Tomorrow sees the start of IPT Venice, a €2,000 (+ €200) buy-in tournament held in one of the most beautiful cities in the world.

Casino Ca' Noghera is the place to be, but if you can't make it you can follow all the action on our sister Italian blog. There you'll find Matteo Viola hard at work bringing you the words and photos. Don't read Italian? A small problem, you may think, but by using Google's translation tool you'll be up to speed in no time! Warning: the tool does not come with free arm-waving and wild Italian gesticulation.

Watch out for a host of big names in Venice, including the Italian faction of Team PokerStars Pro and Team PokerStars Online as they battle to repeat the trick pulled off by Luigi Pignataro, who won the title and €190,000 in the season's first event in San Marino in June.

Luigi Pignataro

Tomorrow sees the start of IPT Venice, a €2,000 (+ €200) buy-in tournament held in one of the most beautiful cities in the world. Casino Ca' Noghera is the place to be, but if you can't make it you can follow all the action on our sister Italian blog. There you'll find Matteo Viola hard at work bringing you the words and photos. Don't read Italian? A small problem, you may think, but by using Google's translation tool and you'll be up to speed in no time! Warning: the tool does not come with free arm-waving and wild Italian gesticulation.

Watch out for a host of big names in Venice, including the Italian faction of Team PokerStars Pro and Team PokerStars Online as they battle to repeat the trick pulled off by Luigi Pignataro, who won the title and €190,000 in the season's first event in San Marino in June.

Luigi Pignataro

A handful of Team PokerStars players participated in the Super Tuesday tournament, however none lasted long enough to make the money. Team PokerStars PRO Veronica "princesa" Dabul was the last member of Team PokerStars with chips, eventually finishing 63rd, two tables short of the money.

The final table bubble was burst on in a hand between chip leader Peetoon and alwaysnice. Peetoon made a raise from UTG +1 to 12,500 as alwaysnice called from the big blind. The flop came down [8d][5c][4d] with alwaysnice check-raising Peetoon's 17,500 bet to 56,000 as Peetoon made the call. The [5h] on the turn had alwaysnice moving in for their final 152,653 with Peetoon making the call with [qh] [qd]. Alwaysnice wasn't feeling so nice, revealing [ad][8s], when the [Jh] came on the river meaning a 10th place finish, good for $6,030. The final table was at table 27 with play resuming at level 30, with blinds at 2,800/5,600 and a 700 ante:

Seat 1: anybodybut17 (102808 in chips)
Seat 2: D0N4LdO (177436 in chips)
Seat 3: thechips55 (97926 in chips)
Seat 4: justcall6969 (282654 in chips)
Seat 5: tonyton55 (84021 in chips)
Seat 6: Peetoon (671915 in chips)
Seat 7: SHIP_IT.NET (148609 in chips)
Seat 8: Altrum Altus (366467 in chips)
Seat 9: foolflash (78164 in chips)

Justcall6969 eliminates two for Tuesday

The final table went just five hands before the first elimination as D0N4LdO 4-bet all-in their last 112k with [9s][9d] with justcall6969 calling with [Ad][Kh]. The [Jc] [As] [Th} flop moved justcall6969 into the lead. D0N4ldO was unable to retake the lead as the turn and river went [2c][8c], earning $7,035 for a ninth place finish. A few hands later, justcall6969 added to their stack by calling thechips55's UTG shove with [Kc][Qc] with[As][Qd]. The board ran out [8d] [6s] [4d] [4h] [4c], leaving thechips55 without chips, collecting $9,648 for an eighth place finish.

Three-way all-in, anybodybut17 sent packing

Play had moved to level 31 with blinds at 3200/6400 with an 800 ante as the action at the Super Tuesday final table didn't slow down. as the three shortest stacks -- foolflash, anybodybut17 and tonyton55 put all of their chips in the middle before the flop. Tonyton55 had the other two players covered, as well as having the best hand: [kc][kd] with anybodybut17 holding [qc][qs] and foolflash holding [th][9s]. The [4s] [8d] [8c] flop was good for tonyton55, but the [7d] gave foolflash an open-ended straight draw. The [Jh] on the river moved foolflash from worst to first with a runner-runner straight, as Anybodybut17 was eliminated in seventh place for $13,668.

Peetoon pockets pair of protagonists

Play slowed down as the remaining six players stole blinds and antes for several hands. However, Peetoon would retake the chip lead from justcall6969, first disposing of tonyton55's stack when Peetoon's [7d][7h] held up against [As][Jc] as the board ran out [8h] [4s] [2h] [2s] [4d], leaving tonyton55 with a sixth place finish with $17,688 appearing in their account. On the very next hand with blinds now at 3,600/7,200 with a 900 ante, Peetoon opened with a raise, as foolflash moved in from the big blind for last 129,492 with [Ad][3c]. Peetoon made the call with a dominating [as][8s]. The flop was [9c] [Tc] [8d], the [Qh] gave foolflash hopes for a chop with a Jack, which disappeared when the [4c] appeared on the river instead. Foolflash finished in fifth place, earning $22,914 for the effort.

Altrum Altus sent to rail by Ace
Altrum Altus started the final table second in chips, but the chip stack was moving in the wrong direction when their final hand happened. Altrum Altus made a raise to 14,600 with justcall6969 and Peetoon both calling from the blinds. The flop of [Ts][Qh][4h] had Peetoon bet 24,000, followed by Altrum Altus shoving for 161,458 holding [Ks][Kd]. Justcall6969 folded while Peetoon made the call with [ah][5h]. The call was rewarded when the turn brought the [Ad], with the [3d] river meant Altrum Altus leaving the virtual table in fourth place, cashing for $33,165.

Fortunate five favors SHIP_IT.NET

Play was now three-handed with Peetoon and justcall6969 holding most of the chips, while SHIP_IT.NET was down to just over 100,000 as the players wanted to discuss a deal. It took some time for someone to help with the numbers while play continued. SHIP_IT.NET moved in with [5d][5c] over justcall6969's raise, making the call with [Ac][9c]. The flop of [3s][ad][7d], along with the [2c] turn left few outs available. Fortunately, the river was the [5h] as SHIP_IT.NET doubled up to over 250,000 in chips, still in third, but hoping to make his move.

A deal is made, a tournament is finished

During the :55 minute hourly break, a PokerStars representative appeared at the table to negotiate a deal among the remaining players. Here's how the chip stacks looked, along with the adjusted figures if a deal was made:

Peetoon 877,266 $65,366.70
justcall6969 791,198 $62,615.89
SHIP_IT.NET 341,536 $52,314.40

SHIP_IT.NET stated he would rather have $55,000. Peetoon was reluctant to contribute, while justcall6969 countered to give $1,500. That wasn't enough for SHIP_IT.NET's needs, and after a few minutes, justcall6969 decided to give SHIP_IT.NET the $2,685.60 needed to complete the deal, and all three quickly agreed left to play for TLB points and bragging rights.

