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12:30pm: Cards in the air on Day 3
Level 13: Blinds 1,200-2,400 (400)

We're back in the Crown Poker Room for Day 3 of the 2016 Aussie Millions Main Event. 150 players have returned to continue their battle, with just 80 of those set to be rewarded with a profit. The bubble is set to burst today and by the end of the day we will have a pretty good idea of our contenders for the Aussie Millions title.

Joel Williams has given final instructions to the players and the cards are now back in the air. We'll be playing seven 90-minute levels today with a dinner break, which will see play wrap up at 1:30am this evening.

Take a look at the Aussie Millions official website for tournament schedules, structures, news and information from the Crown Poker Room in Melbourne.

Live updates brought to you courtesy of Brad Kain and Heath Chick. Photos by Jonno Pittock and Christian Zetzsche.

Between the relatively small number of events on the schedule compared to WCOOP and SCOOP and the turbo structures at play in all of its events, TCOOP might be the toughest PokerStars tournament series for players to earn repeat victories in. Tough, but not impossible. Just ask buzzard1881, who followed up on a victory late last week in Event #6 with another win today in Event #31, an $82 Seven-Card Stud Hi-Lo tournament.

The game kicked off at 2:00 p.m. ET with a $25,000 guarantee and by the time late registration closed had drawn 665 players, good for a $49,875 prize pool. With $9,361.75 awaiting the winner, they played on. The average stack was worth 36K as the money bubble approached, with stakes at 5K/10K, so nobody was too comfortable even with 11 tables still in play. That lack of ease continued on for the rest of the tournament, with one small exception: the knowledge that every eliminated opponent meant a pay jump when the final table arrived at 4:53 p.m. ET.

The stakes and antes were up to 50K/100K/10K for these eight finalists:

Seat 1: buzzard1881 (770,738 in chips)
Seat 2: admiralph (405,720 in chips)
Seat 3: SiiliSuhonen (268,150 in chips)
Seat 4: jasonpavlich (165,427 in chips)
Seat 5: tvtotaliwin (233,220 in chips)
Seat 6: l0serk1ng14 (316,570 in chips)
Seat 7: 7PRS (660,623 in chips)
Seat 8: viking47 (504,552 in chips)

The average stack coming in was worth just four big bets on the 50K/100K/10K level, so a lengthy final was never in the works. The first to go Twitch broadcaster and 2014 TCOOP runner-up tvtotaliwin, who started Hand #3 with 205K in chips and ([Qh] [Kh]) [Ah] in hand. tvtotaliwin completed to 50K and only 2012 WCOOP NL Draw champion 7PRS came along. 7PRS was holding ([5d] [7s]) [5c] and capped the betting on fourth street after making two pair, sevens and fives, with the [7d]. tvtotaliwin picked up a flush draw on fifth with the [9h] but never got the chance to chase it, as the [7h] on fifth gave 7PRS a full house. With that, tvtotaliwin finished in 8th place ($748.12).

7PRS scooped 770K on the next hand to settle into first place with 1.34M chips, but Event #6 champion and past WCOOP winner buzzard1881 struck back immediately to retake the lead. buzzard1881 started with ([Ad] [Ah]) [Td] and bet on every street without improving; 2009 WCOOP finalist viking47 was all-in on third with the [9h] showing, while 7PRS called down to seventh street but mucked (x-x) [7h] [6h] [Qs] [Ks] (x) to give buzzard1881 the 566K-chip side pot. viking47 couldn't beat a pair of aces, either, giving buzzard1881 the main pot and eliminating viking47 in 7th place ($1,122.18).

The jockeying for position continued four hands later when 7PRS started with the bring-in and ([3d] [5c]) [2d]. 7PRS called buzzard1881's completion to 60K before leading out on fourth with the [3h] for a pair of threes. buzzard1881 came along with [8h] [Ts] showing, led out on fifth with the [Qd], and then called on sixth and seventh before mucking when 7PRS scooped the pot with ([3d] [5c]) [2d] [3h] [Qs] [4h] ([Ah]) for a wheel straight.

jasonpavlich had come to the final table with a little more than one big bet and had been anted down to less than half of that by the time WCOOP 2010 runner-up and past Sunday Warm-Up finalist SiiliSuhonen had the bring-in with the [2s] showing and, holding a buried pair of fours, opted to complete instead. jasonpavlich called all-in with ([7h] [9h]) [8d] and improved to a pair of eights with the [8h] on fourth street to take the lead. SiiliSuhonen made two pair on fifth to jump back ahead and held on from there, knocking jasonpavlich out in 6th place ($1,745.62).

Even with that win, SiiliSuhonen still had just two and a half big bet at 306K, making every hand potentially the last. That potential became reality five hands later after trying to steal the antes and bring-in with ([5h] [6s]) [7s] and running up against l0serk1ng14, who raised to 120K with ([5s] [Kc]) [5d] for a split pair of fives. SiiliSuhonen made sevens on fourth street but l0serk1ng14 picked up the [Kh] on fifth for two pair. SiiliSuhonen never caught up and bowed out in 5th place ($2,493.75).

admiralph, the winner of MicroMillions 9 Event #48, turned the trend of busting short stacks around after starting with a split pair of aces on the same hand as 7PRS started with a split pair of queens. That scoop was worth 491K, but still left the table split into two strata:

Seat 1: buzzard1881 (1,137,290 in chips)
Seat 2: admiralph (491,440 in chips)
Seat 6: l0serk1ng14 (353,147 in chips)
Seat 7: 7PRS (1,343,123 in chips)

2013 TCOOP finalist l0serk1ng14 took a stab at evening things out a bit when the action folded around, raising with the [7h] showing to 7PRS's [4s]. 7PRS called and by fifth street both players had made 8-7 lows and the rest of l0serk1ng14's chips went in the middle. 7PRS had the better hand at that point with ([8s] [3d]) [4s] [7d] [As], not just for the low against l0serk1ng14's ([2s] [5s]) [7h] [8h] [6d] but also with ace-high. Neither player improved for the high on sixth or seventh, and l0serk1ng14 left in 4th place ($3,740.62).

admiralph doubled through buzzard1881 on the next hand, turning ([4h] [5s]) [2d] into a 6-5 low and six-high straight by sixth street against the ace-high, no-low hand that developed from buzzard1881's ([7h] [Ac]) [4c] starter. buzzard1881 dipped as low as 249K from there before doubling back through admiralph with, fittingly, a 6-5 low and six-high straight for the scoop. The two-time COOP winner survived one more all-in moment with a split pot before coming up with a pot on the 120K/240K/24K level that changed the course of the final.

7PRS got the hand in question going by completing to 120K with ([Kc] [5c]) [Qc] and buzzard1881 called with ([6d] [4d]) [7h]. Both players checked by fourth street and on fifth buzzard1881, holding a made 7-6 low, led out. 7PRS called with ([Kc] [5c]) [Qc] [3c] [Jh] showing and then again after picking up the [Td] on sixth and the [9s] on seventh, making a king-high straight. But that was no good against buzzard1881's ([6d] [4d]) [7h] [2c] [3d] [7d] [8d], which made a diamond flush for the high to scoop the 1.77M-chip pot.

7PRS was anything but out of the game with 743K chips, but unfavorable starting positions saw that stack whittled down to 467K by the antes before the past WCOOP champ picked up ([9h] [9s]) [Kd] and completed for 120K. buzzard1881 called there and then again on fourth and fifth streets, holding ([6s] [7s]) [6c] [Ts] [4c] for a split pair of sixes. Neither player improved on sixth street but buzzard1881 made a two pair with the [7c] on the river, good enough to take the pot with two pair and end 7PRS's run in 3rd place ($4,987.50).

