Limit Holdem isn't everyone's cup of tea, but the World Championship of Online Poker continue to prove there is a demand for one of the most traditional forms of poker.

Event #10 of the 2015 WCOOP schedule would see a strong field of 549 players pony up $215 for the Limit Holdem 6-Max Event to exceed the advertised guarantee. Bertrand Grospellier, Andre Akkari, Luka Kovač, Eugene Katchalov, George Danzer, Matthias de Meulder, Jason Mercier and Naoya Kihara were all in the field representing Team PokerStars but they would be bounced out short of the money for the top 72 players.

Another to feel the pain of defeat was Russian krakura who was the unfortunate bubble, leaving everyone else with a minimum $351.36 safely secured.

Just as we had seen a day earlier, Jason "jcarverpoker" Somerville was making waves with another deep run in a WCOOP event, much to the delight of his legion of railbirds. There wouldn't be a repeat final table this time around though as Somerville was eliminated in 23rd place for a $768.60 return.

When former WCOOP champion Mrp1neApple was eliminated on the final table bubble in seventh place, our final table was set.

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Final Table Line up
Seat 1: reidir (795,903 in chips)
Seat 2: tatianita032 (118,190 in chips)
Seat 3: CatPuppy1999 (654,659 in chips)
Seat 4: Dancer King (414,688 in chips)
Seat 5: Tom "Jabracada" Hall (604,442 in chips)
Seat 6: GRAILKO (157,118 in chips)

With the blinds kicking off the final table at 6,000/12,000, there were already a few short stacks under pressure, and one of those would be tatianita032.

tatianita032 was all in preflop with [ah][3c] and got action from two opponents who played out a big side pot on a board of [7s][4h][6h][7h][Jc]. On the river, GRAILKO was all in with CatPuppy1999 calling it down with [ac][7c] for trip sevens. However GRAILKO showed [kh][9h] for the flush to more than double up as tatianita032's ace-high was left to head to the rail in sixth place for a $3,513.60 score.

High stakes player and promoter, Tom "Jabracada" Hall was the highest profile player on the final table, but with five players left, Jabracada started to slide onto the short stack after missing a few flops. Jabracada landed a double up with ace-king against the pocket fives of reidir when a king landed on the river, but he couldn't mount a comeback.

The blinds got hold and Jabracada was short when he found [4d][4s] and stuck the rest of his chips in the middle. There was plenty of action with three callers, but by the river on the [8h][Ac][2s][5c][8d] board, Dancer King was the only opponent standing. Dancer King showed [tc][8c] for trip eights and that was too much for Jabracada who was eliminated in fifth place for $5,490.00.

GRAILKO had done well to survive after coming into the final table as one of the shorties, but the end would come in fourth place.

GRAILKO was almost down to the felt when all in with [4c][7s] against reidir's pocket aces, but a couple of fours on the flop and a seven on the turn would give GRAILKO a full house for a rather incredible double up.

However the comeback was short lived as GRAILKO couldn't find another good spot to accumulate chips. Blinded down to three big blinds, GRAILKO went with [3s][6s] preflop against reidir's [qs][jd]. The board of [Qh][Js][3h][7s][8d] brought two pair for reidir, sending GRAILKO home with $7,686.00 for fourth place.

reidir and Dancer King were the big stacks as CatPuppy1999 would slip back before a raising war erupted in a battle of the blinds with reidir. CatPuppy1999 three-bet preflop in the big blind, and then raised a bet on a [as][2c][5d] flop. When the [6c] hit the turn, the final chips were in the middle with CatPuppy1999 showing [kd][5c] for a pair of fives, but reidir had a real hand with [ah][9d] for top pair. The river was the [qs] to leave CatPuppy1999 to depart in third place for $11,254.50.

Heads-up chip counts
Seat 1: reidir (1,567,856 in chips)
Seat 4: Dancer King (1,177,144 in chips)

reidir would hold the chip lead into heads-up play with Dancer King in what would turn out to be quite an intense battle.

The chips would swing back and forth on several occasions. Dancer King took over the lead and looked a chance to go all the way, but ultimately it would be the aggression of reidir that would arrest control. Not a lot of pots went to showdown, but reidir was able to grind down Dancer King slowly but surely in true Limit Holdem grinding fashion.

When on the short stack, Dancer King would survive several all-in clashes, one with a life-saving deuce on the river to make trips against reidir's better pair to continue the battle.

However when reidir flopped a straight in a three-bet pot and got value on every street, reidir was just one hand away from victory.

The final hand would see Dancer King, with around four big blinds, raise it up from the button, reidir three-bet and Dancer King was committed all in with [tc][8s]. However the timing wasn't great as reidir showed up with a monster [kc][ks]! Dancer King caught a pair but it wasn't enough on a board of [4s][3h][7d][Ts][9s].

Dancer King picked up $15,372 for second place, but in the end it would be Brazil's reidir who would claim the WCOOP title along with an impressive $20,862 in prize money.

With that victory we believe that reidir will take the lead in the WCOOP Player of the Series leaderboard...at least for now!

WCOOP-10: $215 FL Holdem 6-Max - $75K Guaranteed
Entrants: 549
Prize Pool: $109,800
Places Paid: 72

1. reidir (Brazil) $20,862.00
2. Dancer King (Russia) $15,372.00
3. CatPuppy1999 (Germany) $11,254.50
4. GRAILKO (Poland) $7,686.00
5. Tom "Jabracada" Hall (United Kingdom) $5,490.00
6. tatianita032 (Colombia) $3,513.60

The 2015 World Championship of Online Poker is just getting started with over 70 events across the series. Check out the WCOOP home page for the full schedule of events playing out over the next three weeks.

Haven't gotten a PokerStars account yet? Join the world's biggest site now!

Heath "TassieDevil" Chick is a freelance contributor to PokerStars Blog.

3:00pm: Let's go!

Day 2 is officially a go.

The blind level duration has been extended from 45 minutes to 60 minutes but with only six levels on the schedule for today we're in for a shorter day here.

The average stack is currently 65,549 and blinds continue at 1,200/2,400 with a 400 ante.

It's time for Day 2!

Day 2 is upon us.

