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1:40pm: Shuffle and deal!
Level 27 - Blinds 30,00-60,000 (10,000 ante)

Cards are in the air for the season-ending finale. There are just over 20 minutes left of level 27. The first player out will receive €16,840 - let's do this!

1:10pm: Final table player profiles
Level 27 - Blinds 30,000-60,000 (10,000 ante)

Which one of our finalists is supposed to be in Las Vegas for a friend's birthday right now? While you're waiting for the action to kick off, find out who and a whole lot more about all our finalists by clicking here.

12:45pm: UKIPT Season 5 set for thrilling finale
Level 27 - Blinds 30,000-60,000 (10,000 ante)

Today we bring the curtain down on Season 5 of the UKIPT, but it won't be going quietly. The final table of the final event of Season 5 will play out on the EPT Live TV table, with cards up coverage on a one hour delay.

In real life the action is already under way as play was due to start at 12.30pm, you'll have to wait to 1.30pm to get moving pictures but as well as reading about it here you can watch it in the following places:

PokerStars.tv
YouTube
Facebook
Twitch

And you can get involved in the conversation by contacting @PokerStarsBlog and @EPTLive on Twitter.

A reminder that the winner of this event will pick up €176,900 and when play starts Adalsteinn Karlsson is in the box seat, although it's very close at the top as the chip counts below show:

And a reminder of what's left to play for:

Live coverage will begin at 13.30 GMT, see you then.

PokerStars Blog reporting team on the UKIPT5 Dublin Main Event: Marc Convey and Nick Wright. Photography by Mickey May. Follow the PokerStars Blog on Twitter: @PokerStarsBlog.

A look at all the major stories from this past weekend on PokerStars.

Weekend highlights

* Sr.Rouquinho wins the Sunday Million for $171,000
* shtruddle does the same in the Sunday Warm-Up
* EPT Dublin Main Event gets started

Round up of latest results

A short and sweet round up of the weekend news this Monday given that we write this ahead of Day 1B of the EPT Dublin Main Event. That also explains why both of this week's major write ups were tasked to our intrepid reporter Jason Kirk who doubled down on usual duties. We're pleased to say he coped manfully.

In his first the story was one of resilience on the part of Sr.Rouquinho, who took down the Sunday Million title ahead of a field of 5,494. That meant a deal-free first prize of $171,854, which you can read about here.

In the Warm-Up meanwhile shtruddle took honours in a three way deal with Pokerfan89Gr and arturuz77, to claim a first prize of $64,427. Read Jason Kirk's report of that one here.

Check the results in full below.

2/14/16 Sunday Million ($215 No-Limit Hold'em) results
Entrants: 5,494
Total prize pool: $1,098,800
Places paid: 810

1. Sr.Rouquinho (Czech Republic) $171,854.75
2. NEMEZIS JT (Russia) $128,010.20
3. amar11111 (Germany) $90,486.18
4. ismo 5. 163Andrey63 (Russia) $46,699
6. marcel389 (Canada) $35,711
7. Camari (Norway) $24,723
8. woopwoopster (Norway) $13,735
9. sslazio904 (Russia) $8,790.40

2/14/16 Sunday Warm-Up ($215 No-Limit Hold'em) results
Entrants: 2,250
Total prize pool: $450,000
Places paid: 324

1. shtruddle (Switzerland) $64,427.98*
2. Pokerfan89Gr (Greece) $53,416.40*
3. arturuz77 (Uzbekistan) $46,293.12*
4. LlKE A G6 (Czech Republic) $27,000
5. Nicolau "nicofellow" Villa-Lobos (Brazil) $20,250
6. 0$kar15 (Germany) $15,525
7. pr0fes0rul (Romania) $11,025
8. Caz_Carneiro (Brazil) $6,525
9. Steve "Illini213" Barshak (Costa Rica) $4,050
* Reflects the results of a three-way deal that left $8,000 in play for the winner

The weekend's top online tournament winners

Here's a look at this week's big winners.

You'll find the complete list of major results on PokerStars here for the weekend of February 6-7, 2016.

As we mentioned earlier this big focus of this week on the Blog is the European Poker Tour. We're up to Day 1B of the Main Event which kicks off any minute, alongside the always entertaining Single Day High Roller, which will keep at least one of us awake into the early hours of Tuesday. Then on the main EPT Live stage the UKIPT Main Event final table will play out for all to see.

What's more you can follow all three events via the PokerStars Blog, with live updates for all three events taking place today.

Here you'll find UKIPT live updates from start to finish. Bear in mind what you read here will be on a one hour delay from what is actually taking place in the room a few feet from where we're sitting. That's for the cards up coverage you can find on EPT Live.

