Here's something to consider. Over the weekend, PokerStars gave away $208,164. Just gave it away. There was no betting, check-raising, back raising, or triple range merging going on. PokerStars just gave away more than two hundred grand. These people won it for just being involved in one of the first hundred milestone hands on the way to PokerStars 70 billionth.
I've long ago given up the idea of trying to conceptualize just how many hands 70 billion is. I just know it's a lot. I also know that in the run-up to that big one, PokerStars has picked out 300 hands to give away money like the $200k that players picked up this weekend. That is a long way of saying, PokerStars gave away a bunch of money this weekend, it's doing it again all day today, and it will continue to do it until the 70 billionth hand pops up.
Seriously, if you haven't logged on to PokerStars in the past 48 hours, you might have missed that little box in the top right corner of the lobby. It lets you know how many hands are dealt until a table full of people wins another hunk of cash. I mean, just look at this list of 70 billionth hand milestone winners. There are people on there winning thousands of dollars just for logging a little time at the tables and then hitting a big one.
In case you missed the explanation, everybody who is dealt into a milestone hand gets $50, plus another $50 for every VIP Player Point they earned in the previous 50 hands. It works very much the same way for the 70 billionth hand, but it's much bigger. The winner of the hand will have his or her prize doubled and will receive an additional prize of $70,000.
A few months ago, "yllams" was enjoying a nice New Zealand winter when he picked up $68,420 at a $0.10/$0.25 six-max table when he hit the 65 billionth hand. That month, PokerStars gave more than $770,000 to more than 1,600 players during the days leading up to the big hand.
PokerStars 65 billionth hand
That should be enough incentive. If not, click that link up there to see how people are picking up cash like it was Halloween candy. You can keep track of the countdown and learn all you need to about the promotion by checking out the Road to 100 Billion homepage.
In the meantime, I encourage you to stop reading for a while and start grinding a little bit. There won't be too many more days of this fun until somebody hits the big one. Time's a wasting, friends. Get to work.
If there's one thing you need to know about Kevin Thurman, it's that he slaps adversity in the face. Thurman, 31, has suffered from potentially deadly illness called Lyme disease since he was in college. He's been forced to take on excruciating chemotherapy treatments for several years, stripping away the regular life that most young people get to enjoy.
But Thurman never let the ailment in the way of his life goals.
In 2005, Thurman left his corporate job in search of a line of work that would allow him the standard of living he desired. He was constantly sick and needed a change. That's when he turned to poker. Thurman deposited $500 online and began to grind low-stakes cash games. And as they say, the rest was history.
Four years later, Thurman was playing some of the largest cash games available on PokerStars and had won more than $2 million online under the name "WizardofAhhs." But, amazingly, that wasn't enough. He needed another challenge. Before the New Year began, Thurman set a seemingly unachievable goal to break the record for most VIP Player Points earned in a year.
Twelve months later, Thurman had played more than 5 million hands at PokerStars to shatter the VIP Player Points record. He amassed more the 3 million VPPs -- triple the amount needed to attain Supernova elite status. As a reward for his accomplishments, Thurman was offered a sponsorship deal to become a member of Team PokerStars Online.
Thurman's latest life hurdle came in April 2011 when his job was ripped away from him. As a resident of Texas, PokerStars was no longer available to players in the United States. But, as he's done all his life, Thurman found a solution. He packed his bags and moved to a beautiful setting in Canada to resume his online poker career.
We caught up with Thurman to discuss his move to Canada and how his life has changed in the wake of Black Friday.
You recently moved from Texas to a gorgeous location in British Columbia. How has that transition been for you as a poker player and in your regular day life?
I couldn't be happier with the move. Canada is a beautiful country. I've actually been more active since moving here. I've found a passion for hiking through the Canadian Rockies. Back in Texas it's just too hot and flat to do much of anything other than plant yourself directly in front of an air conditioner. I had a few misconceptions before moving to Canada. I thought it was going to be a desolate wasteland with a bunch of frozen people walking around saying "eh"' every other word. I was expecting very little familiarity to my home back in Texas. But it has turned out to be a nicer climate than I anticipated; the people have been fantastic, and they have many of the same stores and restaurants that I'm familiar with back home. And as far as poker is concerned, the Internet is perfect up here so it's been business as usual, snappin' necks and cashin' checks!
You wrote in your blog about some problems you had with your condo after moving to Canada. Tell us about that experience and how you found the house you currently live in now.
It's difficult to choose a new home to live without ever having visited to see it in person, much more ever having been to the city or even the country. I basically just did a Google search and went to the place with the prettiest pictures. Turns out the place I chose was pretty on the surface but it was going through some serious growing pains. With their third set of owners and management in three years, they were a mess and we had to escape. But this time I had a little Canadian experience under my belt so choosing the new location was going to be a little bit easier this time around. My new home is located on Lake Okanagan near Kelowna in BC. The area was actually recommended to me by another PokerStars Team Online member, Adrienne "talonchick" Rowsome, who mentioned to me that this area was her favorite in all of Canada, so I started exploring -- online of course, I'm a virtual human. And once again my friend Google brought me to my current residence; the view is breathtaking, the price was right, and I signed on the dotted line.
We read that you studied music theory in college and were in a band. What role does music play in your life?
I'm about to tell you something that I've never told anyone actually. I began playing poker years ago so I could concentrate more on my music. I was working a full time job in the tech industry as a Program Manager after I graduated from college back in 2001 and it was consuming all of my time. I was forced to work very long hours day in and day out. And the worst part about it is it offered very little in the form of creative expression. My soul really needs to communicate through music. And I play all kinds of instruments. Basically if it makes a sound, I will find a way to play it. I began really focusing my efforts on honing my poker skills around 2002 to 2003 so that I could make a living solely through the online grind. And the purpose was to regain that lost freedom I had back in college. I wanted to be my own boss, make my own schedule, and pick up my guitar and belt out a song whenever the hell I felt like it. Poker gave me that opportunity.
Any other hobbies you enjoy outside of poker?