The trio played another 25 hands before deciding to end the tournament by going all-in every hand. On the first hand, SHIP_IT.NET won the first hand when his [kh][5d] outflopped Peetoon's [aC] [9h] and justcall6969's [8h][3h] to take the lead. The second hand saw Peetoon turn a straight, eliminating justcall6969 in third for $59,930.30. The final hand of the tournament had SHIP_IT.NET waking up with [jd][jc] while Peetoon held [Ah][3d]. The chance of a double-up didn't happen, with the final five cards dealt being [2h] [5s] [2d] [Kd] [Qd], giving Peetoon the second place finish, but pocketing the most money, $65,366.70. That leaves SHIP_IT.NET with the Super Tuesday victory, good for $55,000.

Super Tuesday Results for 07/27/10:

1st place: SHIP_IT.NET (Norristown) - $55,000.00*
2nd place: Peetoon (Minsk) - $65,366.70*
3rd place: justcall6969 (Woodstock) - $59,930.30*
4th place: Altrum Altus (Sioux City) - $33,165
5th place: foolflash (The Zoo) - $22,914
6th place: tonyton55 (Lansing) - $17,688
7th place: anybodybuy17 (Charlotte) - $13,668
8th place: thechips55 (Penn Valley) - $9,648
9th place: D0N4LdO (Bookham) - $7,035

* Payouts adjusted for 3-way deal.

And then there was the Sunday Million, the biggest guarantee in online poker's weekly offerings. With its standard buy-in of $200 + $15, the guarantee was set at $1.5 million, and players couldn't have been more anxious to take a chance at it. That resulted in a registration number of 8,319, which prompted the prize pool to grow to $1,663,800.00. As the tournament moved forward, the top 1,260 players were paid for their efforts, and the final table neared after a few more hours.

Finally, it was during hand-for-hand action that marlin5555 put his tournament on the line with an all-in move for 2,703,411 chips. Original raiser B Buddy folded, but dehoo called from the big blind with [Ad][9d]. Marlin5555 showed [Ac][Tc] for the chance to double-up, but the [8c][Qs][Ah][9h][2c] board did not agree. The two pair eliminated marlin5555 in tenth place, for which he was awarded $8,818.14.

B Buddy making no friends, only taking names

It was about 15 minutes shy of the ten-hour mark of the tournament that the final table was set, and it happened in the middle of Level 35, with blinds at 200,000/400,000 and a 40,000 ante. The starting chip counts were as follows:

Seat 1: nenita02 (2,691,048 in chips)
Seat 2: BarneyR2005 (12,323,682 in chips)
Seat 3: BWFCLEE (3,469,267 in chips)
Seat 4: Cukbandit (4,317,891 in chips)
Seat 5: dehoo (17,750,105 in chips)
Seat 6: RonaldKosh (13,404,071 in chips)
Seat 7: bostero27 (5,798,694 in chips)
Seat 8: kirbyi17 (2,479,980 in chips)
Seat 9: B Buddy (20,955,262 in chips)

B Buddy came on strong as action got underway, as it only took a few hands for the chip leader to grab another 15 million chips from dehoo. Soon after, B Buddy neared the 30 million chip range to solidify that lead.

But it was one of the shorter stacks who chose to get involved next. BWFCLEE made the decision to risk 2,809,267 chips with [Ac][Qc] preflop, and original raiser BarneyR2005 called with [Ts][Th]. The race was on until the [Tc][As][8s] flop hit to give BarneyR2005 the set of tens. The [7s] on the turn changed nothing, and the [Qd] on the river was too little too late for BWFCLEE, who finished the tournament in ninth place with $12,894.45.

A few rounds later, another battle between dehoo and B Buddy ensued, as the two got involved to see the flop of [8c][9c][5s]. Dehoo was the first to bet, and B Buddy check-raised. Dehoo responded with an all-in move for 9,513,105 chips, and B Buddy made the call with [Ah][9h] for top pair. Dehoo showed [Qc][Tc] for the flush draw, but the [5h] turn and [2d] left him still waiting. And the eighth place prize of $18,301.80 was awarded to dehoo.

One of the original short stacks, kirbyi17, saw his stack cut in half during the first few rounds of action, and the all-in move came for his remaining 1,079,980 chips from the small blind with [Kc][8d]. B Buddy was in the big blind and made the call with only [3s][2s], but the flop came [4d][5c][Ad] to give him the straight. The board completed with [Ac] and [Qs], and that eliminated kirbyi17 in seventh place with $33,276.00.

Play was moving along at a fairly rapid pace thus far, and it wasn't letting up. Bostero27 moved all-in preflop for just less than 2 million chips, and nenita02 called with [Ac][Tc], which dominated the [As][4d] of bostero27. The board was a rather uneventful [2d][8h][8s][7c][8d], and that sent bostero27 packing in sixth place, which was worth $49,914.00.

No deal to see here, just keep it moving

Talks of seeing chip-chop numbers were quickly squashed when B Buddy, who then had more than 40 million chips, explained succinctly that he was not interested in a deal. With that, they moved on.

But everyone didn't move on for long. Cukbandit was down to little more than 1 million chips and pushed it preflop with [As][4h]. BarneyR2005 called from the big blind with [7c][4c] and hit the flop immediately when it came [7d][Td][Jd]. That pair of sevens held as the [Jc] turned and the [3h] rivered to end the hand. Cukbandit was gone in fifth place with $66,552.00.

And in the time it took to write up the last hand, another all-in was in progress. RonaldKosh made a big push preflop with [Ac][9s] and 8,094,071 in chips. BarneyR2005 called from the big blind with [7d][7s]. Another race was on, but the [8s][3s][7c] put the kibosh on that by giving BarneyR2005 the set of sevens. The [5d] and [2s] completed the hand, and RonaldKosh was sent off in fourth place with $83,190.00.

Striking distance

The last hand put BarneyR2005 within close striking distance of B Buddy, and the gap quickly closed as the two battled for the chip lead. It was the first time during final table action that B Buddy had someone to worry about.

And a short while after, the following hand resulted in a change of the lead:

RSS readers click through to see replay

Still in swift play mode, a big hand developed that started with B Buddy raising all-in and nenita02 calling all-in for 5,701,838 chips. B Buddy showed only [5d][3d], and nenita02 dominated with [Ks][Js]. But B Buddy caught a five on the [4c][8c][5s] flop, and the [Ac] turn and [9h] allowed that pair to stand. Nenita02 went out in third place with $124,785.00.

