Pokerstars Sunday Million Seat T$/W$

You may not know Bryan Slick, but you know his work. To put a finer point on it, you know what he calls, "his baby."

Slick is the man in charge of making sure $40,000,000 worth of poker tournaments go off without a hitch. Slick runs WCOOP from an underground bunker guarded by armed mercenaries and a few cats. If something goes wrong (as it very rarely does), it's on his back. If it goes right, he'll pretend he got lucky. It takes a lot of people to make a successful WCOOP, but when it goes off, it happened in large part because Slick obsessed about it for months at a time and went sleepless for several weeks. He's mildly insane, relentlessly obsessive, and proud to call WCOOP his ward.

That is a long introduction to a 20-minute piece put together by our friends over at PokerStars.tv. The 2009 WCOOP Preview show tells you all you need to know about WCOOP and offers a behind-the-scenes look at the tournament series from Mr. Slick himself.

The video also features an interview with Team PokerStars Pro Barry Greenstein. You can hear what he has to say and learn a lot more about WCOOP by clicking on the little box below Barry's mug.

As you should know by now, WCOOP starts on Thursday and will continue for more than two weeks. You can check in with WCOOP.com to plan how you'll win.

In the meantime, enjoy the video above.

I'm not sure about you, but I can't sleep. My nights are filled with stuttering dreams of big wins, sick rivers, and life-changing money. It's like Christmas Eve for a Midwestern American five-year-old. WCOOP is here.

Almost.

This Thursday starts the biggest online tournament series in the world. And lemme tell you, from what I'm hearing, we're on pace for something big and fairly historic. We will, however, count those chickens after they are on the plate.

In the meantime, let's talk about the people who now have enough money to play all the events in WCOOP and have a bunch of money left over.

Last night, the folks in the Sunday Million cut themselves a five-way deal and all walked away with more than five figures apiece. To see who walked away with the lion's share, check out Jen Newell's report on the 8-30-09 PokerStars Sunday Million final table report.

Just a few hours earlier, CuCbKu of Germany cut a deal heads-up to win $122,986 in the PokerStars Sunday Warm-Up. David Aydt brings us that story in the 8-30-09 PokerStars Sunday Warm-Up final table report.

For a complete rundown of WCOOP eve action check out the 8-30-09 PokerStars Sunday Tournament results page.

Congrats to this weekend's winners. Now, let's do some WCOOPing.

What a Sunday! First of all, it was the last Sunday of the month, which presented players with an extra opportunity. The Battle of the Planets $50,000 Triple Shootout offers the top sit-n-go players of the month a chance at an astounding end-of-month freeroll, and there were 602 players who took advantage, 81 of whom walked away with free cashola.

And then came the Sunday Million, which in itself is a weekly must-see and must-play event, but the August 30th edition brought nearly 9,000 players to the tables! The prize pool of nearly $1.8 million was the largest in quite a few months, and the players knew that more than $250K was at stake for the winner, barring any deals that would lessen that amount. It was bound to be an exciting tournament from the start.

That it was. With 8,993 players in the field and a $1,798,600.00 prize pool, the tournament got underway and raced toward the money after only a few hours. After the bubble burst and 1,350 competitors were in the money, lifang was the first to cash for $305.76, and on the tournament went toward the final table.

The last table was determined by the elimination of one unlucky player in tenth place. And there was an all-in situation at each of the two tables to follow. On one, BigBradley was given the chance to stick around when his pocket sevens allowed him to double through angiebug4. But on the other table, BodogMaven had just become the short stack after suckabig1 doubled through him. BodogMaven pushed all-in on the next hand with only [7h] [4h], and suckabig1 was there to do battle again, this time with pocket tens. It played out without drama:

That left BodogMaven out in tenth place with $9,352.73 to heal the pain, and the final nine were seated at one table to proceed as follows:

Seat 1: CesarSPA (25,965,082 in chips)
Seat 2: Whitfield74 (11,059,972 in chips)
Seat 3: siggen001 (6,636,233 in chips)
Seat 4: suckabig1 (10,878,506 in chips)
Seat 5: angiebug4 (12,135,863 in chips)
Seat 6: gboro780 (6,947,850 in chips)
Seat 7: Spoli4tor (5,149,512 in chips)
Seat 8: BigBradley (6,437,316 in chips)
Seat 9: SebiXXXX (4,719,666 in chips)

Play started out at a reasonable pace, though players knew that they would have to make some serious moves to keep up any hope of catching CesarSPA, who seemed unstoppable.

It only took a little more than a round for one of the shortest stacks to take a chance, and Spoli4tor made the attempt holding [Kc] [Qs]. CesarSPA was in the big blind with [Ad] [6h] and didn't hesitate to call. The board came [2d] [9c] [5d] [2s] [9s], and Spoli4tor was gone just that quickly, with $12,590.21 for the effort.

Before most could get their bearings, it happened again. After a raise from CesarSPA and a reraise from Whitfield74, CesarSPA pushed all-in for more than 35 million chips, and Whitfield74 called all-in holding pocket kings. CesarSPA showed his [As] [Jc], and the board just cozied right up to it with [Kh] [Td] [4h] [6h] [Qh] to give him the straight. Whitfield74 had to accept $19,784.61 for the eighth place finish.

Everyone was gunning for CesarSPA, and siggen001 was able to double through the chip leader when jacks held up against A-K, though it hardly put a dent in CesarSPA's lead.