The Red Dragon continues today with people now wandering in to PokerStars LIVE before we get underway.

The four Day 1 flights attracted a field of 945 total entrants but now only 213 remain. They'll play through six one-hour long levels today.

The current chip leader is India's Shashank Jain who finished play on Day 1d with a stack of 171,400. You can find a full rundown of yesterday's action here before we kick off at 3:00pm.

Stay with us for all your live reporting needs!

"After this is over, we should have some Klingon blood wine... that is what honourable warriors do."

When was the last time you heard that at a poker table? Then again, when was the last time you played poker with an extraterrestrial?

Let me explain.

In Event #6 of the WCOOP 2015, the $700 PL Omaha [6-Max, Monday PLO SE], a champion from last year has just won their second WCOOP crown. The thing is - he says he isn't human. He actually identifies himself as a Klingon - the extraterrestrial humanoid warriors from Star Trek.

You see, for a long time we were under the impression that Matt 'plattsburgh' Vengrin, who took this event down for $90,157.72 and his second WCOOP title in consecutive years, was a dude from New York, who had moved to Mexico after Black Friday in order to continue plying his trade on the online felt. Brad Willis, PokerStars Head of Blogging, even interviewed him last year following his win in a $320 NLHE WCOOP event.

It turns out we were wrong.

"I am a KLINGON. If you doubt it, a demonstration CAN be arranged!" Vengrin announced in the chat to tournament monitor and member of Team PokerStars Online Mickey 'mement_mori' Petersen.

We're still waiting to hear back on whether or not those arrangements were made...

The trek to stardom

A total of 769 players entered this event, and several big names made the money including Team PokerStars Pro ElkY (58th - $1,585.29), Patrick 'pads1161' Leonard (16th - $4,449.04) and Chris 'Moorman1' Moorman (90th - $1,278.32).

However, two levels into Day 2, with the blinds at 10,000/20,000 and having reached a final table of six, the chip stacks weighed up like this:

1. gavz101 (United Kingdom) - 1,818,878
2. fjutekk (Sweden) - 1,142,113
3. Cashcid Linc (Germany) - 1,054,463
4. plattsburgh (Mexico) - 796,022
5. MaTitheone (Poland) - 593,863
6. Ravenswood13 (Malta) - 326,161

It was a talented bunch. As well as the eventual winner we had Gavin 'gavz101' Cochrane, an online nosebleed cash game beast and accomplished tournament player too, having already won a SCOOP event back in 2010. The Brit came into the final table with a dominant chip lead.

Also present was Germany's Cashcid Linc, who won the Super Tuesday for $77,911 only in July, and has also won a Pokerstars.fr SCOOP event in the past. Ravenswood13 is another high-stake cash game phenom, while Sweden's fjutekk is a skilled $25/$50 PLO cash game player in his own right.

The human starts huge, but the Klingon clings on

You don't reach the top of the nosebleeds without knowing a thing or two, and throughout this final table Gavin 'gavz101' Cochrane showed us why he's considered one of the best.

Ravenswood13 would be his first victim and our 6th place finisher. He opened for 44,800 and both gavz101 and Cashcid Linc called from the small and big blinds, respectively. The [5c][3s][8h] flop caused the chipleader to lead at it with a bet of 90,000, which got a fold from the player to his left. The short stack was going nowhere, however, and shoved for 317,361 total. The snap call meant the cards were flipped: [8s][9h][7h][6s] for Ravenswood13, for a juicy wrap and top pair, but still currently trailing the [ac][8c][9d][3h] two pair of the SCOOP champion. The [5h] turn made things interesting - a wrap and a flush draw is one heck of a PLO hand. But the [as] on the river sealed the deal and the six-max was now down to five.

From this point, gavz101 was unrelenting in his quest to become a double COOP champ. In one hand he took half the stack of Cashcid Linc, then just a few hands later it was fjutekk's turn to lose a few hundred thousand. He doubled up MaTitheone three hands after that, and then did the same for Cashcid Linc again just a couple of hands later (although, at that point, Cashcid Linc was in the big bling with just five bigs behind). Despite all of this action, gavz101 still had twice as many chips as his next opponent.

Cashcid Linc was the next to fall. A heads up all-in pot with fjutekk saw, by the turn, a board of [8d][qs][6s][ac], giving the German player two pair and the nut flush draw. However, the hand was trailing fjutekk's top two pair, and couldn't improve on the river. We had our final four.

With the freshly-gained chips and confidence, fjutekk began to take it to the chipleader, scooping a 1,300,000 pot against gavz101 in just the very next hand. Here's how the chip stacks looked then:

Matt 'Plattsburgh' Vengrin, AKA the Klingon, was doing just that - clinging on and staying hopeful. He even complimented gavz101 for his skills as a "warrior". It was only after MaTitheone was eliminated in fourth place by the chipleader that the Klingon warrior began his descent to the stars, doubling up through gavz101 and winning big pots from fjutekk, who eventually busted out in third place.

With blinds at 20,000/40,000, the Swede opened to 100,000 and got a three-bet from gavz101 to 340,000. After calling, the two saw a flop of [ah][6s][qs] which gavz101 fired into with a 240,000 bet. At this point, fjutekk moved all in for 1,412,774 which was called. It was [7c][ac][td][6d] for the Swede, and [kc][ks][jh][js] for gavz101. Despite being ahead with two pair, fjutekk was only a 49.3% favourite to win against the flush and straight draws of his opponent. The [th] turn completed the straight, and the [8h] river changed nothing. We were heads up.

Klingon vs Cochrane - champion vs champion

Both the Klingon - Matt 'Plattsburgh' Vengrin - and Gavin 'gavz101' Cochrane were playing for their second COOP titles and a first prize of more than $90,000, which made the battle very exciting indeed. Not that you'd know it from the chat box though.

"Gavz. After this is over, we should have some Klingon blood wine... that is what honourable warriors do," said Vengrin. "Agreed," replied Cochrane.

Gavz101 was a big chipleader with 4,265,278 to plattsburgh's 1,502,222 - but this is PLO, and it doesn't take long for things to change. The Klingon went on a tear winning pot after pot, one of which was worth more than 1.6 million. He eventually took his first lead of the final table.

