This week's Sunday majors found themselves sandwiched between the online madness of last week's Spring Championship of Online Poker, and the live insanity of the World Series of Poker kicking off next week in Las Vegas. With all that going on, there was still no decline in the massive field of the PokerStars Sunday tournaments, with the prize pool in the Sunday Warm-Up settling in at a whopping $824,200! The top 630 players got a piece of the pie, but the tastiest slices were saved for champion masterpice, who came from behind heads up to claim the $91,032 first place prize, and runner up Dan "Lenny" Heimiller, who held a huge chip lead when the final deal was struck and secured a $114,235 payday to add to his massive career winnings!

The field of 4,121 took almost nine hours to get down to the final table, and when it did, the chip stacks looked like this:
ProfRoscher - $8,442,333
SaFT - $7,678,638
ilon_iuby - $7,450,511
ZMEJUKA - $4,280,756
Masterpice - $3,768,022
Knoss - $3,649,626
Tommyl_11 - $3,087,565
Lenny - $1,561,099
BBOY3110 - $1,291,450

With the blinds climbing and the antes eating into his stack, it was no surprise to see BBOY3110 move all in over the top of masterpice's preflop raise just before the first break of the final table. BBOY tabled [Ac]-[Jh], and masterpice was the preflop favorite with [Qd]-[Qs]. The flop of [5d]-[2s]-[9d] was no help to BBOY, and the [8s] on the turn left him drawing to just a few aces. The river was the less-than-helpful [2d], and BBOY3110 was done in 9th place, good for a $6,593.60 payday.

Knoss was next to fall, and it was a classic case of being just a little ahead, the falling just a little behind, and staying there the whole way. ProfRoscher moved all in preflop with [Ah]-[Jd], and Knoss looked down at [Ac]-[Qc] in the small blind and made the call for all his chips. The flop came down [6h]-[Kc]-[Js], and the momentum shifted for the final time. The turn was the [Kd], and the river was the [7h], and Knoss just couldn't recapture the lead to stay alive. He finished in 8th place for $10,302.50.

Short stack Tommyl_11 headed to the rail on the very next hand, picking up $18,544.50 for 7th place. He moved all in over the top of ProfRoscher's raise, and then Lenny moved all in over the top of Tommy to isolate. ProfRoscher got out of the way, and Lenny's [Js]-[Jc] was racing against Tommy's [As]-[Qc]. The flop brought the [8h]-[5s]-[3s], no help for Tommy, and Lenny was firmly in the lead with two cards to come. The [8d] on the turn gave both players a pair of eights, and the river [3h] gave both players two pair. Lenny's jacks and eights were better than Tommy's eights and threes, and then there were six.

As the blinds crept ever higher, the short stacks continued to fall by the wayside. SaFT fought a valiant fight, but eventually succumbed to the bigger stacks around him. After Lenny open-raised from under the gun, SaFT moved all in with [6s]-[6h]. Lenny called with [Ad]-[2d], and promptly flopped the world on a board of [As]-[2s]-[Jd]. The [Kd] on the turn added a flush draw to Lenny's riches, and the [Ah] on the river gave him a full house to put the final nail in SaFT's coffin. Sixth place was good enough for $426,786.50, not bad for a Sunday's labours.

Just a few hands later, ZMEJUKA found himself racing for his tournament life after he moved all in preflop with [Tc]-[Ts] and found one caller in ProfRoscher, with [Ah]-[Kc]. The race was over almost before it began, as the [Kh] was the first card in the window on a [Kh]-[6c]-[5d] flop. The [6d] on the turn was no help for ZMEJUKA, and when the river brought the [7c], he was done in 5th place for $35,028.50. A few hands later, and the players took a break to look at the chop numbers. After a few moments of discussion, the players couldn't come to an agreement, and the tournament restarted.

The very first hand back from the deal talks saw a bustout as ilona_iuby got it all in with [2h]-[2s] against ProfRoscher's [Ad]-[Ks]. The flop was safe for ilona as it came down [9d]-[Ts]-[8d], but the [As] on the turn was a dagger to the online pro. The [3c] on the river was no help, and ilona_iuby picked up $46,567.30 for his 4th-place finish. The final three players then negotiated for a few minutes before finally striking a deal that guaranteed $114,235 for chip leader Dan "Lenny" Heimiller, $88,049 for ProfRoscher and locked in $81,032 for SuperNova masterpice. That left $10,000 in the middle to play for, so the tournament restarted and the players settled in for one last run at $10,000!

Masterpice wasted no time doubling through ProfRoscher once the deal was struck, but it was Lenny who put the final nail in the good Prof's coffin. Prof moved all in preflop with [Ac]-[2h], and Lenny made the call with [6c]-[6h]. The flop was almost everything Prof was looking for, coming down [Qc]-[5c]-[2c] to give him a pair and a flush draw. It wasn't enough, however, as the turn and river ran out [3s]-[Jd], and Prof's pair of deuces wasn't enough to make it past Lenny's pair of sixes, and Prof had to settle with the $88,049 he picked up for 3rd place as a result of the deal.

