Sky Betting & Gaming has appointed Jochen Weiner as managing director of its Sky Bet Deutschland business in Germany.

In his new role, he'll lead Sky Bet’s approach to expand its presence in Germany, reporting on to chief executive Richard Flint.

Weiner served as managing director of Tipp3.de, the now-defunct online betting operator of German telecommunications company Deutsche Telekom, from 2015 until earlier this year.

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Read More... [Source: Gambling Headlines – This Week in Gambling]

The usual Five things from the week on PokerStars.

As one event concluded this week another got under way, each marking the top of an era within the PokerStars world.

First there has been the last ever Eureka Poker Tour event in Hamburg, won by Dinesh Alt who picked up a primary prize of €69,120. Howard Swains watched all of it and provided live updates from the start, that you would be able to read here. You too can jump straight to the general table report of Alt's win here.

As the doors closed in Germany they were opening in Birmingham, where the last ever UKIPT event was getting under way on the Star Casino. That was yesterday, with Day 1B (and a turbo Day 1C) starting today (and tonight), and with live updates provided by Marc Convey and Nick Wright who've been with the UKIPT from the beginning. They'll have all of the news from Birmingham through to the general table this weekend. Atone for yesterday, and tune in today by clicking here.

We say the last UKIPT and the last Eureka event, but only by name before they become PokerStars Festivals. For more on those...

Talking of PokerStars Festivals the primary of them is solely weeks away, and it is a first for brand new Jersey.

As we reported yesterday, October (and the beginning of November) will feature three weeks of without equal poker experience in New Jersey as PokerStars hosts its first major live and online events there in succession.

It starts with the brand new Jersey Championship of Online Poker, 43 events kicking off on October 15 with $1.2 million of prize money guaranteed over the Championship. That's immediately followed by the PokerStars Festival Atlantic City, with a $1,100 buy in Main Event and live updates at the PokerStars Blog. We'll have more details towards the event, but for now read all about it here.

Ready to start out playing on PokerStars? Click here to get started.

The world beyond poker featured at the blog this week within the type of interviews with prominent members of different pursuits.

First the familiar sight of Fatima Moreira De Melo, a former gold medal winning hockey player turned poker pro who spoke to the blog about her experiences this summer on the Isle of Man TT races, and the way optimisation applies to all aspects of life, whether it's riding a motorcycle at 200 mph around Snaefell Mountain, or teaching hockey to an area team.

Then on Wednesday we featured a work by Lina Olofsson who in a bid to understand her own son's fascination with eGaming, spoke to 2 members of Team Liquid, about how their lives mirror the poker world and the way eGaming has become a world phenomenon.

While the last UKIPT event plays out in Birmingham plans are afoot for the following and penultimate EPT event in Malta.

The Portomaso casino hosts the Tour from October 18 to 29, with 84 events at the cards for players seeking to ring as much summer out of the year as possible.

The 12 day festival offers something for each more or less poker player, and partners with the Italian Poker Tour to supply various tournaments including a 10K event, a 25K and the 5K Main Event, you can qualify for on PokerStars and, as we detailed this week, you are able to do so for €10 in special Spin & Go's now running until October 10. If things spin your way you'll turn that right into a package worth €7,500, details of which you could find here.

This week's podcast - with special guest star Kevin Martin - is now live...

"Joe's in Amsterdam, celebrating his 43rd birthday. But he's taken day trip from partying for this week's podcast. He and James discuss poker news - including the recently announced partnership between PokerStars and the GPL. The men also meet up with Kevin Martin from Team Online to speak bromance, TwitchCon, and the rigors and tribulations of being a DJ on a Canadian rock station.

"There's a recap of the EPT Malta Spin & Go promotion, plus the most important advisory regarding satellites for January's event within the Bahamas (clue: it is not called the PCA anymore). And Gabe Nagy tests his knowledge of the Ryan Reynolds movie 'Van Wilder' in 'Superfan vs Stapes'."

#EPTNotLive

Listen to this week's podcast here.

This weekend is the second one $1 Million Freeroll on PokerStars, starting this Sunday at 12:04 ET. There's still time to win your seat in a regular All-in Shootout Qualifier, details of you can find here. There's million within the prize pool with $10,000 guaranteed for first place.

