Nothing helps beat the summer heat like a long day of online poker, especially when the PokerStars Sunday Million is in the mix. Your proof for this weekend: just over 3,400 players were in their seats, fingers at the ready over mouse buttons, as this week's installment of the world's most famous $215 poker tournament began. Their numbers had swelled to 6,565 by the time late registration closed, a little less than last week's 6,811 but still enough to build a guarantee-smashing $1,313,000 prize pool.

Aside from helping them escape the heat, the Sunday Million didn't do our sponsored players any favors this week. Plenty of PokerStars pros showed up to play, among them Liv Boeree, Humberto Brenes, Nacho Barbero and Lex Veldhuis. Only Johnny Lodden, however, was among the 990 players who still had chips when the money bubble burst exactly five hours after the tournament began. He ended up finishing 633rd for $380.77.

It's the end of the tournament as we know it.

With blinds at 125K/250K and antes at 25K, these players took their seats at the final table some 10 hours after play first began:

Seat 1: 26071985 (United Kingdom) 6,038,281 chips
Seat 2: TY4Stacks2 (Sweden) 9,279,420 chips
Seat 3: vasil1976197 (Ukraine) 4,268,552 chips
Seat 4: PDJ4ck (United Kingdom) 11,005,133 chips
Seat 5: eljanich (Azerbaijan) 4,026,938 chips
Seat 6: untouchble10 (Moldova) 7,812,816 chips
Seat 7: KevinV (Netherlands) 5,596,675 chips
Seat 8: LeKnave (United Kingdom) 7,097,100 chips
Seat 9: tony2pairsAK (Canada) 10,525,085 chips

On the 19th hand of the final table play the first player fell. With the action folded to eljanich in third position, the Azerbaijani player moved all-in for just over 2.1 million and got a single call from chip leader LeKnave in the cutoff. With [Ah] [Qh] to LeKnave's [Kc] [Ks], eljanich would need help from the board. The [7h] [7c] [Jd] [8h] [Qs] board paired the queen but wasn't enough, sending eljanich to the rail in 9th place ($10,175.75).

The next out, in unexpected fashion, was the UK's 26071985. With blinds now up to 200K/400K with a 40K ante the action folded to the button, where 26071985 promptly moved all-in for 6.12 million chips. TY4Stacks2 didn't waste much time calling with [8s] [8c], which was in the lead against the original raiser's [Ah] [2c]. One pair was good enough for TY4Stacks to seize the chip lead as the board ran out [9d] [7d] [3d] [5h] [Th], and 26071985 was out in 8th place ($15,756).

Back-to-back attack

The table was soon down to just five players thanks to back-to-back eliminations. Canada's tony2pairsAK dealt the first knockout blow with [Qd] [Qc] against the [Ah] [Kh] of vasil1976197, who left in 7th place ($28,886) when the board ran out [Jh] [4s] [6c] [8d] [Qs]. On the very next hand the action folded to untouchble10 in the small blind and the Moldovan player shoved for 4.7 million with [Jc] [Tc]. KevinV called in the big blind with [Ac] [Js] and dodged a gutshot straight draw on the [Kd] [9h] [2h] [5c] [3h] board to send untouchble10 out in 6th place ($42,016). Talk of a deal sprang up briefly but LeKnave was having none of it, so play continued.

Eight hands later, with blinds now at 250K/500K and antes at 50K, tony2pairsAK sealed his fate in 5th place ($55,146) on this hand:

PDJ4ck had entered the final table with the chip lead but hadn't been able to build any real momentum as the field dwindled. That downward trend hit its final note after KevinV opened under the gun for 1 million and PDJ4ck shoved in the big blind for another 6.1 million. It turned that both players' decisions were nearly automatic; PDJ4ck held [Ah] [Kc] and KevinV [Th] [Tc]. The [Qc] [9h] [3d] [4d] [2h] board couldn't help crack the pocket pairand PDJ4ck exited in 4th place ($72,215).

Yes, no, maybe...can you repeat the question?

Facing only two more opponents, LeKnave was more amenable to a proposed deal than earlier. But the numbers based on the current counts weren't to the liking of Sweden's TY4Stacks, who held almost twice the chips of either of the other players. The chip leader nixed the deal and got the action restarted.

