Previously, the largest field for the popular HKD $1,500 deepstack event was 227 runners and the all-time side event record in Macau stood at 276 until Monday night’s final tally.

“I knew there would be a good chance at another record-setting week with such a strong turnout for the first event,” said Danny McDonagh, PokerStars Director of Live Operations in the Asia-Pacific. “There’s a global trend for re-entry tournaments to build numbers, so for us to set this record with a single buy-in freezeout really shows the support for the Macau Poker Cup in Asia, and it’s just phenomenal.”

The HKD $150k guarantee event had 31 players return on Tuesday afternoon to determine their share of the HKD $384,993 prize pool. Aussie Panagiotis “Panos” Makridis came out victorious and won HKD $88,500 in the process.

Panagiotis Makridis

South African Graeme Niksch held a slight chip lead entering heads up play but Panos built up his stack. In the final hand, Panos moved all-in with A-Q and was called by Niksch’s K-J. Both players hit on the board of 9♦5♥J♦T♥A♠, but the pair of aces was the winner sending the 40-year-old to victory lane.

Event 3: Deepstack – Final Table Results
1. Panagiotis Makridis (Australia) — $88,500
2. Graeme Niksch (South Africa) — $60,600
3. Akira Ohyama (Japan) — $36,600
4. Lee Drotzur (USA) — $28,900
5. Yosuke Sekiya (Japan) — $23,100
6. Percy Yung (Hong Kong) — $19,200
7. Soon Ann Gan (Malaysia) — $15,400
8. Phillip Chow (Hong Kong) — $11,500
9. En Zhang (China) — $9,600
10. Chi-han Hsieh (Chinese Taipei) — $7,893

For more information, visit the PokerStars Macau website.

Article source: http://www.pokerstarsblog.com/pokerstars_macau/2012/makridis-tops-record-macau-poker-cup-sid-091250.html

Only one member of Team PokerStars was able to share in the Super Tuesday spoils as Ana Marquez (below) finished in 44th place, earning $2,381.50. Lex Veldhuis, Liv Boeree, Pius Heinz, Pat Pezzin and Team PokerStars Online player Shane “Shaniac” Schleger were not as fortunate to make the money this week.

The final table bubble loomed in the eighth hour of the tournament with the blinds at 2,000/4,000 with an ante of 500. All in 2526 opened from the button with a raise to 8,800 chips with 9♦9♥ as danidindani re-raised all-in with A♠K♦. All in 2526 decided to call all-in for just under 100,000 chips. The first three cards were the J♣T♦6♠, giving danidindani ten outs twice to bust all in 2526. The turn brought the 3♣, but the Q♠ on the river was like a gutshot to all in 2526′s plan to make the final table, likely unhappy to finish tenth for $5,629.00 setting up this final table lineup:

Seat 1: danidindani (280,772 in chips)
Seat 2: yosef12 (226,452 in chips)
Seat 3: Tudlenudle (404,121 in chips)
Seat 4: Ami “UhhMee” Barer (41,612 in chips)
Seat 5: Peter “twirlpro” Turmezey (244,430 in chips)
Seat 6: PiS.ToTo (73,358 in chips)
Seat 7: Renato “leguito” Almeida (503,135 in chips)
Seat 8: Se7enTr3y (93,194 in chips)
Seat 9: Dave “dave798111″ Allan (297,926 in chips)

The final table started with blinds at 2,400/4,8000 with an ante of 600. During the first ten hands not much happened, but that changed as a pair of eliminations happened in just four hands. PiS.Toto was the first to fall, earning $7,187.80. Tudlenudle opened the action with a min-raise to 9,600. PiS.ToTo re-raised from the small blind all in for 54,758 as Tudlenudle called. PiS.ToTo turned over J♣J♥ as Tudlenudle was behind with A♣T♥. PiS.ToTo stayed in front on the K♦4♠2♥ flop. The turn brought the 3♠, giving Tudlenudle seven outs to win the hand, and it was the 5♥ to make a straight, sending PiS.Toto straight to the rail.

