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With the Sunday Million on hiatus due to 8,669 players who are trying to gain a last minute ticket into this year's World Series of Poker Main Event, the big tourney of the evening started a few hours earlier. The $750,000 guarantee Sunday Warm-up had a strong showing tonight despite all the players looking for a last minute Father's Day gift, much like a certain writer who picked up a Home Depot gift card on the way to see his dad. 4,129 showed up for with the $215 buy-in and unlike last week, crushed the guarantee creating an $825,800.00 prize pool leaving aside $129,553.34 of that for tonight's winner. Perhaps the victor tonight will show up at his or her father's place with little more than I did after taking home the six-figure win.

Down to the final table bubble and a difference of around $1,600 on the line, not to mention the six figures awaiting for our winner, short-stacked Mochuelo1 with just over one million chips and 80K/160K ante 16K blind tried to improve with a shove from the cutoff holding [Ks][Qh]. JoeJ1337 in the big blind looking down at pocket tens [Tc][Ts] refused to relinquish the blinds and made the call. In an odd reverse fade, JoeJ1337 started spamming "Q" in the chat box, and sure enough nary a "Q" found the [7s] [5h] [8s] [7h] [Th] board and Mochuelo1 was sent home in tenth place ($4,954.80).

Click image for larger picture

Seat 1: needdollarz (7782684 in chips)
Seat 2: Nitrite (3644958 in chips)
Seat 3: degiomusic (6655267 in chips)
Seat 4: SiiliSuhonen (2076100 in chips)
Seat 5: JoeJ1337 (4826878 in chips)
Seat 6: raare01 (3537032 in chips)
Seat 7: QazMiNowPlz (5872951 in chips)
Seat 8: lankeshwar (2080064 in chips)
Seat 9: da produca (4814066 in chips)

Blinds would move up to 100K/200K ante 20K within a few minutes of the final nine being seated as needdollarz came in with the most tournament dollars followed closely by degiomusic and QazNiNowPlz who was flying the colors of Denmark.

Hearts Ahoy

After losing a huge eight million chip pot to SilliSuhonen, lankeshwar was left with just a half million in chips. Three hands later with the blinds at 125K/250K ante 25K, lankeshwar found [Ad][Qs] in early position and open shove for 476,916 chips. Folded around to degiomusic in the big blind who only had to call another 226,916 while holding 3.4 million behind, made the math call with [4h][9h]. 1.3 million chips in the middle with lankeshwar having to fade a flush draw [Th] [3h] [3d] after two hearts hit the flop. [Js] on the turn was fine, the red lady on the river [Qh] completed the flush for degiomusic sending lankeshwar off in ninth place ($6,606.40).

Moving with the chip rhythm

Five hands later da produca would open shove from UTG holding pocket nines [9s][9d] for 3.3 million. Two spots over degiomusic held pocket kings [Kd][Kh] and called all-in for just 82,947 chips less as the rest of the table went back to watching World Cup highlights. Two pair came out on the [Qh] [5s] [Td] [Ts] [Qs] board as degiomusic's kings over queens reigned supreme, taking in the 7.1 million chip pot. The very next hand da produca's 82,947 chips went into the middle in the big blind as QazMiNowPlz and degiomusic made the call. After the [Kd][7d][6c] flop, degiomusic led out for the minimum as QazMiNowPlz left the hand and turned up [Kc][Js] for top pair. da produca still had some life with the ragged [5h][9h] and an inside straight draw. But, the saving eight would stay away from the [6h] turn and [3c] river sending the da produca back to da studio in eighth place ($10,322.50).

Nitrite blows up

In one of the biggest pots of the tournament to this point, chip leader SilliSuhonen would put needdollarz to the test preflop after needdollarz found his preflop raised by both Nitrite and SilliSuhonen. needdollarz would abandon the 532,123 chips as Nitrite was all-in against SilliSuhonen for the 7.9 million chip pot. Watch the results below:

RSS readers click through to see replay

Pocket queens for SilliSuhonen [Qd][Qc] would trample Nitrite's [Jd][Ac] on the [3d] [3h] [Kd] [8d] [Th] board and scoop the 7.9 million chips as Nitrite took in $18,580.50 in seventh place.