The Main Event just got underway. Live updates can be found here.

Finally the Single Day High Roller, which really should be renamed the day and a half high roller, starts at 12.30pm. Live updates will begin then.

That's all for now. Congratulations to all of this weekend's winners. Now back to Dublin. As always you can keep in touch with us on Twitter: @PokerStarsBlog.

* CLICK TO REFRESH FOR LATEST UPDATES
* 38 remain from 40 total entries thus far (late registration open until the start of Level 9)
* Play is eight-handed; a single re-entry is available

1:31pm: Level 3 begins
Level 3 - Blinds 600/1,200 (200 ante)

They continue on into Level 3 without a break, with 40 total entries so far. --MH

1:27pm: Gieles grabs from Neuville
Level 2 - Blinds 500/1,000 (100 ante)

We arrived on the river to see a provocative-looking board-and-hands combination in a hand between Luuk Gieles and Pierre Neuville.

The board read [8h][Ks][8c][Ad][4s], and Neuville's [Jc][8d] meant he'd flopped trips. But Gieles's [Ac][Ah] meant he'd turned a full house, and the Dutchman profited well by doing so, earning a big pot off of the Belgian.

Gieles is up around 215,000 now while Neuville slips back to 70,000. --MH

1:20pm: Bleiker bounced
Level 2 - Blinds 500/1,000 (100 ante)

Felix Bleiker has followed Senh Ung to the rail as the second knockout of the day after losing his stack to Kevin MacPhee in a set-over-set situation. --MH

1:17pm: Ung felted; Kempe, Adams on the rise
Level 2 - Blinds 500/1,000 (100 ante)

The day's first knockout has already occurred here in the middle of Level 2.

A preflop raising war between Senh Ung and Rainer Kempe saw Ung all in and at risk with ace-king versus Kempe's pocket nines. The nines held, Ung is out (perhaps to re-enter), and Kempe is now sitting with about 200,000 or twice the starting stack.

Meanwhile Timothy Adams took a decent-sized pot off of Charlie Carrel a short while ago, and he sits with about 160,000 in the early going. --MH

1:01pm: Level 2 begins
Level 2 - Blinds 500/1,000 (100 ante)

It's a new level already, but there's no increase in either the blinds or antes. --MH

12:53pm: The usual suspects
Level 1 - Blinds 500/1,000 (100 ante)

We've already seen a couple all-ins even in the first level of the tournament.

In one instance, Mike McDonald raise-shoved over a river bet by Orpen Kisacikoglu to claim a decent-sized pot. McDonald is up around 130,000 at present.

Meanwhile on the next table over, Christoph Vogelsang and Nicholas Palma got it all in on only to discover both had been dealt pocket kings. The board provided no four-flushes, and the pair chopped the pot. --MH

12:46pm: More arrivals
Level 1 - Blinds 500/1,000 (100 ante)

The empty seats are starting to fill and a fifth table has been opened as more than 30 players are in action now. Adrian Mateos, Jeffrey Rossiter, and Anthony Zinno are among the latest to claim seats. --MH

12:39pm: The usual suspects
Level 1 - Blinds 500/1,000 (100 ante)

A couple of minutes into today's event and the big board is showing 19 players registered so far, with 17 of them in their seats and playing short-handed at four tables. Late registration is open until the start of Level 9.

At one table is Mike McDonald, Daniel Dvoress, Kyle Frey, and Demetrio Barreca. At another we find Sergey Lebedev, David Peters, Ryan Riess, Senh Ung, and Fernando Brito.

Nearby at a third table are seated Pierre Neuville, Christoph Vogelsang, Laui Varonen, and Team PokerStars Pro Jason Mercier. And at the fourth we find Timothy Adams, Pratyush Buddiga, Ben Heath, and Charlie Carrel. --MH

12:31pm: Shuffle up and deal!
Level 1 - Blinds 500/1,000 (100 ante)

The first hands of the €10K Single-Day High Roller are being dealt. Players are starting with deep stacks 100,000 chips, but the blinds and antes will start increasing soon thanks to the short 30-minute levels. --MH

12:00pm: €10K Single-Day High Roller starting soon

Welcome back to the Royal Dublin Society where among today's busy schedule the €10K Single-Day High Roller will be playing out starting at 12:30pm. With half-hour levels the pace promises to be a quick one, and many of poker's biggest names are expected to take part today.

Back soon for the beginning... and the middle... and the end, as we bring you start-to-finish coverage of the "SDHR"! --MH

Take a look at the official website of the EPT, with tournament schedule, news, results and accommodation details for the rest of the season.

Also all the schedule information is on the EPT App, which is available on both Android or IOS.

