This week's WCOOP Super Tuesday Special Edition had a huge prize pool, a final table lineup full of regulars with past success battling for hours, savvy dealmaking, and a 139-hand heads-up duel between two past WCOOP finalists. You probably couldn't do much better than WCOOP 2015's Event #53 if you were ever somehow tasked with putting together an epic WCOOP final table under the one condition that you couldn't populate it with names that TV watchers would know well. Perhaps that's a statement that's up for debate, but new WCOOP champion David "Mrdawwe" Sonelin will surely agree that the tournament's final result was right on the money.

This special edition featured a $2,100 buy-in and a $1.5 million guaranteed prize pool. Even at twice the normal price, that enticed a field of 1,062 players, about double the turnout for most Super Tuesdays, to turn up. Together they built a $2,124,000 prize pool to be split among the top 126 finishers. Day 1 wrapped up after 30 levels of play with most of those players having already claimed their payouts, including Team Pro Jason "jcarverpoker" Somerville, who finished 85th for $4,672.80.

Leading the way overnight was SCOOP 2013 & 2014, WCOOP 2014, and Sunday Million finalist Cesar "Ce$ar$pa" Garcia with 658,784 chips. That was good for a bit more than 100 big blinds on the 3,200/6,400/800 level, enough of a cushion to carry Garcia to the final table in third place. Three other players from the Day 1 Top 10 - Mrdawwe, gifted08, and Barrrii - would also go on to the final. So would two of the three smallest stacks: Israel's dodavi started Day 2 36th of 38 and scraped into the final table as the short stack, while MicroMillions III winner Amit "bblacklegend" Jain went from 35th of 38 to second of nine:

Together with a lineup of other players with past appearances in major PokerStars tourneys, they would play four and a half hours of poker en route to Sonelin's victory.

Seat 1: Anjeyyy (2,562,509 in chips)
Seat 2: Rui "sousinha23" Sousa (753,129 in chips)
Seat 3: fishbones11 (1,228,342 in chips)
Seat 4: gifted08 (1,003,794 in chips)
Seat 5: Cesar "Ce$ar$pa" Garcia (1,727,627 in chips)
Seat 6: Barrrii (325,360 in chips)
Seat 7: dodavi (265,281 in chips)
Seat 8: Amit "bblacklegend" Jain (1,945,964 in chips)
Seat 9: David "Mrdawwe" Sonelin (807,994 in chips)

Though Ce$ar$pa came in third in chips, he would end up being the first player to collect a final table payout. He took a 500K-chip hit early on in a blind-versus-blind hand where 2014 SCOOP finalist Barrrii flopped a set of sixes, called bets on the flop and turn, and then bet small for value on the river. That still left 1.3M chips for Ce$ar$pa to work with, but then next orbit's small blind started with a three-bet of gifted08's button raise. It ended with a bet and fold to gifted08's re-raise, dropping Ce$ar$pa's stack to 901K.

After bluffing off a few more chips in the big blind the orbit after that, stabbing at a pot on the river against fishbones11, Ce$ar$pa had 682K left. A few hands later he picked up [Ac] [Ks] and wound up four-betting all-in after opening for 77K and having Mrdawwe re-raise to 175K in the small blind. Mrdawwe called with [Jc] [Js], the pair held on the [Qd] [Td] [2s] [9s] [7s] board, and Cesar Garcia's day ended in 9th place ($25,488).

One orbit later, short-stacked dodavi, a Sunday Million finalist back in January, picked up [Jd] [Js] and outran Rui "sousinha23" Sousa's straight draw with [Qh] [Jh] for the double to 422K. Another nine hands went by before dodavi picked up [Qd] [Qh] and doubled up again, this time to 748K through fishbones11's [As] [Qc].

sousinha23, a past Sunday Warm-Up and SCOOP 2014 finalist who hadn't won a pot in 20 hands since the loss to dodavi, eventually picked up [As] [Qh] and moved in for 287K after Mrdawwe opened for barely more than a minimum raise to 88K. Mrdawwe folded, but only after gifted08 had already called [9c] [9d]. A full house on the [9h] [Jd] [Js] flop left sousinha23 in need of running aces or queens for a bigger boat, but the [2c] and [4d] came instead and sousinha23 left in 8th place ($42,480).

dodavi's magic streak continued with a double in the next orbit, to 980K with [Ad] [8h] against Mrdawwe's [Ac] [2h]. That left Mrdawwe with a slim lead over bblacklegend, 2.26M to 2.14M, but on the next hand bblacklegend defended the big blind with [Ad] [7h], made top pair on the [As] [6c] [2d], and called down Anjeyyy's bets to win a 1M-chip pot and take the lead with 2.72M.

gifted08 was able to close in on that territory and stake a claim to third place three hands later after being dealt [Ad] [Ah] under the gun, having fishbones11 call in the big blind with [Ac] [Jh], and watching the flop come jack-high. fishbones11 was all-in by the turn and drawing to the last two jacks in the deck, but the [5c] on the river gave gifted08 the 1.95M-chip pot and left fishbones11 with a stack worth slightly more than one ante. After being forced all-in on the next hand with [7s] [3c], fishbones11 departed in 7th place ($63,720).

dodavi had been hanging on by a thread throughout Day 2, but it finally snapped with the tournament six-handed. The Israeli player opened the hand with a 675K-chip stack and raised to 90K in the cutoff with [Qh] [Jd]. Anjeyyy called in the big blind with [Kc] [Qc] and then check-called dodavi's all-in bet as an 86-percent favorite to win the hand. That improved to 100 percent when the [Td] turn and [Tc] river came down, and dodavi's magic ride ended in 6th place ($84,960).

No deal

With blinds and antes now at 22,500/45,000/5,625, there wasn't a lot of separation between the five remaining players:

Seat 1: Anjeyyy (1,819,470 in chips)
Seat 4: gifted08 (1,847,322 in chips)
Seat 6: Barrrii (1,930,536 in chips)
Seat 8: bblacklegend (2,469,499 in chips)
Seat 9: Mrdawwe (2,553,173 in chips)

Talk of a potential deal came up. After 15 minutes play resumed, though, as Mrdawwe wanted the chip chop numbers ("i like my situation here") and nobody else was willing to stray from ICM.

Within minutes Mrdawwe would actually be the first player to survive an all-in situation, having folded on the river when gifted08 raised all-in with a potential flush on the board and then doubled back to 2.63M on the next hand with [Ad] [Qd] against Barrrii's [9d] [9c]. Losing that coin flip left Barrrii with only 118K, all of which went in the middle in a four-way pot two hands later. Mrdawwe won that one, showing down [Kh] [Ts] for a pair of kings on the [2s] [Jh] [Kd] [5d] [Qc] board, and Barrrii mucked, leaving in 5th place ($107,049.60).

