It's not uncommon for players to try and hold on to their stacks while they try to make a payjump, but our chip leader was still in the process of stacking his chips when we lost our first player and made a payjump.

While everyone else in the tournament already had their stacks neatly assembled and ready to go, Mario Lopez was still building his 706,000 tower.

A player was even eliminated at Lopez's table before he was done.

A short-stacked Victorino Piedrabuena moved all-in with [Ts][8s] and Bryce Daifuku called [ac][js]. Piedrabuena wasn't able to improve and finished in 24th place for $2,840.

When the level was done, the floor took a quick 5-minute break to color up the T500 chips.
That seemed to be all players needed to kick things into high gear.

In the first 30 minutes of the level, players were already down to the final two tables.

Daifuku was one of those eliminated after he lost a large portion of his chips in another elimination.

Pablo Errotamendia moved all-in for 50,000, Daniel Ades re-shoved for about 100,000 and then Daifuku also moved all-in for about 200,000.

Errotamendia showed the worst hand with [kh][js] while Daifuku's [jc][jd] were second-best to Ades's [ac][ad].

The board ran [3h][9c][7d][ts][td] and Errotamendia was eliminated in 22nd place while Ades chipped up to about 280,000 and Daifuku fell to 100,000.

Daifuku was able to hang on for some time but would end up falling 18th.

But before Daifuku hit the rail, we lost our last red spade in the field.

Ariel Eghi raised to 20,000 from under-the-gun and Felipe Mojave moved all-in for 103,000 from the small blind. Eghi called and Mojave was flipping for his tournament life with [as][qc] to Eghi's [6c][6s].

The [3s][8s][kc][7d][3d] board brought no help for Mojave and the Friend of PokerStars was eliminated in 21st and earned $7,620.

Then we lost our reigning LAPT champion.

Claudio Moya, who won the last stop in Peru, wasn't able to pull back-to-back victories.

Moya check-called all-in with the nut flush draw but Ruben Barros had the lead with top pair.

Barros's hand held up and Moya won $8,400 for finishing 19th.

Daifuku quickly followed him out in 18th ($8,400)and by the time he reached the payout cage, Amos Ben was eliminated in 17th ($9,560) and the floor started redrawing to our final two tables.

Photography from LAPT8 Uruguay by Carlos Monti. You can also follow the action in Spanish and in Portuguese.

Alexander Villegas is a freelance contributor to the PokerStars Blog.

We're into Day 16 of WCOOP 2015. Here's the latest update with 44 of 70 events now completed.

Today's highlights:

--Shaun Deeb wins a third WCOOP title in Event #44, his eighth COOP title in all.
--There were eight bracelets won over the weekend, including wins for Matthew "mjw006" Wakeman and Thayer "THAY3R" Rasmussen.
--The $51,000 Ultra High Roller is down to eight players, led by Mike "Timex" McDonald, with the final table beginning later today.

Round up of latest results

The big headline of the weekend was Shaun Deeb's third WCOOP win. As Kristin Bihr reported, the past five years have been busy for Deeb. He got married, became a father, and won various poker titles live and online, including a WSOP bracelet. So in short this is a continuation of that theme. It's the eighth COOP win for Deeb, which is now two more than anybody else. Read the full report on the PokerStars Blog.

In other news, the final eight players in the $51K Ultra High Roller (the biggest buy in for an online poker tournament ever) return later today to play down to a winner. They'll be led by Mike "Timex" McDonald, who appears to be doing to online high roller events what he typically does to live ones. With blinds on their return set at 1k/2k 250 ante, the full line up is below:

Tîmex (Canada) 237,712
Cejakas14 (United Kingdom) 214,540
dpeters17 (Canada) 195,294
Ben86 (Canada) 193,912
CrownUpGuy (Austria) 145,222
fish2013 (Belarus) 69,783
Nopaleva (Russia) 53,427
cuffme (United Kingdom) 40,110

Elsewhere Jason Somerville did it again, and by that we mean reach a final table. This time it was in Event #43, a H.O.R.S.E. contest won by hangoverdose. Read Heath Chick's report here.

Here are all the weekend's scores in full:

Event #36: $215 NL Hold'em (1R1A)
Entrants: 1,040 (592 Rebuys, 648 Add-ons)
Prize pool: $456,000
Places paid: 135

1. Matthew "mjw006" Wakeman (Australia) $82,080.00
2. Edison82 (Brazil) $58,504.00
3. ramastar88 (Argentina) $43,776.00
4. Barrrii (Belgium) $32,832.00
5. TheiF83 (Cyprus) $22,800.00
6. FabOne1986 (Germany) $18,240.00
7. Brixinka (Czech Republic) $13,680.00
8. alwayswin222 (Germany) $9,120.00
9. gambler6868 (Cyprus) $5,472.00

Event #38: $1,050 NL Hold'em (Progressive Super-Knockout, Thursday Thrill SE)
Entrants: 1,748
Prize Pool: $1,748,00 (Regular prize pool: $874,000; Bounty prize pool: $874,000)
Places Paid: 198

1. antispeed (Lebanon) $146,395.00 + $29,375.45 bounties
2. salaliitto (Finland) $107,065.00 + $51,403.26 bounties
3. doofus86 (Malta) $80,845.00 + $3,000 bounties
4. Respect_Lt (Lithuania) $59,432.00 + $11,812.49 bounties
5. calo88 (Argentina) $42,826.00 + $18,697.24 bounties
6. Danny "DannyN13" Noseworthy (Canada) $34,086.00 + $6,347.65 bounties
7. kleath (Malta) $25,346.00 + $10,355.46 bounties
8. markovitsus (Estonia) $16,606.00 + $20,691.39 bounties
9. shibonimo (Canada) $9,002.20 + $8,597.64 bounties

