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12:40pm: Third and final flight kicks off in Aussie Millions Main Event
Level 1: Blinds 50/100

It's Australia Day and a huge field is expected today in the Crown Poker Room for the third and final flight of the 2016 Aussie Millions Main Event. It's a public holiday and the last opportunity to chase the dream. It looks like we'll be well over the 700-player mark this year which is a tremendous result.

Today the shuffle up and deal honours were given to none other than "The Magician" Antonio Esfandiari.

"Play good!" was Esfandiari's advice to today's hopefuls before he went on to say that the Aussie Millions is right up there when it comes to his favourite stops on the international poker circuit.

With a huge queue of players still lining up at the registration booth, Esfandiari gave the official instructions to shuffle up and deal as the cards were launched into the air on Day 1c.

We'll be playing seven 90-minute levels today which means play will wrap up around 1:45am tonight.

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.

Hyper-Turbos. It's an instant adrenaline boost, like drinking a double shot of espresso... immediately after you downed a double shot of espresso.

Two-thirds of the field for Event #23 was liquidated in under an hour in this Hyper-Turbo format which included 3-minute levels. It this expedited environment, it took approximately 80 minutes to burst the money bubble, and the final table was set in 2:18. The entire tournament itself was completed in less than three hours, and would have been much faster if it were not for two different (and lengthy) deal discussions.

When the dust settled for this all out sprint for a TCOOP title, it was Thi_cortes from Brazil who stepped off the speedway as the victor in Event #23. Heading into the home stretch of the tournament, Thi_cortes emerged as one of the big stacks and defended the top spot for an impressive amount of time considering the fragility of the lead in the feisty and unpredictable short-handed, hyper-turbo habitat. Thi_cortes began the final table as the chip leader, but coughed it up several times. Even when it got heads-up, Thi_cortes squandered a lead but regained composure in time to launch a come-from-behind counterattack to win TCOOP Event #23.

2016 TCOOP Event #23 $215 NL 6-Max, Hyper-Turbo, 10-Stack attracted 2,031 runners. The prize pool for this event was $428,134.80. The highly-popular event crushed the initial 200K Guarantee, which was impressive considering it was a Monday and not the weekend. The top 264 places got a cut of the prize pool with $67,432.48 set aside to the champion.

As the money bubble approached, Team Online Mickey "mement_mori" Petersen was in the Top 100 in chips and pokerjakup, from the Faroe Islands, was the chip leader with a 1.5M stack.

Eventually, mement_mori's deep run ended in a three-way pot with [Ad][7h] against guix2x's [8c][7c] and DJeka[MD]'s [Ac][9h]. Although mement_mori flopped a gutshot straight draw, he never improved and lost to guix2x's two pair when the board ran out [Ts][8h][6d][Kd][Tc]. Team Online mement_mori went busto in 73rd place, but cashed in another TCOOP event for $856.26.

With 45 to go, Brazil's guix2x seized the lead and was closing in on 7M...before fellow Brazilian Thi_cortes nudged him out. The top spot was constantly changing on every hand it seemed before Thi_cortes tried to establish some semblance of stability up top for several levels. Thi_crotes became the first player to pass 10M, but Lithuiania's daysleft7 took over the lead with 16 remaining on the final three tables. With 12 to go, Hungary's steve3331 took a turn in the hot seat with 15M and Thi_cortes right behind with 13M.

Action was hand for-hand for seven remaining. Duim bubbled off the final table in seventh place with [Kc][9c] against Thi_cortes' [Ad][Qh] in a 20M pot. The 6-max final table was set.

TCOOP 2016 - Event #23 Final Table Chip Counts:
Seat 1: DJeka[MD] (19,431,626)
Seat 2: guix2x (12,238,665)
Seat 3: steve3331 (20,837,980)
Seat 4: Ce$ar$pa (6,189,046)
Seat 5: Thi_cortes (28,944,746)
Seat 6: FragdenInder (13,907,937)

The final table kicked off during Level 43 with blinds at 800K/1.6M and a 320K ante. Thi_cortes led with nearly 29M and Ce$ar$pa was the shorty with 6.1M. This was the second final table for DJeka[MD] this TCOOP. Hungary's steve3331 had over $3M in career online earnings. Cesar "Ce$ar$pa" Garcia final tabled another COOP event...but he was still seeking a first COOP title. Thi_cortes had over $500K in online cashes, but the Brazilian was seeking his first major tournament score.

HOME: guix2x eliminated in 6th place

One orbit passed before we saw the first bustout. Battle of the blinds. Action folded to guix2x in the small blind, who shoved for 13,358,665 with [Tc][7c] and steve3331 called with [Ah][6c]. The board finished up [Js][6d][3s][9d][5s]. steve333 faded a straight draw to win the pot with a pair of sixes. Brazil's guix2x became the first player to exit the final table. Sixth place paid out $9,033.64.

I CAN CHANGE: Ce$ar$pa eliminated in 5th place

Big-stacked steve3331 min-raised to 4M with [As][7h] and Ce$ar$pa called all-in for 989,046 with [8c][2h]. The board ran out [5d][5h][3c][4d][9h]. Ce$ar$pa turned a straight draw, but never got there on the river. Ce$ar$pa failed to double up and was knocked out in fifth place, which paid out $16,055.05.

DEAL? NO

With four to go, action was paused to discuss a deal. steve3331 led with 39.5M followed by Thi_cortes (35.5M), FragdenInder (13.7M), and DJeka[MD] (12.9M). They had to leave $4,000 on the table for first place, but the initial deal numbers were floated:

steve3331 ($50,731.79)
Thi_cortes ($49,402.71)
FragdenInder ($38,217.16)
DJeka[MD] ($37,466.19)

Three players quickly agreed to the deal, but chip leader steve3331 needed a little while longer to think about it. Considering the hyper-turbo format, any elongated deal discussion would eclipse the total time it took to play out the actual final table. After several minutes, steve3331 asked for $54K or $4K more which was quickly shot down. The other players counter-offered him only $1,440 more, but steve3331 took a long time to respond...but finally declined. Without a deal in place, action resumed. The negotiations took over 18 minutes...which in hyper-turbo times seemed like an eternity.

