You might have heard that Team Pro Jason Somerville set some records last week. Actually, the chances are you watched it too.

It happened in Event #7 of WCOOP. Somerville, who plays as "jcarverpoker" on PokerStars, was broadcasting on Twitch in the usual way. His Run it UP show was already hugely popular, but now his fans were logging on in their thousands to watch him close in on a WCOOP bracelet.

As they did so those viewers - 37,434 of them - were setting a new record, making Run it UP the most viewed channel on Twitch that day. It was some achievement, which you can see for yourself on PokerStars.tv.

The other details, you can see for yourself below.

Click to enlarge

It's been a good week for Rui "RuiNF" Ferreira who won Event #14, which was his first WCOOP victory but second overall COOP title. In Event #31, Rui "RuiNF" Ferreira's good fortune continued and he advanced to the final table in a marathon-like event. Alas, his luck finally ran out when Ferreira was knocked out in fourth place after running into aricontre's pocket Aces. Seems that good juju was transferred from Ferreira to aricontre, who rallied back from a 3-1 heads-up deficit in an hour-long match to win Event #31.

2015 WCOOP Event #31 $1,050 NL Super Tuesday Special Edition drew 1,624 runners. The created a prize pool worth $1,624,00. The top 198 places paid out with $272,020.00 set aside for the champion.

The Super Tuesday SE Day 1 ended with only 58 players making the cut. Canada's bluffyou15 was the big stack with 962K.

The action Day 2 picked up early on and quickly went from a meandering to brisk pace. With 27 to go RuiNF out in fron with 1.8M. With 19 to go ¿¿toneecho?? surged over 2M and seized the lead when [Jh][Jd] held up against Be@trixKiddo's [Ah][Kd].

With 11 to go, Hoegh93 catapulted into the lead after doubling up with [Kd][Kh] against WhaTisL0v3's [Ad][Jh]. WhaTisL0v3 flopped a Broadway straight, but Hoegh93 flopped a set and turned a boat.

With ten to go, action went hand-for-hand, Brazil's paranoid999 failed to double up with a dominated [Kd][Ts] against bartek901's [As][Kc]. An Ace on the flop sealed paranoid999's fate in tenth place.

WCOOP Event #31 - Final Table Chip Counts:
Seat 1: onel4play (1,517,575)
Seat 2: WhaTisL0v3 (843,808)
Seat 3: Hoegh93 (3,234,485)
Seat 4: ¿¿toneecho?? (2,203,987)
Seat 5: RuiNF (190,2073)
Seat 6: bartek901 (1,535,418)
Seat 7: aricontre (1,192,241)
Seat 8: bluffyou15 (2,892,776)
Seat 9: TISSO1709 (917,637)

The final table commenced during Level 42 with blinds at 15K/30K and a 3,750 ante. Denmark's Hoegh93 sat atop the big stack with 3.2M, while Malta's WhaTisL0v3 was the shorty with 843K. The final table included Rui "RuiNF" Ferreira, who won a 2014 SCOOP and shipped a WCOOP five days ago. Meanwhile, Javier "aricontre" Contreras once went deep at the EPT11 London and he once finished third in the Sunday Million.

By the end of Level 43, bluffyou15 took over the lead and passed 4M when bluffyou15's [Jc][9c] outflopped ¿¿toneecho??'s [As][Ks] to win a 2.1M pot. The short stack was aricontre with 890K.

onel4play eliminated in 9th place

After almost an hour of inaction, we saw our first bustout at the final table. Short-stacked onel4play open-shoved for 286,420 with [As][7d] and WhaTisL0v3 called with [6s][6d]. The board ran out [Qs][6h][5c][Tc][Jd]. WhaTisL0v3 flopped a set of sixes and sealed the deal. For a ninth place finish, Romania's onel4play took home $16,727.20.

With eight remaining, bluffyou15 led with 4.3M and bartek901 was right behind with 3.95M. Meanwhile, RuiNF was short worth 818K.

