stage of All Star Week in 2010, and the contrast in fortunes for the Pros couldn't be starker. Four unimpressive day's showings leave them perched on the wrong side of a 15-5 drubbing, reflecting the Challengers' dominance and vast improvement on 2009's performance.

First out of the blocks to put things right on Day 5 was Team PokerStars Pro Joep van den Bijgaart, with top performing Challenger caprioli turning out to provide the opposition. The Dutch pro set his stall out in defensive fashion, letting the aggressive caprioli do all the betting and ultimately dictate the flow of the match. It proved an astute strategy as some check-calling in hand 36 earned him the first major pot of the match with the pretty-looking [6s][7s]. Poker logic argues if ever you are to take a hand up against the Goliath that is [As][Ac], then your suited-connectors are just about the best you can expect as the underdog.

Having witnessed countless American Airlines fall by the wayside to much lesser holdings, the legendary Doyle Brunson once shrewdly observed: "You only ever win small pots or lose big pots with Aces." That old adage rung true once again as van den Bijgaart made mincemeat of caprioli's bullets on an eventual [Td][Ts][Js][7h][2s] board, to earn his rivered flush the 1,850 pot.

From there on in it was plain sailing for the Dutchman, who later called a caprioli all-in raise pre-flop with [Qs][Ad], up against the Challenger's dominated [9d][As]. By the turn the board read [Td][Ah][Qh][Kh], leaving the Challenger with 4 outs to a chop which never arrived on the [3s] river, securing the Pros' the first win of the day.

Match 22 served as something of a throwback to yesteryear, when no limit hold'em was all but an apple in PokerStars' eye. The series' only Limit 5 Card Draw event brought the Challengers' Timmy K and the Pros' Maria Mayrinck to the felt to slug it out for honours.
Both sides exchanged the customary "hi, gl, ty" pleasantries before Timmy K pushed his stack upwards of 3,000 following a 100 bet from Mayrinck with nothing but Ace high holding [Jc][As][9d][Qh][Td], which was snapped off by the Challenger's [8s][8c][Ks][7c][2h] for two 8s.

Any eagle-eyed observers watching on will have made note of a recurring theme that had arisen throughout the previous few days of play, with the Pros on more than one occasion far from accustomed to the poker variant they were put forward for. When questioned by Timmy K what she tends to play on PokerStars, Mayrinck would soon confess "not a lot of five card draw :)".

The Pro appeared less than perturbed by her somewhat hellish induction to the discipline, throwing in the :) for good measure in the hope of keeping Pro spirits alive. Hell, a handful of Pros including one Phil Ivey have confessed to knowing very little of a particular game-type before throwing themselves in at the deep at the WSOP, to then go on and capture untold riches in their new-found talent.

With all due respect to the Pro however, Phil Ivey is Phil Ivey and Mayrinck could not produce such miracles to overcome Timmy K on the virtual baize. She eventually shipped it in with just a miserly 50 chips behind holding [Js][Ts][9s][Ad][6s], following 1 discard. Her Ace high losing out to the Challenger's [4h][4s][9h][5s][Ah] for a pair of fours to level the honours for the day.

Vietnamese-born Anh van Nguyen was next up for the Pros, whose duty it was to see off the Challenger's MOJOEX1.

Van Nguyen looked to have the match wrapped up by the half-way mark, some relentless pre-flop raises seen through on the flop doing the trick for the PlatinumStar Pro. A hand on 22 minutes in then saw MOJOEX1 take a 1,142-sized bite out of van Nguyen's stack and get the Challengers' campaign back on track.

With the flop reading a king-tastic [Ks][5d][Kc], the Pro checked then called a 150 chip bet, before both played it cool on the [6h] turn. The river action followed that of the flop, with van Nguyen calling after MOJOEX1 fired 321 at the [Ah]. The challenger turned over [Tc][Kh] for three Kings, which bore MOJOEX1 no Gold, Frankincense or Mur but the 1,142 pot, enough to take the Challenger into the lead.

Van Nguyen retook the advantage lead shortly after, betting out on a familiar-looking [9s][Kh][Kc] flop, following a pre-flop 3-bet to 450. The kings not having quite the same appeal this time round for MOJOEX1, who mucked having seen his chip lead last a matter of seconds.

Greg DeBora checked in shortly after to wish his counterpart "gl Van!" The good luck wishes proved the perfect tonic for Van Nguyen minutes later, whose [Qh][Jh] smacked the flop square on in the face, coming down [Jc][Th][Qd]. That was enough for MOJOEX1 to commit his stack with [Qc][Ad], with the subsequent [4d][5h] inconsequential to make it 2/3 on the day for the Pros.

WSOP Main Even final tablist Darus Suharto took his seat for Match 24 of the Series, lining up against the Challengers' badblood1 in the 8-game event.

Suharto found the going tough in the opening 2-7 Triple Draw round of the Match, bemoaning his luck after discarding 1 on the 3rd draw in only the 6th hand. His misery was compounded upon seeing badblood1's winning [2d][Js][8c][4d][5c], stripping the Pro's stack down to 1,600.

The matched continued in the same vein for the Canadian Pro, unable to find any traction in either the Limit Hold 'Em or Razz rounds. After a quarter of an hour's play, Suharto brought it in for 18, before calling a raise to 60. With [9s][7h] up front he fired out 60, then called badblood1's raise to 120. The Pro called on 5th with [9s][7h][Td] showing, before checking on 6th once his [2h] fell.

Eventually the Challenger showed down [7s][Qh][3s][9d][Ac][Th][4s] for a 9,7,4,3,A low once Suharto called his final river bet, to push his stack skyward in the region of 4,287. It was to prove a mountain too high for Suharto, who finally succumbed to the Challenger's supremacy in the 7-card Stud round on the 22-minute mark.

With [2] showing and [Kd][8c] in the hole, Suharto shipped his remaining 194. badblood1 looked him up with [Tc][As][5d] and let the cards fall as they may.

Suharto never caught up as his hand ran out [Kd][8c][2s][4c][Ah][4s][Ad] to badblood1's [Tc][As][5d][6c][5c][5h][3s], which made a set of 5s on 6th street. With that the scores were locked at two apiece as we headed into the final match of Day 5.

For the first time in their 2010 campaign, the Pros went into their final encounter a win away from registering their first profitable day's run.

Their hopes lay with four-time bracelet winner, Tom McEvoy, whilst the Challengers again put their faith in caprioli to bring home the bacon for the series leaders.

Action started off in a rather placid fashion, with neither player seemingly willing to take the initiative and crank up the aggression factor. That all changed after 37 hands of play with McEvoy peering down at two ladies, and earning a call from caprioli following a 3x raise to 90. The former 1983 Main Event champ followed through on the [4s][9c][8h] flop, before the Challenger re-popped it to 300. McEvoy called and both slowed on the [8s] turn. The [2s] river prompted a 420 bet from the seasoned pro, warranting a call and subsequent muck from caprioli, to push McEvoy's stack north of 3,000.

Action meandered along peacefully without much ado for the following 10 minutes, with some mistimed flop-probes plummeting McEvoy's stack back to 2,500 and take us back to square one.

Half an hour in and McEvoy's patience wore off as his suited [Ah][4h] picked up a gutshot draw on a [2c][5c][7s] flop, with the [3h] turn landing right in McEvoy's lap to hand him the most disguised of turned straights. McEvoy played it coy and checked into caprioli, feinting submission. caprioli resisted and the river fell a safe [Kd]. Finally McEvoy fired out 450, to which caprioli called and mucked.