POW POW: FragdenInder eliminated in 4th place

Thi_cortes bombed it all-in for 32,064,746 with [7h][6c] but FragdenInder called all-in for 19,787,937 with [Ad][Qs]. A seven on the turn sunk FragdenInder's hopes of a TCOOP title. The board ran out [Kc][4s][2h][7d][9s] and Thi_cortes came from behind to win the pot with a pair of sevens. Austria's FragdenInder busted in fourth place, which paid out $24,617.75.

With three to go, Thi_cortes led with 55.4M.

DANCE YOURSELF CLEAN: steve3331 eliminated in 3rd place

After falling on hard times, short-stacked steve3331 open-shoved for 5,800,813 with [8c][7h] and DJeka[MD] called with [As][Jd]. The board ran out [9d][6s][2h][Jh][Ad] and steve3331 failed to improve. Hungary's steve3331 busted in third place, which paid out $37,461.79.

HEADS-UP: Thi_cortes (Brazil) vs. DJeka[MD] (Moldova)
Seat 1: DJeka[MD] (35,597,317)
Seat 5: Thi_cortes (65,952,683)

With two to go, Thi_cortes held nearly a 2-1 edge. But then again, it was a hyper-turbo event, so the two decided to look at a money chop.

DEAL, PART 2... YES!

The final two discussed a deal in one of the fastest negotiations in the history of online poker. DJeka[MD] trailed with 37.3M against Thi_cortes' 64.2M. They had to leave $4,000 on the table, but the numbers were floated: Thi_cortes $58,604.86 and DJeka[MD] $55,133.45. With a deal locked in place, action resumed.

YOU WANTED A HIT: DJeka[MD] eliminated in second place; Thi_cortes wins Event #23

Thi_cortes won a couple of key hands in heads-up. On the first one, Thi_cortes avoided an elimination by doubling up with [Qd][Jd] versus DJeka[MD]'s [Ad][4h]. That hand put Thi_cortes into the lead and momentum had shifted.

On the final hand... Thi_cortes min-raised to 20M and DJeka[MD] called all-in for 11,028,536.

DJeka[MD]: [Qs][4s]
Thi_cortes: [Ad][3s]

The board ran out [Ac][Js][2h][Jc][8s]. Thi_cortes won the pot with Aces up and sent DJeka[MD] to the rail in second place.

For a runner-up performance, DJeka[MD] earned $55,133.45.

Congrats to Brazil's Thi_cortes for winning Event #23. First place paid out $62,604.86.

TCOOP-23 ($215 NL Hold'em, 6-Max, Hyper-Turbo, 10-Stack) results
Entrants: 2,031
Total prize pool: $428,134.80
Places paid: 264

1. Thi_cortes (Brazil) $64,604.86 *
2. DJeka[MD] (Moldova) $55,133.45 *
3. steve3331 (Hungary) $37,461.79
4. FragdenInder (Austria) $24,617.75
5. Ce$ar$pa (United Kingdom) $16,055.05
6. guix2x (Brazil) $9,033.64

* Reflects the results of a 2-way deal that left $4,000 for the winner

Pauly McGuire is a freelance contributor to PokerStars Blog.

The weekend wrapped up yesterday with some big TCOOP tournaments and Monday rolled around with a tournament sporting a big name and surprisingly deep stacks for a turbo structure.

Event 21 was a $27 buy-in tournament with progressive super-knockout bounties in super-short-handed format. Every table (besides the final table) was played four-handed with $12.30 of each buy-in going to the regular prize pool and $12.25 going towards a bounty on each player.

Each player's bounty amount increased with each knockout and had their knockout number hanging next to their name for the entire tournament, a bullseye with a dollar sign. It was possible for players to profit without reaching the payout portion of the tournament, BinBangBang served as an example after the Finnish player collected $105 in bounties but finished outside the money.

These short-handed tournaments, plus the fast-fold Zoom action, usually keep players moving out at a regular place and allowed the field to keep up with the climbing blinds. The average stack stayed above 30 big blinds for most of the tournament and gave players plenty of room to move.

The tournament drew 6,873 players to easily surpass the $100,000 guarantee and put more than $84,000 in both the regular and bounty prize pools. The last 900 players in the tournament earned a piece of the regular prize pool with everyone at the final table set to earn a four-digit payout for a $27 buy-in.

It took less than four hours for the tournament to play down from 6,873 players to the last four tables. They made their way down to the final table bubble and the deep stacks played a part in how long it took to get there.

Unlike this point in many TCOOP events, the last six players went at each other for 20 minutes before the matter was settled. Event 21 was down to the final table when nickus_poker knocked out jakc55 with [as][js] over [qc][jd].

Seat 1: M Cunha G (1,616,740 in chips)
Seat 2: nickus_poker (10,641,890 in chips)
Seat 3: Theo55CY (5,318,877 in chips)
Seat 4: PaiKekai (10,985,286 in chips)
Seat 5: TeaDrinker77 (5,802,207 in chips)

Blinds: 150K/300K with 37.5K Ante

Theo55CY pushes an Ace, sent out in 5th

The long final table bubble shortened up the remaining stacks with M Cunha G in the lowest spot, but the Brazilian wasn't the first player to take a gamble. It was Theo55CY shoving on the second hand of the final table after nickus_poker opened on the button.

Theo55CY's move came with [ah][5d] and nickus_poker called with the dominating [ac][kh]. Theo55CY had one live card but things got much worse on the [kc][9h][6d] flop to leave him looking for a miracle. The [4h] turn wasn't part of the runner-runner needed and Theo55CY was drawing dead to 5th place for $1,278.

M Cunha G picks a good spot, eliminated in 4th

M Cunha G waited two more hands before finding one to get his tiny stack mixed up. He was down to only 854,185 and moved all-in from the small blind with [6s][6h]. nickus_poker called with [9c][2h] in the big blind with a chance to pick up another bounty.

M Cunha G was looking good for a double up until the virtual dealer spread the [jd][9s][3d] flop. The [4c] turn changed nothing and M Cunha G was eliminated from the final table in 4th place after the [as] river.

Pause the clock and chop it up

The last three players decided to pause the clock and discuss a deal to divide the remaining prize pool. nickus_poker worked out a deal to get a few hundred more from the other two and each agreed.

They left $2,000 for the winner and they still had to play it out for the bounties on each player. Each agreed to the deal and tournament was soon back underway.

nickus_poker: $6,805.85
PaiKekai: $5,307.22
TeaDrinker77: $4,248.95

Left to play for 1st: $2,000

PaiKekai has zero outs, gone in 3rd

Even after chopping up the prize pool, the last three players took more than 30 hands to get down to heads up play. There were a few double ups and big hands until all three held similar stacks.