"Gamble time I think," said gavz101 as his stack became shorter and shorter. The Klingon's response was short and sweet: "Okie."

It wasn't going to end without a fight though. Gavz101 doubled up and re-took the chip lead when his made hand held against plattsburgh's wrap, but just like that the Klingon regained his edge. With blinds at 25,000/50,000 and 600,000 in the pot already by the flop of [jc][qh][3d], gavz101 fired for 250,000 which was called. The turn was the [5d] and now the bet was 750,000; this time, though, plattsburgh shoved for 1,826,266 and was called.

plattsburgh - [8d][5s][qc][7c]
gavz101 - [td][ad][jd][kh]

The Brit had was behind but his draw was enormous - any ace, king, ten, nine or diamond would give him the win...but the [6s] meant the pot (and massive chiplead) slid to plattsburgh. Three hands later and it was over when gavz101's [2h][6h][8d][8c] was out flopped, turned and rivered by plattsburgh's [3h][td][ks][2s], eventually giving him a winning hand of tens full of kings.

So what have we learnt tonight?

- Matt 'Plattsburgh' Vengrin is a Klingon
- He's also now a two-time WCOOP champion
- Gavin 'gavz101' remains an online poker beast
- Mickey 'mement_mori' Petersen isn't interested in arranging a Klingon demonstration

But where will the honourable warriors meet to drink their Klingon blood wine? That's what we really want to know...

WCOOP-06: $700 PL Omaha [6-Max, Monday PLO SE]

Entries: 769

Prize pool: $511,385
Places paid: 102

1. Matt 'Plattsburgh' Vengrin (Mexico) $90,157.72
2. Gavin 'gavz101' Cochrane (United Kingdom) $66,480.05
3. fjutekk (Sweden) $51,138.50
4. MaTitheone (Poland) $35,796.95
5. Cashcid Linc (Germany) $25,569.25
6. Ravenswood13 (Malta) $15,341.55

Take a look at the the WCOOP page for info and reports from the entire 2015 series. Enjoy!

Want to play poker with Klingons at PokerStars? Click here to get an account.

Jack Stanton is a professional journalist and freelance writer for PokerStars.

Out of 1,256 entrants, the six making the final table of WCOOP Event #5, a $215 buy-in 6-max. no-limit hold'em event with rebuys, represented a talented group including David "EzPaTuLa" Cabrera, David "davidv1213" Vamplew, Nick "FU_15" Maimone, and Christopher "lissi stinkt" Frank -- all accomplished players with an impressive collection of live and online achievements between them.

In the end, though, it was Russia's MiracleQ who managed to overcome the tough line-up and carry away the bracelet, earning a nifty $101,575.49 prize as well following a three-handed final table deal.

Those 1,256 players took 1,304 rebuys and 980 add-ons, creating a big $708,000 prize pool that easily topped the event's $500K guarantee.

The first day of play involved players working their way through 28 fifteen-minute levels. They were able to reach the final two tables just before play concluded, and after Sweden's Perrymejsen went out in 18th place for a $5,841 cash, the tournament was paused overnight with neverfoldQ5 of Austria and MiracleQ of Russia sitting atop the leaderboard as the only players with more than 1 million chips.

Here's a look at how everyone's chip counts looked to conclude Day 1, with a number of familiar folks among those still in the hunt:

1. neverfoldQ5 (Austria) -- 1,127,785
2. MiracleQ (Russia) -- 1,121,826
3. cube.com (Germany) -- 967,536
4. Christopher "lissi stinkt" Frank (Germany) -- 929,536
5. David "davidv1213" Vamplew (United Kingdom) -- 889,193
6. Vinny "BgsaPnaples" Maglio (Canada) -- 857,885
7. David "EzPaTuLa" Cabrera (United Kingdom) -- 855,848
8. StEeEINuTz (Canada) -- 852,113
9. deivid29 (Czech Republic) -- 782,365
10. Wesley "ZeelandBoy" Wiemes (Malta) -- 743,728
11. 'Chas3r.007 (Netherlands) -- 712,127
12. Evgeniy "as1025" Zaytsev (Russia) -- 690,663
13. Joep "Pappe_Ruk" van den Bijgaart (Netherlands) -- 619,035
14. Ahhh Is It? (United Kingdom) -- 534,923
15. Nick "FU_15" Maimone (Honduras) -- 406,312
16. lteopepe88 (Hungary) -- 261,958
17. Pandochka515 (Russia) -- 227,509

Over the first hour of play on Tuesday, five of the short stacks fell -- Pandochka515 (in 17th), lteopepe88 (16th), Evgeniy "as1025" Zaytsev (15th), Ahh Is It? (14th), and Joep "Pappe_Ruk" van den Bijgaart (13th) -- and they were down to two tables with MiracleQ having assumed the top spot with more than 1.86 million.

Wesley "ZeelandBoy" Wiemes was next out in 12th, and after having slipped in the counts neverfoldQ5 followed him to the rail in 11th. Vinny "BgsaPnaples" Maglio followed in 10th, with those three each earning $8,142 for their finishes.

Then amid a lot of all-ins and double-ups, deivid29 (ninth), cube.com (eighth), and eventually 'Chas3r.007 successively fell, earning $12,036 apiece, and after almost two-and-a-half-hours of play on Day 2, the final table was set. After starting the day as one of the short stacks, Nick "FU_15" Maimone was on top with six players remaining.

Seat 1: David "davidv1213" Vamplew (United Kingdom) -- 1,400,566
Seat 2: MiracleQ (Russia) -- 1,661,984
Seat 3: StEeEINuTz (Canada) -- 3,032,395
Seat 4: Nick "FU_15" Maimone (Honduras) -- 3,118,487
Seat 5: Christopher "lissi stinkt" Frank (Germany) -- 2,048,133
Seat 6: David "EzPaTuLa" Cabrera (United Kingdom) -- 1,318,435

It took a full hour before the first final table knockout occurred.