Stephen Bartley is a staff writer for the PokerStars Blog. Follow him on Twitter: @StephenBartley.

Read More... [Source: PokerStarsBlog.com :: PokerStars news]

This week's Sunday Warm-Up again saw the $750,000 guarantee shattered, as 4,412 entrants built a tremendous $882,400 prize pool. As always, the overall table was a hard-fought affair, lasting ninety minutes before brianm15 came from an enormous short-handed chip deficit to top chip leader witcherd heads up for the title and the additional $10,000 left at the table after a four-way deal was cut. Witcherd, who held the chip lead from the time the overall table started until earlier than heads up play commenced, picked up $113,400 for second place while winner brianm15 logged an $85,000 victory.

Frugtplukker was the general table bubble boy, collecting $5,294 for 10th place when his pocket eights couldn't delay. Witcherd came into the general table with the largest stack, but pocktnizzles and Supa4real were also stacked deep because the final nine consolidated to play for the large money.

Almost once the general table started, it was time for probably the most tournament's scheduled breaks. After a handy guide a rough five-minute pit stop, short stack jouby44 picked up his namesake hand in late position and moved all in with 4♠-4♣. Brianm15 defended his big blind with A♥-9♦, and the race was on. That race led to 9th place for jouby44 because the flop came down 7♣-A♣-6♥ to offer brianm15 top pair and leave jouby44 drawing thin to mention alive. The turn and river brought no help as they came down T♥-T♠, and jouby44 was the primary elimination from the general table, picking up $7,059.21 for 9th place.

Jordie1982 went out in 8th place in very unlucky fashion after you have all his chips in as a large favorite over brianm15. After action folded around to his button, Jordie open-shoved with A♥-Q♣. Brianm15 made the decision from the small blind with K♦-Q♠, and Jordie1982 looked poised for a double up, especially when the flop came down 8♠-2♠-6♣. The 7♠ at the turn gave Brianm15 a couple of more outs to the flush, however it was the K♣ at the river that shipped the pot Brian's way, leaving Jordie1982 out in 8th place ($11,030.01).

It was changing into an evening of nasty river cards, and BillieD was the following victim to be washed away when he ran afoul of chip leader witcherd. At the short stack, BillieD open-shoved with Q♠-Q♦, and super stack witcherd defended his small blind with K♠-5♠. The flop was harmless, coming down 9♥-A♦-6♥, and the 8♥ at the turn was no help to either player. However the river peeled off the K♥, giving witcherd the larger pair, and the last of BillieD's stack besides. BillieD picked up $19,854.01 to assuage the pain of the bad beat.

Witcherd claimed another victim when his 6♠-6♥ not just held up against kingsofcards all-in, but actually improved significantly along the way in which. Kingsofcards moved all in for an enormous preflop raise from the cutoff with 4♣-4♠, and witcherd called from the small blind with sixes. If kingsofcards was in trouble preflop, the 6♣-J♣-8♥ left him drawing to running perfect cards to stick alive. None of these running perfect scenarios included the 9♦, so when that peeled off at the turn, the king was dethroned and drawing dead. The river was a meaningless J♦, and kingsofcards was done in 6th place ($28,678.01). After that hand, witcherd's chip stack was nearly twice that of his nearest opponent.

That chip stack got even healthier when witcherd busted his third opponent in quick succession, this time taking away bboooommmmmm in 5th place ($37,502.01). Action folded around to bboooommmmmm, who moved all in preflop from the small blind with A♥-8♣. Witcherd quickly called with A♦-T♣, and the chip leader was again within the driver's seat with an opponent all within the. flop of A♠-7♥-Q♦ did nothing to modify the preflop standings, and when the turn and river came down 3♣-Q♠, it was in all places for bboooommmmmm. The rest four players took a moment to speak about a deal, and after lengthy negotiations came to the next guaranteed money: brianm15 locked up $75,000 even, with pocktnizzles securing $77,484.15. Supa4real claimed $88,000.00, and chip leader witcherd picked up a guaranteed $113,400.00, with $10,000 left for the eventual winner. With the deal in place, the four remaining players settled in to battle for the remainder ten grand the all-important bragging rights.