PaiKekai made a move on the 31st hand that did not work out well after calling a min-raise from TeaDrinker77. They both saw the [9s][7d][2h] flop and PaiKekai check/raised to 3.1 million after TeaDrinker77 led out for 1.2 million.

There was no check/raise needed after the [ac] turn and PaiKekai put in his 7 million chip stack. He received a quick call from TeaDrinker77 with Aces Up [ad][9d] and PaiKekai was drawing dead with [9c][5c]. A tough spot to put in chips and he had to settle for his chop amount plus $676 in bounties.

TeaDrinker77 completes comeback to win TCOOP Event 21

Seat 2: nickus_poker (11,322,435 in chips)
Seat 5: TeaDrinker77 (23,042,565 in chips)

Blinds: 300K/600K with 75K Ante

TeaDrinker77 had the smallest stack when they chopped it up three-ways and gave up a few hundred dollars in the deal. From that moment, he moved up the chip counts and went into heads up play with better than a 2-to-1 advantage. nickus_poker tried to wrestle it back right away.

One the second hand, TeaDrinker77 limped from the button and nickus_poker moved all-in with [ks][6c]. TeaDrinker77 quickly called with [jd][jc] to leave nickus_poker looking to hit his over-card to stay in the game.

Nothing changed on the [7s][4c][2s] but nickus_poker added a gutshot draw on the [8c] turn. He had seven tournament-saving outs on the river but the [tc] was not one of them. TeaDrinker77 picked up the pot as well as his first major tournament victory.

nickus_poker earned the $6,805 prize he negotiated in the chop deal plus $1,673 in bounties. TeaDrinker77 earned his biggest tournament cash for $6,248 plus the added $1,884 in bounty money, it all made for a great return on his $27 investment. He can now also call himself a PokerStars TCOOP champion.

TCOOP-21 ($27 NL Hold'em, 4-Max, Turbo, Zoom, Progressive Super-Knockout) results
Entrants: 6,873
Regular prize pool: $84,537.90
Bounty prize pool: $84,194.25
Places paid: 900

1. TeaDrinker77 (Malta) $6,248.95 + $1,884.34 in bounties*
2. nickus_poker (Netherlands) $6,805.85 + $1,673.75 in bounties*
3. PaiKekai (United Kingdom) $5,307.22 + $676.53 in bounties*
4. M Cunha G (Brazil) $2,019.61
5. Theo55CY (Cyprus) $1,278.21

*Reflects the results of a three-way deal that left $2,000 in play for the winner

The second of three opening day flights of the 2016 Aussie Millions Main Event would see a field of 207 players come together in the Crown Poker Room all with dreams of Aussie Millions glory.

After seven levels of play, those dreams would remain alive for just 106.

The candle burns brightest for Canadian pro Alex Rocha who would end the day as the chip leader. Rocha bagged up 166,000 - still well short of the mark set on Day 1a by James Obst, but good enough for today's lead.

For most of the day Rocha tangled on an interesting table in the satellite room, with plenty of friendly banter with local Mikel Habb who also bagged up a top ten stack.

Others with big stacks include 2015 Asia Player of the Year runner-up KC Wong, and the highest money earner in the history of the ANZPT, Peter Matusik. The day started with a bang for "Chewing Gum Pete" with a set over set to destroy German superstar Dominik Nitsche in the first few hands of the day.

Antonio Esfandiari, Jake Balsiger, Angel Guillen, Kristen Bicknell, Federico Butteroni, Phanlert Sukonthachartnant and Tobias Reinkemeier brought plenty of international flavour to the Aussie Millions, but ultimately their tournament ended prematurely.

Also featuring in today's field was tennis legend Boris Becker. The coach of world #1 Novak Djokovic is of course in town for the Australian Open tennis grand slam, but he had time to squeeze in a little poker before busting out midway through the day.

Those who will be back on Day 2 include Vladimir Troyanovskiy, Michael Guttman, Henrik Tollefsen, Martin Rowe, Jim Psaros, Elliot Smith, Bruno Portaro, Tino Lechich, Pratyush Buddiga, poker blogger and commentator Marc Convey and 2005 World Champion Joe Hachem.

Aussie Millions Day 1b Top Ten Chip Counts
Alex Rocha (Canada) - 166,000
KC Wong (Hong Kong) - 163,300
Josep Maria Galindo (Spain) - 153,200
Mazyar Misaghian (Australia) - 150,600
Sinan Aydogan (Australia) - 139,700
Stephen Graner (United States) - 135,000
Robert Salter (Australia) - 127,700
Mikkel Habb (Australia) - 126,400
Pheap Chea (Australia) - 123,800
Peter Brasile (Australia) - 118,400

Click here for the full Day 1b chip counts

Tuesday is Australia Day which is a public holiday "Down Under". It's also the third and final flight of the Main Event. That means we're guaranteed to see the biggest field of the three opening day flights and a number that is likely to push well above the 700-player mark. Could we even see a record Aussie Millions field in 2016?

Play will recommence at 12:30pm and we'll have all the action for you once again right here on the PokerStars Blog.

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

Weekend highlights

* A big weekend for TCOOP, with Team Online's George Jorj95 Lind III among the weekend's 15 winners
* metis669 came out best in the Sunday Million, winning $112,764 as part of a four-way deal
* ValterBr@nco did the same in the Sunday Warm-Up, collecting $82823
* The Aussie Millions got underway at the Crown Casino in Melbourne

Round up of latest results

We'll have a full TCOOP update later (see below), but it was business as usual in the Sundays Million and Warm-Up.

In the formers metis669 of Russia emerged as the winner from a four-way deal, although his first prize of $112,764.71 was not the highest amount earned in the event. That figure was $139,126.29, going to PureRunnings of Mexico who finished in third place. Get the full story from our reporter Kristin Bihr.

There were no deals in the Warm-Up, won plainly and simply by ValterBr@nco of Brazil who collected $82,823.86 in the process. ValterBr@nco started the final table towards the bottom of the chip counts; put previous final table experience (a WCOOP final table in 2015) to good use. As David Aydt reported, the Brazilian vetoed a deal on his way to the title.