Hoegh93 eliminated in 8th place

It's never pretty to get it all in with A-Q vs. Big Slick. Alas, Hoegh93 min-raised to 90,000, bartek901 re-raised to 219,500, Hoegh93 four-bet shoved for 869,697 with [Ad][Qc], and bartek901 called with [As][Kc]. Neither player improved on a board of [9s][3s][2d][3h][7c] and bartek901 won the pot with Ace-King-kicker. For eighth place, Hoegh93 earned $30,856.00.

With seven to go, bartek901 led with 4.5M and bluffyou15 was not far behind with 4.1M. The shorty was ¿¿toneecho?? with 500K.

¿¿toneecho?? eliminated in 7th place

Another incident of A-Q vs. A-K. This one was borderline regicide... aricontre opened to 153,000, WhaTisL0v3 shoved all-in for 1,099,409 with [Ad][Qd], ¿¿toneecho?? called all-in for 668,428 with [Ah][Kc]. The board ran out [5s][3d][2h][Qc][7h].  WhaTisL0v3 turned a pair of Queens to win the pot. ¿¿toneecho??'s Big Slick never improve and even missed a gutshot Wheel to tie. For a seventh-place finish, ¿¿toneecho?? earned $47,096.00.

With six remaining RuiNF was the new leader with 3.5M, but the shortstack -- TISSO1709 -- had 2.2M.

TISSO1709 eliminated in 6th place

Six-handed lasted a full level before someone busted... aricontre opened to 184,000, TISSO1709 shoved for 1,313,575 with, and aricontre called with [As][8h]. The board finished up [Tc][Td][4d][7c][9s] and neither player improved. aricontre won the pot with an Ace-nine-kicker. Germany's TISSO1709 was knocked out in sixth place, which paid out $63,336.00.

With five remaining and the final table approaching its fourth hour... aricontre rocketed to over 7.3M, followed by RuiNF (2.7M), bluffyou15 (2.6M), WhaTisL0v3 (2M), and bartek901 (1.4M).

WhaTisL0v3 eliminated in 5th place

Five-handed went quick all things considered. WhaTisL0v3 bombed it all-in for 1,305,832 with [Kc][Jd] and aricontre called with [As][Qs]. The flop was [Jc][Td][2d] and WhaTisL0v3 took the lead. The turn was the [6h] and the river was the [Qc], which improved aricontre to a pair of Queens. WhaTisL0v3 was dunzo in fifth place, which paid out $7,9576.00.

With four to go, aricontre was still ahead with 7.6M, followed by bartek901 (3.8M), RuiNF (2.9M), and bluffyou15 (1.7M)

RuiNF eliminated in 4th place

Looks like RuiNF will have to wait another day to win a second WCOOP bracelet... aricontre opened to 246,000, RuiNF bombed it all-in for 2,594,497, bartek901 shoved for 4,482,138, and aricontre called all-in for 4,155,252. Three-way.

aricontre: [Ah][As]
bartek901: [9h][9s]
RuiNF: [Ad][Qc]

Aces in a three-way pot made aricontre nervous. The board ran out [Ks][7c][5d][Jc][6d]. Pocket Aces held up for aricontre, who won both the main pot and the side pot. bartek901's pocket nines were no good and bartek901 was crippled with a little over 80K. RuiNF failed to improve A-Q and busted out in fourth place, which paid out $110,432.00.

bartek901 eliminated in 3rd place

Two hands later, it was all over. bartek901 called all-in for 107,658 with [Ad][3s] but ran into aricontre's [Jh][Jd]. The board finished up [8d][4s][2h][Jc][6c] and aricontre with a set of Jacks. Mexico's bartek901 earned $150,220.00 for a third-place finish.

HEADS-UP: aricontre (United Kingdom) vs. bluffyou15 (Canada)
Seat 7: aricontre (11,747,887)
Seat 8: bluffyou15 (4,492,113)

With two to go, aricontre appeared to have a decent edge. This matched lasted approximately an hour before someone finally went down.