I'm really getting into photography (and videography), as well as hiking. And the two really go hand in hand because hiking through the mountains here in Canada will instantly turn you into a great photographer, you can't take a bad picture here. I can literally step out on my balcony and take professional level photographs.
You earned Supernova Elite status last year and shattered the VPP record at PokerStars with more than 3 million. How does one play 5 million hands of online poker in a year and not lose his mind?
I told my mom I was going to do it, and no one likes to let their mama down. In all seriousness though 5 million hands is madness! I still can't believe I did it. I set the goal, told everyone I knew that I was going to achieve it, and I just refused to fail. I told my family that if I ever had to go to the hospital that they'd better put my laptop in the ambulance with me because I wasn't going to fall behind schedule.
What were your goals going into this year and how severely did Black Friday obstruct your progress?
When Black Friday occurred earlier this year, I felt like the smartest man alive. One of the main reasons I grinded my ass off in 2010 was because of that fear, the fear of it all being taken away at a time when I felt like I was in my poker prime. There are a lot of uncertainties in life involving our futures, so I made the ultimate VPP plan to completely sacrifice today for a better and more secure tomorrow. So when Black Friday hit us, I was far from panic stricken as I had already given all I had to give, there were no regrets on my part, and I had earned plenty of money to live comfortably for a long time. I just took a much deserved vacation from the game, I went outside and looked at things that weren't constructed of pixels for a while.
How has your life changed since becoming a member of Team PokerStars Online?
I've made many connections with people in the poker industry. Up until this point I had been a loner in the online poker world. I'm self-taught, never having had a poker coach or roommate in the past. I had virtually no interaction with other poker professionals until I started grinding to break the VPP record. I was basically was just a faceless avatar behind then handle "WizardOfAhhs" for many years. Team Online brought the person behind the name out of the shadows and I've met great people because of it, so many new friends, students, and opportunities.
Do you plan on traveling to any live tournaments in the near future? What's your favorite stop on the tournament circuit? Any place you'd like to visit?
I'm not really a fan of big cities. I like scenery; beaches and mountains. PCA is probably my favorite spot on the tournament circuit that I've been to so far. Don't get me wrong, I've thoroughly enjoyed going to places such as Prague, Copenhagen, and Madrid in the past, but once I've seen a big city one time I'm ready to move on and generally don't plan on returning. But I've been to PCA a couple of times because of the ocean, and Atlantis isn't buried within the hustle and bustle of a city. The more the location has a vacation resort feel to it, the more inclined I am to attend.
It's the end of the month at PokerStars and the end of humanity as we know it, which means a lot of people played a lot of big tournaments and won a lot of money, and that the zombies are finally running roughshod all over the planet (or, it's Halloween....I have a hard time determining which is which). In either case, I have to make this quick. I foolishly forgot to buy candy and shells for my shotgun, so there are errands to run.
For now we'll just hope that currency still has worth during zombie rule. In any case, they might take some cash-for-brains swap, and provided you have one or the other, you might be in a good shape. Perhaps, though, not as good as these people who have a ton of cash to trade for brains, ammunition, or one of the remaining spots in the fallout shelter. Here's a quick rundown of the end-of-the-month, end-of-the-world stories.
Hopefully these people who won big over the weekend will have enough money to survive in the post-apocalypse zombie world. Here's a list of the people you should be robbing right now, otherwise known as the 10-30-11 PokerStars Sunday majors final table winners.
That's all I have time for, unless you want to hear about that pounding at my door...I don't know what it is, but hopefully it's the pizza I ordered. I'll just go chec........................................... ...
The Women's Sunday tournament with its new $10K guarantee got underway on the day before Halloween with another strong showing and several pros from the PokerStars lineup on board. Team PokerStars Pro players Ana Marquez and Liv Boeree were in, along with Team PokerStars Online's Adrienne "talonchick" Rowsome and Friend of PokerStars Charlotte Van Brabander.
Players at Table 7 got off to a challenging start with Liv and Ana both at their table, but luckily for them, Ana was moved to another table in the first few minutes, and soon doubled-up. Adrienne made early strides with a big stack but got dealt a killer hand and was knocked out in 181st place. Charlotte followed soon behind and Liv hung on until the second hour but exited in 76th place. Ana was left to carry the flag for the PokerStars pros and she made a strong run, maintaining a dangerous chip stack throughout most of the tournament and finishing in 30th place.
An appropriate hand, considering the calendar date, came about an hour and half into the tournament and took place between Ana and a player with the screen name of DrakulaAA. It was a scary match-up when Ana pushed all-in with A-A and "Drakula" called with K-J. It looked bad at first for Ana when a jack came on the flop, but Ana's aces prevailed for a big double-up for her at just the right time. DrakulaAA quickly recovered, however, and went on the once again be a frightening force in the tournament, and continuing her assault all the way to the final table.
Following this hand, Ana's onslaught continued with several more double-ups which put her into fourth place a little over two hours into the tournament when play was down to 48. She pushed several hands and finally saw the end of her tournament in 30th when she called an all-in pre-flop against 7-7 with 2-2 and lost.
Ana Marquez
Play got to hand-for-hand a little more than two hours into it and a minute later all 45 players were in the money. About an hour later we were at the final table with players from Germany, Norway, Hungary, Austria, Sweden, Portugal, and three from Spain.
Final Table Wrap-up
First out was katwoman2010 and sachivila followed shortly after when she was all in against a pair of sixes pre-flop and the board didn't pair. Next out was LIEBLING in seventh with DrakulaAA finally meeting her demise a few hands later all-in pre-flop with [As][2h] when she was called by [9d][9c]. There was no ace on the board and DrakulaAA was out. Bringing in fifth was evjerson from Sweden and in fourth was rῢdiger1958 from Austria. Third place went to Paulit84 who pushed with [ks][7d] pre-flop and was called by McBeccy with [jh][8s]. It was a heartbreaker hand with paulit84 catching a king on the flop but then losing when McBeccy hit a jack and an eight on the turn and river.