Here are those two results in full:

Sunday Million
Entrants: 5,799
Total prize pool: $1,159,800.00
Places paid: 855

1. metis669 (Russia) $112,764.71*
2. blazinchron (Canada) $129,684.17*
3. PureRunnings (Mexico) $139,126.29*
4. b2k-Snick (Ukraine) $90,640.10*
5. lio10k (Switzerland) $48,711.60
6. phenom11218 (Canada) $37,113.60
7. Ravishka (Russia) $25,515.60
8. max15183 (Germany) $14,497.50
9. FoppTheFlop (Canada) $9,046.44
* reflects the results of a four-way deal that left $20,000 in play for the winner

Sunday Warm-Up
Entrants: 2,621
Total Prize pool: $524,200.00
Places paid: 378

1. ValterBr@nco (Brazil) $82,823.86
2. airlewis (United Kingdom) $61,855.60
3. Wh0AndBeni (United Kingdom) $44,032.80
4. Danny "DannyN13" Noseworthy (Canada) $30,660.45
5. jutrack (Germany) $22,802.70
6. pm_marke (Czech Republic) $17,560.70
7. Rafael "GM_VALTER" Moraes (Brazil) $12,318.70
8. ViTaMoS (Ukraine) $7,600.90
9. Mr oO12 (Germany) $4,455.70

The weekend's top online tournament winners

With TCOOP running alongside the usual weekend Majors it was a big weekend for pay-outs, as the list below shows. Seven of the top 15 prizes came from TCOOP, among them wins for Woody "woody1234321" Deck in TCOOP-17, and Team Online's George "Jorj95" Lind III in TCOOP-15.

Click here for a complete list of major results on PokerStars for the weekend of January 23-24, 2016.

TCOOP latest

There were 15 TCOOP events completed over the weekend adding up to more than $4.6 million in prize money earned. Here are those results, with links to each final table report:

TCOOP-05 ($82, PL Omaha, 6-Max, Turbo, Progressive Super-Knockout)
Entrants: 1,649
Total prize pool: $123,675.00 ($61,837.50 regular prize pool; $61,837.50 bounty prize pool)

Places paid: 216

1. bokinjo (Serbia) $10,049.55 (+ $300 for 8 bounties)
2. GiBobH/L (Poland) $7,513.25 (+ $375 for 10 bounties)
3. treinen (Netherlands) $5,565.37 (+ $337.50 for 9 bounties)
4. TedyKGB88 (United Kingdom) $3,710.25 (+ $562.50 for 15 bounties)
5. LLCoolJ23 (Germany) $2,473.50 (+ $300 for 8 bounties)
6. CMoosepower (Denmark) $1,545.93 (+ $150 for 4 bounties)

TCOOP-06 ($82 NL Hold'em, 6-Max, Turbo, Shootout)
Entrants: 1,672
Total prize pool: $125,400.00
Places paid: 216

1. buzzard1881 (Canada) $17,539.45*
2. Mrcaimann (United Kingdom) $14,018.13*
3. caprioli (Brazil) $14,481.50*
4. Avi Popo (Latvia) $7,524.00
5. Knakworst93 (Netherlands) $5,016.00
6. madnutscrazy (India) $3,109.92
* Reflects the results of a three-way deal that left $2,000 in play for the winner

TCOOP-07 ($27+R NL Hold'em, Turbo)
Entrants: 4,084
Rebuys: 6,224
Add-ons: 2,590
Total prize pool: $316,645.90
Places paid: 540

1. Bruno "bruno chato" Nunes (Brazil) $49,716.02
2. Pixton154 (United Kingdom) $37,047.57
3. Gusparo (Hungary) $25,123.28
4. Gorvie (United Kingdom) $18,207.13
5. MAMOHT_T (Russia) $13,457.45
6. Ansgar2000 (Germany) $10,290.99
7. PlayinWasted (Germany) $7,124.53
8. AS Leshiy (Estonia) $4,958.07
9. TONY MONT211 (Macedonia) $2,533.16

TCOOP-08 ($82 NL Hold'em, Turbo, Big Antes, Optional Re-Entry)
Entrants: 4,080 (3,075 entries, 1,055 re-entries)
Total prize pool: $306,000
Places paid: 540

1. LuckboxStami (Finland) $48,042.00
2. IvanHaldi (Russia) $35,802.00
3. artmaxx_dk (Denmark) $25,245.00
4. HochMeista (United Kingdom) $17,595.00
5. IsseG (Sweden) $13,005.00
6. plokker292 (Netherlands) $9,945.00
7. blackaces93 (Poland) $6,885.00
8. patasss (Uruguay) $3,825.00
9. gio_pot7 (Greece) $2,448.00

TCOOP-09 ($215 NL Hold'em, Turbo, Zoom, Optional Re-Entry)
Entrants: 1,367 (676 Re-Entries)
Total prize pool: $408,600
Places paid: 270

1. Mantas "bagoch" Bagočius (Lithuania) $65,376.00
2. Joao Valli (Brazil) $49,032.00
3. Zagalo87 (Czech Republic) $36,744.00
4. kraftatze (Germany) $26,211.69
5. girafganger7 (Belgium) $18,387.00
6. hateblondies (Russia) $14,301.00
7. Econometrist (Netherlands) $10,215.00
8. DJeka[MD] (Moldova) $7,150.50
9. TANGKETAN (China) $4,086.00

TCOOP-10 ($7.50+R NL Hold'em, 4x-Turbo)
Entrants: 8,766
Rebuys: 43,967
Add-ons: 3,220
Total prize pool: $381,599.46
Places paid: 1,170

1. Sh4rK309 (Slovenia) $42,349.14*
2. dermot 67 (Ireland) $39,262.40*
3. nunovoelz (Brazil) $35,801.30*
4. mecco (Germany) $29,662.91*
5. Die Ventura (Peru) $15,263.97
6. grogros (Germany) $11,447.98
7. monoco1965 (Uruguay) $7,631.98
8. Marc.GC (Argentina) $4,388.39
9. schulze505 (Lithuania) $2,957.39
* Reflects the results of a four-way deal that left $4,000 in play for the winner

TCOOP-11 ($215 NL Hold'em, Turbo, Heads-up)
Entrants: 1,024
Prize pool: $204,800
Places paid: 128