Ari “UhhMee” Barer has won millions online, and was looking to add another five-figure score to their long list of results. Unfortunately, Barer was short-stacked coming into the final table, eliminated just after PiS.ToTo in eighth place, cashing for $9,742.50. Left with 26,012 chips, Barer shoved from UTG with K♥9♦. Peter “twirlpro” Turmezey quickly called with A♦9♠ as the other players folded. The board ran out Q♣5♥2♠4♥6♠, leaving seven players in contention.

Play slowed down for a few minutes with no extreme short stacks remaining as the blinds increased to 3,200/6,400 with each player anteing 800. Tudlenudle started the final table second in chips, but a decision to get into a raising battle with yosef12 came at an inopportune time for the biggest pot of the final table:

Two hands later, yosef12 picked up the rest of Tudlenudle’s chips. The hand started with danidindani min-raising to 12,800 as yosef12 called. Tudlenudle jammed for 154,466 chips as danidindani folded as yosef12 called. Once again yosef12 was ahead, this time they held T♥T♠ as Tudlenudle held a smaller pair: 9♣9♠. The board runs out A♥8♣6♥7♦A♦, giving yosef12 the checkmark, sending Tudlenudle out in seventh. The player from the Czech Republic earned a payday of $14,072.50, much smaller than they expected when the final table commenced.

Another player likely disappointed in their finishing position was yosef12, earning $18,402.50 in sixth place. It becomes even more discouraging for the player from Israel when you realize they were chip leader with six players left. The first blow was when danidindani doubled through with A-K against pocket eights to double up. Next to receive a double-up was twirlpro when their A-K dominated yosef12′s A-Q. Se7enTr3y scooped up the last of the former chip leader’s stack. The blinds were now at 4,500/9,000 with an ante of 1,125. Yosef12 shoved for 55,384 as Se7enTr3y called from the big blind. Yosef12 was flipping for their tournament life with A♣8♣ as Se7enTr3y held 2♦2♠. Chances of doubling up greatly decreased on the Q♠Q♦2♥ flop, giving Se7enTr3y a full house. The 3♥ on the turn meant yosef12 was drawing dead as the 6♣ completing the hand, leaving a field of five.

A lengthy discussion of a deal followed, with the PokerStars host-provided deal figures turned down. However, some players decided to move around some money and all players would agree to the following figures with $6,000 going to the eventual winner:

Se7enTr3y: 652,111 – $58,467.48
dave79811: 505,745 – $50,686.81
danidindani: 457,221 – $47,993.49
leguito: 313,790 – $45,000.00
twirlpro: 236,133 – $41,000.42

Peter “twirlpro” Turmezey was dispatched in fifth place on the first hand after agreeing to a deal. Dave798111 opened with a raise to 18,000 as twirlpro moved in for 235,008 chips with 7♦7♠. Dave79811 called with A♠K♦ and the race was on. Turmezey was still ahead on the Q♥4♥3♠ flop. The lead was short-lived as the K♣ on the turn and A♥ on the river left twirlpro spinning, pocketing a $41,000.42 score.

Renato “leguito” Almeida finished in fourth for $45,000.00 as dave798111 came out on top of another coinflip. Blinds are now at 5,000/10,000 with an ante of 1,250 as dave798111 raised to 20,000. Leguito moved in for 271,145 chips with K♣Q♠ as dave798111 called with 8♣8♠. The board ran out 6♥4♣2♠2♥ T♦, leaving a trio of hopefuls.

Over thirty minutes of three-handed play moved dave798111 further in front, putting Se7enTr3y and danidindani under pressure to catch up, and it was Se7enTr3y running out of chips as danidindani was the beneficiary. The blinds moved up to 7,000/14,000 with an ante of 1,850 as Se7enTr3y raised to 28,000 with 9♠9♥. Danidindani re-raised to 70,000 with K♦K♥ and Se7enTr3y shipped their remaining 259,086 chips into the center as Se7enTr3y called. The two-outer needed by Se7enTr3y wasn’t coming as the virtual dealer dealt the following five cards: A♣J♣2♣8♥ 3♠, placing Se7enTr3y the biggest payday – $58,467.48 for their third place finish.