The next to try it wasn't so lucky. SebiXXXX was by far the shortest stack and pushed preflop with [Ks] [6s] from the small blind, but CesarSPA was in the big blind with [Ac] [4d] and made the call. The board came down [9h] [4h] [Qd] [8s] [8h], and SebiXXXX was gone in seventh place with $35,972.01.

After BigBradley doubled through CesarSPA, BigBradley took another opportunity to chip up. When gboro780 made a preflop raise, BigBradley put him to the test and pushed all-in. gboro780 called all-in for his tournament life with [Ad] [Kh], and Big Bradley showed [Ah] [Qs]. But that queen hit on the [3h] [Qd] [As] flop, and the [6h] turn and [Tc] river finished it up, eliminating gboro780 in sixth place with $53,958,01.

The final five decided to pause the tournament for some deal talks, and when the chip-chop numbers were given, discussions began. Though short-stacked angiebug4 attempted to get a few more bucks from her tablemates in order to guarantee a $100K payout, they failed to agree to that. angiebug4 finally agreed to her original number, as did the others, and the payouts, with $30,000 set aside for the ultimate winner, were as follows:

Seat 1: CesarSPA (35,000,683 in chips) = $208,845.93
Seat 3: siggen001 (15,282,466 in chips) = $131,719.96
Seat 4: suckabig1 (7,308,506 in chips) = $100,530.55
Seat 5: angiebug4 (6,385,863 in chips) = $96,921.72
Seat 8: BigBradley (25,952,482 in chips) = $173,454.74

Immediately upon the return to play, angiebug4 got aggressive and pushed all-in with [Ac] [Tc] against the [Kh] [Qs] of siggen001, and she doubled up to climb back into contention.

The next to try that move was suckabig1, who pushed preflop with pocket nines, and he soon discovered he was in a race with the [Ac] [Ks] of CesarSPA. The board came down [Ah] [3c] [3d] [Qs] [5d], and suckabig1 was ousted in fifth place with his agreed-upon amount of $100,530.55.

Again, angiebug4 moved, and with this hand, she took over second place on the chip count board and moved into serious contention for the title:

On a roll was angiebug4. When siggen001 pushed all-in on the next hand, angiebug4 reraised to isolate with pocket aces, which worked. siggen001's tournament was on the line with [Kc] [Tc], and the board blanked with [5c] [Js] [4d] [8s] [9h]. That left siggen001 out in fourth place with $131,719.96.

Finally, short-stacked BigBradley decided to make his move with pocket threes, and angiebug4 called with [Kc] [5c]. The flop was an innocent [8d] [Ad] [6h], but the [5h] hit on the turn to give angiebug4 the advantage. The [9c] on the river ended the game for BigBradley, who took home a substantial $173,454.74 for his efforts.

The last two players launched into heads-up play with chip counts as follows:

Seat 1: CesarSPA (49,619,189 in chips)
Seat 5: angiebug4 (40,310,811 in chips)

Though angiebug4 came on strong in the first few hands, CesarSPA got aggressive and began seriously chipping away at his opponent. That was until angiebug4's luck kicked in again. Pushing all-in with [As] [3h] against the [Ah] [Qd] of CesarSPA, angiebug4 pulled out a flush with the [8s] [6s] [9d] [Qs] [Ts] cards that fell. Only a few million chips separated the two after that hand. Even tournament host and Friend of PokerStars Bill Chen chimed in, "Wow nice hand this is a real battle."

Said battle continued with CesarSPA winning multiple small pots, but eventually angiebug4 got more aggressive and took down several key hands to take over the chip lead. At that point, angiebug4's bluffs were working and calls were on point.

Finally, the duo got involved in a pot that started with a [2h] [Ac] [7d] flop. CesarSPA bet and angiebug4 called to see the [6c] on the turn, which prompted an all-in bet from CesarSPA for his last 20 million chips. angiebug4 called with [8h] [6h], but CesarSPA had the better hand with [Ks] [7h]. But angiebug4 ran well during the latter portion of the final table, and the [6d] came down on the river to give her the win. CesarSPA accepted second place and $208,845.93, and angiebug4 took the Sunday Million title with $126,921.72 for the victory. Congratulations to all of tonight's finishers!

Sunday Million Results for 08/30/09:

1st place: angiebug4 ($126,921.72)*
2nd place: CesarSPA ($208,845.93)*
3rd place: BigBradley ($173,454.74)*
4th place: siggen001 ($131,719.96)*
5th place: suckabig1 ($100,530.55)*
6th place: gboro780 ($53,958.01)
7th place: SebiXXXX ($35,972.01)
8th place: Whitfield74 ($19,784.61)
9th place: Spoli4tor ($12,590.21)

*numbers resulted from a five-way chip-chop agreement

For more information on ways to register and qualify for upcoming Sunday Million tournaments, visit the Sunday Million page. And the 2009 WCOOP is just around the corner! Satellites are running now for many of the tournaments, and all of the details, including the $40 million in guarantees, can be found on the WCOOP home page.

With the WCOOP on everyone's mind and players looking to grab some extra bankroll cash for the two and a half week long extravaganza starting September 3rd 4,100 showed up at the cashier's window for tonight's $750,000 guarantee Sunday Warm-up. With a prize pool of $820,000.00 and $128,740.00 of that going out to first place that could buy you into all the events with enough left over for a trip to Vegas or Macau and some poolside drinks.