PokerStars Blog reporting team on the EPT12 Dublin €10K Single-Day High Roller: Jack Stanton and Martin Harris. Photography by Neil Stoddart. Follow the PokerStars Blog on Twitter:@PokerStarsBlog

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* CLICK FOR LATEST CHIP COUNTS
* Follow the UKIPT final table
* Follow the single-day high roller

1:25pm: The Scandinavian connection
Level 2 - Blinds: 75-150

Ireland's position in the EU accounts for a healthy contingent of Scandinavian players here in Dublin. Many of the tax issues they face when travelling the globe are not so complex inside this zone.

It means that on a table only a short step from media row, Sweden's Simon Persson sits beside Kim Wittendorff, of Denmark. And a few tables over, Norway's Johnny Lodden is opposite another Swede, Anton Bertilsson, whose festival is already €176,640 to the good.

Luc Greenwood and Casey Kastle are also on that table, but no one will be surprised to learn that it's Lodden making the early running.

After Greenwood opened from early position, making it 300 to play, Lodden unloaded 1,025 from the small blind and took the small pot with a minimum of fuss. He had to work a little harder on the next hand, against Sandrine Zeitoun, but he won it nonetheless.

This time action folded to Lodden on the button and he raised to 300. Zeitoun called from the big blind and the two took to the flop of [4d][qh][js]. Zeitoun checked, Lodden bet 400 and Zeitoun called.

The turn came [kh] and Zeitoun checked again. Lodden bet again, this time 900, and Zeitoun called. That took them to the [qs] on the river. For a third time, Zeitoun checked. For a third time, Lodden bet. He made it 2,100 this time.

For a first and only time, Zeitoun folded. -- HS

1:15pm: Modest gains and modest losses
Level 1 - Blinds: 50-100

You might think moving all-in would be rare with two minutes left on the first level of play, but it does happen. Such as in the case of Derek Chisholm, who with the board dealt, and a pot to be one, went nuclear. It worked. A modest gain that amused some players at the table. But a win is a win.

Elsewhere Jen Shahade dropped to around 24,000 after a hand against Alberto Garcia of Spain.

With the board dealt [5c][tc][2h][8h][th] Garcia bet 1,400 which Shahade called. She mucked after Garcia showed [jh][td]. For his part Garcia is up to around 42,000. - SB

1:05pm: Welcome Wigg
Level 1 - Blinds: 50-100

The table that already features Ari Engel, Dietrich Fast, Steven Watts and Iliodoros Kamatakis now also seats Anton Wigg. It's not getting any easier.

It's a conversation-filled table too, both among its participants and further afield. Fast was chatting away to a friend on the rail when action folded to Wigg in the hijack and he bet 300. It got to Fast in the big blind and he folded too, tossing his 100 big blind theatrically in Wigg's direction.

"I take advantage when you are talking to a woman," Wigg said.

The on-table conversation is being led by Engel. He seems to be discussing his recent huge score at the Aussie Millions, where he prevailed from a 732-strong field to win AUD $1.6 million.

The specifics of the conversation seems to be the heads up duel he had with Tony Dunst, and Engel's attempts to make a deal. It's fascinating. You should hear it. (But you'll need to buy in and sit down at that tough table first.)
-- HS

12:55pm: Ivanov forced a Vamplew fold
Level 1 - Blinds: 50-100

As you'd expect, there are no earth moving hands played in these early stages. Among those folding early hands of little note either before or on the flop are Bertrand "ElkY" Grospellier, Andy Black, Jen Shahade, Eugene Katchalov and Kitty Kuo.

Meanwhile David Vamplew did at least get to the river.

Stefan Ivanov opened from under the gun for 300. The action was folded around to Vamplew in the big blind who called for a flop of [jc][ks][4s]. A check from Vamplew and another 550 from Ivanov, which Vamplew called.

On the [6h] turn card both players checked for a [qc] on the river. Vamplew bet out his time, making it 1,000. Ivanov paused, much like a player about to fold. But he didn't. Instead he lumped in 4,200. Vamplew wasted little time folding. - SB

12:45pm: Oops
Level 1 - Blinds: 50-100

Serdar Demiroglu stood up, put his sweater on and seemed irked that the dealer would not allow him to leave. It seemed for all the world as though he was the first elimination of the day.

Here's why: he opened from the button and ignited a raising war with Breixo Gonzales, one seat to his left. When I arrived, Demiroglu had 5,100 in front of him, Gonzales had 12,500 out and then Demiroglu shoved. Gonzales called.

Demiroglu knew this was bad news as he turned over his [ac][kc]. Gonzales showed [as][ah]. The board didn't help. It came [4h][7d][jc][jh][9s].