Heads-up play started with Dave798111 holding a nearly two to one edge over danidindani that was never threatened over the twenty minutes the duel lasted. The only hand featuring an all-in and call was the final hand as the blinds now stood at 8,000/16,000 with an ante of 2,000. Here’s how that hand played out:

Dave “dave798111″ Allan’s straight on the river gives him the win for this week’s Super Tuesday, earning $56,686.11. Danidindani sees a boost to their bankroll on PokerStars by $47,993.49.

2/21/12 Super Tuesday Final Table Results:

* Payouts reflect a deal made five-handed:

*1st: Dave “dave798111″ Allan – $56,686.81
*2nd: danidindani – $47,993.49
*3rd: Se7enTr3y – $58,467.48
*4th: Renato “leguito” Almeida $45,000.00
*5th: Peter “twirlpro” Turmezey – $41,000.42
6th: yosef12 – $18,402.50
7th: Tudlenudle – $14,072.50
8th: Ami “UhhMee” Barer – $9,742.50
9th: PiS.ToTo – $7,187.80

If you’re in the UK, be sure to check out the brand new PokerStars mobile app and discover all the places you can get your poker fix. Elsewhere, catch the action of EPT Copenhagen on the PokerStars blog.

Article source: http://www.pokerstarsblog.com/super_tuesday/2012/221-super-tuesday-dave798111-deals-a-win-091251.html

If you think this looks a little familiar, you’d be right: This is the return of the Red Spade Open.

The action kicks off at 3pm (ET) this Sunday in what will be the third tournament in the Red Spade Open series. If the $55 buy-in seems a little steep, fear not; PokerStars will be running a load of satellites that can be found in the lobby under TournamentsSpecial. You can also pick up a ticket from the VIP Store using your FPPs.

For more information, visit the Red Spade Open page.

Good luck!

Article source: http://www.pokerstarsblog.com/2012/red-spade-open-returns-on-sunday-091257.html

The thin layer of ice is beginning to thaw across the Stadsgraven lake this morning and the trees that line either side sway gently in the breeze. It’s a picture postcard vision from high up in the SAS Radisson hotel; only the healthy people riding bikes or jogging somewhere ruin it for those trapped indoors and who prefer their entertainment to be sedentary and no more energetic than to get a coffee refill in the player lounge.

But when you do that well it can be worth hundreds of thousands of dollars, and the returning 179 players consider themselves to be among that exclusive group at what has become a bijou event.

The likes of Steve O’Dwyer for instance would be one of them, alongside such luminaries as Mads Wissing, Anton Wigg, David Vamplew, Theo Jorgensen, Luca Pagano, Johnny Lodden, and Arnaud Mattern. Of course a lot of the others in the field are just kidding itself, but we’ll let that news break to them in the natural way.

Chip leader Steve O’Dwyer

Yesterday Wissing was the leader at the close on 127,575, some way behind Day 1a leader O’Dwyer who leads today with 190,975. Will they catch him? Find out as coverage of today’s play unfolds here on the PokerStars Blog.

Article source: http://www.pokerstarsblog.com/ept/2012/ept8-copenhagen-odwyer-leads-field-into-091256.html

But you can ignore the name Klaus Schwarz on table 39, he was our first faller.

21 1 Rasmus Larsen 18,300
21 2 Eva Bouckova 17,975
21 3 Nicholas Arin Holmes 53,025
21 4 Igor Pihela 41,900
21 5 Albert Iversen 94,175
21 6 Joel Nordqvist 36,925
21 7 Kevin Iacofano 96,150
21 8 Orla Madsen 31,975
21 9 Asger Boye 56,925

22 1 Anton Thorarinsson 25,450
22 2 Patrick Wahlquist 43,350
22 3 Aage Floenes Ravn 54,375
22 4 Malki Yaron Zeev 26,275
22 5 Kalle Niemi 96,800
22 6 Martin Kim Hansen 43,175
22 7 Henrik Jeppsson 96,700
22 8 Martin Riseng 48,250
22 9 Simon Nybo 16,725

