Pokerstars Sunday Million Seat T$/W$

You guys finally did it. Piggy-backing off the largest Sunday Million field seen at PokerStars (19,377 players to be exact) thanks to its bumping of the guarantee to two million this week there was a new record here as well. The $750,000 Guarantee Sunday Warm-up's attendance tonight hit 5,268 runners creating its first one million dollar prize pool ($1,053,600.00). With 765 of those players taking home a piece of the pool and creating not one but two six figure payoffs for our final two players this evening. $164,817.24 for the winner and $122,744.40 for the runner-up sat at the final table waiting to be deposited into our final two player's accounts.

To get to the final table we first had to say goodbye to 5,259 including several Team PokerStars Pros that found themselves in the money.

Team PokerStars Pro Vicky Coren saw herself in great contention for tonight's six figure days waiting at the final table. Firmly in the top ten in chips at hour seven of the tournament the wheels came off after losing a few hands. With 465,055 chips left and blinds at 20K/40K ante 4K she would push from UTG with [Ac][Ts] and find a caller in Bergmannen holding pocket nines to create a one million chip pot. The pocket pair would hold up on the [4c] [Qc] [Kd] [4h] [Qh] board to eliminate Coren in 42nd place ($2,086.12). Other Team PokerStars Pros cashing tonight include Nichoel "NicP" Peppe in 145th place ($790.20), Ruben "rubenrtv" Visser 184th place ($611.08), Gavin Griffin continuing a hot streak in 242nd ($547.87), Alexey "LuckyGump" Makarov 368th place ($431.97), Andre "acoimbra" Coimbra 469th place ($379.29), and Amanda "ROXY24" Thomas 590th place ($347.68)

While the Team PokerStars pros will not be represented at the final table, our final nine came to be after Rawhide0728 who seemed to have HitMePat's number tonight got the last of those chips. HitMePat tried steal the blinds by pushing for 1.7 million with blinds at 100K/200K ante 20K after it folded to the small blind with [7h][Jc]. But Rawhide0728 sat in the big blind and called with [Ac][Ts]. HitMePat would jump out to the lead by flopping a pair of sevens [9c] [7d] [4d] but the [Ad] hit the turn and Rawhide0728 would river two pair [Ts] for good measure to eliminate HitMePat in tenth place as the bubble boy setting up the final table below:

Seat 1: androo11 (4586206 in chips)
Seat 2: Rawhide0728 (6892804 in chips)
Seat 3: 1234palleB (3798874 in chips)
Seat 4: Reds Fan '73 (4141570 in chips)
Seat 5: smokingjoep (3391193 in chips)
Seat 6: SHOGUN1000 (7036627 in chips)
Seat 7: Le Dolce (15870352 in chips)
Seat 8: JAMES-OO7 (3722541 in chips)
Seat 9: Stenbek (3239833 in chips)

With the high starting blinds 100K/200K ante 20K moving quickly into 125K/250K ante 25K the short stacks needed find to find some love quickly. Stenbek did just that doubling thru Rawhide0728 on a bit of suckout as Rawhide0728 lead preflop with [Qh][Ah] but Stenbek's [Jh][Qs] would find a jack on the flop to win the near six million chip pot. Three hands later SHOGUN1000 would show our first final table contestant the door for ninth place money. After seeing flop of [7d] [3s] [6h] smokingjoep check his option while SHOGUN1000 tried to take down the pot with a 500K bet. But, with top pair [7h][9h] smokingjoep was going nowhere and shoved for 2.7 million. SHOGUN1000 covered and decided to call with presto [5c][5h] leaving six outs on the board. One of those hit the turn, the [4d] gave SHOGUN1000 the straight as [Th] on the river sealed up the 6.8 million chip pot and smokingjoep became a wisp of air but earned $8,428.80 in the process.

Seven hands later with the blinds still at 125K/250K ante 25K SHOGUN1000 sliced the competition down from eight to seven. Folded around to 1234palleB on the button who held [Ks][4s] and just 1.9 million in chips, there was an attempt to take the blinds by shoving. SHOGUN1000 however was perfectly situated to defend with big slick [Kh][As] and a pile of chips thus made the call. A spade did not hit the [7c] [Td] [8h] [7h] [9s] board until the river and by then it was too late and 1234palleB can count the new $13,170.00 in his PokerStars account for the eighth place finish.