That vaulted the Pro to 3,415 in chips, a lead the Challenger was quickly able to reverse after pushing all in with pre-flop. McEvoy called in a flash holding [Jh][Js], and made a set of knaves on the [7d][8c][Ts][4d][Jc] board. Unfortunately for him his opponent needed the very same Jack to make a 7-J straight with [9c][9h], and retake the chip lead.

McEvoy doubled through shortly after with [Ac][Th] vs [As][7d], and sealed the deal moments later when his [Ts][Th] outran caprioli's [Jh][Jc] on the [8c][6h][Kd][9h][7c] board. McEvoy's win proving there's still life in the old dog yet breathing one last lease of life into the Pros' cause.

Admittedly their hopes of a successive title appear slim-to-none, with the 17-8 scoreboard meaning the Pros must win every single remaining match in the series. Log onto to PokerStars on Saturday to see if the Pros can write history and produce a miraculous comeback.

OK, so here on Team PokerStars Blog we are known to get a little excited by all things poker. So when we described earlier this week how the PokerStars Italian Poker Tour had become one of the most important events in the European poker calendar, some may have chortled and put it down to our boyish enthusiasm. Aha! We were right! Read on...

Yesterday, day 1B of IPT Venice saw 278 players clocking in. Added to day 1A's field, that makes a total entry of 505 players.

And that, my friends, is a record turnout for the Italian Poker Tour. Enthusiam FTW!

The bumper field at the Ca' Noghera casino means the event is looking at a bulging €979,000 prize pool, of which €235,000 will go to the winner. Nice. In total, 72 players will be paid.

But that's a way off yet. First we need to get today's day 2 out of the way. Yesterday saw Sam El Sayed from Switzerland finish as Day 1B chip leader with 139,100 chips, followed by Italian PokerStars qualifier Muhamet Perati with 136,000. The average stack is 47,931.

Among those through to today's play is Team PokerStars Pro Salvatore Bonavena and Friend of PokerStars Alberto Russo. We first met Bonavena at EPT Prague in Season 5. He won it, but it was the way he played and went about his business that made him a firm favorite of ours.

So much so that we now call him affectionately 'Sal Bon'. He seems to like it, but not as much as he likes fancy hats and colorful attire. Only the Italians can get away with pink tops, in my opinion.

Day 2 action will be along shortly, and you can follow it over on our sister Italian blog. Please keep our blogger Matteo Viola company. He'll start waving his arms about and talking at a million miles an hour if you don't.

Kevin Thurman is 31 years old, lives a nice life outside of Dallas, and intends to earn more PokerStars VIP Player Points in 2010 than anybody has in the history of the VIP Club.

Thurman is also suffering from a potentially deadly disease and in the middle of an agonizing chemotherapy treatment.

Known as "WizardOfAhhs" on PokerStars, Thurman has set out on a task no one has accomplished and is doing so under a set of circumstances that would prohibit many people from even getting out of bed in the morning.

To understand why and how Thurman is walking down this road, we have to look back nearly a quarter-century.

*****

Kevin Thurman was eight years old when his father first let him come along for a dealer's choice poker game down the street. The nickel-dime-quarter games rarely had pots bigger than $5. The players in the game looked across the table and initially balked on the idea of a kid playing in their game. Before long, Thurman had his regular seat. And he was a winner.

"I'm pretty sure all profits went to toys and candy," Thurman said.

Thurman never stopped. He played through his younger years, played through college, and played after he graduated with an economics degree in 2001. Though he loved poker, he did all he could to make use of his college education. He spent four years working in the corporate world and hated every minute of it.

Making it worse, Thurman had spent several years dealing with an illness he had a hard time understanding. At first, he thought he simply had a throat infection that would go away in due time.

That first week of sickness turned into months. The symptoms got worse. Thurman had no idea what was happening to his body, but he knew it wasn't good. It took him years to get a proper diagnosis. When a doctor finally figured it out, it was bittersweet.

"I was no longer blindly battling a mystery and could finally give the enemy a name," Thurman said, "but I also learned that treatment is a long and arduous journey and not always effective."

Thurman learned he had Lyme disease. Not only that, but he had so-called co-infections that included an intracellular parasite and a cousin to Malaria. His body was infected in a way that few people could understand. Thurman constantly felt like he had the flu. Doctors told him the disease could replicate so fast and aggressively in his brain and heart, it would kill him in a matter of a few years.

Thurman suddenly found himself facing the toughest decisions of his short life. He was finding it hard to make it through the corporate workday slog. He needed time to concentrate on getting healthy. His doctor was recommending a potentially life-saving chemotherapy.

"I turned to my biggest hobby at the time for a chance at the lifestyle I needed," Thurman said.

In December 2005, Thurman took $500 and began playing online. In less than one year, he'd run it up to $900,000 playing six-man and heads-up no-limit games. Thurman didn't know his expected value during that time, but he knew it certainly wasn't nearly a million bucks. He'd started at .25./.50 and moved up in stakes every few weeks. He was eventually playing nosebleed games and ignoring the fact his win-rate was unsustainable.

It took some time, but he learned his lesson. He ran into some tough beats and ugly coolers. He had a tough losing month. It didn't hurt his bankroll too badly, but it was a wake-up call. That and the changing nature of the online game in 2006 forced Thurman to look closely at his goals and abilities.

"I decided to never play higher than $25/50 no-limit again," he said. "And believe it
or not, I still had back-to-back six-figure profit months in early 2008."

All the while, Thurman was dealing with his disease, his treatment, and the very real possibility he could die. Trying to concentrate was as tough as anything.

And so Thurman put a folder on his desktop. He filled it with pictures of everything he wants in life. He filled it with photos of people he loves. At the beginning of each day, he opened the folder and looked upon its contents.

"It reminds me exactly why I push myself," he said. "It is a vivid visualization of my success. Body and mind are connected as one. It's important for me not to let my body dictate the mood and stamina of my mind."

Over the past few years, Thurman has taken that initial $500 and turned it into $2 million in winnings. He's moved in with the love of his life. He's studied music theory and turned himself into an accomplished musician and vocalist. If not for the fact that he has a deadly disease, his life would be just about perfect.

Success aside, Thurman doesn't fool himself. Looking back on his heater in 2006, the man from Texas knows it all could've turned out differently. If he had few bad days back when he still had $500, he might have been facing a dreaded disease with no income at all. Instead, things went in his favor and he's made the best of it.

"I'd like to think I would have always found a way to succeed, but there is no way to know. I'm a fairly humble guy and am honest enough with myself to know my life could have easily went another direction," he said. "Poker is an area of life that I have been very blessed in and I will never lose sight of this fact."

With that confidence and drive, Thurman has now picked 2010 to shatter every record at PokerStars. His goal is to earn four million VIP Player Points by December 31st. He has already amassed more than 2 million, twice what it takes to become a Supernova Elite VIP. He's on pace to outdo Team PokerStars Online player George Lind's record of 3 million VPPs in a single calendar year.

How is Thurman doing it? He describes the process of building his brain to endure intense sessions of multi-tabling no-limit hold'em games. He puts in sessions that see him playing 30 tables for five to six hours. He takes a 30-minute break and then does it all over again. And he does it while dealing with the stamina-killing effects of chemotherapy.

"Playing 20,000 hands in a day isn't easy, but it's most definitely not the hardest thing a grinder will ever do," Thurman said. "But try waking up the next day and doing it again... and then again. Now imagine doing that for a month straight without taking a day off. I don't think many people can do that without some serious planning, nutrition, and loads of ambition."

