That's the charm of turbo tournaments -- fast paced and built for adrenaline junkies who don't want to grind it out in a deep stacked tournament with structure so slow that you're folding hand after hand after hand ad nauseam for 16 hours straight. Add the rebuy element and you have a recipe for a poker junkie's nirvana. Where can you play a 1,600+ player tournament in less than four hours with a prize pool topping over $1.3 million?

Jamie "Xaston" Kaplan won this all-out sprint to claim his first WCOOP title. If his name sounds familiar, well, it is. Xaston made the final table of the WCOOP Main Event last year and finished up with an impressive 5th place performance, which netted him close to a half of a million dollars.

Xaston didn't wait very long this year to make some noise. He beat former tennis pro Raj "BadcardsAA" Vohra heads-up in order to win Event #6 $215 NL Turbo. Because of the fast-paced structure, this might be the quickest run tournament at this year's WCOOP. I know that we're only six events in, but it's going to be tough to finish a tournament faster than 3 hours and 49 minutes.

Event #6 attracted 1,667 thrill seekers. They added 3,918 re-buys and 937 add-ons to the $1,304,400 total prize pool. The top 216 places were paid out with $214,986.82 awarded to first place.

The turbo format featured escalating blinds every five minutes with the re-buy period lasting a full hour. Daniel Negreanu, Humberto Brenes, ElkY, and former major league baseball player Orel Hershiser were a few of the familiar faces who faded into oblivion before the money bubble burst. As expected, the players quickly raced toward the money. From the time cards went in the air, it took a mere 2 hours and 14 minutes before SkillVille bubbled out in 217th place, and the remaining 216 players were guaranteed a pay day.

Team PokerStars Online player George Lind III

George Lind III went the deepest among the Team PokerStars players with a 26th place finish. Several other Team PokerStars Pros made the money including Chris Moneymaker (60th), Barry Greenstein (146th), Randy "nanonoko" Lew (189th), and Sebastian Ruthenberg (206th). Team PokerStars Online's Steven Paul made it to 87th.

Notable players who cashed included AJKHoiser1 (14th), Andy McLEOD (22nd), 2009 WCOOP Main Event champion Yevgeniy "Jovial Gent" Timoshenko (30th), Kevin "BeL0WaB0Ve" Saul (33rd), 2010 WSOP November Niner Joe "subiime" Cheong (95th), charder30 (119th), ShaunDeeb (124th), Dan "Lenny" Heimiller (194th) and JohnnyBax (213th).

With two tables to go, Xaston snapped off Kings with pocket nines. Yep, you guessed it -- a nine on the river to sunk knecht_poker's Kings. The perturbed player went out in 13th place, while Xaston rocketed to the top of the leaderboard with almost $3 million.

The dubious final table bubble boy honors went to Quebec's Phil "takechip" D'Auteuil. The French Canadian pro got crippled on the previous hand before Xaston took him out in 10th place. Xaston began the final table as the chipleader, but with blinds rapidly increasing, the title was within the reach of any of the final nine players.

Final table chip counts:
Seat 1: Xaston (3,040,016)
Seat 2: spikedag (1,555,676)
Seat 3: "0PIGGYBANK" (874,555)
Seat 4: SHAKAJAMES (1,761,008)
Seat 5: MeFishUShark (1,571,586)
Seat 6: AndASodaPop (824,166)
Seat 7: Schappuscha (1,116,651)
Seat 8: BadcardsAA (1,250,372)
Seat 9: BradL (1,986,970)

AndASodaPop, the shortest stack at the final table, was the first player to hit the road. MeFishUShark opened with a min-raise. AndASodaPop shoved all-in for 704,166. Sitting in the big blind, BadcardsAA re-raised all-in to 1,507,872. MeFishUShark folded, which left AndASodaPop fighting for his tournament life with [As][Qs] against BadcardsAA's [Ac][Kd]. BadcardsAA's Big Slick held up to win the pot. AndASodaPop was eliminated in 9th place and won $13,044.

Short-stacked Schappuscha shoved with [Qh][Js]. Xaston called from the big blind with [Kc][2c]. The board ran out [Tc][7s][5h][8h] [4s] and he won the pot with just King-high. Schappuscha went out in 8th place and collected $22,827.

The game did not last seven-handed very long after two players busted simultaneously, with Xaston once again on the winning side of this melee. MeFishUShark open-shoved for 653,342. Xaston re-raised all-in from the small blind for almost 3.6 million. Spikedag called from the big blind with his last 1,363,176. The board ran out [5c][3s][2d][3d] [8d]. Xaston won the pot with [Ts][Tc]. His pair of tens won a flip against Spikedag's [As][Kh]. MeFishUShark's [Js][Th] was also futile. Spikedag finished in 6th place and won $48,915, while MeFishUShark busted in 7th place and won $35,871.

"0PIGGYBANK" bottomed out shortly after when he shoved from the button with pocket eights and BadcardsAA insta-called from his big blind with [Ac][As]. "0PIGGYBANK" could not flop a set or catch a miracle. As a result, "0PIGGYBANK" went busto in 5th place, good enough for a $61,959 payout.