After the first thirty minutes, bluffyou15 pulled even after winning a 2.5M pot with two pair. The tides had turned and bluffyou15 was ahead 3-1 in chips. But then aricontre embarked on a tsunami of a rush with the biggest destruction coming when aricontre won an 8M pot by snapping off bluffyou15's [Qs][Qd] with [9s][8c] (for a turned straight to beat two pair). The two pulled even and at that juncture, aricontre never looked back.

bluffyou15 eliminated in 2nd place; aricontre wins WCOOP Event #31 Super Tuesday SE!

Once aricontre saw daylight and pulled even, it was only a matter of time before this event was over...  aricontre dragged 12 out of the last 13 hands to bink this tournament.

On the final hand...  bluffyou15 trailed 11.9M to 4.3M... bluffyou15 min-raised 280,000, aricontre re-raised to 847,029, bluffyou15 four-bet shoved for 4,296,882 with [Ad][9h], and aricontre called with [Ah][Th]. Neither player improved on a board of [Jd][6d][5h][8d][4c]. aricontre won the pot with an Ace-ten kicker.

For a runner-up finish, bluffyou15 earned $19,8940.00.

Congrats to Javier "aricontre" Contreras for winning Event #31 Super Tuesday SE. First place paid out $272,020.00.

WCOOP-31: $1,050 NL Hold'em (Super Tuesday SE)
Entrants: 1,624
Prize Pool: $1,624,00
Places Paid: 198

1. aricontre (United Kingdom) $272,020.00
2. luffyou15 (Canada) $198,940.00
3. bartek901 (Mexico) $150,220.00
4. Rui "RuiNF" Ferreira $110,432.00
5. WhaTisL0v3 (Malta) $79,576.00
6. TISSO1709 (Germany) $63,336.00
7. ¿¿toneecho?? (United Kingdom) $47,096.00
8. Hoegh93 (Denmark) $30,856.00
9. onel4play (Romania) $16,727.20

 Visit the WCOOP home page for a complete schedule of remaining events. Plus, find out who is in contention for Player of the Series.

Want to join in on the action at PokerStars? Click here and sign up for an account and start playing!

Pauly McGuire is an author and freelance contributor to PokerStars.

All right, folks... we're up to Event #30 of this year's World Championship of Online Poker on PokerStars. Spread across the 70 events of the series are a mind-boggling number of variations on our favorite card game, and with Event #30 there were a number of wrinkles adding to the fun.

With a $215 initial buy-in, the game was pot-limit Omaha. That's four hole cards (typically), not two. Also, they played it "hi/lo," making for lots of split pots and scoops. It was short-handed, too (6-max), meaning more action for all. Players could rebuy twice and add-on once as well, which added excitement during the period before late registration closed.

Finally, just for extra funsies, they added an extra hole card, making it "PL 5-Card Omaha H/L (6-Max, 2R1A)." Got all that? Good.

After a long first day and short second one, Russia's nafnaf_funny came away with the victory, claiming a WCOOP bracelet and $38,040 first prize after outlasting Connor "blanconegro" Drinan heads-up to win. Here's the story of nafnaf_funny's triumph.

A total of 396 took part in the event, and with 340 rebuys and 215 add-ons the total prize pool added up to $190,200 -- nearly twice the $100K guarantee. It took a little over six hours on Day 1 for that field to play down to 54 players and the cash bubble to burst, at which point Singontiko, playing from the Netherlands, was leading the way.

Later Tuesday night they reached the scheduled end of play with just 10 players left, Singontiko having been the last eliminated in 11th place to earn a $2,662.80 payday.