The play was slower than normal once a deal was in place, but after a couple of orbits of probing and folding, pocktnizzles and witcherd squared off for one last fight. Pocktnizzles opened for a raise from the cutoff with 8♥-7♦, and witcherd three-bet from the button with Q♣-J♣. The opposite players got out of the way, and pocktnizzles moved all in excessive. Witcherd made the call, and his overcards improved to a flush draw at the 5♠-2♣-3♣ flop. The Ks at the turn was no help for either player, and witcherd still led together with his unpaired high cards. The A♣ at the river made his flush, and pocktnizzles was done in 4th place along with his $77,484.15 payday.

Brianm15 managed to double through witcherd twice with three players left to transport right into a solid second place, as Supa4real saw his chip stack start to dwindle. After a chain of raises and re-raises, the last of Supa4real's stack went in on a flop of 8♦-6♦-8♠. Supa4real was holding K♥-7♠, but brianm15 had flopped two pair with 7♥-6♥ and made the decision. The turn and river came down 5♠-6♠ to provide brianm15 the whole house and the chip lead as he bounced Supa4real in 3rd place, good for $88,000 after the deal.Tides had certainly turned for brianm15, who was last in chips with four players left. He went into heads-up play with the chip lead, and it took only a few minutes for him to complete off his penthouse to outhouse story and lock up the additional $10,000 by booting witcherd in 2nd place. The general hand appeared like this:

Brianm15 opened for a raise from the button, witcherd three-bet, and brianm15 called. The flop came down 4♥-2♠-5♣, and witcherd led out. Brianm15 made the call, and the 3♠ hit the turn. Both players checked, and fireworks erupted at the K♥ river. Witcherd checked, brianm15 led out, and witcherd check-raised all in with Q♥-5♦ for prime pair at the flop. Brianm15 quickly called with A♦-9♣, showing the turned straight for the pot and the tournament win! With the additional $10,000 for winning the tournament, brianm15 secured an $85,000 payday, while witcherd still ended up with $113,400 for his work within the tournament. Congratulations to all our final table players and everybody who cashed on this week's Sunday Warm-Up!

Read More... [Source: PokerStarsBlog.com :: PokerStars Sunday Tournaments]

^

Global Poker Index declares Negreanu 'best poker player of the past decade' on live tournament circuit.

Daniel Negreanu, a member of Team PokerStars Pro, have been recognised because the best poker player of the past decade by independent poker ranking service Global Poker Index (GPI). This recognition follows a pretty good performance by Negreanu in 2013, where he won a variety of big poker tournaments and received numerous 'Player of the Year' awards.

Daniel Negreanu is among the world's most famed poker players, winning his first World Series of Poker (WSOP) bracelet in 1998 on the age of 23. On the time, he was the youngest player to ever win a WSOP bracelet. Since that time, he has worked hard to maintain winning major tournaments, competing against the most efficient to become referred to as one of the vital successful poker players within the world.

Team PokerStars Pro Daniel Negreanu

Negreanu now has lifetime winnings from live poker tournaments of $19,399,176, which places him third at the all-time winnings list. Negreanu's sustained success during the last decade is robust evidence that he's an overly skilful player on this highly competitive game.
"I'm very honoured by this award. I've worked hard on my game within the decade, in order that I'LL find how you can consistently win year in, year out against tougher and tougher competition each year," said Negreanu. "I've never desired to rest on my name alone and winning has always been important to me. The sport has changed so much during the last 10 years, however the key ingredient for achievement hasn't: confidence. I enter the following decade more confident than ever before."

This award caps off a stellar year for Negreanu, which included winning the Bluff Magazine Poker Player of the Year, the cardboard Player Poker Player of the Year, the sector Series of Poker Player of the Year, and finishing 2013 because the primary ranked player at the current GPI rankings. He's not just the most productive poker player of the last decade, but in addition the most productive poker player right now.

The GPI is the world's leading tracker of live poker tournaments, and maintains a world ranking of the world's best poker players. The GPI rankings for poker are featured within the USA Today newspaper alongside the listings for other major international sports akin to the ATP rankings for tennis and the PGA rankings for golf.