1. PULGUITO (United Kingdom) $32,220.00*
2. NastyMinder (Switzerland) $29,220.00*
3. seboraptor (Poland) $12,288.00
4. gabrielafave (Brazil) $12,288.00
* Reflects the results of a two-way deal that left $3,000 in play for the winner

TCOOP-12 ($82 NL 2-7 Single Draw, Turbo, Optional Re-Entry)
Entrants: 649 (451 entries, 198 re-entries)
Total prize pool: $48,675.00
Places paid: 84

1. Geraldo Cesar "GeraldoCesar" Neto (Brazil) $8,283,87*
2. nikhil121 (Chile) $7,075.00*
3. Shyam "G's zee" Srinivasan (Canada) $4,354.95
4. sylby88 (Japan) $2,741.86
5. nabulon (Germany) $1,864.73
6. aabas (Lebanon) $1,426.17
7. GeoManousos (Austria) $1,074.74
* reflects the result of a heads-up deal that left $500 in play for the winner

TCOOP-13 ($33 NL Hold'em, Turbo, Saturday Speedway SE)
Entrants: 5,162
Total prize pool: $154,860
Places paid: 675

1. MikeyGG3 (Canada) $24,297.72
2. po82m (Ukraine) $18,041.19
3. TheCorridor (Germany) $12,775.95
4. Maestro_Bolt (Russia) $8,749.59
5. sorakasa (Finland) $6,581.55
6. da Ape (Germany) $5,032.95
7. MrWhitie (Austria) $3,484.35
8. allan sheik (Brazil) $1,935.75
9. 3bila (Morocco) $1,238.88

TCOOP-14 ($215, NL Omaha H/L, 6-Max, Turbo, Progressive Super-KO)

Entrants: 722
Total prize pool: $150,000.00 ($77,800.00 regular prize pool; $72,200.00 bounty prize pool)

Places paid: 96

1. KornmeisterX (Germany) $13,809.50 (+ $8,578.86 in bounties)
2. RagVoen (Belarus) $10,230.70 (+ $2,348.43 in bounties)
3. TedyKGB88 (United Kingdom) $7,780.00 (+ $1,095.31 in bounties)
4. Jonathan "Poker Own U" Bardier (Canada) $5,446.00 (+ $1,481.24 in bounties)
5. Edgy420 (Canada) $3,890.00 (+ $3,048.43 in bounties)
6. mickyb88 (United Kingdom) $2,334.00 (+ $768.75 in bounties)

TCOOP-15 ($215 NL Hold'em, 6-Max, Hyper-Turbo)
Entrants: 2,172
Total prize pool: $457,857.60
Places paid: 276

1. George "Jorj95" Lind (Canada) $72,113.88
2. tycon87 (Norway) $53,798.26
3. arman359 (Israel) $40,062.54
4. pascualpro5 (Greece) $26,326.81
5. PoluKalos (United Kingdom) $17,169.66
6. WallXP (Russia) $9,660.79

George "Jorj95" Lind III

TCOOP-16 ($700 NLHE [Turbo, Progressive Super-Knockout])
Entrants: 2,058
Total prize pool: $1,368,570.00
Places paid: 270

1. pmahoney22 (Mexico) $109,486.76 + $35,225.68 (bounties) = $144,712.44
2. Canibus555 (Estonia) $82,114.20 + $22,242.54 (bounties) = $104,356,74
3. rounder3989 (Germany) $61,585.65 + $16,915.12 (bounties) = $78,500.77
4. FaNjkEEE (Ukraine) $43,896.88 + $19,653.69 (bounties) = $63,550.57
5. NNNXX (Netherlands) $30,792.82 + $16,996.33 (bounties) = $47,789.15
6. TedSTRETCH (Colombia) $23,949.97 + $872.81 (bounties) = $24,822.78
7. GamblingPays (United Kingdom) $17,107.12 + $6,151.20 (bounties) = $23,258.32
8. ICallYouAA (Hungary) $11,974,98 + $3,340.56 (bounties) = $15,315.54
9. Will "molswi47" Molson (Canada) $6,842.85 + $5,073.82 (bounties) = $11,916.67

TCOOP-17 ($215 NL Hold'em, Turbo, Optional Re-Entry)
Entrants: 2,987
Re-entries: 797
Total prize pool: $756,800.00
Place paid: 495

1. woody1234321 [two re-entries] (Mexico) $118,818.68
2. Iamapoopie [one re-entry] (United Kingdom) $88,545.60
3. beigale777 (Israel) $62,436.00
4. XXstardogXX [one re-entry] (Canada) $43,516.00
5. wrawras (Brazil) $32,164.00
6. iTSReTSaM (Sint Maarten (Dutch Part)) $24,596.00
7. !!f1ghtback! (Austria) $17,028.00
8. kolja31 (Germany) $9,460.00
9. suarez_BG (Bulgaria) $6,054.40

TCOOP-18 ($82 PL Omaha [6-Max, Progressive Super-Knockout])
Entrants: 2,776
Total prize pool: $208,200.00
Places paid: 360

1. NiCe1MF (Netherlands) $16,396.87 + $5,018.61 = $21,415.48
2. MissRZ (Germany) $11,971.50 + $2,545.66 = $14,517.16
3. capotinha (Brazil) $8,848.50 + $2,723.09 (bounties) = $11,571.59
4. MachineGunMK (Canada) $5,725.50 + $4,199.61 (bounties) = $9,925.11
5. Matthias "mattidm_uk" De Meulder (United Kingdom) $3,643.50 + $853.03 (bounties) = $4,496.53
6. goofy bolado (Brazil) $1,860.26 + $713.64 (bounties) = $2,573.90

TCOOP-19 ($215 NL Hold'em, Hyper-Turbo, Sunday Supersonic SE)
Entrants: 2,505
Total prize pool: $528,054
Places paid: 324

1. Ben "Fabaz" Farrell (United Kingdom) $84,490.25
2. Oscar "MendaLerenda" Serradell (United Kingdom) $63,234.46
3. NutsedAllTim (Switzerland) $44,884.59
4. vladko425 (Slovakia) $31,683.24
5. Artem "Artem205" Metalidi (Ukraine) $23,762.43
6. 1mDonuts (Malta) $18,217.86
7. bRe3za (Germany) $12,937.32
8. styy3e (Switzerland) $7,656.78
9. Rocco "Sephirot88" Palumbo (Slovenia) $4,752.48