Masterpice came from behind early in heads up play to double through Lenny, but Lenny took back most of those chips just a couple of hands later, and the seesaw battle was well and truly joined. The players traded chips back and forth for a while, but slowly masterpice began to pull away from the all-time WCOOP final table leader Lenny. Finally, after a grueling heads up battle, the last hand looked something like this -

So when it all shook out, Lenny had the most cash, but the extra $10K for taking down the heads up match went a long way to evening the score for our Sunday Warm-Up Champion and SuperNova player masterpice, who locked up a $91,032 score and huge bragging rights as the Sunday Warm-Up Champion! Congrats to masterpice, Lenny and everyone who cashed in this week's Sunday Warm-Up!

While the Hollywood stars were walking the red carpet in Hollywood, the only fabric anyone was concerned about in the poker world was the final table felt at the PokerStars Sunday majors. This week's Sunday Warm-Up had 4,980 players, with a prize pool of $996,000. It was a fast and furious final table, with a six-way deal after a racecar start, but when everything was settled and the last cards were dealt, Ramux walked away with the win and the $139,163.73 first place prize money. Not only did he win the event, he held the chip lead when the deal was made, so he ended up with the lion's share of the cash as well!

The final table kicked off in the most tumultuous action I've ever seen, with an elimination on each of the first three hands! On the very first hand of the final table, the short-stacked Shaaarrrp moved all in from early position with [As]-[Qc]. Juda10 moved all in over the top to isolate, and when the rest of the table folded, juda10 showed [8c]-[8h] for the slight edge in the race. A slight edge was all juda10 needed, as the board came down [Ks]-[5d]-[Jh]-[4c]-[9d], and Shaaarrrp was done in 9th place ($7,968).

Before the rest of the table could catch their breath, all the chips were in the middle again as L C P open-shoved with [Kd]-[Qd]. His only opponent was Ansgar2000, holding the charmed hand du jour - pocket eights. Ansgar's [8c]-[8d] was good enough to send another competitor to the rail, however, as the board ran out [6h]-[9s]-[5s]-[Js]-[3d]. After two hands, and two coin flips, there were two fewer players at the table as LCP collected $12,450 for 8th place.

But the frenzy wasn't over yet, as Ramux and gaffel tangled in one last huge pot to kick off the final table. Ramux opened for a raise with [Kh]-[Qh], and made the call when gaffel moved all in over the top with [Ac]-[Js]. The flop brought a huge draw to Ramux, as it came down [3h]-[3s]-[7h], giving Ramux the flush draw to go with his live cards. The flush hit the turn on the form of the [Th], leaving gaffel drawing dead. The river was the irrelevant [Jc], and gaffel headed to bed with an extra $22,410 for 7th place in his bankroll.

With the breathtaking pace of the first few eliminations, the remaining six players decided to chat about a deal. The massive chip lead the Ramux had accumulated made the deal process difficult, but after some lengthy debate, a deal was reached that left $10,000 for the winner and locked up comfortable guarantees for everyone.

The deal locked up $129,163.73 for chip leader Ramux, while the second-place Ansgar2000 picked up $86,163.71. Hismoon nabbed $77,163.71 for his third-place stack, Method999 locked in $68,163.71, juda10 took down a guaranteed $66,163.71 and Feez0 grabbed $48,163.71 for his 6th-place stack. That left $10,000 for the eventual winner of the tournament, and play resumed.

After some jockeying for position at the final table and a few double-ups, the first big confrontation sent two players to the rail at once. Feez0 found himself on the extreme short stack and put his last few chips in the middle of the table as the big blind. Method999 raised from the button, and Ramux made the call from the small blind. The flop came down [9d]-[Ks]-[7h], and the rest of the chips went in the middle. Feez0 showed [Qs]-[4s], Method999 opened [Kh]-[6d], and Ramux held the lead with [Kc]-[Td]. The [Kd] on the turn did nothing to change that, and when the river brought the [Ts], it was all over for Feez0 and Method999.

Ansgar2000 was the next to fall, busting in 4th place at the hands of juda10. Action folded around to juda, who moved all in preflop with [6h]-[9h]. Ansgar thought for a moment but finally called with [Ac]-[8c]. Juda10 picked up a pair of nines on a flop of [Th]-[Ks]-[9c], and that was enough to hold up and send Ansgar packing as the turn and river came down [7d]-[Qd] and thin the field to three.

It took a little while to whittle it down, and there were several double-throughs along the way to heads-up play, but finally juda10's run at the final table came to an end. After Ramux folded from the button, juda10 moved all in from the small blind with [Ac]-[6c]. Hismoon made the call with [Ad]-[9c], and his lead extended with the flop of [4d]-[As]-[9s]. Needing running sixes to stay alive, juda was drawing dead after the [Tc] hit the turn. The river was a meaningless [Qd], and the tournament was heads up for $10,000.