Things settled down for a bit as the blinds jumped to 150K/300K ante 30K as the two big stacks of Le Dolce and SHOGUN1000 played a little game of preflop chicken that ended as a huge 25 million chip pot. Le Dolce led out UTG for 723,410 chips as SHOGUN1000 bumped it to 2.4 million. After a blink or three Le Dolce shoved for 12.3 million, back to SHOGUN1000 who had a decision as no other player at the table had more than five million chips. Were the pocket kings [Kh][Ks] of SHOGUN1000 in for a massive cooler? No, as SHOGUN1000 made the call and was relieved to see the pocket queens [Qc][Qs] of Le Dolce. Even if Le Dolce held pockets aces they wouldn't held up to the eventual quad kings offered by the [4c] [Kd] [6c] [9d] [Kc] board. Bad cooler against the wrong player and Le Dolce had to settle for seventh place ($23,706.00) while SHOGUN1000 zoomed to over 34 million with that pot and the race for second place was on.

As the blinds moved up to 200K/400K ante 40K here's how our remaining six shaped up to the mountain that is SHOGUN1000:

Seat 1: androo11 (5011416 in chips)
Seat 2: Rawhide0728 (4285942 in chips)
Seat 4: Reds Fan '73 (3246570 in chips)
Seat 6: SHOGUN1000 (34486836 in chips)
Seat 8: JAMES-OO7 (3782541 in chips)
Seat 9: Stenbek (1866695 in chips)

androo11 would trim a little off SHOGUN1000's stack with his own quad kings crushing the pocket eights of SHOGUN1000 for an 11 million chip pot. But, five hands later SHOGUN1000 retrieved several of those chips by pressuring JAMES-007 in the big blinds. In a battle of the capital letters, JAMES-007's [Ac][5h] was slightly ahead of the [Qh][Jh] of SHOGUN1000. Both players would flop pairs [Jc] [Ad] [6d] putting JAMES-007 firmly in the lead. Nothing changed on the [9h] turn but SHOGUN1000 would find one of those seven outs on the river with the [Js]. 6.4 million chips for SHOGUN1000 and sixth place money for JAMES-007 ($34,242.00). This was not JAMES-007's first five figure cash, as back in May 2008 there was a 5th place in the Sunday Second Chance for a little under $12K.

Things started moving a break-neck pace from here on out as the very next hand saw Rawhide0728 raise to 1.2 million getting a call from SHOGUN1000 on the button but Stenbek in the small blind wanted to play too and shoved for 3.3 million holding [Ad][Qd]. Rawhide0728 put on his run good shoes and made the call with [Kc][Th] as SHOGUN1000 bowed out despite holding 30 million chips and covering both by a wide margin. Rawhide0728 saddled up for the bumpy board as it was pointing in Stenbek's favor after the turn [Jc] [Js] [6c] [2c] but that deuce opened up a flush draw for Rawhide0728. [5c] indeed hit the river and sent Stenbek home in fifth place ($44,778.00) as Rawhide0728 took in the 8.5 million chip pot.

The players waited a whole three hands for the next elimination as Reds Fan'73 took a stab from the button with a very short stack of 2.4 million and 200K/400K ante 40K blinds. The suited [3s][Qs] for the Big Red Machine was no match for the [Ad][Qh] held by androo11 who made the call from the big blind. Neither player hit the [4s] [8h] [Td] [2h] [Jd] board and androo11's ace-high took the 5.2 million chip pot and awarded Reds Fan '73 with fourth place ($59,528.00).

Normally this is where the players try to sort out a deal but before anyone could even ask for Team PokerStars Pro Chris Moneymaker to check out the numbers for them there was yet another all-in and a call. Three hands after Johnny Bench and crew were sent off the final table androo11 and SHOGUN1000 knotted up for a 27.5 million chip pot. The blinds held at 200K/400K ante 40K as SHOGUN1000 led off the betting from the small blind and raised to 1.2 million and androo11 would 3-bet to 3.2 million. Undeterred, SHOGUN1000 would make the call to see the coordinated [7d] [9c] [5c] flop. SHOGUN1000 calmly checked as androo11 bet 2.9 million, SHOGUN1000 then shoved with the authority of 26.4 million behind it as androo11 made a very quick call holding pocket queens [Qc][Qd]. SHOGUN1000 hit the flop harder though as his [6c][7c] had (lemme get a calculator, multiple 85 by 243, carry the two divide by the sigma and...) yeah there's trips, flush, straight flush, straight, and two pair outs. One of those outs hit the [4c] turn but did leave hope for androo11 for a higher flush. [3d] was not one of those clubs and 27.5 million chip were added to SHOGUN1000's already huge stack as Supernova androo11 was left looking the cracked ladies and $86,922.00 earned for third place.