How the table turns so quickly

The two players were heads-up before the 10.5-hour mark, and it was BarneyR2005 on top as the chip counts showed:

Seat 2: BarneyR2005 (43,831,754 in chips)
Seat 9: B Buddy (39,358,246 in chips)

The battle ensued and found both players taking the chip lead at various points during the match, but BarneyR2005 refused to let up on the aggression. Finally, with BarneyR2005 holding more than 70 million of the chips in play, B Buddy took a chance with [Ah][7s]. BarneyR2005 called with [9d][7d], and the board came [9h][Ks][7h][4d][4c] to give BarneyR2005 the best two pair. That left B Buddy eliminated in second place with $178,858.50.

BarneyR2005 claimed victory in the July 25th edition of the Sunday Million, and the reward was $244,749.39 and the coveted title.

Sunday Million Results for 07/25/10:

1st place: BarneyR2005 ($244,749.39)
2nd place: B Buddy ($178,858.50)
3rd place: nenita02 ($124,785.00)
4th place: RonaldKosh ($83,190.00)
5th place: Cukbandit ($66,552.00)
6th place: bostero27 ($49.914.00)
7th place: kirbyi17 ($33,276.00)
8th place: dehoo ($18,301.80)
9th place: BWFCLEE ($12,894.45)

For more information on ways to register and qualify for upcoming Sunday Million tournaments, visit the Sunday Million page.

Task cracked

Taska85 was sitting on the bubble with a comfortable 2.7 million in chips and facing a 345,000 raise from muezzo with the blinds at 80K/160K ante 16K. Looking down at ace-jack [Jh][Ac] and figuring muezzo for a button steal Taska85 would go all-in as muezzo had slightly less chips but a higher kicker [Qh][As] and made the call. An all low board drizzled out [5s] [6s] [7h] [2c] [8d] and Taska85 was chopped down to 111,122 chips. Those scraps were eaten up by APZ19 who's [8s][9d] would beat out the [Kh][6h] leaving Taska85 off the final table in tenth place ($8,000.00)

Seat 1: muezzo (5345152 in chips)
Seat 2: coNNBoyle (13838222 in chips)
Seat 3: knif1807 (6463144 in chips)
Seat 4: APZ19 (5896874 in chips)
Seat 5: growby (10284413 in chips)
Seat 6: sgc0458 (796679 in chips)
Seat 7: naka34 (1937084 in chips)
Seat 8: pain-bg (3366390 in chips)
Seat 9: mossified84 (5535042 in chips)

mossifed84 got the race for the AudiTT going in a hurry by doubling-up off growby in the final table's very first hand for an 11.2 million chip pot with blinds starting off at 80K/160K ante 16K.

Feeling the pain

It would take two full levels (100K/200K ante 20K) before our first elimination which seemed to open the gates of several others wanting to leave quickly tonight. sgc0458 had only 706,716 chips in early position, made the most of them by open shoving with pocket eights [8c][8h]. pain-bg two seats over would re-shove and covered holding big slick [Kh][Ac]. A king on the door [Kc] [5h] [Qh] [6c] [7d] on sgc0458's night was over in ninth place ($10,000.00).

And they all come tumbling down

Four hands later muezzo was sitting UTG with just 1.1 million in chips holding a medium suited ace [Ah][8h] and shoved. Chip leader coNNBoyle was not make a big stack call here after matching the bet and turning over pocket rockets [Ad][Ac]. Slight scare on the [6h] [Ts] [Qh] flop gave muezzo some breath of life for the nut flush, [9s] on the turn opened up some straight outs. But the [5c] river was not the right five and muezzo buzzed off in eighth place ($12,500.00).

You been... MOSS-IF-IED

As a Minnesota Viking's fan my heart broke a little bit seeing number 84 get shuffled off to the New England Patriots but much like the talented wide receiver mossifed84 showed he can race with anyone. The very next hand after muezzo left, mossified84 re-shoved on the all-in bet of naka34 holding pocket jacks [Js][Jd]. naka34 could only turn up an over card [Kd][Ts] and was unable to connect at all with the [2c] [9h] [3d] [2s] [6d] board ending his night in seventh place ($15,000.00).

Done with the all-in's? I think not

Just another three hands later, and one hand after APZ19 doubled up off mossified84, knif1807 and pain-bg went toe-to-toe preflop for a 7.4 million chip pot. Watch the results below:

RSS readers click through to see replay

Big slick [Ad][Kd] for knif1807 and pocket tens [Tc][Ts] for pain-bg. King on the flop and an unnecessary ace on the river [8h] [Jd] [Kc] [3d] [As] directed those 7.4 million chips to knif1807 as pain-bg limped from the final table with an extra $17,500.00 finishing in sixth place.

Jackedy Jack Don't Talk Back

On the very next hand, the biggest pot of the tournament played out with coNNBoyle and knif1807 both holding over 14 million in chips with blinds at 100K/200K ante 20K. Both would be all-in preflop with coNNBoyle just holding 300K more in chips. Watch the 29 million chip pot play out below:

RSS readers click through to see replay

coNNBoyle: [Jd][Jc]
knif1807:[Qc][Qs]

In one of those jaw-dropping flops BOTH coNNBoyle's outs would hit [Jh] [Js] [2s] [7d] [3s] giving him quad jacks as knif1807's 989:1 shot did not come with running queens and thus a very expensive bad beat story in fifth place ($20,000.00).

A moment to exhale

After that block of all-ins and eliminations, the final four would actually part thru three levels reaching the 175K/350K ante 35K before asking another person to leave the table. mossified84 would lose some steam four-handed and was down to 6.4 million chips while trying to make something happen with a three-bet shove in the big blind over growby's small blind raise to 1.05 million. growby with nine million chips called the massive raise with [Jd][8d] as mossified84 was slightly ahead holding [Ks][Tc], live cards for all until two jacks fell on the flop for growby [Jc] [Jh] [2s]. mossified84 could not find running cards on the [4s] turn and [Ac] river to catch up and the Randy Moss fan was out in fourth place ($25,000.00).

Straight outta here

We would move our three-handed table into the ninth hour of play and blinds at 200K/400K ante 40K with the chip stacks fairly even (coNNBoyle - 20.6 million, growby - 18.9 million, and APZ19 - 13.8 million). Chop talks started and stopped several times but never got enough legs to stop the tournament. growby would led out for a three time the BB raise from the button as APZ19 would call from the big blind. [Jh] [5h] [6s] flop and both players checked. APZ19 would check the turned [7s] as growby bet two million and was called. On the rivered [4s] completing a flush draw, APZ19 would shove for 10.6 million. After turning the nut straight [9c][8c] growby had a decision for a big chunk of his stack and made the right call as APZ19 turned up the [As] but the second card was a club [5c] finishing APZ19's day in third place ($30,000.00) as heads-up play would commence for the Audi TT.