Event #39: $700 Triple Draw 2-7 Championship
Entrants: 189
Prize Pool: $125,685
Places Paid: 24

1. gieras (Poland) $30,164.51
2. Amke (Russia) $20,800.86
3. Naza114 (Czech Republic) $15,710.62
4. Durmitor26 (Montenegro) $10,683.22
5. Fresh_oO_D (Germany) $8,169.52
6. Adam "Adamyid" Owen (United Kingdom) $5,655.82

Event #40: $530 NL Hold Em' (6-Max, Shootout)
Entrants: 720
Prize pool: $360,000.00
Places paid: 36

1. Thayer "THAY3R" Rasmussen (Mexico) $69,825.33*
2. Luigi da BP (Hungary) $64,634.67*
3. juarnes (Belgium) $41,400.00
4. Michel "FreeLancerZZ" Dattani (Czech Republic) $28,800.00
5. Patrick "pads1161" Leonard (Hungary) $21,600.00
6. KornmeisterX (Germany) $14,400.00

Event #41: $320 NLHE Ante up
Entrants: 572
Prize pool: $171,600
Places paid: 72

1. 89rhino89 (Russia) $22,038.82*
2. RocknRollax (United Kingdom) $24,002.10*
3. Bobl124 (Estonia) $19,592.68*
4. edgarbrit1 (Vietnam) $16,442.81*
5. vovtroy (Russia) $14,105.39*
6. Mikal "mikal12345" Blomlie (Norway) $7,293.00
7. GX91 (Malta) $5,577.00
8. ramminn (Iceland) $3,861.00
9. jedi9000 (Canada) $2,625.48
*= reflects the results of a five-handed deal that left $3,000 in play for the winner

Event #42: " target="_blank">$215 NL Hold 'Em (Rebuys)
Entrants: 1,078
Prize pool: $583,000.00 (956 rebuys, 881 add-ons)
Places paid: 135

1. bolivianSWAG (Malta) $104,940.00
2. PaDiLhA SP (Brazil) $74,798.90
3. dadowiec (Poland) $55,968.00
4. Carter "cswidler" Swidler (Canada) $41,976.00
5. villepn (Finland) $29,150.00
6. gaboi20012 (United Kingdom) $23,320.00
7. KKremate (Brazil) $17,490.00
8. Raistj (Israel) $11,660.00
9. skyboy69 (Malta) $6,996.00

Event #43: $320 HORSE
Entrants: 450
Prize Pool: $135,000
Places Paid: 64

1. hangoverdose (Greece) $25,650.00
2. Creatiff111 (Russia) $18,900.00
3. Fresh_oO_D (Germany) $13,851.00
4. Some1Nebo (Australia) $10,125.00
5. BtrGetThere (Finland) $6,750.00
6. Pthelegend (Canada) $4,725.00
7. Jason "jcarverpoker" Somerville (Canada) $3,375.00
8. gkap13 (Cyprus) $2,700.00

Event #44: $215 NLHE 4-Max
Entrants: 1,593
Prize pool: $400,000
Places paid: 208

1. Shaun "shaundeeb" Deeb (Mexico) $68,000.00
2. jackadam (Hungary) $41,328.00
3. Dejan "dejanaceking" Divkovic (Bosnia and Herzegovina) $23,960.00
4. master beto (Costa Rica) $14,580.00
5. Sherfy (Mexico) $9,336.00

For all the WCOOP 2015 results so far, check out our aptly named WCOOP results page, which also has links to all final table reports.

Coming up today

Today
Event 49: $500 NL Hold'em (Optional re-entry) 11.00 ET
Event 50: $161.75 NL Hold'em (Knockout) 14.00 ET
Event 51: $1,000 PL Omaha Hi/Lo Championship (6-max) 17.00 ET

Still to conclude
Event 45: NL Hold'em (6-max, ultra-deep) 14 of 912 remain
Event 46: NL Hold'em (Sunday Warm-Up SE) 91 of 6,282 remain
Event 47: NL Hold'em (Ultra High Roller, Optional re-entry) 8 of 46 remain
Note: Mike "Timex" McDonald leads going into the final table, which starts at 12.30 ET

Leader board

Fresh_oO_D now tops the leader board having scored his 13th and 14th cashes over the weekend, both of them final tables. That puts him on 365 points, which is 30 ahead of second placed Shaun Deeb who won his third WCOOP title yesterday. Former leader RuiNF is in third place with 305 points.

Click to enlarge

Find all the leader board details right here

The world beyond WCOOP

There was plenty of action WCOOP or otherwise taking place over the weekend, with the top ten none-WCOOP event winners below.

$530 Sunday 500: Carsandi (United Kingdom) $83,520.00
$215 Sunday Supersonic [6-Max]: jackziyang (United Kingdom) $56,179.12
$109+R Sunday Rebuy: VL-Hannibal (United Kingdom) $54,751.13
$215 Sunday 2nd Chance: +Liquidez.es (United Kingdom) $48,756.00
The Weekender: $530 NLHE [8-Max, 2-Day]: Anjeyyy (Ukraine) $43,985.20
WCOOP 2nd Chance 46: $109 NL Hold'em: Bebop86 (Canada) $36,624.51
WCOOP 2nd Chance 45: $530 NL Hold'em [6-Max, Ultra-Deep]: CSWAMI (Canada) $33,658.67
$320 Saturday Super-Knockout: 10Badboy10 (Russia) $31,692.53
$109 Sunday Kickoff: diw.2303 (Romania) $30,637.14
WCOOP 2nd Chance 42: $109+R NL Hold'em: ShippityShip (Australia) $30,192.80

Click here to find all the tournament results on PokerStars for the weekend September 19-20, 2015.