A 4:1 chip lead awaited SHOGUN1000 as we began heads-up play and still nary a peep about any deals so we're playing for the whole $164,817.24 tonight as they started out with the below stacks:

Seat 2: Rawhide0728 (9156027 in chips)
Seat 6: SHOGUN1000 (43523973 in chips)

Fittingly for how quickly this final table moved, so did heads-up play. Just eight hands into the final two we had our winner. SHOGUN1000 chopped Rawhide down to 6.2 million and rose to one million from the button as the blinds held at 200K/400K ante 40K. Rawhide0728 needed to make something happen and quickly, thus shoved with [5d][Kc] as SHOGUN1000 made the call holding [Qc][Js] to create a 12.6 million chip pot. Rawhide0728 looked good for a double up after the [As] [7s] [Td] flop but SHOGUN1000 had those run-good shoes on tight and the [Jd] spiked on the turn. Needing a king on the river to extend the tourney Rawhide0728 instead got an insult to injury with another jack [Jh] and earned a hefty runner-up prize of $122,744.40.

The big stack that snowballed into an even big one and didn't stop until all the chips sat in the same stack as SHOGUN1000 held all 52.6 million chips and cashed them in for the $164,817.24 first place prize. Congrats to all our cashers tonight and be sure to check out PokerStars.TV later this week for highlights on tonight's victory by SHOGUN1000.

$750,000 Guarantee Sunday Warm-up Results (01-31-10)
1. SHOGUN1000 (Santa Pola) $164,817.24
2. Rawhide0728 (San Antonio) $122,744.40
3. androo11 (Stockholm) $86,922.00
4. Reds Fan '73 (Englewood) $59,528.40
5. Stenbek (Denmark) $44,778.00
6. JAMES-OO7 (Groningen) $34,242.00
7. Le Dolce (Quebec) $23,706.00
8. 1234palleB (Oslo) $13,170.00
9. smokingjoep (Groningen) $8,428.00

A little double duty for your writing crew today here at the PokerStarsBlog. The finale of the World Bloggers Championship of Online Poker is taking place with 2,062 scribes on the virtual felt today battling it out for tickets to the 2010 Spring Championship of Online Poker or an Omaha Eight or Better player's favorite phrase SCOOP! But this multi-tasking crew is here for all the updates on the big end-of-the-month Sunday tournaments along with the weekly Sunday Majors.

Our Sit and Go champs are first up today with the $50,000 Battle of the Planets Triple Shootout. 595 players cashed in their weekly freeroll tickets to join us this afternoon for a shot at the $12,000.00 first prize in addition to the weekly contest earned thru the player's respective buy-in levels or "planet". Money on top of free money doesn't hurt the bankroll as the 81 players who survived their first table earned $195.00 and those chronicled below at the final table will walk away with at least $775.00. Not a bad booster for those who are used to playing micro limit tables.

To get to the big money we had to first trim the playing field to 81. After an hour and a half into level eight blinds at 150/300 ante 25 while there were only four tables left, table number six managed to have four players vying for a seat into the cash. Sure enough it was table six deciding the final player into the money today as ihbcney took out Thrash370 when ihbcney's [2d][Qd] out flopped the [Ad][6d] of Thrash370 as the two got their money in preflop on the [Qs] [3h] [Js] [Jc] [Ts]. Thrash added a "fml" in the chat box for the unlucky final row of cards; missing the second round by a lady today.

Team PokerStars Online Pros were shutout of the money today as Grayson "spacegravy" Physioc, Andre "acoimbra" Coimbra, and Thomas "Boku87" Boekhoff all had the price for admission but left with nothing but their name and finished number in the tournament results box.

riverkila murdered the table quickly and punched the first seat to the final table after pocket queens held up against the big slick of Stephan111 all-in preflop and had to wait while for the remaining eight showed themselves. But it was JFJO216 who grabbed the all-important ninth seat to the final table. Up against PlatinumStar respect82 both would play to the 125/250 ante 25 blind level and their chips in preflop with JFJO216 holding a near 5:1 chip lead. [Ac][Qh] for JFJO216 dominated the [Qs][Tc] of respect82 as the [Ks] [2h] [2c] [8h] [6s] board hit neither of the players as JFJO216's ace played and set up the race to the $12,000.00 shown below:

dude_whasup tried to rally the troops for chopping up the lion share of the $50,000 prize pool before the first hand was even dealt but got no takers as the PlatinumStar would have to play to win tonight. Starting off with 1,500 chips and reset blinds of 10/20 dude_whasup would take the first big pot of the final table value betting a flopped set of treys against ironOne all the way to the river and claiming the 1,190 chip pot.