Host YbrahimC here but not needed yet

Heads-up play would start with connBoyle slightly down 20.4 million to growby's 33 million and blinds at 200K/400K ante 40K. The players would summon Host YbrahimC to the tables but were unable to get enough traction to stop the clocks for a deal. As the players moved through that level and the 225K/450K ante 45K level without a winner but the chip stacks becoming dead even for nearly the entire level.

A new host, but old rules

As the players tried to chop up the beautiful car you see above in to smaller pieces, Host Tanner came on to explain that the car cannot be a part of the chop talks and only the $100,000.00 left in the prize pool was open for discussion. They both agreed to a five-minute break as the cards went back into the air without a deal in place.

Looked up and it was over

growby was looking to take over the race to the Audi TT holding a sizable lead of 36.2 million to 17.2 million and the nug nuts holding the tires in place fell off. First, growby would raise to two million as the blinds were capped at 250K/500K ante 50K and coNNBoyle wasted no time in shoving for 17.1 million holding big slick [Ad][Kd]. growby thought for a few moments and made the call with a dominated [Kc][Qs]. They would both pair their king but the ace kicker played on the [2s] [2d] [Ks] [7c] [Tc] board and 34.4 million chips slid to coNNBoyle. Two hands later growby again led out for two million as coNNBoyle again shoved as growby made the call holding [Qh][8h]. Pocket tens for coNNBoyle was out in front and made a big leap when a third ten appeared on the flop [7c] [Td] [Kh]. No heart or potential straight card on the turn [8c] meant the Audi TT was going to be shipped to coNNBoyle along with the $60,000.00 first prize!

Congrats to all of our 5,000 cashers this evening and hope you will be back next month the next $1 Million Turbo Takedown.

$1 Million Turbo Takedown Results (07-25-10)
1. coNNBoyle (Williamsburg) $60,000.00 + Audi TT
2. growby (Burgas) $40,000.00
3. APZ19 (Grimsby, UK) $30,000.00
4. mossified84 (las vegas) $25,000.00
5. knif1807 (Offenburg) $20,000.00
6. pain-bg (Plovdiv) $17,500.00
7. naka34 (spain) $15,000.00
8. muezzo (Cumbria) $12,500.00
9. sgc0458 (stoney creek) $10,000.00

87 is 86'd

Bubble time and the difference between a potential six figure payday and a $5K consolation prize awaits. LVSEO would lead out UTG for 328,000 as the blinds just moved up to 80K/160K ante 16K, folded around to ATHIED87 on the low end of the chip count in the big blind holding [Ks][9c] he would shove for 1.7 million. Costing of the stack LVSEO would calm cut the chips out and made the call with big slick [Kc][Ah]. No nine for ATHIED87 came down the [4c] [Qs] [2c] [Qh] [7c] board and our final table was set as ATHIED87 took down $5,118.00 in tenth place.

Seat 1: BigFlopper01 (9933184 in chips)
Seat 2: BFGI800 (2620584 in chips)
Seat 3: Ivan MC 2007 (4832073 in chips)
Seat 4: AB1001 (3262380 in chips)
Seat 5: Patonius2000 (6691895 in chips)
Seat 6: LVSEO (5350831 in chips)
Seat 7: strflushtome (3079193 in chips)
Seat 8: drew5927 (4621150 in chips)
Seat 9: Sick´nSocial (2258710 in chips)

Not very social

Sick' nSocial was sitting with the least amount of chips at tonight's Sunday Warm-up final table with just over ten big blinds as the first hand was folded to him in the cutoff holding a small suited ace [2d][Ad]. Sick' nSocial would shove those 2.2 million chips in as BigFlopper01 on the button held a big hand, pocket jacks [Jd][Js], and quickly made the call. No wheel and no diamonds found their way onto the [Ks] [Ts] [6h] [8s] [3h] board and Sick' nSocial left the table gracefully in ninth place ($6,824.00).

We're going with grabbing a four-pack of Red Bull

Team PokerStars Pro Barry Greenstein dropped by for hosting duties tonight and quipped during the hourly five minute break "I'm going to take a five minute break let me know what happens". Hour nine had eight players still vying for the six figure payday and BigFlopper01 holding a sizable lead as the table's only player over ten million in chips as Patonius2000 at eight million and drew5927 were the closest competitors.

No straight, no flush, no chips

Back from the break at blinds up to 100K/200K ante 20K, Patonius2000 led out from the cutoff for 442,568 as strflushtome would shove from the small blind holding [Ah][Td] for 1.9 million chips. drew5927 folded the big blind as Patonius2000 had a suited big slick [Ad][Kd] and eased by the five cards across the middle [3h] [2c] [9d] [7s] [Qs] and collected the 4.2 million chip pot without incident. strflushtome was unable to catch a ten and took home $10,662.50 in eighth place.

Big Bully

Crippled in a five million chip preflop coin flip against LVSEO, Ivan MC 2007 was down to just 806,534 chips in the small blind and facing a raise from BigFlopper01 that would but put him all-in. Holding [6c][Ac] Ivan MC 2007 would shove those chips into the middle as BigFlopper01 made the math call holding [7h][Js]. Watch the "I knew it would hit the river" video below:

RSS readers click through to see replay

The eight indeed would hit the [5d] [Th] [9d] [3h] [8c] river giving BigFlopper01 the straight, the two million chip pot, and forcing Ivan MC 2007 to take the party elsewhere in seventh place ($19,192.50).

Nancy Drew Mystery Solved: BigFlopper01 did it

The rich got richer as drew5927 with just 1.6 million chips, open shoved holding a modest [4s][Ks] but BigFlopper to the direct left held a not-so-modest [As][Jh] made the quick call. A trail of cards [Qs] [6c] [Td] [6d] [5c] led the chips to their rightful owner as BigFlopper acquired another pelt and drew5927 became the next victim of the seemingly unstoppable chip leader and left with hammerific score ($27,722.50) in sixth place. July has been good for drew5927 as just two weeks ago he notched together a final table at the Sunday Million finishing 5th for a $63,000.00 score.

We're still playing for $133,818.64 right?

Just three hands later with the blinds moving up to 125K/250K ante 25K LVSEO and AB1001 would mix it up preflop. LVSEO spammed the five key for a 555,555 chip raise as it folded to AB1001 in the big blind who would shove for 1.8 million chips holding pocket nines [9h][9s]. LVSEO started the hand with over 11 million chips and had plenty to make the call holding pocket tens [Th][Td]. Lots of broadway cards found the [Ac] [4h] [Jh] [Kd] [As] board as LVSEO's tens held and AB1001 was done in fifth place ($36,252.50).