Among those who remained, eventual champ nafnaf_funny enjoyed the end-of-day chip lead by a wide margin with almost twice the stack of the nearest challenger. Connor "blanconegro" Drinan and a couple of former SCOOP champs, Gambler4444 and Jamie_KK, were part of the final 10 as well. So was Chillolini, the Norwegian who outlasted Team PokerStars Pro Jamie Somerville and several other tough final tablists to win this year's Event #18 ($1,050 7-Card Stud Hi/Lo Championship).

Here's how the counts looked during the overnight break:

1. nafnaf_funny (Russia) -- 1,214,777
2. lozzz (United Kingdom) -- 652,084
3. Connor "blanconegro" Drinan (Mexico) -- 634,252
4. snafer1 (Poland) -- 449,974
5. Chesnokkk (Belarus) -- 407,348
6. Gambler4444 (Austria) -- 356,843
7. AngryJuice (Finland) -- 355,826
8. Chillolini (Norway) -- 265,867
9. Jamie_KK (United Kingdom) -- 221,153
10. Afrodaviac (Norway) -- 196,876

In the very first hand of Day 2, Jamie_KK was felted by Chesnokkk to finish 10th (worth $2,662.80). Then close to a half-hour after that Afrodaviac fell in a hand against leader nafnaf_funny to finish ninth ($4,184.40).

Over the next few minutes came two more knockouts, with nafnaf_funny responsible for both. First Chesnokkk went out in eighth to the leader, then Chillolini fell in seventh, with both earning $4,184.40.

With an even greater lead for nafnaf_funny, the final table was underway.

Seat 1: snafer1 (Poland) -- 369,058
Seat 2: Connor "blanconegro" Drinan (Mexico) -- 719,060
Seat 3: AngryJuice (Finland) -- 282,698
Seat 4: lozzz (United Kingdom) -- 696,430
Seat 5: nafnaf_funny (Russia) -- 2,418,803
Seat 6: Gambler4444 (Austria) -- 268,951

It only took a few hands for nafnaf_funny to earn yet another knockout to trim the field to five.

With the blinds at 10,000/20,000, Angry Juice opened with a pot-sized raise to 70,000 from the button, then nafnaf_funny repopped it to 220,000 from the big blind. AngryJuice then pushed all in for 252,698 total and the leader called.

Angry Juice showed [Ah][Qh][7h][5s][4c] while nafnaf_funny had [Ac][As][Th][9d][8h]. The board ran out [Kh][3d][Kc][Qc][Ad], which gave nafnaf_funny a winning full house and ended Angry Juice's run in sixth -- one spot better than the seventh-place showing (and final table near-miss) Angry Juice had in Event #22 ($1,050 NL Omaha Hi/Lo).

A short while later a change occurred at the top of the counts when Connor "blanconegro" Drinan managed a huge double through nafnaf_funny to take over first position.

They'd just crossed the day's one-hour mark when the next elimination occurred. The blinds were still 10,000/20,000, and after nafnaf_funny opened for 46,872 from the cutoff, snafer1 three-bet to 160,616 from the SB, leaving just 33,442 behind. nafnaf_funny reraised back, and snafer1 called all in.

snafer1 had [Ac][Qs][9d][3d][2c], hoping to scoop both halves of the pot with high and low cards, while nafnaf_funny also had a two-way starter with [Ks][Kh][8c][3c][2h]. But the [Td][Ts][Kd] flop took the low out of the equation, giving nafnaf_funny a full house and leaving snafer1 drawing dead to finish fifth.

The blinds increased to 15,000/30,000, and a hand arose that started with a min-raise from the button by lozzz with Gambler4444 calling from the big blind. The flop came [Ks][2h][3s], prompting an all-in push for 133,704 by Gambler4444. lozzz made the call.

With [Kh][Jd][9c][4h][3h] Gambler4444 had two pair (kings and treys) and a not-so-great chance for a low, while lozzz had [Ac][Ad][Qc][8s][4s] for aces and a draw to the nut-low hand. The turn and river then brought a pair of eights -- [8c], then [8h] -- which gave lozzz trip eights and an 8-4-3-2-A low to scoop the pot and knock Gambler4444 out in fourth.