Right before the final table, heißtercamp had this author scrambling the search engines on how to insert the German letter into the page. Luckily, there were enough people out there on the internet with the kindness in their hearts to educate me on such matters. The reason it was important? heißtercamp came into tonight's final table as the chip leader after knocking out deamon10 after the two traded raises until deamon10 was all-in holding [Jc][Ac]. heißtercamp was looking great flipping up a suited big slick [Ah][Kh] and the dominant hand would hold on the [Qd] [4h] [As] [6d] [4d] board to ship the huge 7.5 million chip pot and the chip lead to heißtercamp and knock out deamon10 as tonight's bubble boy in tenth place ($4,920.00).

Seat 1: CuCbKu (4637081 in chips)
Seat 2: MarcMcFly (1956052 in chips)
Seat 3: gargamelesp (2896426 in chips)
Seat 4: heißtercamp (10905983 in chips)
Seat 5: J0hnny_Dr@m@ (6373880 in chips)
Seat 6: Morph2oo6 (1716156 in chips)
Seat 7: Monterpol (3429307 in chips)
Seat 8: apestyles (2861000 in chips)
Seat 9: Jarfish (6224115 in chips)

Morph2oo6 got the party started early going all-in just five hands from the start of the final table with the blinds at 65K/130K ante 13K and riding big slick [Ks][Ad] to victory over the [Jd][As] of CuCbKu for the 3.4 million chip pot. Play would settle in for a bit as the chip leader heißtercamp took many pots uncontested preflop including one for 2.6 million after 4-betting J0hnny_Dr@m@ and taking it down without any board cards.

After two blind levels of mostly preflop poker, heißtercamp would stumble a bit running pocket queens into pocket kings twice and doubling up apestyles and CuCbKu in the process. Right before the second cooler, CuCbKu managed the first elimination at the final table taking out gargamelesp. With the blinds at 100K/200K ante 20K gargamelesp would shove 2.3 million chips from UTG and got the table to fold around to CuCbKu in the small blind who made the call holding [Kh][Ac]. Big slick dominated the [Ad][Tc] held by gargamelesp and would hold on the [Qc] [Jh] [9c] [7h] [7s] board sending The Smurf's arch enemy home in ninth place ($6,560.00). The very next hand using the newly acquired five million chips from gargamelesp, CuCbKu would take the chip lead from heißtercamp when the pocket kings would hold up against heißtercamp's queens for a 12.6 million chip pot.

heißtercamp was not detoured by the bad luck as on the very next hand MarcMcFly tried to steal the blinds open pushing a short 1.9 million chip stack on the button with [Jd][Qs]. heißtercamp reeling from the large pot lost to CuCbKu was still sitting in the small blind with over four million chips made the call holding [Jc][As]. This time it was heißtercamp's turn with the dominate hand and it would hold on the [8h] [9s] [Kc] [Ad] [7s] to retain a few chips via the 4.2 million chip pot. MarcMcFly was sent back to Hill Valley without the DeLorean but will have $10,250.00 for the eighth place to help save the clock tower.

The players finally took a breather from the big pots for five hands when Morph2oo6 was facing a 511,000 chip raise from J0hnny_Dr@m@ holding only 2.2 million chip and a suited big slick [Ad][Kd]. The three bet all-in was made as J0hnny_Dr@m@ thought over the pot odds and made the call with [Tc][Qc]. All was a walk in the park towards a much needed double up for Morph2oo6 until the river card hit on the [7d] [5d] [6s] [2c] [Th] board as J0hnny_Dr@m@ hit the four outer on the river to send Morph2oo6 home in seventh place ($18,450.00).

Still in the 100K/200K blind level Monterpol would pick up a much needed double up against apestyles as pocket queens took another beating, this time Monterpol's [8s][As] found an ace on the [5c] [Jh] [Ad] [Jc] [Td] board to ship the 3.6 million double up to Monterpol.

apestyles would take some chips back as the blinds rose to 125K/250K ante 25K after shoving over the top of an UTG raise from JarFish and a three-bet from J0hnny_Dr@m@. The four-bet was not answered by either player as apestyles raked in the 4.3 million chip pot. The very next hand JarFish's [Kc][Jh] would double up off J0hnny_Dr@m@'s big slick [Ad][Ks] pulling out a three-outer on the river with the board showing [6s] [7d] [8s] [8c] [Js] for a 10.4 million chip pot.

Monterpol would let J0hnny_Dr@m@ back into the game as it was J0hnny_Dr@m@'s turn for some luck as J0hnny_Dr@m@'s [2c][Ad] hit versus Monterpol's dominating [9h][Ah] on the [4s] [2d] [4d] [Qc] [3s] board for a 3.4 million chip pot. Since the two were similarly stack Monterpol was left with fumes that JarFish would collect five hands later while rivering a straight sending Monterpol home in sixth place ($26,650.00).

With the newly acquired chips J0hnny_Dr@m@ tried to get out of the chip cellar taking on the chip leader CuCbKu all-in preflop. Watch below for the results:

This time J0hnny_Dr@m@ holding [Ah][5s] couldn't sneak the smaller kicker past the five card board as CuCbKu's big slick [Ad][Ks] held up on the [4s] [Jc] [9d] [Jh] [7c] board as J0hnny_Dr@m@ took home $34,850.00 in fifth place.