Negreanu's 2013 poker highlights
World Series of Poker Asia-Pacific Main Event: Winner ($1,087,160)
World Series of Poker Asia-Pacific Mixed Event: Final table (4th, $17,096)
European Poker Tour Grand Final Main Event: Final table (4th, $420,912)
World Poker Tour Championship Main Event: Final table (7th, $137,085)
World Series of Poker Limit 2-7 Triple Draw Lowball: Runner-up ($107,055)
European Poker Tour Barcelona High Roller: Runner-up ($352,881)
World Series of Poker Europe High Roller: Winner ($979,955)
(all payouts in US$ equivalent)

Total 2013 live tournament winnings: $3,208,630

PokerStars is the world's largest poker room and the house of the arena Championship Of Online Poker.

Read More... [Source: PokerStarsBlog.com :: Players]

Marcin Horecki yesterday final tabled the record-breaking Eureka Main Event where he finished 8th for €30,500. As Horecki says below, you'd take it firstly of the development but being that close and missing out is often a bit of tough. Still, it does mean that he is freerolling a variety of action, that is just in addition for the reason that he desires to win this event and the PCA! Things are going okay on the moment

Horecki on the EPT7 Prague Main Event final table

Horecki finished here third for €247,000 in Season 7, back when Roberto Romanello opened the waterworks.

The PokerStars.tv crew caught up with Horecki today through the break of the EPT Prague Main Event. Click below.

Rick Dacey is a staff writer for PokerStars Blog. Follow the @PokerStarsBlog Twitter account.

Read More... [Source: PokerStarsBlog.com :: Players]

The Dublin edition of this tournament went on until gone 5am. On the Grand Final in Monaco, play needed to be paused and restarted tomorrow as a result of how late it bumped into the morning. But here in Malta, it took just below 12 hours of play for us to search out our €10K Single Re-entry champion. His name is Jakub 'Olorionek' Michalak, he final tabled the WCOOP Main Event this year, and he's now €178,403 richer. Here's the way it all went down.

Jakub Michalak - your latest Malta champ

We had a complete of 64 players pony up the €10K, while 20 of these fired another bullet, making a total prize pool of €814,800. Just 11 players got paid, but in comparison to previous editions of this single day tournament we reached the cash relatively quickly.

Rewinding back to the beginning of the day, Max Silver was the primary double casualty. He fired two bullets and was out on both before the tip of Level 4. Mikita Badziakouski, Connor Drinan, Dario Sammartino, Nick Petrangelo, Jean-Noel Thorel, Alexandros Kolonias, and Sam Greenwood are only some of folks that re-entered. Greenwood's second bullet was an especially short ordeal - out and in in around 30 minutes.

One of the numerous 'man of the moment' players in poker at the moment is New Zealand's David Yan. On the end of September he enjoyed a deep run within the Eureka6 Hamburg Main Event (16th - €3,880), which he was only playing as it was on his approach to a tournament in Berlin. He went and won that one for € 124,635. Then Yan turned up in Malta and took down the €25K Super High Roller for €465,800. However, it wasn't his day today. He got unlucky to bust when his ace-ten was outdrawn by Charlie Carrel's ace-eight.

The players took a 75-minute dinner break around 7:30pm and just 17 players returned. Scott Seiver had the chip lead with 850,000 and blinds at 8K/16K, good for 53 big blinds. Remember that in a sooner or later turbo, this wasn't the deepest stacked event. Seiver's nearest competitors were Italy's Rocco Palumbo (840,000), followed by Pratyush Buddiga (810,000) - who entered this event with just 20 minutes left of registration for a 12 big blind stack.

Another cash for O'Dwyer

Last year's winner of this event in Malta was Mr Steve O'Dwyer, and the 'Irishman' got off to a super start today winning four-bet pots with abandon. He rode that wave right into the money, eventually busting in 10th place for €20,400. However, Romania's Pasquale Grimaldi wouldn't be capable of earn a dime, suffering a brutal flush over flush to Charlie Carrel which crippled him and would see him make a muted exit within the next hand for a 12th place finish.

Grim for Grimaldi

Diego Zeiter was the following to bust, followed by O'Dwyer, which meant we had our final table of nine. Here's how they stacked up:

1. Behzad Ahadpour - 525,0002. Rocco Palumbo - 660,0003. Pratyush Buddiga - 1.38 million4. Morten Mortensen - 285,0005. Jakub Michalak - 1.31 million6. Scott Seiver - 975,0007. Orpen Kisacikoglu - 305,0008. Charlie Carrel - 2.44 million9. Adrian Mateos - 520,000

Morten Mortensen wouldn't last too long, getting it in with sixes against Scott Seiver's nines and never catching any help.

