The monthly Battle of the Planets $50,000 Triple Shootout freeroll always brings out the best SnG players here at PokerStars to compete for the $12,000.00 first prize by playing the style of poker they profit the most from. Skill not bankroll dominates our field, as players from the micro-stakes all the way up to those who eight-table the nosebleed levels all have equal footing to earn their tickets.

521 players elected to use those tickets today including three Team PokerStars Pros. Joep "Pappe_Ruk" Van Den Bijgaart, Martha "marene" Herrera, and Diego "vgreen22" Brunelli. Brunelli would bust early in the first round, as Herrera stretched her ticket until three handed play with zaharka and rushy007888. With the blinds at 50/100 and on the button holding 1,724 chips and [Ah][7h], Herrera decided to shove for the blinds, but got looked up by zaharka in the small blind holding big slick [As][Kd]. An ace on the flop improved both players but Herrera couldn't find her kicker on the [5d] [Jd] [Ac] [4c] [8d] and was out before the money.

As for Bijgaart, he had no intentions of letting the Team Pros get shut-out without a cash as he took down lippo81 heads-up after his pocket tens [Th][Td] managed to out-turn the [As][6d] of lippo81. The [Ks] [Ac] [Qs] left Joep with two outs, which he found on the turned [Ts] leaving lippo81 drawing dead as Pappe_Ruk as 80 other first table winners would earn at least $195.00 for their efforts after alex623's [9h][7h] failed to catch up to sharky2323's [9s][Qh] to start up the second round.

The second table would not be as kind to the Dutch pro, as Bijgaart would get knocked down to just 545 chips in the second blind level after turning trips versus Dom2312 and finding out his nine kicker was a pip below the ten of Dom2312. Six hands later Joep would push preflop with [Kh][Tc] and failed to outrun the [Ac][Jd] of Whittamaker on the [5s] [5c] [4c] [9h] [3s] board and was out in 73rd place ($195.00).

At the head table two well known tournament crushers would battle it out. Table one featured Jon "apestyles" Van Fleet and Matt "SamENole" Smith are both looking to add to their bankrolls with the World Championship of Online Poker starting up next week. Sure enough, the two VIP Supernovas would get down to heads-up play with Van Fleet holding a 5:1 lead on Smith. Despite giving up a double-up, apestyles was heading to the final table after his [Kd][9h] all in preflop flopped a straight and held on to win over SamENole's flopped two pair holding [Td][Qd] on the [Tc] [Jh] [Qc] [7c] [Ac] club heavy board.

For the last final table spot, two Supernovas were battling it out. kafelnikovz, who made the final table of this Triple Shootout in April (finishing 5th for $2,735.00 final table write-up here), was up against dhdh1980 for the last seat. kafelnikovz would hold the heads-up lead and take down that seat after flopping trip aces holding [Ah][7s] and getting dhdh1980 to commit the rest of his chips with second pair [Ts][6d] after the flop as the rest of the board spilled out [Ad] [As] [Td] [9s] [3c] to set up the final table below:

Seat 1: apestyles (1500 in chips)
Seat 2: I..nobody..l (1500 in chips)
Seat 3: kafelnikovz (1500 in chips)
Seat 4: unctarheels3 (1500 in chips)
Seat 5: vltava (1500 in chips)
Seat 6: wcsquad3 (1500 in chips)
Seat 7: cantcscottyg (1500 in chips)
Seat 8: anguila (1500 in chips)
Seat 9: drOppzPT (1500 in chips)

The opening two levels went without incident except for kafelnikovz taking a 2,135 chip pot off vltava with an all-low [7d] [3h] [2d] [6s] [8d] board showing and 1,535 already in the pot after vltava led out for 600 on the river, kafelnikovz shoved for 1,035 total as vltava couldn't find a call and folded.

Wildcat Whacked

University of Kentucky fan wcsquad3 was facing an all-in shove from apestyles after raising to 122 chips from middle position. A call and lost would leave him with just 25 chips, but with pocket tens [Ts][Th] wcsquad3 decided to take a risk and called. Van Fleet flipped up big slick [Kd][As] for the race as the flop came without an ace nor king [7s] [3s] [8c]. However, the turn was a different matter as the [Ah] fell giving apestyles the lead and wcsquad3 did not catch one of the two tens in the deck on the [Qh] river. The 25 chips leftover for wcsquad lasted four hands as apestyles took the scraps and wcsqaud3 was finished in 9th place ($775.00).

Grape Ape Grape Ape!

As the blinds moved up to 50/100 apestyles let the chips come to him. cantscottyc with 1120 chips decided to shove from the cutoff holding a suited big slick [Kh][Ah]. Van Fleet waited patiently in the big blind with pocket aces [Ad][As] and made the call. A heartless board of [3d] [5d] [Qd] [3s] [3c] was laid out and The Great Grape Ape show claimed another victim as cantscottyc finished in 8th place ($1,200.00).

apestyles not willing to share

Another day, another win for Van Fleet as the blinds stayed at 50/100 he would push another player to the brink of elimination. kafelnikovz would raise from UTG to 225 chips as it folded around to apestyles in the small blind who would shove for 2,520 total holding [Ad][Kd]. 434 chips is all kafelnikovz would have left if his pocket jacks [Jh][Jd] went down, but that did not deter him trying to knock out Van Fleet as he made the call. The very selfish apestyles decided he needed more chips and won the coin flip by flopping two pair [2c] [Ks] [As] [Ts] [5h]. Having the big blind on the very next hand, and the blinds moving up to 75/150, kafelnikovz called the raise from anguila his [8d][2c] did not overcome anguila's [9h][Ad]. kafelnikovz added a 7th place ($1,700.00) to his previous 5th place finish at this freeroll.
Somebody has chips

I..nobody..I ran a little weak lead after play folded to his small blind and just completed the extra 75 chips. unctarheels3 tried jump over the weak play by shoving for 1371 chips total holding [2d][As]. But, I..nobody..I quickly called with pocket tens [Tc][Th]. Needing an ace to survive, unctarheels3 missed the [6c] [6s] [7c] [Qd] [8s] board completely and had to settle for 6th place ($2,200.00).

Van Fleet fleeces another one

Despite knocking out three of the four players at the final table, Van Fleet only held a small lead on the field. After raising to 575, apestyles watched I..nobody..I shove in his sizable 2,907 chip stack with [Jh][Ks]. But, apestyles was not raising light as the poker author quickly called with pocket jacks [Js][Jc]. I..nobody..I found a gutshot straight draw on the turn [7c] [Qd] [2h] [As] but couldn't find a ten or king on the [Ad] river. I..nobody..I got to be somebody today, finishing in fifth place ($2,735.00).

Jon Van Fleet finishes in fourth place

The one flip he couldn't win. Watch below as anguila knocks out Van Fleet in the tournament's biggest handin the 100/200 blind level:

Pocket deuces would be apestyle's kryptonite as anguila's [2s][2h] defeated the [Ac][Jh] of Van Fleet on the [6c] [Qd] [Ks] [5s] [9d] board and finished his night in fourth place ($3,350.00).

Two small stacks become one

With the blinds moving up to 125/250 ante 25 anguila would lose most of the chips received from knocking out apestyles to vltava after the two shoved preflop for a 9,419 chip pot. Left with 2,066 chips, anguila would shove again on the very next hand holding [8d][Js]. But, dr0ppzPT who quietly retained chips throughout the final table had just 51 chips less than anguila and made the call holding [9h][Kh]. But the suited hand would not be the one to make a flush as spades rained down on the [7d] [2s] [7s] [6s] [As] board giving anguila new life with a four-flush and knocking out dr0ppzPT in third place ($4,500.00).

vltava vs. anguila

vltava would start out heads-up play with a 9,394 to 4,106 chip lead and never gave it up. vltava would grind away at anguila and upped his lead to 11,543 to 1,957 when the players tossed their chips into the middle preflop during the 13th hand of heads-up. Watch the results below:

No ooh's and aah's from the crowd on this one. Just the superior hand and superior chip stack taking down the final hand of the tournament. vltava's [Jh][Kd] held up over the [7h][Kc] of anguila on the [9c] [Kh] [Ah] [8s] [2c] board and for the first time in awhile we had a pure champion taking home the entire $12,000.00 first prize as PlatinumStar vltava was named August Battle of the Planets Triple Shootout champion!