Court Full of Kings

As the blinds just moved up to 150K/300K ante 30K LVSEO would raise to 666,666 as BigFlopper01 bumped it to 1,555,555. Patonius2000, who was unable to gain traction tonight, was down to 5.9 million and shoved those chips in. LVSEO was undeterred and re-shoved for 15 million as BigFlopper01 left the tax for the re-steal on the felt and folded. Watch the video below for the results:

Not needed LVSEO would hit the other two kings in the deck [2d] [2h] [Kh] [Ks] [7d] for quad kings [Kd][Kc] as pocket nines [9c][9d] were not lucky for the holder once again and Patonius2000's night ended in fourth place ($48,194.50). This was Patonius2000 second big score of 2010, after taking runner-up honors at the 2010 SCOOP $2,100 PLO Event #11 and earned $75,000.00

Squeezed out

Sitting in-between two huge stacks, BFGI800 had nowhere to run and a shortened stack of just 1.6 million chips after paying the big blind and was facing a raise from BigFlopper01 for the remainder of his stack. Heads-up [Ah][3s] looked really good at that moment so BFGI800 would make the call and saw that [9d][Ad] twinkling above BigFlopper01's name. Neither player would match their kicker on the [Th] [Js] [5d] [2s] [8s] board and heads-up play was about to begin after BFGI800 received $70,372.50 in third place.

Shotgun marriage of money

Do you? I do.

Do you? I do.

And so it was done, no fuss as LVSEO gave up a little and the chop nuptials were signed. With LVSEO in a slight lead 25 million to BigFlopper01's 17 million, they both took six figure paydays shown below:

LVSEO $113,192
BigFlopper01 $110,000

The wheels come off quickly

On the seventh hand of heads-up play LVSEO opened up the lead to 27 million over BigFlopper01's 15 million as both would flip preflop for a 30.3 million chip pot. BigFlopper01's pocket fours [4h][4s] would survive on the [Qs] [9s] [5c] [3s] [Th] board over LVSEO's [Ad][6h] as LVSEO was knocked down to 12.3 million chips. Five hands later we would name this week's Sunday Warm-up champion and award the extra $10,000. With a flop of [2c][3c][2h] both players would get their chips in the middle, watch it play out below:

RSS readers click through to see replay

LVSEO laid the trap perfectly with pocket rockets [Ah][Ad] as BigFlopper01's top pair [3d][7d] could only hope for one of two treys in the deck.

Turn card: [3h]

Did not wait for a dramatic river as the three gave BigFlopper01 the lead and the resuck would not hit [9c] giving BigFlopper01 the final 24.6 million chips and the extra $10,000.00 as this week's Sunday Warm-up champion! BigFlopper01 laminated about being the chip leader of the Sunday Million two weeks ago on the same final table with 6th place drew5927 and finishing in 9th for $11,625.00, BigFlopper01 will not have to worry about that missed shot any longer after taking down $120,000 tonight.

Be sure to check out PokerStars.TV for the Sunday Wrap show later on this week for commentary and hole cards revealed from tonight's big hands.

$750,000 Guarantee Sunday Warm-up Results (07-25-10)
(* denotes part of two-way deal)
1. BigFlopper01 (Vancouver) *$120,000.00
2. LVSEO (Henderson) *$113,193.14
3. BFGI800 (Karlovi -Vari) $70,372.50
4. Patonius2000 (Las Vegas) $48,194.50
5. AB1001 (Breda) $36,252.50
6. drew5927 (stumptown) $27,722.50
7. Ivan MC 2007 (Monaco) $19,192.50
8. strflushtome (ENSCHEDE) $10,662.50
9. Sick´nSocial (Leipzig) $6,824.00

One Team PokerStars Pro and two Team PokerStars Online players were in action today. Joep "Pappe_Ruk" van den Bijgaart, Grayson "spacegravy" Physioc, and Diego "vgreen22" Brunelli all cashed in their tickets for their work on the SnG's this month. Bijgaart and Brunelli would both get down to heads-up play at their first table of five-handed play and both would fall just short of cashing. BcuziGotHiGh took out Brunelli with a 5,131 to 2,369 chip advantage and getting [Jd][Ad] to hold over the [9h][Kh] of the Team Online player, all-in preflop. Joep was all-in preflop at a bigger disadvantage holding [4d][As] to shturmanas' [9c][Ac] and watched two nines spill out on the [9s] [Jc] [Tc] [9d] [Ah] board to end his day.

Grayson had other ideas however as he would carry the Team Online flag forward to the next around after his heads-up opponent gustavctba tried to slow play aces after flat calling a min raise preflop with the two in a near dead heat in chips. After the coordinated [6s][9d][5d] flop gustavctba checked to trap as Physioc led out for 400. gustavctba would shove immediately and Physioc covered him by only a few chips and called just as quickly turning up the flopped straight [7h][8s] and after the [Ks] turn, 81 players would start up round two of the triple shootout.

simpledude16 would claim the first seat to the final table very quickly while Physioc got down to three-handed play with boobySMILES and ParalllyTisT. It took some short-stacked wizardry to get to that point as Grayson had only 600 chips with 75/150 blinds but managed to grind his way back over 2,000 when he caught pocket fours [4h][4d] on the button and shoved for 2,130 total. ParalllyTisT however was waiting in the big blind with jacks [Jh][Js] and quickly sent the Team PokerStars Online player home in 19th place ($195.00) after a [8d] [7h] [9d] [7c] [5d] paintless board came down.

At Table One where the final nine would reconvene, reza_proton and zachfranks squared off for that final seat and a sizable difference in pay. It would take a nasty beat to determine the winner, watch it play out below:

RSS readers click through to see replay

Cracked aces again, this time it was zachfranks' [Ad][As] going down to reza_proton's flopped set of nines [9d][9s] on the [5c] [2d] [9h] [6d] [Qs] board and our final table was set up below:

Seat 1: reza_proton (1500 in chips)
Seat 2: Wyldemavrick (1500 in chips)
Seat 3: simpledude16 (1500 in chips)
Seat 4: Bilesy (1500 in chips)
Seat 5: ParaIIIyTisT (1500 in chips)
Seat 6: eSPoNJa.WZ (1500 in chips)
Seat 7: buhtuk12 (1500 in chips)
Seat 8: NeoNyx7 (1500 in chips)
Seat 9: MarinaFrank (1500 in chips)

Rome was built quicker than this
In one of the stranger deals seen at the Battle of the Planets Triple Shootout, the players decided to take a chip chop deal instead of dividing the remaining prize pool nine ways. reza_proton wanted a few extra hundred as the other eight finally found a way to give it to him after 15 minutes of negotiations. See the fruits of their labor below:

simpledude16 $5,258.78
ParalllyTisT $4,285.41
eSPoNJa.WZ $4,245.52
MarinaFrank $3,931.14
buhtuk12 $3,901.14
NeoNyx7 $3,888.20
Bilesy $3,555.41
reza_proton $3,500.01
Wyldemavrick $3,394.39

It would dissolve into a shove-fest as the other players slowly got the message that buhtuk12 was going to shove every hand as he would take out reza_proton, Wyldemavrick, and Bilesy on the first hand after the chop with an ace on the river [5h] [4s] [4d] [7d] [As] while holding [Ah][Js].