On to Day 17

It may be the last week of WCOOP 2015 but there are going to be plenty of highlights, starting with the final table of the $51k Ultra High Roller.

Find out everything there is to know about the Championship on the WCOOP homepage, and good luck to everyone playing this weekend, whether in WCOOP or other events.

In the meantime send us your thoughts and comments to us on Twitter: @PokerStarsBlog.

The last time we wrote about a Shaun Deeb WCOOP win, he was coming out of what proved to be a very temporary "retirement" from online poker. In the five years since, Deeb's life has changed in almost every way possible. He left the United States and relocated to Mexico to continue playing online. He got married. He became a father. He won five SCOOP titles and almost made it six this past spring. A little over three months ago, he added a WSOP bracelet to his ever-expanding list of poker accomplishments. And tonight, Deeb won his third WCOOP bracelet in Event #44 ($215 NLHE 4-Max). He joins an exclusive club of three-time bracelet winners that includes Anders "Donald" Berg, Ryan "g0lfa" D'Angelo and Mikal "mikal12345" Blomlie. Although he's still short of Dan "djk123" Kelly's record four WCOOP bracelets, Deeb currently holds more 'COOP titles than any other player with eight total.

Event #44's 1,593 players contended for a $400,000 guaranteed prize pool. 208 of them earned a share of it with $68,000 set aside for first place.

Day 1 included 22 levels of play and by the end of the evening, 39 contenders remained. Here's a look at the top stacks.

End of Day 1 Chip Counts

kylef89 (Canada) 671,949
Sherfy (Mexico) 547,881
BruceWizayne (Canada) 440,308
jackadam (Hungary) 392,115
MarkusG91 (Norway) 332,140

Other notable finishes included WCOOP bracelet winner flashdisastr (22nd), Bryan "bparis" Paris (21st), Jason "jdtjpoker" Wheeler (19th), Dylan "ImaLucSac" Linde (14th), and Mikal "mikal12345" Blomlie (10th).

Action resumed on Sunday at 2pm EDT and went for four more hours before reaching a final table. With six players remaining and the blinds up to 8,000/16,000, britva212 limped in and dejanaceking shoved for 1.17 million from the big blind. Britva212 called off his remaining 250,000 and turned up [Ad][Kh] while dejanaceking showed [3h][3s]. Dejanaceking flopped a set of threes and they held up to send britva212 to the rail on the final table bubble.

Final table chip counts

Seat 1: shaundeeb (1,176,940 in chips)
Seat 2: Sherfy (931,248 in chips)
Seat 3: jackadam (2,498,452 in chips)
Seat 4: dejanaceking (1,456,070 in chips)
Seat 5: master beto (1,902,290 in chips)

The final table lost its first player when Sherfy opened fo 50,000 and dejanaceking three-bet to 150,500 from the big blind. Sherfy shoved for over 1 million and dejanaceking called. Sherfy's [Ks][8s] was dominated by dejanaceking's [Ac][Kd] and did not improve on the [Qh][Qs][3c][Ts][7c] board. Dejanaceking moved up to 2.48 million while Sherfy hit the rail in fifth place.

Three hands later, jackadam doubled through dejanaceking when his [Ac][As] held up against [Ah][Kd]. Dejanaceking fell to 839,000 in chips and continued spiraling downward before three-bet shoving preflop for his last 307,000 with [Qh][Th]. Shaundeeb called with [Ad][Td] and his hand held through the turn, but dejanaceking caught a river queen to double to 660,000. Four hands later, dejanaceking's tournament life was on the line again. All-in iwht [Ah][8h] vs. master beto's [Ad][7d], dejanaceking flopped an eight and doubled again, this time to 1.36 million.

With the blinds up to 15,000/30,000, master beto three-bet shoved for 802,000 preflop and shaundeeb called. Master beto's [As][Jh] did not improve and Deeb's pocket sevens flopped a set, ending master beto's run in fourth place.

As play turned three-handed, jackadam won two huge pots in a row. In the first, shaundeeb four-bet preflop to 424,000 and jackadam called to see the [Ks][7d][2d] flop. Both players checked and the turn came the [2h]. Deeb bet 300,000 and jackadam called. The river fell the [Ts] and they checked it down. Jackadam revealed [3c][3d] for two pair and took down the 1.46 million pot vs. Deeb's [Ad][Qh]. On the next deal, jackadam clashed with dejanaceking, who four-bet preflop to 288,888. Jackadam called and checked the [7h][5d][3h] flop. Dejanaceking bet 194,838, jackadam raised to 420,000, dejanaceking came back over the top for 645,162 and jackadam shoved for 3.39 million. Dejanaceking gave up his hand and jackadam raked in the 1.94 million pot without a showdown.

Up to 4.95 million in chips, jackadam pushed shaundeeb below a million in chips when he fired three bullets at a [Ks][Qc][5h][7h][9h] board. Shaundeeb called him down, but couldn't beat jackadam's [Qs][7s]. However, before more sparks could fly between those two, dejanaceking three-bet shoved for 555,000 preflop and both shaundeeb and jackadam looked him up.

dejanaceking [Ad][2d]
shaundeeb [Kd][Jc]
jackadam [Js][Ts]

Jackadam could have won the whole thing right here with the correct flop, but instead he ended up in kicker trouble vs. shaundeeb when it fell [Jd][7d][5c]. Dejanaceking picked up the nut flush draw, but failed to fill it on the [3s] turn or the [7s] river. Dejanaceking departed in third place, while shaundeeb more than doubled to 2.7 million.