Usually the elimination action doesn't heat up until the 50/100 blind level, but just four hands after dude_whasup was shipped that big pot, the last person to the final table was on the right side of a post-flop cooler. While UTG Bonsy would raise to 60 as it folded around to JFJO216 in the cutoff who flat called and saw a flop of [2s] [4h] [Qs]. Bonsy led out for 100 and JFJO216 bumped it to 300. Immediately Bonsy shoved all-in for 1,320 total and JFJO216 covered and the call with a flopped set of ducks [2h][2d]. Suddenly the pocket aces [Ad][Ah] of Bonsy looked rather limp. The limp turned into a death knell for Bonsy's chip stack at the board ran out [Th] on the turn and [9s] on the river to secure the 2,790 pot for JFJO216 and ninth place money ($775.00) for Bonsy.

The 15/30 blind level slid by without major incident but four hands into the 25/50 blind level saw short-stacked ironOne run into the brick wall of dude_whasup's chip stack. In a blind versus blind confrontation ironOne bumped it to 300 from the small blind as dude_whasup made it 250 more with a three-bet. ironOne only had 450 behind put the rest in as dude_whasup snap called with pocket rockets [Ah][Ac]. Not exactly what someone holding [Ad][Tc] wants to see as both players would hit full houses on the [As] [Jc] [7c] [Td] [Th] board, but dude_whasup's aces full beat out the tens full of ironOne who was done in eighth place ($1,200.00).

Going into the important 50/100 blind level where short-stacks would have to start trying their luck preflop with pushes here's how the chips stacked up:

Seat 1: pluisje33 (1705 in chips)
Seat 2: luckEirishmn (1840 in chips)
Seat 3: yalpstel (1340 in chips)
Seat 4: riverkila (1210 in chips)
Seat 5: JFJO216 (2530 in chips)
Seat 7: dude_whasup (2860 in chips)
Seat 8: MirAcleJuice (2015 in chips)

Another blind versus blind battle sent our seventh place finished on their way. Folded around to the small blind luckEirshmn would shove into the big blind holding [9h][Kc] hoping to take the blinds without incident. In a hand similar to ironOne's elimination luck was not on the Irish's side however as yalpstel snap called with pocket kings [Kd][Ks]. Both player were even in chips as the 1,980 chip pot would end up with the preflop favorite as the board ran out [6d] [5h] [3s] [Jd] [4d] to end luckEirshmn's night in seventh place ($1,700.00).

dude_whasup took a post-flop cooler against pluisje33 after floppeing top two pair only to be shown the flopped set from pluisje33 to knock down the once big stack of the table to chip basement. Eleven hands later with the blinds still at 50/100 dude_whasup down to just 855 in the big blind tried to take [As][7h] to victory without showdown after three-betting yalpstel's raise to 300. But, yalpstel held [Qs][Ac] and was going no place except further up the pay scale as the board ran out all low cards [2s] [4h] [4d] [3c] [6h]. The cards spoke loud and clear for dude_whasup as he exited in sixth place ($2,200.00).

riverkila tried to sneak in a plea as the short stack for a chop of the final five money right after dude_whasup's bust out, but probably felt better that the players didn't respond. riverkila went from short stack to chip leader in the final hand of the 75/150 blind level right before the break, taking [Ah][Qc] to the win over pluisje33's [Kc][Qh] on a [3d] [5d] [Js] [Jd] [7s] board for a 4,295 chip pot leaving pluisje33 with just 250 chips with the table shaping up as shown below:

Seat 1: pluisje33 (250 in chips)
Seat 3: yalpstel (3310 in chips)
Seat 4: riverkila (4295 in chips)
Seat 5: JFJO216 (2730 in chips)
Seat 8: MirAcleJuice (2915 in chips)

On the second hand after the break riverkila would finish off pluisje33 after making a small raise from UTG as pluisje33 was left with just 100 chips in the small blind and yalpstel made the call in the big blind. Both riverkila and yalpstel would check down the [6d] [Ah] [5d] [Jh] [Qc] board to reveal riverkila's [As][8c] to be the winning hand as pluisje33's hand couldn't beat the pair of aces was simply mucked the unseen hand to earn $2,735.00 in fifth place.

riverkila turned up the heat on the four-handed table with several preflop raises that went uncontested but caught a bit of a cooler with pocket tens against the pocket aces of JFJO216 that held up for a 3,610 chip pot. Two hands later JFJO216 would continue to run good finding [Kc][Qd] in the small blind and pushing all-in as MirAcleJuice made the call in the big blind with [Ks][Js]. MirAcleJuice couldn't find the magic potion of poker life on the [7d] [Ts] [4h] [3d] [Qs] board and the Juice was let loose in fourth place ($3,350.00).