The next elimination came at the hands of part head-scratcher and part great instincts. With the blinds at 150K/300K ante 30K watch the hand between heißtercamp and apestyles play out:

heißtercamp went for the three-bet bluff from the big blind holding [3h][2h] and apestyles put together the pieces of the puzzle enough to call with [As][5s]. Both players managed to hit two pair, but apestyles' was the mightier on the [8c] [2c] [Ad] [5c] [3s] board sending home the beginning final table chip leader in fourth place ($47,150.00).

After JarFish trimmed a six million chip pot off CuCbKu the players held very similar stacks and brief chop talks took place. apestyles wasn't 100 percent on board, looking for a six figure score so play resumed. A few hands later apestyles was already to relent and was ready to look at the figures after the current hand...

... and lost the all-in preflop battle against CuCbKu knocking the chip leading apestyles from 18 million chips to a little over six million and boosting CuCbKu to over 24 million when CuCbKu's [Ac][Jh] held over apestyles' [Th][Ah].

The wheels came off in a hurry for apestyles' as three hands later CuCbKu called apestyles' button push from the big blind with pocket eights [8s][8h]. apestyles could only produce [3c][Ad] and watched CuCbKu promptly hit a set on the flop and with apestyles drawing dead by the turn, a mocking ace hit the river on the [6s] [8d] [5s] [Jc] [Ah] board. Although it's not the six figure score, apestyles was looking for the $67,650.00 earned in third place is decent brag post material.

After apestyles left the tournament table, JarFish and CuCbKu got together to carve out a couple of six-figure scores as the two used the chip chop suggestions from the PokerStars host and agreed to the figures below:

JarFish: $101,693.63
CuCbKu: $112,986.37

With the big money off the board there was still a sizable $10,000 set aside for tonight's champion. JarFish was looking at a long road to recovery starting off with a 31 million to 9 million chip deficit as CuCbKu held a commanding lead.

JarFish would chiseled up to 13 million chips but tried snag a one million chip preflop raise from CuCbKu with an overshove holding [Kh][7c]. The aggressiveness did not pay off here as CuCbKu snap called with pocket jacks [Jh][Jd] and rode the [8s] [4h] [2c] [8c] [3c] board to victory in tonight's Sunday Warm-up!

CuCbKu's win earned the extra $10,000.00 set aside from the deal bringing the total win to $122,986.37 as JarFish took home six-figures as the runner up tonight with $101,693.63 from the two person deal.

Be sure to check out all the hole cards with commentary tomorrow from the staff PokerStars.TV's Online Poker Show.

$750,000 Guarantee Sunday Warm-up Results (08-30-09)
*denotes part of two-way deal
1. CuCbKu (Augsburg) *$122,986.37
2. Jarfish (Port Moody) *$101,693.63
3. apestyles (Austin) $67,650.00
4. heißtercamp (Neverscared) $47,150.00
5. J0hnny_Dr@m@ (Athens) $34,850.00
6. Monterpol (Police) $26,650.00
7. Morph2oo6 (Oudenbosch) $18,450.00
8. MarcMcFly (Windhagen) $10,250.00
9. gargamelesp (Singapore) $6,560.00

Over 600 SnG players (602 to be exact) from all walks of bankrolls gathered here at PokerStars this Sunday for the monthly running of the Battle of the Planets $50,000 triple shootout freeroll. One such SnG player has been featured on the PokerStarsBlog page for his epic quest to turn $5 into $100,000 in just 12 months. Boku87 is playing today looking to add a couple of bucks to his $18,700 bankroll (last announced on August 19th) in his latest blog entry (click here for Boku's PokerStarsBlog update). My head was spinning on the sheer volume of SnGs this 2007 Supernova Elite plays after seeing this quote:

I'm sure that's normal for most of our competitors at the Battle of the Planets freeroll, but for this scribe racking up 100 SnGs played in a week would be an accomplishment, not to mention a likely destruction to my McDonald's happy meal sized bankroll.

On the path to our final nine today:

The Brain067 devised a scheme big enough to conquer unfortunate bubble boy nicosia2008 while all-in with Q8o against nicosia2008's pocket kings there was an eight on the flop and a queen on the turn to continue the battle. Over ten hands later it was The Brain067's turn to show the dominate hand as nicosia2008 was all-in preflop holding [Qd][9s] to The Brain067's [Ah][9c]. Both players would pair their top cards on the [8s] [Ad] [Qh] [2d] [Kd] board as The Brain067 advanced into the round of 81 assuring a $195.00 payday as nicosia2008 would head back to the SnG tab to work on a Battle of the Planets ticket for next month.

Boku87's run towards a leap in the $5 to $100,000 challenge with a final table finish ended in the second leg of the double shootout after getting his money in good twice in a row, it wasn't meant to be. The [Ts][8s] of sippin_criss found a pair on the [9d] [8h] [3c] [6h] [6d] board to overcome boku87's [Kd][Qd] all-in preflop to finish 6th at the table and 39th overall addding $195.00 for the bankroll challenge.