Heads-up chip counts

Seat 1: shaundeeb (2,696,828 in chips)
Seat 3: jackadam (5,268,172 in chips)

Deeb entered heads-up play down 2 to 1 in chips, but quickly rebounded when his [Ah][9h] flopped an ace and made trips on the turn vs. jackadam's pocket kings. Deeb took the lead with 4.8 million, while jackadam fell to 3.17 million. Deeb stole blinds with abandon and chipped up to 6.66 million when jackadam three-bet shoved for his last 1.3 million preflop. Deeb called.

jackadam [Ad][Kc]
shaundeeb [As][8h]

The flop came down [Qs][9c][5d], jackadam keeping the lead. The [6c] turn gave shaundeeb four additional outs with a gutshot straight draw, but the river fell the [8c]... pairing his kicker. Jackadam's dominating hand went up in flames and shaundeeb locked up his third WCOOP bracelet.

Congratulations to Shaun Deeb on yet another WCOOP win! He banked $68,000 for the win, and also earned another 100 points in the WCOOP Player of the Series race, where he currently sits in second place. For his runner-up finish, jackadam earned $41,328.00.

The WCOOP is headed into it's final week. Don't miss out on your chance at a bracelet! Check out the WCOOP homepage for a full schedule of events and satellite information. If you don't have a PokerStars account yet... what are you waiting for? ">Click here to sign up.

Event #44: $215 NLHE 4-Max
Entrants:1,593
Prize pool: $400,000
Places paid: 208

1. Shaun "shaundeeb" Deeb (Mexico) $68,000.00
2. jackadam (Hungary) $41,328.00
3. Dejan "dejanaceking" Divkovic (Bosnia and Herzegovina) $23,960.00
4. master beto (Costa Rica) $14,580.00
5. Sherfy (Mexico) $9,336.00

The buy-in was bigger than any tournament in online poker history. It cost players $51,000 apiece to get into the World Championship of Online of Poker Super High Roller, and when registration closed, 46 people from around the world had signed up.

Tonight, eight of those players remain. When they return on Monday, two of them will walk away with nothing. The top six are guaranteed $126,500. The winner will pull in $851,000.

As the tournament breaks for the night, Mike "Timex" McDonald sits at the top.

While one of his biggest pots of the day (an all-in pre-flop [as][5s] vs [ad][kc] confrontation) came against Fedor "CrownUpGuy" Holz, the beat did not knock Holz out. The onetime WCOOP Main Event champion still has a chance at the bracelet, too.

For now, though, McDonald sits on 118 big blinds.

When players return to action they will be at 1,000/2,000/250 blinds and antes.

Here's how they stack up.

Tîmex (Canada) 237,712
Cejakas14 (United Kingdom) 214,540
dpeters17 (Canada) 195,294
Ben86 (Canada) 193,912
CrownUpGuy (Austria) 145,222
fish2013 (Belarus) 69,783
Nopaleva (Russia) 53,427
cuffme (United Kingdom) 40,110

The final eight are due back at 12:30pm ET on Monday. We'll have full coverage of the final table right here on the PokerStars Blog.

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

Mario Lopez has skyrocketed to the top in the pre-bubble stage of the tournament.

After eliminating a few players, the medical doctor is now up to about 420,000, which is nearly the amount of chips the rest of his table has combined.

In one elimination, There was about 20,000 in the pot on a [Js][6h][8c][2s] board.

Camila Alvarez checked from the button and Lopez moved all-in.

Alvarez only had about 40,000 behind and thought until they called the clock. With six seconds left on the clock, Alvarez threw in the rest of her chips.

Lopez turned over [6s][6c] for a set of sixes and Alvarez was out of the tournament.

Aside from putting Lopez up to about 380,000, the Alvarez's elimination left Renata Teixeira as the last woman in the field.

Lopez took down the following hand with a large bet on the river and then eliminated another player the hand after that.

Lopez raised to 6,200 from the cutoff and the big blind ws the only caller.

The flop came [7d][9h][Th] and the big blind check-raised all-in for 35,900 after Lopez bet 5,800. Lopez thought for a few seconds, called and turned over [Tc][4d] for top pair. The big blind shook his head and showed [ks][9s] for second pair.

The turn brought an [As] and the [7h] came on the river to bring us closer to the bubble.

Lopez continued to rise and his stack grew to about 420,000. By the time the bubble burst, the doctor had passed to 500,000 mark.

The bubble was far from arduous and burst on the first hand of hand-for-hand play.

One of our bubble bursters this event was Jorge Breda, who's smiling again now that he's back near the top of the counts with about 400,000.

Breda started the day second in chips, dipped early on but is now back in second place.

In the quick bubble, Juan Etcheverry raised to 8,500 and Breda re-raised to 20,000. Claudio Aranibar called all-in for 17,000 and the flop came [kc][ts][2d].

Both players checked and a [4d] came on the turn. Breda bet 12,000 and Etcheverry folded.

Aranibar turned over [ac][jc] while Breda was in the lead with [qs][qd].

Aranibar was hoping for an ace or a queen, but the river brought a [6h] instead.

Aranibar would've been the bubble, but someone else was eliminated seconds later in the same hand.

Nicolau Villa-lobos moved all-in for 42,500 on a [3s][6d][jd][kh] board and Amos Ben called.

Villa-lobos turned over [ac][7s] for ace-high while Ben tabled [qd][9d] for a pair of queens.

Villa-lobos and Aranibar split the 39th place payday of $5,360 and the remaining 38 players are now guaranteed at least that much apiece.

Photography from LAPT8 Uruguay by Carlos Monti. You can also follow the action in Spanish and in Portuguese.

Alexander Villegas is a freelance contributor to the PokerStars Blog.