With eight left Rocco Palumbo managed to double up, meaning the fast stacks became Adrian Mateos and the thrill loving guy from Iran via New York, Behzad Ahadpour. This guy was truly the life and soul of this tournament, enjoying reckless abandon - from raising and playing pots having only seen one among his cards, to looking to re-arrange his flights home on the table once he came upon another €10K tournament was going down tomorrow.

Ahadpour would get pretty lucky to treble up through Pratyush Buddiga and eliminate Adrian Mateos. It was a three-way all-in pre-flop and Buddiga had queens, Ahadpour had tens, and Mateos had ace-queen. A 10 at the river sent the Spaniard out and halved Buddiga's stack.

Adios Mateos

Buddiga's luck wouldn't improve and he'd be the following man out. He shoved over Ahadpour's raise with pocket sixes and was called by the king-queen, and a queen at the turn saw his chips ship Ahadpour's way.

Bye bye Buddiga

That took us right down to six, where it truly became the Behzad Ahadpour show. His demise was pretty entertaining to mention the least; first, he doubled up Jakub Michalak. Then he doubled up Rocco Palumbo; then Ahadpour open shoved and was called by Scott Seiver with ace-ten. "I'm in order that tired, I MUST go," said Ahadpour, showing the ten-eight. However, he wasn't going just yet. An eight appeared at the turn to double him up, hurting Seiver's chances within the process. Then finally Ahadpour was all-in with the eight-five against Michalak's pocket fives on an 8♣5♠T♦ flop. JUST A LITTLE bad luck, sure, but Ahadpour wasn't dissapointed when was eliminated. Heck, he even got a round of applause from the table and the rail!

Behzad Ahadpour - very entertaining

Scott Seiver and Orpen Kisacikoglu would go away us next. Jakub Michalak's ace-six sucked out against Seiver's pocket jacks by hitting an ace, then Kisacikoglu was all-in for 3 big blinds with nine-six and couldn't beat Charlie Carrel's king-queen. After which there have been three.

Kisacikoglu fell in 4th

It was time to talk about a deal. Charlie Carrel had the chip lead with 3.66 million, playing Jakub Michalav's 2.905 million and Rocco Palumbo's 1.735 million. They cut an ICM deal that gave Carrel the lion's share and kept €17,475, the trophy, and the distinction still to play for.

After a couple of chips had passed back and forth, Charlie Carrel's chances were struck down when he called Rocco Palumbo's three-bet shove with ace-seven and was up against ace-queen. He couldn't find any help and a hand or two later he was out.

Carrel won in Dublin, but finished third here

Palumbo had the lead going into heads-up but things weren't going his way. He got coolered in a single hand when his two pair was beaten by Michalav's bigger two pair, then lost a string of small pots to bring his stack quite low. He did make one brilliant call though to provide himself a fighting chance; he called three barrels (the third of which was an all-in bet) with only a pair of fives on an A♥5♠2♦T♠6♣ board and was right, as Michalav had king-queen for air.

But after all it came all the way down to a race. Deuces for Michalav, king-nine for Palumbo, the ducks held up and we had ourselves a winner.

Congratulations to our latest EPT13 Malta champion, Poland's Jakub Michalav.

Michalav and friends, including Sebastian Malec

EPT13 Malta €10,000 NLHE Single Re-entry 8 Handed

Dates: October 24, 2016Players: 64Re-entries: 20Prize pool: €814,800

* Indicates a deal was made

Place Winner Country Sponsor Prize (EUR)

1	Jakab Michalak	Poland		178,403*
2	Rocco Palumbo	Italy		138,763*
3	Charlie Carrel	United Kingdom		170,754*
4	Orpen Kisacikoglu	Turkey		80,250
5	Scott Seiver	USA		63,550
6	Bahzad Ahadpour	Iran		49,700
7	Pratyush Buddiga	USA		39,100
8	Adrian Mateos	Spain		30,550
9	Morten Mortensen	Denmark		23,200
10	Steve O'Dwyer	Ireland		20,400
11	Diego Zeiter	Germany		20,400

Jack Stanton is a contract contributor to the PokerStars Blog. Photos by Jules Pochy and Manuel Kovsca.

