Just the two of us… No, that old R&B song has no relevance here with the exception of the words alone, as there is no love between heads-up opponents. Two players, face-to-face (or avatar to avatar), competing for top honors is what the game of poker is all about. Every tournament, no matter the number of entrants, always comes down to a battle of two.

One of the latest trends in tournament poker is heads-up tournaments. Immensely popular with tournament players, it weeds through the multiple-player tables and gets them directly to a singular opponent. Every hand is playable based on one’s assessment of the other, and it becomes a solid test of skill and tenacity. And where better to display those skills than on PokerStars…and in the WCOOP, the premiere online tournament series in the online poker world.

The $320 buy-in No-Limit Hold’Em Heads-Up tournament drew 2,048 players, which translated into a $614,400 prize pool for those who made it to the fourth round of the event. The final 256 players would receive nearly double their buy-in back in prize money, and each round thereafter would be at least doubly rewarding. And the first place finisher was set to receive a remarkable $104,448.

The event began at 2:30pm ET with a field chock-full of Team PokerStars Pros. That list included Andre Akkari, Alexandre Gomes, Barry Greenstein, Bill Chen, Dario Minieri, Bertrand Grospellier, Noah Boeken, Greg Raymer, Gavin Griffin, Marcin Joerecki, John Duthie, Alex Kravchenko, Katja Thater, Daniel Negreanu, Vanessa Rousso, Lee Nelson, Luca Pagano, Chris Moneymaker, Hevad Khan, Raymond Rahme, Steve Paul-Ambrose, Tom McEvoy, Vicky Coren, and Victor Ramdin. Whew! Now that is an impressive slate.

By the time the chips were done flying through the first frantic round of play, many of the above-named pros were lost in the carnage. Moving on to Round 2 were Negreanu, McEvoy, Grospellier, Minieri, Greenstein, Akkari, and Nelson. During that session, oddly enough, Greenstein and Grospellier were matched up, and it was ElkY who came out alive. By the end of Round 3, however, the only Team PokerStars Pros left in the race were Negreanu and Nelson, the latter of whom found his demise in Round 4. And by the time everyone hit that particular round, they were in the money and would receive at least $614.40 for their performances.

Negreanu was left to represent PokerStars as the tournament progressed, and he knocked out his fourth round opponent, supameng, with top pair. As the field thinned to only 128 starting Round 5, Negreanu was paired with MPK_ReaVer, who simply got the best of him during the match. In the end, KidPoker was forced out in 105th place for a $1,228.80 piece of the prize pool.

Nine hours into the tournament, Round 6 ensued, but only 32 would emerge from the battles. Moving down the homestretch, one of the standout players was lennart, who was the 2002 WCOOP Limit Hold’em Heads-Up champion looking for his second WCOOP heads-up tournament victory. But as the cards would have it, lennart was eliminated in 15th place during Round 8, though he was awarded $5,529.60 for it.

The quarter-final round began with the final eight looking to step into big-money territory. Players finishing in that round, from 8th place down to 5th place, received $16,896, more than fifty times their buy-ins.

Soon after Round 9 began, evilly had fallen in chips and had only a bit over 500,000 left. evilly was all-in pre-flop with Ah-7c but was dominated by Benba’s pocket sevens. The board fell out Th-8d-Jh-Qc-3s, and evilly was out in 8th place.

Huxfluxen was strong in the heads-up match against sqmpork and controlled most of the action. Finally, sqmpork went in to see a flop with pocket jacks, and Huxfluxen was allowed to come along cheap with Kh-8d, so they saw the Kc-6h-7c. But it was after the 4s on the turn that sqmpork put the remainder of his chips in the pot. The river brought a 7h, and the pocket jacks went away with sqmpork in 7th place.

As the round continued, pokerjamers and pandaCHAN12 exchanged some semi-taunting words in the chat box, and quite possibly, that propelled the latter to take it down. In the last hand, with the community cards of 3s-7c-5s-Ah-3c, pandaCHAN12’s big slick was enough to win it and advance to the semi-finals, while pokerjamers was sent to the virtual rail in 6th place.

And in the final match of the quarter-finals, iFiNishfish was able to knock out Lucarelli after a hard-fought game. Lucarelli finally gave in and pushed pre-flop with Ad-Jc and looked good against the Qd-Th of iFiNishfish, but the board ran out 7h-Qc-5h-3d-Js, and the queens had it. Lucarelli was the 5th place finisher.