A chip lead at any point in a poker tournament guarantees nothing.

While having the lead is a desirable position, players are constantly just a handful of cards away from being knocked to the bottom of the counts.

Some Day 1 leaders are able to ride their lead to victory though. Shakeeb Kazemipur did it LAPT8 Panama when he had a dominating lead at the end of Day 1b and ended up winning the tournament.

Chadi Moustapha almost did the same last event, but finished just short and lost the title to Claudio Moya.

But more often than not, Day 1 chip leaders lose their momentum and aren't able to recover.

Today, we've seen both sides of the spectrum.

Jorge Breda started the day second in chips with 177,600 but is now below average with just about 50,000. Last night, Breda had a beaming grin as play ended but it slowly evaporated along with his chips.

Moustapha on the other hand has continued to chip up and is still in the lead. Now up to 240,000, things are still going well for Moustapha.

Even when he loses, he doesn't really lose.

In one hand, Moustapha raised to 4,000 from the cutoff and the button moved all-in for 7,800. The big blind raised to 15,000 and Moustapha thought for a while before he five-bet to 40,000.

The button sighed and the big blind folded.

Moustapha turned over [Th][Tc] and the button showed [ah][6h].

The [kh][6c][5s][2c][6d] board gave the button trip sixes and he took down the main pot while Moustapha was almost able to neutralize his losses with the side pot.

Our Day 1a chip leader and LAPT6 Peru Champion, Patricio Rojas, has also seen his stack dip. Rojas is down to about 80,000.

But when someone loses chips, somebody else wins them.

Renata Teixeira nearly tripled her start-of-day stack and is now up to about 90,000.

Friend of PokerStars Felipe Ramos is also up to about 95,000 after eliminating a player.

In that hand, the cutoff moved all-in for 17,500 and Ramos called from the small blind. The cutoff showed [kd][qh] and started packing his things after Ramos tabled [Kh][Ks].

The board ran [4c][4d][8c][3d][kc] and Ramos took down the pot with a full house.

Photography from LAPT8 Uruguay by Carlos Monti. You can also follow the action in Spanish and in Portuguese.

Alexander Villegas is a freelance contributor to the PokerStars Blog.

SCOOP champs looked towards getting that second part of the Triple COOP in the WCOOP 2015 Event #42 $215 with rebuys. Two of them, PaDiLhA SP (Brazil) and villepn (Finland), still held chips on day two with just five players remaining. But, the tournament belonged to bolivianSWAG (Malta) who claims the title along with $104,940.00.

This is my fourth tournament of this year's series and it seems like one player odes to shine while I bang out a few sentences on their accomplishments. Patrick "pads1161" Leonard won Event #17 then final tabled Event #40 yesterday (finishing fourth for $28K), and was one of 16 (out of a starting 1,078) players to make day two of this episode. Would there be a third final table and possible second bracelet? That possible win will need to wait until Event #61, as Leonard was unable to run it up from a starting shortstack, finishing in 14th place ($4,372.50).

Leonard added 30 points to his Player of the Series total, good enough for a fifth place tie with someone named Shaun Deeb who already has 11 cashes in the 2015 series (and is looking for his third WCOOP bracelet and possibly new places to put PokerStars jewelry). Both of them are trailing Fresh_oO_D who holds 13 cashes and three final tables in Event #29 (runner-up), Event #39 (fifth place), and Event #43 (third place).

SCOOP 2013 Event #8 champ Sobizzle21 was also on a shortstack for day two, finishing up in 11th place ($5,538.50) to start up hand-for-hand play shortly before the first hourly break.

Right after the break with the blinds up to 10K/20K ante 2.5K gdub2003 shoved a light stack of 100,014 chips as PaDiLhA SP went all-in also with a shortstack, but enough to cover holding [Ad][3d]. It was ripe for a chopped pot as gdub2003 turned over [2s][Ah] but the [3h] [3s] [Td] [Ks] [4s] board had other ideas starting up the final table below:

Seat 1: gaboi20012 (752342 in chips)
Seat 2: skyboy69 (224468 in chips)
Seat 3: bolivianSWAG (2590613 in chips)
Seat 4: PaDiLhA SP (418555 in chips)
Seat 5: cswidler (1350199 in chips)
Seat 6: villepn (311972 in chips)
Seat 7: Raistj (1533768 in chips)
Seat 8: dadowiec (1734767 in chips)
Seat 9: KKremate (1590316 in chips)

On the final table's fifth hand with the blinds moving up to 12.5K/25K ante 3,125 table would fold to KKremate who raised to 54,795 in the cutoff as skyboy69 shoved for 185,718 in the small blind. KKremate covered and called with [Tc][Kc] as skyboy69 showed [Ac][Jc]. A king on the flop [Qc] [Kh] [2h] [6d] [Qs] grounded skyboy69 in ninth place ($6,996.00). This was skyboy69's second COOP final table this year, chopping up SCOOP 2015's Event #7-H for $122K in third place.

BolivianSWAG joked with Team PokerStars Pro Andre Akkari that the tables are English only after fellow Brazilian PaDiLhA SP doubled up and he let out a vamooooooo. The World Series of Poker bracelet holder retorted that vamooooooo is universal but usually reserved for Brazilians.

Towards the middle of the hour Raistj would take a one-two punch. Fresh off chopping an all-in pot with bolivianSWAG with an ace-nine to ace-eight leading preflop, Raistj lost a 708K flip against gaboi20012 when pocket nines failed to hold against big slick. On the next hand with the blinds up to 15K/30K ante 3,750 Raistj raised to 60,015 as PaDiLhA SP three-bet to 172,789. An easy shove for Raistj holding pocket kings [Kc][Kd] and PaDiLhA SP called with big slick [Kh][Ad]. As foreshadowed, this would not end well for Raistj [9d] [9c] [3d] [9s] [Ac] and with the ace on the river Raistj collected $11,660.00 in eighth place.