Heads up play was a real battle, with multiple lead change and double ups before everything was finally settled. But in the end, it came down to who could catch cards when it counted most, and that was Ramux on the last hand. After crippling Hismoon, then doubling him up on back-to-back hands, all the money went in the middle preflop once again, but this time Ramux had the right ammo - pocket aces. His [Ac]-[Ad] was firmly in the driver's seat against Hismoon's [Kc]-[Jh]. The flop brought more suspense as it came down [Tc]-[7c]-[Qs], giving Hismoon the up and down straight draw, but the [5h] on the turn was no help. Ramux just needed to fade an ace or nine on the river to win the tournament and the extra $10k, and when the river brought the [Qd], that's exactly what he did. Hismoon played a brilliant final table, even taking over Ramux's seemingly insurmountable chip lead a couple of time, but in the end he could only come away with second place.

Congrats to Ramux, who picked up $139,163.73 when all was said and done, and congratulations as well to all our final table players!

This weekend was a huge one for PokerStars, with the NAPT Venetian going on, the EPT Copenhagen wrapping up, and more exploded guarantees in the Sunday major tourneys. But it was the phenomenal 40 Billionth Hand promotion that drove the action online this week. This week's Sunday Warm-Up drew a tremendous field of 5,341 players, creating a prize pool of $1,068,200. The top 765 players took home a piece of that prize pool, with the lion's share going to cumicon, who held a dominating chip lead when a four-way deal was struck. Thanks to his chip lead at that point, cumicon took home over $128,000, while eventually finishing in 3rd place. Our champion homanga, meanwhile, came from one of the shortest stacks when the final table kicked off to claim a final prize of $111,006.50.

It's not often that the final table bubble corresponds to break time, but that's exactly what happened this week. The players came back from break for just a couple of hands of bubble, then the final table was set. The chip stacks looked like this when the final table kicked off -

Seat 1: homanga - $3,374,111
Seat 2: intervnton - $3,729,128
Seat 3: ANIMAL5050 - $6,717,841
Seat 4: APerfectGent - $7,338,237
Seat 5: polpolpol - $1,871,264
Seat 6: alexuuus - $944,126
Seat 7: bigbear17 - $6,944,718
Seat 8: Skryll - $3,812,540
Seat 9: cumicon - $18,243,035

After the final table bubble burst, it took just one hand for the field to be reduced to eight. Intervntion opened for a raise from the button with [5s]-[5h], and polpolpol woke up with [Kh]-[Kc] in the small blind. Polpolpol made the call for the last of his stack, but watched his huge favorite turn into a huge dog when the flop came down [Jh]-[5d]-[8h]. The [4h] on the turn gave polpolpol a flush draw to stay alive, but the [Qs] on the river was no good, and intervntion sent polpolpol packing in 9th place ($8545.60).

Alexuuus quickly followed polpolpol to the rail, busting in 8th place just moments later. On the short stack and in late position, alexuuus shipped it all in when the action folded around to him in the cutoff with [Jc]-[8c]. Cumicon had a dominating chip lead and the big blind, so he made the call with [Kd]-[9s]. The flop was right in cumicon's wheelhouse as it came down [Ks]-[3d]-[5d]. The [Jh] hit the turn to give alexuuus a little hope, but it wasn't enough, as the [6s] came on the river. Alexuuus picked up $13,352.50 for his 8th-place finish.

Play continued 7-handed for a while until cumicon decided it was time to send another opponent to the rail. This time it was intervntion, busting in 7th place for $24,034.50. Intervntion raised preflop from early position, then snap-called when cumicon moved all in over the top from the big blind. Intervntion was in the lead when the cards were revealed, with [Jc]-[Js] to cumicon's [Kd]-[Th]. The players traded places promptly on the flop, though, as it came down [3c]-[Ks]-[Qh]. The [7h] on the turn was no help to either player, and when the [Ac] came on the river, intervntion's run was over.

Skryll was next to fall, finishing a respectable 6th place thanks to a coin flip gone the other way. ANIMAL5050 raised preflop with [8d]-[8s], and Skryll moved all in over the top with [Ac]-[9h]. ANIMAL5050 made the call, then made a set on the [9s]-[8c]-[3d] flop. Skryll needed to catch perfect running cards to stay alive, and when the [Jd] hit the turn, he was drawing dead. The river was an irrelevant [4d], and Skryll headed home with an extra $34,716.50 in his virtual pocket.

Another coin flip, another victim, could be the story of the night as cumicon claimed another victim, busting bigbear17 in 5th place ($45,398.50). The players traded raises back and forth preflop until all the money was in the middle, and bigbear17 tabled [Tc]-[Ts] to cumicon's [Ac]-[Jd]. The flop pretty much ended all speculation when it came down [9d]-[Ks]-[Jh]. Bigber17 needed a queen or a ten on the turn or river to stay alive, but when the rest of the board ran out [5s]-[2d], the field was down to four. The last four players took a brief break to discuss a chop, and after some wrangling agreed to a deal that guaranteed big payouts to all four players.