The skillful negotiator simpledude16 who got the largest piece of the pie exited in sixth shortly after as buhtak12's [9c][Jd] ran down his [9s][Ac] when a jack flopped and runners gave buhtak12 a boat [8s][Qs][Jc][9h][9d].

NeoNyx7 would trim the party's field to one left after taking buhtuk12's chip lead after the hand below and constant shoving without losing until ParallyTisT, buhtuk12, and MarinaFrank finally raised the white flag and ended the all-in fest to its conclusion.

RSS readers click through to see replay

Congrats to all our final table players in taking away something for nothing, and be sure to start the hunt for next month's Battle of the Planets Triple Shoot freeroll tickets!

$50,000 Battle of the Planets Triple Shootout Freeroll Results
(*All players were part of nine-way chip count chop)
1. NeoNyx7 (Запорожье) *$3,888.20
2. buhtuk12 (Riga) *$3,901.14
3. MarinaFrank (Тверь) *$3,931.14
4. ParaIIIyTisT (Омск) *$4,285.41
5. eSPoNJa.WZ (Valparaiso) *$4,245.52
6. simpledude16 (Abbotsford) *$5,258.78
7. reza_proton (Tehran) *$3,500.01
8. Wyldemavrick (Clarence Center) *$3,394.39
9. Bilesy (Bournemouth) *$3,555.41

While considering all of those good storylines, I overlooked the most obvious: recently graduated uni student and young gun rises to the top.

But we should start at the beginning.

15 players returned for Day 4. Within two hours six of them -- Andrew Scarf, Serge Mazza, Robert Wang, Jie Gao, Campbell Melville and Tim Macbeth -- were standing on the rail. Several of my "good storylines" were still in play. Then one by one they began to drop away until only the two young guns were left.

The first to go was Team PokerStar Pro (Asia) Bryan Huang, who took some beats early in the day to limp into the final table 7th in chips. He was soon joined by Maklouf, who did indeed secure his third ANZPT final table in a row -- and precious leaderboard points -- but ultimately couldn't get much going when it mattered most. Jason Gray soon dropped out of contention after Cohen flipped a coin to decided whether or not call Gray's shove. Gray called it in the air, and called it wrong. Cohen called, then won another flip with [qh][10h] against Gray's pocket eights to knock Gray out.

Gray was followed shortly by the last Kiwi in the field, Emerson Rewi, and Clarke, the 2009 bubble boy. That left Spilkin, Zmukic, Watson and Cohen to battle it out for the trophy.

Spilkin was the player who was the recipient of a nasty gift from a bluebird upon arriving in Queenstown on Tuesday. He rode that "good fortune" all the way to four-handed play, then made a daring all-in call against Watson with [as][2d] after Watson raised all in on a board of [2c][9d][9h][jh][3d]. It turned out to be the wrong move, as Watson tabled [10c][9c] to knock Spilkin out of the running.

Zmukic exited in 3rd place. He lost a flip to Andrew Watson after seeing his own stack decimated by doubling Cohen up. That left only two players -- the two youngsters, Watson and Cohen.

Cohen, you might remember, finished Day 2 by making a royal flush and started Day 3 by flopping quad sixes. He had definitely found some run-good in the early stages. He was going to need it in the late stages as well, as Watson started with a 3-to-1 chip lead. Cohen quickly whittled that down to even by winning a flip and then winning a few pots in succession, but a series of mis-fired bluffs allowed Watson to climb right back up to his 3-to-1 perch. Cohen was actually all in a second time, with [10d][9d] against Watson's [ks][qs] but survived again by flopping a pair and rivering a straight.

After that second all in, Cohen re-grouped and kept firing away at Watson. A critical hand that pushed Watson firmly underwater occurred when, for the second time of the evening, Cohen flipped a coin to determine whether to call or fold. The coin told him to call and it was the correct decision. After losing that pot, Watson's stack trended steadily downwards until he finally moved in with [kh][10d]. Cohen was there to greet Watson with [ad][10c], a hand which held up to end the tournament in Watson's favor.

For his four days of tournament glory, Cohen will receive $73,630. He's also jumped to 12th in the Season 2 points standings. Those standings are still led by Tony Hachem, but today's results have considerably narrowed Hachem's lead. His 171.65 points are trailed closely by John Maklouf (161.00), Andrew Scarf (154.50) and Rennie Carnevale (139.55). With three more events yet to be played, the points championship is far from decided.

That concludes our coverage from Queenstown. I hope you've enjoyed following along as much as I've enjoyed being here. This is truly an amazing little town set in the midst of some majestic wilderness. Put it on your list of can't-miss tour stops for next season -- and maybe your name will be one of those good storylines at the end of the week.

After Andrew Watson started trending downwards, he didn't seem to be able to stop. On the final hand of the tournament, Watson opened all in from the button for about 450,000. Julian Cohen snap-called with [ad][10c] and was the dominating favorite over Watson's [kh][10d] to end the tournament. There wasn't much sweat as the board developed [4s][jc][4h][7c][9s]. That ended Watson's run in 2nd place and crowned Cohen the champion.

Executive Director of SKYCITY Queenstown Michelle Baillie gave a few very brief remarks and then presented Cohen with his trophy.

We'll have a complete recap of the day later this evening, but for now offer our congratulations to Cohen on his accomplishment.

9:45pm: Watson trending downwards

On an all-broadway flop of [ah][js][10s], Andrew Watson checked and then called a bet of 100,000 from Julian Cohen. Cohen fired another 125,000 after Watson checked the [qc] turn. Again Watson called. Both players checked the [10h] river, at which point Cohen turned over [as][ks] for a Broadway straight. He collected the pot after Watson mucked.

Watson is down to about 650,000.

9:40pm: Cohen flips with the best of them

Julian Cohen's lucky coin was out again as he contemplated calling a river bet from Andrew Watson. Cohen flipped and did what the coin told him to do -- call. It turned out to be the correct decision, earning Cohen another pot. He now has the chip lead again, with about 1.5 million to Andrew Watson's 900,000.

9:37pm: Level 23 begins (blinds 12000-24000, ante 3000)

9:35pm: Cohen doubles again

After being ground down to 445,000, suddenly the chips were all in the middle. Andrew Watson limped his button, Julian Cohen shoved all in, and Watson snap-called.