Deal talk came up again but Mrdawwe, back in the lead with 3.49M chips, wasn't interested. A combination of consistent aggression with the bigger stack and hitting a few hands just good enough to win when a bigger pot developed had Mrdawwe up to 4.59M while all three other players were sitting between 1.91M and 2.07M. That eventually became 5.6M without the rest of the table improving, which is where it was when gifted08 moved all-in for 720K on the button. Mrdawwe called with [As] [Kd], which dominated gifted08's [Ks] [2s], and when neither hand improved, gifted08's day concluded in 4th place ($153,990).

Mrdawwe's streak continued seven hands later after bblacklegend opened for 120K on the button. Mrdawwe re-raised to 286K in the small blind with [8h] [8s] and then called when bblacklegend jammed for 1.91M on a bluff with [9d] [7s]. Three nines and a few backdoor draws were all bblacklegend had on the [5d] [4d] [Tc] flop, and the draws dried up on the [Ah] turn. The [6s] hit the river, and bblacklegend hit the rail in 3rd place ($206,028).

Long-time player, first-time WCOOP winner

Seat 1: Anjeyyy (2,395,582 in chips)
Seat 9: Mrdawwe (8,224,418 in chips)

It had already been nearly three and a half hours since the beginning of the final table when Mrdawwe's and Anjeyyy's heads-up match began. Both players had previously made WCOOP final tables without winning a title - Mrdawwe took 5th in WCOOP 2014 Event #40, and Anjeyyy was a finalist in WCOOP 2013 Event #45 - but only one could earn the bracelet today.

The leader applied pressure consistently but lost a chance to seal up first place early when Anjeyyy's [Ks] [Qh] rivered a king-high straight to beat Mrdawwe's [Ac] [8s]. Another double-up 10 minutes later with [Ts] [Td] against Mrdawwe's [Ah] [Jd] gave Anjeyyy 4.33M, and when the Ukrainian player suggested looking at a deal, Mrdawwe was game. Within seven minutes they had struck one, leaving $30,000 on the table for the winner, and play resumed with Mrdawwe still in the lead.

Anjeyyy actually managed to take the lead for a short while after that, thanks to a series of smaller pots over a stretch, but then Mrdawwe picked up [8c] [8h] on the button, bet all three streets for value, and took a 3.07M-chip pot at showdown with the board reading [5s] [3d] [7s] [3c] [Jd].

The match went on another 15 minutes after that and the pattern of mostly small pots continued to play out until a surprise ending. The 139th and final hand of heads-up play saw Mrdawwe open for 160K on the button and call Anjeyyy's re-raise to 440K to see the [Ad] [2h] [Qh] flop. Anjeyyy led out for 350K there, 880K on the [Kd] turn, and all-in for 2.54M on the [6c] river, and Mrdawwe called every bet without too much hesitation. Anjeyyy had been barreling with [Js] [2d] for a lowly pair of twos the whole way, and Mrdawwe ended the proceedings four hours and 29 minutes after the final table had begun by showing [Ah] [4h] for a pair of aces.

Anjeyyy's runner-up share of the deal came to $309,744.85. With the winner's $30K, David "Mrdawwe" Sonelin earned a total of $348,695.15. Congratulations to both players on their hard-earned paydays!

WCOOP 2015: Event #53, $2,100 No-Limit Hold'em (Super Tuesday SE)
Entrants: 1,062
Prize pool: $2,124,000
Places paid: 126
1. David "Mrdawwe" Sonelin (Sweden) $348,695.15*
2. Anjeyyy (Ukraine) $309,744.85*
3. Amit "bblacklegend" Jain (India) $206,028
4. gifted08 (United Kingdom) $153,990
5. Barrrii (Belgium) $107,049.60
6. dodavi (Israel) $84,960
7. fishbones11 (Canada) $63,720
8. Rui "sousinha23" Sousa (Hungary) $42,480
9. Cesar "Ce$ar$pa" Garcia (United Kingdom) $25,488
* - denotes results of a heads-up deal

Jason Kirk is a freelance contributor to PokerStars Blog.

Winning a Triple COOP is no easy feat. Billy "b8chatz" Chattaway was two-thirds of the way there when WCOOP 2015 began and had a chance to pull it off in Event #25, only to finish fourth. A strong showing in today's Event #55 meant a second chance to join the elite club, but Skint Paddy came out ahead in heads-up play to deny Chattaway the title and win a first career COOP title in the process.

The game in play for Event #55 was 5-Card Pot-Limit Omaha, in a 6-max format with one rebuy and one add-on available during the first two hours of play. Late registration ended at that point and the 250 players who showed up combined for 142 re-buys and 129 add-ons, building a total prize pool of $156,300 to be split among the top 36 finishers and $34,386 awaiting the winner.

It took just over seven hours to reach the money, and two familiar faces - Team Pro's Jason Mercier, with 11 prior WCOOP 2015 cashes, and Team Online's Naoya "nkeyno" Kihara, with eight - each in the middle of the pack and looking to break forward for a second final table appearance of the series. Unfortunately neither was able to fully tame the madness that is 5-Card PLO - nkeyno took 25th place ($1,172.25) and Mercier finished in 22nd (1,406.70).

Four-time WCOOP bracelet winner Dan "djk123" Kelly and past WCOOP and SCOOP champ Ashley "DYBYDX" Mason both made it further than the two Red Spades, but neither managed to power through the final table. Kelly faded in 14th place ($1,719.30), his highest finish in seven cashes so far this series, while Mason bubbled in 7th place ($4,220.10) for his fourth cash in the last six events.

Just over 10 hours after the tournament began, that left these six players to chase down the bracelet:

Seat 1: Thor "osten" Hansen (208,598 in chips)
Seat 2: Chesnokkk (888,234 in chips)
Seat 3: luk45zp (757,147 in chips)
Seat 4: Skint Paddy (352,834 in chips)
Seat 5: Billy "b8chatz" Chattaway (180,000 in chips)
Seat 6: mitarachi89 (218,187 in chips)

A series-lead-tying third final table appearance for past WCOOP champ Thor "osten" Hansen was unfortunately brief. He opened Hand #23 with a minimum raise to 32K and then called all-in after Skint Paddy re-raised to 120K. Skint Paddy's [As] [Ac] [Jd] [9h] [6c] was a 57-percent favorite against Hansen's [Td] [9c] [8h] [7h] [6h] before the flop, but Hansen was left drawing to a runner-runner straight flush after the [5h] [Ah] [5d] flop made quad aces for the re-raiser. It didn't come with the [5d] turn and [Th] river, though, and Hansen left the tournament in 6th place ($6,252).