And then we were heads-up with two players who had been pushing each other hard throughout the final table. When we got down to nine, McBeccy was short-stacked but started playing very aggressively. She gradually increased her stack until she moved into third with HELENLINDES in second. They went head-to-head several times and by the time we got to two they were very close in chips. A pivotal hand near the end took most of HELENLINDES chips and McBeccy hit a set of fours against a pair of eights. Then the final hand played out with McBeccy hitting a set a tens against A-5 and she became the winner.
Total players: 282
Prize pool: $ 14,100.00
Paid finishers: 45
Click here for more information on the PokerStars Women's Sunday. And join us on Facebook for news and monthly freerolls, and Twitter for the latest information. See you next week!
The Women's Sunday tournament with its new $10K guarantee got underway on the day before Halloween with another strong showing and several pros from the PokerStars lineup on board. Team PokerStars Pro players Ana Marquez and Liv Boeree were in, along with Team PokerStars Online's Adrienne "talonchick" Rowsome and Friend of PokerStars Charlotte Van Brabander.
Players at Table 7 got off to a challenging start with Liv and Ana both at their table, but luckily for them, Ana was moved to another table in the first few minutes, and soon doubled-up. Adrienne made early strides with a big stack but got dealt a killer hand and was knocked out in 181st place. Charlotte followed soon behind and Liv hung on until the second hour but exited in 76th place. Ana was left to carry the flag for the PokerStars pros and she made a strong run, maintaining a dangerous chip stack throughout most of the tournament and finishing in 30th place.
An appropriate hand, considering the calendar date, came about an hour and half into the tournament and took place between Ana and a player with the screen name of DrakulaAA. It was a scary match-up when Ana pushed all-in with A-A and "Drakula" called with K-J. It looked bad at first for Ana when a jack came on the flop, but Ana's aces prevailed for a big double-up for her at just the right time. DrakulaAA quickly recovered, however, and went on the once again be a frightening force in the tournament, and continuing her assault all the way to the final table.
Following this hand, Ana's onslaught continued with several more double-ups which put her into fourth place a little over two hours into the tournament when play was down to 48. She pushed several hands and finally saw the end of her tournament in 30th when she called an all-in pre-flop against 7-7 with 2-2 and lost.
Ana Marquez
Play got to hand-for-hand a little more than two hours into it and a minute later all 45 players were in the money. About an hour later we were at the final table with players from Germany, Norway, Hungary, Austria, Sweden, Portugal, and three from Spain.
Final Table Wrap-up
First out was katwoman2010 and sachivila followed shortly after when she was all in against a pair of sixes pre-flop and the board didn't pair. Next out was LIEBLING in seventh with DrakulaAA finally meeting her demise a few hands later all-in pre-flop with [As][2h] when she was called by [9d][9c]. There was no ace on the board and DrakulaAA was out. Bringing in fifth was evjerson from Sweden and in fourth was rῢdiger1958 from Austria. Third place went to Paulit84 who pushed with [ks][7d] pre-flop and was called by McBeccy with [jh][8s]. It was a heartbreaker hand with paulit84 catching a king on the flop but then losing when McBeccy hit a jack and an eight on the turn and river.
And then we were heads-up with two players who had been pushing each other hard throughout the final table. When we got down to nine, McBeccy was short-stacked but started playing very aggressively. She gradually increased her stack until she moved into third with HELENLINDES in second. They went head-to-head several times and by the time we got to two they were very close in chips. A pivotal hand near the end took most of HELENLINDES chips and McBeccy hit a set of fours against a pair of eights. Then the final hand played out with McBeccy hitting a set a tens against A-5 and she became the winner.
Total players: 282
Prize pool: $ 14,100.00
Paid finishers: 45
Click here for more information on the PokerStars Women's Sunday. And join us on Facebook for news and monthly freerolls, and Twitter for the latest information. See you next week!
Who among us wouldn't want to wind the clock back on a tournament once in a while? Maybe you'd make that hero call, pick off that bluff, or just fold those pocket jacks when the king flopped. Although the PokerStars menu offers rebuys, second-chance events and even time tournaments nowadays, the only clock that was turning back on this week's Sunday Million was Europe's as Summer Time came to an end and the clocks wound back an hour, giving grinders on the continent a precious extra hour of sleep. 7,063 players came out for the Million tonight, creating a prize pool that eclipsed the $1.4 million mark. 1,080 places were paid with $211,894.70 set aside for the champion.
More than thirty of PokerStars' Team Pros, Sports Stars, and Team Online members entered the fray, but only three came away with a cash finish. Brits Liv Boeree (372nd) and Vicky Coren (134th) made strong showings while Argentina's Leo Fernandez lasted the longest, finishing in 85th place.
The final table bubble burst just over ten hours into play when Kipu opened for a min-raise to 400,000 and morda 150 three-bet shoved for his remaining 2.1 million on the buton. The small blind folded, but rasrafari898 picked up pocket queens and re-shoved from the big blind for 8.9 million. Kipu folded, and morda 150 revealed [Ac][Jc]. The queens held on the [Ts][8h][5h][7d][Kc] board, and the final table was set.
Final table chip counts:
Seat 1: EireAbu (15,739,885 in chips)
Seat 2: rastafari898 (11,624,961 in chips)
Seat 3: MarkusG91 (8,207,736 in chips)
Seat 4: vonBaranow (5,619,434 in chips)
Seat 5: el_Hufter (2,221,640 in chips)
Seat 6: Kipu (17,377,762 in chips)
Seat 7: PHANTER8 (2,626,436 in chips)
Seat 8: Thostyle (5,660,970 in chips)
Seat 9: mensi124 (1,551,176 in chips)
Monsters in the blinds
Table short stack mensi124 departed within the first few hands. With the action folded to him on the button, mensi124 moved all-in for just over a million in chips with [Ad][Td], but rastafari898 was lying in wait with [Ah][Qc] in the big blind. Mensi124 did not improve and exited in ninth place, earning $10,947.65. Four hands later, el_Hufter shoved for his last 1.34 million from the small blind with [5d][5h] and Kipu called with [Ah][9s] from the big. Although el_Hufter's pocket pair was good through the turn, Kipu paired his nine on the river to end el_Hufter's run in eighth place. He picked up $16,951.20 for his finish.