Down to the last seat, it was jersey716 versus patsaiyan out on table seven knotting up for a heads-up battle that would last well into the 150/300 ante 25 blind level. A few hands after patsaiyan regained the lead after slowplaying pocket queens and grinding down jersey716 with frequent preflop raises, patsaiyan would call jersey716's preflop shove for 2045 with [Th][Kd]. jersey716 was hoping for live cards with [Kh][4c] but was completed dominated going into the [5h] [8s] [3s] [3h] [7d] that saw nary a four and showed jersey716 to the door as the final table bubble boy earning $195.00 to set up the final table shown below:

VIP GoldStar neckbr4ke was the only one to crack the 2K mark in chips during the opening 10/20 blind level thanks to a position re-raise of patsaiyan's opening raise, and following through after patsaiyan called to see the [Js] [9h] [3d] flop but didn't care to call the 300 chip bet from neckbr4ke.

The NotoriousVic was not able to get off to a good start already down to 705 chips in the 15/30 blind level. After limping in UTG with pocket jacks [Jc][Jh] and seeing patsaiyan on the immediate raise to 150 chips a good decision to grab a much needed double-up with a three-bet shove was made. patsaiyan held a suited big slick [Kd][Ad] for the coin flip and both watched the spades rain down on the [2s][Qs][Ts] flop. NotoriousVic was looking good to take the 1,455 chip pot when the [9c] hit the turn, but the [As] on the river eeked out the win for patsaiyan as NotoriousVic would head back to the recording studio with $775.00 in ninth place.

The 25/50 blind level saw little to no action as no pots crested the 500 chip mark but VIP GoldStar starbob2 and Draughts sat with less than a thousand chips while neckbr4ke and patsaiyan enjoyed the top of the leaderboard with 2,710 and 2,290 chips respectively.

starbob2 would attempt to get back into the game in the 50/100 blind level by open shoving big slick [Ad][Kh] for 1,189 chips and getting called by Ako21 sitting in the big blind with pocket nines [9h][9d]. Unfortunately, starbob2 would not see a card over an eight on the [2s] [4c] [2h] [5c] [8s] board as Ako21's nine's were victorious for the 2,428 chip pot and $1,200.00 went out to starbob2 in eighth place.

Going into the five minute break before the 75/150 blind level here's how the chips stacked up:

Seat 2: Draughts (520 in chips)
Seat 3: Good Shuffle (1060 in chips)
Seat 4: Ako21 (2784 in chips)
Seat 5: A.Vaksman (1960 in chips)
Seat 7: patsaiyan (2560 in chips)
Seat 8: neckbr4ke (2135 in chips)
Seat 9: voodduu (2481 in chips)

Draughts would hang on to those 520 chips long enough to see two more eliminations at the hand of patsaiyan. First it was a coin flip between the short stacked Good Shuffle's pocket sevens against patsaiyan's [As][Qd]. The queen on the flop would hold up thru the [8d] [Qc] [6s] [4h] [3h] as Good Shuffle was riffled out of the tournament in seventh place ($1,700.00). Then three hands later Ako21 took aim at the hot patsaiyan after pushing for 2,034 from UTG, watch below for the results:

Bart Simpon's (Ako21) pocket eights [8c][8d] were no match for the pocket ladies [Qh][Qs] of patsaiyan as the chip leader's stack grew to 6,179 nearly triple the amount of second place A. Vaksman. Ako21 underachiever icon overachieved today earning $2,200.00 in sixth place.

The cards continued their fast and furious pace as the micro-stacked Draughts finally met the end two hands after Ako21's departure. With only 295 chips, Draughts would raise all-in on the button with [Ks][Td] and was looking good against the mega stacked patsaiyan's [7h][5d]. A five on the door of the flop said this is not your day to Draughts (who's name made this author very thirsty with every mention) as the board ran out [5s] [Js] [8h] [Ad] [8d] awarding the short stack ninja an extra thousand after finishing in fifth place ($2,735.00) instead of seventh.

voodduu said, "run good one time"

I'd say after watching the below hand is the definition of running good.

With the rivered quad twos against the pocket queens of A. Vaksman, voodduu took the 4,287 chip pot. Then on the very hand with those 4,287 chips, voodduu was able to eliminate both neckbr4ke and A. Vaksman in the same hand. A. Vaksman down to a little over a thousand chips raised to 1,050 from UTG as neckbr4ke went over the top all-in for 2,060 and voodduu made the call in the big blind covering both of their bets:

A. Vaksman [Ac][Tc]
neckbr4ke [Qc][Qh]
voodduu [As][Kh]

Again voodduu went up against pocket queens and won as the first card out of the chute paired the king and held up on the [Kd] [6d] [7h] [5d] [2d] board to eliminate A. Vaksman in fourth place (due to chip count at the beginning of the hand) who earned $3,350.00 and neckbr4ke was awarded third place ($4,500.00) as the 5,249 chip pot slid voodduu's way to set up the heads-up battle with patsaiyan.

Seat 7: patsaiyan (6024 in chips)
Seat 9: voodduu (7476 in chips)

voodduu enjoyed a slight chip lead on patsaiyan as the two would start off with 75/150 blinds but after just ten hands of heads-up play they would get their chips into the middle preflop in the hand below:

This time voodduu had the big pocket pair, but the kings [Kc] [Kh] did not hold up against the [7c][As] of patsaiyan after the flopped ace on the [3d] [Ac] [4h] [3h] [7d] board.

voodduu was left with just 1,774 chips and blinds at 100/200 after the 11,726 chip pot went to patsaiyan. The new leader would muscle with those chips taking the next three pots preflop. voodduu left with just 1,374 chips would shove holding after seeing a flop of [8s][Td][9h] exposing a gutshot straight draw to patsaiyan looking down at [Jc][8d] making the easy call considering the chip position with a pair and an open ended straight draw. The straight would fill in on the [Qs] turn, but no two outer jack came on the river for the split as the [6s] fell instead giving voodduu second place ($7,500.00).