August $50,000 Battle of the Planets Triple Shootout freeroll
1. vltava (Pasadena) $12,000.00
2. anguila (madrid) $7,500.00
3. drOppzPT (Coimbra) $4,500.00
4. James "apestyles" Van Fleet $3,350.00
5. I..nobody..l (Little Falls) $2,735.00
6. unctarheels3 (Keizer) $2,200.00
7. kafelnikovz (Belo Horizonte) $1,700.00
8. cantcscottyg (La Plata) $1,200.00
9. wcsquad3 (sQuAd CitY) $775.00

Hard play before a soft ending is one way to describe today's $50,000 Battle of the Planets Triple Shootout Freeroll. 438 players would start out on 81 tables to play down to a winner assuring themselves of at least $195.00. Each made their way here today thru a series of qualifiers while playing their favorite Sit and Go tournaments.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Hearing stories of fatigue at the World Series of Poker as players talk about multi-tabling two tournaments must send a chuckle to 375 players entered in today's Battle of the Planets $50,000 Triple Shootout freeroll. To acquire the ticket to today's fun and have a shot at the $12,000 first prize these Sit and Go kings and queens most likely played between four and 24 SnG at a time catching just right combination of wins and points for their seats. Team PokerStars pro Joep van den "Pappe_Ruk" Bijgaart and Grayson "spacegravy" Physioc cashed in their tickets today, but fell short of the money finishing 148th and 161st respectively.

Due to the mostly short-handed tables we were able to move into the money spots (81 places) in just a shade over an hour. Down to the last heads-up match between ToM RoX 420 and a shortstacked mackuly the rest of the tables laid eyes on table 67 to finish. With just 772 chips and blinds at 125/250 ante 25 mackuly would shove from the button holding [Jd][Tc] as ToM RoX 420 found a pair of ducks [2c][2d] and made the call. Both would hit the [3s] [Jh] [2h] flop, but ToM RoX 420's set of twos all but shut out the top pair of mackuly. After the [7d] dropped on the turn ToM RoX 420 was sent to the next round of the shootout as our final 81 were assured $195.00 for winning their tables.

Setting up the final table

Team PokerStars pros André Coimbra was back in the money this month after taking down nearly $4K last month. But, could not duplicate his final table feat and finished in 77th place. Fellow Team PokerStars pro Martha "marene" Herrera would also win her first table taking $195.00 from the freeroll in 51st place. yBbl_Huli and tschebe8 however had no issues in advancing quickly to the final table. Down to two tables left markux would finish off Homeplaya5! who unlike his victorious German national team in the World Cup today will not be advancing. Table nine would set the stage for the final player to advance as caprioli and BagClip2005 had nearly even stacks throughout heads-up play. Shortly after the hourly break caprioli would quickly double up with queens and eight hands later with blinds at 300/600 ante 50 BagClip2005 would shove for 4,116 chips holding [Ah][5c] as caprioli covered by 5K and made the call with [Qh][8h]. Ace-high was looking good by the turn [3s] [Jc] [Tc] [4d] but a [9s] would fall on the river to caprioli a straight and the last seat to the triple shootout final table.

Seat 1: Navigatorlg (1500 in chips)
Seat 2: yBbI_Huli (1500 in chips)
Seat 3: tschebe8 (1500 in chips)
Seat 4: tgn1 (1500 in chips)
Seat 5: AlekseyAvr (1500 in chips)
Seat 6: markux (1500 in chips)
Seat 7: jchasek (1500 in chips)
Seat 8: kypux (1500 in chips)
Seat 9: caprioli (1500 in chips)

Quickest $4K these players have ever made

Wow, in a case of déjà vu from last week, once again the players immediately went to deal-making mode after the normal congratulations to the final table message appeared. HostAdriana was gracious enough to pause the tourney and run down the final chop numbers. Just a McDonald's happy meal less than $4,000.00 (or $3995.55 for those without kids) was available for players. Eight of the nine players readily agreed to the chop as caprioli took a little extra time before accepting the even chop.

Unlike last week the players had no desire to play this one out and immediately shoved on the next hand watch the eight-way all in fest below:

tschebe8's [7c][Js] would notch together two running cards on the [Tc] [Ad] [4h] [9h] [8s] to take out the majority of the table with the 11,645 chip pot. Just caprioli and kypux had chips left over for the second running of the cards as tschebe8 had the only diamond [4d][Qs] on the sparkly [6d] [Ad] [Qd] [9d] [5c] final board to take the remaining 3,570 chips off the table to become the official June Battle of the Planets champion.

Be sure to check out our continued coverage of the 2010 World Series of Poker right here at the PokerStarsBlog, and on PokerStars.tv for video highlights.

Battle of the Planets $50,000 Triple Shootout Freeroll Results (06-27-10):
(*denotes part of nine-way chop)
1. tschebe8 (Carinthia) *$3,995.55
2. caprioli (São Paulo) *$3,995.55
3. kypux (Vilnius) *$3,995.55
4. tgn1 (shoreline) *$3,995.55
5. Navigatorlg (Lugansk) *$3,995.55
6. yBbI_Huli (екатеринбург) *$3,995.55
7. markux (manila) *$3,995.55
8. AlekseyAvr (Moscow) *$3,995.55
9. jchasek (Austin) *$3,995.55

As the PokerStarsBlog and Team PokerStars Pros settle in to the next month and half at the World Series of Poker some things during the month long carnival of poker do not change outside of the Amazon room at the Rio. Like tonight's Battle of the Planets $50,000 triple shootout. The king of the Sit and Go grinders are here again at the end of the month giveaway to reward those who accumulated enough points to earn a ticket that potentially awards $12,000.00 to one lucky player.

But first, there was a matter of winning three consecutive SnGs to take home that five figure prize, the first win netted each of the 81 survivors $195.00 from a starting 506 players that cashed in their weekly earned tickets. The money bubble was broken after Nelutu7 was trying to take a slowplayed kings [Ks][Kc] to victory over malykaras. But, after the [2h] [6d] [3c] flop malykaras' small [2d][3s] became a big two-pair and led for the 5,072 chip pot. malykaras' tournament life was on the line, just needed to avoid the two kings and the board pairing anything besides the deuce or trey. [7d] on the turn was safe, but the [Kh] gave Nelutu7 a set and a sigh of relief knocked out malykaras in 82nd place.

AnonConMatt, Fireworks9, and yoyo95220 all wrapped up their tables quickly as two Team PokerStars Pros were on the verge of joining them. On table nine Diego "vgreen22" Brunelli was taking on flotry heads-up while table one had Andre Acoimbra (who helped us out a little with a live webcast during the SCOOP series, click here for the replay) three headed facing off with PlatinumStar anhdao34 and Natali09. Andre got a little help from the poker gods, taking out anhdao34 with Q6o finding a straight on the river to overcome the KJo held by anhdao34. A short while later while leading 11,290 to 2,210 Andre again would find the river card favorable taking [Td][Qd] up against [Qh][Ah] all-in after the flop and watching a ten drop on the river [2h] [4s] [5c] [9s] [Th] to send the Team PokerStars Pro to the final table.

Brunelli had his golden ticket seemingly wrapped up with his opponent flotry all-in holding just [3c][Jc] while the Brazilian held pocket kings [Kc][Ks], but with one trey on the flop and one on the turn the 8,228 chip pot slipped away to flotry's stack. Four hands later Diego would lead preflop calling the shove of flotry holding [Ah][Qc]. flotry's [8c][Kd] was behind until a fateful turned pair of kings [7d] [Tc] [7h] [Ks] [5s] sent the Team PokerStars Online Pro to the rail setting up our final table below:

Immediately though we would have a deal splitting up the final table balance of the prize pool. After about five minutes of discussion, _maarten_436 checking the chat box, and a few language barriers we would have a deal to split up $3,955.55 between all nine players!

Despite the players playing for bragging rights it would take until the 25/50 blind level to bid adieu to our first player with just 270 chips, Lucianaton was all-in preflop receiving calls from flotry and yoyo95220. flotry and yoyo95220 would play a little small ball thru the streets both checking the river to see flotry's pocket sevens [7c][7s] take the pot on the [2h] [6h] [5c] [Kc] [4c] board.

Shortly thereafter yoyo95520 would take a short stack of 640 chips all-in preflop as Fireworks09 made the call holding pocket jacks [Jh][Js]. [Ac][8c] for yoyo95520 found a bright spot with an ace on the flop, but Fireworks09 shot down those bullets with a jack on the turn taking home the win of 1,355 chips on the [2d] [Tc] [Ad] [Jc] [Ah] board eliminating yoyo95220 in eighth place.

Acoimbra out in seventh place

Team PokerStars Pro Andre Acoimbra missed his flush draw while calling an all-in from _maarten_436 and was left with just 245 chips while still in the 25/50 blinds level. Four hands later would find his 195 chips in the middle, flipping against king18982.

acoimbra: [Ts][Qc]
king18982: [9c][9d]

Face cards would fail to hit the [5s] [3d] [4s] [Js] board as Andre held the only spade for a possible four flush. But, the [4d] showed up instead handing the Team PokerStars Pro's scraps to king18982 who exited in seventh place.

Fireworks explode on the river

On the very next hand watch Fireworks09 take down king18982 who couldn't quite get by the river card:

king18982 would outflop Fireworks09's [Js][Ad], spiking two pair with [Ah][5h] on the [5c][Ts][As] flop. Safe [7c] turn for king18982, but the jack on the river [Jd] knocked out the royalty in sixth place.