It happened in a hand that saw EPT7 London Main Event champion David "davidv1213" Vamplew open with a just-over-2x raise to 176,000 from early position, then StEeEINuTz push all in for 846,001 total from the button. The blinds folded and Vamplew called, showing [Ah][Qd] versus StEeEINuTz's [Ac][Td]. The board came [9c][5c][Kh][9d][7d], and StEeEINuTz was done in sixth.

About 15 minutes later it was Nick "FU_15" Maimone open-pushing for just over 1.97 million (not quite 20 BBs) from the cutoff, then Christopher "lissi stinkt" Frank reraised from the button to chase the blinds. Maimone had [8c][8s] but had run into Frank's [Jd][Js], and five cards later -- [5h][Tc][5d][Qs][6h] -- they were down to four.

A couple of orbits later David "davidv1213" Vamplew was the one open-pushing, in his case from the button for 867,240 (not quite nine BBs), and getting called by MiracleQ. Vamplew had [Ad][Ks] and was racing against MiracleQ's [5s][5c]. The community cards came [2c][7d][6s], then [8s], then [Js], and with no improvement to his hand, Vamplew's run had ended with a fourth-place finish.

Soon the tourney was paused, and with MiracleQ leading (with 5,173,634), Christopher "lissi stinkt" Frank next (with 4,306,874), and David "EzPaTuLa" Cabrera in third (with 3,099,492), the final trio had a deal discussion. The group quickly agreed to an "ICM"-based chop -- leaving $10,000 on the table for which to play -- and soon cards were back in the air.

Once the deal was made, it didn't take much longer for players to reach the finish line.

Just seven hands later, David "EzPaTuLa" Cabrera had slipped under 640,000 (less than six-and-a-half BBs), and after posting the small blind open-pushed and was called by MiracleQ. Cabrera had [Ah][2d] and a small preflop edge against MiracleQ's [Ks][Qs], but the flop came [3d][Qd][3c] to hit the latter's hand. The turn was the [6c] and river the [Ts], and just like that they were down to two players.

The stacks were nearly even to start heads-up play between MiracleQ (6,555,371) and Christopher "lissi stinkt" Frank (6,024,629). Frank was looking to add a WCOOP title to the SCOOP one he earned last May after taking down the $1,050 NLHE Progressive Super KO event for $158K-plus.

They remained close for the first few hands, then MiracleQ claimed a few medium-sized pots to create some distance between the pair. Before long they had only been at it for a few minutes, but MiracleQ was already up over 10.7 million to Frank's almost 1.86 million when the final hand took place.

The blinds were 50,000/100,000 with a 12,500 ante, and after Frank limped in from the button, MiracleQ raised to 300,000 and Frank called. The flop came [4s][5h][6c]. MiracleQ led for 262,500, then Frank raised to 1,148,000, leaving just 26,062 behind. MiracleQ responded with a reraise, and Frank called off with the last of his stack.

MiracleQ: [9d][9h]
lissi stinkt: [Kc][8c]

MiracleQ had an overpair while Frank was drawing. The turn then brought the [6d] and the river the [Ac]. MiracleQ's nines had held up, earning the Russian the title.

Congratulations to MiracleQ for winning Event #5, a six-figure payday, and a shiny new WCOOP bracelet. Kudos also to Christopher "lissi stinkt" Frank and David "EzPaTuLa" Cabrera for getting to the three-handed deal and banking handsome paydays for themselves as well.

WCOOP-05: $215+R NLHE (6-Max)

Entries: 1,256 (1,304 rebuys, 980 add-ons)

Prize pool: $708,000

Places paid: 168

1. MiracleQ (Russia) -- $101,575.49*
2. Christopher "lissi stinkt" Frank (Germany) $88,758.09*
3. David "EzPaTuLa" Cabrera (United Kingdom) $83,662.42*
4. David "davidv1213" Vamplew (United Kingdom) $45,666.00
5. Nick "FU_15" Maimone (Honduras) $29,877.60
6. StEeEINuTz (Canada) $19,470.00
* = denotes a three-way deal

The 70-event 2015 World Championship of Online Poker is just getting started. Visit the WCOOP page for results from all the events, the updated Player of the Series leaderboard, and a full schedule of remaining tournaments.

Haven't gotten a PokerStars account yet? Join the world's biggest site now.

The first few days of any Red Dragon at PokerStars LIVE Macau is a like a giant reunion.

Hundreds of poker players from around the world under one roof, catching up and getting ready to share in the experience of playing one of the region's favourite poker tournaments.

China's Yaxi Zhu and Taiwan's Chen-An Lin are two familiar faces of poker in Macau. Both have posted big results in the past and both are in attendance at this week's 23rd edition of the Macau Poker Cup.

This time around something is different for Zhu and Lin, however.

And the almost 1,000 players partaking in the Red Dragon are starting to notice.

After all, this is the first outing as members of Team PokerStars Pros for two up and coming faces of the Asian poker scene. Their confidence must be at an all-time high and that should have their opponents scared to face them at the felt. Ultimately, however, all the players at PokerStars LIVE Macau seem excited that they have two new professionals representing poker in what is still an ever-growing region.

Lin is certainly excited to help poker grow in Asia and especially in Taiwan.

"The best thing about getting this opportunity as a Team PokerStars Pro is the chance to represent Taiwain," Lin told us during a break at the Red Dragon. "I think a lot of poker players in Asia dream about being able to help poker grow in their region and I get to live that dream of representing Taiwanese poker.

Zhu is also excited at the prospect of helping poker become as big as possible in Asia and is already thinking about how she is going to make an impact.

"Poker in China is different to anywhere in the world," Zhu said. "If you are promoting poker in Europe or the United States or Australia, it's already a very mature market. In China, it's just in the baby stage."

"I think you have to be creative in the ways you try to attract new players. You have to take into account the difference between players who don't know anything about poker and those that know at least a little bit."

Lin has already seen huge growth in poker in his home country and doesn't really see a limit to how much bigger it could get.

"There is no limit to how big poker could grow in Taiwan, but right now it is gaining a lot of momentum and growing every day," Lin said. "You can see the growth of poker everywhere. Even when you walk around the city people are playing poker at night markets and everywhere. It's great to see."