15 minutes later another cooler presented itself. After a preflop tug-of-war, KKremate shoved all-in with pocket queens [Qc][Qd] as bolivianSWAG trumped the ladies with kings [Ks][Kd]. A quiet [3h] [3d] [2h] [3c] [Jh] board sent KKremate away in seventh place ($17,490.00). KKremate nearly captured a bracelet in last year's Event #45 earning $356K but will need to wait a little longer for another shot.

BolivianSWAG held the overnight lead in Event #8 but fell two places short of a final table. This time the chip lead may lead to a bracelet as bolivianSWAG took an 863K pot while knocking out gaboi20012 in sixth place ($23,320.00). With five players remaining here's how the field stacked up:

Seat 3: bolivianSWAG (3,915,882 in chips)
Seat 8: dadowiec (2,355,672 in chips)
Seat 4: PaDiLhA SP (1,959,526 in chips)
Seat 5: cswidler (1,505,879 in chips)
Seat 6: villepn (770,041 in chips)

PaDiLhA SP already has a SCOOP watch from 2012 and now only three players away from adding a bracelet. With the blinds up to 20K/40K ante 5K and villepn's shortstack draining quickly, the longtime player and also a SCOOP champ would shove for under 200K as PaDiLhA SP called with [8s][Ac]. Villepn's [Jh][Qc] flopped a pair, but the turned ace [7c] [3s] [Js] [Ad] [4s] gave villepn $29,150.00 in fifth place.

Carter "cswidler" Swidler won a WCOOP 2nd chance event in 2012 then final tabled Event #31 in the same year. This time he was back and going deep trying to overcome the sizable stacks held by bolivianSWAG and dadowiec. With the blinds at 25K/50K ante 6,250 Swidler raised to 105K as bolivianSWAG made it 275K to go. Holding pocket sevens [7c][7s] shoved for 1.5 million as bolivianSWAG snapped with aces [Ah][Ac]. The [Kd] [5c] [3s] [8c] [2d] board neglected to put out a seven as Swidler picked up $41,976.00 in fourth place.

PaDiLhA SP remained patient despite the sizable difference in stack sizes. The strategy paid off as PaDiLhA SP would snag a 2.2 million chip pot, getting value from a flopped flush. Then four hands later with the blinds moving up to 30K/60K ante 7.5K; PaDiLhA SP took a 3.3 million chip pot from dadowiec when a river bluff did not pan out.

The current of chips flowing from dadowiec to PaDiLhA SP continued another four hands later as dadowiec shoved preflop for 1.07 million with [Qs][Ac] and PaDiLhA SP was right there to call with queens [Qc][Qd]. No ace on the [Kd] [7d] [5h] [9s] [Ts] board and dadowiec was denied a second WCOOP title (2013, Event #53) in third place ($55,968.00).

A second COOP title for PaDiLhA SP? Or redemption for bolivianSWAG? Both would have plenty of chips heading into heads-up play (blinds at 30K/60K ante 7.5K):

Seat 3: bolivianSWAG (4,686,514 in chips / 78BBs)
Seat 4: PaDiLhA SP (5,820,486 in chips / 97BBs)

Midway through the heads-up battle bolivianSWAG would take a key 3.1 million chip pot preflop as the two traded four raises, and bolivianSWAG's shove would end it as PaDiLhA SP could not answer.

Eight minutes later with the blinds up to 40K/80K ante 10K bolivianSWAG would min-raise as the depleted PaDiLhA SP shoved for 1.56 million holding pocket fours [4c][4s]. BolivianSWAG felt good enough to call with [Kh][Qh] and flopped a flush draw to boot [2c][8h][Ah]. The turned [Js] gave bolivianSWAG even more outs. But, it was a pair that caught as the [Qd] river shipped the Event #42 title and $104,940.00 to bolivianSWAG!

WCOOP-42: $215 NL Hold 'Em (Rebuys)
Entrants: 1,078
Prize pool: $583,000.00 (956 rebuys, 881 add-ons)
Places paid: 135

1. bolivianSWAG (Malta) $104,940.00
2. PaDiLhA SP (Brazil) $74,798.90
3. dadowiec (Poland) $55,968.00
4. Carter "cswidler" Swidler (Canada) $41,976.00
5. villepn (Finland) $29,150.00
6. gaboi20012 (United Kingdom) $23,320.00
7. KKremate (Brazil) $17,490.00
8. Raistj (Israel) $11,660.00
9. skyboy69 (Malta) $6,996.00

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The sun is shining on this tiny eastern point in Uruguay again and that means we're about to play some poker.

The final 95 players are streaming back into the room and they won't stop playing until there's only 32 left.

Maybe.

Chances are play will stop at 24, tournament staff still hasn't decided.

They are certain about a few things though. Regardless of what number we hit, we'll end the day in the money. A total of 39 players will cash in this event for a minimum of $5,360.

Play will resume at level 11 with 600/1,200 blinds and a 200 ante, that's a given. Levels will also be one-hour long and we'll have a break after every two.

The player currently unbagging the most chips is Chadi Moustapha, who was eliminated in Day 1a but came back yesterday to accumulate 197,300.

Hailing from Lebanon, Moustapha has had some very recent LAPT success. Last stop, Moustapha also finished Day 1b with the chip lead and managed to get heads-up for the title.

But despite having the lead for quite some time, Moustapha couldn't clinch the victory. Claudio Gali cracked Moustapha's aces to double up late in the match and the Lebanese player never recovered.