Read More... [Source: PokerStarsBlog.com :: European Poker Tour]

I don't speak Swedish, but I FEEL "fzmas" is loosely translated as "terminator." With seven players remaining in MicroMillions Event #79 Pot-limit Courchevel, fzmas took out all six opponents including the general three players in precisely four hands. That's right, three players liquidated in just four hands. Courchevel must come easy to fzmas, who encountered little or no resistance en path to a slightly easy victory.

MicroMillions 6 Event #70 $3.30 PL Courchevel attracted 2,493 runners. These bodacious and adventurous Courchevel enthusiasts boosted the prize pool to $7,479.00. The highest 320 places paid out with $1,273.45 put aside to the eventual champion.

With nine remaining, action went hand-for-hand. Sweden's fzmas had amassed the most important stack with 3 million, while two short stacks, Sabr1988 and kuzbass 71, were looking to keep their heads above water with under 500K apiece.

Sabr1988 became the unlucky "bubble boy" after you have it all-in preflop with J♠ flashing because the door card. Sabr1988's A♥A♣K♣5♠5♥ lost to tapadeli's A♦K♥J♣9♥6♣ when the board ran out K♦Q♣J♥7♠2♦. tapadeli won the pot with two pair and Sabr1988 bubbled off the overall table in ninth place. The general table of eight was set.

Event #79 - Final Table Chip Counts:Seat 1: pulya1980 (1,537,172)Seat 2: tapadeli (1,032,425)Seat 3: kuzbass 71 (762,078)Seat 4: hustler1984 (496,763)Seat 5: avictoria (1,396,307)Seat 6: ivanvilchez8 (1,747,256)Seat 7: fzmas (3,067,713)Seat 8: nastine666 (2,425,286)

The Courchevel final table commenced during Level 41 with blinds at 60K and 120K. fzmas held an organization lead with 3 million, while hustler1984 clung to the quick stack with a shade under 500K.

tapadeli eliminated in 8th place

It didn't take very long before someone became the primary casualty on the final table. With 9♦ showing because the door card... pulya1980 min-raised 240,000 and tapadeli called all in for 150,347.

pulya1980: 9♣9♥6♥4♠2♦tapadeli: Q♦Q♠J♥T♠2♣

The board ran out 9♦8♣2♥5♣3♥. pulya1980 flopped a collection of nines, but rivered a six-high straight to win the pot. tapadeli flopped a straight draw, but didn't improve. Argentina's tapadeli became the primary player to exit on the final table and hit the street in eighth place, which paid out $74.79.

hustler198 eliminated in 7th place

Canada's hustler198 was on life support upon getting crippled and nearly obliterated in a prior hand. The hand that at last did him within the... 7♦ was the door card, so big-stacked bully fzmas opened to a heady raise of 420,000, super-short hustler1984 called all-in 66,763, and avictoria often known as (fzma's original raise) from the massive blind. Three-handed. On a flop of 7♦7♠3♥, fzmas fired out 97,676 and avictoria foled. Heads-up. Both players tabled their cards:

fzmas: 7♣6♠5♥5♦4♠hustler1984: A♦Q♣9♥8♦6♣

The turn was the 6♥ and the river was the 3♠. fzmas flopped trips and turned a whole house to win the pot. hustler1984 could only muster up two pair -- sevens and sixes. For a seventh-place finish, hustler1984 collected $149.58.

ivanvilchez8 eliminated in 6th place

On first street, the 9♠ was visible. ivanvilchez8 opened to 490,000, fzmas bumped it as much as 1,610,000, and ivanvilchez8 called all-in 467,256.

fzmas: A♦A♥7♣7♥3♦ivanvilchez8: A♣K♣Q♣Q♦8♥

fzmas was ahead with Aces against Queens. The board ran out 9♠6♠4♥4♠T♣. Both players only improved to 2 pair, but fzmas's two pair (Aces and fours) was superior to ivanvilchez8's two pair (Queens and fours). Argentina's ivanvilchez8 busted out in sixth place, which paid out $224.37.

kuzbass eliminated in 5th place

Another shorty bid goodbye. With 9♣ showing on first street, short-stacked kuzbass 71 open-shoved for 174,156 and both fzmas and nastine666 called. On a flop of J♦9♣8♥, fzmas fired out 480,000 and nastine666 bailed. Heads-up.