23 1 Jesper Rytgaard 17,150
23 2 Chi Hung Shek 63,900
23 3 Jan Djerberg 69,175
23 4 Zohrab Basdajian 28,825
23 5 Melanie Weisner 78,900
23 6 Mario Puccini 39,625
23 7 Andrey Subbotin 12,800
23 8 Johan Roosen 66,625
23 9 Robert Beer 68,700

24 1 Nils Berggren 77,300
24 2 Vitor Pinho 14,225
24 3 Pierre Neuville 15,000
24 4 Isi Nadelmann 45,525
24 5 Konstantinos Christou 51,750
24 6 Simon Hanninger 20,900
24 7 Lauri Varonen 165,150
24 8 Marco Leonzio 50,800
24 9 Michael Finderup 94,475

25 1 Andreas Samuelsson 20,250
25 2 Eddie Tasbas 51,650
25 3 John Eames 17,400
25 4 Sylvain Naets 28,250
25 5 Grzegorz Cichocki 83,875
25 6 Robin Lindqvist 35,775
25 7 Byron Kaverman 11,450
25 8 Stefan Hoing 66,300
25 9 Martin Prager 3,050

26 1 Andrey Gulyy 38,525
26 2 Tiina Tahkala 60,175
26 3 Ilkin Amirov 105,000
26 4 Henri Tepsa 53,575
26 5 Erik Hellman 6,950
26 6 Mikhail Petrov 73,150
26 7 Juha Helppi 105,425
26 8 Emil Gunnarsson 47,200
26 9 Anthony Hnatow 70,500

27 1 Omar Adel 17,000
27 2 Soren Blanner 51,125
27 3 Eero Kekalainen 81,150
27 4 Damiel Studer 24,400
27 5 Safwan Al-Farhan 40,225
27 6 Andreas Wiese 24,650
27 7 Sergio Campisi 23,000
27 8 Kasper Jacobsen 19,100
27 9 Juha Lauttamus 69,575

28 1 Kenneth Laursen 30,150
28 2 Fredrik Svedberg 22,875
28 3 Marius Pospiech 52,400
28 4 Jan Molby 34,925
28 5 Anders Jensen 31,075
28 6 David Hrdlicka 50,900
28 7 Jan Nordenbaek 76,575
28 8 Nick Bogaert 41,050
28 9 Dmitry Ponomarev 25,600

29 1 Gerasimos Deres 69,950
29 2 Keld Volquardsen 81,450
29 3 David Vamplew 31,825
29 4 Ryan Smith 53,150
29 5 Liutauras Armanavicius 61,900
29 6 Stig Farholt 12,900
29 7 Halldor Sverisson 13,325
29 8 Agris Klaise 12,050
29 9 Achim Kruse 38,125

30 1 Ronnie Rasmussen 57,225
30 2 Nikita Nikolaev 19,875
30 3 Roberto Romanello 115,475
30 4 Edouard Mignot Bonnefous 36,550
30 5 Niels van Alphen 96,325
30 6 Eric Cortes 27,750
30 7 Martin Jorgensen 19,550
30 8 Emil Olsson 66,250
30 9 Antar Metin 57,750

31 1 Pal Koppegodt 38,275
31 2 Jannik Hansen 11,875
31 3 Constantin Petrica 28,275
31 4 Sonny Viberg 39,350
31 5 Henrik Juncker 14,250
31 6 Sebastian Rust 119,100
31 7 Vadzim Markushevski 29,350
31 8 Mickey Petersen 57,075
31 9 Martin Staszko 23,875

32 1 Marcel Bjerkmann 100,925
32 2 Roger Hannaseth 21,225
32 3 Steve O’Dwyer 190,975
32 4 Danny Neess 95,875
32 5 Alexander Manson 113,025
32 6 Yossi Azulay 26,150
32 7 Tim Jaksland 41,150
32 8 Micki Frier Suwalski 30,025
32 9 Maikel Van Leeuven 76,075