TY4Stacks dominated the action three-handed as KevinV and LeKnave both tried to stay afloat. Eventually they would run into each other when LeKnave opened for 1 million on the button and TY4Stacks2 folded in the small blind. Holding [Ad] [7d], KevinV put LeKnave to the test by moving all-in for an effective 10.8 million. LeKnave didn't think too long before calling with [Kh] [Qc], which quickly took the lead on the [Qd] [5d] [5s] flop. The turn brought the [8d], however, and the [4d] on the river brought no full house, sending LeKnave out in 3rd place ($105,040).

Separated by only 14 big blinds, the last two players agreed to look at the numbers for a deal once more. This time the numbers - $165,384.15 for TY4Stacks2, $162,035.65 for KevinV and $20,000 for the winner - were more to the Swede's liking, and play resumed with that deal on the books. For 16 hands they sparred before TY4Stacks2 grabbed a 24-million-chip pot by firing three barrels on a [Kd] [8c] [6d] [7c] [Qs] and getting a fold on the river.

Seven hands later the tournament title would come down to a coin flip, KevinV three-betting all-in for 16.3 million chips with [3h] [3d] and TY4Stacks2 calling with [As] [7c]. The [Ts] [9c] [8h] flop was as bad as it could be for KevinV without actually falling behind, and the [Ah] on the turn reduced all hope to just two remaining cards. Neither of them was the river card - the [Qd] - so KevinV took home the agreed-upon sum of $162,035.65. TY4Stacks claimed the winner's share as well as the negotiated amount for a total purse of $185,384.15.

Sunday Million results for 8/7/2011:
1. TY4Stacks2 (Sweden) $185,384.15*
2. KevinV (Netherlands) $162,035.65*
3. LeKnave (United Kingdom)$105,040
4. PDJ4ck (United Kingdom) $72,215
5. tony2pairsAK (Canada) $55,146
6. untouchble10 (Moldova) $42,016
7. vasil1976197 (Ukraine) $28,886
8. 26071985 (United Kingdom) $15,756
9. eljanich (Azerbaijan) $10,175.75
* - amounts based on two-way deal

So that's another successful Sunday in the annals of PokerStars history. Want to see your name here next week? The Sunday Million page should probably be your first stop.

The inaugural Sunday Storm field could not fit into London's Wembley Arena. It couldn't fit into the Rose Bowl, the Cotton Bowl, or the Melbourne Cricket Ground. Even the largest football arena in the western world, Ann Arbor's Michigan Stadium, would leave over 3,800 players in the parking lot. Nothing attracts a poker player quite like a massive prize pool and as we learned earlier this month with the Sunday Million 5th Anniversary tournament, if you build it, they will most certainly come. All 113,770 of them.

To celebrate the Sunday 1/4 Million's metamorphosis into the $11 buy-in Sunday Storm, PokerStars guaranteed a $1 million prize pool, and only a few minutes into late registration, it surpassed the guarantee, topping out at $1,137,700. Miraculously, it only took a bit over ten hours to go from 12,641 tables to one. 14,634 players made the money, among them ten members of Team PokerStars Pro and Team Online: Mathew "chipstar1" Didlick (10,999th), Tyler "frosty012" Frost ( 9,010th), Shane "shaniac" Schleger (6,940th), Jude "j. thaddeus" Ainsworth (6,377th), Joep "Pappe_Ruk" Van Den Bijgaart (6,017th), Barry Greenstein (4,722nd), Nuno Coelho (4,574th), Liv Boeree (4,171st), JP Kelly (2,382nd) and Dennis Phillips (1,165th). Also making a deep run was PokerStars live circuit regular Alex "Assassinato" Fitzgerald, who ultimately bowed out in 27th place.

Tripleace112 bubbled the final table after three-bet shoving for 8.93 million over YouDisgustMe's 2 million opening raise. Dj Andres moved all-in behind him for 24.23 million and YouDisgustMe folded, leaving them heads-up to the board. Dj Andres' [As][Ks] held up against Tripleace112's [Ah][Jh], and what was once the size of a small city was down to nine players.