No doubt poker in Asia has grown in recent years with much of that seen right here in the Macau Poker Cup which has hosted some of the biggest fields in the world. Zhu is relishing in the chance to play the Red Dragon and considers it one of the most important events in this region.

"The Red Dragon is very popular in China. I actually think players in China revere the Red Dragon more than even the APPT and ACOP. The buy-in is just a great amount for this market. And no doubt the reputation of the Red Dragon has grown with players like Celina Lin winning two titles and some other Chinese players doing really well."

Lin and Zhu will certainly be hoping to continue to make a name for themselves at the tables with some results during this current Macau Poker Cup and more in the future. But what's clearly more important to them is the continued strength and growth of poker In Asia.

You can be sure poker is in safe hands with Lin and Zhu joining an already impressive roster of Team PokerStars Pro in this region.

The Macau Poker Cup 23 runs until September 13 and live updates of the event can be found on the Red Dragon page here at the PokerStarsBlog.

Welcome to Red Dragon Day 1d!

It's about 45 minutes away from the start of the fourth Day 1 flight here and the room is packed out with players registering and railing the HK$5,000 event.

Yesterday saw 272 in the hunt for the best looking trophy in poker and today is expected to attract an even bigger field. You can find a full recap of Day 1c here before Day 1d kicks off at 7:00pm.

We'll have everything you need to know right here at the PokerStars Blog so stay with us!

The Sunday Million is already one of the biggest tournaments in poker, drawing thousands of players and awarding bankroll-busting prizes every week. The only thing better is a special edition during one of the COOP series, and with the start of WCOOP 2015 that means this week's tourney was bound to be massive from the beginning. It's events like these that can create career-defining wins, and the United Kingdom's V7JCV21 scored exactly that after bringing the chip lead to the final table and riding out some tough competition to claim a first career WCOOP title.

A total field of 8,673 players showed up yesterday to play this Sunday Million Special Edition, a jump of more than 3,200 from last week's installment that awarded $158,000 to first place. That beat the $1.5 million guarantee for a total prize pool of $1,734,600, with 1,170 places paid and $260,193.87 set aside for the winner. By the time they finished the 10K/20K/2.5K level there were just 119 left, led by MarcosBubu of the U.K. with 2,204,488 chips.

Team Pro and COOP dynamo Jason Mercier was still in the hunt, though in 98th place with 340,169 chips he had his work cut out for him when Day 2 began at 2:30 p.m. ET. Mercier doubled up to 537K early with pocket nines against M1ndre4der's A-7. But his next attempt to build the stack didn't work out. Holding just under 20 big blinds, he min-raised in the cutoff with [As] [Jc] and called when bb23 re-raised all-in from the big blind. Mercer called but couldn't outrun bb23's pocket kings, and he bowed out in 103rd place ($1,491.75). Day 1 chip leader MarcosBubu suffered a similar fate, bowing out in 52nd place ($2,948.82).

After almost six hours of poker the blinds and antes had reached 200K/400K/50K and these nine players are all that remained:

Seat 1: paul_peaches (11,131,668 in chips)
Seat 2: komarolo22 (6,055,994 in chips)
Seat 3: papatudin (13,964,260 in chips)
Seat 4: Masta_shadow (5,494,828 in chips)
Seat 5: I JEFF I (10,260,916 in chips)
Seat 6: V7JCV21 (19,130,231 in chips)
Seat 7: nmafra7 (6,283,671 in chips)
Seat 8: NoTilit (9,986,244 in chips)
Seat 9: thesilbysays (4,422,188 in chips)

The big stacks had a mathematical advantage, but in practice the early going belonged to the underdogs. Half the table was holding on to 15 big blinds or less, so there was plenty of action from the beginning. The bulk of it resulted in raise-and-take-it pots, but when there was a showdown between a desperate player and a comfortable one, the short stack won. Masta_shadow, last seen finishing as runner-up in a 2015 TCOOP event, was one of the beneficiaries. nmafra7 and 2014 SCOOP runner-up I JEFF I doubled their stacks, too,.

After 25 minutes of short stack survival, two nearly even stacks collided when paul_peaches ran [7h] [7s] into Masta_shadow's [Jd] [Jh]. No help from the board left paul_peaches with only 235K, just enough to post the ante three times. paul_peaches did just that and survived on the last one, going runner-runner for two pair with [5c] [4d] to beat Masta_shadow's flopped top pair with [Ac] [Qc].

While paul_peaches was holding on, two more similar stacks ran into each other with strong starting hands. NoTilit opened all-in with [Ad] [Jc] and had komarolo22, who called with [Ah] [Ks], covered by just 27,750 chips. Neither hand improved, komarolo22 won the 13.8M-chip pot, and suddenly the table had two players with chips stacks worth less than one small blind.
NoTilit survived the next hand with [9s] [5h] against nmafra7's [Ad] [Kc] to get back to 250K, but amazingly, the Lithuanian player would manage to climb the ladder not one but two spots. The next hand kicked off with an all-in raise to 4.4M in early position by thesilbysays, who held [Kc] [Qc]. paul_peaches had been anted all-in with [9d] [4c], and both players faced an uphill climb when V7JCV21 came in from the small blind with [Qd] [Qs]. Neither was able to make it, the [4h] [6d] [5d] [As] [Tc] board gave V7JCV21 the 10.1M-chip pot, and both paul_peaches (9th place, $13,443.15) and thesilbysays (8th, $19947.90) left the tournament.

That sent the final table to its first break, and NoTilit was all-in from the big blind with [Ts] [2d] on the first hand back. V7JCV21 raised all-in on the button and got heads-up with [Ah] [5s] when nmafra7 folded in the big blind. Neither hand improved when the board came [4c] [Kh] [9s] [8s] [6s], and NoTilit's string of artful dodges came to an end in 7th place ($34,692).

What about Jeff?