Things would continue to speed up for our freerolling freeroll as the prize pool was zero but pride was on the line as we moved on to the 50/100 blind level where flotry would shove from UTG for 1,615 chips and called by a covering _maarten_436. Big slick [Ac][Kc] for flotry and pocket tens [Th][Td] for _maarten_436. With one face card and one club on the [6s] [Jc] [4h] [4d] [7d] board flotry floated away in fifth place.

Five hands later 5X-cowboy-X4 woke up to do some damaged to the remaining four by taking out a severely short-stacked AnonConMatt whose [Ah][9d] was all-in preflop and not able to produce much on the [7h] [4c] [4h] [3h] [7d] board as 5X-cowboy-X4's pocket eights were enough to win the 1,920 chip pot and that was that for AnonConMatt in fourth place.

Three handed play was intense as neither of the remaining players wanted to give up the title. Going into the 75/150 blind level 5X-cowboy-4X slipped a bit and was left with 2,320 chips. He would shove those chips over the top of a button raise by Fireworks09 turning up [Jd][Ad] after getting called. Fireworks09 held a pocket pair of nines [9h][9s] and was rewarded with a near hand-locking third nine on the flop [8d] [2s] [9c]. [7h] on the turn opened up four outs, but no ten on the river [Kc] sent the gunslinger to the rail in third place.

Things would continue to speed up for our freerolling freeroll as the prize pool was zero but pride was on the line as we moved on to the 50/100 blind level where flotry would shove from UTG for 1,615 chips and called by a covering _maarten_436. Big slick [Ac][Kc] for flotry and pocket tens [Th][Td] for _maarten_436. With one face card and one club on the [6s] [Jc] [4h] [4d] [7d] board flotry floated away in fifth place.

Five hands later 5X-cowboy-X4 woke up to do some damaged to the remaining four by taking out a severely short-stacked AnonConMatt whose [Ah][9d] was all-in preflop and not able to produce much on the [7h] [4c] [4h] [3h] [7d] board as 5X-cowboy-X4's pocket eights were enough to win the 1,920 chip pot and that was that for AnonConMatt in fourth place.

Three handed play was intense as neither of the remaining players wanted to give up the title. Going into the 75/150 blind level 5X-cowboy-4X slipped a bit and was left with 2,320 chips. He would shove those chips over the top of a button raise by Fireworks09 turning up [Jd][Ad] after getting called. Fireworks09 held a pocket pair of nines [9h][9s] and was rewarded with a near hand-locking third nine on the flop [8d] [2s] [9c]. [7h] on the turn opened up four outs, but no ten on the river [Kc] sent the gunslinger to the rail in third place.

Fight for the right to party?

Our final two would start off with the below stacks determined to find a winner this evening as the prize pool was deflated to $0 after the 9-way chop.

_maarten_436: 4,860 in chips
Fireworks09: 8,640 in chips

Playing another near 15 minutes of heads-up play _maarten_436 would take the lead 8,360 to 5,140 going into the final hand. Watch the final hand play out below:

The pocket nines of _maarten_436 would hold on the [Tc] [8d] [3c] [Qc] [6c] board eeking out a win over the [4s][8s] of Fireworks09 to claim the right to be called Battle of the Planets champion.

$50,000 May Battle of the Planets Triple Shootout Results:
(* denotes all players received $3,955.55 in nine way chop)
1. _maarten_436 (Münster) *$3,995.55
2. Fireworks09 (Lynn) *$3,955.55
3. 5X-cowboy-X4 (lagney) *$3,955.55
4. AnonConMatt (Burbank) *$3,955.55
5. flotry (bellegarde) *$3,955.55
6. king18982 (remscheid) *$3,955.55
7. acoimbra (Coimbra) *$3,955.55
8. yoyo95220 (herblay) *$3,955.55
9. Lucianaton (Spain) *$3,955.55

Each month our SnG grinders get a little added bonus to their play, and it comes in the form of the $50,000 Battle of the Planets triple shootout freeroll. For those who qualify, they have already picked up one or more of the weekly prizes from $1,500.00 for the Mercury division up to $5,000 for the high rolling Jupiter divison.

Tonight 422 of those players cashed their tickets for a shot at the $12,000.00 first place prize, but first each player would need to win two SnGs to get there. At the money bubble it came down to a heads-up match between Guerill@ and kylez04. Guerill@ held the chip lead 5,342 to 2,158 as the two got all of their chips in the middle after a [2c] [6h] [Kh] flop. kylez04 survived the flop with pocket fives [5d][5s] and was looking good for a double up. But, Guerill@'s [Ah][7s] would find the [As] on the turn and avoided a five on the [3s] to take down the 4,316 chip pot and join the other 80 players in the money (minimum of $195.00 each).

alex245 and kafelnikovz quickly took the first two seats at the final table, as they had time for a nice lunch or dinner while waiting for the remaining seven seats to fill up. And wait they did, as three tables of heads-up play made all the way to the 200/400 ante 50 blind levels. Jackycool finally took down Bonsy, ansuz found pocket aces, and two hands later a set of ducks to take down Teddy1211 to direct all eyes to table 9 for a match between skaand and JOEYL_123 for the final seat. Just after the five minute hourly break the two would throw it in preflop as skaand shoved from the button with [Ad][3d] and JOEYL_123 covered and snap called with [Ac][Td]. A diamond and three-less [4h] [Qh] [Qc] [6s] [Js] board came down and skaand was eliminated as the final table bubble boy in 10th place ($195.00).

Seat 1: marioboggi (1500 in chips)
Seat 2: kafelnikovz (1500 in chips)
Seat 3: ansuz (1500 in chips)
Seat 4: angelababy99 (1500 in chips)
Seat 5: scott96dl (1500 in chips)
Seat 6: Jackycool (1500 in chips)
Seat 7: alex245 (1500 in chips)
Seat 8: cradshark_ (1500 in chips)
Seat 9: JOEYL_123 (1500 in chips)

There is no chip leader at the start of this final table, only one at the end, as the players each start off with 10/20 blinds and 1,500 chips. No all-in action for the first blind level but Jackycool took down a 1,020 chip pot off ansuz when a three-bet from Jackycool on a flop of [2d] [5c] [Tc] got ansuz to concede the pot.

Same for the 15/30 blind level as all nine survived and Jackycool continued to hold the chip lead, as ansuz continued to take the worst of it slipping to just 500 chips.

ansuz would get some temporary help while doubling up at the expense of VIP Supernova kafelnikovz in a blind versus blind battle during the 25/50 blind level. A little further into the level VIP Silverstar alex245 would also find a double-up as his pocket sevens [7d][7s] bested the [Ad][Qs] of scott96dl for a 1,720 chip pot. Three hands later alex245 would find even more good fortune in flopping a straight with [8d][9d] against the pocket jacks [Jh][Js] of JOEYL_123 after the two saw a flop of [Td] [6c] [7h]. Maybe flopped straights do get there once in a while and alex245 benefitted with the 3,515 chip pot. Down to just 135 chips JOEYL_123 would double up once but a few hands would run [Th][Ad] into the pocket kings [Ks][Kc] of Jackycool. After the board spilled out quads for Jackycool [3h] [Kd] [4d] [Kh] [7d] as JOEYL_123 became our first to leave the table in ninth place ($775.00) after being the last to arrive here.

Two hands later as the blinds moved up to 50/100 shortstacked scott96dl got the chance to open from middle position and shoved in 540 chips holding [Qh][3d]. Unfortunately, the steal was looked up by cradshark_ on the button with [Ah][Js]. The nearly all-heart board [7h] [Kh] [4d] [4h] [3h] gave both players a flush, but the nuts beat out the second nuts as scott96dl left with $1,200.00 in eighth place money.

After losing a big hand of TT vs. KK, angelababy99 was knocked down to just 10 chips. Chip and chair time? The first all-in angelababy99 would haul in 30 chips winning with just [9c][4c] when a nine spiked on the river. But the second all-in was not as successful. This time holding a respectful [Ah][3d] angelababy99 was up against [Js][Kh] held by kafelnikovz. A jack would hit the flop [6s] [Jh] [9h] and the rest of the board remained heart-less and free of aces [3c] [9d]. Seventh place and $1,700.00 was shipped to angelababy99 as the blinds moved up to 75/150.

Race for the win. Necessary in any poker tournament, watch alex245 and ansuz both put nearly all of their chips in preflop for a 2,025 chip pot:

alex245's big slick took the victory on a rivered ace, as ansuz's pocket nines were one card away from continuing but will have to settle for $2,200.00 in sixth place. Don't feel bad for ansuz though as he was one player away from claiming a WCOOP bracelet back in 2007 in Event #10 and got $65K for the runner-up finish (check here for the recap)

kafelnikovz was running low on chips as the blinds moved up to 100/200 but had the button and shoved a stack of 1,510 chips with [7h][Tc]. But, Jackycool with plenty of chips and in the small blind made the call with [Qc][Ah]. Two live cards for kafelnikovz and one of them hit the [4h] [8d] [Td] flop. But before the VIP Supernova could do a victory dance, the [Ac] hit the turn and [8c] shipped the 3,220 chip pot to Jackycool eliminating kafelnikovz in fifth place ($2,735.00).