Here's how the final table stacked up as action commenced:

Seat 2: dray313 (30,000,947 in chips)
Seat 3: Uvelir888 (61,849,821 in chips)
Seat 4: YouDisgustMe (121,891,867 in chips)
Seat 5: Lucksshadow7 (13,149,570 in chips)
Seat 6: Dj Andrés (36,670,534 in chips)
Seat 7: Dubble Ace (21,147,284 in chips)
Seat 8: Samole9915 (31,459,043 in chips)
Seat 9: Vedic.Knight (6,878,196 in chips)

With the blinds up to 500,000/1,000,000, Lucksshadow7 wasted no time getting his chips in the middle, four-bet shoving for 12.44 million before the flop on the second hand of the final table. Although initial raiser dray313 folded, three-bettor Uvelir888 made the call, his [Jd][6d] up against [Ac][Kd]. Lucksshadow7 flopped top two pair, the board running out [As][5d][Kc][Jh][5h] to double his stack to 29.52 million. Four hands later, Lucksshadow7 did it again, this time through chip leader YouDisgustMe. Holding [Kh][Jd] on a [Qs][Td][2h] flop, YouDisgustMe led out for 4.8 million, Lucksshadow7 raised to 13.2 million with [Ac][Qc] and YouDisgustMe called. Despite missing his straight draw on the turn when the [2d] fell, YouDisgustMe fired out 10.8 million and Lucksshadow7 moved all-in for 13.2 million. YouDisgustMe called the additional 2.64 million, Lucksshadow7's queens and deuces holding up through the [7s] on the river. After starting the final table second from the bottom in chips, Lucksshadow7 was now second from the top with 60.9 million while YouDisgustMe fell to 88.9 million.

The final table had its first casualty when dray313 got his last 21 big blinds in preflop with [Ad][Qc] against Uvelir888's [Ah][Js], only to watch his opponent turn a Broadway straight on the [Tc][Ks][3s][Qd][4h] board. Uvelir888 moved up to second position with nearly 81 million while dray313 departed in ninth place, collecting $8,418.98. Table short stack Vedic.Knight pulled the trigger a few minutes later, moving in for 9.44 million with [Jc][9s], only to run into moreshipn1mb's [Jd][Jh]. Although Vedic.Knight picked up a flush draw against moreshipn1mb's middle set when the flop came down [As][Js][4s], Vedic.Knight couldn't find another spade and exited in eighth place for a $13,652.40 score.

Although moreshipn1mb received a nice chip infusion on that hand, it only buoyed him for another fifteen minutes. With the blinds up to 900,000/1,800,000, Dj Andres opened for 4.5 million from middle position and moreshipn1mb moved all-in for 29 million from the big blind. Holding [Ac][7s], moreshipn1mb was probably hoping for a fold, but instead got a call, Dj Andres turning over a dominating [Ah][Kd]. It held on the [Kh][7d][2c][8d][4c] board and moreshipn1mb hit the rail in seventh, earning $19,909.75.

Although YouDisgustMe quickly lost the chip lead at this final table, he built it back up to 100 million before shedding it all in four hands. Lucksshadow7 was the first lucky recipient of a double-up, his [As][Kh] flopping a king against YouDisgustMe's pocket tens. Half of the 80 million he was left with went to Uvelir888, who successfully value bet his queens and tens to win a 75 million pot and move into the chip lead with 148 million. Dubble Ace doubled up when his [Ah][9d] held against YouDisgustMe's [Ks][Qs], and left with seven big blinds, YouDisgustMe shipped them in with pocket nines. Uvelir888 called with [Ac][5h], but hit trips on the [5s][8s][5d][4c][7c] board to KO YouDisgustMe in sixth place for a $26,735.95 payday.

With five players remaining, Uvelir888 was the runaway chip leader with 186.3 million while his four opponents all sported stacks between 16 and 65 million. Samole9915 was the first of the shorties to roll the dice. With the action folded to him in the small blind, Samole9915 moved his last 7 1/2 big blinds into the middle with [As][Qh] and Uvelir888 looked him up with [Qc][Ts]. Samole9915 didn't have his opponent dominated for long, as the flop came down [9d][Kh][Td] to pair Uvelir888's kicker. The [Qs] on the turn made Uvelir888 two pair and left Samole9915 drawing only to a jack to win the pot. The river, however, was the [2d] and Samole9915's Sunday Storm ended with a fifth-place finish and a $35,268.70 score. As final table host Shane "shaniac" Schleger pointed out, that's 3,205 times his buy-in and a stunning ROI.