With that consolidation, the leaderboard looked very different than before and had no clear leader:

Seat 2: komarolo22 (13,116,988 in chips)
Seat 3: papatudin (5,426,760 in chips)
Seat 4: Masta_shadow (21,686,526 in chips)
Seat 5: I JEFF I (18,437,352 in chips)
Seat 6: V7JCV21 (17,307,032 in chips)
Seat 7: nmafra7 (10,755,342 in chips)

And with 300K/600K/75K blinds and antes, it was time to shake up the order or collect a payday. komarolo22 managed the latter four hands later, four-betting all-in with [Ad] [Kh] after opening for the minimum raise and being three-bet in the small blind by I JEFF I, who had [Jd] [Jh]. An ace on the flop gave komarolo22 the 27.1M-chip pot and the chip lead.

That left I JEFF I with less than 10 big blinds, and then one of those funny twists of poker happened three hands later. I JEFF I picked up [Jd] [Js] again and doubled through V7JCV21, who held [Ah] [Kh]. After a stretch of pots won before the flop, I JEFF I won the next significant one, worth 11M, with an all-in five-bet out of the big blind after komarolo22's minimum raise and four-bet. With that, I JEFF I moved up to 18.4M, within less than one ante of where six-handed play had begun.

The buffer served I JEFF I well when a race with [Kc] [Qd] against V7JCV21's [Jh] [Js] ended with V7JCV21 doubling up. I JEFF I had 5.9M, just two big blinds ahead of papatudin, who took a stab at doubling up under the gun with [Ad] [8s] and topped V7JCV21's [Kh] [Qs] to climb to 8.5M, and then followed by splitting another all-in pot with komarolo22 when both players showed A-Q. I JEFF I had the chance to steal with [Ac] [3s] when the action folded around to the cutoff on the next hand and took it, jamming for 6M, and got action from V7JCV21, who held [Td] [Ts]. No help showed up on the [8d] [Qc] [Jh] [9d] [Ks] board, and I JEFF I's harried final table run came to an end in 6th place ($52,038).

nmafra7's stack had been dwindling throughout the preceding stretch and reached its final table starting level, so [Kc] [Qs] was attractive enough to open all-in from the cutoff. komarolo22 called with [Ah] [Jh] but missed out on the pot when a queen spiked on the river. The 12.8M won there, along with 10.1M with a diamond flush two hands later, boosted nmafra7 to 18.1M and out of immediate danger.

papatudin had no luxuries with just 6M chips and stole two straight pots, a perfect setup to get action when the Brazilian picked up [Ac] [Ah] three hands later. Masta_shadow obligingly called with [Ad] [Jd] and picked up a straight draw on the flop, but the board read [Kd] [9d] [7s] [9h] [3h] by the river to double papatudin's stack to 21.2M. Three hands later Masta_shadow would try to re-steal with [As] [6h] in the big blind when komarolo22 opened on the button, but the Uruguayan player called with [7c] [7h]. The pair held up and Masta_shadow slipped away in 5th place ($69,384).

Rising to the top

The start of four-handed play saw 500K/1M/125K blinds and antes kick in and komarolo22 in a favorable, if not dominant, position:

Seat 2: komarolo22 (33,874,418 in chips)
Seat 3: papatudin (19,707,040 in chips)
Seat 6: V7JCV21 (17,397,858 in chips)
Seat 7: nmafra7 (15,750,684 in chips)

The Uruguayan extended that advantage by taking down eight of the next 10 pots through sheer aggression, climbing to 49.4M while everyone else had between 10M and 15.6M. Then nmafra7 picked up [Kd] [Ks], shoved under the gun, and papatudin called in the small blind [Ah] [Qc]. An ace on the turn of the [5h] [Td] [Js] [Ad] [3d] sank the cowboys, and nmafra7 departed in 4th place ($87,423.84).

Play was cautious enough three-handed that aside from an early split pot between komarolo22 and papatudin, it took 37 hands to see a hand go past the flop. papatudin won that one with a bet of 3.3M into 13M, and another 10 hands went by without a showdown before the Brazilian open-shoved from the small blind with [As] [3h] and V7JCV21 put the tournament on the line, calling with [5d] [5h]. The pair held up when the board came [3c] [6h] [9c] [7h] [Kh], and suddenly V7JCV21 was in front of the competition by 15 big blinds.

Two hands later that advantage grew when V7JCV21 opened for the minimum on the button with [Ad] [Td] and papatudin jammed with [Kd] [2d] in the big blind. V7JCV21 made a pair of tens on the turn of the [9d] [7h] [7d] [Ts] [4s] board, more than enough to win the 34.1M-chip pot and knock papatudin out in 3rd place ($130,095).

That gave V7JCV21 63.4M chips to komarolo22's 23.3M as heads-up play began. komarolo22 made a fight out of it, stretching the duel to 27 hands, and pulled to within 14 big blinds before the turning point. V7JCV21 open-limped on the button and called komarolo22's minimum raise to 2.4M to see the [2c] [2d] [3h] flop. V7JCV21 called 2.1M there, both players checked the [6c] turn, and then V7JCV21 called again when komarolo22 bet 5.4M on the river. The Uruguayan showed [7s] [6s] for two pair, sixes and treys, but V7JCV21 won the pot with [9d] [3d] for nines and treys.

komarolo22 wasn't destitute with 20.3M chips, but V7JCV21 kept up the pressure and eventually called with [Kd] [Jc] in the big blind when komarolo22 opened all-in for 12.8M on the button with [Qh] [2h]. A jack on the flop and another on the turn of the [Js] [6s] [As] [Jh] [9h] flop sealed komarolo22's fate, and the tournament came to an end.

komarolo22 earned $190,806 for second place, a very healthy score this early in the WCOOP schedule. Any finish at this final table would have been a new personal best for V7JCV21, but the $260,193.87 win set the new standard by quite a margin over an $8,134 score back in July of this year. If V7JCV21 didn't already have plans to play the entire series, they might have started to develop thanks to a newly flush bankroll. Congratulations to both players on their big paydays!

WCOOP 2015: Event #4, $215 No-Limit Hold'em (Sunday Million SE)
Entrants: 8,673
Prize pool: $1,734,600
Places paid: 1,170
1. V7JCV21 (United Kingdom) $260,193.87
2. komarolo22 (Uruguay) $190,806
3. papatudin (Brazil) $130,095
4. nmafra7 (Australia) $87,423.84
5. Masta_shadow (Netherlands) $69,384
6. I JEFF I (Austria) $52,038
7. NoTilit (Lithuania) $34,692
8. thesilbysays (Canada) $19,947.90
9. paul_peaches (Australia) $13,443.15

Jason Kirk is a freelance contributor to PokerStars Blog.