The semifinals would determine the final heads-up match of the tournament, and in a relatively short amount of time, the first finalist solidified his place at that table. Only eleven hands into the round, Huxfluxen had taken his dominance all the way to the last hand. iFiNishfish was all-in pre-flop, trying desperately to double-up with pocket sevens against the Jh-3h of Huxfluxen. But the board came 5d-Jd-Kc-4h-Th for the middle pair that would beat those sevens. iFiNishfish was out in 4th place with $33,792 to show for the strong finish.

The Round 10 dual between pandaCHAN12 and Benba took longer to decide, as the chip lead was exchanged and no one wanted to leave the table without a fight. Eventually, it had to happen. Benba started raising with Ad-Tc but was reraised by pandaCHAN12 with Qh-4h, and Benba called. The virtual dealer gave them a 4s-Kh-4c flop, which prompted Benba to move all-in. The 6h on the turn and Tc on the river didn’t help against the trip fours of pandaCHAN12, and Benba had to settle for 3rd place and a $33,792 payday.

When heads-up play began at the final table, the two were ready for battle…

And Huxfluxen and pandaCHAN12 were also ready for deal talks. After a chat with the administrator, they quickly agreed that they would each take $70,000 and play on for the remaining $19,744 and the WCOOP bracelet.

The two played it out for nearly thirty minutes, exchanging the chip lead several times to get to the final hand. At that point, Huxfluxen had a 3/1 chip lead over pandaCHAN12, and after some pre-flop betting and the first three cards of 6s-Td-5s hitting the table, more betting ensued. Huxfluxen bet 122,880, pandaCHAN12 check-raised to 368,000, Huxfluxen moved all-in with Qs3s, and pandaCHAN12 called all-in with Kd-10c. The Ts on the turn gave Huxfluxen the flush, and the Ah on the river cinched it.

pandaCHAN12 received the agreed-upon $70,000 for second place, and Huxfluxen won $89,744 and the silver WCOOP bracelet for the victory. Congratulations!

For all of the action as it happened during Event #15, read through the $320 NLHE Heads-Up Live Blog.

Live blog coverage of WCOOP Event #15 $320 NLHE Heads-Up is brought to you by bloggers David Aydt, Johnny Kampis, Jennifer Newell, and Jordan Raanan. Have a story for us? E-mail to blog@pokerstars.com. Click refresh to see the latest information. Also, check out the Event #16 Pot Limit Omaha live blog

11:34pm--Just like that, it is Round 6

That was fast. philter won the last table of Round 5 to allow everyone remaining in the tournament to resume play. Round 6 has begun with 320/640 blinds. Each player has 128,000 in chips to start, and winning this round ensures a $3,686.40 cash. Even so, everyone no doubt has their eyes on the $104,448 first prize.

By all accounts, no one has been eliminated in the first few hands of Round 6.

11:32pm--One table remaining in Round 5

With the victory of EyeScreamMan over his opponent on Table 14, we have only one left playing.

In order to get to the next round, the last two players must determine who will move on with the crowd of 64. philter and mulinator are battling it out on Table 12 right now.

11:23pm--WCOOP champions from years past

In our midst in Round 5, we have had several WCOOP champions from past years’ series.

copi was the 2007 Event #7 Limit Omaha Hi/Lo champion, and a resident Supernova here at PokerStars. He was just eliminated in 75th place but made $1,228.80 for this Round 5 finish.

Two players moving on to the next round of sixty-four will be austinlewis, the 2006 Event #6 NLHE Rebuys champion, and lennart, the 2002 WCOOP Limit Heads-Up champion. Could a past heads-up winner do it again?

And we have buck21, the 2007 Event #18 PLO champion, who is currently battling it out on Table 37 against Wodgoat for the opportunity to move on. buck21 has a slight lead over his opponent.

UPDATE: buck21 lost his match to Wodgoat and finished with a $1,228.80 cash in this event.

11:16pm--No Team PokerStars Pros left here

As we await the round of 64 to be determined, one thing is for certain - no Team PokerStars pros will be playing. With Daniel Negreanu's exit this round, play goes on without them. Barry Greenstein, ElkY, Vicky Coren, Hevad Khan, Andre Akkari and Victor Ramdin were among the Team PokerStars pros to be eliminated earlier in this tournament. It just goes to show how tough these WCOOP field have been.

However, there is one Team PokerStars Pro alive in an event going on right now. Event #16 PLO is in full swing, and Chris Moneymaker is reportedly right in the middle of the pack with about 100 players remaining. To check out the action (before racing back here to keep up with this event!), check out the Event #16 Live Blog.

11:02pm--Sweet sixteen

There are sixteen tables left running in Round 5, and that number is being reduced as we type.