33 1 Eeki Ruponen 15,450
33 2 Axel Sippel 24,875
33 3 Ondrej Vinklarek 12,700
33 4 Birgitta Johansson 30,675
33 5 Victor Ilyukhin 60,775
33 6 Will Molson 11,225
33 7 William Paschall 57,400
33 8 Maxim Panyak 38,150
33 9 Helge Stjernvang 59,325

34 1 Mads Wissing 127,575
34 2 Jonas Molander 38,525
34 3 Anton Wigg 65,700
34 4 Stig Christensen 24,350
34 5 Theo Jorgensen 55,450
34 6 Anders Andersen 39,550
34 7 Berndt Gleissner 87,250
34 8 Mudassar Khan 29,775
34 9 Klaus Schwarz 4,650

35 1 Lupu Alexandru 65,550
35 2 Alex Casals 16,850
35 3 Mikita Badziakouski 68,675
35 4 Maksim Semisoshenko 48,450
35 5 Arnaud Mattern 19,900
35 6 Luca Pagano 44,225
35 7 Ben Vinson 80,675
35 8 Mikhail Marchenko 55,300
35 9 Thomas Blomberg 36,675

36 1 Ashley Mason 65,850
36 2 David Kristiansen 44,025
36 3 Vojtech Ruzicka 72,950
36 4 Thor Drexel 24,700
36 5 Simon Nysum 82,150
36 6 Azad Jabrayilov 55,400
36 7 Ghattas Kortas 70,400
36 8 Alber Hanna 78,200
36 9 Espen Berthelsen 44,800

37 1 Allan Baekke 41,150
37 2 Daniel Holgersen 87,200
37 3 Sam Chartier 53,200
37 4 Jan Verstraete 9,600
37 5 Andreas Piesik 67,050
37 6 Dmitri Tchernykh 90,525
37 7 Dag Vidorbrigsvor 28,125
37 8 Martin Nielsen 67,575
37 9 Magnus Borg Hansen 42,550

38 1 Spencer Hudson 79,075
38 2 Martin Vallo 71,400
38 3 Henrik Sorenson 29,300
38 4 Johnny Lodden 77,400
38 5 Mick Graydon 30,025
38 6 Thomas Markussen 44,825
38 7 Simon Ravnsbæk 56,725
38 8 Costin Fucea 107,000
38 9 Alejandro Sanchez Fernandez 33,600

39 1 Bjarke Hansen 37,150
39 2 Chanracy Khun 28,325
39 3 Lars Damgaard Hansen 68,650
39 4 Linus Dahlström 65,475
39 5 Jens Haenel 39,175
39 6 Adam Eliasson 43,700
39 7 Jacob Rasmussen 57,950
39 8 Michael Tureniec 53,750
39 9 Martin El-Kher 47,850

40 1 Petter Garrod 74,175
40 2 Martins Adeniya 47,075
40 4 Gert Zumkehr 13,800
40 5 Christian Lenz 79,050
40 6 Andreas Nilsson 54,850
40 7 Soren Jensen 15,250
40 8 Jyri Merivirta 11,800
40 9 Christian Togsverd 28,200

Expect some short stack carnage

Article source: http://www.pokerstarsblog.com/ept/2012/ept8-copenhagen-day-2-seat-draw-091255.html

Break time is spent in one of a few ways; either on a cigarette break, a trip to the gents or talking over things with friends. I don’t like to interrupt a conversation, and I’m not going to the gents with a man. But I’ll let a man smoke, which is where I caught up with Alexander Manson.

Right now all eyes are on one particular table this afternoon, where chip leader Steve O’Dwyer sits alongside last year’s winner Michael Tureniec and Marcel Bjerkmann. In between them all sits Manson, making his first EPT appearance and playing his first major live tournament, and who returned sixth in chips at the start of the day.

Alexander Manson

“It went pretty good to start with,” said Manson, looking back on his day one. “I got some easy chips. People trying to bluff me and I happened to have a hand each time. I got pretty fast up to around 60,000. Then the break came and the run continued. I got up to 85,000 and in the fourth hour I got back to 32,000. Then I changed table and everything turned. I got up to 130,000 before the finish.

What was it that made the new table so good?

“The cards, I guess!”