As the chips smoothed out during the 125/250 ante 25 level seven blinds riverkila tried once again to play the part of politician and rally the remaining three constituents for a chop of the remaining $24,000.00 in prize money. yalpstel finally offered an three way split from $8,000 a piece but three-handed play continued as JFJO216 stayed silent.

As the blinds moved up to 150/300 ante 25 riverkila's stack got shorter and shorter on chips as JFJO216 and yalpstel's preflop raises went uncontested for several orbits. But, there was ray of light as riverkila found [Qh][Ks] on the button and pushed for 1,623 chips and yalpstel called in the big blind holding [7h][Kh]. The sunshine lasted as long as the computer took to show the [8c] [7d] [4c] flop as yalpstel found a pair of sevens to take the lead. The pair would hold on the [Ac] turn and [2d] river sending riverkila home in third place ($4,500.00).

Even after busting out riverkila tried to assist with a chop from the rail yet yalpstel and JFJO216 were intent on finishing this tourney out. Here's out they stacked up going into heads-up play:

Seat 3: yalpstel (7551 in chips)
Seat 5: JFJO216 (5949 in chips)

The stacks stayed fairly even throughout the heads-up contest as it rolled on to the 200/400 ante 50 level nine with either player chirping up for an even chop or even some friendly banter.

At one point there was four all-ins in a row but JFJO216 held tight winning two of those and chopping another while dominated as yalpstel's attempt to put away the adversary as both players took turns holding the chip lead. While nearly dead even in chips JFJO216 would take a decent sized 6,500 chip pot after rivering a pair of tens against the flopped third pair of yalpstel and never looked back. JFJO216 would win four consecutive hands ending the tournament after calling yalpstel hail mary shove from the button with only 2,104 chips left with [2s][Ks]. Holding a 5:1 chip lead and [Ac][Th] made the call an easy one as the [Qd] [5h] [4c] [5d] [4d] board complied this time with the preflop favorite and yalpstel was left to collect $7,500.00 for second place.

A little of run-good and some skill got JFJO216 into the winner's circle tonight for the entire $12,000.00 first place prize. Congrats to all of our winners this evening and throughout the month. Be sure to start collecting those SnG points for February's race to the top of your planet's leaderboard!

$50,000 Battle of the Planets Triple Shootout Results (01-31-10)
1. JFJO216 (Northampton) $12,000.00
2. yalpstel (North York) $7,500.00
3. riverkila (perth) $4,500.00
4. MirAcleJuice (elnesvågen) $3,350.00
5. pluisje33 (pannerden) $2,735.00
6. dude_whasup (Aliso Viejo) $2,200.00
7. luckEirishmn (Atlanta) $1,700.00
8. ironOne (Nybergsund) $1,200.00
9. Bonsy (Marquette) $775.00

The PCA was not just about poker. There was plenty of other stuff going on, including a golf match between Team PokerStars Pro Daniel Negreanu and some lucky freeroll qualifiers. One of them, Michael Jensen, tells the story here...

by Michael Jensen

I'm the type of golfer that'll drive the ball straight and long off the tee only to chunk the approach in the following shot. I'll drain a putt when it's for double bogey, but when it's for par, the outcome isn't quite the same. I made a birdie putt during the '07 WSOP. Gbecks can vouch for me. Finally, when there's money on the line, I'm destined to play my worst. I'm terrible under pressure. It's not that much of an issue on the green felt, but I'm a lock to choke with a club in hand with $20 on the line.

Even so, I still enjoy to play here and there and when I saw that there was to be a freeroll to play with Daniel Negreanu that was definitely something that I wanted to win. I said that I was going to practice and even get a lesson, but neither of those actually happened. I came out to the Bahamas with a pair of golf shoes that would make you think I was an actual golfer and hopes that I wouldn't embarrass myself too much.

We met up with Daniel and the other qualifiers in the lobby before we took the shuttle to the course. Ironically, Erik had knocked me out of the main event the day before. So, when he knocked me out, I said: "Ill see you tomorrow for golf."