At this point, Uvelir888 was firmly in the driver's seat with 252 million of the 341 million chips in play while his three opponents were in a battle for second place. Dj Andres was the first one to budge, moving all-in for 18.2 million (6BB) with pocket nines. Uvelir888 called with [Ac][Qc], but could not outrun the pocket pair as Dj Andres moved up to 40.7 million in chips.

In the final table's most dramatic elimination, Lucksshadow7 hit the rail in fourth place in this three-way all-in. Although Lucksshadow7 turned a set with pocket fives, DjAndres hit a two-outer on the river to make a higher set:

Six hands later, Dj Andres met his own end. With the blinds up to 1.75M/3.5M, Uvelir888 opened for a min-raise, Dj Andres three-bet to 17.5 million, and Uvelir888 called. The flop came down [Jd][9s][2h] and Dj Andres led out for a 19.25 million continuation bet. Uvelir888 called and they went to the turn, which fell the [Kh]. Dj Andres shoved for his remaining 38.3 million and Uvelir888 snap-called, turning up [As][Ac] to Dj Andres' [Ah][Js]. The river was the [5h] and Dj Andres met his tournament end. For his third-place finish, he collected $68,262.

The initial heads-up chip count (318.1 million to 23.2 million) was lopsided to say the least and eleven hands later, it was all over. Dubble Ace open-shoved for his last three big blinds with [Ts][2d] and Uvelir888 called from the big blind with the lowly [2s][3c]. Uvelir888 will probably never look at that hand the same way again, as he hit bottom pair on the [Kh][7c][3d] flop to take the lead. The turn was the [7h], the river was the [8d], and after 113,769 eliminations, the Sunday Storm had its first champion. Uvelir888 took home $210,351.74 for the win while runner-up Dubble Ace earned $111,494.60.

How's that for an $11 investment?

Sunday Storm Results for 3/27/11
1. Uvelir888 ($210,531.74)
2. Dubble Ace ($111,494.60)
3. DJ Andres ($68,262.00)
4. Lucksshadow7 ($45,508.00)
5. Samole9915 ($35,268.70)
6. YouDisgustMe ($26,735.95)
7. moreshipn1mb ($19,909.75)
8. Vedic.Knight ($13,652.40)
9. dray313 ($8,418.98)

Ready to take your shot at a huge payday? The Sunday Storm page has all the information you need.

The luck of the Irish held over a few days for TheConcept79 as he battled back to take down $147,310.32 with no deals in the post-St. Patrick's Day edition of the Sunday Warm-Up. The field of 4,695 players built up a whopping $939,000 prize pool, with the top 675 players picking up cash. After nearly ten hours of wall-to-wall poker, the final nine players settled in to finish off their quest for the big cash.

The first few confrontations of the final table went the way of the underdog, as the shorter stacks doubled through the first few all-ins. But eventually juanan's luck ran out and he became the first casualty of the final table. Action folded around to the deep-stacked Civell in the small blind, and he put out a healthy raise with [Qs]-[2s]. Juanan moved all in over the top in defense of his big blind, and Civell called. Juanan tabled [Jc]-[8s], already behind, and fell further in the rearview as the flop came down [6c]-[4h]-[Qd]. Juanan picked up a pair on the [Jh] turn, but needed to catch another jack or an eight on the river to stay alive. Neither materialized, and when the river peeled off the [Tc], juanan was done in 9th place ($7,512).

LukeFromB13 got all his money in good in his final hand, but the outcome clearly showed why it's called a favorite preflop, but not a winner until all the cards come down. Trontrontron raised from late position with [Ah]-[Qc], and Luke quickly shoved all in over the top with [Ac]-[Ks]. Tron called and was a serious underdog, but the queen-high flop turned that all around in an instant. The final board read [8d]-[Qh]-[5s]-[5h]-[9d], and Luke was the 8th-place finisher ($11,737.50).

Rounder13 watched his stack dwindle until his only option was the open-shove, and when he woke up with [Ac]-[9c] in middle position, that looked like a good hand to do it with. He got action from TheConcept79, who woke up on the button with [Jc]-[Jd], and rounder was in trouble. The [Kh]-[Ts]-[3s] flop was no help, and the [4d] on the turn left rounder drawing thin to stay alive. The [8d] on the river meant the best hand preflop would hold up, and rounder13 headed home in 7th place ($21,127.50).