With four players to go, Xaston led the pack with almost 6 million before he claimed another victim. Short-stacked BradL lost a battle of the blinds when he shoved from his small blind with [Jd][8d] and Xaston called with [Js][Ts]. Xaston flopped a pair of tens, which held up. BradL was knocked out in 4th place and took home $87,394.80.

With three to go, it was a matter of time before Xaston and BadcardsAA got rid of SHAKAJAMES. On the decisive hand, SHAKAJAMES raised to almost 1.6 million from the small blind with [Qh][4s]. BadcardsAA called with [Ac][Kh] from the big blind. The board ran out [Jd][Td][5s][3d][Qs]. BadcardsAA rivered a Broadway straight to win the pot. SHAKAJAMES headed to the rail in 3rd place, but not before collecting $117,396 for his efforts.

When heads-up play began, Xaston had a 2.7 million lead over BadcardsAA, but one hand and BadcardsAA could easily be back in the event.

Event #6: Heads-up chip counts
Seat 1: Xaston (8,348,844)
Seat 8: BadcardsAA (5,632,156)

On the 6th hand of heads-up play, an aggressive Xaston struck first to set the tone of the match. Xaston opened to 300,000 and BadcardsAA called. The flop was [Ac][Kd][3c]. BadcardsAA checked, Xaston bet 400,000, BadcardsAA check-raised to 980,000, but Xaston re-raised to almost 2 billion. BadcardsAA reached for more ammo and raised to 3.36 million. Xaston shoved all in for over 7.9 million and... Badcards folded. Xaston won the pot worth over 4.5 million and extended a 6-1 lead over BadcardsAA.

On the 16th hand of heads-up play, Xaston finally ditched BadcardsAA. Xaston shoved for over 12 million and BadcardsAA called. Xaston was ahead with [Kh][8c] against [Js][Tc]. Xaston's King-high held up, he won the pot, and knocked out BadcardsAA.

For hisrunner-up performance, BadcardsAA won $156,528. Xaston collected $213,986.82 for first place, in addition to his first scoop title.

Event #6 $215+ R NLH Turbo final table results:
1. Xaston - $213,986.82
2. BadcardsAA - $156,528
3. SHAKAJAMES - $117,396
4. BradL - $87,394.80
5. "0PIGGYBANK" - $61,959
6. spikedag - $48,915
7. MeFishUShark - $35,871
8. Schappuscha - $22,827
9. AndASodaPop - $13,044

For more coverage of the 2010 WCOOP head over to PokerStars.tv. Don't forget to visit the WCOOP homepage for the full schedule, results, player-of-the-year stats, satellite information, and more.

The first night of WCOOP action brought some exciting action, with Event 1 and its short-handed no-limit hold'em followed by Event 2 and the $10,000 buy-in high roller NLHE action. And the late-starting event was this, the $200 buy-in straight-up NLHE tournament with a whopping $2 million guarantee. And the players were more than ready for it, as registration showed 12,066 of them at the tables, which boosted the prize pool well past the guarantee to $2,413,200. What a way to welcome the 62-event series!

With a massive field and quite a bit of money at stake, the tournament took quite a few hours to reach the money bubble, at which time mwasta666 took the unwanted distinction of finishing the tournament in 1531st place, one spot outside of the cash. The rest of the 1,530 players were guaranteed a minimum payout of $361.98 for their $200 + $15 entries, and as the cashier began doling out the dough, some of the PokerStars team members were among those accumulating it. the first to cash out was Maria "Maridu" Mayrinck in 1435th place, and she was followed by George "Jorj95" Lind in 1310th place, Florian "F. Langmann" Langmann in 908th, Sandra "Naujoks" Naujoks in 826th, Andre "aakkari" Akkari in 659th, Andrew "Kid Nebraska" Goetsch in 372nd, Diego "vgreen22" Brunelli in 195th, Karlo "elmagopr" Lopez in 136th, and Nuno "nuno coelho" Coelho in 133rd. The last Team PokerStars Pro standing in the tournament was Martha "marene" Herrera, who ultimately went out in 53rd place for a $3,740.46 cash.

The final two tables picked up speed as the competitors were anxious to make it to the final table, and hand-for-hand play with 11 players didn't take long at all. It was short-stacked hotshotss21 who moved all-in preflop with [3c][3s], but Iteopepe88 called 443,868 more from the big blind with [9h][3h]. The board came [Qd][7h][Ac][6h][Kh], and the hearts gave Iteopepe88 the flush and eliminated hotshotss21 in tenth place with $10,135.44 in prize money.

The final table was then set amidst Level 42 with blinds at 80,000/160,000 and a 20,000 ante, and the players were seated as follows:

Seat 1: jampiriki (6,817,011 in chips)
Seat 2: Bdbeatslayer (6,972,227 in chips)
Seat 3: i need bond$ (8,997,220 in chips)
Seat 4: binhoeiji (13,135,436 in chips)
Seat 5: Twinshark (10,972,400 in chips)
Seat 6: Iteopepe88 (19,968,840 in chips)
Seat 7: joao bauer (11,768,624 in chips)
Seat 8: cmpjo (29,726,018 in chips)
Seat 9: Aleksei1990 (12,302,224 in chips)

Team PokerStars Pro Katja Thater chimed in to the chat box to wish the players the best of luck, as they were doing the same with each other. Cmpjo was firmly in the chip lead and had been for some time, but Twinshark had other plans. After Twinshark took a 5.38 million-chip pot from I need bond$, the next move was to double through cmpjo in a monster pot as follows:

RSS readers click through to see replay

Most of the following hour of play was filled with caution and thoughtful raises that induced folds. Clearly, no one wanted to be the first to leave the table, and with the top four spots paying out six figures, that was incentive enough to play tight and wait for prime hands.