Blinds are currently at 800/1,600 in the fourth level but rising a notch in a few minutes to 1,200/2,400. They go up every 15 minutes.

10:50pm--Negreanu out, lucky for just one hand

Daniel “KidPoker” Negreanu was eliminated by MPK_ReaVer. For a moment, after this hand, Kid Poker had some luck.

The very next hand, however, KidPoker ran into pocket kings. With Ac-9d, KidPoker reraised all-in pre-flop. MPK_ReaVer made the easy call. The board ran Ts-Qh-2c-9h-4s, and Negreanu was out in 105th place and earned $1,228.80.

10:37pm--Players get a 5-minute break

Those still handling their business in Round 5 have come upon a five-minute break to get their bearings. Seventeen matches have been decided thus far, and the remainder will resume momentarily.

KidPoker watch: MPK_ReaVer is dominating with 117,000 in chips to the 11,000 of KidPoker.

10:33pm--MPK_ReaVer leaving Negreanu amazed

It’s not going well for Daniel Negreanu on Table 35. As KidPoker enters the break against MPK_ReaVer, Negreanu has 11K in chips. MPK_ReaVer has 117K. How has this happened?

MPK_ReaVer has been the beneficiary of some key river cards. On one instance, KidPoker had AK vs. MPK_ReaVer’s A5.When the ace came on the turn, KidPoker looked great. When a five came on the river to give MPK_ReaVer aces-up, it was another big loss for Negreanu.

On another big hand – a 32K pot – the board showed 9c-8d-9d-2c-6h. MPK_ReaVer showed 5c-7s for a made straight on the river. Again Negreanu was left almost speechless. The only word he’s really been able to muster was “wow.” What else can you say?

10:24pm--Kenny Rap’s big call

Kenny Rap is in the final 64 after his pocket queens held off hestekjeften’s 7c-8c. While 7c-8c doesn’t seem like a real strong hand, it’s pretty good when the board is showing 9c-9s-8d-Tc. That’s where all the chips went in, right before the Ks river sent hestekjeften out of the tournament.

The action went like this: hestekjeften raised 502 to 822 pre-flop, Kenny Rap raised 1,738 to 2,560 and hestekjeften called. After the flop, Kenny Rap bet 3,200 and hestekjeften called. When the turn also gave hestekjeften a flush draw, he pushed all-in for 42,219. Kenny Rap called and won the hand when the river failed to fill out hestekeften.

10:21pm--KidPoker, world traveler

It seems that Team PokerStars Pro Daniel Negreanu is a busy man, which is no surprise to those who read his blog or follow his tournament life. In Barcelona for the European Poker Tour, he not only played in the main event but hosted the first-ever EPT Awards. And, of course, he attended the EPT welcome party. Here's a little ditty that PokerStars.tv filmed, featuring the remaining PS pro left in Event #13 today:

Watch EPT Barcelona 2008 Welcome Party on PokerStars.tv

10:10pm--Quick sickness

Early in his match with MPK_ReaVer, Daniel “KidPoker” Negreanu lost almost 20K. Negreanu had a queen in his hand with the board showing Qh-9c-5h-Qc. But the Jc river hurt. MPK_ReaVer showed Kc-Tc, good for a straight flush.

“sick beat nh,” Negreanu wrote.

10:08pm--It only takes a minute

Within only minutes of the beginning of Round 5, Table 5 was finished. Tomif gsd eliminated Rompelukt with a quickness, and one table of sixty-four is down for the count.

10:05pm--Round 5 is off and running!

Nearly seven and a half hours into Event #15, the remaining 128 players entered Round 5. The last table of the previous round finally ended with donflun defeating lassemand, and the other 127 players moving on were able to take their seats at their new tables with their new opponents. They begin with blinds at 160/320, and players began with 64,000 in chips each.

Those eliminated in this round will be awarded $1,228,80, nearly four times the buy-in of the tournament, but those moving on will be guaranteed $1,843.20

For railbirds interesting in watching a Team PokerStars Pro favorite, Daniel “KidPoker” Negreanu is playing at Table 35 against MPK_ReaVer.

10:04pm--donflun last but not least

donflun moved on to the next round when lassemand raised all-in for his final 23,569 with 8c-9c. donflun called with Kc-6d. The board came Qc-3h-8s to put lassemand in charge. The Jh turn did nothing for either player, but the Kd river, however, propelled donflun into the final 128.

9:52pm--One left for final 128

donflun and lassemand are battling at Table 66 for the final spot in the next round of this tournament. donflun currently has close to a 2/1 chip lead.