Four uneventful hands of heads-up play passed before admiralph had a reason to press the issue, starting with ([2d] [2s]) [6s], but the past MicroMillions winner had the misfortune of picking that hand up while buzzard1881 held ([9c] [9h]) [7s]. buzzard1881 sat back and called admiralph's bets there and on fourth, unimproved, before leading out with ([9c] [9h]) [7s] [Qd] [Ah]. admiralph called with the unimproved deuces and finally made two pair by seventh street, showing down ([2d] [2s]) [6s] [Qs] [Kh] [Jd] ([6d]), but it was too late. buzzard1881 had made nines and sevens with the [7d] on sixth street, and they claimed the pot to bring the tournament to an end.

Finishing the runner-up was worth $6,733.12 for admiralph, three times as much as winning that MicroMillions event back in 2014. As for buzzard1881, the win was worth $9,361.85, about half of the score from last week's Event #6 victory. It's also good for another 100 points on the TCOOP Player of the Series leaderboard, good for second place at the moment behind TedyKGB88 of the U.K. Congratulations on the win, and good luck chasing down that trophy!

TCOOP-31 ($82 FL Stud Hi-Lo, Turbo) results
Entrants: 665
Total prize pool: $49,875.00
Places paid: 88

1. buzzard1881 (Canada) $9,361.85
2. admiralph (Belgium) $6,733.12
3. 7PRS (Canada) $4,987.50
4. l0serking14 (Finland) $3,740.62
5. SiiliSuhonen (Finland) $2,493.75
6. jasonpavlich (Mexico) $1,745.62
7. viking47 (United Kingdom) $1,122.18
8. tvtotaliwin (Switzerland) $748.12

On the opening day of the 2016 TCOOP, Ukraine's Shtopol' was the runner-up in Event #2. Less than one week later, Shtopol' had a second shot at a TCOOP title. And this time, Shtopol' did not squander the opportunity.

Two Ukrainians battled each other for the 6-Max PLO TCOOP title: Shtopol' vs. petro_popovi. The heads-up bout lasted only two minutes and a total of eight hands. Shtopol' held almost a 4 to 1 edge going into heads-up. Although petro_popovi nearly pulled even on the seventh hand, Shtopol' thwarted any comeback attempt by landing a knockout blow on the next hand. Shtopol' even faded a straight flush draw that petro_popovi had flopped. Shtopol' dodged a malestrom of bullets to emerge the newest TCOOP champion.

Another rapid-fire finish. The entire Event #30 was wrapped up in 4 hours and 21 minutes. The final 6-max table itself was completed in under 14 minutes.

2016 TCOOP Event #30 $7.50 PLO Rebuys, 6-Max, 3x-Turbo attracted 2,578 total runners. They contributed 12,322 re-buys and 1,417 add-ons as the prize pool swelled to $111,281.94. The top 330 places paid out with $17,528.56 set aside to the eventual champion.

As the money approached the money bubble... PokerStars Team Online Jamie Staples was in the top 70 in chips, but fellow member of Team Online Mickey "mement_mori" Petersen was near the back of the pack. Chris Moorman took out mement_mori on the bubble. Yes, he was the proverbial bubble boy, or non-gender specific bubble person. Moorman flopped a Broadway straight with [As][Jd][Tc][2h] to take out mement_mori's [Jc][9s][5d][4s]. Team Online's mement_mori bubbled off the money in 331st place.

Jamie Staples cashed, but ran out of gas when he lost with [As][Qs][Jh][4c] against rasul80's [Kd][Kh][4d][3d]. rasul80 flopped a set of Kings which held up against Staples' Broadway gutshot. Team Online Jamie Staples busted in 141st place, which paid out $139.10.

With 18 remaining on the final three tables, SwizzHawk emerged as the leader with 13.5M and no one else was close to 10M. With 12 to go on the final two tables, DaMethod snuck into the top slot by closing in on 15M.

With seven remaining in the hunt, DaMethod had surged to over 33M, or 13M more than petro_popovi in second place, or 25M more than third place. Action went hand-for-hand on the money bubble. Macedonia's amourinio turned a straight with [Ah][8d][7s][5h] and faded a Boadway straight draw to take out XtraVirgen's [Ac][Ks][7d][3s]. XtraVirgen bubbled off the final table in seventh place and the final table was set.

TCOOP 2016 - Event #30 Final Table Chip Counts:
Seat 1: damourinio (11,020,200)
Seat 2: petro_popovi (15,882,900)
Seat 3: SwizzHawk (6,826,518)
Seat 4: DaMethod (39,170,696)
Seat 5: DoEasyMoney (6,078,058)
Seat 6: Shtopol' (8,231,628)

The final table kicked off during Level 44 with blinds at 500K/1M. DaMethod led with 39M or 44% of all the chips in play. DoEasyMoney and SwizzHawk were both battling for the short stacks.

Three players of note were seated this final table: Shtopol', DaMethod, and damourinio.This was the second final table for Shtopol' at this year's TCOOP. DaMethod took third place at a 2011 WCOOP. Also, damourinio has over $1M in earnings on PokerStars and final tabled a TCOOP last year.

TEMPORARY LIKE ACHILLES: DoEasyMoney eliminated in 6th place

A full level played out before we saw a bustout. DaMethod opened to 3.75M, DoEasyMoney bombed it all-in for 8,531,116 and DaMethod called.

DaMethod: [Kh][9c][7c][5d]
DoEasyMoney: [Td][7d][6c][6h]

The board ran out [Ah][Ts][8s][Jd][As] and DaMethod turned a Jack-high straight to win the pot. DoEasyMoney could only muster up two pair and failed to double up. DoEasyMoney became the first player to exit the final table. Sixth place paid $2,108.79.

VISIONS OF JOHANNA: damourinio eliminated in 5th place

Once DoEasyMoney busted in sixth, the flood gates opened. We saw another quickie elimination when Shtopol' opened to 4.5M, damourinio shoved for 9,145,200, and Shtopol' called.

Shtopol': [Ac][Qs][7s][5h]
damourinio: [Ad][Jh][Jc][4d]

Although damourinio led with a pair of Jacks, the board ran out [9s][6s][3d][9c][3s]. Shtopol' flopped a Queen-high flush draw and got there on the river. For a fifth-place performance, damourinio collected $3,894.86.

STUCK INSIDE OF MOBILE WITH THE MEMPHIS BLUES AGAIN: SwizzHawk eliminated in 4th place

Shtopol' opened to 5.25M, SwizzHawk shoved for a little more with 5,528,036, and Shtopol' called.

SwizzHawk: [As][Kh][6c][3h]
Shtopol': [Ad][Th][8d][5s]

The board finished up [Qs][8s][4s][8h][9h]. Shtopol' flopped middle pair and turned trips. SwizzHawk never improved and Shtopol' won the pot with trip eights. Switzerland's SwizzHawk was dunzo in fourth place and earned $6,120.50.

With three to go, Shtopol' led with 44.8M, followed by DaMethod (34.9M) and petro_popovi (7.4M).

SAD EYED LADY OF THE LOWLANDS: DaMethod eliminated in 3rd place

Shtopol' min-raised to 3M, DaMethod potted to 9.75M, Shtopol' re-potted to 25.5M, and DaMethod called all-in for 10,279,362.