Mensi124 and el_Hufter's eliminations left PHANTER8 as the short stack, and he couldn't have been more delighted to look down at pocket aces after chip leader Kipu opened for a min-raise to 500,000. PHANTER8 three-bet shoved for 1.8 million, only to watch EireAbu cold four-bet (!) to 3.2 million to isolate. Kipu folded and the cards went on their backs. [As][Ad] vs. [Ah][Ac]. Cue the sad trombone.
A few hands after that chopped pot, PHANTER8 got his last 1.27 million in the middle, three-bet shoving from the small blind over Kipu's 600,000 opening raise. Thostyle called an additional 978,000 from the big blind and Kipu called as well. Thostyle and Kipu checked down the [Ks][5d][4h][Qh][2c] board and at showdown, Thostyle had his opponent by one pip, his [Ac][Tc] outkicking PHANTER8's [As][9h]. Kipu mucked and Thostyle raked in the pot, while PHANTER8 collected $30,370.90 for seventh place.
Double, double, toil and trouble
As six-handed play dragged on, every short stack had their chance to double up. MarkusG91 was the first moving from 6.4 million to 13 million after his pocket kings held against EireAbu's [Ad][Js]. VonBaranow was next, open-shoving for 4.47 million from the small blind with [Qd][7c]. Kipu called from the big blind with pocket sixes, but a seven on the flop sent vonBaranow's chip count up to 9.1 million. That hand left Thostyle as the shortest stack at the table until he managed his own double-up, flopping the nut straight with [Ad][Jh] against EireAbu's queens up. EireAbu dipped below 10 million for the first time since arriving at the final table, but got those chips back in short order when he doubled through Kipu with [Qd][Qh] against [Ac][Jd].
With no single player gaining momentum and the blinds up to 250,000/500,000, everyone agreed to pause the action and run numbers for a six-way deal. Discussions had barely started when they broke down altogether, and play resumed.
Cooler times two
Four hands later, rastafari898 shoved his last 16 big blinds with [Ad][Qh] but again, a monster was waiting in the blinds. Kipu re-shoved from the small, folding out Thostyle, and turned over [Ks][Kh]. There was no love on the board for rastafari898 and he'd have to settle for sixth place, earning $43,790.60.
Less than two orbits later, vonBaranow opened for 1,000,000 and MarkusG91 called from the big blind. All the money went in on the [Kc][Qc][Td] flop, MarkusG91 with [Kd][Qd] for top two pair and vonBaranow with [Ad][Js] for the nut straight. MarkusG91 couldn't catch another king or queen and his run came to an end in fifth place, $57,916.60 awaiting him.
We have a deal!
With four players remaining, everyone agreed to run new chip count chop numbers. Here's how they stacked up when the action was paused:
Kipu (27,668,964 in chips)
vonBaranow (24,600,391 in chips)
EireAbu (13,942,961 in chips)
Thostyle (4,417,684 in chips)
This time, negotiations were successful and the four emerged with a deal that divided up the majority of the loot and left $20,000 on the table for the winner. Thostyle, in particular, was thrilled with the results.
Thostyle: congrats me
Thostyle: wohooooooooooooo
Thostyle: dream of my life
Thostyle: i promise
nanonoko (TeamOnline): =)
Endgame
Thostyle didn't waste any time getting his chips in the middle, three-bet shoving for 2.8 million with [Kh][Js] from the small blind after vonBaranow opened for 1,000,000 from the cutoff. VonBaranow called with [Ah][4s], the board double-pairing sevens and eights to eliminate Thostyle in fourth place. The four-handed deal yielded him an $86,000 payday.
With less than 20 big blinds remaining, EireAbu made a move with [Kd][Td], three-bet shoving from the big blind over vonBaranow's button raise. VonBaranow called with [Ac][9h], but EireAbu hit second pair on the [Qd][Ts][4s] flop. VonBaranow couldn't find an ace or running cards on the turn or river and EireAbu doubled to 19 million while vonBaranow fell to 20 million. The two locked horns again a few hands later, EireAbu's river check-shove earning him a 25 million chip pot without a showdown. Check out the action below:
Now vonBaranow was the one riding the short stack. He managed to double through Kipu when his pocket fours held against [Ah][7d], leaving the onetime chip leader on less than 30 big blinds. Kipu, however, rebounded by doubling through EireAbu, his pocket jacks holding against [Ah][Qs]. Left with 12.1 million EireAbu three-bet shoved with [Ah][Jd], but vonBaranow looked him up with [Ad][Qh]. An ace hit the flop, a queen hit the turn, and EireAbu was out in third place, his slice of the pie totaling $130,000.
Kipu held a 1.7 to 1 chip advantage over vonBaranow as heads-up play commenced:
Seat 4: vonBaranow (25,869,040 in chips)
Seat 6: Kipu (44,760,960 in chips)
VonBaranow got off on the wrong foot, dropping a 16 million pot on the first hand of heads-up play to slip to 17.7 million in chips. A few deals later, Kipu opened for his typical min-raise and vonBaranow shoved for 15.2 million holding only [Jh][3h]. Kipu called with [Ah][2d], but a jack hit the flop, taking vonBaranow back up to 30.5 million. All the money went back in the middle only moments later, Kipu opening for 1.6 million with [Ad][Td], vonBaranow shoving with [As][9c], and Kipu making the call. Although the [Kd][Kh][3c] flop left the possibility of a chop out there, the turn and river fell the [4h] and the [8d]. At last all the chips were in front of Kipu, who claimed the extra $20k and took his total first-place haul up to $190,000. For his runner-up finish, vonBaranow earned $149,679.16.