The match is attracting plenty of attention as the remaining players wait. The chat is rather hectic right now. Surely, everyone is ready for the next round.

9:42pm--bdubs3737: the silent assasin

Facing a significant chip disadvantage (51,420/12,580) at the break, the railbirds’ criticism didn’t matter to bdubs3737. Within ten minutes, he came back to defeat Lindk25. The match ended with bdubs3737 pushing Lindk25 in for his remaining 21,440. bdubs3737 had pocket tens; Lindk25 had A-T. When no ace came, bdubs3737 was on to the next round, without any complaints.

9:35pm--JustJackDK doesn't need much time

Just moments after returning from the break, JustJackDK finished off adamoos. Facing a greater than 5/1 chip disadvantage, adamoos was willing to risk his remaining 9,560 chips with pocket sevens. JustJackDK was waiting to end the match with pocket eights, and he did.

JustJackDK is into the next round and guaranteed $1,228.80.

9:22pm--bdubs3737 not happy or quiet

bdubs3737 is in a hole against Lindk25. But he’s still alive and unhappy. Bdubs3737 is doing a lot of whining about hands in the chat. One railbird even chimed in, “bdubs, please stop complaining and start playing.”

Lindk25 didn’t seem so certain that was a possibility. “lol,” he commented. We’ll see if the break can change things around for bdubs3733 – both on the table and with his chat.

9:20pm--Here's how they stand

Remaining player chip counts:

Table 14: adamoos 10,160 v. JustJackDK 53,840
Table 24: philter 36,360 v. Zalk 27,640
Table 34: chopra 38,760 v. supermario70 25,240
Table 46: johnnyvero 51,056 v. ROGEREL 12,944
Table 51: DWare94 52,392 v. rocha911 11,608
Table 66: donflun 40,440 v. lassemand 23,560
Table 67: bdubs3737 12,580 v. Lindk25 51,420
Table 89: RyPac13 35,022 v. Tonimonntana 28,978

9:18pm--A break for those still fighting it out in Round 4

Players remaining in Round 4 are taking a 15-minute break from their heads-up matches. Eight tables are still left to play for the rights to be guaranteed some money for their efforts and move on to the next round. Players will return from the break with blinds at 600/1,200 in the fifth level of play.

9:00pm-- Nine o' clock and all is well for 114 players

14 players yet to be determined for the next round, and the extra cash that goes along with making it to the round of 128, $1,228.80 to be exact. The blinds are still a manageable 400/800 for those everyone who started with 32,000 chips this round and Daniel Negreanu will be the lone Team PokerStars Pro moving on to the fifth round as Lee Nelson has busted.

8:54pm--Negreanu takes off the kid gloves

KidPoker just KO'ed his fourth-round opponent supameng.

With a 45,400 to 18,600 chip lead, Negreanu raised supameng's 800 big blind to 1,600 and supameng called. The flop brought Jd-Qd-9s and Negreanu opened for 1,600. This prompted an all-in shove of 17,000 by supameng. Negreanu called.

The hands were Qh-Ts for Negreanu, giving him top pair and an open-ended straight draw, while supameng was in bad shape with Js-8s. He would need a jack or running spades to survive.

The turn and river came 4d-Qc and Negreanu moved on to the fifth round, while supameng picked up $614.40 for making it to the round of 256.

8:45pm--Negreanu regains lead

Daniel "KidPoker" Negreanu called down with second pair to take a hefty chip advantage over supameng:

8:33pm--Pocket change

Check under all of your cushions folks. You'll want to scrape together all the dimes and nickels you can for the $25,500 Heads-Up No-Limit Hold'em event taking place Sunday.

The tournament with a guarantee of $1.6 million already has a $1.85 million prize pool with 74 registered entrants. There is still room for more...

8:29pm--KidPoker in the hole

Supameng has managed to chip back up in mostly small pots to pull slightly ahead of Daniel Negreanu in their heads-up match. Who will get the next big tug?

8:26pm-- Three PokerStars tournament killers are still on the loose

Brainwash, who hit the now named Sunday Million (then $500,000 guarantee in 2005) for a first place prize of $159,965 is back again competing tonight and already assured in the money.

zangbezan24, well known for his exploits in the Sunday high stakes showdown. Here’s a shot from the PokerStarsBlog on a second place finish.

The Camel (shown above)- former Team Ukraine in captain in the 2006 PokerStars World Cup of Poker. Here he is awaiting more chips to be shipped at the 2006 PokerStars Caribbean Adventure.