DaMethod: [7c][5d][4d][3c]
Shtopol': [Ac][Qd][Th][5h]

The board ran out [Qh][8h][2h][Ks][6d]. DaMethod never improved and Shtopol' flopped a flush to win the pot. For a third-place finish, DaMethod took home $9,458.96.

HEADS-UP: petro_popovi (Ukraine) vs. Shtopol' (Ukraine)
Seat 2: petro_popovi (18,475,528)
Seat 6: Shtopol' (68,734,472)

The battle of the bread basket! Shtopol' held a sizable advantage, but with turbos...especially PLO turbos...you never know.

On the sixth hand of heads-up, petro_popovi doubled up in a 40M hand by rivering a full house. After winning the next hand uncontested, petro_popovi closed the gap and only trailed 45.2M to 41.9M. That's the closest that petro_popovi would get.

MOST LIKELY YOU GO YOUR WAY AND I'LL GO MINE: petro_popovi eliminated in second place; Shtopol' wins Event #30

On the 8th and final hand of heads up, Shtopol' delivered the knockout blow. All the money went all-in on the turn, which was a change of pace! Here's what happened on the final hand... both players limped in pre-flop. The flop was [Ts][6s][5d] petro_popovi check-called a 2M bet from Shtopol'. The turn was the [3c]. petro_popovi fired out 8M, Shtopol' raised to 32M, petro_popovi shoved for 37,951,056, and Shtopol' called.

petro_popovi: [9s][7h][7s][5s]
Shtopol': [5h][4c][3h][2d]

Shtopol' turned a six-high straight, but needed some help because petro_popovi flopped a monstrous draw -- a straight flush draw and a higher straight draw. The river was the [6h]. Alas, petro_popovi whiffed on every draw and could only scratch together two pair versus a straight. Shtopol' dodged an avalanche of outs to win the pot and bink the tournament.

For a runner-up finish, Ukraine's petro_popovi earned $12,797.42.

Meanwhile, fellow Ukrainian Shtopol' took home a first-place payday worth $17,528.56.

TCOOP-30 ($7.50+R, PL Omaha, 6-Max, 3x-Turbo) results
Entrants: 2,578 (12,322 re-buys; 1,417 add-ons)
Total prize pool: $111,281.94
Places paid: 330

1. Shtopol' (Ukraine) $17,528.56
2. petro_popovi (Ukraine) $12,797.42
3. DaMethod (Austria) $9,458.96
4. SwizzHawk (Switzerland) $6,120.50
5. damourinio (FYROM) $3,894.86
6. DoEasyMoney (Belgium) $2,108.79

Pauly McGuire is a freelance contributor to PokerStars Blog

Players hit the midweek portion of the 2016 TCOOP schedule with four new events on the agenda. Event 29 brought one of the favorite structures with a $215 buy-in, short-handed shootout, progressive bounty tournament. Players didn't need to crush their way through the entire field to win the title.

"All" they had to do was win three straight SnGs to make the final table and beat five more players to be called a TCOOP champion. Players could also pick up a nice chunk of change along the way with half the buy-in going to the regular prize pool and the other half going to a progressive bounty on the player's head.

The tournament drew 1,178 players and the prize pool was locked down at the start with no late registration available. They loaded up 216 tables of players and the winner of each was guaranteed a piece of the $117,800 regular prize pool.

The tournament played down quickly, thanks to the turbo structure plus 6-max format, to get the field down to the last six tables in two and a half hours. Everyone moving forward would make the final table and reset the chip stacks for an even restart.

STELARI198 was the first to book a seat at the final table with a quick win that took a bit over 30 minutes to accomplish. PALblCH followed shortly after while the other four tables had at least three players remaining and one with a full slate still grinding.

Skrb1C, seppo1k, and Zagalo87 took care of their opponents while buena88 and 2014 SCOOP Heads Up High Roller champ Tim T.J. "1BigAceHole" Ulmer continued to battle for the last seat at the final table.

Ulmer was last seen here when he made the 2016 PCA Main Event final table, finishing in 8th place for $78,000. Today he was trying to add a second leg of the COOP Triple Crown and was still alive for the title when he came from behind to dispatch buena88.

Ulmer also wasn't the only player at the final table with past COOP success. Zagalo87 made his second final table of the series following a third place finish in the $215 Zoom Event 9 tournament and PALblCH made a final table in both the 2013 WCOOP and SCOOP series.

While all players begin with the same stack size, some are more equal than others. STELARI198 came to the final table with a bounty on his neck worth more than $3,000 while an Ulmer knockout would earn $1,000 less. But those numbers quickly changed.

STELARI198 takes a tough one, out in 6th

It was going to take some kind of cooler or bad beat to get anyone off the final table in the early levels and that's exactly what happened.

Both sides.

On the ninth hand of the final table, there were four bets in the pot before STELARI198 saw the [as][9d][6d] flop with PALblCH. STELARI198 called a 936 bet from PALblCH to the [6c] turn and they got the everything in the middle.

PALblCH moved all-in with [ad][qc] and STELARI198 quickly called with the out-kicking [ac][kd]. STELARI198 was in a great position to knock PALblCH down to the felt plus have a double stack against the rest of the table but that all went away on the bad beat [qh] river. It was a tough way to go out early but STELARI198 picked up $2,921 to sooth the hurt.

seppo1k goes straight out in 5th

The blinds weren't pushing the action yet and they were still in the second level when the final table built another big pot. Two hands after STELARI198 was eliminated, Skrb1c raised it up from the small blind and seppo1k called in the big to see the [8d][7h][5h] flop.

Skrb1c check/raised to 540 after seppo1k bet out 145 and was called to the [td] turn. Skrb1c fired first this time and seppo1k called 540 to get to the [ks] river. Skrb1c stayed aggressive with a bet big enough to put seppo1k all-in and he called with two-pair [kh][8h]. A nice hand at the short table but it was second best against Skrb1c's turned gutshot straight [jd][9d] to send seppo1k out in 5th place.

Zagalo87 doubles with rockets

The last four players settled into the deep stack grind while Zagalo87 was dropping behind the other three. Ten minutes into four-handed play and Zagalo87 picked up a big hand.

He three-bet from the button after PALblCH opened under the gun. They were heads up to the [td][8c][2h] flop and PALblCH checked called a 488 bet before the [7s] turn. This time it was a check/shove from PALblCH and Zagalo87 called with [as][ad]. He was ahead of PALblCH's [9h][9d] but needed to dodge the added open-ended straight draw. Zagalo87 added the unnecessary set of Aces on the [ah] river for the full double.

Zagalo87 doesn't hang on, sent packing in 4th

Zagalo87 stayed alive with the big double and it evened up the stacks enough that they could take their time getting frisky. They played more than 45 minutes with few major pots and no one in danger until Zagalo87 was once again the short stack.

He found a good spot to flip for his tournament life when he called a pre-flop shove from Ulmer. Zagalo87's [6s][6d] stayed ahead of Ulmer's [ts][8s] on the [7h][5s][4s] flop but Ulmer added a dumptruck of outs. He went the gutshot path thanks to the [6c] turn.

Zagalo87 had 10 outs on the river (plus three chop outs) but missed when it finished [2c] to send him out in 4th and put Ulmer in a dead heat with Skrb1c.

Ulmer races to a big lead

Ulmer lost a bit of his stack three hands later when he doubled up PALblCH but it was only a temporary blip to his count. He was all-in after Skrb1c limp/shoved while they were in the blinds and Ulmer needed to catch with his [ac][js] up against [3c][3d].