Through that period of time, Bdbeatslayer was unable to gather any momentum and was relegated to a very short stack. With only 488,387 chips left, Bdbeatslayer pushed all-in preflop with [Ts][7h], but Iteopepe88 easily called with [Qd][Qh] from the big blind. The board was a rather uneventful [Js][2h][2s][6d][8c], and no help came for Bdbeatslayer, who became the first eliminated player from the final table with $15,203.16 to show for the ninth place finish.

Over the next while, Iteopepe88 climbed into the chip lead and didn't look back, putting over 2 million chips between that first place spot and second place maintained by Twinshark. Meanwhile, I need bond$ was able to double through cmpjo to stay alive.

Just after the 17-hour mark of the tournament, it was jampiriki on a short stack and pushing it with none other than [Ah][Ad]. It was the hand he undoubtedly waited for, and binhoeiji made the call from the big blind with [Ts][Tc]. When the flop appeared as [7s][Qs][Js], it gave pause because of the spade flush draw for binhoeiji, and the [3s] actually made that flush. A meaningless [2d] on the river ended the hand with aces cracked, and jampiriki was forced out in eighth place with $24,132.00 to help forget about the bad beat.

And to prove that pocket aces were having a bad day, another hand ensued, and it was a big one. It started with I need bond$ making a preflop raise and binhoeiji with the call, but when Twinshark reraised it, I need bond$ folded and binhoeiji called. After the flop came [3d][9d][Kd], Twinshark bet, binhoeiji raised all-in, and Twinshark called with [Ad][Ks] for top pair and the flush draw. But binhoeiji showed [Ah][Ac] for his tournament life, and the overpair was good as the [5h] appeared on the turn. But the [8d] hit on the river to give Twinshark the flush and the 35 million-chip pot. Aces were cracked again, this time sending binhoeiji out in seventh place with $48,264.00.

Aces decided to make a comeback, though, and prove that they could still be the best hand. I need bond$ doubled through cmpjo when aces held up to A-K, and joao bauer did the same through Twinshark with aces fending off nines. But then cmpjo used pocket fours to crack the aces of I need bond$, and the reputation of pocket rockets was again on the fence.

Aleksei1990 finally decided to make a move and did it with [Ah][Qh] preflop. Twinshark made the call with [Js][Jh], and the board only helped turn that pocket pair into a full house when it came [2c][2s][7s][Jc][8s]. That eliminated Aleksei1990 in sixth place with $72,396.00 in prize money.

As the tournament approached the 18-hour mark, the biggest climber was I need bond$, who tripled up from a short stack into fourth place, doubled through cmpjo to climb into third, and soon took over second place. Cmpjo did wage a bit of a comeback as well, doubling through Twinshark to stay alive and get off the short stack. And joao bauer doubled through chip leader Iteopepe88 to do the same. A while later, cmpjo doubled through Iteopepe88 to climb into a solid second place.

Meanwhile, many Team PokerStars Pros showed up in the chat box to, well, chat. Thater was still present in her hosting duties, and others like Andre Akkari, Veronica Dabul, Henrique Pinho, Nuno Coelho, and Joep van de Bijgaart came by to see some of the lengthy tournament action.

A while later, cmpjo doubled through Iteopepe88, and I need bond$ did the same, cutting Iteopepe88's lead down to a bare minimum. Joao Bauer doubled through cmpjo in a 32.2 million-chip pot, and players were looking more aggressive (exhausted) and ready to move (sleep).

Twinshark was the next player to risk tournament life, but the hand started with a raise from Iteopepe88. Twinshark reraised all-in for 12,837,687 chips with [9d][9c], but Iteopepe88 didn't hesitate to call with a dominating [Kd][Kc]. The flop came [8s][Ks][Js] to give Iteopepe88 the set of kings, and the [8d] on the turn made his hand into a full house. The [2s] on the river ended it for Twinshark, who departed in fifth place with $96,528.00.

With the very next hand, a new chip leader was born as joao bauer took the reins:

RSS readers click through to see replay

Iteopepe88 doubled through I need bond$ to climb back to second place, which left I need bond$ needing more chips. It wasn't long before I need bond$ moved all-in, and Iteopepe88 reraised all-in to isolate from the small blind, which worked. I need bond$ showed [Kd][Jc], but Iteopepe88 was in the lead with [As][Td]. The board produced [5c][4c][7d][Ad][4h], and Iteopepe88 improved to two pair to eliminate I need bond$ in fourth place, which was worth a payout of $120,660.00.

After cmpjo doubled through joao bauer and then Iteopepe88 to jump back into contention, the final three players decided to take a look at some chip-chop numbers. But once the figures were presented, all of the players had issues, and they chose to restart the tournament and play on.