8:09--Negreanu takes early lead in his match

As blinds start off at 80/160 with the players stacked with 32,000 in chips, Team PokerStars Pro Daniel "KidPoker" Negreanu is off to a nice start in the fourth round against supameng.

Just before the break, he raised to 320 perflop and supameng re-raised to 1,920. Negreanu called.

On the 6c-8h-4c flop, supameng opened for 4,160 and Negreanu raised the minimum -- 8,320 -- and supemeng called.

After the 4d hit the turn, supameng led out for 9,920 and Negreanu responded with an all-in raise to 18,640. Supameng folded and KidPoker was up 49,040 to 14,960 after the hand.

7:59pm--Off to the next round

We now begin round four. All players surviving here and continuing on to round five are guaranteed $1,228.80 for the day thanks to the 257th finisher, papadelpoker, who ran AQ into AK to get crippled and forced to shove into this hand:

7:55pm-- Now down to three, two, one table left and the bubble boy is about to be crowned

Technically as my writing partner pointed out, there are 256 bubble boys today, but right now one table remains as the blinds hit 400/800 and IFiNishfish just knocked out j-8ofsuite with a flopped set of nines. FF_81 and papadelpoker are facing off in the final table before the official money bubble bursts and everyone waiting starts up the round of 256 with fresh winnings in their back pockets.

7:42pm--More waiting

We're still waiting for about 10 more eliminations before the fourth round can begin. Among those who have left us in the third round include notables such as KrazyKanuck, Roothlus and AJunglen7.

7:35pm-- Small list of those moving into the money, about 20 more eliminations to the next table

bigegypt - Took out Team PokerStars Pro Alexandre Gomes in the second round
copi - 2007 WCOOP Event #8 champ (Omaha Hi/Lo), see the final table write up here
Halfrek
Highpothead
Tmay420

Along with Team PokerStars Pros Lee Nelson and Daniel Negreanu, the list is awaiting the final 20 or players for the money bubble to officially burst and start up the round of 256 which the players will receive at least $1,228.80 for winning the next table.

7:22pm--Battle of the big hands

Daniel "KidPoker" Negreanu represented Team PokerStars well in round three, but needed some luck to win his match after this monster flop. Here is the hand that eliminated rseisawpn in the third round:

7:21pm-- Add Team PokerStars Pro Lee Nelson to the money list

Team PokerStars Pro Lee Nelson recented finished off his round of 512 opponent nbanker to be assured $614.40 this evening. Nelson managed to win 20 to 27 hands en route to this victory sealing hand when the money went in preflop:

7:10pm-- ElkY can't win the race

Our man Betrand "ElkY" Grospellier got the rest of his 9,980 stack with blinds at 100/200 all-in preflop against johnny1430, who held 5c-5d. The board ran out 9c-2c-Jh-2h-8s and the Team PokerStars Pro is out.

6:58--Chip counts at the break

Among the Team PokerStars pros still in the field as we go to break, it's Daniel "Kid Poker" Negreanu up 23,000 to 9,000 on rseisawpn and johnny1430 over ElkY "Betrand Grospellier 22,320 to 9,680.

Also Lee Nelson is currently leading nbanker 26,480 to 5,520 as we hold at 100/200 blinds.

6:57pm-- Dario out, 400 remain playing down to 256 for the money

Team PokerStars Pro Dario Minieri got his money in good on the turn, but sometimes the river doesn’t provide the safe landing for the chips. bigpman8 advances to the round of 256 after the perfect river card here:

6:43pm-- War of attrition

Two PokerStars pros are battling over small pots at their tables, but they are in very different situations.

Daniel "KidPoker" Negreanu has a nice 27,500 to 4,500 lead over rseisawpn and is trying to take those last chips.

Meanwhile, Betrand "ElkY" Grospellier is in a big hole against johnny1430 3,000 to 29,000 and is trying to chip back into contention.

6:40pm-- zmeyer cools off the hot Team PokerStars Pro, Andre “aakkari” Akkari

Trips are a solid hand while playing hold em’, even most so while playing heads up. But Team PokerStars Pro Andre “aakkari” Akkari ran his trip 5s into this buzzsaw and is out one table short of the money after this hand:

6:29pm--McEvoy can't win with two pair either

Tom McEvoy got coolered pretty bad in his heads up match with austinlewis. Not long after losing with the set of threes, McEvoy tangled with austinlewis in another big pot.

Starting the hand with blinds still at 40/80 and 23,160 chips to McEvoy's 8,840, austinlewis raised to 240 preflop, which McEvoy called. After a flop of 8s-Ah-Kc, McEvoy check-called a 320 bet.