He caught what he needed on the [as][jc][7h] flop and earned another full double when the board finished [qs] and [6s]. The hand gave Ulmer a better than 2-to-1 advantage over the other two stacks combined.

Skrb1c can't recover, out in 3rd

Sending most of his stack to Ulmer was the first problem for Skrb1c but then had to watch as Ulmer picked up four of the next five hands. He was sitting with less than six big blinds when he moved all-in with [ac][7d] from the small blind and Ulmer called with [8h][3c] in the big.

Skrb1c had to dodge two live cards and then hit the [7s][6d][5h] flop that also added an open-ended straight draw for Ulmer. The [ts] turn changed little before Ulmer spiked the [9h] river to complete the straight and send Skrb1c out in 3rd place.

Tim Ulmer earns second COOP title

Seat 2: PALblCH (7,689 in chips)
Seat 6: Tim "1BigAceHole" Ulmer (22,311 in chips)

Blinds: 150/300 with 25 Ante

Ulmer began heads up play with a healthy lead and the tournament lasted just 14 more hands. Of those hands, PALblCH was only able drag three pots including a small double up near the end.

PALblCH was down to 11 big blinds in the final hand when he put them all-in from the button holding [th][8h]. Ulmer called with the better [ks][jc] hand and it was a dry [ac][4s][2h][7d][4d] board to send PALblCH out in the runner-up position while Ulmer earned the TCOOP title.

PALblCH earned $14,136 for his finish along with $4,125 in bounties. Ulmer added a second COOP title to his 2014 SCOOP Heads Up High Roller win and the $18,848 first prize. This score doesn't come close to the biggest TCOOP cash of his career, Ulmer made the final table and finished third in the 2013 TCOOP Main Event for a cool $232,000.

Ulmer can try to better that finish in a few days.

1. Tim "1BigAceHole" Ulmer (Canada) $18,848.36
2. PALblCH (Belarus) $14,136.00
3. Skrb1c (Serbia) $10,602.00
4. Zagalo87 (Czech Republic) $7,068.00
5. seppo1k (Norway) $4,712.00
6. STELARI198 (Greece) $2,921.44

Sal "ugritaly" Fazzino has had a nice week at the TCOOP tables. Just look at his hourly rate in a couple of the events in which the player from Australia has taken part.

Last Thursday Fazzino played Event #3, a $215 no-limit hold'em progressive "ultra-knockout" event, and in just over four-and-a-half hours was able to beat out a 4,250-entry field to win the title and just under $58K between the first-place prize and bounties.

Then today Fazzino needed just about the same amount of time -- just a touch over four-and-a-half hours -- to win a second TCOOP title in Event #28, an $82 buy-in NLHE event with optional re-entries. For that effort Fazzino picked up a nice $31,202.54 cash. In other words, between those two events he made just under $10K an hour!

Players were able to re-enter up to three times during late registration. All told there would be 2,633 entries (1,935 entries, 698 re-entries), adding up to a $197,475 prize pool that well exceeded the event's $150K guarantee.

It would take only about two hours and 10 minutes to play down to 342 players and for the money bubble to burst, at which point Tony "D1rtyR1v3r" Nardi topped the chips counts. A half-hour after that they were down to less than 100 with Arvydas "Merfinis" Merfeldas the new leader and Nardi having slipped back to an average stack.

They were only a short way into the tournament's fourth hour when just 18 were left, with Nardi out in 69th ($335.70), Merfeldas still near the top, and Loxagos the new chip leader with more than 1.5 million.

zyang1982 (18th), TCOOP Event #13 winner MikeyGG3 (17th), and one-time SCOOP winner LeslieGroves (16th) were the next eliminations, with those three each taking away $730.65. MrNorberto (15th) and vin.fromage (14th) then went out, picking up $1,007.12 apiece.

Then came a big double-knockout hand in which max-horror flopped a full house, then took out both 10Badboy10 (13th, $1,007.12) and former leader Arvydas "Merfinis" Merfeldas (12th, $1,283.58), after which max-horror had more than 3.7 million and twice the stack of the nearest challenger.

Gordon "holla@yoboy" Vayo (11th) and benderbei2 (10th) were next sent railward, each also earning $1,283.58, and with max-horror still the big leader the final table was underway.

Seat 1: villepn (Finland) -- 796,405
Seat 2: SimonToronto (Netherlands) -- 1,821,093
Seat 3: Loxagos (Germany) -- 1,363,881
Seat 4: gpainn (Philippines) -- 1,336,894
Seat 5: TiltStarter (Russia) -- 728,726
Seat 6: Sal "ugritaly" Fazzino (Australia) -- 1,516,708
Seat 7: Seven_DV (Russia) -- 1,026,948
Seat 8: max-horror (Russia) -- 4,179,301
Seat 9: flip flop250 (United Kingdom) -- 395,044

Shortly after the final table began, leader max-horror min-raised from the small blind, and flop flop250 called all in for just over 15,000, all that was left after posting the 120,000-chip BB. flip flop250 had [Jh][Td] and max-horror [Qd][5h], and the board came [Ah][2c][8c][9h][5s] to give max-horror a pair of fives and knock out flip flop250 in ninth.

Then just before the break that came at the tournament's four-hour mark, SimonToronto raised 3x to 480,000 from middle position, gpainn reraised all in to 786,918 from the cutoff, and SimonToronto called. gpainn had [Qs][Qd] and was racing versus SimonToronto's [As][Kh], then the [Kc][7c][9s] flop swung the advantage SimonToronto's way. The turn was the [8s] and the river the [9d], and gpainn was sent railward in eighth.

Following the break, SimonToronto min-raised to 140,000 from UTG, TiltStarter three-bet to 350,000 from the hijack seat, SimonToronto reraised back, and TiltStarter called all in right away with the 141,274 behind. TiltStarter turned over [Ac][4c] and needed help versus SimonToronto's [9s][9d]. The board came [8c][6s][2h], then [Ts], then [5s], and TiltStarter was ousted in seventh.

Helped by those knockouts, SimonToronto had moved into the chip lead, eventually pushing up over 5 million. Then it was villepn shoving for 1,230,310 from the cutoff and Sal "ugritaly" Fazzino calling from the big blind.

villepn was going for a "Triple COOP," having previously won both a WCOOP and a SCOOP, and was at risk with [As][3s]. Meanwhile Fazzino had the edge with [Ad][Td]. The board came [Jd][Ah][7s][9s][Th], giving Fazzino two pair and villepn just one, and villepn's run was stopped in sixth.

Not long after, Seven_DV would grab the chip lead in a big all-in that saw Seven_DV's ace-nine outdraw SimonToronto's ace-jack. The pair got all in on a seven-high flop, then a nine turned and Seven-DV moved up into first position with five left.

A few minutes later SimonToronto was the short stack, and when folded to in the small blind shoved all in for just over 1.4 million total (not quite six big blinds) and Loxagos called from the big blind. SimonToronto had [Jh][7c] and Loxagos [Ts][Td], and five cards later -- [8h][9s][Ks][Kd][Ad] -- Loxagos's tens had held and SimonToronto had been eliminated in fifth.

Brief chat about a deal with four left went unheeded as all-ins were occurring nearly every hand. Finally Loxagos was the one not to survive an all-in, pushing from small blind for 1,213,338 with [Ks][Ts], getting called by Sal "ugritaly" Fazzino in the BB with [Qh][6h], then watching the board roll out [Kd][Ah][2s][5h][3h] to give Fazzino a flush and stop Loxagos in fourth.