"Uh oh. I'm in trouble," said Cohen. But it wasn't quite as bad as he had feared. His [10d][9d] was lived against Watson's [ks][qs]. Cohen paired nines on the flop, [9c][8s][7d], then had to hang on for a sweat after the [3s] turn. The river was a face card, but it was a [jd] to give Cohen a jack-high straight. He now has bout 900,000 in chips and so we play on.

9:22pm: Back to square one

The chip counts have been restored to what they were at the start of heads-up play -- a roughly 3-to-1 chip lead for Andrew Watson -- after a failed bluff by Julian Cohen. Cohen called a pre-flop raise to 45,000, then led out for 65,000 on a flop of [jc][2c][9s]. Watson called to the [2h] turn, a card both players checked. Cohen took another stab with a bet of 130,000 on the [6s] river, but he couldn't shake Watson. Watson called with a pair of nines, [10d][9c], which was better than Cohen's busted straight draw, [qh][10s].

9:13pm: Watson comes storming back

No sooner had Julian Cohen evened the chip counts then Andrew Watson came back with a vengeance to relieve Cohen of 400,000 chips in one shot. Cohen opened his button to 40,000, then called a three-bet to 120,000 from the out-of-position Watson. Watson bet 130,000 on a king-high flop, [5h][2d][kh]. The words were barely out of his mouth when Cohen had already called. Watson checked the [js] turn to Cohen, who bet 160,000. Cohen snap-folded to Watson's check-raise to 400,000.

9:09pm: Cohen evens the score

The last two players are virtually dead even in chips after Julian Cohen won another two pots. First, on a flop of [kc][as][5c], Cohen check and called a bet of 57,000 from Andrew Watson. Both players checked the [js] turn. Cohen's bet of 100,000 on the [8d] went uncalled.

The next hand Cohen opened for 40,000. Andrew Watson re-raised to 120,000, but folded when Cohen four-bet to 250,000. Cohen flashed pocket aces.

9:01pm: Julian Cohen doubles up

Julian Cohen opened his button with a minimum-raise to 40,000 and then was faced with a huge decision after Andrew Watson moved all in. After thirty seconds Cohen called all in for 480,000 total, putting himself at risk of elimination. He had to win a race with [ac][9c] against Watson's [6s][6c] in order to remain in the tournament. Win it he did, making a full house on a board of [jd][9h][10h][9d][10s]. Cohen now has about 1.0 million in chips to Watson's 1.3. Game on!

8:53pm: Vesko Zmukic eliminated in 3rd place

In the end, Vesko Zmukic couldn't avoid the inevitable flip. He moved all in from the big blind after Andrew Watson opened for 50,000 from the button. Watson quickly called with [6h][6s], and the race was on against Zmukic's [kh][10h]. A six in the window was pretty much all she wrote. The board came [6d][jd][7c][3d][ad] to eliminate Zmukic.

Watson and Julian Cohen are now heads-up for the championship. Watson has a 3-to-1 advantage, but Cohen has approximately 30 big blinds. There's plenty of time.

8:50pm: Zmukic makes an eyebrow-raising fold

There was some hushed murmuring on the rail after a recent pot between Vesko Zmukic and Andrew Watson. Zmukic opened his button for 67,000, leaving himself about 200,000 behind. Andrew Watson was next to speak and pushed all in, folding big blind Julian Cohen. Zmukic tanked for about a minute, then open-folded [8d][8c].

8:43pm: Zmukic teetering

With the limits up, Vesko Zmukic is now right on the edge of being classically short-stacked. He did just manage to pick up 45,000 chips from Andrew Watson to increase his count to about 300,000. Watson opened pre-flop for 45,000 and Zmukic called from the blind. Both men checked to the river, [2c][as][10d][ks][jc]. That's where Zmukic's bet of 100,000 took down the pot.

8:33pm: Level 22 begins (blinds 10000-20000, ante 2000)

8:25pm: Watson starting to pull away

Chalk up another pot for Andrew Watson. He and Vesko Zmukic took a limped flop of [8d][7c][7h]. Zmukic led out for 30,000 and Watson called. Both players checked the [3h] turn. When the river came the [as], Zmukic checked again. He started shaking his head when Watson bet 42,000 but called anyway. Sure enough, Watson turned up [ad][4c] for a rivered two pair, aces and seven. Zmukic flashed queen-eight as he mucked.

8:13pm: Michael Spilkin eliminated in 4th place

With Michael Spilkin playing so many post-dinner pots, he seemed assured of either amassing a massive stack or busting out. It turned out to be the latter. He and Andrew Watson took a raised flop of [2c][9d][9h]. Spilkin was first to speak and made it 70,000 to go. Watson called.

When the turn came [jh], Spilkin quickly slid a stack of orange chips (100,000 total) into the pot. Again Watson called. Spilkin repeated the same action on the river [3d], betting a quick 100,000. Watson then raised all in. He had Spilkin covered. The raise was 240,000 back to Spilkin.

"I don't think I can fold," said Spilkin. After another thirty seconds, he called with [as][2d], nines and deuces. Watson was pumped, popping out of his chair and pumping his fist as he showed [10c][9s] for trip nines. The two men shook hands and then Spilkin beat a hasty exit.

Michael Spilkin has been eliminated

8:07pm: Cohen and Spilkin again

Michael Spilkin and Julian Cohen are tangling quite a bit here in the post-dinner play. They played another raised pot, this one with Cohen in position. On a flop of [6s][5c][5h], Spilkin opened for 60,000. Cohen put in a raise that was just bigger than the minimum, making it 130,000 to go. Spilking tanked for several minutes, staring Cohen down, before he finally mucked his cards.

8:01pm: Cohen returns the favor

Michael Spilkin tried opening a pot pre-flop to 35,000. He was called by small blind Andrew Watson, prompting Julian Cohen to three-bet the big blind to 130,000. Both of his opponents quickly folded, allowing Cohen to flash [10h][6h].

"Now we're even," he told Spilkin.

7:57pm: Spilkin bluffs Cohen out

Julian Cohen started things pre-flop by raising his button, but it was the big blind Michael Spilkin who finished them off. Both players checked a [7h][5s][5d] flop. When the turn came a jack, [js], Spilkin led out for 45,000. Cohen considered that bet briefly and then called. At the river [5c], Spilkin tried another bet of 55,000. This one induced a fold from Cohen, who claimed to have folded ace-high after Spilkin showed [qc][10s].

7:53pm: Zmukic can't get action from Spilkin

Michael Spilkin opened from under the gun for 36,000 and was called only by big blind Vesko Zmukic. Zmukic led out for 70,000 on a flop of [jd][4s][8d], then showed unimproved [ah][ks] after Spilkin folded.