WCOOP satellites are running around the clock. Click here to open a PokerStars account and get in on the action today.

Pairs of aces in the hole would take luk45zp on a wild ride that didn't end quite so well. Two orbits after Hansen's departure, luk45zp picked up [Ad] [Ah] [Tc] [9h] [9s] in the small blind and re-raised to 176K after b8chatz opened for 40K under the gun and mitarachi89 called in the cutoff. mitarachi then moved in for 50K more with [Jh] [9c] [8h] [7h] [6c], got the call from luk45zp, and won the 507K-chip pot with a nine-high straight when the board came [5h] [4h] [Qd] [7d] [6s].

Left with 119K, luk45zp picked up [As] [Ac] [8c] [7c] [3c] two hands later and re-raised all-in after Chesnokkk opened for 40K. Chesnokkk's [Qc] [Qs] [9s] [7s] [7h] was the underdog only until the [7d] [4h] [8s] flop, which made a set of sevens and left luk45zp in need of any ace or an eight. The [6d] didn't help, but the [Ah] on the river made a set of aces to double luk45zp's stack to 263K.

A couple of pots won without contest on the flop and turn had luk45zp up to 357K by the time the 10K/20K level arrived, just in time for another pair of aces in the hole. This time luk45zp flat-called with [9h] [3h] [Kd] [Ah] [As] in the small blind when b8chatz raised to 40K in the cutoff, then check-raised to 223K after b8chatz bet 44K. b8chatz called with [Qh] [Jc] [Jd] [2s] [2c] for bottom set and an open-ended straight draw, and then called when the [Kc] brought that draw home and luk45zp bet all-in for 93K. Any heart would've won the pot for luk45zp with a flush, but the [3d] came instead. That gave b8chatz the 724K-chip pot, and luk45zp left in 5th place ($9,378).

A fickle game

That moved b8chatz's stack over 1.17M, but Chesnokkk trimmed more than 430K from it almost immediately. The player from Belarus called in the big blind with [Ac] [Qh] [5c] [4d] [3c] after b8chatz raised to 40K on the button, then check-called half-pot bets on the [8h] [Ad] [Ah] flop and [Qc] turn before checking a final time on the river. This time b8chatz fired out a pot-sized bet, enough to put Chesnokkk all-in for 354K, and rolled over [Td] [9s] [6s] [6d] [3h] for aces and sixes when Chesnokkk called. Aces full of queens won and Chesnokkk stacked up to 868K and the chip lead.

And just as quickly as those chips came in, they were redistributed to b8chatz and Skint Paddy. The Irish player hadn't made many waves yet but began to become more active with the table four-handed and blinds up to 12.5K/25K, finally moving into the chip lead in a 555K-chip pot against b8chatz after raising the button with [Qc] [Qh] [8d] [3c] [2h], stabbing at the flop, checking the turn, and getting paid on a value bet after rivering a set of queens.

With all the action through these levels, the player who was involved the least was mitarachi89. Aside from winning the occasional 10-big-blind pot to stay ahead of the structure, the Indian player was mostly quiet. So when b8chatz opened for a pot-sized raise to 87K and mitarachi89 re-raised to 300K, it was no surprise to see mitarachi89 turn over [Ad] [Ac] [Ks] [Jd] [7h] once the final bets put the Indian player all-in. b8chatz was 39.6 percent to win with [Qc] [Jh] [Js] [9c] [6s] before the near-perfect [8s] [Td] [9s] came to make a queen-high straight. mitarachi still had three queens in the deck to make a higher straight and a few backdoor routes to a full house, but the [4h] turn and [Tc] river left b8chatz ahead to win the 700K-chip pot. With that, mitarachi89's run ended in 4th place ($12,504).

Family pots had been trying to brew up throughout the final table, and when one finally did it set up the next knockout. Skint Paddy got things going on the button with a raise to 56K, and b8chatz and Chesnokkk called in the small and big blinds, respectively, to see the [2s] [5s] [6c] flop. Skint Paddy bet 90K when both opponents checked, a bet that b8chatz called before eventually folding when Chesnokkk check-raised all-in for 438K. Skint Paddy called with [Ac] [Kc] [8d] [5d] [5c] for middle set but had been outflopped by Chesnokkk's [Kd] [Th] [9s] [4h] [3d]. The six-high straight only had to dodge a paired board for a full house or an seven for a higher straight to move Chesnokkk into the chip lead, and was a favorite to do so, but after the turn and river came [4s]-[7c] Skint Paddy had come out ahead with an eight-high straight. Skint Paddy dragged the 1.13M-chip pot, and Chesnokkk left in 3rd place ($17,974.50).

How many COOPs - one, or three?

Skint Paddy had the chip lead as heads-up play began, but with ten hole cards in play on every hand, neither player had an edge with regards to momentum. They traded blows for the first six hands before Skint Paddy struck heavily. The Irish player won 900K after calling a raise to 75K out of position, check-calling 75K more on the [7s] [5c] [As] flop, leading for 300K on the turn, and betting again on the [7d] river. b8chatz chose to fold and save the last 167K, which would prolong the match for 10 more hands even though b8chatz was never able to pull the chip stacks to even.

Finally, Skint Paddy three-bet and called b8chatz' 240K all-in bet with [Ah] [Kh] [Td] [8c] [3d]. That trailed b8chatz's [As] [Ad] [6h] [5c] [4d] only until making a jack-high straight on the [Jd] [9s] [7d] flop. b8chatz had the nut flush draw but couldn't complete it on the [3c] turn or [Kc] river, and the tournament came to its end.

Chattaway was denied his third COOP title, but he took home $23,992.50 as runner-up. The $34,386 Skint Paddy booked for the win is second only to a $156K score for fifth place in a 2009 SCOOP High Roller event. Plus this one comes with a bracelet and the title of WCOOP champion, making it even sweeter.

WCOOP 2015: Event #55, $215 PL 5-Card Omaha (6-max, 1R1A)
Entrants: 250 (142 re-buys, 129 add-ons)
Prize pool: $156,300
Places paid: 36
1. Skint Paddy (Ireland) $34,386
2. Billy "b8chatz" Chattaway (United Kingdom) $23,992.50
3. Chesnokkk (Belarus) $17,974.50
4. mitarachi89 (India) $12,504
5. luk45zp (Poland) $9,378
6. Thor "osten" Hansen (Norway) $6,252

Jason Kirk is a freelance contributor to PokerStars Blog.