Chip leader cumicon locked up $128,006.50, while second-place APerfectGent nabbed a guaranteed $109,006.50. Homanga rounded out the six-figure club at $101,006.50, while fourth-place ANIMAL5050 took down $92,006.50. This deal left $10,000 to play for, so the four survivors took a brief moment to congratulate each other, and then re-entered the fray.

As often happens once a deal is struck, the all-ins came fast and furious once the details had been hammered out. It was just a few hands into four-handed play when homanga raised enough from the small blind to put ANIMAL5050 all in with a call. ANIMAL did indeed call, and was slightly ahead with [Ac]-[4d] to homanga's [Kc]-[Js]. The flop helped neither player as it came down [6s]-[8h]-[9c]. Homanga was behind ANIMAL's ace-high even when the turn brought the [Qs], but the [Tc] on the river made the runner-runner straight, and ANIMAL5050 was done in 4th place ($92,006.50).

The player happiest about making a four-way deal had to be cumicon, because after a marathon three-way session, he ended up on the short end and still had the biggest payday of anyone. After losing a few tough hands to APerfectGent, cumicon's demise came at the hands of homanga. With only fumes left in his tank, cumicon moved all in preflop with [Qh]-[9s], and homanga made the call with [Ah]-[8c], and promptly flopped trips on the [3h]-[Ad]-[As] board. With his opponent drawing dead, homanga added insult to injury when he rivered quads on a final board of [3h]-[Ad]-[As]-[6s]-[Ac]. It was pretty hard for cumicon to be upset, though, as he'd locked up $128K for a third-place finish!
Heads up play then ensued between APerfectGent and homanga, who were both mostly concerned with the TLB points at stake, even moreso than the $10,000! They battled back and forth for quite some time, before finally this hand happened.

APerfectGent opened with a button raise, and homanga made the call. The flop came down [9c]-[9s]-[Kh], and homanga led out. APerfectGent raised, and homanga once again flat-called. Homanga checked the [7d] turn, and APerfectGent led out. Homanga called once again, then checked again on the [8d] river. APerfectGent moved all in, and homanga called. APerfectGent showed [9h]-[4h] for trips, but was crushed to see homanga table [Js]-[9d] for trips with a better kicker. After all that heads up play, it all came down to a kicker as homanga picked up an extra $10,000 and the title of Sunday Warm-Up champion!

Congrats to homanga, APerfectGent, and all our final table players for a game well played. Join us next week for more busted guarantees and gigantic payouts!

Who Dat? Dat SuperNova philivey0997, who picked up $133,620.23for taking down the Sunday Warm-Up on the biggest sporting night of the western hemisphere. While millions of people tuned into a little football game in Miami, 4,900 players tuned into PokerStars for the Sunday Warm-Up. The prize pool of $980,000 was nothing to sneeze at, and neither were the six-figure paydays that the last three standing at the final table locked up for themselves in a chip count chop.

Just as the big parties celebrating the New Orleans Saints' big victory kicked off, our final nine players locked in their seats at the final table, including a big-stacked SuperNova in philivey0997 and a repeat final table player from two weeks ago. The stacks looked like this when the final table kicked off -

Seat 1 - Gretko - $2,557,597
Seat 2 - philivey0997 - $10,153,220
Seat 3 - nofingclue11 - $3,506,632
Seat 4 - doulas12 - $3,105,256
Seat 5 - ehcaramba - $4,968,491
Seat 6 - B3st Move - $3,163,187
Seat 7 - trippkirk - $3,380,629
Seat 8 - vaderGZ - $8,245,010
Seat 9 - Vincent466 - $9,567,978

After losing a monster pot just before the first break of the final table, nfingclue11 got his last few chips in on the first hand back. After an opening raise from Vincent466, nofingclue11 called off the last of his chips preflop with [As]-[5c], and ehcaramba joined the fray to see the three-way flop of [4s]-[6c]-[2h]. Ehcaramba led out with a bet, Vincent466 got out of the way, and ehcaramba tabled [Ad]-[Qh], dominating nofingclue11. The turn and river ran out [Js]-[6h], and nfingclue11 was done in 9th place ($7,840.00).

The action continued on the very next hand, as B3st Move got coolered to send him packing in 8th place ($12,250.00). philivey0997 opened for a raise from under the gun, and B3st Move decided that his best move was to shove all his chips into the middle with [Qc]-[Qd]. Usually a pretty good move, but philivey0997 made the easy call with [Kc]-[Kd], and then flopped a set to leave B3st Move dead to running queens. The final board read [Kh]-[5c]-[5d]-[4d]-[Td], and then the action cooled off just a little with seven players remaining.

Two weeks ago, Gretko put on a show at the final table and finished the Sunday Warm-Up in 2nd place for well over $100K. He couldn't match that performance this week, but two final tables in three weeks is certainly nothing to sneeze at! Gretko lost a huge pot just before the final table and never got his traction back before busting in 7th place ($22,050) at the hands of mega-stacked philivey0997. All the money went in preflop, as Gretko shoved with [Ks]-[9s]. Philivey0997 called with [Ac]-[Td], and made top pair on the [Th]-[8d]-[3s] flop. Things didn't get any better for gretko as the turn and river came down [Jh]-[6s], and his run at another Sunday Warm-Up was over.