We're sure cradshark_ could only muster a sigh after this below:

Pocket queens [Qc][Qd] looking good against the [Js][Kc] of alex245 as they combined chips preflop for a 3,240 chip pot. The ladies held by cradshark_ however got ran over by the couple of kings that decided to make an appearance on the [2d] [6s] [Ks] [4c] [Kd] board. cradshark_ was left to search other waters for chum after taking $3,350.00 off this pond in fourth place.

Yeah, that's not very nice. First, to take most of someone's chips like Jackycool did against marioboggi when [Ah][3h] held for Jackycool over the [9s][Kh] of marioboggi for a 3,815 chip pot. Then, two hands later, Jackycool would scoop up the rest of marioboggi's chips when pocket aces [Ah][Ad] held up over [As][6c] sending marioboggi to the rail with $4,500.00 and third place.

Despite having the chip lead for most of the tournament Jackycool would need to come from behind to win this one as the players started off with the below chip counts:

Seat 6: Jackycool (4400 in chips)
Seat 7: alex245 (9100 in chips)

Also, with blinds already at 125/250 ante 25, Jackycool would need to keep up the aggression seen earlier to stay ahead of the blinds. Jackycool would start out nicely taking down a 1,550 chip pot, but alex245 turned up the heat by taking down the next five pots. alex245 would keep the foot on the gas, knocking Jackycool down to just 2,325 chips before the final hand.

With blinds still at 125/250 ante 25, Jackycool decided to run with an ace [5d][Ah] on the button and shoved all-in. Having a huge chip lead made the decision to call easier for alex245 holding [Td][Qc]. The chip leader would promptly hit a ten on the flop and a ten on the river for good measure [8c] [Tc] [6h] [3s] [Th] taking down the April edition of the $50,000 Battle of the Planets triple shootout with trip tens!

Congrats to all 422 players who cashed in those weekly freeroll tickets and join us again next month as $50,000 will be laid across three tables again for the taking.

Battle of the Planets $50,000 Triple Shootout Results (04-25-10)
1. alex245 (MIAMI BEACH) $12,000.00
2. Jackycool (Siegen) $7,500.00
3. marioboggi (borås) $4,500.00
4. cradshark_ (las vegas) $3,350.00
5. kafelnikovz (Belo Horizonte) $2,735.00
6. ansuz (Karrby) $2,200.00
7. angelababy99 (ningbo) $1,700.00
8. scott96dl (Co. Donegal) $1,200.00
9. JOEYL_123 (Woodstock) $775.00

Each month our SnG grinders get a little added bonus to their play, and it comes in the form of the $50,000 Battle of the Planets triple shootout freeroll. For those who qualify, they have already picked up one or more of the weekly prizes from $1,500.00 for the Mercury division up to $5,000 for the high rolling Jupiter divison.

Tonight 422 of those players cashed their tickets for a shot at the $12,000.00 first place prize, but first each player would need to win two SnGs to get there. At the money bubble it came down to a heads-up match between Guerill@ and kylez04. Guerill@ held the chip lead 5,342 to 2,158 as the two got all of their chips in the middle after a [2c] [6h] [Kh] flop. kylez04 survived the flop with pocket fives [5d][5s] and was looking good for a double up. But, Guerill@'s [Ah][7s] would find the [As] on the turn and avoided a five on the [3s] to take down the 4,316 chip pot and join the other 80 players in the money (minimum of $195.00 each).

alex245 and kafelnikovz quickly took the first two seats at the final table, as they had time for a nice lunch or dinner while waiting for the remaining seven seats to fill up. And wait they did, as three tables of heads-up play made all the way to the 200/400 ante 50 blind levels. Jackycool finally took down Bonsy, ansuz found pocket aces, and two hands later a set of ducks to take down Teddy1211 to direct all eyes to table 9 for a match between skaand and JOEYL_123 for the final seat. Just after the five minute hourly break the two would throw it in preflop as skaand shoved from the button with [Ad][3d] and JOEYL_123 covered and snap called with [Ac][Td]. A diamond and three-less [4h] [Qh] [Qc] [6s] [Js] board came down and skaand was eliminated as the final table bubble boy in 10th place ($195.00).

Seat 1: marioboggi (1500 in chips)
Seat 2: kafelnikovz (1500 in chips)
Seat 3: ansuz (1500 in chips)
Seat 4: angelababy99 (1500 in chips)
Seat 5: scott96dl (1500 in chips)
Seat 6: Jackycool (1500 in chips)
Seat 7: alex245 (1500 in chips)
Seat 8: cradshark_ (1500 in chips)
Seat 9: JOEYL_123 (1500 in chips)

There is no chip leader at the start of this final table, only one at the end, as the players each start off with 10/20 blinds and 1,500 chips. No all-in action for the first blind level but Jackycool took down a 1,020 chip pot off ansuz when a three-bet from Jackycool on a flop of [2d] [5c] [Tc] got ansuz to concede the pot.

Same for the 15/30 blind level as all nine survived and Jackycool continued to hold the chip lead, as ansuz continued to take the worst of it slipping to just 500 chips.

ansuz would get some temporary help while doubling up at the expense of VIP Supernova kafelnikovz in a blind versus blind battle during the 25/50 blind level. A little further into the level VIP Silverstar alex245 would also find a double-up as his pocket sevens [7d][7s] bested the [Ad][Qs] of scott96dl for a 1,720 chip pot. Three hands later alex245 would find even more good fortune in flopping a straight with [8d][9d] against the pocket jacks [Jh][Js] of JOEYL_123 after the two saw a flop of [Td] [6c] [7h]. Maybe flopped straights do get there once in a while and alex245 benefitted with the 3,515 chip pot. Down to just 135 chips JOEYL_123 would double up once but a few hands would run [Th][Ad] into the pocket kings [Ks][Kc] of Jackycool. After the board spilled out quads for Jackycool [3h] [Kd] [4d] [Kh] [7d] as JOEYL_123 became our first to leave the table in ninth place ($775.00) after being the last to arrive here.

Two hands later as the blinds moved up to 50/100 shortstacked scott96dl got the chance to open from middle position and shoved in 540 chips holding [Qh][3d]. Unfortunately, the steal was looked up by cradshark_ on the button with [Ah][Js]. The nearly all-heart board [7h] [Kh] [4d] [4h] [3h] gave both players a flush, but the nuts beat out the second nuts as scott96dl left with $1,200.00 in eighth place money.

After losing a big hand of TT vs. KK, angelababy99 was knocked down to just 10 chips. Chip and chair time? The first all-in angelababy99 would haul in 30 chips winning with just [9c][4c] when a nine spiked on the river. But the second all-in was not as successful. This time holding a respectful [Ah][3d] angelababy99 was up against [Js][Kh] held by kafelnikovz. A jack would hit the flop [6s] [Jh] [9h] and the rest of the board remained heart-less and free of aces [3c] [9d]. Seventh place and $1,700.00 was shipped to angelababy99 as the blinds moved up to 75/150.

Race for the win. Necessary in any poker tournament, watch alex245 and ansuz both put nearly all of their chips in preflop for a 2,025 chip pot:

alex245's big slick took the victory on a rivered ace, as ansuz's pocket nines were one card away from continuing but will have to settle for $2,200.00 in sixth place. Don't feel bad for ansuz though as he was one player away from claiming a WCOOP bracelet back in 2007 in Event #10 and got $65K for the runner-up finish (check here for the recap)

kafelnikovz was running low on chips as the blinds moved up to 100/200 but had the button and shoved a stack of 1,510 chips with [7h][Tc]. But, Jackycool with plenty of chips and in the small blind made the call with [Qc][Ah]. Two live cards for kafelnikovz and one of them hit the [4h] [8d] [Td] flop. But before the VIP Supernova could do a victory dance, the [Ac] hit the turn and [8c] shipped the 3,220 chip pot to Jackycool eliminating kafelnikovz in fifth place ($2,735.00).

We're sure cradshark_ could only muster a sigh after this below:

Pocket queens [Qc][Qd] looking good against the [Js][Kc] of alex245 as they combined chips preflop for a 3,240 chip pot. The ladies held by cradshark_ however got ran over by the couple of kings that decided to make an appearance on the [2d] [6s] [Ks] [4c] [Kd] board. cradshark_ was left to search other waters for chum after taking $3,350.00 off this pond in fourth place.