Demiroglu got up and prepared to leave, but the dealer wasn't convinced that this was terminal just yet. He counted down the stacks and Demiroglu actually had 150 more than his neighbour.

So as Gonzales was stacking a chip-leading stack (early days, early days), Demiroglu was pondering what to do with his 1.5 big blinds. -- HS

12:40pm: A taste of what is/might be to come
Level 1 - Blinds: 50-100

Dara O'Kearney has Jennifer Shahade for company this afternoon. He's on the button when she's in the big blind and they may tangle plenty this afternoon. This hand is a small hors d'oeuvre: O'Kearney opened his button, making it 300 to play and Shahade defended.

The flop fell [9d][jd][2s] and Shahade checked. O'Kearney continued, betting 400, and Shahade called. That took them to the [2h] turn. Check, check. And the checking continued after the [9c] river.

O'Kearney opened [ad][kd] and Shahade mucked. -- HS

12:20pm: A busier day
Level 1 - Blinds: 50-100

A quick glance across the room finds Jake Cody, Antoine Saout, Andre Akkari and ElkY also already among today's crowd. Liv Boeree, Jen Shahade, Lex Veldhuis, Theo Jorgensen, George Danzer and Jaime Staples are also expected. -- HS

12:10pm: No messing
Level 1 - Blinds: 50-100

There's a tough-looking table only a matter of steps inside the main entrance to the tournament room today, around which we find Ari Engel, Dietrich Fast and Steven Watts.

Iliodoros Kamatakis is also there. He's the man presently sitting eighth on the all-time Greek money list and a regular on the EPT. If Fast didn't know much about him before today, he has had an early introduction with what is likely the first five bet of the day.

Fast opened to 250 from the cutoff and Kamatakis raised to 750 from the button. Fast was prepared to invest more, making a four-bet of 2,100, but it didn't get rid of Kamatakis. He five-bet to 6,000.

Perhaps accepting this to be a possibility, Fast immediately put a contingency plan into action: snap folding and waiting for another hand. -- HS

12pm: Among others...
Level 1 - Blinds: 50-100

Our confirmed list of players today includes the following:

Mickey Petersen, Johnny Lodden, Eugene Katchalov, Anton Bertilsson, Ari Engel, Fabian Ortiz, Dietrich Fast, Gavin O'Rouke, Dara O'Kearney, Per Linde, Alexander Ivarsson, Thomas Butzhammer, David Lappin, Dominik Panka, Felipe Ramos, Ognyan Dimov and Slaven Popov.

When they actually turn up and start playing is anyone's guess, but they are among those on the early list expected to the Royal Dublin Society (RDS) headquarters this morning to get this show on the road. -- HS

11:55am: Readying for the deluge
Level 1 - Blinds: 50-100

Want to know what a busy day looks like on the European Poker Tour? Your answer is: today. Not only is it Day 1B of the €5,300 EPT Main Event, but also the final table of the UKIPT Main Event and the €10,000 Single-Day High Roller. We are stretched to breaking point.

You're in the right place here for the beginning of the EPT Main Event, but click thorough the scattered links for all that other fun. And it should be a good one: eight 75-minute levels for us, taking us through beyond midnight. Find some coffee and stick with us. -- HS

Take a look at the official website of the EPT, with tournament schedule, news, results and accommodation details for the rest of the season.

Also all the schedule information is on the EPT App, which is available on both Android or IOS.

PokerStars Blog reporting team on the EPT12 Dublin Main Event: Stephen Bartley and Howard Swains. Back together again. Lanky and ginger, as you'll maybe know us. Photography by Neil Stoddart. Follow the PokerStars Blog on Twitter: @PokerStarsBlog.

Of all the qualities a poker player can have, none is more important than resilience. It lets you play the same quality game whether you're working with a big stack or a short one, whether you're playing a turbo structure or a deep one, and when you opt to hold out for more money when everyone else at the table wants to cut a deal. Sr.Rouquinho has encountered all those situations at the PokerStars tournament tables in recent weeks: first in January when the Czech player ruined the rest of the table's deal en route to a TCOOP title, and now after riding out a see-sawing stack to victory in the Sunday Million.