At the start of three-handed play Sal "ugritaly" Fazzino led with just under 7 million, Seven_DV was next with about 4.16 million, and max-horror third with just over 2 million.

Soon Fazzino was shoving that leading stack all in from the small blind and getting a call from Seven_DV from the BB for just over 2.73 million total. Fazzino had [6d][5d] and Seven_DV [Ah][4s], and the [6s][Jh][3c] flop swiftly swung the edge Fazzino's way. The turn was the [9h] and river the [4d], and suddenly they were down to two.

Fazzino held the big edge to start heads-up play with 10,237,366 to max-horror's 2,927,634. max-horror managed one double-up with jack-ten versus Fazzino's ace-five when a ten came among the community cards. Then a few hands later max-horror doubled again with king-nine versus ace-deuce thanks to a saving king.

max-horror would get all in with the best hand shortly after that after pushing with [Ah][9c] and getting called by Fazzino who had [Ac][2s], but a [Jh][Th][Qd][Kd][6c] runout added up to a split pot, and Fazzino still held the big advantage with more than 10.4 million to max-horror's almost 2.75 million.

They'd get it all in again on the very next hand after Fazzino open-pushed from the button and max-horror called, with max-horror showing [Ah][Ts] and again being ahead of Fazzino who had [Jd][8c]. But the [Qc][8h][Kd] flop paired Fazzino, and after the [5s] turn and [5h] river it was all over -- Fazzino had won a second TCOOP title!

Congratulations to Sal "ugritaly" Fazzino for securing a second TCOOP win in less than a week. And with three other TCOOP cashes as well, Fazzino now moves into first place in the TCOOP Player of the Series race!

TCOOP-28 ($82 NL Hold'em, Turbo, Optional Re-Entry) results

Entrants: 2,633 (1,935 entries, 698 re-entries)
Total prize pool: $197,475

Places paid: 342

1. Sal "ugritaly" Fazzino (Australia) $31,202.54
2. max-horror (Russia) $23,434.35
3. Seven_DV (Russia) $16,785.37
4. Loxagos (Germany) $11,552.28
5. SimonToronto (Netherlands) $8,787.63
6. villepn (Finland) $6,812.88
7. TiltStarter (Russia) $4,838.13
8. gpainn (Philippines) $2,863.38
9. flip flop250 (United Kingdom) $1,678.53

There are still more than 20 events left to go in the Turbo Championship of Online Poker, including this Sunday's $700 buy-in Main Event with a $2 million prize pool guarantee. Check the TCOOP page for information about all of the remaining events.

George Lind has an explanation for his triumph in TCOOP event 15 this week. It's nothing he ever learned, and yet it's probably something any pro would opt for in his place as evidence of life lived right. It was nothing technical, in fact it was simple. "I was running hotter than the sun," he said, and sometimes nothing beats that.

Of course, that'll only take you so far. Seldom will it take you all the way. Talent has to fit in somewhere. And then there's dedication to the job at hand, or what exponents of this sort of thing might call "flow", that state of mind in which things just go right and things start to click. Whatever it is Lind had it.

George Lind at the PCA earlier this month

"I definitely had that feeling like I was going to win every hand no matter what I did," said Lind. "It's really fun to play when you have that feeling."

So for Lind it must have been a lot of fun as he topped a field of 2,172 on his way to a first prize of $72,113 (6-Max hold'em hyper-turbo). If you've read the final table report on the PokerStars Blog you'll know it was a volatile finale, not least for Lind who took the lead in a pivotal hand with deuces against jacks. Lind considered the hand pretty straightforward.

"I made the only play I could make with the hand by shoving and got called," he said. "Obviously I was in terrible shape but I got really lucky, as I did a few other times in this tournament. And really luck has to be on your side to win a tournament of this size."

That hand set Lind up for the win, but also went a little way to helping Lind play as he did, calling on all the confidence a player of his stature can after years at the highest level. Never more did that show through than when the opposition first talked of making a deal. It might have seemed wise to some. Lind flatly refused.

"I turned down the first deal because I know that pretty much no one in the world is better at short stacked tournament play," he said. "I mean after all I have played over half a million SnG's in my life. I think I asked for about $4k extra over the ICM chop and I think that was probably close to fair. I know I wasn't going to take any less than $60k though."

His opponents didn't budge, so Lind simply picked up where he left off, letting the others watch him as one-by-one they made their way to the rail.

When it reached heads up play tycon87, perhaps sensing how this one looked likely to play out, took another shot at some sort of truce. He asked for a deal. Lind agreed, and moved all-in as he did so. A deliberate attempt to unsettle tycon87?

"Yeah, I figured I probably had a little extra fold equity since he wanted to do a deal. I don't remember what my last hand was but I remember it being slightly -EV to shove if he is calling optimally, but I had a feeling he would fold some marginal hands to try to make a deal."

Lind's hand had been queen-three off-suit, and tycon87 didn't fold. He called, ahead with ace-five of spades. But the script for this event had already been written. Tycon87 hadn't read it. Had he done so he might have noticed G. Lind III was its author, and that he'd written into it a three on the flop, and a second COOP title.

End of story.

Being a father of three, Lind is used to a house full of noise, so had there been any kind of vocal celebration it would likely have merged into the sound of children playing with toys and running around the house. But you sense Lind isn't the jump up and down type. Instead he celebrated in the traditional poker way.

"I just kept playing the rest of the day just like any other day," he said. "I actually had a terrible day other than the tourney win, but I can't complain!"

Lind now plans to finish TCOOP by playing all the bigger tournaments through to the Main Event this coming Sunday. He started the series with few expectations, other than to grind full days, play well, and count on a little luck. That's three out of three then.

"My days are just like any other days throughout the year but the games I play are bigger during the COOP series," he said. "I'm not really thinking ahead to the tourneys that much. I pretty much just play the ones I feel like playing throughout the day. In fact for this tourney I actually late registered with one minute left. I'm pretty glad I did that!"

Read the final table report of Lind's TCOOP on the PokerStars Blog, where you'll also find all the latest results. For everything else there's the TCOOP homepage.

In the last of our three part series on setting yourself poker goals for 2016, members of PokerStars Team Online talk about their own goals, and offer some practical help in what you should be doing to improve your game over the next 12 months. Whether you're a veteran or an absolute beginner we're sure you'll find something of use below.

As before we asked out pros the same five questions:

1) What goals would you suggest for a beginning player?
2) What goals to set yourself in order to grind a long tournament or poker session?
3) Thinking back to when you started playing poker, what goals do you think led you to becoming pro?
4) What percentage do you feel a beginning player should be playing poker compared to studying poker?
5) What should we avoid when setting our goals so that we have a realistic chance of achieving them?

The answers were varied as they were interesting, with the bottom line being that there's no one right way to do things. Either way, the following advice should help you as you plot your progress for the year.

Marc-André "FrenchDawg" Ladouceur

Marc-Andre "FrenchDawg" Ladouceur

1. What goals would you suggest for a beginning player?

Give yourself the time to learn the game(s) and start off with 1 or 2 tables. Write down before each session how long, how many tournaments or hands you want to play. It'll help you not get carried away. I think it's good to set a budget at first. How much are you willing to gamble? If things go wrong how much can you afford to lose? This is can be a lump sum or a weekly/monthly allocation and it'll help you control yourself.

2. What goals to set yourself in order to grind a long tournament or poker session?

I'd recommend for new players to start off with short sessions but if you are in a long tournament grind (Congrats!!), avoid outside distractions such as TV so you can be 100% focused on playing your best when it counts.