It didn't take long from there. Joao Bauer took a 25 million-chip pot from Iteopepe88, and the latter's stack continued to shrink. Finally, Iteopepe88 pushed all-in for 16,437,116 holding [Ad][5h], and joao bauer called with [Ah][Jd]. The flop brought [Js][3s][Jh] to give joao bauer trips, and the [3d] only developed that hand into a full house. The [7s] on the river brought Iteopepe88's tournament to a close with $168,924.00 for the third place finish.

Heads-up play then began with the following counts:

Seat 7: joao bauer (89,632,684 in chips)
Seat 8: cmpjo (31,027,316 in chips)

And two hands into the action, they paused to make another attempt at discussing numbers. Finally, after much back-and-forth and several sets of numbers, they agreed that joao bauer would take $276,702.37 and cmpjo would receive $260,298.79, while an extra $40,000 was to be awarded the eventual winner.

The duo proceeded with caution. Cmpjo wasn't going out without a fight and continued to push at his opponent, but joao bauer had some aggression in him as well. The two got involved with a raise and reraise to see a flop of [5c][Jd][4h]. A bet from cmpjo was called to bring them to the [7c] turn card. Then it was joao bauer who bet and it was an all-in bet. Cmpjo check-called for his last 19,462,316 chips with [4s][6d] and the pair of fours, but joao bauer showed [8d][7s] for a pair of sevens. The [9s] on the river ended the tournament, and cmpjo accepted $260,298.79 for second place.

After 19.5 hours of intense tournament action, joao bauer won Event 3 and took home $316,702.37 and a gold WCOOP bracelet for the accomplishment. Congratulations!

2010 WCOOP Event 3 Results:

1st place: joao bauer ($316,702.37)
2nd place: cmpjo ($260,298.79)
3rd place: Iteopepe88 ($168,924.00)
4th place: I need bond$ ($120,660.00)
5th place: Twinshark ($96,528.00)
6th place: Aleksei1990 ($72,396.00)
7th place: binhoeiji ($48,264.00)
8th place: jampiriki ($24,132.00)
9th place: Bdbeatslayer ($15,203.16)

The 2010 WCOOP is now underway with a total of 62 events and $50K in guarantees. The official WCOOP website has a plethora of information about the entire series, and PokerStars TV offers tournament highlights. And as the next few weeks of excitement progress, check out the VIP Club page to learn how to pick up amazing rewards for simply choosing to play on PokerStars.

Any of the 9,001 players that registered for WCOOP Event #1, $215 six-handed no-limit hold'em, could have been forgiven if they had proverbial visions of sugar plums as the tournament began. The $1.8 million prize pool crushed the $1.25 million guarantee that PokerStars made for the tournament and ensured that the account of the eventual winner would be credited with more than a quarter million dollars.

Randy "nanonoko" Lew was the pace-setter for the 56 members of Team PokerStars that played Event #1. Lew finished a very respectable 33rd-place finish and collected $5,400.60 in prize money. He was joined on his deep run by Noah "Exclusive" Boeken (87th) and venerated poker icon Barry "barryg1" Greenstein (110th). Eight other Team Pros also made the money.

But even Boeken's impressive deep run came up well short of the final table. That honor went to these six players:

Seat 1: AlexKP (27904440 in chips)
Seat 2: inhidonks (7378980 in chips)
Seat 3: Stephen "stevie444" Chidwick (10804952 in chips)
Seat 4: Tutanhamon1 (20274472 in chips)
Seat 5: Drateks (5440084 in chips)
Seat 6: ROOJAR_M (18207072 in chips)

Chidwick was perhaps the most well-known player at the table. Over the last several years, he has won more than 200 seats in the WSOP Main Event and has collected a slew of other seats for live events on the EPT and other poker tours. But his laurels alone wouldn't be enough to collect a WCOOP title. Stacked 4th of the final six players, he'd need to move up the counts.

The final table started off with a bang. On the second hand of play, chip leader AlexKP opened pre-flop to 550,000. When the action came around, Drateks re-raised all in for approximately 5.1 million. AlexKP quickly called with a pair of nines. That left the two sevens that Drateks held drawing very thin. Neither player improved from that point, allowing AlexKP to knock Drateks out in 6th place.

From there AlexKP started relentlessly attacked the blinds of the short-stacked players to his left, inhidonks and Chidwick. Chidwick eventually fired back in a pot that AlexKP opened to 550,000 pre-flop, his standard open. Chidwick re-raised to 1.475 million, then bet just more than 1 million on a flop of [6h][jc][js]. AlexKP called to see the [ac] fall on the turn. That's where AlexKP tried a raise, raising Chidwick from 1.75 million to 3.75 million. Chidwick responded by shoving for 6.5 million total. AlexKP snap-folded, allowing Chidwick to add 6 million chips to his stack without a showdown.

At the 5:55am break, with five players still remaining Tutanhamon1 proposed a "friendly deal". AlexKP, who had 35 million of the 90 million chips in play, quickly quashed that idea.

inhidonks was the next player out, and the only player at the final table not eliminated by AlexKP. Inhidonks opened all in for 4.5 million with [ah][9d]. ROOJAR_M made an easy call with [kd][kc], then flopped a matching king to remove almost all doubt from the outcome of the hand. ROOJAR_M then suggested looking at chop numbers. Chidwick, the new short stack, declined. "I'm too short," he said of his 30-big blind stack. "Let's gamble."