1337dOOd done

The blinds moved up to 150K/300K ante 30K as JoeJ1337 and QazMiNowPlz tried to combine their similar five million chips and change stacks into one massive stack preflop. JoeJ1337 would cover by 57,705 chips and turned over pocket eights [8s][8d] to QazMiNowPlz's big slick [Kc][Ad]. Much like the final table bubble hand, JoeJ1337 immediately went for the reverse sweat and started spamming "aaaaaaaaaa". Obviously, that worked as no ace hit the board but a king did on the river [3s] [7h] [4c] [4h] [Ks] sending the 11 million chip pot to QazMiNowPlz. The next hand SilliSuhonen would scoop up JoeJ1337's scraps and send the elite one out in sixth place ($26,838.50).

Time to face the music

Just two hands later degiomusic, who helped carve a few players from the final table would find his own head on the chopping block facing chip leader SilliSuhonen. After raare01 and degiomusic made the call of SilliSuhonen preflop raise to 700K all three would see the [Qs][Ks][5d] flop. From the big blind degiomusic tried to scare off the remaining players with a shove for 2.7 million. Instead the response was an equally quick call from SilliSuhonen holding big slick [Ks][As] and quick fold by raare01. degiomusic also held top pair but a lesser kicker [9h][Kd], and failed to catch up on the [8h] turn and [7s] river leaving the tournament in fifth place ($35,096.50).

3-2-1 Contact!

Three eliminations in four hands tends to make writer's hands cramp up. With the blinds holding steady at 150K/300K ante 30K raare01 tried to hop into the action by shoving for 2.3 million over the top of a preflop raise by needdollarz. Holding 6.1 million in chips and only having to call 1.7 million more, needdollarz would make the call holding [7s][Ac]. raare01's [Ah][8c] looked a lot brighter after the [6d][9s][Jc] flop. But, the [7h] would dim the lights on raare01's tournament as the [3s] turned those five million chips in needdollarz's direction. raare01 would finish just outside of the proposed deal in fourth place ($46,657.70).

Did I mention a deal?

Immediately the final three had our PokerStars host pause the time clock for one of the quicker deals I have had the pleasure of covering. Details below leaving $10,000.00 for the winner:

needdollarz: $88,320.19
QazMiNowPlz: $87,678.76
SilliSuhonen: $107,888.59

Eight is not enough

Watch this massive 17 milllion chip pot between needdollarz and QazMiNowPlz play out below:

RSS readers click through to see replay

After the [4h][6h][8s] flop QazMiNowPlz would check as needdollarz would lead out for one million. QazMiNowPlz check-raised all-in and covered as needdollarz could not hit the call button quickly enough with the flopped straight [5d][7s]. QazMiNowPlz's top pair [Kh][8d] would be drawing dead by the [3s] turn as 17 million chips went to needdollarz. QazMiNowPlz's remaining 666,873 chips would be placed in the middle for a snack on the next hand as SilliSuhonen would hit a broadway straight to send off QazMiNowPlz in third place ($87,678.76).

Quick end to a long tourney

Ten hours after 4,129 players started, heads-up play would begin with needdollarz in a 15.8 million to 25.4 million chip deficit to SilliSuhonen. Three hands in needdollarz would score a needed double-up with another eight high straight, scoring 31.2 million chips. After the reversal in chip counts, needdollarz would apply the pressure in winning six of the final eight hands including the final hand where SilliSuhonen decided to test his luck preflop and shoved for 7.5 million chips holding two face cards [Qh][Jc]. With decent suited ace [Td][Ad] needdollarz made the call. A jack on the flop [Ks] [8s] [Jh] had SilliSuhonen looking good to get back into the tournament. [9d] helped no one on the turn but the rivered [Qs] improved both hands as needdollarz racked up yet another straight and the final 15 million tournament chips to become this week's Sunday Warm-up champion and collected the additional $10,000 bringing the total winnings to $98,320.19!