The turn brought the Qc and McEvoy check-raised all-in for 8,280 after a 880 bet from austinlewis. McEvoy held Qh-8h for two pair, but austinlewis quickly called with a higher two pair with his Ks-8d. The 4h hit the river and McEvoy was out. Austinlewis will move on to the fourth round and is guaranteed at least $614.40.

6:27pm--McEvoy flops a set, but loses a big pot

Team PokerStars Pro Tom McEvoy thought he had his match with austinlewis closed out, but the board told another story:

6:25pm--No really big ones, just most of them

Team PokerStars Pro Daniel "KidPoker" Negreanu has a nice 23,000 to 9,000 chip lead against rseisawpn in their match, not by winning any huge pots, but just by getting his share of the bigger ones.

6:21pm--ElkY takes an early hit

Team PokerStars Pro Betrand "ElkY" Grospellier tried to bluff on a four spade board with air, but his opponent johnny1430 called him with the 7s to take down a nice pot. ElkY is down to 9,000 while johnny1430 has 23,000.

6:19pm-- Annnnnnnnnnnnnd we’re on to the round of 512

A battle between the final table (ironically Table #1) that lasted until the 250/500, ante 25 level finally ended with pustelga’s As-4d holding up to the king-high of dr. snogler. The third round will start with the players receiving 16,000 in chips with 40/80 blinds lasting 15 minutes a piece.

6:07pm--The wait is almost over

One elimination left and we are off to the third round. The Team PokerStars Pros still alive are Andre "aakkari" Akkari, Dario Minieri, Betrand "ElkY" Grospellier, Daniel "KidPoker" Negreanu, Lee Nelson and Tom McEvoy.

6:00pm-- Tom McEvoy with a few words about the WCOOP while he waits for the next round

Since he’s a-movin on up to the next round and has a shot at a WCOOP bracelet today, here’s Tom McEvoy on the WCOOP. Videos of Tom and other Team PokerStars Pros can be found at PokerStars.TV

Watch Team PokerStars Pro Tom McEvoy on PokerStars.tv
5:50pm-- Who’s super and who’s going back to Metropolis with nothing?

One of the last tables to finish up the round of 1024 pits supersan321 versus supermario70. With blinds at 200/400 and stack of 8110 for supersan321 and 7890 supermario70 this match is far from over as we are breaking for five minutes currently.

5:44pm--The waiting is the hardest part

The thing about heads-up tournaments, especially if you win your match early, is that you may have a long wait between rounds. What makes it worse is that you never know how long that wait is going to be. We trust that the players waiting on their third-round matches are firing up plenty of ring games on PokerStars in the meantime.

5:39pm-- Still on target for another WCOOP bracelet, playitsafe moves on

This year’s 2-7 Triple Draw champ, playitsafe, continues on to the next level as we’re about 30 players away from the money round and $614.40 shipped to all the players who win their tables during the round of 512.

cwp394 (victory post in Event #3 found here) just succumbed in 620th place leaving playitsafe as the lone player to try for multiple bracelets this evening. With blinds currently at 200/400 only a few tables remain open for the last spots to move on.

5:24pm--Second round eliminations, 100 more to exit before the next round

As we wind down this round, here are some more Team PokerStars eliminations we haven't already reported: Alex Kravchenko, Marcin "Goral" Horecki and Hevad "RaiNKhAN" Khan.

More notables out are westmenloAA, mig.com and jerrod.

5:15pm--Minieri maximizes second-round opportunity

Team PokerStars Pro Dario Minieri is among the 512 heading into the third round to see who will make the money and who will go home with a bag of hammers. (Actually, no one gets a bag of hammers. We just made that up, but it would be a pretty cool prize.)

Minieri had gradually grinded down his foe WarrenJG until he was down to 1,100 and then called an all-in bet from WarrenJG with Kc-Ks and was up against 5c-6h. The board was all bricks and Minieri moved on.

5:13pm-- As we try to wrap up blanket coverage of this tournament, some players get through the quilt, Isabelle “NoMercy” Mercier out:

Apologies to Team PokerStars Pro Isabelle Mercier we try to corral all 2048 players in this massive heads-up tourney and unfortunately missed her advancement to the second round of 1024. But, you blink at the wrong time and the line drive back up the middle catches you right between the eyes. Here is Isabelle’s last stand versus IWNTCHUMLUVN and good luck on her next tourney:

5:03pm--ElkY hits the gutter

In bowling, the gutter is not such a great place to be, but in poker it's quite a special place.