7:45pm: Watson hits the river

The small-ball style that characterized pre-dinner play has returned after dinner. Andrew Watson opened for 36,000 pre-flop and was called by Vesko Zmukic. Both players checked the [3d][3h][4h] flop. Zmukic also checked the [9h] turn, then called a bet of 41,000 from Watson. The action was similar on the [ks] river, where Watson opened [kc][8c] for a pair of kings after Zmukic called one last bet. Zmukic tapped the table "good hand" and mucked his hand.

7:35pm: Play resumes

Players have returned from dinner and cards are back in the air.

The last four players, who have been at it for almost seven hours now, have been given 30 minutes to find something to eat.

6:54pm: Spilkin's check-raise doesn't get the desired result

On a paired flop of [8h][10d][8d], Michael Spilkin checked to the pre-flop raiser, Andrew Watson, who made a continuation bet. Spilkin then check-raised that bet, making it an extra 31,000 to go. Watson called. When the turn came a seeming blank [3s], Spilkin checked again. Watson took the bait and fired out a bet of 93,000. Spilkin thought it over for about a minute and a half before flicking his cards into the muck.

6:46pm: The smallest of pots to Spilkin

There's still not a ton of action at our four-handed final table. As an example, consider a recent pot that was opened by Vesko Zmukic to 36,000. Michael Spilkin called from the button. Both players checked all the way to showdown, [qh][10d][ah][9c][kh]. At showdown Spilkin's pair of aces, [ac][4c], took down the pot.

6:34pm: Cohen finds his double-up

For a while now Julian Cohen has been the shortest of the four remaining stacks. He just leveled the playing field by doubling through Andrew Watson in a blind-on-blind battle. Watson shoved from the small blind into Cohen. Cohen snap-called with [10c][10s] and needed to fade only one overcard as Watson showed [ah][8h]. Cohen wound up turning a full house, [qh][5c][5s][10h], a hand he needed after Watson rivered the nut flush with the [6h].

Cohen is still the shortest stack but now has about 350,000 in chips. Watson is down to roughly 500,000. Michael Spilkin is in second with 680,000, while Vesko Zmukic has reclaimed the lead with 850,000.

6:22pm: Cohen a little frustrated

Several times today, Julian Cohen has opened pre-flop as the first in. Several time today, Vesko Zmukic has popped him back with a re-raise. Each time Cohen folded and flashed an ace, with Zmukic responding by showing ace-king. It just happened again, and left Cohen shaking his head.

6:11pm: Watson pressures Zmukic out

As soon as we mentioned small-ball poker, the players played a reasonably large pot. Vesko Zmukic opened pre-flop for 36,000 as t he first player to act. Small blind Andrew Watson re-raised to 116,000. Zmukic called to a flop of [8h][2c][ks], but then folded to a bet of 127,000.

6:03pm: Small ball taking hold

Over the course of the last hour, there has been a subtle shift towards more of a "small ball" approach to this final table. The last four players are playing very cautiously, trying to minimize their investment of chips with speculative holdings. This isn't unexpected, especially since the average stack at this point is 50 big blinds deep.

6:00pm: Level 20 begins (blinds 6000-12000, ante 1000)

5:52pm: Spilkin gets paid with the nuts

Making the best hand is (sometimes) only half of the battle. The other half is figuring out how to get paid. Michael Spilkin decided to try a bet of 100,000 against Andrew Watson on a board of [ah][qh][10c][jc][8s]. Watson opted to call, then quickly mucked as Spilkin announced the nuts and showed [kh][7h].

The final table seems to be turning into a two-horse race between Spilkin and Watson. Although Vesko Zmukic and Julian Cohen aren't short by any stretch, they're not playing nearly as many pots.

5:43pm: Zmukic gets a small victory against Spilkin

A three-way limped pot by Michael Spilkin, Andrew Watson and Vesko Zmukic produced a flop of [qd][jd][ah]. Spilkin had first action and made it 35,000 to go. Watson folded, but Zmukic called. The turn came [2c] and was checked by both remaining player. Spilking also checked the [5s] river, then called a bet of 50,000 by Zmukic. Zmukic showed a pair of aces, [ad][6h], good enough against Spilkin's pair of queens, [qh][10d].

5:28pm: Zmukic and Watson chop after a good sweat

Vesko Zmukic raised first to 30,000. Then Andrew Watson re-raised to 112,000. Zmukic responded by moving all in and Watson quickly called. Zmukic showed [as][kd] against Watson's [ac][kc]. A chop was likely, but an all-black flop of [9s][8c][2s] raised eyebrows. Any black card on the turn would give one player or the other a freeroll heading into the river. It was Watson who picked up that freeroll with the [7c] turn. Although the river was also black, the [ks] did not give Watson a club flush. Chop it up.

5:26pm: Tim Clarke eliminated in 5th place

When action came to Tim Clarke in the small blind and nobody had yet entered the pot, he moved all in for 122,000. Michael Spilkin thought for about a minute before calling with [ah][7s]. It was a flip against Clarke's pocket deuces. Spilkin won this flip, [6c][7h][10s][10d][4h]. Spilkin's tens and sevens sent Clarke -- last year's bubble finisher in this event -- to the rail in 5th place.

5:20pm: Watson playing loosey-goosey

After seeing Michael Spilkin lay down pocket queens earlier, Andrew Watson may have thought he could push Spilkin around. The two got a bunch of chips in the pot pre-flop and took a flop of [4s][qh][5d]. Spilkin led out for 35,000, then snap-called after Watson raised to 84,000. When the turn came the [10h], Spilkin led out again, this time for 100,000. Watson called.

The river came a threatening [ad]. "How much do you have left?" Spilkin asked Watson. Each player had more than 500,000 behind and opted to check the river. Spilkin showed pocket nines; Watson showed a lot of imagination with a [10s][2s] that turned a pair of tens.

5:13pm: Spilkin makes a big fold

Michael Spilkin opened with a standard pre-flop raise to 25,000. Andrew Watson was next to speak and made it 100,000 straight. Spilkin didn't take long to make his decision.

"I will fold my pocket queens. This time." True to his word, Spilkin open-mucked two queens.

5:06pm: Emerson Rewi eliminated in 6th place

Somehow, despite his short stack, Emerson Rewi found himself involved in a three-way flop, out of position, with chips behind. He opted to lead out with an all-in bet on the [4d][5s][9d], making it 31,000 to go. Julian Cohen folded, but Michael Spilkin couldn't do it.

"I'm behind, but I have to call," said Spilkin. It turned out his [ac][7c] was actually ahead of Rewi's total airball, [6h][2d]. Rewi did no improve with the [9s] turn or [7s] river and thus is the 6th-place finisher.

Emerson Rewi was the last kiwi in the field

5:00pm: Play resumes

Cards are back in the air.