Yeah, that's not very nice. First, to take most of someone's chips like Jackycool did against marioboggi when [Ah][3h] held for Jackycool over the [9s][Kh] of marioboggi for a 3,815 chip pot. Then, two hands later, Jackycool would scoop up the rest of marioboggi's chips when pocket aces [Ah][Ad] held up over [As][6c] sending marioboggi to the rail with $4,500.00 and third place.

Despite having the chip lead for most of the tournament Jackycool would need to come from behind to win this one as the players started off with the below chip counts:

Seat 6: Jackycool (4400 in chips)
Seat 7: alex245 (9100 in chips)

Also, with blinds already at 125/250 ante 25, Jackycool would need to keep up the aggression seen earlier to stay ahead of the blinds. Jackycool would start out nicely taking down a 1,550 chip pot, but alex245 turned up the heat by taking down the next five pots. alex245 would keep the foot on the gas, knocking Jackycool down to just 2,325 chips before the final hand.

With blinds still at 125/250 ante 25, Jackycool decided to run with an ace [5d][Ah] on the button and shoved all-in. Having a huge chip lead made the decision to call easier for alex245 holding [Td][Qc]. The chip leader would promptly hit a ten on the flop and a ten on the river for good measure [8c] [Tc] [6h] [3s] [Th] taking down the April edition of the $50,000 Battle of the Planets triple shootout with trip tens!

Congrats to all 422 players who cashed in those weekly freeroll tickets and join us again next month as $50,000 will be laid across three tables again for the taking.

Battle of the Planets $50,000 Triple Shootout Results (04-25-10)
1. alex245 (MIAMI BEACH) $12,000.00
2. Jackycool (Siegen) $7,500.00
3. marioboggi (borås) $4,500.00
4. cradshark_ (las vegas) $3,350.00
5. kafelnikovz (Belo Horizonte) $2,735.00
6. ansuz (Karrby) $2,200.00
7. angelababy99 (ningbo) $1,700.00
8. scott96dl (Co. Donegal) $1,200.00
9. JOEYL_123 (Woodstock) $775.00

Each month our SnG grinders get a little added bonus to their play, and it comes in the form of the $50,000 Battle of the Planets triple shootout freeroll. For those who qualify, they have already picked up one or more of the weekly prizes from $1,500.00 for the Mercury division up to $5,000 for the high rolling Jupiter divison.

Tonight 422 of those players cashed their tickets for a shot at the $12,000.00 first place prize, but first each player would need to win two SnGs to get there. At the money bubble it came down to a heads-up match between Guerill@ and kylez04. Guerill@ held the chip lead 5,342 to 2,158 as the two got all of their chips in the middle after a [2c] [6h] [Kh] flop. kylez04 survived the flop with pocket fives [5d][5s] and was looking good for a double up. But, Guerill@'s [Ah][7s] would find the [As] on the turn and avoided a five on the [3s] to take down the 4,316 chip pot and join the other 80 players in the money (minimum of $195.00 each).

alex245 and kafelnikovz quickly took the first two seats at the final table, as they had time for a nice lunch or dinner while waiting for the remaining seven seats to fill up. And wait they did, as three tables of heads-up play made all the way to the 200/400 ante 50 blind levels. Jackycool finally took down Bonsy, ansuz found pocket aces, and two hands later a set of ducks to take down Teddy1211 to direct all eyes to table 9 for a match between skaand and JOEYL_123 for the final seat. Just after the five minute hourly break the two would throw it in preflop as skaand shoved from the button with [Ad][3d] and JOEYL_123 covered and snap called with [Ac][Td]. A diamond and three-less [4h] [Qh] [Qc] [6s] [Js] board came down and skaand was eliminated as the final table bubble boy in 10th place ($195.00).

Seat 1: marioboggi (1500 in chips)
Seat 2: kafelnikovz (1500 in chips)
Seat 3: ansuz (1500 in chips)
Seat 4: angelababy99 (1500 in chips)
Seat 5: scott96dl (1500 in chips)
Seat 6: Jackycool (1500 in chips)
Seat 7: alex245 (1500 in chips)
Seat 8: cradshark_ (1500 in chips)
Seat 9: JOEYL_123 (1500 in chips)

There is no chip leader at the start of this final table, only one at the end, as the players each start off with 10/20 blinds and 1,500 chips. No all-in action for the first blind level but Jackycool took down a 1,020 chip pot off ansuz when a three-bet from Jackycool on a flop of [2d] [5c] [Tc] got ansuz to concede the pot.

Same for the 15/30 blind level as all nine survived and Jackycool continued to hold the chip lead, as ansuz continued to take the worst of it slipping to just 500 chips.

ansuz would get some temporary help while doubling up at the expense of VIP Supernova kafelnikovz in a blind versus blind battle during the 25/50 blind level. A little further into the level VIP Silverstar alex245 would also find a double-up as his pocket sevens [7d][7s] bested the [Ad][Qs] of scott96dl for a 1,720 chip pot. Three hands later alex245 would find even more good fortune in flopping a straight with [8d][9d] against the pocket jacks [Jh][Js] of JOEYL_123 after the two saw a flop of [Td] [6c] [7h]. Maybe flopped straights do get there once in a while and alex245 benefitted with the 3,515 chip pot. Down to just 135 chips JOEYL_123 would double up once but a few hands would run [Th][Ad] into the pocket kings [Ks][Kc] of Jackycool. After the board spilled out quads for Jackycool [3h] [Kd] [4d] [Kh] [7d] as JOEYL_123 became our first to leave the table in ninth place ($775.00) after being the last to arrive here.

Two hands later as the blinds moved up to 50/100 shortstacked scott96dl got the chance to open from middle position and shoved in 540 chips holding [Qh][3d]. Unfortunately, the steal was looked up by cradshark_ on the button with [Ah][Js]. The nearly all-heart board [7h] [Kh] [4d] [4h] [3h] gave both players a flush, but the nuts beat out the second nuts as scott96dl left with $1,200.00 in eighth place money.

After losing a big hand of TT vs. KK, angelababy99 was knocked down to just 10 chips. Chip and chair time? The first all-in angelababy99 would haul in 30 chips winning with just [9c][4c] when a nine spiked on the river. But the second all-in was not as successful. This time holding a respectful [Ah][3d] angelababy99 was up against [Js][Kh] held by kafelnikovz. A jack would hit the flop [6s] [Jh] [9h] and the rest of the board remained heart-less and free of aces [3c] [9d]. Seventh place and $1,700.00 was shipped to angelababy99 as the blinds moved up to 75/150.

Race for the win. Necessary in any poker tournament, watch alex245 and ansuz both put nearly all of their chips in preflop for a 2,025 chip pot:

alex245's big slick took the victory on a rivered ace, as ansuz's pocket nines were one card away from continuing but will have to settle for $2,200.00 in sixth place. Don't feel bad for ansuz though as he was one player away from claiming a WCOOP bracelet back in 2007 in Event #10 and got $65K for the runner-up finish (check here for the recap)

kafelnikovz was running low on chips as the blinds moved up to 100/200 but had the button and shoved a stack of 1,510 chips with [7h][Tc]. But, Jackycool with plenty of chips and in the small blind made the call with [Qc][Ah]. Two live cards for kafelnikovz and one of them hit the [4h] [8d] [Td] flop. But before the VIP Supernova could do a victory dance, the [Ac] hit the turn and [8c] shipped the 3,220 chip pot to Jackycool eliminating kafelnikovz in fifth place ($2,735.00).

We're sure cradshark_ could only muster a sigh after this below:

Pocket queens [Qc][Qd] looking good against the [Js][Kc] of alex245 as they combined chips preflop for a 3,240 chip pot. The ladies held by cradshark_ however got ran over by the couple of kings that decided to make an appearance on the [2d] [6s] [Ks] [4c] [Kd] board. cradshark_ was left to search other waters for chum after taking $3,350.00 off this pond in fourth place.

Yeah, that's not very nice. First, to take most of someone's chips like Jackycool did against marioboggi when [Ah][3h] held for Jackycool over the [9s][Kh] of marioboggi for a 3,815 chip pot. Then, two hands later, Jackycool would scoop up the rest of marioboggi's chips when pocket aces [Ah][Ad] held up over [As][6c] sending marioboggi to the rail with $4,500.00 and third place.

Despite having the chip lead for most of the tournament Jackycool would need to come from behind to win this one as the players started off with the below chip counts:

Seat 6: Jackycool (4400 in chips)
Seat 7: alex245 (9100 in chips)

Also, with blinds already at 125/250 ante 25, Jackycool would need to keep up the aggression seen earlier to stay ahead of the blinds. Jackycool would start out nicely taking down a 1,550 chip pot, but alex245 turned up the heat by taking down the next five pots. alex245 would keep the foot on the gas, knocking Jackycool down to just 2,325 chips before the final hand.

With blinds still at 125/250 ante 25, Jackycool decided to run with an ace [5d][Ah] on the button and shoved all-in. Having a huge chip lead made the decision to call easier for alex245 holding [Td][Qc]. The chip leader would promptly hit a ten on the flop and a ten on the river for good measure [8c] [Tc] [6h] [3s] [Th] taking down the April edition of the $50,000 Battle of the Planets triple shootout with trip tens!