In the heads-up match between Barry Greenstein and Betrand Grospellier, ElkY had taken a 2-to-1 chip lead when this hand occurred:

4:51pm--McEvoy ices frostey, moves on to next round

Team PokerStars Pro Tom McEvoy just dispatched his second-round opponent frostey.

McEvoy raised to preflop and frostey called. Following a flop of 2c-Jc-5c, frostey check-raised a 600 bet of McEvoy's to 1,750. McEvoy called.

After the As hit the turn frostey checked again. McEvoy bet again with 2,520 and frostey thought a long time before check-raising again -- this time he put McEvoy all-in (covering the 1983 WSOP champ by only 10 chips).

McEvoy made the call with Ad-Jh for top two pair while frostey held Ac-Kh for one pair, but with a nut flush draw and a king draw. Both missed on the 8h river and McEvoy's top two pair finished frostey off four hands later to move to the third round.

4:50pm-- Negreanu finds the right tool quickly, moves on in 12 hands

KidPoker is looking good early as he dispatched his second round opponent, toolbox2 in just 12 hands. After winning ten of the twelve hands, Negreanu will get a nice breather before his round of 512 opponent presents himself.

We’re currently at 50/100 blinds after completing a short break and there are ~930 players left to play down to 512.

4:31pm--Battle of the pros

Team PokerStars Pros Barry "barryg1" Greenstein and Betrand "ElkY" Grospellier are squaring off inthe second round on Table 507. So far the match is almost dead even. We'll keep an eye on these two.

(click image to enlarge)

4:22pm-- Today’s 11-round bout highlights will be replayed on PokerStars.TV tonight

This tournament will have the key hands and in-depth analysis available for your viewing pleasure tomorrow once the players play down the entire bracket to go from 2028-1024-512-256-128-64-32-16-8-4-2 and the last player standing will get that 2008 WCOOP bracelet along with a nice six-figure score.

Here’s the highlight show from Event #12 courtesy of PokerStars.TV:

Watch WCOOP Highlights: Event 12 - $320 Mixed Hold'em on PokerStars.tv

4:13pm--It wasn't their day

In addition to the eliminations we already reported, the following Team PokerStars Pros are out in the first round: Steve "stevejpa" Paul-Ambrose, Greg "FossilMan" Raymer, Bill Chen, Raymond Rahme, John Duthie, Gavin Griffin and Noah "Exclusive" Boeken.

In addition, some other notable players went out in the first round, including Big Riskky, PearlJammer, shaniac, Rizen and GambleAB.

4:07pm-- The first round is nearing its conclusion and 1024 players moving closer to the money

An hour and half into the tournament and the prelims are almost to a conclusion as 2-7 Triple Draw champ playitsafe is hanging on for his tournament life with a 6:1 chip deficit to Masterhp out on table 303 and just doubled up to cut Masterhp’s lead to 5000 to 3000 with blinds at 100/200.

4:02pm--He's not money today

Team PokerStars Pro Chris "Money800" Moneymaker didn't fare well in his first round. Here is the hand that sent him packing:

3:53pm-- KidPoker not kidding around and moves on to the next table

After taking down the last seven and nine of ten hands of the match, Team PokerStars Pro Daniel “KidPoker” Negreanu took down jess112234 during the 50/100 blind level to move on to the round of 1024. Fellow Team PokerStars Pro Alexandre “Allingomes” Gomes is also out as bigegypt’s sphinx avatar had a riddle Gomes could not solve.

3:46pm--"I have a feeling I'm losing"

Having turned the tables on Vicky Coren, djforever raised this hand to 300 preflop and Coren mini-reraised to 450. Djforever just called. After a flopof 5c-9c-Qh, Coren led out for 550 and djforever promptly put her all-in.

"hmm", Coren typed into the chat box. "Is this crunch time"

"if it is gl", djforever responded.

"I have a feeling I'm losing...yet I don't think I can pass..." Coren typed.

Then she called.

"youd be wrong", djforever typed immediately after the call.

The hands were 6c-3c for djforever, giving her a flush draw, while Coren held Qs-Tc for top pair. The turn was a safe Js, but the river clubbed Coren over the head with the 2c.