It was a cold and windy day, but the tab was on PokerStars and it was also a good excuse to get out of the hotel. Daniel brought his caddy. I just had that nice pair of golf shoes. I had a couple nice drives followed by endless sporadic shots that went every which way but straight. I wouldn't typically mind except that it was 'cart paths only' which makes it a real drag when you spray it in the exact opposite direction of the cart path. It was exercise, I suppose.

Daniel played pretty well, but it's easier to hit it straight when your caddy is there. No worries, Daniel. I wish I had a caddy myself. Daniel hits the ball straight. Once he puts a little more into his drive, he'll be quite the golfer.

Shortly before we finished up, I yelled out a warning to Daniel. Normally he wouldn't be in harms-way, but this me playing here. I sliced it dead right and twenty feet or so over Daniel's head. That would have been one way for him to have been knocked out of the main event!

Thanks for the round, Daniel. Let's negotiate terms to play Big Two. You're a hell of a poker player, but I'm a favorite here. Maybe you'll learn a few things.

Want to take a look at the golf match with Daniel? Here it is in glorious moving pictures....

The best players from the Nordic region are about to get their due respect, and they won't have to travel far to get it.

On the eve of the PokerStars EPT Copenhagen Main event, Febraury 15, PokerStars is hosting the Nordic Poker Awards to celebrate the achievements of players from Finland, Sweden, Denmark and Norway.

Among those up for an award are Team PokerStars Pro Peter Eastgate who made the final table of EPT Deauville last Sunday and was runner-up at EPT London in October. He's up for both Best Live Tournament Player and Best Performance.

All EPT players are invited to the awards ceremony at Park Café in Copenhagen at 8pm February 15. The 2010 Award categories are Best Live Tournament Player, Best Performance, Best Online Player and Rookie of the Year.

This year's nominees include poker legend Patrik Antonius, WSOP Player of the Year runner-up Ville Wahlbeck and EPT Copenhagen winner Jens Kyllönen, as well as Norwegian EPT Grand Final finalist Dag Martin Mikkelsen.

The awards were first held on the eve of EPT Copenhagen in January 2007. Last year, hundreds of Nordic poker players and fans took part, voting for a favorite player from their country in each category.

I'm not going to pretend to even begin to understand the life that our latest WBCOOP winner leads. The man known as skllzdatklls writes the blog theskillzdatklls that, unsurprisingly promises "The tales of a SSNL poker grinder mixed with touches real life drama."

He's been writing there for a couple of years now. I'll be honest, here. I was understanding everything just fine until I got to his recent training in pick-up artistry. The blogger has a bit of the James Van der Beek thing going on, and apparently his buddies--professional pick-up artists by the sounds of it--are taking full advantage. Frankly, that's as much as I gleaned before my wife started looked over my shoulder and asking, "Why are you looking at pictures of a bunch of hot girls in Vegas?"

All of that said, last night our hero was playing some $200NL when he realized he was doing pretty well in the third event of the 2010 World Blogger Championship of Online Poker. So, he started to focus and, in his words, "owned the entire tournament."

That was a tournament that featured 1,843 of the world's bloggers fighting it out for bragging rights and thousands of dollars in tickets to the Spring Championship of Online Poker.

WBCOOP continues tonight with another NLHE event. Good luck to all the bloggers in tonight's tournament.

And congrats to skllzdatklls for his big win, and apparent ability to score in Vegas.

"It's been a long time since I rock and rolled.
It's been a long time since I did the stroll.
Oh baby, let me get back, let me get back,
Let me get back, Baby where I come from"
-Led Zeppelin

Two years. Seriously, two years! It's been that long since I have won a tournament either online or live that wasn't a sit n go or the $215 NL 2-7 single draw on Poker Stars. That's the type of thing that can really mess with someone's head. I used to be a closer. My stats in that regard were ridiculous. In fact, zeejustin posted a blog about it on his website. If I got to the final 27 of a tournament, I won almost every time. Obviously some of that was running well and some of that was playing well. I certainly didn't lose heads up. Including my win at the Borgata two years ago, I only had two 2nd place finishes in online tournaments and zero in live tournaments.

So, what happened? Did I lose it? Am I just running poorly? Am I even good at poker anymore? What am I doing wrong? Did I get cursed for joining Team Poker Stars Pro Besides that last one, these thoughts can plague all of us who play tournaments. One of the things I realized is that I wasn't putting in enough volume, live or online. I know I'm more than capable of crushing in tournaments, I just have to put in the commitment and not be lazy. Play every Sunday that I'm not playing a live event or have another commitment, and stick it out to the end. Don't give up after the first 5 tournaments bust. Play some of the smaller LA live events, they have tons of value.