After three hours of late registration, the field for this week's Million was set at 5,494. That was good for $1,098,800 prize pool, split among the top 810 finishers with $171,854.75 up top. After 11 hours and 47 minutes of play there were just these nine players still in contention:

Seat 1: 163Andrey63 (6,636,738 in chips)
Seat 2: ismo Seat 3: amar11111 (5,408,135 in chips)
Seat 4: Camari (2,250,640 in chips)
Seat 5: marcel389 (5,767,633 in chips)
Seat 6: woopwoopster (1,768,528 in chips)
Seat 7: sslazio904 (5,559,864 in chips)
Seat 8: NEMEZIS JT (3,665,000 in chips)
Seat 9: Sr.Rouquinho (9,080,297 in chips)

Final table play started with 150K/300K/30K blinds and antes. After a few small pots, the real action got started on the fifth hand when sslazio904, a WCOOP finalist last fall, opened for a small raise on the button with [Jc] [Js] and Sr.Rouquinho re-raised all-in for 10.3M, holding [Ad] [Kd]. An ace on the flop and no jacks the rest of the way meant sslazio904 was out in 9th place ($8,790.40).

That gave Sr.Rouquinho the lead with 15.4M chips. Over the next 11 hands the Czech player stole the blinds and antes and won at showdown where necessary to pick up another 2.3M, extending the lead to almost 10M chips over second-place ismowinner of the PokerStars Tournament Leader Board for the last three years in a row. Norway's woopwoopster folded over that entire stretch and eventually ended up all-in for 228K on the big blind. Sr.Rouquinho min-raised to 800K, got a call from Camari, and then won the pot with [Ad] [4s] for a spade flush after checking down every street of the [3s] [Tc] [7s] [Js] [Qs] board. Camari and woopwoopster both mucked, and woopwoopster finished in 8th place ($13,735).

The fortunes of the table's short stacks turned for a while. Camari managed to triple up to 4.5M with [Kd] [Qd] against 163Andrey63's [Ac] [Ks] thanks to a friendly queen on the flop. 163Andrey63 turned around four hands later and doubled back to 6.3M, catching top two pair with [Qd] [7c] on a [Qc] [4c] [7d] flop and outrunning Sr.Rouquinho's nut flush draw with [Ac] [9c].

Even the newly short stacks got in on the act. After NEMEZIS JT picked up [As] [Ah] on the same hand as marcel389 held [8d] [8h], flopping top set and turning a full house to chip up to 10.8M, marcel389 three-bet all-in with [Kh] [Th] over the top of amar11111's opening raise with [Js] [8s] and won unimproved to get back to 5.8M. And then amar11111 got back in the game by winning a pre-flop race with [Kc] [Js] against Camari's [Td] [Th] with two pair on the [Kd] [7s] [Jd] [9s] [7d] board.

Sooner or later the trend had to end, and Camari was the odd player out when it did. Down to 1.2M - less than three big blinds with blinds and antes freshly up to 250K/500K/50K - the Norwegian shoved with [Qc] [8c] in the hijack and got action from Sr.Rouquinho in the small blind with [Qd] [Qh]. The [4h] [8h] [7c] [2s] [5h] didn't offer enough help, and Camari was gone in 7th place ($24,723).

The Czech player had been slipping downward while the short stacks took turns doubling up, but that win was enough to reclaim the chip lead. Then Sr.Rouquinho took seven of the next eight pots, moving north of 25.4M with the last of them, a 7.5M-chip win earned by a river call of amar11111's 2M-chip bet into the 3.5M-chip pot. Sr.Rouquinho called with [Ah] [4s] for top pair, beating amar11111's stone bluff with [5c] [4h].

That left amar11111 against the ropes, but the German player's number wasn't up just yet. Instead it was marcel389 who would depart next, despite getting in well ahead on the final hand. marcel389 called for 5.5M with [Ks] [Kc] after Sr.Rouquinho opened for 1M and ismo

amar11111 avoided joining the castoffs with a double on the next hand, cracking ismo

With only 13 big blinds, amar11111 was the shortest stack, but the German player stayed aggressive and managed to win four pots, bringing the four remaining players at the table to within just four big blinds of one another. Then NEMEZIS JT and ismo

Left with a scant million chips, ismo

A volatile mix

That left the chip counts looking like this with blinds and antes at 300K/600K/60K:

Seat 3: amar11111 (14,332,008 in chips)
Seat 8: NEMEZIS JT (29,249,623 in chips)
Seat 9: Sr.Rouquinho (11,358,369 in chips)

After having been so close to elimination just hands earlier, amar11111 went on a tear, winning eight out of 11 pots to chip up to the lead with 26.5M. The other three pots went to NEMEZIS JT, leaving Sr.Rouquinho with just 4.5M. The Czech player doubled that in a coin-flip situation, flopping a nine with [Ad] [9s] to survive an all-in against amar11111's [6d] [6s]. That gave NEMEZIS JT possession of the lead again, and the Russian player used it to exert pressure and force amar11111 to fold on a [Js] [4d] [3s] flop, allowing NEMEZIS JT to stack up over 30.8M.