3. Thinking back to when you started playing poker, what goals do you think led you to becoming pro?

When I first started I set up some really high volume goals - 150K hands a month. Looking back it was probably too much but it worked out well. I also spent five hours a week studying the game and opponents.

4. What percentage do you feel a beginning player should be playing poker compared to studying poker?

If you're not familiar with all the rules, I suggest you study that first. Once you're comfortable at a table, I'd keep studying at least 30% of the time you devote to poker. PokerSchoolOnline has great content to help you improve. Forums such as 2+2 are other great sources for learning

5. What should we avoid when setting our goals so that we have a realistic chance of achieving them?

Don't set up monetary goals, they're often not indicative of your play. Make sure you don't set goals that include moving up in stakes too high and/or too quickly.

Liliya "Liay5" Novikova

Liliya "Liay5" Novikova

1. What goals would you suggest for a beginning player?

First of all you should be well organized and disciplined in poker. You should share your time between training practice and theory

2. What goals to set yourself in order to grind a long tournament or poker session?

You should sleep well before grinding. You can watch motivating videos or read an article and make your workplace comfortable.

3. Thinking back to when you started playing poker, what goals do you think led you to becoming pro?

My main goal was to become PokerStars Pro Online and to achieve it I played a lot, worked on my game and moved up through the limits

4. What percentage do you feel a beginning player should be playing poker compared to studying poker?
70/30 practice/studying

5. What should we avoid when setting our goals so that we have a realistic chance of achieving them?
The most important thing is to set short goals which you can achieve fast. e.g. to play 100 tournaments with good win rates.

Katerina "katerina289" Malasidou

Katerina "katerina289" Malasidou

1. What goals would you suggest for a beginning player?

It's unrealistic for beginning players to set money or volume goals. I think the ultimate goal for a new player is to try to improve a bit each day. As long as each day that goes by you are better than the day before, you'll do fine. Create a solid base of poker knowledge and keep building on it bit by bit. That's what's going to take you to the next level

2. What goals to set yourself in order to grind a long tournament or poker session?

When I know that I'll be playing for a lot of hours in a row I try to prepare in advance by making sure I'm well rested and having water and snacks around me while playing. My main goal for the session is to maintain a high level of focus. If at any point I realize I'm getting tired and I'm not playing as well as I should then I take a break, or when that's not possible I lower the number of tables I'm playing.

3. Thinking back to when you started playing poker, what goals do you think led you to becoming pro?

I believe it was a combination of two things: 1) Sticking to the schedule and 2) Having a bankroll management plan. I made a schedule for the week and I tried to respect it as much as possible. If the time you have for poker, regardless of whether it is an hour or an entire day, is integrated in your weekly routine then you are more likely to stick to it. Having a bankroll management plan also makes a huge difference. How you manage your money is something that has to be prepared in advance and not a decision you take in the heat of the moment. That way you avoid playing a tournament that you shouldn't because it's too expensive for what you can afford, but you also take shots at higher stakes when your bankroll allows you to instead of staying at the comfort/security of the stakes you are currently playing.

4. What percentage do you feel a beginning player should be playing poker compared to studying poker?

I think that at the beginning it should be something like 80% studying and 20% playing. That is something that beginners won't necessarily like to hear since at the beginning all you want to do is go straight to the tables, but studying makes a world of difference. As you progress, you should slowly change the two percentages until they are inverted and it's 80% playing, 20% studying. Note that even when you reach a level where you're actually good you should not quit studying. It's a very competitive game and you need to somehow stay ahead of your competition or at least keep up.

5. What should we avoid when setting our goals so that we have a realistic chance of achieving them?

You need to be honest with yourself above everything else. It may sound like a good idea to come back from work and then work another four hours on your poker game, but can you actually do it? You plan to not go out in the weekend and grind poker non-stop instead, but when the time comes will you feel bad for giving up all of your leisure time? You plan to play 12 tables and put in some volume, but what if you are not on top of your game when you open more than nine? A lot of goals are unreachable because they are not realistic.

There's nothing wrong with wanting to spend some time with your friends or family over the weekend, taking some time to relax after work, knowing your limits and so on. Just be honest with yourself when setting your goals. If you find that they were a bit too easy to achieve then push yourself a bit harder next time. That's much better than setting an impossible goal and getting disappointed from the start.

Andre "acoimbra" Coimbra

Andre "acoimbra" Coimbra

1. What goals would you suggest for a beginning player?

Make sure you improve every day a bit, because that's a lot of improvement in a year, and enough to become a master in a lifetime!

2. What goals to set yourself in order to grind a long tournament or poker session?

I like to focus on quality goals that I can control, so I suggest focusing on applying the concepts you just learned and try to not make the same mistakes you did in the past.

3. Thinking back to when you started playing poker, what goals do you think led you to becoming pro?

Winning a lot of money playing a game!

4. What percentage do you feel a beginning player should be playing poker compared to studying poker?

At least half of the time studying, maybe more depending on the student. Some students learn more by playing, others by studying, so you can adjust the 50% a bit there.

5. What should we avoid when setting our goals so that we have a realistic chance of achieving them?

Don't set goals that we can't control! We control our plays, but not their outcome. We control our actions but not our emotions (at least on the short term). We control our bankroll management, but not our swings, etc.

Celeste "LadyMaCe86" Oroná

Celeste "LadyMaCe86" Oroná

1. What goals would you suggest for a beginning player?

If you are just starting your main goals should be to learn and enjoy the game. Every player has a different way to study poker: some prefer to watch instructional videos or live sessions on Twitch, others learn better by reviewing hand histories or discussing strategy on internet forums. It doesn't matter what you do, but make sure you do something.

Do not worry about your playing volume at first: when I started playing poker I had a full time job and I could only play a couple of cash sessions during the weekends. So it doesn't matter if you can't play a lot in the beginning, but do your best so that you are fully focused and aware during those few sessions you make every week. And also, don't forget that we play this game because we love it. Try not to focus too much on your win rate at first because this will lead to unnecessary stress. And what should be about fun and excitement ends up being a constant chase for short term results, which is always counterproductive.

2. What goals to set yourself in order to grind a long tournament or poker session?

Usually my goals before starting a session are related to improving my mental game. For example, to play a two-hour session without looking at my phone or checking social media, or to be aware of any small symptoms of tilt and finishing the session if I realize that I am not in a good mental state to play poker. If that happens I prefer to go for a walk or go to the gym and come back later.

Never set goals in terms of results for a poker session: variance can be huge in the short term! Avoid tilt, have a good attitude, focus on your games and results will eventually arrive.

3. Thinking back to when you started playing poker, what goals do you think led you to becoming pro?

I think the key for me was to set achievable goals but to dream big at the same time. If you play microstakes it would not make sense to set "to become a nosebleeds player" as a goal: goals should motivate you and it won't happen if they seem too hard and far way. But at the same time you should keep in mind what is the true reason why you want to achieve your goal.

So for example, if your goal is to be playing 50NL by the end of 2016, ask yourself why you are doing it. Is it because you would like to become a professional poker player? Why do you want to do that? Is it because of the lifestyle? Are you looking for recognition? Or is it a personal challenge for you?

When I started playing poker I used to set goals in terms of how much I had to study every week and to become a winning player at the next stake, but if I was willing to put so much effort into it, it was because I knew I ultimately wanted the freedom of playing poker for a living and being my own boss. I think that having a short term and possible goal but also a big dream in mind was what motivated me to keep working hard every day.