AlexKP's lead continued to widen. Tutanhamon1 fired two bullets against AlexKP on a board of [2s][th][3h][4c][kh], leading the flop for 1.1 million and the turn for 2.0 million. AlexKP check-called each time, leading Tutanhamon1 to shut down on the river and check behind. AlexKP dragged the pot with an unimproved pair of sevens to climb to 47.6 million in chips. But Tutanhamon1 returned the favor three hands later by turning a club flush and inducing AlexKP to pay off a 5.2 million-chip river bet.

The very next hand, the short-stacked Chidwick found the spot he was looking for. ROOJAR_M opened pre-flop to 822,799, then shoved over the top of Chidwick's re-raise to 2,041,394. Chidwick instantly called with pocket queens, which held up against ROOJAR_M's pair of sixes. The hand doubled Chidwick to 24.4 million and left ROOJAR_M with just 5 million in chips. It all ended for ROOJAR_M in 4th place about ten minutes later, when AlexKP's flopped a set of jacks against ROOJAR_M's [kc][qc], who had flopped top pair. ROOJAR_M did turn a flush draw, but it failed to fill on the river.

Chidwick didn't have long to enjoy his newfound chips. Just a few hands after his double up, he found himself on the rail. He opened the button with a minimum raise to about 1 million. AlexKP, in the big blind, re-raised to 3 million. Chidwick four-bet shoved for 24.8 million and was immediately called by AlexKP, creating a pot worth 50 million chips.

Chidwick showed [ac][th]. He was a big underdog to AlexKP's [ah][kh] but found a great flop of [ad][5d][ts], to make two pair, aces and tens. The turn [4c] left Chidwick needing to fade only the remaining three kings in the deck to take over the chip lead. He couldn't do it; the river fell the [kd], giving AlexKP an improbable two pair and the winning hand. Instead of becoming the chip leader, Chidwick was retired to the rail in third place.

Stephen "stevie444" Chidwick

As heads-up play began, Tutanhamon1 was down to about 18.5 million in chips against AlexKP's 71.5 million and tried again for some sort of chop. AlexKP's reply was blunt. "If you get to 30 million we can talk." With a total of 180 big blinds between the two players, Tutanhamon1 had plenty of time to reach that point.

The two players made incremental gains back and forth for about 20 to 30 minutes. The moment that Tutanhamon1's count crested the 30-million chip mark, he again proposed a chop. Good to his word, AlexKP agreed to take a look. "I'm not taking an even chip chop though," AlexKP warned Tutanhamon1. "I'm a HU cash player and you're obviously not - no offense."

The chip-chop numbers came in at $225,370.42 for AlexKP and $204,904.06 for Tutanhamon1. AlexKP countered with $232,000 for himself, a number to which Tutanhamon1 immediately agreed. The deal was in place; all that was left was to play for the $25,000 set-aside.

Five hands after the deal, Tutanhamon1 took down a 15 million pot without showdown to further narrow the gap between the two stacks. When Tutanhamon1 subsequently took down another large pot without showdown, AlexKP's lead was narrowed to just 10 million chips, 50 million to 40 million. It seemed most of the pressure was being applied by Tutanhamon1.

But that momentum came crashing down around Tutanhamon1's ears just a few hands later. AlexKP opened with a minimum raise to 1.2 million that Tutanhamon1 called. On a flop of [qh][tc][3h], Tutanhaon1 checked and called another 1.2 million. On the [4h] turn, Tutanhamon1 checked, then made a huge over-raise shove of 33 million after AlexKP bet 3.8 million. It was the over-aggression that AlexKP had been waiting to pounce on. He quickly called with a set of treys, [3s][3d]. Tutanhamon1 showed top pair with no draw, [qc][7s]. That left the river [2d] as a mere formality in front of AlexKP's win.

WCOOP Event 1 $215 No-Limit Hold'em [6-max] results (includes two-way deal):
1st place: AlexKP ($257,000.00)
2nd place: Tutanhamon1 ($198,274.48)
3rd place: Stephen "stevie444" Chidwick ($130,514.50)
4th place: ROOJAR_M ($76,508.50)
5th place: inhidonks ($40,504.50)
6th place: Drateks ($27,003)

AlexKP is the first winner of the 2010 WCOOP, but there are 61 more events to come. You can find the schedule of all of those events, along with all types of other statistics, at the WCOOP homepage.

As play began, Shawn "buck21" Buchanan, David "Chino23" Rheem, and MUSTAFABET jumped out as early leaders during first few levels. At the two-hour mark Scott "gunning4you" Seiver had cruised into the top spot and would increase his lead over the next hour or so before falling back to the pack. Then, after five hours of play, psuNYY51 was in front with 170 players left, closely followed by Jonathan "MONSTER_DONG" Karamalikis and Ben "KidCardiff6" Warrington.

Soon, however, Shaun Deeb and PureProfitFo, having drawn seats right next to each other from the tourney's start, were next to each other at the top of the leaderboard as well with 125 players left. Deeb would slip a bit, though, and had relinquished the lead to CrabMaki just before the latter was moved to the 2010 SCOOP Event #17-M winner's table. Soon the two big stacks got involved in a huge hand against one another.