Sr.Rouquinho sat at 6.1M and, after a desperate shove from the small blind with [Qs] [4s], ended up all-in when amar11111 called in the big blind with [Kh] [Jc]. Things looked grim after the turn with the board reading [3h] [7d] [9h] [3s], but the [4c] river delivered Sr.Rouquinho from danger with an 11M-chip pot. Revitalized, Sr.Rouquinho held strong for another 38 brutal rounds of three-handed play as NEMEZIS JT held a big lead and amar11111 refused to back down.

The tipping point came when Sr.Rouquinho picked up [9h] [9s] in the big blind. NEMEZIS JT had open-shoved with [Ad] [3s] in the small blind, and calling gave Sr.Rouquinho the 25.3M-chip pot after the board ended up [Kd] [Js] [7d] [4c] [7s]. On the very next hand Sr.Rouquinho limped from the small blind with [Ah] [As] and called when amar11111 shoved in the big blind with [Jh] [4d]. The [Js] [7s] [Kc] [Qh] [6s] board didn't offer enough help, and amar11111 left in 3rd place ($90,486.18).

Things were tight as heads-up play began, with NEMEZIS JT holding 26M chips to Sr.Rouquinho's 28.8M. Sr.Rouquinho won the first showdown, after having called in the big blind with [Qh] [Jd], check-called 1.1M on the [Ah] [As] [6d] flop, and checked the [2c] turn and [3c] river. With a lead of 10.1M chips, the Czech player had enough space to control the match for most of its 11-minute duration. NEMEZIS JT stayed within striking distance for most of it before three-betting all-in for 10.4M with [Kh] [Td] over the top of Sr.Rouquinho's opening min-raise. Sr.Rouquinho called with [Ah] [Qc] and caught top pair on the [4c] [Tc] [Qs] flop, holding on through the [9s] turn and [8h] river to bring the tournament to its end.

After an hour and 21 minutes of final table play and 12 hours and four minutes of total play time, NEMEZIS JT had earned $128,010.20 as the runner-up, a new career best at PokerStars by more than $110,000. Sr.Rouquinho, meanwhile, scored $171,854.75 and a Sunday Million title. It's also a new career best at PokerStars for the Czech player, topping last month's $41K TCOOP win for that honor. If the first two months are any indication, 2016 is shaping up to be quite the year at the tables for Sr.Rouquinho. Congratulations to both players on their fine performances!

2/14/16 Sunday Million ($215 No-Limit Hold'em) results
Entrants: 5,494
Total prize pool: $1,098,800
Places paid: 810

1. Sr.Rouquinho (Czech Republic) $171,854.75
2. NEMEZIS JT (Russia) $128,010.20
3. amar11111 (Germany) $90,486.18
4. ismo 5. 163Andrey63 (Russia) $46,699
6. marcel389 (Canada) $35,711
7. Camari (Norway) $24,723
8. woopwoopster (Norway) $13,735
9. sslazio904 (Russia) $8,790.40

More often than not, coming to the final table with the short stack is a ticket for a quick exit. Even catching a break or two early on can will usually still leave you vulnerable enough that surviving long enough to move up a pay spot or two can be considered a win. But every now and then a short stack will end up making a real run, despite the long odds. And sometimes - like today - the short stack will be the last one standing. shtruddle, who faced long odds from the very first deal of today's final table, ended up the triumphant underdog thanks to a little bit of luck followed by some very good timing.

The 2,250 players who showed up for a shot at this week's Sunday Warm-Up title combined for a $450,000 prize pool. That set a $72,000 prize for first place and at least $315 to everyone who finished in the top 324 places.

By 7:24 p.m. ET the field had been narrowed to just these nine players:

Seat 1: Nicolau "nicofellow" Villa-Lobos (4,380,389 in chips)
Seat 2: 0$kar15 (1,983,308 in chips)
Seat 3: pr0fes0rul (1,753,444 in chips)
Seat 4: Pokerfan89Gr (3,732,545 in chips)
Seat 5: arturuz77 (964,868 in chips)
Seat 6: shtruddle (841,076 in chips)
Seat 7: Steve "Illini213" Barshak (2,752,022 in chips)
Seat 8: Caz_Carneiro (5,082,999 in chips)
Seat 9: LlKE A G6 (1,009,349 in chips)

Flying high

The possibility of a repeat Sunday Warm-Up winner was present at today's final in the form of Steve "Illini213" Barshak, a 2012 WCOOP winner who won this tournament exactly four years ago this weekend. He came in with more than 30 big blinds in fourth place, more than enough to put him in good position for a chance at repeating as champion, but his stay at the final table would be short and chaotic.