It's impossible to say whether Thurman will make his goal. It's a grind like none other, and it's a grind even most healthy people couldn't endure. Yet, if Thurman has shown one thing, it's that he can do what most people cannot. Betting against him is, quite simply, a bad idea.

"(My illness) is going to be a long, painful, and at times very depressing road, but I think I can handle it by holding on to hope for better days," Thurman said.

If there is one thing good poker players understand, it's that knowing the game isn't all that's required to win. You have to know your opponent. That's something Kevin Thurman understands on a whole different level.

"I've been dealing with this disease for quite a while now and know its demons," he said.

To learn more about Lyme disease, Kevin Thurman recommends the documentary Under Our Skin.

by Chris Edge

After enduring a rather torrid start to all Star Week, the Pros managed to dust themselves off and regain some ground on the Challengers on Wednesday. The triumvirate of Ivan Demidov, Joe Cada and Johnny Lodden all registered victories to briefly relent the Challengers' surge and cut their advantage to 5.

Leading the charge for the Pros as we entered Day 4 of the series was Magic: The Gathering graduate and Team Argentina Pro, Jose Barbero. Standing in his way was the Brazilian caprioli, off the back of 2 straight victories from Days 1 and 3.

Akin to yesterday's opening match in which Hevad Khan regrettably no-showed, Barbero too was nowhere to be seen as caprioli took his seat and secured the easiest of passages to the winners' enclosure. Raising every hand, it took just 13 minutes of caprioli's time to reduce Barbero's stack to ruins and push the Challengers further in front.

UK hotshot JP Kelly was next up attempting to cut the Challengers down to size. His foe was 'Timmy K', yesterday seen off by WSOP Main Event Runner-Up, Ivan Demidov.
The game choice proved something of a novelty for both players and observers alike: the mysterious Badugi posing a somewhat tricky threat to both parties.

The match ebbed and flowed early on, with neither side willing to give too much away in the somewhat uncharted, Badugi waters. It wasn't until hand 44 that Timmy K was able to steal a march on his adversary and take the 1st real significant chip lead in the match.
JP Kelly brought it in for 100, which Timmy K called. The former opted to discard 2 cards on the 1st draw, while Timmy K drew 1. Again the action went bet, call. On the 2nd draw Kelly called a Timmy K re-raise after discarding 1, with Timmy K likewise drawing a solitary card.

Timmy K's [Js] spiked on the 2nd draw made a final [Td][5c][4h][Js] badugi - enough to earn a 200 river look-up from Kelly, who could only muster the meagre 3-card 6,3,2, holding [7d][2d][3h][6s].

The Challenger was having it all his own way, ramming home his advantage and exploiting Kelly's apparent inexperience within the discipline. Indeed Timmy K sensed something amiss 48 minutes in, questioning Kelly "do you play this game?", to which the UK pro could only ruefully confess "never played before".

On Tuesday we saw Vicky Coren succumb to a lack of practice within her chosen poker variant; PLO. The very same fate yesterday befell Kelly, who was vanquished shortly after; his 3-card: 8,7,A proving no match for Timmy K's 9-low Badugi, holding [4d][5c][Qh][9s].

A combination of factors throughout the first 4 days of play were acting to conspire against the Pros, hampering their cause and pushing the Challengers into a 12-5 lead. Perhaps instigators of their own fall, indeed the Pros' cause was not helped by 2 non-appearances, coupled with a lack of practice within the respective game-choices.
Keen to put an end to the Pros' plight in Match 18 was the more-rounded, wrecking-ball, Lex Veldhuis. The Dutchman's opposite number for the day, the returning 'MOJOEX1'.
Fans fortunate enough to have caught a glimpse of the hyper-aggressive Dutchman's stints in the poker spotlight won't have been left surprised by the nature of his exit, nor of the time taken to consign the match to history.

MOJOEX1 wasted little time in asserting his dominance, amassing a 3:2 lead after just 2 minutes. Perhaps mindful of his foe's knack of raising light, a series of MOJOEX1 pre-flop 3-bets and flop steals served to orchestrate Veldhuis's demise.

On hand 14 RaSZi called after MOJOEX1 had re-popped it to 80, with the flop laid out [Qh][Ac][5h]. The [As] turn dissuaded the Pro, firing out a further 80. Undeterred, the Challenger obliged before both checked the innocuous-looking [8c] river. Veldhuis' reputation perhaps preceding him as MOJOEX1 turned over [6h][Qd] for the victorious Aces and Queens.

The Pro's remaining 330 made its way to the middle just hands later with the lowly [6c][Tc]. MOJOEX1 made it a 100% win-rate on the day for the Challengers after calling with [Jd][9c], and coming out on top on the resulting [Kh][2s][8d][3d][2d] board.
Waiting in the wings for Match 19, the godfather of Dutch poker and upside-down-shade-wearing, Marcel Luske. 72good represented the Challengers' charge for the 3rd time in the series, hoping to avenge his loss to Henrique Pinho on Day 3.

After the cut and thrust clash of RasZi v MOJOEX1 2 hours prior, observes will have revelled in the relative snail-pace, much more tranquil affair of Match 19. Luske opened proceedings by parodying a Mike Sexton catchphrase, declaring "let the hand s be great and the play even better" "lol", which set the cordial tone that would dictate play for much of the 37-minute encounter.

After losing the lead early on without often getting to showdown, Luske was able to wrestle back the momentum 11 minutes in, calling down a 72good 120 river bet with [As][8s] on a [8h][5h][4s][Qd] [7d] board. His single pair of 8s enough to scoop the 840 pot against 72good's [Jc][9h], for a whiffed gutshot.

Any sense of a comeback from the affable Luske was sadly dashed on only the very next hand. The Dutchman raised it up pre-flop to 120, then called the further 60 to see a flop of [Qs][3d][As] - something for everyone as Luske called 72good's bet of 60. Both the turn [7d] and [6h] river played out in similar fashion, before 72good showed down [Kh][Kd] - able to extract maximum value from whatever Luske was guarding and ship the 960 pot his way.

Luske restole the chip lead on the half-hour mark after his [Ah][5d] elicited a river call with the board spread [5h][4d][9s][9d][2s], following some turn bet-calling. 72good's hand no match for Luske's 9s and 5s, setting up the prospect of a maiden Day 4 win for the Pros.

Once again however the Pros' optimism proved misplaced as late on Luske's hard work went undone, making a seemingly reluctant laydown after some turn-tussling once the [Ks] fell, following the [4c][3s][6h] flop. The subsequent [3c] river induced a final 200 bet from 72good; enough to convince Luske his hand was toast and send the 2400 the way of the Canadian.

Luske met his maker moments later, committing his final 115 chips on a board of [9c][Kc][8h][5h] holding [Ts][Qd] for a whole lot of nothing. 72good's [Jh][Ah] was ahead anyway, and flushed Luske away on the [2h] river for the overkill and overall 14-5 lead.
Days 1 and 2 of All Star Week saw the Challengers head into their final match 4/4 victors on the day, and salivating at the thought of a Challenger clean-sweep for the first time in All Star History. However on both occasions the Pros' blushes were spared by the efforts of Chad Brown and Henrique Pinho respectively, who took just the slightest gloss of an impeccable Challenger turnout.