The rich kept getting richer as the night wore on, and when big stack TheConcept79 moved all in from the button, shorty yomahu felt compelled to call with [Ah]-[7d]. Yomahu was actually ahead preflop, as TheConcept79 showed [Kd]-[Qc], but all that changed on the [Ks]-[4c]-[9c] flop. The [9s] on the turn gave TheConcept two pair, and the aceless [6d] on the river meant that another short stack was gone, as yomahu busted in 6th place for $30,517.50.

TheConcept79's timely aggression and run of good cards continued as he took out his third opponent in a row. This time the victim was once again the shortest remaining stack, vtr82w. Vtr82w raised preflop from the cutoff, and TheConcept79 made a huge re-raise from the small blind, moving all in in a massive bet. TheConcept's trap worked, as vtr82w made the call with [Qd]-[Ts], only to find himself facing TheConcept's [Ks]-[Kc]. The cowboys ran roughshod over vtr82w as they picked up a set on the [7s]-[Kd]-[3h] flop. Vtr82w needed runner-runner to stay alive, so when the [4s] landed on the turn, he was drawing dead. The river was a meaningless [7c], and vtr82w collected $39,907.50 for 5th place.

A few orbits later, and once again it was TheConcept79 claiming yet another casualty. Action folded around to TheConcept, who raised from the small blind. Civell defended his big blind by moving all in over the top with [Jh]-[Td], and TheConcept quickly called with, once again, pocket kings. His [Kc]-[Kd] was firmly in the lead going into the flop, and the [2h]-[6c]-[9c] flop did nothing to change that. The turn was a useless [2h], and Civell was drawing dead. The [4s] came on the river, and Civell headed to the rail with a $53,053.50 payday for 4th place.

Three-way action took just a few hands before the steamroller that was TheConcept79 rolled over trontrontron in 3rd place ($77,467.50). Tron opened with an all-in shove from the button holding [Kc]-[8c], and TheConcept made the call from the big blind with [Qd]-[Jd]. Tron was looking good on the [2h]-[7h]-[8d] flop, but the worm turned on the [Qc] turn, as TheConcept made top pair. The [6c] on the river was no help, and trontrontron was done done done in 3rd place.

After taking a massive chip lead into heads up play, one might think that TheConcept79 would make short work of his last remaining opponent weriol. One would be wrong. After doubling through TheConcept on the very first hand of heads up play, weriol pulled almost even in chips before slipping back down the ladder. After several more back-and-forth hands, weriol moved ahead for the first time. Once he grabbed onto the chip lead, weriol kept the pressure on, taking a 2.5:1 chip lead into the final break of the night.

That final break gave TheConcept time to gather his thoughts and get his game back on track, and just a few minutes after returning to the table, he had pulled almost even. Then in one massive pot, he took back his chip lead in dominating fashion. After trading raises back and forth preflop, all the chips ended up in the middle with weriol holding the chip lead and [Kd]-[7d] to TheConcept's [Jh]-[Js]. TheConcept's jacks held on a board of [2d]-[9c]-[4h]-[7h]-[3s] in a 42-million chip pot that left weriol on life support. But the wily weriol wasn't finished yet, as he doubled back through TheConcept just a couple of hands later.

TheConcept kept the pressure on, and finally it all came down to one big hand. Weriol had been chipped down by the constant raises from TheConcept, and managed one last double up before all the chips went into the middle for the last time. With a nearly 5:1 chip lead, TheConcept open-shoved from the button with [Js]-[Ts]. Weriol called with [As]-[4s], and was ahead preflop. The flop came down [Kh]-[Th]-[9h], and weriol needed an Ace on the turn. The deck didn't oblige, bringing the [Tc] instead. Once again, TheConcept had his opponent drawing dead on the turn, and this time it was for all the potatoes. The river was the [Kc], and weriol was the runner up with a $109,393.50 payday.

TheConcept tore apart the final table in one of the most dominating Sunday Warm-Ups in recent memory, but he had his hands full with weriol in the heads up match. When all was said and done, he earned every bit of the $147,310.32 he took down at the Sunday Warm-Up champion! Congratulation to TheConcept79, weriol for a fantastic runner up performance, and to all our PokerStars players who cashed in the Sunday Warm-Up this week!