PokerStars is getting ready to deal it's 70 billionth hand and celebrating it with loads of free money up for grabs-- $750,000 to be exact. To see how you can cash in on a milestone hand, click over to the 70 billionth hand information page. The winner of lucky number 70,000,000,000 will win at least $70,000! How's that for an instant bankroll?
Who among us wouldn't want to wind the clock back on a tournament once in a while? Maybe you'd make that hero call, pick off that bluff, or just fold those pocket jacks when the king flopped. Although the PokerStars menu offers rebuys, second-chance events and even time tournaments nowadays, the only clock that was turning back on this week's Sunday Million was Europe's as Summer Time came to an end and the clocks wound back an hour, giving grinders on the continent a precious extra hour of sleep. 7,063 players came out for the Million tonight, creating a prize pool that eclipsed the $1.4 million mark. 1,080 places were paid with $211,894.70 set aside for the champion.
More than thirty of PokerStars' Team Pros, Sports Stars, and Team Online members entered the fray, but only three came away with a cash finish. Brits Liv Boeree (372nd) and Vicky Coren (134th) made strong showings while Argentina's Leo Fernandez lasted the longest, finishing in 85th place.
The final table bubble burst just over ten hours into play when Kipu opened for a min-raise to 400,000 and morda 150 three-bet shoved for his remaining 2.1 million on the buton. The small blind folded, but rasrafari898 picked up pocket queens and re-shoved from the big blind for 8.9 million. Kipu folded, and morda 150 revealed [Ac][Jc]. The queens held on the [Ts][8h][5h][7d][Kc] board, and the final table was set.
Final table chip counts:
Seat 1: EireAbu (15,739,885 in chips)
Seat 2: rastafari898 (11,624,961 in chips)
Seat 3: MarkusG91 (8,207,736 in chips)
Seat 4: vonBaranow (5,619,434 in chips)
Seat 5: el_Hufter (2,221,640 in chips)
Seat 6: Kipu (17,377,762 in chips)
Seat 7: PHANTER8 (2,626,436 in chips)
Seat 8: Thostyle (5,660,970 in chips)
Seat 9: mensi124 (1,551,176 in chips)
Monsters in the blinds
Table short stack mensi124 departed within the first few hands. With the action folded to him on the button, mensi124 moved all-in for just over a million in chips with [Ad][Td], but rastafari898 was lying in wait with [Ah][Qc] in the big blind. Mensi124 did not improve and exited in ninth place, earning $10,947.65. Four hands later, el_Hufter shoved for his last 1.34 million from the small blind with [5d][5h] and Kipu called with [Ah][9s] from the big. Although el_Hufter's pocket pair was good through the turn, Kipu paired his nine on the river to end el_Hufter's run in eighth place. He picked up $16,951.20 for his finish.
Mensi124 and el_Hufter's eliminations left PHANTER8 as the short stack, and he couldn't have been more delighted to look down at pocket aces after chip leader Kipu opened for a min-raise to 500,000. PHANTER8 three-bet shoved for 1.8 million, only to watch EireAbu cold four-bet (!) to 3.2 million to isolate. Kipu folded and the cards went on their backs. [As][Ad] vs. [Ah][Ac]. Cue the sad trombone.
A few hands after that chopped pot, PHANTER8 got his last 1.27 million in the middle, three-bet shoving from the small blind over Kipu's 600,000 opening raise. Thostyle called an additional 978,000 from the big blind and Kipu called as well. Thostyle and Kipu checked down the [Ks][5d][4h][Qh][2c] board and at showdown, Thostyle had his opponent by one pip, his [Ac][Tc] outkicking PHANTER8's [As][9h]. Kipu mucked and Thostyle raked in the pot, while PHANTER8 collected $30,370.90 for seventh place.
Double, double, toil and trouble
As six-handed play dragged on, every short stack had their chance to double up. MarkusG91 was the first moving from 6.4 million to 13 million after his pocket kings held against EireAbu's [Ad][Js]. VonBaranow was next, open-shoving for 4.47 million from the small blind with [Qd][7c]. Kipu called from the big blind with pocket sixes, but a seven on the flop sent vonBaranow's chip count up to 9.1 million. That hand left Thostyle as the shortest stack at the table until he managed his own double-up, flopping the nut straight with [Ad][Jh] against EireAbu's queens up. EireAbu dipped below 10 million for the first time since arriving at the final table, but got those chips back in short order when he doubled through Kipu with [Qd][Qh] against [Ac][Jd].
With no single player gaining momentum and the blinds up to 250,000/500,000, everyone agreed to pause the action and run numbers for a six-way deal. Discussions had barely started when they broke down altogether, and play resumed.
Cooler times two
Four hands later, rastafari898 shoved his last 16 big blinds with [Ad][Qh] but again, a monster was waiting in the blinds. Kipu re-shoved from the small, folding out Thostyle, and turned over [Ks][Kh]. There was no love on the board for rastafari898 and he'd have to settle for sixth place, earning $43,790.60.
Less than two orbits later, vonBaranow opened for 1,000,000 and MarkusG91 called from the big blind. All the money went in on the [Kc][Qc][Td] flop, MarkusG91 with [Kd][Qd] for top two pair and vonBaranow with [Ad][Js] for the nut straight. MarkusG91 couldn't catch another king or queen and his run came to an end in fifth place, $57,916.60 awaiting him.
We have a deal!
With four players remaining, everyone agreed to run new chip count chop numbers. Here's how they stacked up when the action was paused:
Kipu (27,668,964 in chips)
vonBaranow (24,600,391 in chips)
EireAbu (13,942,961 in chips)
Thostyle (4,417,684 in chips)
This time, negotiations were successful and the four emerged with a deal that divided up the majority of the loot and left $20,000 on the table for the winner. Thostyle, in particular, was thrilled with the results.
Thostyle: congrats me
Thostyle: wohooooooooooooo
Thostyle: dream of my life
Thostyle: i promise
nanonoko (TeamOnline): =)
Endgame
Thostyle didn't waste any time getting his chips in the middle, three-bet shoving for 2.8 million with [Kh][Js] from the small blind after vonBaranow opened for 1,000,000 from the cutoff. VonBaranow called with [Ah][4s], the board double-pairing sevens and eights to eliminate Thostyle in fourth place. The four-handed deal yielded him an $86,000 payday.