Preflop back-and-forthing between Deeb and CrabMaki had built a pot of 18,410 when the flop came [7c][10h][6h]. Deeb led for 11,230 and CrabMaki called. The turn was the [9c], and when Deeb checked CrabMaki shoved all in. Deeb went into his time bank, then called with his remaining 57,465. Deeb showed [Kd][9d] for nines, but was in desperate shape against CrabMaki's [Qd][8c] -- a turned straight. Deeb needed one of the remaining eights on the river just to chop, but the [Jd] meant he was suddenly out in 94th place.

That hand bumped CrabMaki up over 170,000, well ahead of Unicum next in second place with 101,000. Rheem and Karamalikis would continue to build their stacks, while the others (Buchanan, MUSTAFABET, Seiver, Warrington, psuNYY51, PureProfitFo) would be among those departing shy of the money.

As players continued to fall, Team PokerStars Pro Chris "Money800" Moneymaker moved into the top ten. A total of 21 Team PokerStars pros entered this one, and with 60 players remaining there were still a half-dozen PS pros left with chips. At that point some shuffling of players put four Team PokerStars pros at one table -- Moneymaker, Pat Pezzin, Anh Van Nguyen, and Ville Wahlbeck.

The Canadian Pezzin was the last to join the others:

Pat Pezzin: hi guys
Money800: hi pat, gl
A Van Nguyen: hi pat
Pat Pezzin: gl
Pat Pezzin: too many team pros at this table
Pat Pezzin: rest of the players must be licking their chops

Whatever their opponents were thinking, those four managed to hold their own, and each survived into the top 45 and the money. And for Money800, he wasn't just surviving -- he was thriving, and in fact Moneymaker held the chip lead briefly just before the bubble burst after 10 hours and 15 minutes of play.

Team PokerStars Pro Chris Moneymaker

Pezzin would ultimately exit in 33rd (knocked out by Wahlbeck), followed by Team PokerStars Online player Randy "nanonoko" Lew in 32nd. "Chino23" Rheem would go out in 31st. Van Nguyen would hit the rail a little later in 29th, then Team PokerStars pro Jason Mercier would be eliminated by "MONSTER_DONG" Karamalikis in 28th, leaving only Moneymaker and Wahlbeck to represent Team PokerStars.

A couple of mistimed moves sent Moneymaker back to a below average stack, and he'd ultimately fall in 24th. Karamalikis would follow him in 18th, as would James "mig.com" Mackey in 16th, and Unicum next in 15th. Eventually Wahlbeck knocked out a short-stacked Paul "paulgees81" Volpe in 10th, and after almost 13 hours of play, the final table was set:

Seat 1: pokerjamers -- 209,275
Seat 2: Team PokerStars Pro Ville Wahlbeck -- 476,130
Seat 3: sms9231 -- 50,466
Seat 4: bmwmcoupe -- 493,057
Seat 5: LooneyGerbil -- 429,022
Seat 6: antesvante -- 189,125
Seat 7: Also11 -- 366,100
Seat 8: Vick Is God -- 478,227
Seat 9: CrabMaki -- 438,598

Mohsin "sms9231" Charania, winner of 2010 SCOOP #20-H, had been nursing his short stack for some time prior to reaching the final nine. Charania continued to fold through the first orbit of the final table, then watched as CrabMaki opened with a 2.5x raise to 12,500 from middle position. All folded to antesvante who called from the big blind,

The flop came [3d][9c][Js]. antesvante checked, CrabMaki bet 22,750, antesvante check-raised all in for 174,125 total, and CrabMaki called. antesvante showed [Td][Qd] for an open-ended straight draw, while CrabMaki showed [Jd][Ad] for top pair of jacks. The turn and river brought a couple of deuces, and antesvante was out in ninth.

"gg ante," typed sms9231 after the elimination. Then: "i <3 him."

Charania continued to fold, and watched again as pokerjamers opened with a 2x raise to 12,000 from middle position. It folded to Jean-Francois "bmwmcoupe" Talbot in the small blind who reraised to 30,000. The big blind folded, pokerjamers jammed for 139,845 total, and Talbot quickly called, showing [Kc][Kd] to pokerjamers [9c][9d]. The board came [Tc][Qs][Ac][4s][Ad], pokerjamers was out in eighth, and Charania -- sitting with just over 45,000 chips -- had moved up another spot.

Charania would manage to double up once with pocket queens, but soon was all in before the flop for his last 114,864 with [Ah][Qd] and got called by Ville Wahlbeck who held [9d][9s]. The community cards came [5h][7d][7h][Js][8d], and sms9231 was out in seventh.

The blinds moved to 3,500/7,000, and a hand came in which CrabMaki opened with a raise to 16,500 from UTG+1. Wahlbeck, sitting to CrabMaki's left, called, as did bmwmcoupe. Then LooneyGerbil reraised to 48,850 from the small blind. Only Wahlbeck called the reraise, so the two of them saw the flop come [6c][Ac][Js]. LooneyGerbil bet 68,800, and Wahlbeck called.