We'll see how far Moustapha can take his Day 1 chip lead this time.

Second in chips is Jorge Breda.

Breda has a number of cashes and a few victories at the Brazilian Series of Poker but has yet to to score an LAPT Main Event cash outside his home country.

Patricio Rojas rounds off the top 3 with 133,100.

Rojas hasn't just been close to LAPT victory; he's felt it, he's tasted it, he's lived it. Back in LAPT6, Rojas took down the title in Lima, Peru to win $123,840.

Players are fighting for a bit more today.

The 267 entrants created a $776,970 prize pool with grand prize of $155,730.

A few other players still in the hunt for another LAPT cash include Team PokerStars Pro Leo Fernandez (77,700), Friend of PokerStars Felipe Ramos (45,700), Mario Lopez (75,300), Oscar Alache (44,400) and Renata Teixeira (30,100).

So stay tuned as we play down to the money and our final 32 (or 24) players.

Photography from LAPT8 Uruguay by Carlos Monti. You can also follow the action in Spanish and in Portuguese.

Alexander Villegas is a freelance contributor to the PokerStars Blog.

RocknRollax had the world on a string. He carried his overnight chip lead onto the final table, then took out perhaps the tournament's biggest remaining threat, three-time WCOOP champ Mikal "mikal12345" Blomlie in sixth place. Still holding a significant chip lead, he made a five-handed deal, ensuring he would leave the tournament's biggest winner. However, when keeping that lead mattered most, RocknRollax lost focus, opening the door for the scrappy 89rhino89. Ninth of ten in the chip counts to start Day 2, 89rhino89 doubled up early at the final table and busted GX91 in seventh place to put him in contention. When the grind of short-handed play tired his opponents, 89rhino89 found another gear and surged ahead. Heads-up, 89rhino89 came back from a 2 to 1 chip defecit and claimed his first WCOOP bracelet, although RocknRollax came away with the most cash thanks to the deal.

Event #41's NLHE Ante Up format enticed 572 players, their $320 buy-ins combining to create a $171,600 prize pool. 72 places were paid with $32,432.40 set aside for first place.

To give you an idea of the vast amount of play provided in this event, all told, it took more than 10 1/2 hours to reach a final table and another four hours for the final table to play down to a winner, despite reaching a deal five-handed. In the Ante Up format, there is considerably more short-handed play involved when the field reduces from three tables to one. When playing five or six-handed instead of nine-handed, there are fewer antes in the pot to start the action, rather than small and big blinds that constantly whip around the table, gobbling up chips.

Day 1 went on for 27 levels and play was suspended for the evening on the final table bubble, with ten players left. Here's a look at the overnight chip counts:

RocknRollax (United Kingdom) 636,593
mikal12345 (Norway) 554,036
GX91 (Malta) 305,330
vovtroy (Russia) 299,443
edgarbrit1 (Vietnam) 237,459
Bobl124 (Estonia) 231,463
jedi9000 (Canada) 190,594
ramminn (Iceland) 168,601
89rhino89 (Russia) 132,931
dougiedan678 (United Kingdom) 103,550

If several of those names look familiar, you're not alone. Mikal "mikal12345" Blomlie is a three-time WCOOP bracelet winner and earned Player of the Series honors in 2012. Davide "GX91" Marchi was runner-up the Sunday Million earlier this year, banking a cool $135k. 89rhino89 took down the Super Tuesday this March, and vovtroy has made quite a splash in this year's WCOOP, cashing nine times and making three final tables thus far. Going into this event, vovtroy was tied for 11th place in the 2015 WCOOP Player of the Series race.

Action resumed Saturday at 5pm EDT and it only took twenty minutes to set the final table. Short stack dougiedan678 moved all-in for 128,902 and the action folded around to the big blind where GX91 called. Dougiedan678's [Qd][Jd] was dominated by GX91's [As][Qc] and did not improve on the [5h][3d][2h][Th][3h] board. GX91 raked in the pot and dougiedan678 went out on the final table bubble.

Final table chip counts

Seat 1: RocknRollax (531,141 in chips)
Seat 2: ramminn (186,739 in chips)
Seat 3: edgarbrit1 (176,996 in chips)
Seat 4: 89rhino89 (242,677 in chips)
Seat 5: jedi9000 (254,549 in chips)
Seat 6: mikal12345 (463,341 in chips)
Seat 7: Bobl124 (254,737 in chips)
Seat 8: GX91 (516,410 in chips)
Seat 9: vovtroy (233,410 in chips)

89rhino89 ended Day 1 as the second-shortest stack, but got a huge boost when his [Qc][Qh] flopped top set against mikal12345's [As][Ks]. 89rhino89 doubled to 482,000 while mikal12345 slipped to 221,000. However, mikal12345 rebounded when he three-bet shoved preflop behind jedi9000's 117,284 all-in. This time, mikal12345's [Ac][Kd] rivered a pair of kings vs. jedi9000's pocket sevens, and he departed the final table in ninth place.

Two hands later, ramminn moved in for 34,315, 89rhino89 called and GX91 put the squeeze on, making it 75,120 to go. 89rhino89 got out of the way and GX91 turned up [Ac][Ks]. Ramminn's [As][6d] was dominated and he exited in eighth place after getting no help on the board.

The final seven traded pots for more than an hour before another player was eliminated. 89rhino89 picked up [Ad][Js] and opened for 23,555 when GX91 shoved for 187,000 from the big blind. 89rhino89 called and was dismayed to see GX91's [Ah][Qc]. However, 89rhino89 caught running diamonds on the [6c][7d][8d][5d][4d] board to make an ace-high flush, ending GX91's run in seventh place. Then, on the very next deal, mikal12345 four-bet shoved preflop with [Ad][Qs] and three-bettor RocknRollax called with [4d][4c]. RocknRollax's small pair held up on the [9c][6h][3h][2c][2h] board and mikal12345 was suddenly on the rail in sixth place.