There are four more events taking place today, with a combined guarantee of $375,000. They are:
TCOOP-20: $82+R PL 5 Card Omaha (6-max) $50K GTD - 08:00 ET
TCOOP-21: $27 NL Hold'em (4-max, Zoom, Prog Super-KO) $100K GTD - 10:00 ET
TCOOP-22: $82 FL Omaha H/L (8-max) $25K GTD - 12:00 ET
TCOOP-23: $215 NL Hold'em (6-max, hyper-turbo, 10-stack) $200K GTD - 14:00 ET

For details of these events, as well as results and the full schedule for this year's championship, check out the TCOOP homepage. You'll also find details of the TCOOP Player of the Year contest, with the top ten currently looking like this:

Aussie Millions

While there's plenty to keep track of online, the live tournament world is in full swing, this time at the Aussie Millions in Melbourne. It's one of the flagship events of the southern hemisphere, never failing to send a few stories back north. The PokerStars Blog has it's reporting team down under, with live updates through to the end of the festival. Read all the latest reports here.

The Crown Casino

That's all from the weekend as we look forward to a great week of action, both live and online. As always send your questions and comments to us on Twitter: @PokerStarsBlog.

Sunday Million final tables can be even sweeter the second time around. Just ask metis669. In August 2014, he finished sixth in the Million, taking home $42k. Tonight, 17 months later, metis669 had a chance at redemption. When the field was down to four players and a deal was struck, metis669 was one of two short stacks stuck between two giants. However, after b2k-Snick's elimination in fourth place, metis669 hit a rush and moved into the chip lead when he took out onetime chip leader PureRunnings. Metis669 took a 3 to 1 advantage into heads-up play and although he briefly lost the lead, metis669 found his footing and emerged victorious, claiming the Sunday Million title and over $112k.

This week's Million drew 5,799 entries, the prize pool topping out at $1,159,800.00. 855 players earned a share of it with $179,771.70 set aside for first place.

The blinds were up to 100,000/200,000 with ten players remaining. When b2k-Snick opened for a min-raise to 400,000, short stack db49 looked down at [Ah][9h] and moved in for his last 2.59 million. Unfortunately for him, b2k-Snick snap-called and tabled [Kd][Ks]. B2k-Snick's pocket kings held up on the [Th][4s][2s][Td][Qd] board and db49 hit the rail one spot shy of the final table.

Final table chip counts

Seat 1: max15183 (2,430,706 in chips)
Seat 2: metis669 (7,452,833 in chips)
Seat 3: phenom11218 (5,583,206 in chips)
Seat 4: PureRunnings (15,646,747 in chips)
Seat 5: blazinchron (5,425,279 in chips)
Seat 6: Ravishka (4,383,627 in chips)
Seat 7: FoppTheFlop (2,731,466 in chips)
Seat 8: lio10k (4,371,840 in chips)
Seat 9: b2k-Snick (9,964,296 in chips)

A massive pot unfolded on Hand #2, metis669 leading off the action with a raise to 400,000. B2k-Snick called from the big blind and both players checked the [Td][9d][7c] flop. The turn came the [2s] and b2k-Snick checked again. Metis669 bet 475,888 and b2k-Snick came in with a raise to 1.2 million. Metis669 called and they went to the river, which fell the [2h]. This time, b2k-Snick led out for 2,296,800 and metis669 looked him up. B2k-Snick rolled over [7d][7h] for sevens full of deuces and raked in the 8.07 million pot, taking his stack up to a second-in-chips 14.1 million.

Moments later, FoppTheFlop had the misfortune of running his [Qd][Qc] straight into lio10k's [Ac][Ad] on a [9h][7h][2s] flop. FoppTheFlop couldn't find a queen on the turn or river and was crippled to only 74,000 in chips. FoppTheFlop moved in on the next hand and both blinds called. They checked down the [8d][5h][2s] flop and the [6s] turn, but when the [3h] rivered, PureRunnings bet 347,557. Blazinchron called, but couldn't beat PureRunnings's [Ks][4h] for a six-high straight. FoppTheFlop mucked and was eliminated in ninth place.

Then, on the very next deal, max15183 open-shoved for 2.46 million and metis669 reshoved behind him for 3.48 million. Metis669's [Ac][Ks] had max15183's [Ah][Jc] dominated, and nothing changed on the [Qc][Ts][4h][8h][4c] board. Metis669 raked in the 5.6 million pot and max15183 hit the rail in eighth place.

With seven players remaining, Ravishka was down to less than ten big blinds. Holding pocket threes, Ravishka open-shoved for 2.88 million from UTG+1 only to have blazinchron wake up with [Ah][Ac] in the big blind. Ravishka got no help on the [Jh][9s][8s][9h][Ks] board and had to settle for seventh place.

A few minutes later, phenom11218 made the same fatal mistake as Ravishka. After PureRunnings opened for 816,000 from UTG, phenom11218 found [Ad][2s] and moved all-in for 4.33 million from the big blind. PureRunnings snap-called with [Kc][Ks] and phenom11218 hit the rail in sixth place when the board ran out [Th][9s][5h][6s][8d].

When play turned five-handed, the remaining players agreed to pause the action and discuss a potential deal. Here's how they stacked up at the time:

PureRunnings 22,584,342
blazinchron 18,157,612
b2k-Snick 6,403,627
netis669 6,090,739
lio10k 4,753,680

Per their request, the players were presented with ICM and chip chop numbers. While the three short stacks favored the flatter payouts of the ICM deal, big stacks PureRunnings and blazinchron wanted to meet somewhere in the middle. However, none of the short stacks were willing to give up anything from their shares to facilitate it and after fifteen minutes of hemming and hawing, b2k-Snick finally threw up his hands and asked to play on.

On the second hand after action resumed, chip leader PureRunnings three-bet shoved for 23.3 million and initial min-raiser b2k-Snick quickly called. It was a classic race, PureRunnings's pocket queens vs. [Ah][Kc]. B2k-Snick hit a king on the flop and an ace on the river to make two pair and doubled to 12.65 million while PureRunnings slipped to 17.2 million. Unfortunately, b2k-Snick gave back most of those chips three hands later when his eights and sevens fell to PureRunnings's kings and sevens in a 9.5 million pot.