The Sunday majors have gone on a temporary break, but of the best kind: to make way for the 2015 World Championship of Online Poker. Big money on the line means big opportunities for rising to the occasion, and that's exactly what Ecuador's juswhackit did in the second event, slipping away with the win after waiting in the wings

This week's Sunday Warm-Up was replaced by Event #2, a two-day, 6-max special edition of the old $215 favorite with a $1 million guaranteed prize pool. That brought out the masses, with 5,135 players bumping the prize pool up to $1,027,000 and setting up a first-place prize worth more than $156,000. The journey to get there on Day 2 would provide a perfect example of how a chip lead, though everyone wants it, guarantees nothing in a no-limit hold'em tournament.

Day 2 overture

Just 57 players were left when Day 1 ended at the end of the 10K/20K/2.5K level, led by NickSen88 of Denmark, who had amassed a stack worth 3,755,484 chips. Among those still in the hunt at the close of Day 1 was Team Pro's Marcin "Goral" Horecki, who sat in 38th place with 563,474 chips. Unfortunately for him, he bowed out shortly after play resumed in 50th place ($2,105.35).

NickSen88 made it considerably further, but the last two tables found the player from Denmark in survival mode. A crucial double-up with A-Q against J-T moved NickSen88 back up to 20 big blinds to stay alive. A combination of encroaching blinds and antes and consistent aggression from the rest of the players at the table whittled that stack down to less than 10 big blinds by the time there were just eight players remaining, but then pocket queens came along and NickSen88 was back over 15 big blinds again as the last break before the final table began.

Things went downhill on the 80K/160K/20K level, though, as NickSen88 was forced to wait for a hand while the chip leader, past Sunday Million champ TY4Stacks2 of Sweden, ran the three-handed table. NickSen88 had only 572K by the time [Ac] [5c] showed up in the small blind, an easy call for ElarnToPaly in the big blind, even with [8h] [4d]. NickSen88 looked good to go on the [As] [9s] [6d] flop, but the [7d] turn and [Ts] river made a straight for ElarnToPaly, knocking NickSen88 out in 7th place ($10,783.50).

Final table time

That set up this final table:

Seat 1: juswhackit (9,812,976 in chips)
Seat 2: Robi.gool (5,932,670 in chips)
Seat 3: avibin (8,692,962 in chips)
Seat 4: ElarnToPaly (5,323,660 in chips)
Seat 5: TY4Stacks2 (17,784,885 in chips) Sunday Million champ in 2011
Seat 6: ervinbet (3,802,847 in chips)

The short stack in the wake of NickSen88's departure was Romania's ervinbet, who despite that disadvantage at least was sitting to the left of TY4Stacks2. That paid off a few hands in when TY4Stacks2 opened on the button with [Ac] [7d] and ervinbet was able to come over the top with [Ad] [Jh], doubling to 6.5M chips with an unnecessary but welcome Broadway straight after TY4Stacks2 called the re-raise.

What was a crucial pot for ervinbet was a cheap stab at eliminating an opponent for Sweden's TY4Stacks2. The past Sunday Million champion was on cruise control with 84 big blinds and the room to stretch out and play poker afforded by the 20-minute blind levels. With enough ammunition to keep firing shots anytime an opponent didn't seem willing to hang on but comfortably back off when they stepped up, TY4Stacks2's stack slowly grew as the first hour of the final table went by.

ervinbet's stack moved in the opposite direction over that same period, reaching critical territory with just 2.7M on the 125K/250K/31,250 level before a blind-versus-blind showdown with the big stack. TY4Stacks2 stuck to the playbook and shoved all-in from the small blind with [Qd] [8c], putting ervinbet in great position after calling with [Qs] [Jh]. The [4s] [3h] [8s] flop and [As] turn put ervinbet on the ropes with slim hope of hitting a flush, and the [Kd] on the river knocked the Romanian player out in 6th place ($16,432).

After all that time, the next hand of the final table (the 70th) was the first of just four to play out five-handed. avibin opened all-in for 4.1M on the button, holding [Ac] [8c], while TY4Stacks2 was holding [Jh] [Jc]. Calling and losing would have kept the chip leader well ahead, but the jacks held up for the 8.5M-chip pot on the [9c] [Qh] [5s] [6s] [9d] board to eliminate avibin in 5th place ($30,810).

That moved TY4Stacks2's chip count over 25.6M just as the blinds and antes advanced to 1250K/300K. That put even more pressure on the other three players, all of whose stacks were worth between 24 and 35 big blinds. ElarnToPaly ended up being the first to fall after playing a pot in the blinds out of position to TY4Stacks2. The Finnish player limped in the small blind and then called TY4Stacks2' raise to 900K, seeing an [Ah] [3c] [8d] flop. ElarnToPaly went for a small check-raise to 1.5M but gave up after TY4Stacks2 called and then bet when checked to on the [2d] turn.

That left ElarnToPaly with 4.8M, with was cut in half within just a few hands after a small loss to Robi.gool. The Finn got in with [Qc] [Jc] but split the pot when Robi.gool also showed [Qd] [Jh]. The next hand saw ElarnToPaly in the small blind with [Ks] [7h], which prompted a shove, and TY4Stacks2 called with [As] [4h]. Those hands turned into ace-kickerversus-king-kicker when the board came [2d] [2s] [Jh] [3s] [Jd], and ElarnToPaly left the tournament in 4th place ($52,017.55).

The worm turns

With the three-handed chip counts skewed heavily toward TY4Stacks2, it looked like the proceedings might come to an end in short order:

Seat 1: juswhackit (5,213,721 in chips)
Seat 2: Robi.gool (12,088,666 in chips)
Seat 5: TY4Stacks2 (34,047,613 in chips)

juswhackit suggested looking at numbers for a possible deal, but TY4Stacks2 understandably wanted to play. Then juswhackit promptly doubled to 11.3M, raising small on the button with [Ah] [Kh] and snap-calling when TY4Stacks2 shoved with [Qd] [Td]. TY4Stacks2 was still comfortably in the lead with 28.4M, but things weren't going to be quite as simple as they might have appeared.