With that pot, RocknRollax moved up to 1.22 million and a few hands later, the final five agreed to pause the action and discuss a potential deal. Here's how they stacked up at the time:

RocknRollax - 1,239,647
Bobl124 - 571,179
89rhino89 - 519,308
edgarbrit1 - 326,290
vovtroy - 203,576

Team Online's George "Jorj95" Lind III was on hand to assist the players and per their request, he provided ICM numbers. This seemingly fatigued group quickly agreed to the shares and with an additional $3,000 still at stake for the winner, cards went back in the air.

Only a few hands in, four players limped in to see a [Qc][2d][8d] flop. Edgarbrit1 checked, 89rhino89 bet 14,440 and vovtroy raised to 45,035. Edgarbrit1 got out of the way and 89rhino89 reraised to 94,035. Vovtroy moved in for 190,000 and 89rhino89 called with [Qd][8c] for top two pair. Vovtroy's [Ah][Qs] was roundly outflopped and the [8s] turn gave 89rhino89 a full house. For fifth place, vovtroy earned $14,105.39 along with another 55 WCOOP leaderboard points. He now sits in fourth place in the Player of the Series race with 250 points behind Aftret, Fresh_oO_D and RuiNF, who are all tied for the lead with 295 points apiece.

The antes were up to 8,000 when edgarbrit1 ran afoul of the poker gods. In a four-way pot limped to a [3s][3d][2d] flop, edgarbrit1 made trips with [3h][9d] and led out for 13,333. 89rhino89 folded and Bobl124 raised to 37,967, only to have RocknRollax come over the top for all 1.24 million of his chips. Edgarbrit1 called and RocknRollax crushed his dreams, rolling over [Jc][3c]. The turn was the [6h] and the [Jd] river made RocknRollax threes full, ending edgarbrit1's run in fourth place.

When three-handed playe commenced, RocknRollax was way out in front with 1.8 million, 89rhino89 held 658,000 and Bobl124 was the short stack with 393,000.

89rhino89 surged to 1.27 million in chips off a rush where he won six out of seven pots, but gave most of it back to Bobl124. The money went in on a [Jh][Td][6d][4d] board and 89rhino89 turned over [2d][9d] for a flush. However, the [7d] river made Bobl124 a higher flush with [Jd][Th].

Down to 478,000, 89rhino89 turned Broadway holding [Js][7s] on a [Ts][Qh][As][Kh] board vs. RocknRollax, who flopped bottom set with pocket tens. Te rest of 89rhino89's money went in on the turn and RocknRollax called, but he did not get the full house he needed when the river fell the [4c]. Then, on the next deal, Bobl124 three-bet shoved for 488,000 from the big blind and button raiser RocknRollax called. Bobl124's [Ad][7h] did not improve vs. RocknRollax's pocket nines and Bobl124 went out in third place.

Heads-up chip counts

Seat 1: RocknRollax (1,903,875 in chips)
Seat 4: 89rhino89 (956,125 in chips)

Antes were 12,500 when heads-up play began and RocknRollax passed the 2 million mark in short order. 89rhino89 was down to 553,000, but doubled up when his [Kd][Qd] turned a pair of queens and RocknRollax missed his flush draw with [Jd][3d]. 89rhino89 doubled to 1.1 million and three hands later, check-called RockRollax's flop, turn, and river bets on a [8h][5d][4c][Jh][9h] board. 89rhino89 showed only a pair of fives, but they were good enough to catch RocknRollax's bluff with [Qd][3c]. 89rhino89 moved up to 1.87 million, leaving RocknRollax on 984,000.

A few hands later, 89rhino89 opened for 15,555 on the button and RocknRollax three-bet to 57,380. 89rhino89 called and they saw a [Js][7s][4s] flop. RocknRollax led out for 72,380 and 89rhino89 called. The turn brought the [6c] and RocknRollax fired another 144,760. 89rhino89 called and the river fell the [Th]. RocknRolax bet 289,520, 89rhino89 moved all-in for 1.74 million, and RocknRollax called off his remaining 251,000.

RocknRollax shoved [Qh][Tc] for a pair of tens, but 89rhino89 had flopped a flush with [Ks][8s] and locked up the WCOOP title.

Congratulations to 89rhino89 on a stunning come-from-behind win. In addition to his first WCOOP bracelet, 89rhino89 banked $22,038,82. After leading the pack since the end of Day 1, RocknRollax had to settle for second place, but thanks to the five-handed deal, he collected the largest share of the prize pool at $24,002.10.

The WCOOP is headed into it's last week. Don't miss out on your chance at a bracelet. Check out the WCOOP homepage for a full schedule of events and satellite information. If you don't have a PokerStars account yet... what are you waiting for? ">Click here to sign up.

Event #41: $320 NLHE Ante up
Entrants:572
Prize pool: $171,600
Places paid: 72

1. 89rhino89 (Russia) $22,038.82*
2. RocknRollax (United Kingdom) $24,002.10*
3. Bobl124 (Estonia) $19,592.68*
4. edgarbrit1 (Vietnam) $16,442.81*
5. vovtroy (Russia) $14,105.39*
6. Mikal "mikal12345" Blomlie (Norway) $7,293.00
7. GX91 (Malta) $5,577.00
8. ramminn (Iceland) $3,861.00
9. jedi9000 (Canada) $2,625.48

*= reflects the results of a five-handed deal that left $3,000 in play for the winner