4. What percentage do you feel a beginning player should be playing poker compared to studying poker?

It varies from person to person. However I believe that when you are just starting out your main focus should be on studying the game. Think of every session as a learning opportunity. Mark hands and review them later, ask other players for their opinion and remember that we all make mistakes. Learning from them is what will make you grow as a player

5. What should we avoid when setting our goals so that we have a realistic chance of achieving them?

Do no set goals for short term results. I often see players setting goals like: "win at 4bb/100 over the next 50.000 hands" or " have a $1,000 bankroll in a month". Before doing so try a variance simulator online (you can find them for free with a Google search) and see how huge variance can be over small samples. Goals like the ones cited above are pointless and will only disappoint you when you don't achieve them. Focus on those factors you have direct control over, like volume and studying. If you do that I can guarantee you that results will follow.

Luka "LukaSteel" Kovač

Luka "LukaSteel" Steel

1. What goals would you suggest for a beginning player?

This might sound a bit corny, but I think the goal for a beginning player should be just to have fun at the tables. Sure, winning money is always nice, but if you are not having fun in the process, you might start resenting poker, which would be a shame because it is such a great game.

I get a lot of questions from beginners, which games they should play/which games are the most profitable. And I always answer with asking THEM, which games THEY like to play and enjoy the most. So these are the games they should play. Your primary goal should be having fun at the tables. You can always switch to a different variant later down the road, if you need to. Games are not going anywhere...

2. What goals to set yourself in order to grind a long tournament or poker session?

This is something that I practice from time to time. I get a piece of paper and on it, I write down my goals for the session. I write down what I expect from myself and from my poker game, what's the longest that I can play my A-game, what leaks I need to correct, what I have to be careful not do to, things that I noticed from a certain players at the table, and so on... And then, before every session, I read that piece of paper, I read what my goals and expectations for the session are. This way I ensure that I remember them as detailed as possible and as long as possible in a grinding session. Besides that, this piece of paper is always close to me, so I can have a quick peek if needed - as a reminder not to stray away from the goals.

I also always start my long poker sessions with a "clean slate". That means, before I open PokerStars client, I close down Skype, web browser, media player, outlook and anything else that might distract me during my play. Of course I also don't open them until I'm finished, or else there would be no point, right?

3. Thinking back to when you started playing poker, what goals do you think led you to becoming pro?

I was lucky enough to learn really early as a beginner, that discipline is one of the key elements in poker success. So my goal was that I was going to be as disciplined a player as I can be. My very first order of business was choosing limit hold'em over no-limit. Fixed limit is considered a "safer option", perfect for a beginner: easier to manage your bankroll, easier to learn pot odds, counting outs and getting your poker fundamentals. Besides that, it is also tougher to spew away your stack, because as we know, limit hold'em doesn't have that scary all-in button.

Everyone who is following me is probably already sick of hearing me talk about discipline, but I truly believe this is one of the most important things in poker. Even if you are the greatest player in the world, without the discipline, it's just a matter of time before something goes bad.

4. What percentage do you feel a beginning player should be playing poker compared to studying poker?

When I took poker a bit more seriously and started studying some learning materials, I read these crazy percentages for playing vs. studying. Some articles and books advised a 70:30 or even 80:20 in favour of studying. Now, almost ten years later, when I look back I see what a nonsense that was.

I'm sure that some poker pros won't agree with me here, but I believe these percentages should be reversed (at best!). So 20% of studying and 80% of playing. Again, at best. Like I mentioned before, poker should be a fun activity, especially for beginners. Frustrating an inspiring poker player with studying is just not the way to go. But do remember one thing. Studying doesn't just mean reading a poker book, you also study by discussing hands with your poker buddies (just leave out the bad beat stories) or watching a livestream on Twitch.tv (just pick wisely who're you going to watch - PSO and Team Pro Online *hint* *hint*). This way you can hit those 20% pretty fast.

5. What should we avoid when setting our goals so that we have a realistic chance of achieving them?

People are watching EPT final tables or online high stakes cash games and dreaming of becoming professional players themselves. Nothing is wrong with having a dream, but setting your goals too high is never a good thing. If you are a beginner who's playing micro stakes and your goal is to become a poker pro... That is probably not going to end well.

If you are serious about poker, my advice would be to take poker as a serious hobby, because this is exactly how I did it. Of course I had a dream, but I never had a goal of becoming a professional. Actually quite a contrary - I even got my degree in Multimedia production and I can clearly remember telling my girlfriend that I won't turn pro (and she never forgets to point that out as well). But all of a sudden, my serious hobby started bringing some money and one thing lead to another and here I am today.

So my whole point here is, just be realistic and don't set your goals to high. Maybe even forget about long term poker plan and just focus on short term goals and go step by step.

You can set your own poker goals for 2016, and receive expert tuition to help achieve them at PokerSchoolOnline. You'll find all sorts of resources, from videos, tips, and general advice that will help you improve your game whatever level you play. Go to the PokerSchoolOnline homepage for all the details.

This is the third of three articles about setting your own poker goals for 2016. You can read Part 1 HERE, and Part II HERE.

The Italian Poker Tour Grand wrapped up its seventh season in Saint Vincent this week, with a Grand Final event won by Hungarian Somodi Balazs. Balazs topped a field of 308 players to earn a first prize of €70,000 from a combined prize pool of €298,760.

Somodi Balazs

Balazs, who has earned more than $250,000 at the poker table over the past ten years, despite being a professional chess player by day, overcame Romanian Tudor Purice heads-up. Purice collected €40,000 as runner-up.

The final hand at the Casino de la Vallée involved Purice moving all in with ace-six off-suit, which was called by Balazs who held king-ten off-suit. Purice flopped a six, but Balazs took the title when a ten hit the river.

The full result from Saint Vincent is below.

IPT7 St Vincent $1,000 Main Event
Entrants:
Total prize pool: €298,760
Places paid: 39

1. Balazs Somodi (Hungary) € 70,000
2. Purice Tudor Lucian (Romania) € 40,000
3. Mangano Fabio (Italy) € 29,500
4. Pio Lorenzo (Italy) € 21,000
5. Armanavicius Liutauras (Lithuania) € 16,500
6. Shabalin Vladimir (Russia) € 13,000
7. Lache Vlad Stefan (Romania) € 9,860
8. Casabona Massimo (Italy) € 7,000
9. Giannico Gianfranco (Italy) € 5,500

For more details about the tour go to the IPT homepage.

They were deep into the 12th hour of this week's Super Tuesday when just two players remained -- Sweden's C. Darwin2 and marado86 of Switzerland. C. Darwin2 had begun the heads-up duel with a big advantage, but marado86 fought back to grab the edge and finally claim the title, earning a big $122,472 first prize for doing so.

It was a massive turnout tonight with 648 players taking part in the $1,050 no-limit hold'em tournament -- a big jump from last week's 524 and in fact the largest Super Tuesday field since April 2015. Here's the story of marado86's triumph.

It took about five hours and 45 minutes for the tournament to play down to 72 players with Amadi_017 being the unfortunate one to finish one spot out of the cash. At that point Artem "veeea" Vezhenkov topped the counts, looking to add yet another Super Tuesday title to his collection. He's won the event twice before (in April 2013 then again in July 2013). Vezhenkov also has a WCOOP title, a SCOOP title, and won the Sunday Million last November, so it was no surprise to see his name atop the counts once again.