After avoiding the evil spells of voodduu, patsaiyan took the perch on top of this month's Battle of the Planets $50,000 triple shootout earning the full $12,000.00 in the process!

$50,000 Battle of the Planets Triple Shootout Freeroll Results (08-30-09)
1. patsaiyan (Ridderkerk) $12,000.00
2. voodduu (wien) $7,500.00
3. neckbr4ke (Greifswald) $4,500.00
4. A.Vaksman (Brooklyn) $3,350.00
5. Draughts (Goleta) $2,735.00
6. Ako21 (wehr (baden)) $2,200.00
7. Good Shuffle (Harbour Breton) $1,700.00
8. starbob2 (SURESNES) $1,200.00
9. NotoriousVic (Pomona) $775.00

This is the third year that the PokerStars.net Asia Pacific Poker Tour has visited the world's gaming capital Macau, and with each visit has come more milestones and records. In 2007, it was the first No Limit Hold'em tournament to be played in the People's Republic of China. Last year, it was the largest field and prizepool ever offered in an Asian poker tournament.

For all the achievements in the past two years, the 2009 APPT lifted the bar to new heights. For the first time, the tournament was held at the stunning Grand Lisboa Hotel and Casino, and in the largest poker room in continental Asia, PokerStars Macau.

The prizepool for the 2009 APPT Macau Main Event again set a new benchmark for Asia, with the field of 429 players chasing a slice of the HKD $16,130,400 prizepool (just over USD $2 million).

But there was more to this year's event than the numbers - poker felt like it really belonged in Macau. To see a packed room of players from around the world mixing it up with increasingly skilled and competitive locals in the heart of the most prestigious casino in Macau showed that the work of the regional APPT and PokerStars teams is starting to pay handsome dividends. There's still much work to do, but the foundations have certainly been established.

Appropriately, it was a player who won his seat in a live satellite at PokerStars Macau, 25-year-old Irishman Dermot Blain, who was the last man standing after four days and more than 30 hours of play. The quietly-spoken Dubliner played the final table to perfection, mixing aggression with skill to dominate his opposition, as shown by the 8:1 chip lead he held before the heads-up duel started.

Blain prevailed at an often enthralling final table, which featured a player who encapsulated the excitement of poker in Asia, 47-year-old Daoxing Chen.
A PokerStars Macau regular who learned to play Texas Hold'em less than 12 months ago, Chen, known as "Bao Bao", brought boundless enthusiasm and an element of carnival to the final table.

He spent more time out of his seat than in it, agonised over decisions much to the frustration of his rivals, congratulated and commiserated with those same players after almost every hand and, in the end, was heart-broken that to have finished higher than second.

Chen and the scores of PokerStars Macau regulars who also took their seats in the APPT Macau Main Event are the new guard to Asian poker pioneers like Mike Kim, who finished runner-up to Blain. Kim has been a tireless advocate for poker in Asia, and played a pivotal role in the first APPT event hat was played in Macau. The 42-year-old struggled for traction at the final table and rarely held more than the 1.6 million in chips with which he started the day.

And if ever there was an indicator of poker's growing popularity throughout this continent, our fourth-place finisher, Darkhan Botabayev hails from the nation more famous for Borat than poker players: Kazakhstan.

Other noteworthy performances came from Korea's Youngshin Im, who was the top-placed female player in 15th, PokerStars Sponsored Player Van Marcus who collected a record breaking fourth APPT cash and Roger Spets, who scored his third APPT in-the-money finish.

This event also marked the international debut of PokerStars.net Team Asia, with Korean-based Dan Schreiber leading the way in 40th place (his third APPT cash). Schreiber's teammate Jonathan Lin displayed plenty of tenacity to return for day two after falling ill in the wake of his day one appearance.

It was again encouraging to see many of the world's best players supporting this event, led by Team PokerStars Pros Joe Hachem, Chris Moneymaker, Raymond Rahme and Bertrand ElkY Grospellier along with members of PokerStars.net Team Australia and numerous WSOP bracelet winners (including dual WSOP Main Event winner Johnny Chan) and major title winners.

One down, three to go - with the postponement of APPT Seoul due to construction work at the Seven Luck Casino, the next scheduled stop will be APPT Auckland for the SKYCITY Festival of Poker (October 14-18).

PokerStars Macau is also scheduled to host two major events before the end of the year - Macau Poker Cup events will be held on October 19-25 before the season-ending tournament from December 12-20, including the HKD $20,000 Main Event with a guaranteed prize pool of HKD $2 million.

We'd like to thank everyone at the Grand Lisboa Hotel and Casino for their hospitality over the past week, and on behalf of Landon Blackhall and Jenn Barr, along with the entire APPT and local PokerStars teams, farewell from Macau, China. We look forward to bringing you all the action from SKYCITY Auckland in October.