By the time the blinds rose to 250,000/500,000, lio10k was below 2 million in chips. Dealt [Kc][Qd], lio10k open-shoved for 1.67 million and PureRunnings made a fairly easy call with [9s][9c] in the big blind. PureRunnings's pocket nines made nines full of fours on the [4c][4s][2s][4d][9d] board and lio10k went out in fifth place.

At this juncture, the final four decided to take another run at making a deal. Here's how their stacks looked this go-around:

PureRunnings 24,519,595
blazinchron 19,527,612
metis669 8,360,739
b2k-Snick 5,582,054

Just like the last time, b2k-Snick wanted to hold out for an ICM deal while his big-stacked opponents PureRunnings and blazinchron were looking for a chip chop, or something between the two sets of numbers. However, when PureRunnings declared that he'd be willing to take a $139k share, $7k less than his chip chop, blazinchron pointed out that it was enough to take b2k-Snick's share up to the ICM number.

blazinchron: u said 139 was fine
blazinchron: so we do chip choip and take 139 and give icm to b2k
PureRunnings: 139 is fine
blazinchron: there u go b2k
PureRunnings: b2k can take the xtra from my chip chop
blazinchron: u get ur icm numbers

B2k-Snick agreed to the deal and with $20,000 still up for grabs, cards went back in the air.

On the first hand back, the action folded to blazinchron in the small blind and he moved in for 19.5 million. B2k-Snick looked down at [Ac][Jd] and snap-called. Blazinchron's [Js][8d] was dominated, but the [7h][6d][5c] flop offered him a ray of hope with an open-ended straight draw. Blazinchron didn't fill it on the turn when the [Qd] fell, but the river brought the [8s] and his pair of eights were enough to send b2k-Snick to the rail in fourth place.

When three-handed play commenced, blazinchron held the chip lead with 25.2 million, PureRunnings was close behind with 24.5 million and metis669 was the short stack with 8.3 million.

Metis669 slogged it out and chipped up to 18.3 million with a series of small pots, nearly all of them won without a showdown. Then, with the blinds up to 300,000/600,000, blazinchron opened for 1,428,000 and metis669 called from the small blind. PureRunnings put the squeeze on and three-bet to 4.2 million from the big blind, blazinchron folded and metis669 called. The flop came down [Ac][Qd][2s] and metis669 checked over to PureRunnings, who bet 3,803,040. Metis669 raised all-in and PureRunnings gave up his hand. Metis669 raked in the 17.6 million pot without a showdown and assumed the chip lead with 27.8 million.

Moments later, PureRunnings opened for 1.2 million on the button and metis669 called. Metis669 checked the [8s][6d][3s] flop, PureRunnings bet 1,296,000 and metis669 shoved. PureRunnings called with [Ad][6s] for middle pair while metis669 turned up [Ts][2s] for a flush draw. The [2c] turn paired metis669's deuce, but the [Qs] river made his flush and onetime chip leader PureRunnings was suddenly on the rail in third place.

Heads-up chip counts

Seat 2: metis669 (43,489,647 in chips)
Seat 5: blazinchron (14,500,353 in chips)

Although metis669 went into heads-up play with a 3 to 1 chip lead, blazinchron came out firing on the second hand heads-up. On a [5s][4d][3s] flop, blazinchron check-raised all-in with [Kc][6h] for an open-ended straight draw and metis669 called with [6s][9s] for a flush draw. Neither player improved on the [Jd] turn or the [8h] river and blazinchron doubled up to 23.6 million with king high.

A few hands later, blazinchron retook the chip lead when he moved in on a [Qd][Qs][2h][2d][4h] board and metis669 gave up his hand. Blazinchron moved up to 36.1 million while metis 669 slipped to 21.9 million. However, metis669 roared back and won consecutive 11 million pots to ascend to 35.2 million in chips. Metis669 chipped up a bit more and the counts were nearly what they were to start heads-up play when metis669 opened for 1.2 million on the button. Blazinchron called and they saw a [Ks][Td][8s] flop. Blazinchron checked, metis669 bet 999,999 and blazinchron called. The turn came the [4s] and blazinchron checked again. Metis669 bet 1,888,888, blazinchron shoved for 14.3 million and metis669 looked him up.

blazinchron [Jh][9d]
metis669 [Kd][Kh]

Blazinchron needed a seven or a queen to make a straight and topple metis669's set of kings. However, the meaningless [2s] landed on the river and 17 months after his last trip to the Sunday Million final table ended in sixth place, metis669 earned redemption and the title.

Congratulations to metis669 on joining the ranks of Sunday Million champions! He banked $112,764.71 for his finish and thanks to the four-handed deal, runner-up blazinchron earned $129,684.17.

PokerStars Sunday Million results for 1-24-2016
Entrants: 5,799
Total prize pool: $1,159,800.00
Places paid: 855

1. metis669 (Russia) $112,764.71*
2. blazinchron (Canada) $129,684.17*
3. PureRunnings (Mexico) $139,126.29*
4. b2k-Snick (Ukraine) $90,640.10*
5. lio10k (Switzerland) $48,711.60
6. phenom11218 (Canada) $37,113.60
7. Ravishka (Russia) $25,515.60
8. max15183 (Germany) $14,497.50
9. FoppTheFlop (Canada) $9,046.44

*= reflects the results of a four-way deal that left $20,000 in play for the winner

When the turbo format isn't strong enough...the Hyper-Turbo format boasts 3-minute levels for those virtual thrill seekers or the online poker equivalent of extreme sports. Hyper-turbos are not for the faint of heart and best suited for adrenaline junkies who like to dive off cliffs and jump out of perfectly-good airplanes or willingly swims with sharks or life's main goal is to attempt to summit Everest.

Hyper-Turbos. Not just fast...but hyper-fast. The format delivered. It took exactly two hours and three minutes to crown a champion in the Sunday Supersonic Special Edition. The United Kingdom's Ben "Fabaz" Farrell took out two players on the final hand to win Event #19. The money bubble burst in under and hour, the final table was set in 1:53... and the final table was over in a mere 10 minutes.

Ben "Fabaz" Farrell finished third in a 2014 WCOOP event, but this is his first COOP title.

2016 TCOOP Event #19 $215 NL Hyper-Turbo also dubbed as the Sunday Supersonic Special Edition. Even with a considerable sized-buy-in, Event #19 Hyper-Turbo attracted 2,505 sprinters. The prize pool in this Hyper-Turbo event ballooned to $528,054, which smashed the 300K Guarantee. The top 324 places got a cut of the prize pool with $84,490.25 originally set aside for first place.