Congrats to all 422 players who cashed in those weekly freeroll tickets and join us again next month as $50,000 will be laid across three tables again for the taking.

Battle of the Planets $50,000 Triple Shootout Results (04-25-10)
1. alex245 (MIAMI BEACH) $12,000.00
2. Jackycool (Siegen) $7,500.00
3. marioboggi (borås) $4,500.00
4. cradshark_ (las vegas) $3,350.00
5. kafelnikovz (Belo Horizonte) $2,735.00
6. ansuz (Karrby) $2,200.00
7. angelababy99 (ningbo) $1,700.00
8. scott96dl (Co. Donegal) $1,200.00
9. JOEYL_123 (Woodstock) $775.00

Each month our SnG grinders get a little added bonus to their play, and it comes in the form of the $50,000 Battle of the Planets triple shootout freeroll. For those who qualify, they have already picked up one or more of the weekly prizes from $1,500.00 for the Mercury division up to $5,000 for the high rolling Jupiter divison.

Tonight 422 of those players cashed their tickets for a shot at the $12,000.00 first place prize, but first each player would need to win two SnGs to get there. At the money bubble it came down to a heads-up match between Guerill@ and kylez04. Guerill@ held the chip lead 5,342 to 2,158 as the two got all of their chips in the middle after a [2c] [6h] [Kh] flop. kylez04 survived the flop with pocket fives [5d][5s] and was looking good for a double up. But, Guerill@'s [Ah][7s] would find the [As] on the turn and avoided a five on the [3s] to take down the 4,316 chip pot and join the other 80 players in the money (minimum of $195.00 each).

alex245 and kafelnikovz quickly took the first two seats at the final table, as they had time for a nice lunch or dinner while waiting for the remaining seven seats to fill up. And wait they did, as three tables of heads-up play made all the way to the 200/400 ante 50 blind levels. Jackycool finally took down Bonsy, ansuz found pocket aces, and two hands later a set of ducks to take down Teddy1211 to direct all eyes to table 9 for a match between skaand and JOEYL_123 for the final seat. Just after the five minute hourly break the two would throw it in preflop as skaand shoved from the button with [Ad][3d] and JOEYL_123 covered and snap called with [Ac][Td]. A diamond and three-less [4h] [Qh] [Qc] [6s] [Js] board came down and skaand was eliminated as the final table bubble boy in 10th place ($195.00).

Seat 1: marioboggi (1500 in chips)
Seat 2: kafelnikovz (1500 in chips)
Seat 3: ansuz (1500 in chips)
Seat 4: angelababy99 (1500 in chips)
Seat 5: scott96dl (1500 in chips)
Seat 6: Jackycool (1500 in chips)
Seat 7: alex245 (1500 in chips)
Seat 8: cradshark_ (1500 in chips)
Seat 9: JOEYL_123 (1500 in chips)

There is no chip leader at the start of this final table, only one at the end, as the players each start off with 10/20 blinds and 1,500 chips. No all-in action for the first blind level but Jackycool took down a 1,020 chip pot off ansuz when a three-bet from Jackycool on a flop of [2d] [5c] [Tc] got ansuz to concede the pot.

Same for the 15/30 blind level as all nine survived and Jackycool continued to hold the chip lead, as ansuz continued to take the worst of it slipping to just 500 chips.

ansuz would get some temporary help while doubling up at the expense of VIP Supernova kafelnikovz in a blind versus blind battle during the 25/50 blind level. A little further into the level VIP Silverstar alex245 would also find a double-up as his pocket sevens [7d][7s] bested the [Ad][Qs] of scott96dl for a 1,720 chip pot. Three hands later alex245 would find even more good fortune in flopping a straight with [8d][9d] against the pocket jacks [Jh][Js] of JOEYL_123 after the two saw a flop of [Td] [6c] [7h]. Maybe flopped straights do get there once in a while and alex245 benefitted with the 3,515 chip pot. Down to just 135 chips JOEYL_123 would double up once but a few hands would run [Th][Ad] into the pocket kings [Ks][Kc] of Jackycool. After the board spilled out quads for Jackycool [3h] [Kd] [4d] [Kh] [7d] as JOEYL_123 became our first to leave the table in ninth place ($775.00) after being the last to arrive here.

Two hands later as the blinds moved up to 50/100 shortstacked scott96dl got the chance to open from middle position and shoved in 540 chips holding [Qh][3d]. Unfortunately, the steal was looked up by cradshark_ on the button with [Ah][Js]. The nearly all-heart board [7h] [Kh] [4d] [4h] [3h] gave both players a flush, but the nuts beat out the second nuts as scott96dl left with $1,200.00 in eighth place money.

After losing a big hand of TT vs. KK, angelababy99 was knocked down to just 10 chips. Chip and chair time? The first all-in angelababy99 would haul in 30 chips winning with just [9c][4c] when a nine spiked on the river. But the second all-in was not as successful. This time holding a respectful [Ah][3d] angelababy99 was up against [Js][Kh] held by kafelnikovz. A jack would hit the flop [6s] [Jh] [9h] and the rest of the board remained heart-less and free of aces [3c] [9d]. Seventh place and $1,700.00 was shipped to angelababy99 as the blinds moved up to 75/150.

Race for the win. Necessary in any poker tournament, watch alex245 and ansuz both put nearly all of their chips in preflop for a 2,025 chip pot:

alex245's big slick took the victory on a rivered ace, as ansuz's pocket nines were one card away from continuing but will have to settle for $2,200.00 in sixth place. Don't feel bad for ansuz though as he was one player away from claiming a WCOOP bracelet back in 2007 in Event #10 and got $65K for the runner-up finish (check here for the recap)

kafelnikovz was running low on chips as the blinds moved up to 100/200 but had the button and shoved a stack of 1,510 chips with [7h][Tc]. But, Jackycool with plenty of chips and in the small blind made the call with [Qc][Ah]. Two live cards for kafelnikovz and one of them hit the [4h] [8d] [Td] flop. But before the VIP Supernova could do a victory dance, the [Ac] hit the turn and [8c] shipped the 3,220 chip pot to Jackycool eliminating kafelnikovz in fifth place ($2,735.00).

We're sure cradshark_ could only muster a sigh after this below:

Pocket queens [Qc][Qd] looking good against the [Js][Kc] of alex245 as they combined chips preflop for a 3,240 chip pot. The ladies held by cradshark_ however got ran over by the couple of kings that decided to make an appearance on the [2d] [6s] [Ks] [4c] [Kd] board. cradshark_ was left to search other waters for chum after taking $3,350.00 off this pond in fourth place.

Yeah, that's not very nice. First, to take most of someone's chips like Jackycool did against marioboggi when [Ah][3h] held for Jackycool over the [9s][Kh] of marioboggi for a 3,815 chip pot. Then, two hands later, Jackycool would scoop up the rest of marioboggi's chips when pocket aces [Ah][Ad] held up over [As][6c] sending marioboggi to the rail with $4,500.00 and third place.

Despite having the chip lead for most of the tournament Jackycool would need to come from behind to win this one as the players started off with the below chip counts:

Seat 6: Jackycool (4400 in chips)
Seat 7: alex245 (9100 in chips)

Also, with blinds already at 125/250 ante 25, Jackycool would need to keep up the aggression seen earlier to stay ahead of the blinds. Jackycool would start out nicely taking down a 1,550 chip pot, but alex245 turned up the heat by taking down the next five pots. alex245 would keep the foot on the gas, knocking Jackycool down to just 2,325 chips before the final hand.

With blinds still at 125/250 ante 25, Jackycool decided to run with an ace [5d][Ah] on the button and shoved all-in. Having a huge chip lead made the decision to call easier for alex245 holding [Td][Qc]. The chip leader would promptly hit a ten on the flop and a ten on the river for good measure [8c] [Tc] [6h] [3s] [Th] taking down the April edition of the $50,000 Battle of the Planets triple shootout with trip tens!

Congrats to all 422 players who cashed in those weekly freeroll tickets and join us again next month as $50,000 will be laid across three tables again for the taking.

Battle of the Planets $50,000 Triple Shootout Results (04-25-10)
1. alex245 (MIAMI BEACH) $12,000.00
2. Jackycool (Siegen) $7,500.00
3. marioboggi (borås) $4,500.00
4. cradshark_ (las vegas) $3,350.00
5. kafelnikovz (Belo Horizonte) $2,735.00
6. ansuz (Karrby) $2,200.00
7. angelababy99 (ningbo) $1,700.00
8. scott96dl (Co. Donegal) $1,200.00
9. JOEYL_123 (Woodstock) $775.00

With springtime here, SnG players in the north are happily knocking off the ice and snow from their laptops to earn their ways into today's Battle of the Planet $50,000 Triple Shootout Freeroll. 493 cashed in their tickets earned weekly for a shot at winning three consecutive SnGs and the hefty sum of $12,000.00 supplied by PokerStars.