A pot-limit Omaha tournament with a $530 buy-in, Event #52 of this year's World Championship of Online Poker on PokerStars attracted many accomplished PLO players, and in the end a couple of them -- terror777727 of Bulgaria and Henri "I_Mr_U_Bean" Koivisto of Finland -- were left to battle for the title.

After a lengthy final duel it was Koivisto managing to withstand terror777727's challenge to take the title. For his fantastic finish, the Finnish player earned a nifty $70,696.30 first prize. Here's the story of how he did it.

As a "3-stack" tournament, players each had three stacks of 5,000 chips each they were able to use whenever they liked up through the first 17 fifteen-minute levels, after which the unused stacks would be put into play. Ultimately 802 players took part, making the prize pool $401,000 -- more than four times the event's $100K guarantee.

The first day saw them play down past the 102-player mark and the bursting of the bubble, with Day 1 finally concluding with 20 players remaining. terror777727 had the edge at that point, with Koivisto in third position. Here's how the top of the counts appeared overnight:

1. terror777727 (Bulgaria) -- 1,204,750
2. KingGorn (Canada) -- 1,097,107
3. Henri "I_Mr_U_Bean" Koivisto (Finland) -- 1,037,227
4. francispoker (Canada) -- 968,906
5. brights88 (Lebanon) -- 846,062
6. Conger88 (Ireland) -- 769,109
7. pm_marke (Czech Republic) -- 723,360
8. gaucho47 (Switzerland) -- 714,250
9. vovkawow (Russia) -- 571,456
10. VejVo (Sweden) -- 550,274

It took about 70 minutes on Day 2 for the 20 returners to play down to 12 players gathered around the final two six-handed tables, at which point terror77727 was still in first position after having more than doubled in chips to 2.64 million.

kelnel PPP (12th), KingGorn (11th), and francispoker (10th) were swiftly knocked out thereafter, each earning $5,213 for their finishes. Then over the next half-hour PAW717 (ninth), brights88 (eighth), and VejVo (seventh) followed them to the rail, each collecting $7,819.50.

With Henri "I_Mr_U_Bean" Koivisto having pushed way out in front after building up to more than 5.4 million, the final table was underway.

Seat 1: Henri "I_Mr_U_Bean" Koivisto (Finland) -- 5,404,338
Seat 2: GrovSnus (Sweden) -- 823,515
Seat 3: vovkawow (Russia) -- 1,450,708
Seat 4: arman359 (Israel) -- 434,886
Seat 5: zaza38 (Finland) -- 1,115,771
Seat 6: terror777727 (Bulgaria) -- 2,800,782

At the end of the first final-table orbit, the blinds were 25,000/50,000 when the table's short stack, arman359, opened for 150,000 from the small blind and zaza38 called from the big blind. The flop came [Js][3c][7s], prompting an all-in push for 234,886 from arman359 and a call from zaza38.

arman359 had [Ad][Ah][Ts][8d] for an overpair while zaza38 had flopped a huge wrap draw plus a flush draw with [Qs][Th][9h][8s]. The [2s] fell on the turn, giving zaza38 a spade flush and making the river [Jh] no matter, sending arman359 railward in sixth.

Not long before the day's two-hour mark, the next knockout came.

After zaza38 min-raised to 120,000 from the button, terror777727 three-bet to 420,000 from the small blind. It folded back to zaza38 who reraised back to 1.32 million total. terror777727 then repopped it with a pot-sized reraise, and zaza38 called all in with the 180,657 left.

Both players had big starting hands as zaza38 was double-suited with four Broadway cards with [Ah][Kh][Qd][Td] while terror777727 had drawn [Ad][Ac][Kc][Ks]. The board brought a queen and four low cards, coming [Qh][8s][9s][8c][5c], leaving terror777727 with the best hand and knocking zaza38 out in fifth.

They made it to the two-hour break with Henri "I_Mr_U_Bean" Koivisto still in front with almost 5.5 million while terror777727 wasn't far back with about 4.82 million. Once play resumed, it only took a few more hands for the field to be cut to three.

With the blinds still 30,000/60,000, terror777727 opened for 132,000 from the button, GrovSnus reraised to 426,000 from the big blind, and terror777727 called. The flop came [Ah][3d][Td], and after GrovSnus pushed all in for 242,950, terror777727 called right away.

GrovSnus had flopped top set with [Ac][Ad][8c][7s] while terror777727 had a Broadway wrap with [Ks][Qh][Jh][4d]. The [Kd] fell on the turn to complete a straight for terror777727, and after the [6d] river GrovSnus was done in fourth.

Nearly a half-hour passed, then with the blinds up to 40,000/80,000 a hand arose that saw vovkawow open for 170,000 from the button, then terror777727 reraised to 590,000 from the small blind. After Koivisto folded, vovkawow four-bet to 1.85 million, terror777727 reraised back, and vovkawow called all in with the 325,701 left.

It was aces versus kings as terror777727 had [Ah][Ac][Qh][Jd] while vovkawow showed [Kc][Kd][4s][3s]. The board ran out [Jh][5c][7c][4h][8h], resulting in a flush for terror777727 and a third-place finish for vovkawow.

Henri "I_Mr_U_Bean" Koivisto had the edge to start heads-up play with a little over 6.29 million to terror777727's just over 5.73 million.

terror777727 was looking to add a WCOOP title in PLO to a SCOOP victory collected in 2013, also in a PLO tournament (the $215 PLO Heads-Up). Meanwhile Koivisto was making his second deep run in a PLO event this WCOOP, having finished 13th in the $215 PLO (Event #15) two weeks ago.

The heads-up duel would last more than 45 minutes, with terror777727 seizing the lead away early on, then Koivisto grabbing it back and pushing out to a big advantage for much of the rest of the way. Finally with Koivisto up close to 10.2 million and terror777727 down to less than 1.84 million, the final hand took place.

The blinds were 80,000/160,000, and terror777727 opened for 480,000 from the button with Koivisto making the call. The flop came [Qs][5d][6d], prompting Koivisto to lead for 960,000. terror777727 responded with an all-in push with the 1,356,073 left, and Koivisto called.

I_Mr_U_Bean: [8s][6h][5c][2s]
terror777727: [Ad][Jc][Jd][7s]

The flop had given Koivisto a leading two pair. The [Ad] followed on the turn to give terror777727 some hope, but the river was the [5s], filling a full house for Koivisto to give him the tournament's final pot and the title.

Congratulations to Henri "I_Mr_U_Bean" Koivisto for outlasting a big field to earn his first WCOOP bracelet and a cool $70K-plus first prize.