The Sunday Warm-Up continued to blaze hotter and hotter as the weather got colder this November weekend, with a whopping $925,600 in the prize pool. 4,628 players bellied up to the virtual felt to take their shot at the massive payout, and the top 675 finishers got paid for their efforts. Of course, the big money was concentrated at the final table, so after a little less than nine hours of grueling poker, the nine survivors gathered 'round the final table.

Action was tentative to start off, with players avoiding any major confrontations in the first few hands, but as the blinds and antes grew, the short stacks had to take their shots to double up just to stay alive. Melano26 put his last few chips in the middle with [As]-[8s] and found a caller in CruSader1981. Big stack angevert then moved all in over the top to isolate, and CruSader1981 got out of the way. Angevert was ahead with [Jd]-[Js], and the flop of [Jh]-[7s]-[Qc] left melano26 needing to catch runner-runner perfect to stay alive. The [2h] on the turn meant that melano26 was drawing dead, and when the meaningless [6s] rolled off on the river, melano26 was busted in 9th place ($7,404.80).

Floes came into the final table as the second-shortest stack, and it was just a few hands after melano26's elimination when floes open-shoved from the small blind with [Ad]-[5c]. It was a good time for the move, with a bunch of dead blinds and antes in the pot, but Mr. Shanish woke up with [Ac]-[Jc] in the big blind and made the easy call. Already a dominant favorite, Mr. Shanish took final control on the flop as it came down [9d]-[3h]-[Jh]. Running nines on the turn and river gave Mr. Shanish a full house, and gave floes 8th place money to the tune of $11,750.00.

Bahneyyy lost most of his stack in a huge hand earlier at the final table, but held on for a few more orbits before he got it all in preflop with [As]-[5c] against CruSader1981's [Ac]-[9s]. The board did nothing to help Bahneyyy, running out [8c]-[Jc]-[2h]-[3c]-[9h], and CruSader1981 picked up some much-needed chips as Bahneyyy busted in 7th place ($20,826).

CruSader1981 played his short stack well, but he eventually found a number of outs he couldn't fade when he went out in 6th place ($30,082) at the hands of angevert in this hand.

After a lengthy period of five-handed jousting, one misstep by cspdealer left him watching the game from the sidelines after busting in 5th place ($39,338). The aggressive Mr. Shanish opened for a raise from the button, and cspdealer re-raised from the big blind with [Kd]-[Js]. Mr. Shanish moved all in over the top, and cspdealer called, only to find he was dominated by Mr. Shanish's [As]-[Jc]. The flop hit both players as it came down [Ac]-[Kc]-[9h], but Mr. Shanish's top pair was well ahead of cspdealer's middle pair. The [Qh] on the turn gave cspdealer few more outs to stay alive, but the [Qc] on the river ended his tournament.

After losing a big pot to double up the short-stacked $saxo$, Mr. Shanish came right back on the very next hand to bust rivermanl in 4th place ($52,296.40). Rivermanl moved all in preflop from the small blind on a steal with [Qs]-[5s], but Mr. Shanish found [Jc]-[Jh] in the big blind and made the easy call. The flop of [Tc]-[7h]-[7c] helped neither player, but the [5c] on the turn gave rivermanl a few more ways to survive. None of those ways included the [Td], so when that fell on the river, there were only three.

With the stacks exceptionally close, the final three survivors took a few moments to discuss a deal. With the stacks almost even, the players decided on an even chop of the remaining money, with $10,000 left in the middle for the eventual champion. That locked up $106,468.22 for each player, a pretty good day's work by almost any standard. With their six-figure payday in hand, the remaining three players settled in to duke it out for the last $10K.

It only took a few minutes of folding before a big confrontation brewed up between our three survivors. The ever-aggressive Mr. Shanish opened for a raise from the small blind with [Ad]-[9h], and $saxo$ moved all in over the top with [3h]-[3s]. The race was on as the flop came down [7h]-[8s]-[Qh], and $saxo$ had faded the overcards. The [2h] gave both players a flush draw, and the [4h] on the river gave Mr. Shanish the bigger flush to send $saxo$ home in 3rd place.

Heads up play lasted only three hands, and Mr. Shanish won all of them to secure his extra $10,000 and the Sunday Warm-Up title. The last hand went down like this -

When the dust cleared, Mr. Shanish's aggressive play had locked up the last $10K on the table and made a $116,468.22 payday for himself. Congratulations to Mr. Shanish and all our Sunday Warm-Up players!