After coming into the final table second in chips, Vincent466 couldn't get anything going at the final table and finally finished up in 6th place ($31,850). Vincent opened for a raise preflop, and was called by vaderGZ in the big blind. Both players checked the [Kd]-[8c]-[2s] flop, then vaderGZ led out when the [9s] hit the turn. Vincent moved all in over the top with [Jh]-[9h], and vader quickly called with [Qh]-[Kc]. The [Qc] on the river made two pair for vaderGZ, and and exit cue for Vincent466.

Before Vincent466's seat was even cold, doulas12 was following him out the virtual door in 5th place ($41,650). All the money went in preflop as ehcaramba open-shoved with [7h]-[7d]. Doulas12 called with [As]-[Kc], and the race was on. The [Th]-[Qh]-[9h] flop gave doulas12 a Broadway draw to go with his overcards, but it also added a flush draw to ehcaramba's possibilities. Nothing changed on the [8s] turn, and when the river brought the [5h], ehcaramba's flush was good enough to bounce doulas in 5th place.

Play continued a few moments four-handed until ehcaramba's luck ran out in 4th place ($55,370). It certainly wasn't the first time ehcaramba had moved all in preflop, but it was the last, as he open-shoved from the button with [Ac]-[8h]. Trippkirk called with [7s]-[7d], and the flop came down squarely in the camp of ehcaramba, falling [3d]-[Js]-[As]. His top pair held through the [5h] turn, but the [7h] river made a set for trippkirk and left only three survivors.

The three remaining players paused to discuss a deal, and after some discussion, settled on a chip count chop that left $10,000 on the table for the winner and guaranteed the following payouts - chip leader philivey0997 - $123,620.23, runner-up vaderGZ $110,548.90 and trippkirk locked up $104,152.27. Once those details were settled, Team PokerStars Pro host Greg Raymer pronounced it a deal and the three survivors settled in to play for the last $10,000.

The three survivors duked it out for a surprisingly long time before finally philivey0997's monster stack was too much for vaderGZ to overcome. All the money went in on a coin toss, as the players threw raises back and forth until vader's last few chips were in the middle with [9h]-[9c]. philivey0997 was slightly behind with [Kh]-[Jh], but the [5s]-[Jd]-[Qh] flop helped quite a bit. The[2h] on the turn gave him a flush draw to go with his jacks, but it turned out that jacks were enough as the [Ts] came on the river to send vaderGZ home in 3rd place. Thanks to the deal made when he was in 2nd place, he finished up with $110,548.90.

Heads up play only lasted a few hands, and it was a made hand against a monster draw that finally ended the suspense. Trippkirk raised from the button, and philivey0997 called. The [2d]-[8s]-[5d] flop set off the fireworks, as the players traded bets back and forth until all the money was in the middle. Trippkirk tabled [Qc]-[8h] for top pair, but philivey0997 showed [6d]-[7d] for the flush draw and the open-ended straight draw. The [Jd] on the turn made the flush for phil and left trippkirk drawing dead, and when the [6s] came on the river, the tournament was over, with trippkirk finishing in 2nd place for $104,152.27 and philivey0997 grabbing the extra $10K to bring his total win to $133,620.23.

Congratulations to all our final table players and everyone who took part in this week's Sunday Warm-Up. We'll see you next week for more monster paydays and crushed guarantees!

It was a huge weekend in PokerStars-land, with the EPT Deauville reaching a final table just hours before the Sunday Majors kicked into high gear, with both the Warm-Up and Sunday Million blowing through their guarantees with ease yet again. After better than ten hours of high-octane tournament poker ROHR came from behind to claim the victory and $119,548.05 payday. His final payout was the result of a three-way deal and the extra $10,000 he won as a result.

It took nine hours to get there, but only a few minutes to play out hand-for-hand play as derek8 busted in 10th place to set up the final table. Gretko came into the final table as the chip leader, with the stacks looking like this as the final nine settled in to duke it out for the big money.

gretko (LA) - $11,052,372
ROHR (Wurzburg) - $8,641,187
Chaesi (Aetingen) - $7,155,428
donnylon346 (skivarp) - $6,298,870
delegator (Bergen) - $5,435,468
risiko13 (Basel) - $3,741,696
toetagU (WWI) - $2,532,407
Joe Hahn (Doorwerth) - $2,053,096
Negriin (Punta Alta) - $1,269,476

It only took a few hands into the final table for the first big confrontation to take place. Action started off reasonably, with a preflop raise from Chaesi and a call from ROHR, but the fireworks kicked off when the flop came down [Qs]-[9s]-[Ah]. Chaesi led out with a bet, and ROHR flat-called to bring the [Jd] on the turn. Chaesi quickly moved all in with [Ad]-[Js] for two pair, and ROHR made the easy call with [As]-[Qh] for the bigger two pair. Only a jack on the river would save Chaesi, but it was not to be when the [Ac] rolled off to send him packing in 9th place ($7,708.80).