$750,000 guarantee Sunday Warm-Up Results (06-20-10)
(*denotes part of three-way deal)

1. needdollarz (St.Petersbourg) *$98,320.19
2. SiiliSuhonen (roma) *$107,888.59
3. QazMiNowPlz (Jyllinge) $87,678.76
4. raare01 (no chat) $46,657.70
5. degiomusic (cournonterral) $35,096.50
6. JoeJ1337 (Livonia) $26,838.50
7. Nitrite (Stockholm) $18,580.50
8. da produca (Zurich) $10,322.50
9. lankeshwar (Northborough) $6,606.40

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

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We might be waist deep in an EPT festival right now, but that never stopped us looking ahead to the next festival coming up, especially when it's the PokerStars Caribbean Adventure.

The PCA is the jewel in the PokerStars calendar, offering more than 100 tournaments in great venue, but with a backdrop of palm trees and Paradise.

But the PCA is more than about poker. Our plan is to make it a memorable trip whether you walk away as the new PCA Main Event champion or with nothing more than a story.

What will that involve exactly?

Well for one thing we're thrilled to announce that Breakfast with the Pros is back. These are a great opportunity to meet Team PokerStars Pros, ask questions and hear what they have to say about the game. We even throw in breakfast. They're a highlight of the festival not to be missed, and run from January 7 to 13, starting at 11am each day.

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Ready to sign up for PokerStars? Click here to get an account.

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The player lounge is then turned over to a host of other activities, including Atari Fun. You can play classic Atari games such as "Centipede", "Asteroids" and "Missile Command" with a chance to win one of three replica machines each day. The player lounge is also a great place to relax and get away from the bustle of the tournament room for a while. Be sure to drop in and say hello.

But this year it's not just inside where we're running activities.

If you like basketball then we're staging a 3-v-3 Basketball shootout featuring Jason Mercier, which is open to the first 48 players to register and runs on the morning of January 11 to 12. We're also accepting alternates - just email PCA@pslive.com. On January 11, registration runs from 9:00am to 9:30pm, you'll shoot for half an hour and then the games will run from 10am until noon. The next day you'll shoot from 9.30am, with games running from 10am.

As well as being a great chance to get some vitamin-A after long sessions at the table, the winners will gain free entry into a $1,000 side event on January 13. Oh, and if you like free stuff every player who enters gets a free t-shirt for taking part.

Then there's a tailgate party which (admittedly weather depending) coincides with the NFL play offs. They'll be a free-to-enter squares contest to across the weekend of January 9 to 10, as well as beer, food, and the obligatory beer pong. We'll also be throwing in a few prizes to win along the way.

Back indoors and they'll be extra events on the schedule to keep things new.

HU4Rollz will pitch you against Marc Andre Ladouceur, Liv Boeree and Randy Lew from Team PokerStars in a free to enter Heads-Up Challenge. They'll be prizes of course, ranging from $500 to $1,000 for consecutive wins. That runs from January 8 to 10.

We'll also be hosting the first ever PokerStars Casino €100,000 guaranteed blackjack tournament on January 8, featuring a buy-in of $500 and maximum of 2016 players, in the Atlantis Casino.

Lastly the official player party will wrap up the adventure on January 13, from 8-.30pm to 10.30pm before moving to the Aura night club. Taking place in the Grand Ballroom, they'll be free drinks, canapés and some great entertainment.

We're excited by it and we hope you are too. For all the details visit the PokerStars Caribbean Adventure homepage.

Ready to sign up for PokerStars? Click here to get an account.

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Stephen Bartley is a staff writer for the PokerStars Blog.

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Read More... [Source: PokerStarsBlog.com :: PokerStars Caribbean Adventure]

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The final table is set!