The Sunday Warm-Up continued to blaze hotter and hotter as the weather got colder this November weekend, with a whopping $925,600 in the prize pool. 4,628 players bellied up to the virtual felt to take their shot at the massive payout, and the top 675 finishers got paid for their efforts. Of course, the big money was concentrated at the final table, so after a little less than nine hours of grueling poker, the nine survivors gathered 'round the final table.

Action was tentative to start off, with players avoiding any major confrontations in the first few hands, but as the blinds and antes grew, the short stacks had to take their shots to double up just to stay alive. Melano26 put his last few chips in the middle with [As]-[8s] and found a caller in CruSader1981. Big stack angevert then moved all in over the top to isolate, and CruSader1981 got out of the way. Angevert was ahead with [Jd]-[Js], and the flop of [Jh]-[7s]-[Qc] left melano26 needing to catch runner-runner perfect to stay alive. The [2h] on the turn meant that melano26 was drawing dead, and when the meaningless [6s] rolled off on the river, melano26 was busted in 9th place ($7,404.80).

Floes came into the final table as the second-shortest stack, and it was just a few hands after melano26's elimination when floes open-shoved from the small blind with [Ad]-[5c]. It was a good time for the move, with a bunch of dead blinds and antes in the pot, but Mr. Shanish woke up with [Ac]-[Jc] in the big blind and made the easy call. Already a dominant favorite, Mr. Shanish took final control on the flop as it came down [9d]-[3h]-[Jh]. Running nines on the turn and river gave Mr. Shanish a full house, and gave floes 8th place money to the tune of $11,750.00.

Bahneyyy lost most of his stack in a huge hand earlier at the final table, but held on for a few more orbits before he got it all in preflop with [As]-[5c] against CruSader1981's [Ac]-[9s]. The board did nothing to help Bahneyyy, running out [8c]-[Jc]-[2h]-[3c]-[9h], and CruSader1981 picked up some much-needed chips as Bahneyyy busted in 7th place ($20,826).

CruSader1981 played his short stack well, but he eventually found a number of outs he couldn't fade when he went out in 6th place ($30,082) at the hands of angevert in this hand.

After a lengthy period of five-handed jousting, one misstep by cspdealer left him watching the game from the sidelines after busting in 5th place ($39,338). The aggressive Mr. Shanish opened for a raise from the button, and cspdealer re-raised from the big blind with [Kd]-[Js]. Mr. Shanish moved all in over the top, and cspdealer called, only to find he was dominated by Mr. Shanish's [As]-[Jc]. The flop hit both players as it came down [Ac]-[Kc]-[9h], but Mr. Shanish's top pair was well ahead of cspdealer's middle pair. The [Qh] on the turn gave cspdealer few more outs to stay alive, but the [Qc] on the river ended his tournament.

After losing a big pot to double up the short-stacked $saxo$, Mr. Shanish came right back on the very next hand to bust rivermanl in 4th place ($52,296.40). Rivermanl moved all in preflop from the small blind on a steal with [Qs]-[5s], but Mr. Shanish found [Jc]-[Jh] in the big blind and made the easy call. The flop of [Tc]-[7h]-[7c] helped neither player, but the [5c] on the turn gave rivermanl a few more ways to survive. None of those ways included the [Td], so when that fell on the river, there were only three.

With the stacks exceptionally close, the final three survivors took a few moments to discuss a deal. With the stacks almost even, the players decided on an even chop of the remaining money, with $10,000 left in the middle for the eventual champion. That locked up $106,468.22 for each player, a pretty good day's work by almost any standard. With their six-figure payday in hand, the remaining three players settled in to duke it out for the last $10K.

It only took a few minutes of folding before a big confrontation brewed up between our three survivors. The ever-aggressive Mr. Shanish opened for a raise from the small blind with [Ad]-[9h], and $saxo$ moved all in over the top with [3h]-[3s]. The race was on as the flop came down [7h]-[8s]-[Qh], and $saxo$ had faded the overcards. The [2h] gave both players a flush draw, and the [4h] on the river gave Mr. Shanish the bigger flush to send $saxo$ home in 3rd place.