Manson, 25, from Horsens in Jutland, looks like a man prepared to let everyone else do the talking while he sits back and takes it all in. An online pro, Manson plays live tournaments at local casinos, but nothing on this scale. Now, the man who qualified for $22, is in a good position to make a run for the money.

Some might baulk at a seat on the grown up table but Manson is relaxed enough to see ti as an opportunity.

“Money wise I guess it’s bad,” said Manson. “For experience stake I’m very happy with my table. Good chat and a good mood on the table. You’ve got to beat the good players to win an EPT. Better sooner than later.”

Article source: http://www.pokerstarsblog.com/ept/2012/ept8-copenhagen-manson-out-of-the-frying-091264.html

That table, number 32, has the mercurial Marcel Bjerkmann two seats to O’Dwyer’s right and Danny Neess (100,000) to his left.

The storm started with Manson who re-shoved with A♠Q♣ over the top of Roger Hannaseth’s A♥J♠ shove to push him up to 135,000. O’Dwyer was the next to get involved, albeit on the wrong end of things, after opening from middle position to 1,400 and getting two calls before Yozzi Azulay squeezed it up to 5,800.

“Move your hand,” asked O’Dwyer. Azulaay acquiesced.

O’Dwyer in action

The chip leader plucked out 13,200 and made the four-bet sending Azulaay into the tank. Eventually he moved all-in for 32,000 and O’Dwyer quickly made the call with A♦Q♦ which failed to suck out through Azulaay’s A♠A♣. O’Dwyer lost another pot the next hand just as Michael Tureniec, reigning champion and eye of the storm, sat himself down in seat two – directly between Bjerkmann and O’Dwyer.

Tureniec wasted little time in getting involved three- and five-betting into Maikel van Leeuven button aggression. Put simply, don’t get mixed up with Tureniec unless you’re willing to get your stack in.

We caught up with O’Dwyer at the break to find what he thought of his table.

“It’s the first level of the entire tournament I’ve lost chips so I guess not good, but I’ve still got 165,000 so it’s no big deal. The table is not certainly ideal. I have Michael (Tureniec) and Marcel (Bjerkmann) on my right, which I suppose is all right but I’d rather they were on a different table entirely,” said O’Dwyer, who and played with Bjerkmann at UKIPT Galway last week.

Marcel Bjerkmann

“I hung out with him (Bjerkmann) a bit with Kevin MacPhee. He’s a crazy person. I played with him in the High Roller event and got sucked into the whirlwind of degeneracy in level one and lost half of my stack. He was playing every hand so I thought, I’m going to play every hand, suddenly I realised I didn’t have any chips. He’s an interesting fella for sure.”

O’Dwyer still sits third in chips, just behind Jan Verstraete (186,000) and Lauri Varonen (182,000) but could he ever get away from those tanking aces of Azulaay?

“I was a lot more miserable calling but I was getting a price where I couldn’t fold. When he starts Hollywooding I was a lot more upset with my hand and would rather have had something better. Against certain players I would consider folding but I’d already discovered that he’s an online player of some sort. It was the perfect spot for a squeeze so I couldn’t really play it any other way. If it was an older player then perhaps I wouldn’t have four-bet in the first, but if I had then I’d try to get some more information by staring him down for a while,” said O’Dwyer in his usual languid drawl.

The laidback player has got plenty of reasons to be relaxed following an incredible year at the tables in 2011 where he scored two big money runner-up spots including £465,000 at EPT London. Last year’s live takings tot up to $1,423,680 which make up almost three-quarters of his career winnings. Something had obviously changed.

“I was playing a lot more tournaments,” explained O’Dwyer. “Once Black Friday happened I didn’t have any other choice than to play live. I had to go out on the road and play as much as I could. I don’t think I’m doing anything differently from two or three years ago but in a lot of the tournaments I went deep in I certainly ran way above expectation. In London I sucked out on people over and over and over again for five days. It was amazing.”

Steve O’Dwyer, still looking for his first title

Unfortunately for O’Dwyer his run good at both EPT London and WPT Venice ended when he got heads up, twice giving him a tantalising taste of a big money title, but he refuses to be a prima donna about it: “It’s mildly frustrating. No, barely frustrating. We chopped up London which was a lot of money. I got a nice little piece of that.”