With less than 20 big blinds remaining, EireAbu made a move with [Kd][Td], three-bet shoving from the big blind over vonBaranow's button raise. VonBaranow called with [Ac][9h], but EireAbu hit second pair on the [Qd][Ts][4s] flop. VonBaranow couldn't find an ace or running cards on the turn or river and EireAbu doubled to 19 million while vonBaranow fell to 20 million. The two locked horns again a few hands later, EireAbu's river check-shove earning him a 25 million chip pot without a showdown. Check out the action below:
Now vonBaranow was the one riding the short stack. He managed to double through Kipu when his pocket fours held against [Ah][7d], leaving the onetime chip leader on less than 30 big blinds. Kipu, however, rebounded by doubling through EireAbu, his pocket jacks holding against [Ah][Qs]. Left with 12.1 million EireAbu three-bet shoved with [Ah][Jd], but vonBaranow looked him up with [Ad][Qh]. An ace hit the flop, a queen hit the turn, and EireAbu was out in third place, his slice of the pie totaling $130,000.
Kipu held a 1.7 to 1 chip advantage over vonBaranow as heads-up play commenced:
Seat 4: vonBaranow (25,869,040 in chips)
Seat 6: Kipu (44,760,960 in chips)
VonBaranow got off on the wrong foot, dropping a 16 million pot on the first hand of heads-up play to slip to 17.7 million in chips. A few deals later, Kipu opened for his typical min-raise and vonBaranow shoved for 15.2 million holding only [Jh][3h]. Kipu called with [Ah][2d], but a jack hit the flop, taking vonBaranow back up to 30.5 million. All the money went back in the middle only moments later, Kipu opening for 1.6 million with [Ad][Td], vonBaranow shoving with [As][9c], and Kipu making the call. Although the [Kd][Kh][3c] flop left the possibility of a chop out there, the turn and river fell the [4h] and the [8d]. At last all the chips were in front of Kipu, who claimed the extra $20k and took his total first-place haul up to $190,000. For his runner-up finish, vonBaranow earned $149,679.16.
PokerStars is getting ready to deal it's 70 billionth hand and celebrating it with loads of free money up for grabs-- $750,000 to be exact. To see how you can cash in on a milestone hand, click over to the 70 billionth hand information page. The winner of lucky number 70,000,000,000 will win at least $70,000! How's that for an instant bankroll?
"But, daaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaad why can't we go to one more row of houses?" Ah, the plea for more candy from the young ones. Taking two hours of primping to make sure the Power Rangers outfit is just like the TV show or the Cinderella costume is complete with faux glass slippers, kids are not willing to go out for just a few rounds of knocking on neighborhood doors for candy, they want a good return on their invested time getting the costume perfect. Tonight we had 3,267 players who may or may not have been sitting behind their laptops dressed as Frankenstein, but they all wanted as much candy from the $653,400.00 prize pool as possible as the Sunday Warm-up was set to drop bite-sized to king-sized morsels into the pillow cases of 495 players.
Perhaps the field was too scary for Team PokerStars to bear this evening as only one Team Pro would weave through over 80 percent of the field to collect his Hershey Kiss-sized cash. Belgium's Matthias de Meulder would outlast his fellow Team Pro brother Christophe and enough dressed up ghouls to claim $313.63 in 432nd place.
Much further up the pay scale a familiar name was attempting to reach the final table of this tournament once again. Vingtcent, who took third place for $67K just two weeks ago in this tournament was aligned for another final table tonight. With the blinds at 20K/40K ante 4K and down to a shade under 400K in chips, Vingtcent would shove UTG finding a caller in Xplogo. A couple of hearts [6h][Kh] for Vingtcent needing three more on the board against Xplogo's big slick [Kc][Ac]. Vingtcent would get two, but not three hearts [4s] [8c] [Ah] [Th] [Qc] ending the night in 33rd place ($1,470.15).
Down to the final table bubble VIP Supernova tvasmif and Solomolo sitting on their shortstacks looking for a double up as the blinds moved up to 65K/130K ante 13K. Pimola was involved with three different preflop all-ins, losing twice, winning once to remain in. A tough bubble to burst as our final ten would play through the entire level as the blinds moved up to 80K/160K ante 16K to put even more pressure on the short stacks. Solomolo felt that candy sack of chips getting lighter and lighter from the Skittles going into the blinds and antes and with 683,028 chips in the small blind tried to open shove hoping to snag that free money. Pokerfred99's pocket eights [8d][8c] had other ideas and made the call racing against Solomolo's [9d][As]. After the [7d] [Jh] [Tc] flop Solomolo did not want to pair that nine. But, the board did not hear those pleas and placed the [9c] on the turn giving Pokerfred99 a straight and Solomolo's night in tenth place starting up the final table below:
Seat 1: stormi22 (5441223 in chips)
Seat 2: tvasimf (763222 in chips)
Seat 3: BrightStripe (6306797 in chips)
Seat 4: MikeCzechl (4780876 in chips)
Seat 5: totaloser (3341176 in chips)
Seat 6: Pokerfred99 (4487896 in chips)
Seat 7: Pimola (1924930 in chips)
Seat 8: akb1 (3143346 in chips)
Seat 9: freshleo111 (2480534 in chips)
Shining even brighter
tvasimf was not able to take a stack with under five BBs to start the final table and roll it up into something worth six figures in real cash. With the blinds still at 80K/160K ante 16K and down to just 379,222 chips the short stack would find his shove called by stormi22 and BrightStripe. After a [5h] [Kc] [Th] flop BrightStripe led out for 364,645 as stormi22 replied with a "pfffffffffff" while folding. BrightStripe's set of fives [5d][5s] had the hand almost locked over tvasimf's [Ah][6d]. No heart on the [9d] turn and tvasimf was off to collect $5,227.20 in ninth place.