While the cash tables were buzzing with players chasing the royal flush jackpot, those on the tournament floor were looking for a huge score of their own.

When play began we had 63 poker hopefuls return to the Crown poker room and we were off to a flying start as the shortstacks gambled for their tournament lives.

After eight and a half hours of play we've finally made it to our last-ever AZNPT final table. Those lucky nine will be back tomorrow before we crown a champion!

The plan starting the day was to play down to seven but when time lingered on and the action slowed down as we approached the end, a decision was made to conclude things nine handed.

Play would conclude only a few minutes into Level 24 when start-of-day chip leader Kenn Langcake eliminated Adam Monaghan. It folded around to Monaghan on the button who pushed all in for his last 195,000 in chips. Next to act Langcake moved in over the top with enough to cover and with the big blind out of the way the cards went on their backs.

Monaghan: [Qh][8h]
Langcake: [Ad][4c]

Monghan needed help and he celebrated after finding it on the [Qs][3h][Ks] flop. He was trying to fade an ace to stay alive but couldn't do it as the [Ac] turn rolled off and the [9c] river bricked. Monaghan would have to be content with his 10th place finish for $11,725 while the other nine guaranteed themselves $19,120.

Bubble boy - Adam Monaghan

Leading the way for tomorrow's return after a great day on the felt is Peter Matusik. The Brisbane local emerged as chip leader about half way through proceedings and is currently out in front with 2,430,000.

Matusik put a stop to Day 1B end-of-day chip leader Hyeong Wook Choi into the late stages of the night after the dealer fanned out an action flop. The [3c][8s][6s] board saw a jam from Choi and a snap-call from Matsusik before players revealed their hands.

Matusik: [6h][6d]
Choi: [Qs][9s]

It was Matusik's middle set up against Choi's flush draw and with the [Kd] turn and [Td] river appearing Choi would fail to spike one of his outs to instead find the rail. Matusik would continue chipping up as play went on before ultimately finishing with the lead going into the final table tomorrow.

Current chip leader - Peter Matusik

Following Matusik on the chip stack podium are Lin Shi (current second place) with 1,865,000 and reigning Aussie Millions champion Manny Stavropoulos (third place) on 1,570,000. By reaching the final table here this week Stavropoulos has already guaranteed himself the ANZPT Player of the Year title and will be hunting for the last ANZPT Main Event title to top it off.

ANZPT7 Melbourne Final Table Draw
Seat 1: Manny Stavropoulos (Australia) - 1,570,000
Seat 2: Kenn Langcake (Australia) - 650,000
Seat 3: Mile Krstanoski (Australia) - 525,000
Seat 4: Carl Knox (New Zealand) - 860,000
Seat 5: George Balandinos (Australia) - 990,000
Seat 6: Erich Stadler (New Zealand) - 490,000
Seat 7: Peter Matusik (Australia) - 2,430,000
Seat 8: Lin Shi (Australia) - 1,865,000
Seat 9: Nikolce Trajkovski (Australia) - 800,000

So that's all for tonight! The remaining nine players will return tomorrow from 12:30pm to battle it out for the ANZPT Main Event title! In the meantime you can find out about our final tablists by reading there player profiles. We hope you can join us tomorrow - Stay tuned!

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Read More... [Source: PokerStarsBlog.com :: Australia New Zealand Poker Tour]

You probably already know that The Poker Academy is sending some of their students to the 2016 WSOP to compete in a $1,000 buy-in bracelet event.

If not, all the details of their 12-Week Challenge can be found here.

What you probably don’t know is that they are offering a free webinar series to go along with the 12-Week Challenge.

Card Player has been given access to the course, and is reviewing it, session by session to give our readers some insight into how The Poker Academy can take your game to the next level. See the session 1 review here.

That’s right. Between January and April, Rick and Rep will host 12 free webinars that will correspond to each of the 12 sessions in their no-limit Tournament Course.

To learn a little more and sign up for the webinars, click here.