Barshak saw action on the first hand, re-raising all-in with [Ah] [Qh] to isolate shtruddle, who had jammed for 833K under the gun with [As] [Jh]. Barshak was a 3-to-1 favorite before the flop but ended up splitting the pot when the board fell [Kd] [Ac] [4c] [6h] [6c] to give both players aces and sixes with a king kicker.

Eight hands later he held [As] [Qs] against a short stack again, but LlKE A G6's [Ac] [Ad] took the 2.2M-chip pot and dropped Barshak to 2M chips himself. After folding five hands and losing 570K on the sixth after calling shtruddle's bets on the [Kd] [Tc] [6s] flop and [5h] turn but folding on the [2d] river, he caught a break, shoving with [Ks] [Qd] and flopping two pair to crack pr0fes0rul's [Ah] [As].

Following all of that, Barshak was actually a few big blinds ahead of where he'd begun the final table. He immediately lost half of it after putting Caz_Carneiro all-in, his 4-to-1 lead before the flop no good after Caz_Carneiro caught the [8h] on the turn for a set to crack Barshak's [Tc] [Ts]. Another pair of tens four hands after that left him in a race against LlKE A G6's [Ad] [Kh], but the [As] [Qs] [Ac] [Ks] [Qc] board closed the door hard on the pre-flop favorite. And with that, Steve "Illini213" Barshak's 23-minute stay at the final table ended in 9th place ($4,050).

LlKE A G6 scored another knockout eight hands later in a cooler for Caz_Carneiro. The Brazilian player open-shoved with [Ad] [Ks] and only got action from LlKE A G6, who re-shoved with [Ah] [As]. There was a glimmer of hope in the form of a gutshot wheel draw on the [4c] [5h] [3s] flop, but the [Jh] turn and [8h] river sent Caz_Carneiro to the rail in 8th place ($6,525).

LlKE A G6 ran that stack up to 7.8M before finally dropping a significant pot, losing with [8d] [8h] to 0$kar15's [Qh] [Qs] to give the latter a double to 2.4M. Another dominated starting hand would cost pr0fes0rul, who re-raised all-in for 1.27M on the next hand after LlKE A G6 opened the pot for a minimum raise. shtruddle re-raised with [As] [Kh] and successfully isolated pr0fes0rul, taking the pot with three aces after the board came [5c] [Ac] [3c] [4h] [Ah].

Lead change, lead change, lead change

With the table now six-handed and blinds and antes at 65K/130K/13K, the chip counts looked like this:

Seat 1: Nicolau "nicofellow" Villa-Lobos (4,420,837 in chips)
Seat 2: 0$kar15 (2,400,984 in chips)
Seat 4: Pokerfan89Gr (4,590,395 in chips)
Seat 5: arturuz77 (833,736 in chips)
Seat 6: shtruddle (3,772,767 in chips)
Seat 9: LlKE A G6 (6,481,281 in chips)

Pokerfan89Gr, a TCOOP finalist just last month, upped the aggression and started chipping up quickly, stealing blinds and antes and taking down one 2M-chip pot with an all-in three bet after being check-raised by shtruddle on a [Kc] [As] [5s] flop. But an opening raise with [Jc] [5c] a few hands later committed Pokerfan89Gr to calling after arturuz77 jammed with [Tc] [Ts], giving arturuz77 a double to 1.86M. Six hands later arturuz77 got the better of Pokerfan89Gr a second time, re-raising before the flop with [Qh] [Qd] and then calling all-in after original opener Pokerfan89Gr made it four bets with [Ah] [Jc]. A queen on the flop gave arturuz77 the set and 3.49M chips.

Six more hands passed before arturuz77 opened for a minimum raise to 320K with [As] [Qc] and 0$kar15 called with [Jc] [6c] in the big blind. 0$kar15 shoved for 1.04M on the [3s] [4s] [5c] flop, holding a two-way straight draw with a backdoor chance at a club flush, but arturuz77 called and won the pot when nobody improved on the [4d] turn or [Ts] river. That spelled the end for 0$kar15 in 6th place ($15,525).

arturuz77 was poised to take over the chip lead just five hands later after min-raising to 320K under the gun with [Kc] [Kc] and getting Pokerfan89Gr to three-bet all-in with [9c] [9s]. arturuz77 called and stayed ahead on the [2s] [3s] [7s] flop and [Th] turn, but the [8s] river made a spade flush, giving Pokerfan89Gr an escape hatch and 5.83M chips. From there the blinds and antes advanced to 100K/200K/20K, and after shtruddle took down the first pot uncontested after LlKE A G6 folded to a bet on the river of the [5d] [Kc] [6h] [3h] [6c], everyone left at the table was within 15 big blinds of one another.