The ladies are not sleeping
The ladies are not sleeping
Sometimes it's better to just let the big blind take a walk...
RSS readers please click through to view video
The open small blind shove carries a lot more weight when the stakes are this high and the blinds are reaching levels that make pushing preflop necessary. Pimola would put 2.7 million the middle with a small ace [3h][Ad] just needing to quietly walk away with the dead money in the middle. But, akb1's lovely pair of ladies [Qd][Qs] had no intention of resting on Halloween eve and danced their way to 5.6 million chip pot after avoiding an ace on the [Kh] [4c] [Kd] [Ks] [9h] board to send Pimola home with $8,167.50 in eighth place. Chalk up another big final table for the German, as Pimola was also seen at the first Sunday Million final table this year finishing 7th for $37K.
Permanent break
Just before the player were about to restock their snack pile on the tenth hour break, the freshleo111 tried to Pokerfred99 away from his min raise while in the big blind. Holding a modest [As][8d] Pokerfred99 and plenty of chips to cover, he made the call and was a slight favorite over the [Jd][Ks] of freshleo111. No aces, no faces on the [9s] [2c] [9h] [3d] [2h] board and freshelo111's roar was silenced in seventh place.
During a following the break our remaining six would make several attempts to stop the clock for chop discussion but with one or two players looking to take home the entire $102,584.70 first place prize there would be no stoppage.
Not winner but not a complete loser either
Our final six would play on for nearly a whole level without an elimination. But, as the 125K/250K ante 25K blinds were just about to go up MikeCzechl decided to break the raise it and take it norm. Another small blind open shove by MikeCzechl covering the big blind, but totaloser was feeling lucky with 3.7 million chips and an ace [As][6h] making the call. MikeCzechl was not playing the bully this time turning up big slick [Ad][Kh]. King on the flop [Kc] [5c] [Tc] and since totaloser was club-less the [5h] turn would shutout the Finn as totaloser was a winner today earning $21,235.50 in sixth place.
YES!!! NO!!!!!!!!
Hitting a set on the flop usually gives a player the reason for a fist pump. However BrightStripe is not likely to be throwing a party for the set of tens shown below:
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Pocket tens [Ts][Td] for BrightStripe looked great on the [9c] [Ks] [Th] flop. But akb1's [Ah][Jd] looked better with the [Qh] turned straight. Non-pairing [3c] river and BrightStripe would not go wire to wire finishing in fifth place ($27,769.50). No stranger to big final tables BrightStripe had one final table at the 2011 WCOOP and nearly another during Event #23's 4-max event.
Speaking of 4-max... the remaining four players tried to hash out a deal but akb1 did not like the cut for the shortest stack (who still had over 20BBs with blinds at 150K/300K ante 30K) and play pushed foward.
Post-flop winner
Pokerfred99 would leap into the chiplead right before the 11th hour break with a shove over a bet by MikeCzech post-flop and 9.5 million chips give Pokerfred99 a 12 million chip stack to lead into the 200K/400K ante 40K blind level.
Clear skies
Pokerfred99's stack would grow rapidly after the break going from seven million and then with the blinds still at 200K/400K ante 40K to nearly twenty million after taking down stormi22. Pokerfred99 would lead out for 884,000 preflop as stormi22 three-bet to 2.2 million. Back to Pokerfred99 with pocket queens [Qh][Qs] no decision was needed and shoved enough to put stormi22 all-in. stormi22 still had around four million behind and decided to go with pocket jacks [Js][Jc]. Pokerfred99 could not find a jack on the [2c] [9s] [Ks] [7d] [Kh] board for the two-outer and the final table cleared with sunshine as stormi22 was swept away in fourth place ($37,570.50).
Another try at a deal was quickly killed with the sizable chip leader. As Pokerfred99 wanted more money than the proposed chop and neither akb1 and MikeCzechl would open their wallets as play moved to the 250K/500K ante 50K blind level.
Flipped out
Wow, nearly two blind levels later our third place finisher would be named. With the blinds at 300K/600K ante 60K and a new blind level just two minutes away, MikeCzechl would make a stand with [Tc][Ac] by shoving for 5.2 million from the small blind. Holding pocket sixes and a 19 million chip stack Pokerfred99 made the call [6s][6c]. A potential $50K flip for the difference between third and first as the chip leader's sixes held on the all-low [8d] [2s] [5d] [7s] [8c] board to send MikeCzechl off with $53,905.50 in third place
Pokerfred99 takes the Sunday Warm-Up title
Heads-up play was not slated to last long with the high blinds and Pokerfred99 sitting on a huge 24.6 million to 7.9 million chip lead. But, akb1 picked good spots to make it last until the blind moved up to 400K/800K ante 80K. Only four minutes longer but akb1 did not give in willingly as he shoved from the button for 7.2 million chip on the final hand. Holding an ace [As][3d] was plenty for Pokerfred99 to make the call as both players would pair the flop [Ac] [4s] [6c]. But akb1 could not improve his [6h][Qs] any further as the [4d] and river [5s] would end akb1's night as the runner-up ($76,447.80). The lone player with chips, Pokerfred99 said no to all chop offers and finished six-figures richer as a result taking down $102,584.70 as this week's Sunday Warm-Up champion!
If you have taken a gander around the PokerStarsBlog for the past few days, the Halloween themes are pouring in some scary amounts of money into the bankrolls of our players. The 70 Billionth hand promotion will be giving away over $750,000.00 in the next few days, after you grab some Halloween candy tomorrow be sure to get your cut by playing.