Each webinar will start with Rick and Rep presenting what they think are the important topics from each session. Then they will host an informal Q and A afterward.

If you’re already a student, it’s a great opportunity to get clarity on any uncertain topics or dig a little deeper into something that interests you.

If you aren’t a student yet, the webinars will give you an opportunity to familiarize yourself with the instructors and see how they think about poker.

The best part? It’s absolutely free. You can come to as many or as few of the webinars as you want. The full list is below.

What are you waiting for? Click here to sign-up.

Session 1	Tues, Jan 5th	06:00 PM
Session 2	Thurs, Jan 14th	06:00 PM
Session 3	Tues, Jan 26th	06:00 PM
Session 4	Thurs, Feb 4th	06:00 PM
Session 5	Tues, Feb 16th	06:00 PM
Session 6	Thurs, Feb 25th	06:00 PM
Session 7	Tues, Mar 8th	06:00 PM
Session 8	Thurs, Mar 17th	06:00 PM
Session 9	Tues, Mar 29th	06:00 PM
Session 10	Thurs, Apr 7th	06:00 PM
Session 11	Tues, Apr 19th	06:00 PM
Session 12	Thurs, Apr 28th	06:00 PM

Sign up for The Poker Academy today to take your game to the next level.

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Read More... [Source: CardPlayer Poker News]

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The Asia Pacific Poker Tour released the schedules for the 2016 Macau Millions and Macau Poker Cup (MPC) 24 today, both of which take place at the 'PokerStars LIVE Macau' poker room. Macau has long been a destination for action filled high stakes poker and the APPT announcement ensures that tradition will continue, with guaranteed prize pool, new events, and the welcome return of popular favourites.

"The APPT is entering a very significant tenth season," said APPT President Danny McDonagh. "To celebrate this milestone we are excited to offer the biggest guaranteed prize pools in history for the Macau Millions and Macau Poker Cup."

2016 Macau Millions

After a one-year hiatus, the Pokerstars.net-sponsored Macau Millions returns from January 8-18, 2016. The HK$3,000 Main Event will feature a HK$3,000,000 guaranteed prize pool and is expected to be bigger than last year's record field of 1,804 entrants.

"The Main Event will run across six Day 1 flights condensed into three days," said Fred Leung, Senior Marketing & Business Development Manager for PokerStars Live Events, Asia. "A similar format to previous Macau Millions events will be applied, but each Day 1 will have two different tournament structures - a regular and a turbo variation. It's an exciting new take for this poker series, which has the potential to break its own record come January."

Up for grabs: the Red Dragon trophy

Also making its debut is the HK$9,000 China Poker Championship. This event is closed to citizens of the People's Republic of China and is the first time PokerStars LIVE Macau will be hosting a country specific tournament.

Macau Poker Cup 24

The 24th instalment of the Macau Poker Cup (MPC) commences after Chinese New Year, running from February 19 to March 6, 2016. The popular regional series will host 18 Official Asia Player of the Year events including the legendary HK$12,000 Red Dragon Main Event, featuring a massive HK$8 million guarantee.

Many MPC tournament favourites return, including the opening weekend's HK$2,000 Deepstack NLH and HK$6,000 Baby Dragon, which have HK$200,000 and HK$1 million prize pool guarantees respectively, as well as the HK$5,000 Megastack (HK$500,000 GTD), HK$20,000 NLH (HK$1 million GTD), and HK$80,000 High Roller.

New additions to the MPC24 schedule include the HK$25,000 NLH and HK$15,000 PLO, which take place on the second weekend of the poker festival. The MPC series holds a record in Macau for most unique players with 995 and organizers expect to surpass that figure at the next Red Dragon event.

For the complete schedules of both events, please visit: www.PokerStarsLIVEMacau.com.

*All PokerStars LIVE Macau events are subject to regulatory approval

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Stephen Bartley is a staff writer for the PokerStars Blog.

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Read More... [Source: PokerStarsBlog.com :: Asia Pacific Poker Tour]