O’Dwyer always looks calm at the table, unwilling to allow other players to buffet him off the correct course of action which, given the aggressiveness of EPT Copehagen, is a vital quality, especially when you have the reigning champion sat next to you.

Article source: http://www.pokerstarsblog.com/ept/2012/ept8-copenhagen-odwyer-and-tureniec-at-t-091274.html

The Sunday Million is getting $6 million.

Yes, you read that right. The PokerStars big cheeses have just told us that the Sunday Million celebrates its sixth anniversary on March 11 with a $6 million guarantee and at least $1 million to the winner.

Before I let that juicy news sink in, let me tell you that although you can enter this special Sunday Million as usual for $215, you can get in for as little as $1 through the satellite route. Do the math: Parlay $1 into at least $1 million and you have a return on investment of, well, quite a lot.

This super-sized edition of the Sunday Million begins at 14:30 (ET). There will be a special 1,000 seat guaranteed satellite running just before it kicks off, with feeder satellites starting from only $1. To buy-in direct or register for a satellite, open the PokerStars lobby and go to TourneySpecial.

During PokerStars’ recent 10th Anniversary celebrations, I wrote about the Sunday Million, and how it first started out in 2006, cementing its position as the premier online poker tournament on the planet.

Here is the Sunday Million story in hard facts:
Total Number of Sunday Million tourneys: 277
First Ever Winner: ‘aaaaaaaa’ (USA)
Total Prize Pool: $442,685,600
Total Entries: 2,109,193

Members of Team PokerStars Pro will be out in force for the Sunday Million 6th Anniversary and a shot at the guaranteed $1 million first prize. Here’s what some of them had to say, including some tips for success:

Bertrand ‘ElkY’ Grospellier
“My favourite memory of the big Sunday tournament on PokerStars is the time I finished 12th. This was my first really deep run in a tournament of this size, and I was so excited. There is a huge Sunday Million on March 11, with $1M guaranteed for first. It may not feel the same for me as the first time I went deep, but I’ll be trying just as hard. See you there.”

ElkY

Jason Mercier
“When I think of the Sunday Million, I think back to being a 19-21 year old kid, grinding mid-stakes, looking for that big tournament score. I would get excited every week to play the Sunday Million, hoping that would be the day that I would have my first six-figure score.”

Johnny Lodden
“This is one of the few tournaments where you can really score big. I have fun memories of playing the Sunday Million with my buddies, with football games on TV in the background. A friend won a big Sunday tournament in the old days, and first prize was $8,000. A long way from where we are now!”

Liv Boeree
“When playing the Sunday Million, it’s important to be patient. It attracts huge numbers, and in order to navigate your way through, you have to learn to play the waiting game if the cards don’t cooperate.”

Liv Boeree

Lex Veldhuis
“I like to play really aggressive in the Sunday Million, because there are so many players who wait for this tournament all week, and are too careful with their chips. This allows you to build a big stack early on, and cruise once you have it.”

Article source: http://www.pokerstarsblog.com/2012/sunday-million-6th-anniversary-6-million-091265.html

Ask those who spend their time working on the European Poker Tour to name the worst final table they ever seen and most will undoubtedly say Copenhagen, Season 4, an epic all-nighter that somehow managed to make time stand still.

It’s true, it was a tough night. But they’re also wrong. That final table was a belter, a classic, and among the most memorable of EPT stories.

It started with a final table line up that promised a lot. It ended, at 1.40am, with a heads-up contest that featured extended periods of boredom, interspersed with occasional moments of drama. Well one moment of drama, a coup de grace delivered in Hollywood fashion.

The only snag was that the heads-up lasted nearly five hours.

Before that the final had rattled along nicely. Danny Ryan departed in fifth, which most thought was premature. Rasmus Neilsen followed in fourth before Magnus Hansen departed in third place.

It left the heads-up finalists; Tim Vance, a gravel voiced amateur player from the United States, and Soren Jensen, the local man from Aarhus, Denmark.