Team PokerStars Pro Joep van den "Pappe_Ruk" Bijgaart would crack the money line today by winning his first table. But, in the early goings of the second table with blinds at 50/100 and only holding 868 chips, Bijgaart would open push [Kh][Qh] and get called by UPGRAYEDD420's pocket jacks [Jh][Jc] in the cutoff. No hearts and nary royalty for Joep on the [6s][8c][3c][8d][Ac] board and the Team Holland respresentative was out in 54th place ($195.00).

Bumbleman from the UK rattled the hive by taking the first final table seat and sat back for some poker theater as the other seats were filled. Down to the last heads-up match between Ota_SolGryn and eatyourstac on Table 6 both were evenly matched until the 125/250 ante 25 blind level when both would get their stacks in the middle preflop with Ota_SolGryn covering. Pocket ladies [Qc][Qh] for Ota_SolGryn and [Kc][Jh] for eatyourstac with five cards to come for the final seat. [Ac] [5s] [Ts] [4d] [4s] was laid out and eatyourstac was left hungry as the bubble boy earning $195.00 in tenth place.

The triumphant queens set up the final table below:

Seat 1: slick_20_vic (1500 in chips)
Seat 2: RiverBard$ (1500 in chips)
Seat 3: Kedrila (1500 in chips)
Seat 4: 123ME321 (1500 in chips)
Seat 5: JMX29 (1500 in chips)
Seat 6: Ota_SolGryn (1500 in chips)
Seat 7: Carloss86 (1500 in chips)
Seat 8: Bumbleman (1500 in chips)
Seat 9: xxxxBomba (1500 in chips)

"Chop?" asked Kedrila

Barely after the new stacks of 1,500 tournament chips were laid out and blinds rolled back to 10/20, discussions of a 9-way chop were being thrown around the table with hopes of everyone taking home a few thousand a piece. A few of the players would chime in with interest, but without a consensus we were playing out a poker tournament the old-fashioned way, until one has all the chips.

No blood drawn during the first blind level, as the largest pot of 270 chips was won by xxxxBomba. VIP SilverStar Carloss86 would be the first to break the 2,000 chip mark as the players still had plenty of game ahead of them moving into the 15/30 blind level.

Similar conservative play was found during the 15/30 level as all nine would move on to the 25/50 level with the following tight chip counts and no commanding leader:

Seat 1: slick_20_vic (1100 in chips)
Seat 2: RiverBard$ (1395 in chips)
Seat 3: Kedrila (1615 in chips)
Seat 4: 123ME321 (1755 in chips)
Seat 5: JMX29 (1350 in chips)
Seat 6: Ota_SolGryn (1125 in chips)
Seat 7: Carloss86 (1900 in chips)
Seat 8: Bumbleman (1820 in chips)
Seat 9: xxxxBomba (1440 in chips)

Near the end of the 25/50 blinds level we had our first all-in and a call preflop also resulting in the first elimation. Ota_SolGryn would start the betting with a raise to 150 from middle position as it folded around to xxxxBomba in the big blind. Holding pocket tens [Td][Th] xxxxBomba would push the short-stacked Ota_SolGryn all-in. With only 712 chips left, Ota_SolGryn made the call with [As][Jd] for the coin flip. [3h] [Qd] [9d] [7d] after the turn gave Ota_SolGryn some additional flush outs, but the board would pair with the [3s] and Ota_SolGryn's tournament sunset was complete in ninth place ($775.00).

Carloss86 would get knocked down to just 135 chips after a rough bad beat at the hands of 123ME321 in the same blind level. On an all-diamond flop, the chips went into the middle with 123ME321 holding [Ad][Kh] for the nut flush draw and a slow-played pair of aces [As][Ah] for Carloss86. The flush would hit on the [3d] turn and Carloss86 was left with scraps. Those scraps would make their way back into the game with a few double ups, reaching 1,040 chips in the 50/100 blind level.

Just as the comeback for Carloss86 happened quickly so was the demise. Down to 890 chips, Carloss86 would shove from early position with [Th][As] as Kedrila was more than happy to call and covered from the big blind holding [Qs][Ad]. No short-stack love this time for Carloss86 as the [Js] [Qc] [Qd] flop gave Kedrila trips leaving Carloss86 four outs for a straight. Nary a king was found on the turn [2h] or river [8d] and potential comeback story Carloss86 was gone in eighth place ($1,200.00).

Six hands later with the blinds up to 75/150 slick_20_vic held just 690 in the small blind holding pocket threes [3s][3h] and facing a raise to put him all-in from very aggressive Bumbleman. The call was made and off to the race the two competitors went as Bumbleman showed [8s][Ad]. The board would wait till the turn to give 1,530 chip pot to Bumbleman as an eight hit on the [Td] [Jc] [Kc] [8c] [Jd] board was enough to ship slick_20_vic home in seventh place ($1,700.00).

Bumbleman went on the prowl for even more chips as shown below after facing an all-in raise from RiverBard$. Check out the action below:

No flip this time as pocket queens [Qc][Qh] dominated RiverBard$ [As][6d] and would hold on the [Th] [4c] [3d] [Jc] [9c] board. Alas, poor RiverBard$ perished in sixth position ($2,200.00).

As the smoke rose from my fingers with the quick timings of the recent bust-outs, another final table player was let go. Early chip leader xxxxBomba was whittled down to 1,415 chips and blinds still at 75/150, tried to nab the blinds with a shove from UTG holding [Qs][Jd]. But, Kedrila on the immediate left snap called with big slick [Kc][As]. Neither player would connect with the [2c] [Ts] [8c] [5d] [6s] board and we were down to four after xxxxBomba imploded in fifth place ($2,735.00).

JMX29 would start to make some moves to get to the top of the chip pile just eight hands after xxxxBomba's smoke cleared as JMX29 would take on a similarly short-stacked 123ME321 all-in preflop. Watch JMX29's rise and 123ME321's demise below:

[Qd][Js] was gold for JMX29 against the pocket fives [5c][5h] of 123ME321 for the 2,435 chip pot as the jack on the flop [6s] [Jd] [3d] [7d] [2c] was enough to send 123ME321 out in fourth place ($3,350.00).

As stated, JMX29 went on a tear, winning the very next 1,430 chip pot and a huge 7,270 chip pot off the chip leader Bumbleman when both of them got it in preflop and JMX's [Ac][Th] would hold against the [Qs][Kh] of Bumbleman on the [3d] [7h] [5d] [Ts] [4s] board as blinds moved up to 75/150.

Bumbleman would go all-in several times without getting looked up, until the blinds rose to 100/200 and another push came from the aggressive button. This time JMX29 holding [Ac][Qh] in the big blind would make the call creating a 3,420 chip pot. Bumbleman turned over two live cards [Jc][6h] and found some more outs after the [8h] [4c] [5d] flop. [Qs] on the turn and those straight out were the only ones left. The [5c] on the river stung Bumbleman for the rest of his chips, sending the poker bee flying off in third place ($4,500.00).

JMX29 would take a decent chip into heads-up play (as shown below) but Kedrila was still looking to make a deal. Those requests was denied for the final time as the two would play for the entire $12,000.00 first place prize.

Seat 3: Kedrila (3270 in chips)
Seat 5: JMX29 (10230 in chips)

On the third hand of heads-up play Kedrila would strike for a double up after flopping a set of a jacks and slowly luring JMX29 into paying off with a pair of fives and a flush draw. No flush came on the river and the 6,540 chip pot evened up the chips and still did not sway JMX29 into making a deal.

The two would spar for a bit with no major pots but JMX29 opened up a 7,825 to 5,675 chip lead. Watch the final hand below as both players get their stacks in the middle preflop:

Kedrila would shout for a nine many many times but the nine would not hit the [Ac] [4d] [Kh] [Qs] [3h] board as JMX29's [Ah][Qc] would hold against the [Ad][9d] of Kedrila. The final 11,350 chips slid to JMX29 along with the first place prize of $12,000 for this month's Battle of the Planets $50,000 Triple Shootout freeroll champion!

The runner-up actually made quite a bit more by not dealing at the beginning, walking away today with $7,500.00 in second place.

Congrats to all our cashers today, the clock starts now to win tickets for April's shootout!