WCOOP-52: $530 PL Omaha (6-Max, 3-Stack)

Entries: 802

Prize pool: $401,000

Places paid: 102

1. Henri "I_Mr_U_Bean" Koivisto (Finland) $70.696.30
2. terror777727 (Bulgaria) $52,130.00
3. vovkawow (Russia) $40,100.00
4. GrovSnus (Sweden) $28,070.00
5. zaza38 (Finland) $20,050.00
6. arman359 (Israel) $12,030.00


It's the final week of the 70-event World Championship of Online Poker, climaxing on Sunday with the $5,200 Main Event with a $10 million guaranteed prize pool. Visit the the WCOOP page for results thus far and a schedule of what's left to play out.

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

We're into Day 18 of WCOOP 2015. Here's the latest update with 44 of 70 events now completed.

Today's highlights:

--Yuri "theNERDguy" Martins finally won his first WCOOP bracelet after several near misses in Event #51, picking up a first prize of $58,000 along the way.
--There were also wins for 3P3NIPA in Event #48, Popiedejopie in Event #49, and vick23789 in Event #50.
--There are now just five days left of WCOOP 2015.

Round up of latest results

3P3NIPA kicked off the day's results by taking down the Sunday Million Special Edition for an enormous pay day of more than $500,000. The prize pool alone, topped up by a field of 1,502, was in excess of $3 million, all of which was reported on by Jason Kirk for the PokerStars Blog.

Popiedejopie followed that with a win in the NL Hold'em Optional Re-entry event, worth $100,000 to the Dutchman who, as Pauly McGuire reported, had to step over some high stakes grinders along the way. Vick23780 won Event #50, a knockout, for more than $90,000 and bounties. Read that story here.

Then there was theNERDguy, whose efforts to win just won COOP have previously faltered at the last hurdle. As we reported, he finished runner-up in the WCOOP Main Event last year, has done the same in TCOOP and has reached third in WCOOP. That curse was finally laid to rest yesterday though when he won Event #51 and a first prize of more than $58,000. Take a little inspiration from his story here.

Here are all the weekend's scores in full:

Event #48: $2,100 No-Limit Hold'em (Sunday Million SE)
Entrants: 1,502
Prize pool: $3,004,000
Places paid: 198

1. 3P3NIPA (Czech Republic) $503,170
2. toril274 (Russia) $367,990
3. GaryT20 (Ireland) $277,870
4. BrigaDatada (Czech Republic) $204,272
5. JohnyK91 (Austria) $147,196
6. 2pacnrw16 (Germany) $117,156
7. Ch33s3z0r (Russia) $87,116
8. AQUA RAIDER (Canada) $57,076
9. Pascal "Päffchen" Hartmann (Austria) $30,941.20

Event #49: $530 NL Hold'em (Optional Re-Entry)
Entrants: 1,377 (1,129 entries; 248 re-entries)
Prize Pool: $688,500.00
Places Paid: 153

1. Erik "Popiedejopie" van den Berg (Netherlands) $100,801.30 *
2. Clarkson7 (United Kingdom) $89,727.07 *
3. HC_68 (Austria) $79,776.73 *
4. holy h3ll (Israel) $47,919.60
5. WICKED617 (Netherlands) $34,080.75
6. mandza17 (Croatia) $27,195.75
7. Grayson "gray31" Ramage (Canada) $20,310,75
8. KuuL (Bulgaria) $13,425.75
9. pabritz (Brazil) $7,573.50
* Denotes a deal among the final three players

Event #50: $215 No-Limit Hold'em (Knockout)
Entrants: 3,562
Prize pool: $723,086 ($576,153.50 regular, $146,932.50 bounty)
Places paid: 450

1. vick23789 (Canada) $90,458.29 + 16 bounties @ $41.25 ea.
2. teruliro (Brazil) $67,409.95 + 4 bounties
3. Andre_Hansen (Ukraine) $47,820.74 + 5 bounties
4. Flshman (Belarus) $33,128.82 + 9 bounties
5. WhoAreYoux1 (Belgium) $24,665.13 + 12 bounties
6. FireFaux (Canada) $18,724.98 + 14 bounties
7. gavonater (Ireland) $12,963.45 + 18 bounties
8. mrzm0118 (Canada) $7,201.91 + 8 bounties
9. naruhhudesu (Japan) $4,609.22 + 8 bounties

Event #51: $1,050 PL Omaha Hi/Lo Championship (6-Max)
Entrants: 272
Prize Pool: $272,000
Places Paid: 36

1. Yuri "theNERDguy" Martins (Brazil) $59,840.00
2. nizmo jiz (Australia) $41,752.00
3. Mindalterer (Costa Rica) $31,280.00
4. omaha4rollz (Hungary) $21,760.00
5. onmybicycle (Netherlands) $16,320.00
6. jj20002 (Venezuela) $10,880.00

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

Coming up today

Three more events are scheduled today, with two set to finish later.

Today
Event 55: $300 PL 5-Card Omaha (6-max 1R1A) 08.00 ET
Event 56: $500 NL hold'em (rebuys) 11.00 ET
Event 57: $2,000 PL Omaha Championship (6-max) 14.00 ET

Still to conclude
Event 52: Pl Omaha (6-max, 3-stack) 13 of 802 players remaining
Event 53: NL Hold'em (Super Tuesday, SE) 38 of 1062 players remaining
Event 54: Razz Championship 24 of 184 players remaining

Click here for the full schedule of remaining events in this year's WCOOP.

Leader board

At some point this starts to get pretty tense. Let's remember that there is $20,000 cash, and a TCOOP Main Event ticket for winning the leader board when WCOOP finishes early next week. And a trophy. Did we mention the trophy?

Right now top spot belongs to Fresh_oO_D from Germany, with 385 points. Behind him is shaundeeb (whose interview you can now read on the PokerStars Blog) on 345 points, with RuiNF on 320.

See the latest standings below.

Click to enlarge

Find all the leader board details right here

Quote of the day

"My son will probably get a trip to the toy store, but besides that nothing really changes."

--Matthew "mjw006" Wakeman on where the money will go after winning WCOOP Event #36. Read the full interview here

On to Day 19

Seriously, if you intend to win a WCOOP title this year you'd better get a move on before the last events get under way this Sunday.

Find out the details, and everything there is left to know about the Championship on the WCOOP homepage.

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

You get a different story each time you speak to a WCOOP winner. For some it's all about the poker, and the fascinating intricacies that they understood helped them win. For others, it's less structured, and you sense they're still coming to terms with their own remarkable story.