This time round the Pros called on the services of yet another member of the Dutch Team Pro faction, Noah Boeken, to wipe their eggs from the faces and restore some credibility to the tragic-looking 14-5 scoreboard.

Whether Boeken's heart was really in the Match or whether his hand-reading capabilities have plummeted will remain to be seen, as he brought an abrupt end to proceedings after just 120 seconds of play.

The thorn in the Pros' side MOJOEX1 once again spoiled their party, calling Boeken's inexplicable all-in shove overbet on the [Kc][Jd][Th] flop holding [Qd][9d] - translated loosely as the 2nd nuts. Boeken revealed [Jh][Ad] which picked up re-draw outs on the [Ts] turn. The [3h] river was fatal, signalling the Challengers' virgin whitewash to leave the scores an emphatic 15-5 in their favour.

Join us tomorrow to find out whether the Pros can reverse their fortunes for the 2nd half of the week, under the 'Tourney/Special' tab in your lobby.

There are few better places in Europe to play poker than Venice. Character, history, beauty, water (plenty of that) and the weather make it very pleasant.

One man who enjoyed poker in the city more than anyone yesterday was PokerStars qualifier Loccarini Giacomo, chipleader of Day 1A of IPT Venice, the second stop of season 2 of the popular Italian Poker Tour.

An impressive 227 players from around Europe made the trek to the beautiful city of Venice for Day 1A and 35 of of those qualified online with PokerStars for a fraction of the €2,000 (+€200) tournament buy-in. Sixteen qualifiers ade it through to come back for Day 2 tomorrow (Saturday).

Giacome ended up with 175,000 chips after nine levels of play and is followed by Claudio Pagano with 145,000. The average is 44,950 and a total of 101 players made it throughl.

Day 1B will kick off later today with another bumper field, including Italian Team PokerStars Pros Dario Minieri and Salvatore Bonavena, and IPT Leaderboard winner Giovanni Salvatore.

You can follow all the action as it happens over on our sister Italian blog, where Matteo Viola would be delighted to have your company.

by Chris Edge

Last year the inaugural All Star week went right down to the wire, with both sides deadlocked at 17-17 going into the final match of the series. The Pros ultimately prevailed to come out on top 18-17 victors.

Today the prospect of a repeat scenario seems as distant as ever, with the Challengers on Tuesday racking up a further four victories, surging them into an unprecedented 8-2 lead. In short, the Challengers have been running away with it.

On Wednesday the Pros pinned their All-Star hopes on WSOP stalwarts Hevad Khan, Ivan Demidov, Joe Cada, Joe Hachem and Johnny Lodden to get their beleaguered campaign back on track.

True to form however, it didn't start at all well for the Pros. Multi-tabling sensation Hevad
Khan was first to the felt, pitted against the Chicago-based, 'InstantLei'. Any observers who logged on eager to watch the drama unfold will have been left sorely disappointed as neither player showed up for the first 73 hands - with stacks dead-even on 2500 apiece.

On Hand #74 some 5 minutes in, InstantLei finally took his seat and can hardly have believed his luck to find a markedly unoccupied seat on the opposite side of the baize. In the easiest tie of the round, InstantLei raised every single hand to coast to victory after 16 minutes, with Khan sat out and automatically folded.

Onto match 12 at 14:00 ET and up stepped Russian Ivan Demidov, charged with negotiating the Challengers' 'Timmy K' in the day's Single Draw 2-7 Lowball event. First blood went to the Challenger, who had managed to chip up to 3200 at the half way stage after one hand in which he bet after drawing 2 cards to reveal the winning [9c][3h][7h][8c][5d], for a 9,8,7,5,3 low.

Just 2 minutes later Demidov had all but wiped out Timmy K's lead in one foul swoop, his 9,5,4,3,2 low getting the better of Timmy K's 9,7,6,5,4, and enough to rake the 1500 pot.
That took Demidov to 2900 in chips, a lead he would never relinquish. After 58 hands Timmy K raised to 180, then called a Demidox re-raise to 420. Timmy K stood pat, and with good reason: his 9,7,6,5,4 representing a relative powerhouse in single-draw. Demidov drew one card and hit the miracle [2s] to take down Timmy K with an 8,7,4,3,2 low, and restore some much needed cheer to the Team Pro ranks.

Match 13 saw reigning WSOP Main Event Champ Joe Cada go tête-à-tête against the
returning Hurloon, who on Tuesday saw off the challenge of David Williams.
Cada would go on to pose an altogether trickier threat for the Czech challenger, and add a further $1k to the Pro prize pool after 15 minutes of play.

Most of the damage came in the 20th hand. Hurloon made it 40 to go pre-flop, then called after Cada pumped it up to 140. The flop fell [7s][5d][8s]. Cada received calls of 200 and 420 on the turn and river, before Hurloon folded to his 1540 shove. What either player had is anyone's guess, with Cada opting not to show.

The following 52 hands passed with little noteworthy action, Cada all the while maintaining his lead and never falling below 2900 in chips. Hurloon finally found a hand to go to war with after 15 minutes, committing his stack after some pre-flop jostling with [Ad][9s]. Off to the races we went as Cada called with [7c][7d] for two wired 7s. The subsequent [3d][2c][2h][7s][Ks] board handed Cada victory and reduced the overall deficit to 9-4 in favor of the Challengers.

The penultimate match of the day drew another observer favourite from Day 1, caprioli, back to the fore. His opponent for the PLO Match 14, yet another Main Event champ in the form of Joe Hachem.

With neither Moneymaker nor Raymer registering victories in their respective matches, Hachem was keen to buck the curse of the Main Event winners and prolong the Pros' recent Day 3 resurgence.

Such hope soon faded however, as caprioli marched into a 3:2 chip lead after just the 3rd hand. Hachem raised pre-flop to 100, looked up by caprioli. The flop brought an intriguing [Kc][7d][Qs][Tc], which drew checks from both parties.

The action hotted up again with the [Td] falling; caprioli betting then calling a 300 raise from Hachem. Both players slowed on the [2h] river, with caprioli showing [9h][3s][Th][Ts] for the winning, three 10s.

caprioli went on to add a further chink in Hachem's armour on hand 21. The former check-called Hachem's bet on a flop of [4h][7c][8h], before both checked the [2c] turn. The [4c] river elicited a bet from Hachem, looked-up by caprioli. It proved decisive as caprioli turned over [4d][Qc][Td][9h] for trip 4s, which had got there against Hachem's [9s][Tc][Kd][Ks].

Hachem never recovered and the white flag was raised just 4 hands later. The [5d][5c][6h] flop gave Hachem three 5s holding [7d][9h][Qd][5h], and ample reason to ship his remaining 1000 stack to the middle.

caprioli was gambling with the [7h][Ac][8s][Qh] for an up-and-down straight draw, which duly came in on the [4c] river to restore the Challengers' 6 game lead.

Nordic pro Johnny Lodden lined up against Czech player 'Brezi26' in the final match of the day at 20:00 ET. The chip lead see-sawed back and forth early on, with the first all-in confrontation witnessed after just 10 minutes of play.

Lodden opened the action with [Tc][Ts], re-raised to 400, then called Brezi26's 5-bet shove. The board ran out an emphatic [Kc][Kd][As][2s][6h] to hand the Challenger's [Ad][Qd] the 3460 pot and the chip lead.

Stacks evened out at the half-way stage, as Lodden assumed the role of aggressor, applying pressure both pre-flop and on the flop. On the half-hour mark Lodden's typically Scandi-approach paid dividends as he re-took the chip lead. Further exchanges late on saw Brezi26 claw back some lost ground, with neither player able to command a dominating chip advantage. The blinds soon caught up with both after 45 minutes play however, and coerced their stacks into the middle.