Second of all, examine your game all the time. Don't get complacent. Work with the tools that are afforded to you, experiment with different playing styles, examine your hand histories after each session and see if there were some spots where you could have played better. I had let myself get confident with my game and wasn't working hard to improve all the time. It's not hard to do really. I had just won some pretty major tournaments. It's easy to presume that you don't need to get better when you've won a tournament on the three biggest tours in the world.

Finally, I realized that people are getting better at poker. Whereas I used to sit down at a table and presume people were bad until they show me that they aren't, now I play and presume people are good until they prove otherwise. I try to learn from the best players both live and online. What is moorman1 doing that I'm not doing? What is charder30 doing that I'm not doing? What is nanonoko doing that I'm not doing? How can I get to be as good or better than those guys? You can even learn from the people who aren't very good. They may still have some ideas about poker that are relevant and they misapply or they may do one thing that is useful. They can even teach you by doing something that's really bad and giving you an idea of what not to do.

I guess what it boils down to is that hard work is always a good thing and no matter what your results are, you can always get better. Players like Phil Ivey and Daniel Negreanu are trying to get better, why shouldn't I? The last thing I want to say is thank you to my wonderful fiance Amy. She puts up with me being whiny on Sundays and after live tournaments and though it's tough on her, she does her best to make me feel better after a long day of tournaments.

Gavin Griffin finally broke his not-winning streak this past weekend when he took down the PokerStars Nightly Hundred Grand.

"It's been a long time since I rock and rolled.
It's been a long time since I did the stroll.
Oh baby, let me get back, let me get back,
Let me get back, Baby where I come from"
-Led Zeppelin

Two years. Seriously, two years! It's been that long since I have won a tournament either online or live that wasn't a sit n go or the $215 NL 2-7 single draw on Poker Stars. That's the type of thing that can really mess with someone's head. I used to be a closer. My stats in that regard were ridiculous. In fact, zeejustin posted a blog about it on his website. If I got to the final 27 of a tournament, I won almost every time. Obviously some of that was running well and some of that was playing well. I certainly didn't lose heads up. Including my win at the Borgata two years ago, I only had two 2nd place finishes in online tournaments and zero in live tournaments.

So, what happened? Did I lose it? Am I just running poorly? Am I even good at poker anymore? What am I doing wrong? Did I get cursed for joining Team Poker Stars Pro Besides that last one, these thoughts can plague all of us who play tournaments. One of the things I realized is that I wasn't putting in enough volume, live or online. I know I'm more than capable of crushing in tournaments, I just have to put in the commitment and not be lazy. Play every Sunday that I'm not playing a live event or have another commitment, and stick it out to the end. Don't give up after the first 5 tournaments bust. Play some of the smaller LA live events, they have tons of value.

Second of all, examine your game all the time. Don't get complacent. Work with the tools that are afforded to you, experiment with different playing styles, examine your hand histories after each session and see if there were some spots where you could have played better. I had let myself get confident with my game and wasn't working hard to improve all the time. It's not hard to do really. I had just won some pretty major tournaments. It's easy to presume that you don't need to get better when you've won a tournament on the three biggest tours in the world.

Finally, I realized that people are getting better at poker. Whereas I used to sit down at a table and presume people were bad until they show me that they aren't, now I play and presume people are good until they prove otherwise. I try to learn from the best players both live and online. What is moorman1 doing that I'm not doing? What is charder30 doing that I'm not doing? What is nanonoko doing that I'm not doing? How can I get to be as good or better than those guys? You can even learn from the people who aren't very good. They may still have some ideas about poker that are relevant and they misapply or they may do one thing that is useful. They can even teach you by doing something that's really bad and giving you an idea of what not to do.

I guess what it boils down to is that hard work is always a good thing and no matter what your results are, you can always get better. Players like Phil Ivey and Daniel Negreanu are trying to get better, why shouldn't I? The last thing I want to say is thank you to my wonderful fiance Amy. She puts up with me being whiny on Sundays and after live tournaments and though it's tough on her, she does her best to make me feel better after a long day of tournaments.

Gavin Griffin finally broke his not-winning streak this past weekend when he took down the PokerStars Nightly Hundred Grand.

There was a time in Supernova Elite history in which we could write a story about every single player who reached the pinnacle of the PokerStars VIP Club. That time is long gone.

In 2009, 209 players achieved Supernova Elite status. Even for the Elite group, that's a lot of people. For their efforts the players receive the best benefits PokerStars has to offer.

A quick glance through the Elite files shows the top players coming in from around the world who end up as Supernova Elites for a variety of reasons.