By the seven-and-a-half-hour mark of the tournament just 18 players remained, with Team PokerStars Pro Online member Naoya "nkeyno" Kihara (28th), Marvin "Ron Jovi 7" Rettenmaier (22nd), EPT10 Barcelona Main Event winner Tom "hitthehole" Middleton (21st), and T.J. "1BigAceHole" Ulmer (20th) among the recent knockouts. At that point C. Darwin2 had moved up into the chip lead and Vezhenkov was still in the mix with an above average stack.

cwirek1982 (18th), Garrin4e (17th), and Mojje87 (16th) were the next out, each earning $5,184. Fred "Fred_Brink" Brink (15th), deivid29 (14th), and bigboss827 (13th) then successively hit the rail, picking up $6,480 apiece. Then Timothy "Tim0thee" Adams (12th), OffpoZition (11th), and after a long final table bubble Manni1822 (10th) were knocked out, each picking up $7,776 cashes.

With C. Darwin2 still the chip leader, the final table was underway.

Seat 1: marado86 (Switzerland) -- 106,668
Seat 2: Artem "veeea" Vezhenkov (Russia) -- 379,356
Seat 3: C. Darwin2 (Sweden) -- 627,178
Seat 4: imluckbox (Australia) -- 226,166
Seat 5: bartek901 (Mexico) -- 210,463
Seat 6: sandos1995 (Russia) -- 476,602
Seat 7: Leo "ISILDRooN" Nordin (Sweden) -- 410,054
Seat 8: rudisf (Poland) -- 510,167
Seat 9: BOOGANDEHAH (Canada) -- 293,346

On just the third hand of the final table, the blinds were 4,000/8,000 with a 1,000 ante when C. Darwin2 opened for 17,600 from the cutoff seat and imluckbox called from the button. The flop came [Js][Jd][2c]. C. Darwin2 checked, imluckbox bet 24,780, C. Darwin2 raised to 49,560, and imluckbox called. The turn then brought the [8c] and a leading bet of 56,000 from C. Darwin2, and imluckbox called again, leaving 142,661 behind.

The river brought the [Qc] and an all-in shove from C. Darwin2, and imluckbox called all in, turning over [9s][9h] for jacks and nines. But C. Darwin2 had [Jh][5h] for trip jacks, and imluckbox was out in ninth.

The remaining eight players then played on for more than half an hour more, after which the stakes had been upped to 5,000/10,000/1,250. Then bartek901 raised to 22,000 from middle position, rudisf three-bet all in for 240,282 from the small blind, and bartek901 called all in for just a little less.

bartek901 had [As][Qs] and the preflop edge over rudisf's [Ah][6s], but a [6h][6d][7h] flop suddenly swung the edge to rudisf in a big way. The [Kc] came on the turn, making the river no matter and sending bartek901 to the rail in eighth.

About an orbit later they'd moved up another level, and after sandos1995 min-raised to 24,000 from middle position, BOOGANDEHAH called from the button and the flop came [Td][Qh][6h]. BOOGANDEHAH checked, sandos1995 continued for 32,250, BOOGANDEHAH check-raised all in for 108,610, and sandos1995 called.

BOOGANDEHAH had [Qd][9d] for top pair of queens while sandos1995 had [Jh][Th] for tens and a flush draw. The turn then brought the [3h] to complete that flush, making the [Ad] river inconsequential and stopping BOOGANDEHAH's Super Tuesday run in seventh.

They crossed into the tourney's 11th hour, and soon it was Artem "veeea" Vezhenkov choosing to open-shove a stack of 180,156 (about 15 big blinds) from under the gun and getting one caller in C. Darwin2 from a seat over. Vezhenkov had [Kc][Qd] and needed help versus C. Darwin2's [Ac][Kh], but the board came [2c][Kd][8c][5c][As] to give the latter two pair and stop Vezhenkov in sixth.

About 10 minutes later rudisf min-raised to 28,000 from the cutoff, C. Darwin2 made it 82,000 to go from the small blind, rudisf pushed all in for 351,770, and C. Darwin2 called. It was [8s][8c] for rudisf and [Ad][Kc] for C. Darwin2, and after the [3c][Ts][4c] flop and [7d] turn the at-risk player was in good shape to double up. But the [Ah] fell on fifth street to pair C. Darwin2, and rudisf was felted in fifth.

Before long C. Darwin2 had built a stack of more than 2 million while the other three all had less than a fourth of that amount, and the others took turns doubling through each other while C. Darwin2 continued to thrive.

Then came a hand that saw C. Darwin2 open with a 2.5x raise to 40,000 from the small blind, sandos1995 three-bet push for 354,168 from the next seat, and C. Darwin2 call. Both players had been dealt an ace, but C. Darwin2's [Ah][Th] was ahead of sandos1995's [Ad][8c]. The board came [4d][Kc][Js][2c][6h], meaning the kickers played and sandos1995 had been eliminated in fourth.

Two minutes later C. Darwin2 was raising again, this time to 33,600 from the button, and it was Leo "ISILDRooN" Nordin reraise-pushing for 308,122 from the small blind. C. Darwin2 called, showing [Ac][4c] versus Nordin's [Kh][Js]. The five community cards came [4h][7c][8h], then [3c], then [Ts], giving C. Darwin2 a pair of fours and leaving Nordin unimproved, thereby knocking Nordin out in third.

With that pot C. Darwin2 had a commanding lead to start heads-up play with about 2.75 million to marado86's not quite 490,000. The pair battled for about 20 minutes more, then at the 11-hour break marado86 had just chipped up over 1 million to C. Darwin's 2.22 million.

During the break marado86 asked "wanna look?" but C. Darwin2 responded "let's play," the stern look of the John Collier portrait of the evolutionist seeming to confirm the position that no deal would be discussed.

About 15 minutes later marado86 had been whittled back down to about 630,000, then came a preflop all-in confrontation pitting marado86's [Kc][Jd] versus C. Darwin2's [4h][4d]. A jack fell on the turn to save marado86 with a big double-up. Then a short while after that marado86 chipped up further to wrestle the lead away from C. Darwin2.

They continued on past the tournament's 11-and-a-half-hour mark, by which time marado86 was up over 2.63 million to C. Darwin's stack of a little more than 600,000. Then with the blinds 15,000/30,000, marado86 raised to 67,500 from the button, C. Darwin2 shoved all in, and marado86 called.

C. Darwin2: [Qh][Jc]
marado86: [Kc][Qc]

It was bad news for C. Darwin2, with the [Kd][6s][Qd] flop making it worse by giving marado86 two pair. The [3s] then came on the turn, making the [8c] river inconsequential and giving the last pot and all of the chips to marado86, whose avatar showing the famous image of Argentina's footballer legend Diego Maradona celebrating the 1986 World Cup victory seemed highly appropriate.

Congratulations to marado86 for outlasting a tough (and huge) field and a challenging heads-up opponent to win this week's Super Tuesday and one of the biggest first prizes in a long time.

1/26/16 Super Tuesday ($1,050 No-Limit Hold'em) results
Entrants: 648
Prize pool: $648,000.00
Places paid: 72

1. marado86 (Switzerland) $122,472.00
2. C. Darwin2 (Sweden) $89,748.00
3. Leo "ISILDRooN" Nordin (Sweden) $66,096.00
4. sandos1995 (Russia) $49,896.00
5. rudisf (Poland) $34,992.00
6. Artem "veeea" Vezhenkov (Russia) $27,540.00
7. BOOGANDEHAH (Canada) $21,060.00
8. bartek901 (Mexico) $14,580.00
9. imluckbox (Australia) $9,914.40