There was no room to sit back on a hand so when two strong starters ran into one another it meant someone's stack was on the line, as when shtruddle picked up [Jc] [Jd] and doubled through Nicolau "nicofellow" Villa-Lobos when the 2013 SCOOP Medium Main Event winner held [8c] [8d]. That loss left nicofellow with 1.53M chips, which was whittled down to 1.08M by blinds and antes by the time he was able to attempt a steal in the cutoff with [Ks] [4h]. arturuz77 called in the small blind with [4s] [4d], though, and with no kings on the [2c] [9s] [8d] [8h] [7c] board Villa-Lobos was eliminated in 5th place ($20,250).

Like Icarus

That gave arturuz77 the lead at 7.29M chips, but it was short-lived as LlKE A G6 won 8.14M with a big call on the river of the very next hand. Pokerfan89Gr opened the hand with a minimum raise to 500K and LlKE A G6 called with [Jh] [Td] in the big blind, catching bottom two pair on the [Js] [Tc] [Kc] flop. LlKE A G6 check-called 372K there and 667K on the [3d] turn, building a 3.3M-chip pot before the [5c] came on the river. LlKE A G6 checked and this time Pokerfan89Gr moved all-in for 4.1M, a bet that covered LlKE A G6's remaining stack. The Czech player used the time bank and thought for around 90 seconds before calling, taking down the pot when Pokerfan89Gr showed down [9s] [6s] for a stone cold bluff.

LlKE A G6 would have no more luck with the lead than arturuz77 had. Pokerfan89Gr got the first win, calling all-in for 1.4M in the big blind with [Jc] [9h] and winning unimproved on the [5d] [Kd] [Ah] [5c] [3d] against LlKE A G6's attempted steal with [9d] [6h]. A few hands later two stabs at the pot on the turn and river of a [Qs] [8d] [Td] [5d] [6s] board, after checking in the big blind before the flop and then again on it, couldn't make shtruddle fold top pair with [Qh] [9d].

The crippling blow came in a race against Pokerfan89Gr, whose [7d] [7h] beat LlKE A G6's [Ac] [Jh] for 7.3M. That left LlKE A G6 with 2.2M chips, all of which went in the middle under the gun on the next hand. shtruddle called with [Ah] [8c] and was a 58-percent favorite against LlKE A G6's [Kh] [Jd] before catching top pair on the [8d] [7s] [5h] flop to move up to 74 percent. The [5d] and [4d] on the turn and river brought no help, and LlKE A G6 departed in 4th place ($27,000).

Going out with a bang

With 200K/400K blinds and 40K antes applying maximum pressure to the remaining three players, the time for making a deal had arrived. They didn't take long to come to an agreement - just nine minutes after pausing for discussion they were back to play. And within two minutes of that, they would all three participate in the sort of final hand that might finish out a Hollywood film.

Pokerfan89Gr opened the final hand with a min-raise to 800K on the button, holding [Ad] [Kd]. Then arturuz77 moved all-in for 3.7M in the small blind, holding [Td] [9d]. shtruddle re-shoved with enough chips to cover Pokerfan89Gr, holding [8s] [8h], and Pokerfan89Gr called all-in, building a 20.7M-chip pot. All three players caught a strong piece of the [8d] [Qd] [Th] flop: shtruddle the strongest with a set of eights, arturuz77 with an inside straight flush draw, and Pokerfan89Gr with a combo straight/nut-flush draw. The [2c] turn left everyone with a chance to win, but shtruddle earned the win with four of a kind when the [8c] came on the river.

That closed out the tournament with a bang, giving shtruddle the extra $8,000 on the table for a total prize of $64,427.98. That's a new career best at PokerStars for the Swiss player, more than doubling the third-place prize from a 2014 Sunday 500 final table appearance. Pokerfan89Gr and arturuz77 also earned new career high prizes with their shares from the deal, as detailed below. Congratulations to all three players on making the most of the Sunday Warm-Up!

2/14/16 Sunday Warm-Up ($215 No-Limit Hold'em) results
Entrants: 2,250
Total prize pool: $450,000
Places paid: 324

1. shtruddle (Switzerland) $64,427.98*
2. Pokerfan89Gr (Greece) $53,416.40*
3. arturuz77 (Uzbekistan) $46,293.12*
4. LlKE A G6 (Czech Republic) $27,000
5. Nicolau "nicofellow" Villa-Lobos (Brazil) $20,250
6. 0$kar15 (Germany) $15,525
7. pr0fes0rul (Romania) $11,025
8. Caz_Carneiro (Brazil) $6,525
9. Steve "Illini213" Barshak (Costa Rica) $4,050

*Reflects the results of a three-way deal that left $8,000 in play for the winner