$50,000 Battle of the Planets Triple Shootout results (03-28-09)
1. JMX29 (West Lafayette) $12,000.00
2. Kedrila (St.-Petersburg) $7,500.00
3. Bumbleman (London) $4,500.00
4. 123ME321 (Blairgowrie) $3,350.00
5. xxxxBomba (Würzburg) $2,735.00
6. RiverBard$ (birmingham) $2,200.00
7. slick_20_vic (Amsterdam) $1,700.00
8. Carloss86 (Asuncion) $1,200.00
9. Ota_SolGryn (Stepville) $775.00

Three SnG victories mean $12,000 for one lucky player this afternoon as the Battle of the Planets $50,000 Triple Shootout continues today with this long running daily promotion for Sit and Go players (read how to get your ticket into today's event here). If you're from the United State or Canada most likely your eyes were glued to the final event of the 2010 Vancouver Winter Olympics as Team USA and Team Canada battled for the Men's Hockey gold. However, if any of the 641 players in today's Triple Shootout freeroll were dancing their eyes back and forth from the Canada Hockey Place they were treated exciting puck slinging and poker at the same time.

At the bubble of the first leg of the triple shootout, teacuppoker came back from just 470 chips with blinds at 150/300 ante 25 to knot up the match with Pocket2Chris several hands later. But, the final hand found both players looking at a [9h] [5c] [3s] board, Pocket2Chris elected to check as teacuppoker led out for the minimum. With 7,090 chips behind Pocket2Chris check-raised and set teacuppoker all-in holding top pair [7s][9s] as teacuppoker called off the remainder of his stack with middle pair of fives [5d][8d]. The board ran out dry for both players [4h] and [Qh] as Pocket2Chris took down the final pot thus assuring 81 players a $195.00 pay day.

Right around the time Zack Parise scored the game tying goal in the hockey game, zhenya__S secured the first seat to the final table while most still held four players at them. And shortly after Sidney Crosby shoved home the game winning goal in overtime for Team Canada, Harthor and RealRastar were heads-up for the last final table seat. Playing all the way into the 200/400 ante 50 blind level nearly even in chips it would take a fortunate river card to end it. Harthor completed from the button as RealRastar checked the option to see a [9c] [Ad] [Ks] flop, RealRastar checked as Harthor led out for the minimum and was called. The [8d] on the turn and RealRastar decided to be the aggressor and lead out for 800 and Harthor decided to call. [8h] paired the board on the river and again RealRastar led out, this time for 1,600. But, Harthor found the eight to his liking and shoved all-in covering RealRastar's stack. [Ac][5s] was good enough to RealRastar to call with top pair, but not good enough to beat Harthor's rivered trips [7s][8c] to set up the final table below:

Seat 1: Hexo4yxa (1500 in chips)
Seat 2: mister aleks (1500 in chips)
Seat 3: bolecc (1500 in chips)
Seat 4: slideby (1500 in chips)
Seat 5: Harthor (1500 in chips)
Seat 6: rudzkinator (1500 in chips)
Seat 7: zhenya__S (1500 in chips)
Seat 8: BEFO (1500 in chips)
Seat 9: jeanette_33 (1500 in chips)

jeanette_33 is looking to improve on a fifth place finish here at the Battle of the Planet's triple shootout after finishing fifth in March 2009 (final table write-up here). The Supernova would have to get thru this talented final table first as everyone started off with 1,500 chips and blinds of 10/20. bolecc started off in the wrong direction, finishing off the level with just 504 chips after being unable to counter the re-raises and shoves post flop by mister aleks and slideby. The big pots off bolecc helped mister aleks to the early chip lead.

No change in the 15/30 blind level as all nine players survived as bolecc continued to nurse a shortstack while mister aleks increased the chip lead to a double stack of near 3,300 chips. bolecc would double up midway thru the 25/50 blind level off Harthor, inching [Ah][Jd] past Harthor's [Qs][Ad] after spiking a gutshot broadway straight on the turn of the [8s] [Kc] [Qh] [Th] [9c] board to send Harthor down to the bottom of the leaderboard.

At the top of the hour break here's how the chips stacked up with mister aleks still leading the way:

Seat 1: Hexo4yxa (1705 in chips)
Seat 2: mister aleks (3276 in chips)
Seat 3: bolecc (1,053 in chips)
Seat 4: slideby (1423 in chips)
Seat 5: Harthor (611 in chips)
Seat 6: rudzkinator (1355 in chips)
Seat 7: zhenya__S (1415 in chips)
Seat 8: BEFO (875 in chips)
Seat 9: jeanette_33 (1805 in chips)

Four hands back from the break and increased 50/100 blinds saw off our first contender. Folded around to BEFO in the small blind who would shove with just 825 chips after paying the small blind holding [Qd][Jc]. But, jeanette_33 similarly shorted stacked was not giving up the big blind and called holding the dominating [Jh][Kc]. The trip kings on the flop did in BEFO as the turn and river did nothing to help [Kd] [Kh] [5s] [9s] [4c] and BEFO became our ninth place finisher ($775.00).

jeanette_33 would use this win to springboard over mister aleks into the chip lead and be the first one to 4,000 chips as mostly tentative play continued with preflop raises taking down most of the pots.

As the blinds moved up to 75/150, shortstacked bolecc finally succumbed to the rising blinds and lost back-to-back hands. First, after a short stacked slideby shoved from UTG for only 580 chips, bolecc covered in the big blind and called with [Ah][4h]. Neither player improved on the [8d] [2c] [5c] [Th] [Js] board and slideby slid by the weak ace with pocket treys [3d][3c]. The next hand, chip leader jeanette_33 would gobble up bolecc scraps with a rivered flush endning bolecc's tournament in eighth place ($1,200.00).

Nine hands later a three-way all-in broke out between Hexo4yxa, slideby, and rudzkinator watch the carnage of the pocket kings of Hexo4yxa did below:

Winning the 1,889 chip pot got Hexo4yxa back a solvent stack and eliminated both rudzkinator (7th place for $1,700.00) and slideby (6th place, $2,200.00) as Hexo4yxa tried to broach the idea of a deal but not no takers with five players remaining.

Slow play, no pay. Harthor looked down at pocket aces [Ad][Ac] after mister aleks min-raised to 300 chips and decided to go for a smooth call as the rest of the table folded. [8s] [Qh] [Th] on the flop as mister aleks followed through with a 300 chip bet and Harthor min-raised to 600 as mister aleks made the call. [2s] on the turn mister aleks checked this time as Harthor pushed out 555 chips. A call, and both players saw the [6s] river as mister aleks this time led out for 900 chips and Harthor was forced to call with just 181 chips left and saw the spade on the river completed the nut flush for mister aleks' [Js][As]. 3,497 chips for mister aleks and $2,735.00 in real cash for Harthor's fifth place finish.

zhenya__S kept mostly silent by the aggressive play of mister aleks and jeanette_33 found a good spot as the blinds moved up to 100/200 opening all-in with pocket sevens [7s][7h] and jeanette_33 to the immediate left covered and made the call. Watch the hand play out below:

jeanette_33's [Ad][Qd] found an ace on the [8d] [As] [4c] [Js] [Td] board to win the coin flip and sent zhenya__S to the rail in fourth place ($3,350.00).

Again, a quick note about a deal was rebuffed or ignored and three handed play continued as jeanette_33 and mister aleks scraped for the blinds with Hexo4yxa was left to be the quiet kid in the corner who could only manage a shortstacked double-up until elimination. After another small blind raise by jeanette_33 to set the big blind all-in, Hexo4yxa with just 968 chips left after paying the big blind made the call holding [5d][9d]. Two live cards one would hope, but not to be as jeanette_33 flipped up [Qc][5s]. A Queen on the flop and a diamond-less [Qs] [7c] [2d] [Th] [Js] board meant Hexo4yxa secured third place ($4,500.00) as we moved on to heads-up play.

Seat 2: mister aleks (6366 in chips)
Seat 9: jeanette_33 (7134 in chips)

Fitting that the most aggressive players would battle it out for the $12,000.00 first prize and also fitting as how quickly it was over. Just fourteen hands into heads-up play we would have February's Battle of the Planets champion. Blinds raised to 125/250 ante 25, and mister aleks was blinded down to just 1,991 chips after jeanette_33 went on a tear winning 11 of 12 pots and was facing yet another push by the chip leader. This time a call was made as mister aleks' pocket deuces [2h][2s] were up against the [Js][Ah] of jeanette_33. Just like the many pots before, this one went jeanette_33's direction also after flopping the ace and dodging the two deuces on the [As] [3h] [7s] [Tc] [9c] board to win the final 3,982 chip pot and $12,000.00 first prize!

Congratulations to all 81 players who cashed and Supernova jeanette_33 who improved on the March 2009 5th place finish in this freeroll by winning the whole $12,000.00 today.

$50,000 Battle of the Planets Triple Shootout Freeroll
1. jeanette_33 (Stavanger) $12,000.00
2. mister aleks (Дедовск) $7,500.00
3. Hexo4yxa (Wolfratshausen) $4,500.00
4. zhenya__S (Loveland) $3,350.00
5. Harthor (Mendoza) $2,735.00
6. slideby (bradford) $2,200.00
7. rudzkinator (Neuss) $1,700.00
8. bolecc (Wrocław) $1,200.00
9. BEFO (sofia) $775.00