Joe Hahn came into the final table one of the shortest stacks, and when action folded around to his small blind, [Qd]-[6c] looked good enough to shove with, so that's exactly what he did. ToetagU thought for a moment before calling, but tabled the dominating [Ah]-[6d] to put Joe in a world of hurt. Life got no better for Joe Hahn as the board ran out [Ac]-[8s]-[Ks]-[Qh]-[Kh] to bust him in 8th place ($12,045).

Negriin played the short-stack ninja role well, ducking and weaving his tiny stack to a 7th-place finish and a $21,681 payday. His run came to an end at the hands of the deep-stacked gretko, who moved all in over the top of Negriin's preflop raise. The pot-committed Negriin called with [Ac]-[3d], only to find himself crushed by gretko's [Ad]-[4h]. The flop of [4s]-[9c]-[7c] left Negriin looking for running clubs to stay alive, and for a moment it looked like the poker gods would obey when they dropped the [Tc] on the turn. But the river was a less-than-helpful [6h], and Negriin was headed to the virtual rail.

Gretko claimed another victim and the chip lead when he busted toetagU in 6th place ($31,317). All the money went in preflop when toetagU defended his small blind against gretko's button raise by moving all in over the top with [Ah]-[2d]. Unfortunately for toetagU, gretko wasn't on a bluff, but had pocket queens. Gretko made the obvious call, but the [4d]-[2h]-[4s] flop gave toetagU a couple more outs. The [Td] on the turn wasn't one of them, and neither was the [5s] that hit the river as gretko's queens held up, and then there were five.

They say that fortune favors the bold, and it's certainly easier to be bold if you've got a big chip lead. That's what the world looked like when gretko open-raised from the small blind with [Kc]-[3s], then called delegator's all-in move. Delegator showed [Ah]-[Kh], and looked to be in good shape to double through the chip lead on the [Jc]-[8s]-[Tc] flop, but disaster in the form of the [3h] came on the turn. The [7d] on the river was no help, and delegator was relegated to a 5th-place finish, good for $40,953.

Donnylon346 made it all the way to 4th place mostly by staying out of the way, but eventually he too, succumbed to the gretko steamroller. Gretko opened with a raise from the button, and donnylon moved all in over the top with [Ac]-[5h]. Gretko made the call with [Ah]-[8c], and was significantly ahead of his opponent. The flop was no big help to either player, coming down [4s]-[Jc]-[7c], and the [Qd] on the turn was equally meaningless. The [Qh] on the river brought no reprieve for donnylon, and he was done in 4th place ($54,443.40).

With donnylon's elimination, the three remaining players took a moment to discuss a chop, and after some brief discussion, they agreed on a chip count chop that locked up $128,188.59 for gretko, $109,548.05 for ROHR and $94,758.03 for risiko13. With $10,000 left on the table for the eventual winner, the three survivors retook their seats and the tournament was re-started.

All the money went in on a coin flip on the very first hand back, as gretko opened from the button with [Ah]-[Jh], and risiko13 moved all in over the top with [6h]-[6c]. The flop swung the pendulum firmly to gretko's side when it came down [Tc]-[Ad]-[Qh], and risiko was in deep trouble. The [5s] on the turn was no help for anyone, and when the river brought the [9h], risiko was done in 3rd place and heads up poker ensued.

For all the fevered pace of the rest of the final table, the heads up match between ROHR and gretko was a study in patience. Gretko took a big lead into heads up play, and quickly established a 2:1 chip advantage, but was unable to advance his cause for the longest time as ROHR proved adept at picking his spots and timing his moves.

And finally, after a lengthy heads-up duel, ROHR's patience was rewarded. He took a dominant chip lead when his pocket eights held up against gretko's flush draw in the next-to-last hand of the tournament, and then this all happened. With a massive chip lead, ROHR opened for a raise from the button with [3c]-[3h]. Gretko called for the last of his chips with [Jd]-[4c]. The flop of [Qd]-[7s]-[6h] was no help to either player, but gretko picked up an inside straight draw with the [5c] turn. No two-outer for greto, though, as the [Ad] on the river sent him packing in 2nd place, but with $128,188.59 for his troubles.

ROHR proved that good things come to those who wait, and his slow-but-steady approach to the heads up match garnered him a Sunday Warm-Up title and $119,548.05 for a good day's work. Congratulations to ROHR and all our final table players on a job well done!

With the live action drawing to a finale down at the Atlantis resort for the PokerStars Caribbean Adventure, the numbers in the Sunday Warm-Up were massive this week, with 4,701 entrants building a prize pool of $940,200.00. At the end of the night, it was Vyna outlasting the other 4,700 competitors to take down the title and the $98,695 as a result of a four-way deal.