The turn brought the [9h]. This time LooneyGerbil checked, which Wahlbeck took as an invitation to shove all in his stack of 408,780. LooneyGerbil had but 254,525 left, and thought a while before making the call with [Qd][Qh]. It was a good call, as Wahlbeck had [Qs][Ts] for the straight draw. Alas for LooneyGerbil, the river was the [Kh] and Wahlbeck won the massive pot. Take a look:

LooneyGerbil was out in sixth, while Wahlbeck assumed the chip lead with more than 940,000 chips. At that point Also11 was Wahlbeck's closest competitor with just over 684,000. "Vick Is God" Schneller and "bmwmcoupe" Talbot were close behind Also11, while CrabMaki had the short stack with about 262,000.

Play reached the 14-hour mark and a scheduled break, at which point Vick Is God proved himself fallible, apparently having a mishap in which he spilled water on his laptop. Schneller asked if the break could be extended a few minutes while he took care of the situation, and his request was granted.

When play resumed, however, Vick Is God didn't fare too well after the flood.

Just a few hands back from the break, Also11 raised from the cutoff seat to 16,558, and Schneller reraised to 46,000 from the button. The blinds got out, then Also11 reraised to 96,255. Vick Is God shoved all in over the top for 493,253 total, and Also11 called. Also11 showed [Td][Th], and Schneller was needing help with his [5h][5d]. The board came [2s][Ac][9s][4d][7h], and Vick Is God was out in fifth.

With four left, Also11 and Wahlbeck had the big stacks with 1.36 million and 1.14 million respectively, while bmwmcoupe and CrabMaki both hovered around 300,000. The balance shifted over the next half-hour, though, and Also11 had become the short stack with just 165,401.

With the blinds 4,000/8,000, CrabMaki then opened with a raise from UTG to 19,750, it folded to Also11 who shoved all in from the big blind, and CrabMaki called. Also11 had [Kh][Jc] and was hoping to outrun CrabMaki's [4d][4h]. But the board came [8c][2h][8s][3d][3c], and Also11 was out in fourth.

The tournament was then paused while the remaining trio considered a deal. A "chip chop" was proposed, but CrabMaki said he wanted a bit more than he was being offered. The other two quickly declined considering that possibility, and cards thus went back in the air, with Wahlbeck the leader with 1,480,537, Jean-Francois "bmwmcoupe" Talbot in second with 850,380, and CrabMaki with 799,083.

Team PokerStars Pro Ville Wahlbeck

By the time they'd reached Level 28 (6,000/12,000), bmwmcoupe had slipped to 328,150 while CrabMaki had moved out in front just past Wahlbeck with a stack of 1,540,708. bmwmcoupe opened by raising to 24,000, and both of his opponents called, CrabMaki in the small blind and Wahlbeck in the big blind.

The flop came all babies -- [6c][2d][4c]. CrabMaki checked, Wahlbeck bet 48,000, and bmwmcoupe raised to 132,000. CrabMaki folded, and Wahlbeck called. The turn was the [6h], pairing the board. Wahlbeck checked, and bmwmcoupe pushed all in with his last 170,650. Wahlbeck called, showing [6s][4s] for a full house, and bmwmcoupe was drawing dead with [Ac][7c]. Jean-Francois "bmwmcoupe" Talbot was out in third.

The two remaining players were nearly even when heads-up play commenced, with Wahlbeck at 1,614,792 chips to CrabMaki's 1,515,208. The pair quickly fought through more than 60 hands, with CrabMaki taking the lead and then gradually building to a better than 3-to-1 chip advantage. Finally, with CrabMaki sitting at 2,423,166 and Wahlbeck 706,834, the last hand of the tournament was dealt -- nearly 16 hours after Event #2 had begun.

With the blinds still 6,000/12,000, CrabMaki raised to 36,000 from the small blind/button and Wahlbeck called. The flop came [5s][Ad][6d]. Wahlbeck checked, CrabMaki bet 57,500, and Wahlbeck called. The turn was the [8d]. Wahlbeck again checked, and this time CrabMaki bet 142,500. Wahlbeck once more made the call, leaving himself 469,334 behind.

The river was the [2c]. Wahlbeck checked one more time, and CrabMaki pushed all in. Wahlbeck thought about it, then called with his remaining chips, showing [Ac][2d] for two pair, but CrabMaki had turned the diamond flush with his [Kd][9d].

Congratulations to CrabMaki, 2010 WCOOP Event #2 Champion!

WCOOP Event #2 ($10,300 High Roller NLHE) Results

1st place: CrabMaki ($605,655)
2nd: Team PokerStars Pro Ville Wahlbeck ($453,850)
3rd: bmwmcoupe ($344,300)
4th: Also11 ($258,225)
5th: Vick Is God ($178,410)
6th: LooneyGerbil ($137,720)
7th: sms9231 ($106,420)
8th: pokerjamers ($75,120)
9th: antesvante ($54,775)

What a start! And things are only beginning to get cranked up WCOOP-wise. For more coverage from the first day of play and throughout the series, head over to PokerStars.tv. And visit the WCOOP site for the full schedule, results and player-of-the-year stats, information about satellites, and more!

Last week I decided to quit my challenge for two reasons. First of all, because I've been traveling a lot for the EPTs, vacations and WSOP I missed a lot of time grinding online. I was 40k behind pace with only 4.5 months to go. It shouldn't be that hard to get back on pace but because of the EPTs and the Master Classics of Poker in Amsterdam I'm playing before the first of January, I don't have enough time to grind enough to have earn all those VPPs. The second reason has to do with my RSI-problems. My arms and shoulders hurt a lot lately cause of grinding. I have had these problems quite some time now, also way before starting the SNE Challenge. Although I feel disappointed that I can't pursue the challenge anymore, I feel that I made the right decision at this point.