The Swede stayed aggressive and soon had a stack sized about the same as when three-handed play had begun. Then came a blind-versus-blind hand where TY4Stacks2 opened for 855K in the small blind with [9d] [8d], then jammed when juswhackit re-raised to 1.9M with 8.9M behind. juswhackit called and showed [Qc] [Qd], which held up on the [4h] [Jc] [5s] [2c] [3d] board to bring the player from Ecuador to within a single big blind of the lead at 21.7M.

TY4Stacks2 didn't change course and soon enough was well ahead of both opponents again, holding 34.2M while both of them were under 13M. Robi.gool was whittled down as low as 3.8M before doubling twice, first with [Ac] [Js] to juswhackit's [Ad] [7d], and then again with [Kc] [9d] against TY4Stacks2's [Ac] [7d] thanks to a king on the turn. It was a small loss, but it turned out to be the first of a series that drove TY4Stacks2 to the rail.

juswhackit struck the next major blow 14 hands later, jamming for 6.7M on the button when TY4Stacks2 raised the minimum to 1.2M on the button. The Swede opted to call with [As] [6c] and lost out to [Tc] [Th], dropping to second place with 17M, just five big blinds ahead of juswhackit and five behind Brazil's Robi.gool. Four hands later juswhackit was the one raising on the button and calling when TY4Stacks2 jammed in the big blind over the top of Robi.gool's 2.9M-chip three-bet in the small blind. Robi.gool folded and juswhackit showed [Tc] [Ts] again, good for the 27.4M-chip pot when [Ad] [Th] failed to improve on the [5d] [Jc] [Kd] [2s] [6s] board.

Reeling from the string of losses and holding just 11 big blinds, TY4Stacks2 moved all-in from the small blind on the next hand with [Jh] [Tc]. juswhackit called with [Ks] [8d] in the big blind, neither hand improved on the [2c] [4h] [9d] [6d] [3s] board, and with that TY4Stacks2's run ended in 3rd place ($82,160).

After that sequence, juswhackit held 34.1M chips and a lead of almost exactly 2-to-1 as heads-up play began. Despite that, the two players looked at the numbers for a deal. After have the moderator present the numbers, juswhackit agreed, but Robi.gool wanted to negotiate a slightly larger prize. The two good-naturedly agreed to play it out instead, and within five hands they would accomplish their mission.

The hand opened innocently enough, with juswhackit limping for 600K on the button with [6s] [5h] and Robi.gool checking in the big blind with [7h] [5d]. Then the flop came [5s] [7c] [8c]. After a bet, a check-raise, an all-in move, and a call, Robi.gool was all in with two pair as a 70.5-percent favorite to win the hand. The [Qd] on the turn bumped that percentage up by 11 points and had Robi.gool on the verge of doubling up into the chip lead, but the [4c] on the river completed juswhackit's straight draw and the tournament was over.

Robi.gool took $112,970 as the runner-up, a new personal best by almost $50,000 over a Sunday Million final table back in 2010. Meanwhile the $156,617.50 win was a major score for juswhackit, topping the player from Ecuador's previous best by more than $150,000. Congratulations to both players on kicking off WCOOP 2015 by making a splash in the spotlight!

Think you've got what it takes to win a WCOOP bracelet yourself? Click here to get a PokerStars account today.

WCOOP 2015: Event #2, $215 No-Limit Hold'em (6-Max, Sunday Warm-Up SE)
Entrants: 5,135
Prize pool: $1,027,000
Places paid: 660
1. juswhackit (Ecuador) $156,617.50
2. Robi.gool (Brazil) $112,970
3. TY4Stacks2 (Sweden) $82,160
4. ElarnToPaly (Finland) $52,017.55
5. avibin (Israel) $30,810
6. ervinbet (Romania) $16,432

Jason Kirk is a freelance contributor to PokerStars Blog.

272 went in, 64 came out.

That was the story here today for Day 1c of the Macau Poker Cup Red Dragon feature event.

It was the third of four Day 1 flights and it did anything but disappoint. 272 took a shot today - that's more than double yesterday's field of 135. They battled it out across 12 levels of 40 minutes a piece and the 64 who made the cut will join the 21 from Day 1a, 28 from Day 1b and however many qualify tomorrow.

A few big stacks began to emerge later in the day but ultimately it was China's Yidong Yang who rose to the top before the end of play. Yang ended with a stack of 149,600 in between Day 1a's chip leader Saehoon Lee with 158,900 and Day 1b's top finisher Zoe Liu 131,700.

Trailing Yang closely are Korea's Tony Jung (2nd place) with 146,000 and China's Bote Lin (3rd place) finished up with 134,000.

Kosei Ichinose and Vivian Im were the only two left flying the flag for the PokerStars contingent. Ichinose finished the day in the top 10 with 123,900 in chips, and after taking a couple of hits late into the night, Im is currently sitting on 29,300.

MPC23 Red Dragon Day 1c Top Ten

Yidong Yang (China) - 149600
Tony Kyungsik Jung (Korea) - 146000
Bote Lin (China) - 134000
Huafeng Gu (China) - 128800
Kosei Ichinose (Japan) - 123900
Hui Liu (China) - 122000
Lu Lin (China) - 118700
Karan Punjabi (Australia) - 112100
Jun Bao (China) - 95800
Kejian Mu (China) - 94900

Click here for end of Day 1c chip counts

The survivors will get a day to rest before the official Day 2, and while they'll be thanking the run-good Gods, those who hit the rail throughout the day will have to wait until next time.

Team PokerStars Pros Aditya Agarwal, Yaxi Zhu, and Randy Lew all faced elimination earlier in the day. Teammate Celina Lin also found the rail in the dying stages of night.

So that's three flights in the books and only one left to play. Day 1d is almost guaranteed to be the biggest yet with a horde of familiar faces among the field.

The fourth and final Day 1 flight begins 7:00pm Tuesday here at PokerStars LIVE Macau. As usual we'll have everything you need here on the PokerStars Blog.