Take, for instance, TimStone. In 2007, he graduated from college with a good degree, and worked for nine months for a company he didn't like.

"I started to search for a new challenge in a new city," he told us. "I wrote 85 applications, but got denied every single time. I realized at that time that I have lots of free time and still 500 bucks lying at PokerStars."

He worked that up to $4,000 when he decided he was going to go for broke. He was going to play for a living. He hasn't had to look back yet. Not only is he making a nice living wage, he made it to Supernova Elite.

And then there is wpr101, a man who up until last year had top secret clearance with an American defense contractor.

"I primarily worked on satellite imagery and the next generation of Army communication networks," he said.

When he wasn't doing that, he was in jujitsu training twice a week, collecting rare coins, and beating up the stock market.

So, what did he do? Yeah, he left his job, focused full time on poker, and made it to Supernnova Elite.

The man known as knifefish8 on PokerStars didn't actually decided to start working toward Supernova Elite status until June of 2009. A one-time college baseball player and criminal justice graduate, knifefish realized about midway through the year that, suprise, surprise, he was on track for a Supernova Elite finish.

"After I was done with baseball, I wanted another form of competition in my life and poker seemed like a good alternative," he said

Like knifefish8, BlGGIESMALLS (a free-styling Chicago Supernova Elite), comes from an athletic background. The hockey player is a sociology major at De Paul University who managed to live with his three best friends (all of whom don't play cards) and still managed to make it to the top level of the VIP club.

"My goals for this year are to get Elite again have another successful year at the tables, stake and coach more winning players, record some music, do some volunteering, improve my GPA, and get on the ice more," he said.

Also hailing from Chicago is Supernova Elite ZepHendrix, a 25-year-old stock trader and graduate student in analytic finance. In 2009, he switched from tournament play to cash games and discovered his 24-tabling would probably get him a long way toward becoming a Supernova Elite. It wasn't always easy.

"Basically, I like to set very lofty goals and I follow through with them almost always," he said. "I learned a lot about myself, and achieving Supernova Elite with work and school was the hardest thing I've ever done. The swings are insane and a lot of times I wanted to quit, but instead I just complained a ton (thanks to the people that put up with it) and played sub par poker. This next year I plan on changing that."

That is one thing we have learned about this year's class of Elites. While they have reached the VIP Club summit, many of them feel like they can still improve, both on and off the tables.

"I feel very grateful to be able to play poker for a living. It is something I have enjoyed for a long time--roughly five years now. However, this past year has been very draining," siad Sipernova Elite grpoker2. "I will be looking for opportunities outside of poker. Whether it is starting a small business or going back to school, I may start heading in another direction. This will be impossible to predict, and I am excited to see what opportunities may be in store. Until then, I'll be at the tables!"

Those are just a few of the stories behind the Supernova Elite Class of 2009. There are dozens more out there just like these folks who choose to stay in the shadows, rake in the money, and reap their rewards. Most of them are average, everyday Joes like the played called showtime. He's played professionally online for the past seven years.

"I spend most of my time outside of poker with my wife and dog. I try to stay in shape and just enjoy life," he said. "'I probably fit a demographic most recreational poker players would relate to away from the table. I enjoy fantasy sports, tv, video games, working out and time with the family."

That is, he's just an average guy--an average guy who will get Supernova Elite rewards for the next year.

Will you be one in 2010?

Let no one say PokerStars players don't have hearts.

With five days left to go in PokerStars' Haiti relief fundraising drive, PokerStars players have donated more than $670,000 to the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies.

As you're no doubt aware by now, PokerStars is matching every dollar of its players donations. After the first $500,000 in donations came in, PokerStars shipped $1 million to the IFRC. When the end of the month comes, another big check is going out.

Donating is easy. There are two ways you can send money for the relief effort.

And where is that money going? We asked and learned quite a bit.

So far, more than IFRC 40 flights have landed in Haiti. More than 550 tons of relief supplies have arrived on the island. More than 17,000 people have already been helped and the expectation is that another 80,000 people will get the help they need this week.

This is the largest single-country deployment in Red Cross Red Crescent history. So far, the relief workers have distributed health kits for 30,000 people across Haiti's capital. More than 1,000 people are getting emergency medical treatment every day. More than two million liters of water have already gone out from the Red Cross Red Crescent group across Port-au-Prince.

That's just a glimpse of the efforts going on in Haiti.

Again, thanks to everyone who has donated and will donate before this Sunday. Your generosity is unparalleled and more appreciated than you will ever realize.