Tim Vance: No one sings like you any more…

No one could have predicted that the heads-up would last so long. The final up to then had been at a heady pace, with Vance, a man who wears a cap on his head and his heart on his sleeve, swaggering past the opposition. Heads-up, all that would change.

The initial impression was that both players were simply sizing each other up, deploying clever, sophisticated analytical skills to get the measure of each other. These were no ordinary finalists.

Vance, who looked more and more exhausted as the night went on, would pace the stage, repeatedly asked to return to his seat where he would stand, the adrenaline in his blood making sitting impossible. Time and again he would shout towards the bar for more orange juice, demanding more and more ice in his drink each time.

“Tell them American ice!” he said, as if this would explain all to the fatigued bar staff.
Jensen on the other hand was as muscle bound firebrand, who celebrated victory in the hands he won by yelling “Come on the whites!” which everyone hoped referred to the colour of shirts worn by his favourite soccer team Aarhus.

As time went on this “sizing up” period soon revealed itself to be something completely different. It was in fact a stalemate, both players beginning long process of folding, as each, it seemed, waited for the nuts before progressing any further than a checked flop.
It was at time agonising for those watching as the levels passed by without so much as a change in the chip counts, which had Vance ahead by some way.

Then the hand that brought everyone back to life.

Both players checked the flop of 2-7-8 with two spades. Those watching were used to seeing both players check so had no idea this would be the last hand. The turn came a three, another spade, at which Jensen bet 115,000 which Vance called without delay for the four of spades on the river, which prompted Jensen to move all in. With the same degree of theatre Vance had used throughout the tournament, he stood up, turning to Jensen.

“It’s been nice playing with you sir… I call.”

Vance threw down ace-ten of spades, the nuts, to wrap up what in hindsight had been an incredible performance. He immediately screamed in delight and then walked straight out of the tournament room. Tournament staff, keen to get things wrapped up, wondered what to do before it was agreed that Vance had at least earned a cigarette break. Hell, we all had.

When he returned Vance, almost asleep, collected his trophy and check for more than €800,000. His name would now be part of EPT folklore and Vance himself one of the best loved, and oft talked about players in the tour’s history.

Article source: http://www.pokerstarsblog.com/ept/2012/ept8-copenhagen-the-lengend-of-old-tim-v-091277.html

Germany’s Sandro Simon won event no. 4 as he beat the HKD $4,000 buy-in event’s record 212-player field and was awarded the HKD $179,500 first prize.

Wednesday’s action brought back 25 players who made the money and Day 2 would determine each player’s share of the HKD $747,936 prize pool. 2011 Asia Player of the Year Shaq Lin was amongst the hopefuls but he was the first to fall as he exited in 25th place.

Japan’s Yosuke Sekiya made his second final table in as many days but was knocked out in third place by Taiwanese Shao Hung Lee to set-up heads-up play against Simon. In the final hand, both players got their chips in for a classic coin flip, with Lee’s A-T against Simon’s pocket sixes. Lee missed the board, handing the title to the 25-year-old German.

Sandro Simon

“I guess I will use my winnings to play more poker, no doubt!” said the online poker pro. “I love to travel around, especially Asia. I was at APPT Manila and met a few friends. This is my first time in Macau. I won my seat to the main event and hope to do well.”

Event 4: $4,000 NLH – Final Table Results
1. Sandro Simon (Germany) — $179,500
2. Shao Hung Lee (Chinese Taipei) — $123,400
3. Yosuke Sekiya (Japan) — $74,800
4. Yu Cheng Rong (China) — $56,100
5. Kunal Chandra (India) — $44,900
6. Takanori Sugimoto (Japan) — $37,400
7. Hirotoshi Nakabo (Japan) — $29,900
8. King-chung Wang (Chinese Taipei) — $22,400
9. Roel Pijpers (Netherlands) — $18,700
10. Mitsuyo Sano (Japan) — $15,036

Article source: http://www.pokerstarsblog.com/pokerstars_macau/2012/sandro-simon-wins-macau-poker-cup-event-091278.html