Heads up play lasted only three hands, and Mr. Shanish won all of them to secure his extra $10,000 and the Sunday Warm-Up title. The last hand went down like this -

When the dust cleared, Mr. Shanish's aggressive play had locked up the last $10K on the table and made a $116,468.22 payday for himself. Congratulations to Mr. Shanish and all our Sunday Warm-Up players!

This week's edition of the Sunday Warm-Up drew a whopping 4,763 entrants to build a prize pool of a massive $952,600, more than $200,000 over the guarantee! By the time the final table was set, it was fully dark on the east coast, and the late NFL game was almost to halftime. Final table host PokerStars Team Pro Ivan Demidov came on to welcome the players to the final table, and they had just enough time to play one hand before going on a quick break.

With nine hours in the books, it would take the players less than 90 minutes to declare a winner. When all was said and done it was egor2077 getting hot hands at the right time to decimate his last opposition and claim the $149,017.54 top prize, with no deals made at the final table this week.

Short stack smerks pushed his stack into the middle several times before finding himself in a final coin flip against GoldStar player xQ024. Smerks held a slight edge preflop with [8h]-[8d], but xQ024's [Ks]-[Jd] made top pair on the [Kh]-[Th]-[7s] flop and smerks needed on of the two remaining eights or running hearts to stay alive. The turn card was a singularly unhelpful [Ad], and when the river brought the [9s], smerks was headed to the rail in 9th place ($7,620.80). Just a few hands later funnywhiteshss open-shoved with [Kh]-[Qs], only to run into egor2077's [Ah]-[As]. The board ran out [4c]-[8h]-[9s]-[7d]-[5s], and then there were seven. Funnywhiteshss picked up $11,907.50 for 8th place.

The all-ins were flying around like bullets in a Quentin Tarantino movie, but most of the time the short stacks were dodging elimination. After an opening all in move from egor2077 in the small blind, timdmd defended his big blind with [Qh]-[9h]. It turned out to be a good read, as egor2077 was on a steal with [As]-[3c], but the [Jc]-[9c]-[Ah] flop put egor2077 firmly into the driver's seat. Timdmd needed a queen or another nine to stay alive, but the turn and river ran out [6d]-[3h], and he was done in 7th place ($21,433.50).

XQ024 came out firing again with a series of strong preflop raises, and fabregarp moved all in over the top of his button raise with [As]-[2h]. This time xQ024 turned over the dominating [Ad]-[Kc], and fabregarp was in danger of elimination. The flop of [3d]-[3h]-[6d] was no help to either player, but fabregarp picked up additional outs when the [5c] hit the turn. No deuce or four landed on the river, however, as the [Jc] was the final card in his final hand. Fabregarp picked up an impressive $30,959.50 for his 6th-place finish.

If a picture is worth a thousand words, this little video shows how a river is worth $40,485.50. That's how much olle101 picked up for his tournament after busting out in 5th place.

Play slowed dramatically with only four players remaining, as the remaining players jockeyed for position and passed the chip lead back and forth among themselves. Finally, just before the final break of the night, egor2077 took out two players in short order to move into a 2:1 chip lead going into heads-up play. First, xQ024 moved all in from the small blind with [Tc]-[Th], and egor2077 called with [Ad]-[Kd]. A flop of [4s]-[Ac]-[3h] put the coin flip in egor2077's court, and when the turn and river came down [Jd]-[7c], xQ024 was done in 4th place ($53,821.90).

On the very next hand, egor2077 raised from the button with [Ac]-[9c], and FUTURE102 moved all in over the top with [Ks]-[Kd]. FUTURE102 looked poised to double through egor2077 on the [Qd]-[8c]-[5d] flop, but the [Tc] on the turn gave egor2077 more outs to win. The [Ah] on the river was one of those outs, and FUTURE102 was done in 3rd place ($78,589.50) and egor2077 took a significant chip lead into heads up play.

No stranger to online final tables, Titantom32 closed the gap heads up fairly quickly, refusing to make things easy on egor2077. The players feinted and parried for long minutes before finally the chips went in the middle for the last time.

When the dust settled, egor2077's two pair were better than Titantom32's, and he was eliminated in 2nd place ($110,977.90). With no deal in place, or ever seriously discussed, egor2077 took out the final three opponents at the final table to claim the $149,017.54 top prize. Congratulations to egor2077 and all our final table players!