Live updates from day 3 of the PokerStars.net APPT Macau Main Event brought to you by Sean Callander and Landon Blackhall from PokerStars Macau at the Grand Lisboa Hotel and Casino. Click refresh to see the latest updates below, while the latest selected chip counts can be found by clicking here.

Level 27 (blinds 40,000/80,000, ante 5000)

9.15pm: Mike Kim eliminated in 2nd place; Dermot Blain wins APPT Macau Main Event

It was only the fourth hand of heads-up play when Irish PokerStars satellite winner Dermot Blain announced that he was all-in, after which Mike Kim leaned back in his chair, grimacing. "Okay," he muttered as he turned up [10d] [9s]. Blain stood up and rolled over [kd] [10h] to have the Korean PokerStars Sponsored Player outkicked.

Both players hit the flop of [3c] [10c] [as], but Kim would still need that nine to take the lead. Blain cupped his hands over his mouth, turned away from the table and closed his eyes, but he needn't have worried as the turn and river bricked out [js] [8s], confirming him as the 2009 PokerStars.net Asia Pacific Poker Tour Macau Main Event champion, taking home the championship trophy and a payout of HKD $4,194,000 (USD $541,081). Congratulations to Mike Kim, who takes home HKD $2,984,100 for his runner-up finish.

9pm: Daoxing Chen eliminated in 3rd place

In the biggest pot of the tournament, Dermot Blain raised it up to 220,000 from the button and Daoxing Chen called from the small blind as Mike Kim got out of the way on the big blind. The drama would then unfold on the flop which read [3h] [9c] [ac]; Chen checked, Blain opened for 350,000, Chen re-raised to 1,350,000 and Blain announced that he was all-in. Chen snap-called, rolling up [ah] [qs] but was devastated to see that Blain was ahead with [ad] [ks]. The turn and river would blank out [5h] [as] and "Bao Bao" was eliminated from the APPT Macau Main Event in third place, receiving a standing ovation from his supporters on the rail. Blain has 7,390,000 in chips and goes into the heads-up battle with an eight-to-one chip advantage against Mike Kim, who holds just 920,000. He takes home HKD $1,855,000.

8.45pm: Chen on the charge

The remaining three players have settled back into their game, but since the elimination of Darkhan Botabayev, it's been Daoxing Chen controlling the game, taking two pots from Mike Kim in quick succession. Kim raised from the small blind and Chen called from the big blind. They checked it all the way on a board that read [9c] [2h] [4c] [qc] [6d]; the [7d] [7c] that Chen tabled would be good enough to take it down. A few hands later, Chen limped in from the small blind, Kim checked from the big blind and they both checked the flop of [qs] [9s] [qc]. It would go check-check on the turn of the [5h]; Kim would then check-call Chen's bet of 150,000, only to muck after Chen tabled [ad] [jc] for top pair on the river.

8.30pm: Arce leads with five remaining

Tournament officials have wisely decided to start the final table of the APPT Macau High Roller event in PokerStars Macau with the Main Event still occupying the feature table on the Grand Lisboa Casino floor. The final table comprised:

Grant Levy 1,428,000
Neil Arce 1,153,000
Gap Young Kim 760,000
Vladimir Geshkenbein 678,000
Johnny Chan 518,000
In Wook Choi 490,000
Danny Huynh 432,000
Nicolas Wong 224,000

Already, Wong has been busted by Neil Arce when his jacks held up against A-K. In Wook Choi finished sixth, following Gap Young Kim to the rail who was the seventh-place finisher. With five players remaining, it's Arce in the lead on 2.2 million ahead of PokerStars.net Team Australia's Grant Levy (1.65 million), Vladimir Geshkenbein (700,000), Johnny Chan (520,000) and Danny Huynh (430,000).

8pm: Darkhan Botabayev eliminated in 4th place

Kazakhstan has a poker hero of its own after Darkhan Botabayev finished a stunning fourth in the APPT Macau Main Event. His tournament life was snuffed out when Daoxing Chen raised from the small to 210,000, only to have Botabayev announce he was all-in for his last 850,000 in chips from the big blind. Chen snap-called tabling [ac] [qc], well ahead of the [10d] [4d] of Botabayev. The flop of [8s] [5d] [6h] didn't improve either hand, but Botabayaev found a gutshot straight draw. He then had more outs to the flush then the [jd] appeared on the turn, but the river bricked out the [5s] and the Kazakh was KOed in third place for HKD $ 1,290,500. With that, Chen is now on 2,845,000 in chips. Dermot Blain still holds the chip lead with 3,052,000 and Mike Kim is the short stack on 1,950,000.

Live updates from day 3 of the PokerStars.net APPT Macau Main Event brought to you by Sean Callander and Landon Blackhall from PokerStars Macau at the Grand Lisboa Hotel and Casino. Click refresh to see the latest updates below, while the latest selected chip counts can be found by clicking here.

Level 26 (blinds 30,000-60,000, ante 5000)

7.30pm: Time is not on their side

The remaining four players at the final table have returned from their recent break, under a collective warning from APPT Tournament Director Danny McDonagh. They have been advised that due to the excessive length of time taken by players in their decision-making, if the trend continues they will be on the clock permanently and receive lesser time banks to act within each hand they play. That rule has been quickly applied to Daoxing Chen. Dermot Blain raised from the button before the flop to 210,000 and Chen called, going to the flop that read [6c] [jc] [7s]. Both players checked and the dealer produced the [ts] on the turn; Chen checked and Blain opened for 275,000. Chen went into his usual routine of leaning over the table to see how much was in his stack, then appeared to gather several stacks to raise before pausing again. The clock was called and Chen insta-mucked.