With others though, you can tell have had time to reflect, and put it all into perspective. They're delighted, but see the result in the wider scheme of things. A poker tournament win does not a career make, as Matthew Wakeman knows all too well.

Matthew "mjw006" Wakeman

Wakeman, who took up poker as countryman Joe Hachem was winning the World Series of Poker, won Event #36 last week. Like many this autumn, he was winning his first WCOOP title, but as a blogger himself, has since written eloquently about his achievement, which as many a family man will confirm, is not always a one man job.

He spoke to the PokerStars Blog about the event, WCOOP in general, and those ever important things that keep poker in perspective. A proud Australian of Korean heritage, and a big John Farnham fan, we'll let him do the talking.

On reaching another WCOOP final table

"It was obviously really cool and a lot of fun. I think this is my 5th WCOOP series and actually my first WCOOP FT. I've had a few close calls and a couple of SCOOP Final Tables but it was nice to finally get the monkey off my back."

On his approach to this event and WCOOP in general

"I was actually really fortunate to get a good sleep in during the daytime hours Australian time leading into Day2, thanks to my wife working from home that day. I had played a full WCOOP schedule (10 days) and had been feeling a bit burnt out and had skipped my first event for the series the day before. So she sent me to bed during the day time hours, and took over the household/child minding duties for the day, which was just incredibly helpful and beneficial for me. She works a pretty full on job with long hours, so it was such a blessing in disguise that she happened to be working from home that day.

"I woke up about two hours before it started, had some dinner, and reviewed my play from Day1. I took as many notes as I possibly could on opponents sizing or tenancies in this time as well, and just tried to be as prepared and focused as possible before the start of play."

On remaining focused

"This is what I practice and study for and I've been in lots of endgame situations before. And even though there is some extra motivation to play your absolute best (Bracelet + Big first prize), it is just another tournament at the end of the day.

"The focus has to be on just making good decisions and trying to forget about the actual value of whatever is at stake. Besides the ICM considerations, the payouts shouldn't be too important. And I think I'm pretty good at putting that aside these days and just playing my game.

"I've worked very hard on my game over the years, and basically that is all for these times when you get your big Final Table shots. So I have a lot of confidence in my ability to play well in lots of different situations."

On the key moments of the event

"Oh there are a couple. I just ran very good in all my key pots. Not just the all-ins either. There is a lot of hidden variance in poker relating to distributions, where sometimes you just keep walking into the top of people's ranges in your bluff spots, or you get some really bad board runouts that favour your opponent's ranges. I think all of those components really just went my way in this tournament.

"The AT vs TT hand on the Final Table bubble was obviously a huge one to win. Even though I wasn't at risk it was just such a big swing in my stack. Then getting the KK vs JJ early on in the Final Table really put me in a great position and gave me a ton of momentum + plenty of room to manoeuvre with my stack size."

On keeping things in perspective

"I am a Full-time Dad first and foremost. That is really my job as I have a 5year old son. He started school this year so that's a pretty big deal. I guess when you get old and start a family it consumes a huge chunk of your life and time just flies by. I do play a lot of poker, study a lot, and just have a great love for the game. But my priority is being a Father and Husband."

On being healthy

"I'm actually really bad at eating throughout my session. I could not live without coffee, and most days I will have somewhere between 4-6 cups. I have never really been a breakfast person, or someone who eats in the morning at all, and given that most mornings I will start between 2-3am (Australian timezone!), I generally don't feel like eating. I have started to realise the importance of getting something in my stomach during longer sessions (especially during WCOOP), and have been getting a little better."

On what happens to the money

"My son will probably get a trip to the toy store, but besides that nothing really changes. And to be fair he gets plenty spoiled most of the time anyway, haha."

On not playing poker

"I try to be a good house husband! I look after my son and spend time with my family. Outside of that I like to keep active, so I get outside and exercise whenever I get the chance. I'm a huge Sports fanatic as well - mostly Rugby League in the Winter and Cricket in the Summer, but I have a general interest in most sports. So I do spend a lot of time watching sports."

On celebrating the win

"I actually did something I don't usually do and made a some Social Media brag posts, haha. I talked to a few of my close poker friends on skype, and then actually went to bed for a few hours. It finished about 4am and I was back in bed at 6am. Sleep is the greatest gift of all during big online tournament series!

"My wife had organised a bit of a family lunch for later that day, so after I woke up I spent the rest of the day with my family hanging out and eating amazing dumplings!"

On being thankful for things

"I'm of South Korean descent but I was adopted and raised in Australia by Australian parents. I think a lot of people hear me talk or see that I'm from Australia and they expect me to be fairly typically Australian, and in almost every way I am, outside of my physical appearance where I am very Korean!

"I was raised in a very typically Australian household which is obviously the biggest influence on who I am. Then on top of that I spent a big chunk of my schooling years growing up in New South Wales where it's very stereotypically Australian. So I guess people find it all a bit strange, especially when first meeting me.

"I consider myself super lucky to have had the life and opportunities that I have had, and wouldn't change it for anything in the world. I grew up in an amazingly loving household, my parents are amazing, and I've always had every opportunity given to me to be the best person I can be."

I remember sitting down in a hotel lobby many years back after another long day of reporting. It was Warsaw, one of those early outposts on the European Poker Tour, where the lure of a cultural and historic centre a short walk away was never really enough to counter the lure of a cash game or side event.

But while we slumped exhausted one player nearby didn't seem tired at all. He was talking work with a friend who had just been bad beaten from the main event, but on a level that ascended gracefully out of our vocabulary and into a level of understanding I could never know. It was unmistakably Shaun Deeb.

Shaun Deeb

Deeb is arguably online poker's first authentic superstar. Sure there were those usernames who came in between, emptying a few bankrolls. But over the years Deeb has always been "shaundeeb", online and in real life, nothing mysterious, just the same man, the same player, albeit with a few changes in his life - never more evident when he won WCOOP Event #44 this week.

"Had my wife sitting next to me and my son sleeping in the bedroom nearby," he said proudly. "To be able to enjoy the success with them is great. I wasn't able to during the WSOP."

The last bit refers to the summer, when Deeb earned his first career WSOP bracelet, the biggest live tournament win of his career. Not surprisingly this stands as the highlight of his year.

Winning online though is nothing new to Deeb. There was a time when he seemed to top every conceivable leader board. But it was also a time during which he admitted to always looking over his shoulder (where else is there for the best player look?), aware that others were chasing him down.

Then he eased back. Call it a retirement, call it whatever you like, but Deeb stepped away from the game, to work on a different view of the world. He moved, he married, he settled down. He became a father. In short, he mellowed.