fzmas: K♣Q♣T♠8♦5♦kuzbass 71: A♣K♦9♦5♥4♦

fzmas flopped a straight and kuzbass 71 was in serious trouble. The turn was the 3♥ and the river was the J♠. kuzbass 71's two pair was no match against fzmas's Queen-high straight. fzmas dragged the pot and added more chips to his big stack. Russia's kuzbass 71 went busto in fifth place, which paid out $373.95.

avictoria eliminated in 4th place

Four-handed went quick. When you blinked, you missed the action. The 8♣ was the door card. avictoria opened to 700,000, fzmas bumped it as much as 2.3 million, and avictoria called all-in for 936,307.

fzmas: Q♣Q♦T♥8♦7♣avictoria: K♠Q♠Q♥J♣5♦

The board ran out 9♣8♣7♦3♠2♣. Unfortunately, avictoria didn't improve on a couple of Queens and lost to fzmas's rivered Queen-high flush. Germany's avictoria took home $523.53 for a fourth-place finish.

nastine666 eliminated in 3rd place

On the very next hand, Brazil's nastine666 met an unfortunate fate. Guess what appeared because the door card? Yes, another ominousrominous nine! The 9♦ was exposed on first street, fzmas opened to 700,000, nastine666 bombed it all-in for 2,011,130, and fzmas called.

nastine666: K♦Q♥9♥7♦4♠fzmas: A♣Q♣9♣8♣3♦

The board ran out J♠J♦9♦5♠8♥. Both players had two pair -- Jacks and nines -- however, fzmas held an Ace-kicker and won the pot. Belarus' nastine666 busted out in third place, which paid out $707.81.

HEADS-UP: pulya1980 (Russia) vs. fzmas (Sweden)Seat 1: pulya1980 (2,617,519 in chips)Seat 7: fzmas (9,847,481 in chips)

With two remaining, fzmas held a commanding lead approximately 4-to-1, however. Although heads-up only lasted two hands, fzmas lost the primary pot and coughed up a huge advantage.

pulya1980 eliminated in 2nd place; fzmas is the brand new Courchevel champion!

On the primary hand of heads up, pulya1980 avoided a quickie elimination and doubled up. pulya1980 won the primary pot with full boat holding A♣K♠Q♣6♦6♣ against fzmas' A♠8♣7♠4♠3♥ after the board ran out A♦Q♠Q♦J♦4♥. pulya1980 dodged a bullet, as fzmas' lead was trimmed to simply two million (7.2 million to 5.2 million).

Despite the initial setback, fzmas stopped pulya1980's comeback dead cold. At the second hand of heads-up, delivered a knock-out blow.

On the overall hand of the tournament, fzmas flopped a flush and that's the reason all she wrote. Another nine because the door card, with the 9♠ exposed on first street. fzmas raised to 600,000, pulya1980 bumped it as much as 1,400,000, and fzmas called. The flop was J♠9♠4♠. pulya1980 fired out 2,800,000, and fzmas called. The turn was the 5♣, pulya1980 bet 1,035,038, and fzmas called.

pulya1980: Q♥9♦9♣5♦2♣fzmas: Q♣J♣T♠6♠2♦

The T♦ fell at the river, which failed to held pulya1980. fzmas won the hand with a flopped flush.

For a soulful and hard-nosed runner-up performance, Russia's pulya1980 collected $897.48.

Congrats to Sweden's fzmas for winning Event #79 Courchevel and taking home a first-place prize worth $1,273.45.

MicroMillions-079 $3.30 PL CourchevelEntrants: 2,493Prize pool: $7,479.00Place paid: 320

1. fzmas (Sweden) - $1,273.452. pulya1980 (Russia) - $897.483. nastine666 (Belarus) - $707.814. avictoria (Germany) - $523.535. kuzbass 71 (Russia) - $373.956. ivanvilchez8 (Argentina) - $224.377. hustler1984 (Canada) - $149.588. tapadeli (Argentina) - $74.79

MicroMillions is nearly over! For more info including a schedule of remaining events, visit the MicroMillions 6 home page.

Pauly McGuire is an author and freelance contributor to PokerStars Blog.

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