The final table kicked off after nine grueling hours of tournament play, and the action kicked off quickly. It only took a few orbits for the first casualty of the final table to occur, and it was the short-stacked PaperChump making his exit in 9th place ($7,521.60). Action folded around to PaperChump in middle position, who moved all in preflop with [Kc]-[8d]. Action then passed to the deep stacked flpro157, who woke up with [5c]-[5s] and made the call. The board missed PaperChump completely, running out [Jc]-[2d]-[Ts]-[9c]-[2s] to thin the field by one.

The short stacks kept falling, as teknotom headed to the rail in 8th place ($11,752.50). Teknotom moved all in preflop from late position with [Ad]-[8d], and wreidthansen re-raised out of the small blind to isolate. The big blind folded, and wriedthansen's [Ac]-[Kh] was revealed. The flop was interesting as it came down [Kd]-[9h]-[9d], giving teknotom a flush draw to go up against wriedthansen's top pair, top kicker. The [4s] on the turn was no help to either player, and when the [8s] hit the river, teknotom was done in 8th.

Another elimination, and again it was the shortest remaining stack that fell by the wayside. After an opening raise from flpro157, Se7enTr3y looked down at [8h]-[8d] on the button. He moved all in over the top, only to watch flpro157 snap-call with [As]-[Ac]. The board ran out [2d]-[Js]-[4s]-[6s]-[9s] to give flpro157 the nut flush, and give Se7enTr3y $21,154.50 for his 7th-place finish.

After losing a massive pot to AJacejackAJ, flpro157 was on the extreme short stack, and finally moved all in preflop with [6c]-[9d]. Vyna made the call with [Ad]-[Kd], and his lead grew only wider when the flop came down [Qh]-[Ks]-[7c]. The [Ts] on the turn gave flpro157 a gutshot straight draw, but the [Qs] on the river was no help, and flpro157 had to settle with $30,556.50 for 6th place.

A cruel river sent Joe Hahn home in 5th place ($39,958.50). Joe Hahn raised preflop, and AJacejackAJ flat called to see a flop of [7h]-[3s]-[2d]. Joe Hahn fired another bullet at the flop holding [Ac]-[Th], and AJacejackAJ called with [4h]-[5h] for the double gutshot draw. Joe Hahn checked the [2c] turn, and AJacejackAJ led out. Joe Hahn called, then check-raised all in when the river showed the [Ad]. Joe Hahn's two pair was no good against AJacejackAJ's rivered wheel, and then there were four.

Players took a few moments to discuss a deal, and at the end of a brief discussion, the remaining four players locked up the following amounts. Chip leader AJacejackAJ took down a guaranteed $137,866, with paddy723 locking up $90,381. Vyna took a guaranteed $88,695, and the short stack, wriedthansen locked up $60,508, with $10,000 left for the eventual winner.

Play loosened up considerable after a deal was made, with three double ups in the first five hands, as wriedthansen doubled up twice and vyna took over the chip lead when he doubled through AJacejackAJ. Wriedthansen's comeback continued as he busted paddy723 in a b ig hand. Paddy723 open-shoved from the button, and wriedthansen called from the small blind. Paddy723 was slightly ahead with [Ad]-[5h], but the cards were close as wriedthansen showed [Ah]-[4h]. The flop was an innocuous [9c]-[8s]-[Kh], but the [7h] on the turn gave wriedthansen the nut flush draw. The [9h] promptly landed on the river to fill the flush, and paddy723 had to be content with his $90,000 payday from the deal.

The three remaining players continued to sling chips back and forth, with an all in seemingly every other hand, until finally Vyna took out AJacejackAJ with his namesake hand. AJ raised preflop with [As]-[Qc], and wriedthansen flat-called. Vyna three-bet from the big blind with [Ah]-[Js], and AJ moved all in over the top. Vyna thought for a moment before calling, and was in deep trouble preflop. But the flop changed everything, as it came down [4s]-[9d]-[Jc]. The [Ad] on the turn left AJ looking for a queen and only a queen, but when the river rolled over the [Tc], his tournament was over in 3rd place. Thanks to the four-way chop, AJacejackAJ still took down the biggest payout, with $137,000 added to his bankroll as wriedthansen and Vyna settled in to play heads up for $10,000.

It only took a few hands, and even though he put on a great run at the final table, wriedthansen couldn't quit crawl out of the chip deficit he was in. The final hand started off slow, as both players limped in to see a [4d]-[8d]-[9c] flop, but the bets and raises started flying after the flop. All the money went in on the [8s] turn, and wriedthansen showed [6c]-[7h] for a straight draw, as Vyna tabled [7s]-[9d] for two pair. The [Ad] on the river was no help to wriedthansen, and he had to settle for his $60,500 as part of the deal.

Vyna picked up an extra $10,000 to bring his total take for winning to $98,000 and some change. Congratulations to all our final table players and everyone who cashed in this week's Sunday Warm-Up!

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

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

Almost as soon as the final table started, it was time for one of the tournament's scheduled breaks. After a quick five-minute pit stop, short stack jouby44 picked up his namesake hand in late position and moved all in with [4s]-[4c]. Brianm15 defended his big blind with [Ah]-[9d], and the race was on. That race ended in 9th place for jouby44 as the flop came down [7c]-[Ac]-[6h] to give brianm15 top pair and leave jouby44 drawing thin to say alive. The turn and river brought no help as they came down [Th]-[Ts], and jouby44 was the first elimination from the final table, picking up $7,059.21 for 9th place.