With 15 to go, Fabaz took over the lead and became the first player to pass 2M. On the final table bubble, MendaLerenda seized the lead and rocketed to nearly 4M. LaurisL91 bubbled off the final table in tenth place when [Ad][Td] failed to beat 1mDonuts's [Ah][Js].

TCOOP 2016 - Event #19 Final Table Chip Counts:
Seat 1: NutsedAllTim (750,322)
Seat 2: Fabaz (1,635,473)
Seat 3: bRe3za (678,312)
Seat 4: MendaLerenda (4,242,176)
Seat 5: Artem205 (2,370,975)
Seat 6: 1mDonuts (1,398,649)
Seat 7: vladko425 (1,178,662)
Seat 8: Sephirot88 (127,863)
Seat 9: styy3e (142,568)

The final table kicked off during Level 34 with blinds at 100K/200K and a 40K ante. MendaLerenda was out in front with 4.2M and Sephirot88 was the short with 128K. This final table included Spanish pro (living in the UK) Oscar "MendaLerenda" Serradell with $3.6 million in online earnings, Italian pro Rocco "Sephirot88" Palumbo with over $2 million in career online earnings, and Ukrainian pro Artem "Artem205" Metalidi who has over $1 million in live earnings. Chip leader Ben "Fabaz" Farrell had over $1 million in online earnings and took third in a 2014 WCOOP event.

THE PREDATOR: Sephirot88 eliminated in 9th place

On the first hand we saw a hyper-elimination. Short-stacked Sephirot88 made a final stand with [Jc][2s] and two players called. Both had Big Slick... MendaLerenda had [Ad][Kh] and vladko425 had [Ac][Kd]. The board ran out [Jh][6c][4d][Ks][9s]. Even though Sephirot88 took the lead on the flop with a pair of Jacks, the turn gave both opponents a pair of Kings. Alas, vladko425 and MendaLerenda chopped with a pair of Kings. Sephirot88 became the first player to bust at the final table. For a ninth-place finish, Sephirot88 earned $4,752.48.

DIRTY MACK: styy3e eliminated in 8th place

Second hand. Another bustout, another short-stack failed to double up. styy3e was all-in with [Jd][Jc] against Artem205's [Ad][8s]. An ace on the flop gave Artem205 the lead and an ace on the river sealed the deal when the board finished up [Ac][Ks][3s][9d][Ah]. For eighth-place, Switzerland's styy3e took home $7,656.78.

WICKED: bRe3za eliminated in 7th place

No one busted on the third hand... but on the sixth hand we saw more fireworks. Re3za open-shoved for 328,312 with [Ah][8s] and MendaLerenda called with [Kd][Jd]. The board ran out [9h][6c][4h][3s][Ks] and MendaLerenda rivered a pair of Kings to win the hand and send bRe3za to the virtual rail. Germany's bRe3za earned $12,937.32 for a seventh place.

CHECK YOURSELF: 1mDonuts eliminated in 6th place

MendaLerenda open-shoved for 3623,947 with [Ad][Kd] and 1mDonuts called all-in for 153,649 with [Ac][6c]. The board ran out [Qd][Ts][3d][5h][4d] and MendaLerenda rivered an Ace-high flush. 1mDonuts was dunzo in sixth place, which paid out $18,217.86.

WHO GOT THE CAMERA? Artem205 eliminated in 5th place

Classic race. Artem205 bombed it all-in for 1,934,868 with [5d][5s] and NutsedAllTim called with [Ac][Kc]. The board finished up [7h][4c][2d][3c][Tc]. NutsedAllTim caught a runner-runner flush to win the pot. Ukraine's Artem205 was knocked out in fifth place, which paid out $23,762.43.

With four to go, NutsedAllTim seized the lead with 5.5M, followed by MendaLerenda (3.3M), Fabaz (1.8M), and vladko425 (1.7M).

SAY HI TO THE BAD GUY: vladko425 eliminated in 4th place

vladko425 bombed it all-in for 858,440 with [Ks][6d] and MendaLerenda called with [Td][9d]. MendaLerenda flopped trips when the board ran out [Tc][Ts][6c][5s][Jc]. For a fourth-place performance, Slovakia's vladko425 took home $31,683.24.

IT WAS A GOOD DAY: NutsedAllTim eliminated in 3rd place; MendaLerenda eliminated in 2nd place; Fabaz wins TCOOP Event #19

With three to go... Fabaz led with 5.1M, followed by MendaLerenda (4.2M), and NutsedAllTim (3.2M). Three-handed only lasted two hands before we saw a multi-way elimination to determine the champion.

MendaLerenda open-shoved for 3,836,036, NutsedAllTim called all-in for 2,468,500, and Fabaz called.

Fabaz: [9d][9c]
MendaLerenda: [Ad][7s]
NutsedAllTim: [Ah][Tc]

The board ran out [Qh][Jh][2c][6s][6h]. NutsedAllTim flopped a Broadway gutshot draw, nut whiffed on the turn and the river. Neither NutsedAllTim, nor MendaLerenda improved and both failed to stave off elimination. Fabaz won the pot with two pair...and shipped the tournament.

NutsedAllTim busted in third place, which paid out $44,884.59. For a runner-up performance, MendaLerenda took home $63,234.46.

Congrats to Ben "Fabaz" Farrell. Fabaz won Event #19, which had a first-place payday worth $84,490.25

TCOOP-19 ($215 NL Hold'em, Hyper-Turbo, Sunday Supersonic SE) results
Entrants: 2,505
Total prize pool: $528,054
Places paid: 324

1. Ben "Fabaz" Farrell (United Kingdom) $84,490.25
2. Oscar "MendaLerenda" Serradell (United Kingdom) $63,234.46
3. NutsedAllTim (Switzerland) $44,884.59
4. vladko425 (Slovakia) $31,683.24
5. Artem "Artem205" Metalidi (Ukraine) $23,762.43
6. 1mDonuts (Malta) $18,217.86
7. bRe3za (Germany) $12,937.32
8. styy3e (Switzerland) $7,656.78
9. Rocco "Sephirot88" Palumbo (Slovenia) $4,752.48

Pauly McGuire is a freelance contributor to PokerStars Blog.