Pumpkin carving, mounds of candy, and of course the guy from accounting dressed as Elvis. No, it's not another night in Las Vegas but Halloween sitting right around the corner and 527 players tonight were looking to pad their recent SnG dominance with the PokerStars Battle of the Planets $50,000.00 triple shootout freeroll. Open to all SnG players, the only requirement for this freeroll is obtaining a ticket through the weekly points accumulation of your respective planet (or buy-in level, check out the rules though the link above). An average of nearly $4,000.00 is on the table for those who win their first two tables awaits them at the final leg of the tournament. And tonight those final nine would grab the money and run. Here's how they got there:
Only one Red Spade was found on the Battle of the Planets tables today, belonging to Spanish Team Online member Javier El_Cañonero Dominguez. Despite being here nearly every month from crushing the SnGs at his level, Javier would go home early tonight. With the blinds at 25/50 tried to apply some pressure to a min raise from HellRazor_KK by shoving for 1,130 chips. While HellRazor_KK would fold the initial raise, Yilmaz11 had no intentions of laying down big slick [Ah][Kh] and made the call to face off against the Spaniard's pocket sixes [6d][6c]. Javier's fate would come early as an ace was laid down on the flop and held through the [Qh] [Ts] [Ac] [9d] [Tc] board to send Dominguez home in 355th place.
Hailikisat and psychodave29 went all sorts of crazy over their tables finishing with a final table seat in hand before the three hour mark of the tournament assuring them of $775.00 regardless of finish. The final seven seats would be filled in short order as it only took 20 more minutes for our the table to be set. All eyes settled over to Table eight where santi820 was about to put away Piwonka and after the river card left Piwonka's pair of tens looking up at santi820's pair of aces our final table was set below:
The calm before the shoves
Seat 1: xibatao (1500 in chips)
Seat 2: kuzich (1500 in chips)
Seat 3: Sea_Eagle83 (1500 in chips)
Seat 4: psychodave29 (1500 in chips)
Seat 5: nanyacoB (1500 in chips)
Seat 6: mm@ximumm (1500 in chips)
Seat 7: Hailikisat (1500 in chips)
Seat 8: santi820 (1500 in chips)
Seat 9: GoldPavlin (1500 in chips)
Maybe they needed money for candy
Three hours and thirty-five minutes later everyone was $3,955.96 richer as the table played out a few hands but after some minor pots were pushed around they decided on taking home between third and fourth place money a piece for their hard work throughout the month while qualifying for this tournament. That amount should be enough to grab a few cases of Mini-Snickers and Reese's peanut butter cups without having to endure a bad costume selection.
After the pushfest erupted, it would still take seven hands before Sea_Eagle83 soared above the final table for a victory lap and take the official title of October Battle of the Planets $50,000 triple shootout champion! Watch the winning hand against kuzich below:
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Thus ends this month's Battle of the Planets final table in a shocking 15 minutes with deal time included. Be sure to check out all the goodies PokerStars has lined up for the Halloween weekend including the 70 Billionth hand promotion that is dropping $750,000 into the pillow cases of PokerStars players throughout the week.
$50,000 guarantee October Battle of the Planets $50,000 triple shootout freeroll results (10-30-11): (* all players chopped the final table money evenly)
1. Sea_Eagle83 (Australia) *$3,995,56
2. kuzich (Russia) *$3,995,56
3. Hailikisat (Estonia) *$3,995,56
4. mm@ximumm (Russia) *$3,995,56
5. santi820 (Argentina) *$3,995,56
6. psychodave29 (Netherlands) *$3,995,56
7. GoldPavlin (Latvia) *$3,995,56
8. nanyacoB (Ukraine) *$3,995,56
9. xibatao (Portugal) *$3,995,52
Summer has its pleasures as we all know, and spring and fall both delight in their own way. But winter can be a different story. For most of us, the thought of January brings images of bundling up in heavy jackets and boots and trudging through ice and snow--chilling enough to make my fingers freeze up on the keyboard just writing about it. And January, as we all know, can be the cruelest month.
Pause. Sound of book pages rustling in the background. Okay, stop.
Don't bother looking it up in the Famous Quotations collection. I know the quote from Eliot says April, but January is much more appropriate in these parts, although The Waste Land does seem to apply. Now back to thoughts of January, which for players on PokerStars can be a very different thing.
PokerStars players and some of the biggest pros in the poker world see the month of January in another way. They see it as a new beginning and the chance to bring along the whole family for the vacation they longed for at Christmas. They look at early January as the time to celebrate the New Year on white sand beaches with palm trees swaying in the breeze. They see a world-class resort with the world's largest open-air marine habitat, and a place to swim with dolphins or sharks, depending on their tolerance for fear and adventure. They see an underwater archeological dig that they can explore without ever getting wet. They see twenty-two restaurants and twenty bars and lounges where they can relax and kick back while sampling some of the world's best cuisine. And then they see a final table in a poker room of gigantic proportions with millions of dollars up for grabs in a festival of poker that is exceeded only by the World Series of Poker. They see it all happening at the Atlantis Resort in the Bahamas and they wouldn't miss it for the world.
This is your chance to be part of it as the PokerStars Women Live weekly finals begin this Saturday. Every week the qualifiers will award at least one $3250 package to the PCA! The event runs January 12-14, with players returning home on Sunday the 15th. The package includes your $1,100 buy-in, three nights hotel accommodations, and $1,000 for expenses.
Daily freerolls and satellites are running now to help you make your PCA dreams come true. See the PokerStars Women Live PCA 2012 page for more times and details.
I hope to see you in the Bahamas in January. I'll be there to cover the event and maybe that championship interview I do for PokerStars Women will be with you! For details on last year's event, see this post, this post, and the winner's report.
Sell Pokerstars W$ for 91% or buy W$ for 97.5%. Pokerstars W$ are gained by winning satellites to the WCOOP, EPT, APPT, LAPT and the WSOP. 
Sell Pokerstars T$ for 97% or buy T$ for 99.7%. Pokerstars T$ are gained buy winning satellites to the weekly and daily Pokerstars tournaments.
Use our trade calculator to find out how much your tournament dollars are worth or to find out how much you can save by buying tournament dollars.
Checkout the 
Here's something to consider. Over the weekend, PokerStars gave away $208,164. Just gave it away. There was no betting, check-raising, back raising, or triple range merging going on. PokerStars just gave away more than two hundred grand. These people won it for just being involved in one of the first hundred milestone hands on the way to PokerStars 70 billionth. 