After Brezi26 raised to 300 with [7c][7s], Lodden shipped it in with [4h][Kd]. Naturally, Brezi26 obliged, a 70% favourite. The [5c][9c][8h] flop was kind to the Challenger, although the [8c] turn added counterfeit outs to the remaining 3 Kings in the deck to sweat.

Just like that Brezi's two sevens were toast as the [9h] river slammed to give Lodden the same 9s and 7s, his King kicker playing to hand him the 4288 pot and all but seal the deal.

Sure enough Brezi26 pushed his remaining 1574 into the middle just hands later. Lodden looked him up with [Th][Kd] and fortune favoured the Norwegian again as the virtual dealer dropped [Ts][Ks][5h][6s][8d]. With that Lodden ended the day on a high note for the Pros, who now sit 5 matches adrift the Challengers at 5-10.

by Chris Edge

Following their disastrous start to All Star Week on Monday, PokerStars Team Pro lined up Tuesday determined to cut into the Challengers' overnight 4-1 lead in their quest to take home a 2nd successive title.

First out of the blocks for the Pros was 2003 WSOP Main Event winner, Chris Moneymaker. Once the champion of the underdog, Moneymaker nowadays finds himself sat on the Pros' side of the fence, here seeking to register only their 2nd win of the campaign.

Flying the flag for the Challengers in the NLHE event was seasoned online cash-cow, 'MOJOEX1'. Any hopes of a speedy turnaround in fortunes for the Pros were short-lived however, with the match consigned to history after only 8 minutes.

Much of the damage to Moneymaker's cause was done after raising a MOJOEX1 turn bet to 900 with the board reading [7d][Ks][9c][3h], only to then fold to an all-in 3-bet.
That left Money down to 1080 in chips, a near 4:1 deficit he was never able to recover from. Down to just 810, some pre-flop sparring saw the chips eventually find their way to the middle; [7c][As] for MOJOEX1, vs Moneymaker's [Qd][Ad]. The poker gods were with the Challenger on this one, as the board ran out [3h][6s][7h][Ts][8s] to felt the former WSOP Champ and lengthen the Challengers' overall lead.

Next up to enter the fray was popular UK journalist-come-pro, Vicky Coren. Her opponent: the Canadian, '72good'.

The match didn't go quite to Coren's expectations, immediately expressing her surprise at the game choice: "what? what are we playing? I was expecting holdem lol"

One might surmise Omaha Hi/Lo is not Coren's particular fortay, given her rather frank admission just moments later: "you should be alright, I haven't played this game in about 5 years lol"

The London-based pro's fears proved justified as 72good went on to exploit Coren's apparent rustiness and build a steady lead throughout the match, with a series of probing bets that caught the Pro off-guard.

The ever-gregarious Coren later commented "I just ate a bowl of cheerios too fast"; an apparent bout of indigestion accounting for several pots gone awry, with Coren seemingly content to perpetrate her own demise.

Fourteen minutes in and 72good's early work all came undone. A series of bets and raises on the [2s][3d][Qs] flop saw Coren all-in with [As][3h][4s][Ac] to 72good's [4d][Ad][Kc][7s], for Ace-high and a solitary straight draw to boot. The resulting [Th] turn and [Kh] river slid the 2380 Coren's way and restored parity.

That particular dent to the Challenger's stack did little to reign in his aggression and he was soon back up to the heady heights of 4115 in chips to Coren's 885, displaying much of the same, probing formula that had served him well for much of the match.

Coren was afforded brief restbite for her troubles late on, earning a double up when her [Jd][Ac][Jh][7c] was enough to see off 72good's [Kh][8d][Ah][Ts] after an all-in tussle on the [Qh][Td][5d] flop and subsequent [5s][5h].

However moments later and her efforts proved in vain; a pre-flop 5-bet all-in by the Pro holding [Jd][Ac][2d][Ks] resulting in a board of a [8h][3d][As][Kd][Ts] - enough to hand 72good's [4c][Ad][Ah][7d] victory and make it 2/2 on the Day for the Challengers.

It was next the turn of recently-signed PokerStars Pro and all round nice guy David Williams, to put a stop to the Pro's downfall. Standing in his way in Match 8 was Prague-based, 'Hurloon'.

The chip lead changed hands on several occasions throughout the opening skirmishes, with Williams eventually coming out on top at the half-way stage by just 690 in chips. Much of the frenetic NLHE matches we had seen hitherto in the series had displayed all of the blood-and-thunder, 'all-in poker' that separates NLHE from the rest; with matches often over after the 8 minute mark.

Williams' and Hurloons' affair was proving a much closer-run thing altogether, with small-ball, raise-and-take-it poker the order of the day.

It was the latter who was first able to gain real headway in the match, establishing a 3:2 lead after 20 minutes in when Williams called down a 250 river bet on a board of [Kc][8s][Ks][Td][2s], only to be shown [Kh][7h] for a very deceptively played trip 3's.

Hurloon was able to capitalise on his newly-found riches, with a series of pre-flop and continuation bets building his stack up to a Match-high of 4550. With blinds at 25/50 Williams eventually shipped it all-in pre-flop holding [Ah][9c], and was looked up by the dominating [As][Th]. Williams was to encounter kicker-trouble on the resultant [2s][6c][2h][5d][Qs] board, to make it a remarkable 87.5% win rate for the Challengers.

A familiar face provided the competition for Match 9 of the series, as Monday's success story 'jimenezzzz' faced off against another former WSOP champ, Greg Raymer.
FossilMan managed to race into an early 3:2 lead after Hand #4 in the Limit Hold'Em round. The action went check, bet, raise, raise, call on the flop with Raymer holding [Ac][9c] for the nut flush draw - which got there on the [4c] river. jimenezzzz called Raymer's final 100 bet, only to muck upon seeing the bad news.

FossilMan capitalized on his early lead to build his stack up to 3421 a quarter of an hour in, with the Razz round responsible for much of Raymer's early dominance. Yet just 2 minutes later and a pivotal 7 Card Stud hand swung the chip lead jimenezzzz's way following some check-betting-calling all the way to 7th street.

FossilMan kept the pot small on 4th and 5th street with [2c][Ah] and [2c][Ah][9c] showing, calling all jimenezzzz had to throw at him. jimenezzzz's final 120 river bet proved decisive, revealing [6c][3c][Jc][Tc][9h][Kc][5d] for a King-high flush to relent Raymer's charge.

FossilMan went on to lose further ground throughout the 7 Card Stud round, with jimenezzzz taking his stack as high as 4779 after showing down [6s][Tc][Ts][Ah][5s][Td][Jh] for 3 tens made on 6th street; enough to take down a 1312 pot.

Raymer's fate was eventually sealed after moving all in on a turn of [Ac][Js][7s][3h]. He was insta-called by jimenezzzz, understandably so when holding the powerhouse [Ad][Ah]. Raymer sheepishly revealed [Qd][6d] for a bluff-gone-wrong. The irrelevant [Tc] river compounded the Pro's misery to make it a bad day all round for former world champs.

2 hours later and all-eyes turned to Portuguese Pro Henrique Pinho, as the Pros faced the humiliating prospect of a Challenger whitewash for the 2nd consecutive day.
The Challengers' conqueror from before, 72good was back to do his part in the history-making and hammer a firm nail into the Pro's coffin.