7pm: Champ pops by to take a look

Two all-ins - one each from Daoxing Chen and Dermot Blain - have met with no interest as the temperature starts to build at the APPT Macau Main Event final table. With 10-time WSOP bracelet winner Johnny Chan an interested spectator, Blain shoved over the top of Chen's pre-flop re-raise to 350,000 after the Irishman had made it 160,000. No clock required for "Bao Bao" this time, as he released the hand without much thought. Chen quickly regained those chips with a pre-flop all-in bet of his own to scoop up the an almost identical pot from Darkhan Botabayev. The atmosphere around the final table is one of the best we've ever experienced on the APPT, with more and more spectators joining the rail as the evening progresses. Everyone on the main gaming floor is popping over to see what all the fuss is about - poker is undoubtedly taking centre stage in Macau tonight.

6.45pm: Body punches, but no KO blows

The routine of "raise, fold" has been broken in a few small pots, mostly between Daoxing Chen and Darkhan Botabayev, including one battle of the blinds. On a flop of [7s] [2c] [5s], Chen checked to Botabayev from the small blind, Botabayev fired out 135,000 from the big blind but Chen quickly raised another 315,000. After a minute in the tank Botabayev laid it down; Chen flashed [7h] [7c] for a flopped set and raked in the pot. Dermot Blain has rarely thrown his hat into the ring against the two adversaries at the other end of the table while Mike Kim is quite happy to mostly watch on. In one hand, Kim folded to Chen on the button who raised it up to 160,000. Botabayev called from the small blind but Blain grabbed a stack of orange chips and moved them into the middle, raising it up an additional 465,000. The others mucked. That's about the best we can muster.

6.30pm: Slow, like a boat to China

Do we wish we had a girlfriend as hot as one of the Pussycat Dolls? Just one of weighty issues being discussed at the Grand Lisboa Hotel and Casino tonight as play in the APPT Macau Main Event grinds to glacial progress early in the 26th level of play. Blinds are up to 30,000/60,000 and an ante of 5000, and players have been happy to take their turn at scooping up small pots without any significant action in the past 30 minutes. Just 600,000 in chips separates the four players, with Irishman Dermot Blain on 2.4 million ahead of Daoxing Chen (2 million), Darkhan Botabayev (1.95 million) and Mike Kim (1.85 million). Could be here for a while. Botabayev, that's 107 points in Scrabble with a triple-word score and 50 bonus points.

Live updates from day 3 of the PokerStars.net APPT Macau Main Event brought to you by Sean Callander and Landon Blackhall from PokerStars Macau at the Grand Lisboa Hotel and Casino. Click refresh to see the latest updates below, while the latest selected chip counts can be found by clicking here.

Level 25 (blinds 25,000-50,000, ante 5000)

6pm: Chen agonises before folding best hand

Darkhan Botabayev has just flexed his muscle against chip leader Daoxing Chen. After Chen raised it up before the flop to 125,000 from the button, Botabayev re-raised to 375,00 from the small blind. Chen asked for a count then made the call. The flop read [8c] [9c] [5c] and Botabayev announced he was all-in for 1.4 million. Chen shot him a nasty look, asked for another count, asked to spread the pot, stood up, sat down, thought long and hard, stood up again, took his jacket off and put it on the back of his chair before sitting back down again. APPT tournament director Danny McDonagh gave him two minutes to act upon his hand. "One is enough," barked Chen in Chinese, sending the gallery into laughter. That soon turned to gasps of shock when Chen open-mucked [jc] [jh]; "Bao Bao" would have had Botabayev on the ropes if he had called as the Kazakh flashed [10h] [10d]!

5.45pm: Because you are gold, Mike Kim

With Spandau Ballet's Gold booming over the casino PA - one of those great Macau moments that smacks you between the eyes when you least expect it - the toe-tapping stopped when PokerStars Sponsored Player Mike Kim moved his last 640,000 into the middle against Darkhan Botabayev. It was the Kazakh who was in the lead with [ac] [kh] against the [kd] [10s] of Kim. The flop and turn of [2h] [5d] [6d] [5h] were of no help for the Korean PokerStars Player, but the ever-appearing [10h] spiked on the river, doubling Kim up! We're now on to Shirley Bassey - say what you like but the lady can sure belt out a tune.

5.30pm: "Bao Bao" takes a bow bow

Crowd favourite Daoxing "Bao Bao" Chen has been relatively quiet compared to his performance yesterday, but he has slowly started to play to his audience, which has perhaps helped him to forget stretching the clock on every decision. In a recent hand, he managed to take down a pot worth more than 800,000 from Dermot Blain. Blain raised it up pre-flop to 110,000 and Chen called from the big blind, then both players checked the flop of [3c] [kh] [10h]. On the turn of the [4c], Chen fired out 175,000 and Blain called; he would then call Chen's bet of 375,000 on the river [3h]. Chen tabled [jh] [8h] for the flush and Blain sent his cards into the muck. That earned Chen a round of applause from his rail, and most of the casino joined in the celebrations for the PokerStars Macau regular.