Jordie1982 went out in 8th place in very unlucky fashion after getting all his chips in as a big favorite over brianm15. After action folded around to his button, Jordie open-shoved with [Ah]-[Qc]. Brianm15 made the call from the small blind with [Kd]-[Qs], and Jordie1982 looked poised for a double up, especially when the flop came down [8s]-[2s]-[6c]. The [7s] on the turn gave Brianm15 a few more outs to the flush, but it was the [Kc] on the river that shipped the pot Brian's way, leaving Jordie1982 out in 8th place ($11,030.01).

It was turning into a night of nasty river cards, and BillieD was the next victim to be washed away when he ran afoul of chip leader witcherd. On the short stack, BillieD open-shoved with [Qs]-[Qd], and super stack witcherd defended his small blind with [Ks]-[5s]. The flop was harmless, coming down [9h]-[Ad]-[6h], and the [8h] on the turn was no help to either player. But the river peeled off the [Kh], giving witcherd the bigger pair, and the last of BillieD's stack as well. BillieD picked up $19,854.01 to soothe the pain of the bad beat.

Witcherd claimed another victim when his [6s]-[6h] not only held up against kingsofcards all-in, but actually improved significantly along the way. Kingsofcards moved all in for a huge preflop raise from the cutoff with [4c]-[4s], and witcherd called from the small blind with sixes. If kingsofcards was in trouble preflop, the [6c]-[Jc]-[8h] left him drawing to running perfect cards to stay alive. None of those running perfect scenarios included the [9d], so when that peeled off on the turn, the king was dethroned and drawing dead. The river was a meaningless [Jd], and kingsofcards was done in 6th place ($28,678.01). After that hand, witcherd's chip stack was nearly twice that of his nearest opponent.

That chip stack got even healthier when witcherd busted his third opponent in quick succession, this time taking out bboooommmmmm in 5th place ($37,502.01). Action folded around to bboooommmmmm, who moved all in preflop from the small blind with [Ah]-[8c]. Witcherd quickly called with [Ad]-[10c], and the chip leader was once again in the driver's seat with an opponent all in. The flop of [As]-[7h]-[Qd] did nothing to change the preflop standings, and when the turn and river came down [3c]-[Qs], it was all over for bboooommmmmm. The remaining four players took a moment to discuss a deal, and after lengthy negotiations came to the following guaranteed money: brianm15 locked up $75,000 even, with pocktnizzles securing $77,484.15. Supa4real claimed $88,000.00, and chip leader witcherd picked up a guaranteed $113,400.00, with $10,000 left for the eventual winner. With the deal in place, the four remaining players settled in to battle for the remaining ten grand the all-important bragging rights.

The play was slower than normal once a deal was in place, but after a few orbits of probing and folding, pocktnizzles and witcherd squared off for one last fight. Pocktnizzles opened for a raise from the cutoff with [8h]-[7d], and witcherd three-bet from the button with [Qc]-[Jc]. The other players got out of the way, and pocktnizzles moved all in over the top. Witcherd made the call, and his overcards improved to a flush draw on the [5s]-[2c]-[3c] flop. The Ks on the turn was no help for either player, and witcherd still led with his unpaired high cards. The [Ac] on the river made his flush, and pocktnizzles was done in 4th place with his $77,484.15 payday.

Brianm15 managed to double through witcherd twice with three players left to move into a solid second place, as Supa4real saw his chip stack begin to dwindle. After a series of raises and re-raises, the last of Supa4real's stack went in on a flop of [8d]-[6d]-[8s]. Supa4real was holding [Kh]-[7s], but brianm15 had flopped two pair with [7h]-[6h] and made the call. The turn and river came down [5s]-[6s] to give brianm15 the full house and the chip lead as he bounced Supa4real in 3rd place, good for $88,000 after the deal.
Tides had certainly turned for brianm15, who was last in chips with four players left. He went into heads-up play with the chip lead, and it took just a few minutes for him to finish off his penthouse to outhouse story and lock up the extra $10,000 by booting witcherd in 2nd place. The final hand looked like this:

Brianm15 opened for a raise from the button, witcherd three-bet, and brianm15 called. The flop came down [4h]-[2s]-[5c], and witcherd led out. Brianm15 made the call, and the [3s] hit the turn. Both players checked, and fireworks erupted on the [Kh] river. Witcherd checked, brianm15 led out, and witcherd check-raised all in with [Qh]-[5d] for top pair on the flop. Brianm15 quickly called with [Ad]-[9c], showing the turned straight for the pot and the tournament win! With the extra $10,000 for winning the tournament, brianm15 secured an $85,000 payday, while witcherd still ended up with $113,400 for his work in the tournament. Congratulations to all our final table players and everyone who cashed in this week's Sunday Warm-Up!