72good was indeed proving too good for Pinho in the early running, amassing a 3:2 chip lead by the 10-minute stage. A series of check-folds from Pinho aiding 72good's cause, making for some nervous viewing for the onlooking Pros.

The Challenger was not only running good but also being paid off with marginal holdings. In one such hand and with 240 in the middle 72good induced a call from the thinnest of value-bets on a [5h][8d][Ts][4s][4c] board, showing [Qh][8h] for 8s and 4s.

Fate turned on 72good just minutes later, and a cold-deck soon signified the start of a recovery from Pinho. A well-timed flopped set of 9s bettered 72 good's riverred 2-pair, with the eventual [8d][3h][9h][5h][4c] board earning the Portuguese Pro the double-up, and putting him right back into contention. Pinho then went on to make a great river-call in the latter stages holding just [As][Jh], for ace-high on a [Qc][3c][9d][5h][8c] board - enough to take the 1118 pot and the chip lead.

[Ac][Jc] again proved Pinho's lucky charm with the chips finding their way into the middle in the final hand. 72good's dominating [Ah][Ks] finding no favours on a nasty [Jd] turn, following a safe [7d][Qs][Qh] flop. The [2d] river ended the match to finally salvage some much-needed pride and leave the Pros to lick their wounds overnight, leaving the scoreboard at a Challenger-dominant 8-2.

PokerStars issued the following press release this morning:

PokerStars, the world's largest poker site, welcomes news of the successful mark up of H.R. 2267: The Internet Gambling Regulation, Consumer Protection, and Enforcement Act in the House Financial Services Committee by an overwhelming, bipartisan margin of 41-22.

The bill, sponsored by Committee Chairman Barney Frank, offers a long overdue common sense approach to internet gaming regulation in the United States. PokerStars wholeheartedly supports the efforts of Chairman Frank and the bill's proponents.

This bill represents the most significant US legislative accomplishment in the history of the internet gaming industry. The Committee vote was one step in a road to passage of H.R. 2267 in the US Congress. Further steps are required and a great deal of hard work for the legislators lies in store.

It is important to note that H.R. 2267 was passed out of Committee with the addition of certain amendments. Two in particular warrant additional comment:

Representative Brad Sherman offered language accepted by the Committee which would in part render as unsuitable for licensure any person who fails to certify in writing that it and its affiliated business entities have never committed an intentional felony violation of Federal or State gambling laws.

Ranking Member Spencer Bachus and Representative Michelle Bachmann also sponsored an amendment, accepted by the Committee, which would in part render unsuitable for licensing any person who knowingly participated in illegal internet gambling activity after enactment of the UIGEA in 2006.

The UIGEA by its clear terms shall not be construed as "altering, limiting or extending any Federal or State law or Tribal-State compact prohibiting, permitting, or regulating gambling within the United States". Therefore, in light of the more comprehensive view on this point set forth in Rep. Sherman's amendment, the Bachus/Bachmann amendment, with its UIGEA timeline, appears redundant (as Ranking Member Bachus himself observed during the mark up).

Nevertheless, PokerStars supports the provisions in both amendments as neither would adversely affect the availability of a license for a respected operator such as PokerStars. As reflected in legal opinions provided to PokerStars, its activities in the US are and at all times have been lawful.

Paul Telford, PokerStars' General Counsel stated that "PokerStars maintains its strong support for H.R. 2267 and encourages the full House and ultimately the Senate to move quickly to secure passage during the current Congressional term. PokerStars, a pioneer in operating online poker under stringent regulatory frameworks, looks forward to working with incumbent and new operators in promoting a safe and healthy online poker industry in the United States, as it currently does under similar licensing models in Italy and France".

by Joanne Haslam
The first season of the PokerStars Twitter Poker League has ended after eight weeks of busy point gathering, leader board checking, and lashings of Twitter #tpoker banter. There was so much going on it's a surprise anyone found time to win a poker tournament. 1,244 Twitter poker players assembled for the season finale, some with good claims to the 100 leader board prizes, others more interested in winning a share of the $1,244 prize pool.

Bra boy84 had won 40 points from back-to-back Twitter tourney wins, but failed to cash in his other Twitter tourneys. 3detch had played every game and with two final tables and three cashes was just three points behind the leader. Danilo1012 was 5th on the leader board with 30 points; he'd need a big finish to overtake the pair, but as the tourney progressed this became a possibility.

Bra boy84 busted
Bra boy84 really only needed a cash to take the league win, but he never really got into the game. He finally fell in 724th when his [Ks][Qc] was beat by stratten's [Ad][7d]. He was stuck on 41 points and would be watching the tourney from the sidelines, hoping his rivals fell on their swords to gift him the win.

3detch had played solid poker throughout the league season and he wasn't going to make it easy for bra boy84. 123rd place might not sound like a poker finish worthy of celebration, but it was in this case, the cash was worth 5 points - enough to take 3detch to the top of the league. However Danilo1012 would still be around to give him a scare...

3detch tweeted: "With tension watching the game Danilo1012 at #tpoker." There were a few others railing the final stages 'with tension' or bizarrely celebrating his skills with a chat box campaign calling for "Danilo for President".

Danilo1012 knew this wasn't going to be easy, he had to make the top 3 to win the league.

Bubble trouble
With 10 players remaining Danilo1012 was the short stack but still fighting. He saw a flop from the small blind with [Ad][3h]. Tessary and Dreams78 were along for the ride, and they all checked the [5c][6c][9c] flop. It was when the turn card [As] was dealt that everything kicked off. Danilo1012's all-in was called by tessary, the big blind player had been playing his [Ah][Qs] sneakily slow. Danilo1012 couldn't beat that queen kicker and was out. His performance made this a closely fought race and gave tweeters plenty to tweet about in the final stages of the tourney; his 10th place was still good for 3rd in the #tpoker league.

Danilo1012's bubble elimination meant the final table chat box was full of congratulations for 3detch. Bra boy 84, and danilo1012 were both keen to congratulate the winner and wish him well with his $700 Step Ticket prize. Of course while the leader board win was being debated the final table players still had work to do...

Final table chips
Seat 1: xkr1 (301,982 in chips)
Seat 2: winona1978 (148,708 in chips)
Seat 3: enjoy2playAK (108,513 in chips)
Seat 4: ashphx (260,624 in chips)
Seat 5: LABUBONICA (346,848 in chips)
Seat 6: sfrol (145,424 in chips)
Seat 7: flickerflick (120,820 in chips)
Seat 8: tessary (291,641 in chips)
Seat 9: Dreams78 (141,440 in chips)

Tessary won a sizeable pot in the first hand at the table, his [Kc][Qc] hit the flush on the turn [Ac], and that ace got winona1978 in deep with an [Ah][Kh].

Dreams78 nightmare
Dreams78 was the next to hit [As][Ks] trouble, simply calling under the gun with the hand and then playing along when xkr1 raised. On the [Js][8d][2d] flop Dreams78 check-called xkr1's all-in. Xkr1 showed [Kd][Jd] for top pair and a flush draw. An [Ah] on the turn gave Dreams78 a pain-free moment, but the [4d] on the river killed all hope. Dreams78 was out in 9th place, and may or may not, have wanted the following advice from the guy who won his chips, "Next time push this hand pre-flop and I fold my KJs."