3:36pm--Coren coolered

Team PokerStars Pro Vicky Coren held a nice lead on her opponent, djforever, and hoped to finish her (the avatar is that of actress Elisha Cuthbert -- not exactly strong evidence ot this player's gender, but we will err on the female side anyway) off, but the two pair that Coren flopped in this hand was not enough:

3:32pm--Khan brings rain

Team PokerStars Pro Hevad "RaiNKhAN" Khan held a slight lead over his opponent, scionxb, 4,450 to 3,550 when the two got into a raising war preflop that put scionxb all-in. Khan had his foe dominated with As-Kc versus Ad-Qs. When the board ran out 9h-8c-9s-Kd-6c Khan earned some rest until the next round begins.

3:22pm-- YES! NOOO! YES!! Greenstein moves on

High pocket pairs sometimes give the stomach a workout but thanks to the math while ahead, they’ll ship the chips in your direction more often then not. Team PokerStars Pro Barry Greenstein’s pocket queens were sent on a wide ride for the victory here:

3:17pm--Team PokerStars Pro represents, Andre Akkari moves on

With blinds at 15/30 and Akkari posting the big blind and his opponent gilarenas (Washington Wizards fan perhaps?) raised it up to 90 chips with Akkari calling the extra 60 while starting the hand with a 5110 to 2890 advantage.

A flop of 3s-Qd-Ts found a check from Akkari while gilarenas popped a 120 chip bet and Akkari responded with a re-raise to 440. 3-bet by gilarenas to 1080 was met by a shove from the Team PokerStars Pro and a quick call by gilarenas:

gilarenas: As-Ah
aakkari: Tc-Qh

Top two pair for Akkari and an overpair for the unlucky gilarenas, but a turn card of 9s gave gilarenas several outs to counterfeiting and the nut flush draw. But, the 2h landed on the river and Andre Akkari moves on to the round of 1,024.

3:02pm--Current champs decide one bracelet is not enough

cwp394 (Event #3), playitsafe (Event #4), Mary 717 (Event #7), jonasof87 (Event #9) are joining us today in quests to be the first multi-bracelet winner of this year’s WCOOP.

cwp394 has already won his table and moves into the round of 1,024. Try putting that bracket up at your office.

2:54pm--Ramdin's semi-bluff does not come through

Grinded down to 1,160 by mcstuntz who held 6,840, Victor Ramdin called a mini-raise to 60 in the big blind and the two players saw a flop of 4d-2s-5c. Ramdin check-called a 90 bet and after the turn brought the 8d, Ramdin checked again. Mcstuntz bet 180 and Ramdin check-raised all-in for 1,010. Mcstuntz called with the 9c-8c for top pair while Ramdin held Kd-2d for a pair of ducks and a flush draw. The river 7h missed him and Ramdin is out while mcstuntz advances to the round of 1,024.

2:49pm--Welcome to valuetown Sonic, travel provided by Barry Greenstein

Barry Greenstein is currently facing off with the loveable Sonic the Hedgehog iconed delaney_kid and Greestein currently has a 2:1 chip lead thanks to this hand:

2:41pm--Let the battles begin

thedonator, with seven cashes so far in the 2008 WCOOP, and PearlJammer, with six, are lined up today with 2,046 other players in this massive $320 heads-up tourney.

2:39pm--Early exits

A few of the names we just listed were out before we could get the list out. Among the departed so far are Luca Pagano, Katja Thater and Vanessa "LadyMaverick" Rousso.

2:36pm--The field is loaded with pros

There is no shortage of names in today's field. Team PokerStars is will represented. Here is the list:

Andre “aakkari” Akkari
Alexandre “Allingomes” Gomes
Barry “barryg1” Greenstein
Bill Chen
Dario Minieri
Bertrand “ElkY” Grospellier
Noah “Exclusive” Boeken
Greg “FossilMan” Raymer
Gavin Griffin
Marcin “Goral” Hoerecki
John Duthie
Alex Krevchenko
Katja Thater
Daniel “KidPoker” Negreanu
Vanessa “Lady Maverick” Rousso
Lee “LeeNelsonP*” Nelson
Luca Pagano
Chris “Money800” Moneymaker
Hevad “RaiNKhaN” Khan
Raymond Rahme
Steve “stevejpa” Paul-Ambrose
Tom McEvoy
Vicky Coren
Victor Ramdin

2:30pm--And away we go...

We have 2,048 players today in Event #15 Heads-Up No-Limit Hold'em. Three wins and players will reach the money. Players finishing in the round of 256 will each receive $614. The winner of today's event (who will have won 11 matches to achieve that feat) will receive $104,448.

9:00am--WCOOP Event #15 kicks off at 2:30pm

It's time for the first heads-up tournament of the 2008 World Championship of Online Poker. The $320 buy-in $500,000 guaranteed event kicks off in just a few hours. Join us here for all the action when it begins.