"I don't worry about people overtaking me," he said. "I know they have. There's a reason I didn't play the 50k or the 5k second chance. People have got too good at no-limit and it's not worth the time or effort to study the game, to get to that level. Edges aren't worth it."

Deeb admits he's a little more conservative these days, and while he's still a gambler at heart, he sees the "goldage" of the game as having dwindled. But then WCOOP still has its appeal.

"4-max is a unique style of tourney," he said. "Nothing compares to it. Throughout the tourney I had some crazy aggro tables as well as few super tight tables. Adjusting to a new table was key."

This latest was his third WCOOP, his eighth COOP in total.

"WCOOP is always nice. It was the first big title I ever won. It's a big series and winning an event is always great."

Deeb now divides his time between Mexico and the US, where he opened a fire steak franchise in New York. He travels less, preferring time with his family, and if he does travel he picks a place from where he can play.

"I am grinding with Kevin McPhee. So it's my wife, son, him and his girlfriend," he said, describing his home during WCOOP. "The girls have been great, cooking and cleaning after us and keeping my son occupied while we work and play."

It allows Deeb to enjoy lifestyle to which he's now accustomed; one with investments that mean he's not reliant purely on poker (and the stresses that come with it); one that involves sharing some year old scotch to celebrate a win; and one that puts family first.

"I play a lot of destiny and drink beer and grill. That's my life outside of poker."

Perhaps that's what he set out to achieve all those years ago after all. No more looking over his shoulder, the future is Deeb's new preoccupation. And if that's boring, then tell us where to sign up.

WCOOP is a time of year when the poker's best players rise to the occasion so frequently that repeat winners almost feel like a natural side-effect of even holding the series. Of course, every repeat winner was a first-timer at some point. And while some are fortunate enough to repeat early on, most of them are denied at least once before winning for the second time. That turned out to be the fate of two aspiring double bracelet winners tonight when they found themselves in the path of vick23789, a player who wouldn't be stopped from joining their club.

Event #50, a $215 Knockout No-Limit Hold'em tournament, kicked off Monday at 2:00 p.m. ET and drew a total field of 3,562 players. With $41.25 for each knockout, minimum payouts of $293.83 awaiting the top 450 finishers, and more than $90,000 set aside for the winner, the tournament played through 28 levels on Day 1.

That eliminated all but the last 75 players and the United Kingdom's PhilRoyal888 led overnight with 630,962 chips, good for 90 big blinds at 3.5K/7K/875. PhilRoyal888 had collected 10 knockouts at that point and scored five more on Day 2 before eventually busting on the bubble of the final table, a $4,543.34 cash before bounties. Israel's lion23pstar led the way in knockouts on Day 1 with 13 but couldn't collect any more on Day 2, finishing in 51st place ($1,094.16), just ahead of Team Pro's Matthias "mattidm" de Muelder (56th, $1,037.07).

The player with the next largest stack overnight to make it to the final table was vick23789, who had 536,178 when Day 1 ended. That stack had grown sixfold over the course of Day 2, good for second place, three big blinds behind FireFaux, who had been in fifth place when Day 2 began. After four hours of play they were joined by these seven players to race for the bracelet:

Seat 1: WhoAreYoux1 (1,450,885 in chips)
Seat 2: Flshman (2,776,795 in chips)
Seat 3: Andre_Hansen (1,440,429 in chips)
Seat 4: mrzm0118 (492,068 in chips)
Seat 5: vick23789 (3,345,190 in chips)
Seat 6: naruhhudesu (427,065 in chips)
Seat 7: FireFaux (3,491,742 in chips)
Seat 8: Gavin "gavonater" O'Rourke (2,372,804 in chips)
Seat 9: teruliro (2,013,022 in chips)

The action got off to a quick start on Hand #5 with naruhhudesu shoving for 345K in the small blind, holding [Ks] [6d]. FireFaux called with [Kd] [Jh] in the big blind, neither hand improved on the [Ac] [Ad] [7h] [4s] [9h] board, and naruhhudesu's brief stay at the final table ended in 9th place ($4,609.22).

mrzm0118 was the only player at the table left with less than 20 big blinds, and the pots remained small until the Canadian opened the pot 12 hands later with an all-in bet of 478K. Flshman called in the small blind with [Ah] [Js] and was a significant favorite to win against [Ad] [9c] even before the [Jc] [Th] [Qh] flop. No eights, nines, or kings emerged on the turn or river, and mrzm0118's run came to an end in 8th place ($7,201.91).

No repeats

A hand between the two past WCOOP champions at the table would set the stage for one of them to depart. Belgium's WhoAreYoux1, fresh off a bracelet win in yesterday's Event #45, opened for 121K in middle position and Ireland's Gavin "gavonater" O'Rourke, a 2013 WCOOP winner and the leader in bounties for this tournament with 18, called in the big blind to see the [Kc] [8h] [Ac] flop. O'Rourke had flopped top pair with [Ah] [7c] and check-called 163K there and 398K more on the [3h] turn before both players checked the river and WhoAreYoux1 showed [Kh] [8s] for two pair and the 1.44M-chip pot.

That left O'Rourke with 1.5M chips, all of which went in the middle as the fourth bet before the flop two hands later when he was dealt [Ad] [Qs]. Brazil's teruliro had made the third bet from the small blind with [As] [Ah] and called with 242K left behind, catching top set on the [9s] [Ac] [Ts] flop and leaving O'Rourke in need of running cards for a straight or flush. The [6c] and [2s] on the turn and river didn't help, and gavonater was gone in 7th place ($12,963.45).

WhoAreYoux1 chipped up again two hands after O'Rourke's departure, winning an all-in race against FireFaux's [8d] [8c] with [Ac] [Kc] via a king on the turn to move up to 4.22M. That left FireFaux with 1.98M, nearly half of which made its way to Andre_Hansen's stack two hands later when FireFaux's three-bet with [Ac] [7h] was called and Andre_Hansen's [9h] [9s] held up to take the 1.92M-chip pot.

Left with 1.04M, FireFaux again moved all-in two hands later, this time with [Ad] [Kd] over the top of vick23789's cutoff raise to 160K. vick23789 called with [Td] [Ts] and dodged a both flush and straight draws on the [5h] [Jd] [7d] [Qs] [4s] board to win the 2.15M-chip pot and knock FireFaux out in 6th place ($18,724.98).