When winona1978 bet out on a [4h][Ac][5h] flop he was re-raised by LABUBONICA. Winona1978 was not for folding, and LABUBONICA was ready to go all the way with him; on their backs time. It was [Ah][Qd] for winona1978 and [8h][7h] for LABUBONICA. A [Th] river brought the flush and winona78 was the unlucky loser, finishing in 8th place.

Not enjoy 2playthat
Enjoy2playAK told the table he was lowering his card playing standards due to a severe shortage of chips, "Soon gonna push any2. Just that u know :P"

When he pushed it wasn't quite 'any two' but deciding to make a stand with [Ah][Jc], calling sfrol's all-in bet. Sfrol showed [8c][8s], and the pair was enough to take it. As it turned out the king-high board would have suited his name, it didn't suit A-J. Down to six players.
Flickerflick went all-in twice with no takers, and the third time found a double-up with [Ad][Tc] versus xkr1's [Ac][7c].

Then Flickerflick raised with [As][Ad] and was called by tessary and LABUBONICA. Flickerflick thought the [9d][5c][4c] flop good enough for a bet, and worthy of an all-in re-raise when tessary raised back at him. Tessary had hit the set with [4d][4h] to beat aces, so a 6th place exit for Flickerflick.

Pass the chip lead
The chip lead had swung around the table, no one holding on to the elusive title for more than two or three hands, but at this stage of the game LABUBONICA, tessary and xkr1 had what I like to call 'happy stacks' while ashphx and sfrol had what I see as, 'need work' stacks.

Ashphx got to work with that 'needs work' pile of chips, pushing all-in from the button with [5d][5h]. Sfrol who also held a 'needs work' stack made the call with [Kc][Qs]. The [Qd] on the turn decided ashphx's tournament fate, and he exited typing 'gg' through gritted teeth with good grace.

LABUBONICA won a few pots without showing cards and was gradually gaining the advantage. Xkr1 was in last place chips-wise but had a plan for that. He started raising. In fact he raised all-in seven out of eight hands, winning blinds and antes like nobody's business. He had LABUBONICA asking with concern: "Are u tilt¿?"

Perhaps it was inevitable that one of these bets was going to be called. Xkr1's eighth all-in was called by LABUBONICA with [Th][Ts]. Xkr1 was still perfectly live with [Qc][Jc] although the rest of the table might have been wishing him a goner - that pesky all-in prone German was making life difficult for everyone.

There were a couple of clubs to give xkr1 flush draw hope, but hope doesn't win chips like a pair of tens can. Xkr1 out in 4th place.

If chips were mountains...
LABUBONICA increased his lead with xkr1's elimination, and if the three players' chips were mountain ranges then LABUBONICA would be the mighty Himalayas, tessary the Alps, and sfrol the Brecon Beacons in Wales. Or minus the geography lesson it would be LABUBONICA 1,142,464, tessary 512,806, and sfrol 205,480.

Sfrol tried to fight back with his small Welsh mountain of chips, he raised with [Kc][Jc] and LABUBONICA called with [5d][5c]. The [Tc][9c][6d] flop got sfrol betting out again. LABUBONICA was having none of that and re-raised. Sfrol pressed his case yet again with an all-in bet. LABUBONICA was chip-happy and chose to call. He must also have been happy to see he was ahead with his low pair, but the [Qs] on the turn gave sfrol the straight and he took the pot.

Three-handed play was cagey with LABUBONICA holding the lead but not powering ahead. Then sfrol pushed all-in with 270,000, [As][8d] in his hand. LABONICA had enough chips to try to take him down with a [Kd][7d]. The ace high won, and sfrol fought on. Next Tessary lost a big pot holding [Ac][Js] on a jack-high board, LABUBONICA hit the straight to leave Tessary looking for an all-in hand. When sfrol raised a few hands later Tessary found [Ts][Td] and pushed. Sfrol called with [Ad][Kh] for one of those classic poker confrontations. The classic [Ks] on the flop put an end to tessary's game.

Six, six, six - six
Heads-up now. LABUBONICA was ahead with 1,013,524 but there would still be plenty of play with sfrol fielding 852,476. LABUBONICA eased ahead, a steady pattern of raised pots and continuation bets sending chips to his corner.

Sfrol clawed some back, all-in with [6d][Js] on a board showing two sixes. LABUBONICA must have thought his [6c] would win the match - but no. His lower [8s] side card sent the pot to sfrol. Sfrol climbed back to 800,000.

The final hand was another side-card battle, this time LABUBONICA had the best of it. Sfrol re-raised all-in with [Ac][Jd]. LABUBONICA made the call with [Ah][Qd]. The flop didn't change anything, and [Ah][Qd] was the #tpoker tournament winning hand. Well done to LABUBONICA for claiming the win in the final game of the Twitter Poker League season.

Top 100
So now league points will be totted up, leaderboard tables published, and the best 100 Twitter Poker League players will share $2,100 of Step Ticket prizes. Congratulations to 3detch for winning the league in its first season. Thanks to all players who participated in the league and tweeted their thoughts tagged with #tpoker for other Twitter League players to follow.

There'll be a brand new league season starting next week, with eight tournaments to prove a point to the rest of the #tpoker world. We hope you'll add your name to the leader board and grab a share of the prizes. You can find more information by visiting the Twitter Poker League website. Or follow PokerStars on Twitter for news, competitions, league reports and all manner of fun for tweeting types.

Twitter Poker League Leaderboard - Week 8 (07-25-10)
3detch - 46
bra boy84 - 45
Danilo1012 - 35
captainlgf -32
McNamara2011 -32
Sashhh27 - 30
thop5574 - 30
Debiloki - 29
0 RAM 0 - 28
firebreather - 28
JRMR802 - 28
Matosh - 28

by Joanne Haslam
The first season of the PokerStars Twitter Poker League has ended after eight weeks of busy point gathering, leader board checking, and lashings of Twitter #tpoker banter. There was so much going on it's a surprise anyone found time to win a poker tournament. 1,244 Twitter poker players assembled for the season finale, some with good claims to the 100 leader board prizes, others more interested in winning a share of the $1,244 prize pool.

Bra boy84 had won 40 points from back-to-back Twitter tourney wins, but failed to cash in his other Twitter tourneys. 3detch had played every game and with two final tables and three cashes was just three points behind the leader. Danilo1012 was 5th on the leader board with 30 points; he'd need a big finish to overtake the pair, but as the tourney progressed this became a possibility.

Bra boy84 busted
Bra boy84 really only needed a cash to take the league win, but he never really got into the game. He finally fell in 724th when his [Ks][Qc] was beat by stratten's [Ad][7d]. He was stuck on 41 points and would be watching the tourney from the sidelines, hoping his rivals fell on their swords to gift him the win.

3detch had played solid poker throughout the league season and he wasn't going to make it easy for bra boy84. 123rd place might not sound like a poker finish worthy of celebration, but it was in this case, the cash was worth 5 points - enough to take 3detch to the top of the league. However Danilo1012 would still be around to give him a scare...

3detch tweeted: "With tension watching the game Danilo1012 at #tpoker." There were a few others railing the final stages 'with tension' or bizarrely celebrating his skills with a chat box campaign calling for "Danilo for President".

Danilo1012 knew this wasn't going to be easy, he had to make the top 3 to win the league.

Bubble trouble
With 10 players remaining Danilo1012 was the short stack but still fighting. He saw a flop from the small blind with [Ad][3h]. Tessary and Dreams78 were along for the ride, and they all checked the [5c][6c][9c] flop. It was when the turn card [As] was dealt that everything kicked off. Danilo1012's all-in was called by tessary, the big blind player had been playing his [Ah][Qs] sneakily slow. Danilo1012 couldn't beat that queen kicker and was out. His performance made this a closely fought race and gave tweeters plenty to tweet about in the final stages of the tourney; his 10th place was still good for 3rd in the #tpoker league.