Now back to what really matters: WCOOP! I'm really excited to play this year's WCOOP. I'm especially looking forward to several events. Out of all the events, there is one that I would really like to win. Although you guys might suspect I am talking about the Main Event here, which seems like a logical option, the event I would like to win is Event 26, the $320 Mixed Hold'em 6-max. During the year I am making a lot of final tables on Sunday at the $215 weekly Mixed 6-max. This sounds more special than it is, because only 30 players register. Nevertheless, I like the format of this tourney a lot. First of all it is 6-max, the game I like to play most. Second, most people who are really good at No Limit Hold'em, aren't at Limit Hold'em. I'm not saying that I'm really good at Limit Hold'em but overall I think I have a edge over the other players.

A big difference between this year and the last couple of years, is that the WCOOP doesn't overlap the EPT Barcelona. I am very glad that there aren't any EPTs scheduled during the WCOOP because when you have to play the WCOOP from your hotel you have to depend on the hotel's internet connection which unfortunately isn't good most of the time. It tilts me pretty hard most of the time when I get timed out for the 432th time in one evening and folded my aces again. On the other hand it's very cool to play with a lot of poker players in a hotel lobby and see everybody grind away on the laptops.

I am very happy I can play WCOOP this year at home, although I'm not in the best time zone. Therefore my daily rhythm will be turned upside down which means that I have to sleep during the day and play poker at night. Although it is definitely worth it: how can people ever say that being a poker player is not a hard-knock life?!

Good luck at the table - visit the official WCOOP site for more info.

However, to win one of these events, or even making a final table, takes great skill and also a high level of stamina as the tournaments can go on for a very long time. Last year I cashed a lot but found myself failing at the key stages of the events. This year I am going to try and do a number of things to give myself the best chance of winning a highly sought after WCOOP bracelet.

Firstly, I will try to do a fair amount of exercise before hand as this will help with the stamina
issue and hopefully keep the brain active when others are flagging. Together with this trying to maintain a correct sleeping pattern is essential, which means in the UK going to sleep very late and waking up very late.

In terms of actual poker playing I think I need to do some research on who the new faces are in the online tournament (MTT) scene as I have not played as many online tournaments (MTTs) in the past few months as maybe I should have, so to close the gap on these guys I need to be better prepared.

Have fun as it is a great time of year, personally I am most looking forward to the $2,100 6 max PLO event and the $5,200 main event. Good luck for the series.

62 players remained from Saturday afternoon's session of Day 1B. Combined with the 41 survivors from 1A, the total entering the Day 2 night time session was 103 players.
PokerStars Macau Qualifier Ginger Keong from Macau leads the remaining 38 players going into the Day 3 Final with 235,000 chips. The local hero had a steady climb to the chip lead and feels confident heading into Sunday's final day.

"I always play well." said Keong, "I have been wanting to play these (PokerStars Macau) tournaments for a long time but am always too busy with work. I want to win and represent the local Macau (players)."

Keong won't have an easy ride to the final table as he begins Day 3 on the same table as Rathi Shashank who has 223,000 chips and was the outright chip leader for most of the tournament. Other notables making the final day include Macau Poker Cup Championship Main Event winner Devan Tang with 99,500, APPT Macau High Roller winner Nam Le with 28,500 and Day 1A chip leader Jason Coe with 146,500.

For Day 3 Seat Draws and Chip Counts please click here.

Notables busting from the main event include Team PokerStars Pro Bryan Huang, and former Red Dragon winners Kenichi Takarabe, Victor Chen and Zhenjian Lin. The Red Dragon trophy is assured of going to a first time winner and all 38 remaining players are in the money for no less than HKD17,200.

Red Dragon Day 3 Final begins on Sunday at 12:10 PM.

62 players remained from Saturday afternoon's session of Day 1B. Combined with the 41 survivors from 1A, the total entering the Day 2 night time session was 103 players.
PokerStars Macau Qualifier Ginger Keong from Macau leads the remaining 38 players going into the Day 3 Final with 235,000 chips. The local hero had a steady climb to the chip lead and feels confident heading into Sunday's final day.

"I always play well." said Keong, "I have been wanting to play these (PokerStars Macau) tournaments for a long time but am always too busy with work. I want to win and represent the local Macau (players)."

Keong won't have an easy ride to the final table as he begins Day 3 on the same table as Rathi Shashank who has 223,000 chips and was the outright chip leader for most of the tournament. Other notables making the final day include Macau Poker Cup Championship Main Event winner Devan Tang with 99,500, APPT Macau High Roller winner Nam Le with 28,500 and Day 1A chip leader Jason Coe with 146,500.

For Day 3 Seat Draws and Chip Counts please click here.

Notables busting from the main event include Team PokerStars Pro Bryan Huang, and former Red Dragon winners Kenichi Takarabe, Victor Chen and Zhenjian Lin. The Red Dragon trophy is assured of going to a first time winner and all 38 remaining players are in the money for no less than HKD17,200.

Red Dragon Day 3 Final begins on Sunday at 12:10 PM.