WhoAreYoux1's quest for a second WCOOP bracelet in as many days went into the break still looking. Only vick23789's 5.05M-chip stack was larger at this point, so when the two of them tangled five hands later on the 40K/80K/10K level, it set the tone for the rest of the tournament.

vick23789 opened the betting on the button for 240K, slightly more than the average raise at the table so far, and WhoAreYoux1 called to see the [Qd] [8h] [6d] flop. The Belgian player check-called 213K there and then led out for 521K, just over half the pot, when the [Ts] came on the turn. vick23789 called the bet, and the river was the [Ad]. WhoAreYoux1 bet out again, this time 1.28M into the 2.04M-chip pot, but folded when vick23789 moved all-in. After WhoAreYoux1 mucked, vick23789 flashed [Kh] [Jd] - a Broadway straight - and scooped the 4.6M-chip pot to take the lead with 7.39M.

WhoAreYoux1 regained a significant chunk of that loss almost immediately, four-betting all-in from the big blind five hands later after Flshman opened under the gun for 212K and teruliro re-raised to 648K in the small blind. Both players folded and WhoAreYoux1 climbed back ahead of the pack into second place with 3.4M. The good vibes came to a quick halt two hands later after losing a race with [Jd] [Jh] against Andre_Hansen's [Ks] [Qh]. That left WhoAreYoux1 in the middle of the short-stacked pack for the next 30-plus hands, with a 1.68M-chip stack bleeding away through blinds and antes before being dealt [Qh] [Qs] on the button.

WhoAreYoux1 finally moved it all in over the top of vick23789's opening minimum raise under the gun and was the favorite when vick23789 called with [Ks] [Jc], but the [Js] [Ts] [5s] flop presented enough problems to give vick23789 a 27.3-percent chance of winning from that point. The [Ac] turn was safe and actually took away some outs from vick23789, but the [Jd] on the river made trip jacks to crack the queens. vick23789 scooped the 2.66M-chip pot, and WhoAreYoux1 left the tournament in 5th place ($24,665.13).

The door is closing on WCOOP 2015 soon - don't miss your chance to win big money! Click here to get a PokerStars account today.

3-2-1 contact

With that win, vick23789 now had all three remaining opponents outchipped by a minimum of 70 big blinds, and after a few more minutes of the three of them would all trail by 90 big blinds. That kind of lead doesn't always translate to a win in big-bet games. In this case it would do exactly that, and in short order.

The first opponent to go was Flshman, who jammed for 1M with [Ah] [Kh]. vick23789 called with [Tc] [Th] in the big blind and fell behind on the flop before turning a set on the [5c] [Ad] [4c] [Td] [5d] board. That bumped Flshman to the rail in 4th place ($33,128.82).

Two hands later vick23789 opened all-in on the button with [Qd] [Tc] and was called by Andre_Hansen, who held [Ks] [Qc] and 1.55M chips. Domination was no issue for vick23789, who went from 3-to-1 underdog to top pair to trip tens on the [Th] [9d] [2d] [Td] [4h] board to knock Andre_Hansen out in 3rd place ($47,820.74).

teruliro had 1.83M chips as heads-up play began and moved in several times over the next nine hands before jamming with [Ad] [3d] on the button and having vick23789 call with [7c] [7d]. teruliro caught top pair but the same [Ac] [Tc] [7h] flop gave vick23789 bottom set. The [2c]-[2h] turn and river weren't the running aces teruliro needed to survive, and the tournament came to its end.

teruliro's runner-up finish was good for $67,409.95, just a bit more than the Brazilian player's previous four biggest cashes combined. The $90,458.29 top prize that goes with vick23789's new bracelet, meanwhile, is somewhere around 90 times bigger than the player's previous best PokerStars tournament cash. Congratulations to both players on outlasting another huge WCOOP field!

WCOOP 2015: Event #50, $215 No-Limit Hold'em (Knockout)
Entrants: 3,562
Prize pool: $723,086 ($576,153.50 regular, $146,932.50 bounty)
Places paid: 450
1. vick23789 (Canada) $90,458.29 + 16 bounties @ $41.25 ea.
2. teruliro (Brazil) $67,409.95 + 4 bounties
3. Andre_Hansen (Ukraine) $47,820.74 + 5 bounties
4. Flshman (Belarus) $33,128.82 + 9 bounties
5. WhoAreYoux1 (Belgium) $24,665.13 + 12 bounties
6. FireFaux (Canada) $18,724.98 + 14 bounties
7. gavonater (Ireland) $12,963.45 + 18 bounties
8. mrzm0118 (Canada) $7,201.91 + 8 bounties
9. naruhhudesu (Japan) $4,609.22 + 8 bounties

Jason Kirk is a freelance contributor to PokerStars Blog.

While Mario Lopez still had the chip lead went play went heads-up, Hilario Quijada had been doing most of the eliminating.

German Christiansen raised to 130,000 from the small blind and Quijada tanked. Quijada grabbed a pile of white, T25,000 chips and counted out 350,000. Then he grabbed his cards and slightly moved them towards the muck before he pulled them back.

Quijada thought a bit more, recounted the bet and then added a pile of blue chips to it.

"Raise," Quijada said. "450."

Christiansen moved all-in and Quijada snap-called.

Christiansen showed [7c][7s] but Quijada had a better pair with [kd][kc]. The board ran [ac[3h][jd][9s][as] and Quijada eliminated another player.

Christiansen won $75,760 for the 3rd-place finish while the tournament went heads-up.

Quijada started the match with 2.1 million while Lopez was still in the lead with 3.2 million.

"I wanted to get heads-up with 1 million to your 4 million," Quijada said.

But Quijada would have to settle for double that. Then he took the tournament chip lead for the first time.

For the first part of the match, there were a lot of small pots. Players would raise and call preflop and then check down to the river. They were hesitant to show cards at every showdown, Lopez would usually show just one card and Quijada would muck if he was beat.

Then Quijada took a few big pots.

In one, Lopez called from the small blind and Quijada raised to 295,000. Lopez called and the flop came [jh][th][6d]. Players checked and checked again when the [8s] came on the turn.

The river brought a [Ts] and a big bet. Quijada put out a bet worth 405,000 and after some thought and chip shuffling, Lopez called.

Quijada turned over [8d][8h] for a full house and Lopez mucked.

Soon after that, Quijada called from the small blind and Lopez checked.

The flop came [th][6d][as] and Lopez bet 70,000. The turn brought a [td] and Lopez upped the bet to 80,000. Quijada called and the [9c] completed the board.

Lopez checked and quickly called after Quijada fired off a bet of 135,000.

Lopez mucked just as quickly when Quijada showed [kh][ts] for trip tens.

The hand put Quijada up to 3.1 million while Lopez dropped to 2.2 million. At the conclusion of this level, the final two players will be on a 75-minute dinner break.

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

Alexander Villegas is a freelance contributor to the PokerStars Blog.