Danilo1012's bubble elimination meant the final table chat box was full of congratulations for 3detch. Bra boy 84, and danilo1012 were both keen to congratulate the winner and wish him well with his $700 Step Ticket prize. Of course while the leader board win was being debated the final table players still had work to do...

Final table chips
Seat 1: xkr1 (301,982 in chips)
Seat 2: winona1978 (148,708 in chips)
Seat 3: enjoy2playAK (108,513 in chips)
Seat 4: ashphx (260,624 in chips)
Seat 5: LABUBONICA (346,848 in chips)
Seat 6: sfrol (145,424 in chips)
Seat 7: flickerflick (120,820 in chips)
Seat 8: tessary (291,641 in chips)
Seat 9: Dreams78 (141,440 in chips)

Tessary won a sizeable pot in the first hand at the table, his [Kc][Qc] hit the flush on the turn [Ac], and that ace got winona1978 in deep with an [Ah][Kh].

Dreams78 nightmare
Dreams78 was the next to hit [As][Ks] trouble, simply calling under the gun with the hand and then playing along when xkr1 raised. On the [Js][8d][2d] flop Dreams78 check-called xkr1's all-in. Xkr1 showed [Kd][Jd] for top pair and a flush draw. An [Ah] on the turn gave Dreams78 a pain-free moment, but the [4d] on the river killed all hope. Dreams78 was out in 9th place, and may or may not, have wanted the following advice from the guy who won his chips, "Next time push this hand pre-flop and I fold my KJs."

When winona1978 bet out on a [4h][Ac][5h] flop he was re-raised by LABUBONICA. Winona1978 was not for folding, and LABUBONICA was ready to go all the way with him; on their backs time. It was [Ah][Qd] for winona1978 and [8h][7h] for LABUBONICA. A [Th] river brought the flush and winona78 was the unlucky loser, finishing in 8th place.

Not enjoy 2playthat
Enjoy2playAK told the table he was lowering his card playing standards due to a severe shortage of chips, "Soon gonna push any2. Just that u know :P"

When he pushed it wasn't quite 'any two' but deciding to make a stand with [Ah][Jc], calling sfrol's all-in bet. Sfrol showed [8c][8s], and the pair was enough to take it. As it turned out the king-high board would have suited his name, it didn't suit A-J. Down to six players.
Flickerflick went all-in twice with no takers, and the third time found a double-up with [Ad][Tc] versus xkr1's [Ac][7c].

Then Flickerflick raised with [As][Ad] and was called by tessary and LABUBONICA. Flickerflick thought the [9d][5c][4c] flop good enough for a bet, and worthy of an all-in re-raise when tessary raised back at him. Tessary had hit the set with [4d][4h] to beat aces, so a 6th place exit for Flickerflick.

Pass the chip lead
The chip lead had swung around the table, no one holding on to the elusive title for more than two or three hands, but at this stage of the game LABUBONICA, tessary and xkr1 had what I like to call 'happy stacks' while ashphx and sfrol had what I see as, 'need work' stacks.

Ashphx got to work with that 'needs work' pile of chips, pushing all-in from the button with [5d][5h]. Sfrol who also held a 'needs work' stack made the call with [Kc][Qs]. The [Qd] on the turn decided ashphx's tournament fate, and he exited typing 'gg' through gritted teeth with good grace.

LABUBONICA won a few pots without showing cards and was gradually gaining the advantage. Xkr1 was in last place chips-wise but had a plan for that. He started raising. In fact he raised all-in seven out of eight hands, winning blinds and antes like nobody's business. He had LABUBONICA asking with concern: "Are u tilt¿?"

Perhaps it was inevitable that one of these bets was going to be called. Xkr1's eighth all-in was called by LABUBONICA with [Th][Ts]. Xkr1 was still perfectly live with [Qc][Jc] although the rest of the table might have been wishing him a goner - that pesky all-in prone German was making life difficult for everyone.

There were a couple of clubs to give xkr1 flush draw hope, but hope doesn't win chips like a pair of tens can. Xkr1 out in 4th place.

If chips were mountains...
LABUBONICA increased his lead with xkr1's elimination, and if the three players' chips were mountain ranges then LABUBONICA would be the mighty Himalayas, tessary the Alps, and sfrol the Brecon Beacons in Wales. Or minus the geography lesson it would be LABUBONICA 1,142,464, tessary 512,806, and sfrol 205,480.

Sfrol tried to fight back with his small Welsh mountain of chips, he raised with [Kc][Jc] and LABUBONICA called with [5d][5c]. The [Tc][9c][6d] flop got sfrol betting out again. LABUBONICA was having none of that and re-raised. Sfrol pressed his case yet again with an all-in bet. LABUBONICA was chip-happy and chose to call. He must also have been happy to see he was ahead with his low pair, but the [Qs] on the turn gave sfrol the straight and he took the pot.

Three-handed play was cagey with LABUBONICA holding the lead but not powering ahead. Then sfrol pushed all-in with 270,000, [As][8d] in his hand. LABONICA had enough chips to try to take him down with a [Kd][7d]. The ace high won, and sfrol fought on. Next Tessary lost a big pot holding [Ac][Js] on a jack-high board, LABUBONICA hit the straight to leave Tessary looking for an all-in hand. When sfrol raised a few hands later Tessary found [Ts][Td] and pushed. Sfrol called with [Ad][Kh] for one of those classic poker confrontations. The classic [Ks] on the flop put an end to tessary's game.

Six, six, six - six
Heads-up now. LABUBONICA was ahead with 1,013,524 but there would still be plenty of play with sfrol fielding 852,476. LABUBONICA eased ahead, a steady pattern of raised pots and continuation bets sending chips to his corner.

Sfrol clawed some back, all-in with [6d][Js] on a board showing two sixes. LABUBONICA must have thought his [6c] would win the match - but no. His lower [8s] side card sent the pot to sfrol. Sfrol climbed back to 800,000.

The final hand was another side-card battle, this time LABUBONICA had the best of it. Sfrol re-raised all-in with [Ac][Jd]. LABUBONICA made the call with [Ah][Qd]. The flop didn't change anything, and [Ah][Qd] was the #tpoker tournament winning hand. Well done to LABUBONICA for claiming the win in the final game of the Twitter Poker League season.

Top 100
So now league points will be totted up, leaderboard tables published, and the best 100 Twitter Poker League players will share $2,100 of Step Ticket prizes. Congratulations to 3detch for winning the league in its first season. Thanks to all players who participated in the league and tweeted their thoughts tagged with #tpoker for other Twitter League players to follow.

There'll be a brand new league season starting next week, with eight tournaments to prove a point to the rest of the #tpoker world. We hope you'll add your name to the leader board and grab a share of the prizes. You can find more information by visiting the Twitter Poker League website. Or follow PokerStars on Twitter for news, competitions, league reports and all manner of fun for tweeting types.

Twitter Poker League Leaderboard - Week 8 (07-25-10)
3detch - 46
bra boy84 - 45
Danilo1012 - 35
captainlgf -32
McNamara2011 -32
Sashhh27 - 30
thop5574 - 30
Debiloki - 29
0 RAM 0 - 28
firebreather - 28
JRMR802 - 28
Matosh - 28