Three-handed play continued thereafter, with nafnaf_funny soon retaking the lead and pushing up to more than 3.2 million to the 1.1 million of Drinan and just under 440,000 for lozzz.

Then with the blinds at 20,000/40,000, nafnaf_funny raised to 90,000 from the button and lozzz called from the big blind. The flop came [5c][7s][2d]. lozzz checked, nafnaf_funny bet 82,174, lozzz shoved for 348,655, and nafnaf_funny called.

lozzz had [Td][7h][4d][3c][2h], having flopped a 7-5-4-3-2 low along with two pair and a straight draw. Meanwhile nafnaf_funny had [Ac][6d][5s][5d][4h], having both a better low (7-5-4-2-A) and a better set of fives. The turn was the [Ts] and river the [9h], and with lozzz's knockout they were down to two.

Heads-up started with nafnaf_funny sitting behind a stack of just over 3.66 million, more than three times Drinan's 1.08 million.

The latter chipped up slightly over the next nine hands, then on the 10th one the blinds were 20,000/40,000 when nafnaf_funny raised to 92,000 from the button, blanconegro called, and the flop came [6s][Td][3d].

Drinan checked, nafnaf_funny led for 124,680, Drinan check-raised to 558,040, nafnaf_funny reraised back, and Drinan called all in with the 534,312 he had left.

blanconegro: [Kd][9c][8h][8d][2c] -- king-high flush draw to high, 8-6-3-2 draw to low
nafnaf_funny: [Ks][Th][Tc][5c][3s] -- set of tens (high), backdoor low draw

The turn brought the [6c], pairing the board and giving nafnaf_funny a full house to lock up the high half of the pot. Drinan could still survive with a split if an amenable low card fell, but the river was the [Ts].

nafnaf_funny had to grin at least at having made quads -- and probably even laughed out loud -- as the card meant winning the pot, first prize, and the bracelet.

Congratulations to nafnaf_funny who adds a WCOOP title to a MicroMillions victory back in 2012.

WCOOP-30: $215 PL 5-Card Omaha H/L (6-Max, 2R1A)

Entries: 396 (340 rebuys, 215 add-ons)

Prize pool: $190,200

Places paid: 54

1. nafnaf_funny (Russia) $38,040.00
2. Connor "blanconegro" Drinan (Mexico) $28,149.60
3. lozzz (United Kingdom) $20,922.00
4. Gambler4444 (Austria) $14,455.20
5. snafer1 (Poland) $10,556.10
6. AngryJuice (Finland) $6,752.10


We're nearing the halfway point in the 70-event World Championship of Online Poker. Check out the WCOOP page for the full skinny regarding the remaining schedule of events.

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We're into Day 11 of WCOOP 2015. Here's the latest update with 29 of 70 events now completed.

Today's highlights:

--Wiisssppppaa can out shouting to win Event #26 and a first prize of $275,000.

--There was a second WCOOP bracelet for bajskorven8 in Event #28.

--TIETYMM earned a first bracelet in the Stud Championship, earning nearly $20,000

Round up of latest results

As Jack Stanton pointed out in his report for the PokerStars Blog, wiisssppppaa is a tweeter. So when he went quiet during the closing stages of Event #26 that could only mean good things. It later proved the case, as the UK pro won his first bracelet and a first prize of $275,800. The report is well worth a read, and includes a screen shot of one three-way hand that only a picture will do justice to.

In Event #28 it was bajskorven8 who had something to shout about, winning a second WCOOP bracelet in the 6-max event. That was worth more than $95,000 to the Swede who can now show off jewellery on both wrists. Pauly McGuire has the full story.

Meanwhile in Event #29 Thor "osten" Hansen was reaching his second final table of the night in the Stud Championship (having cashed behind wiisssppppaa earlier on). Hansen earned $4,129 (and $56,407. 96 on the night), but it was TIETYMM who took the bracelet, and a first prize of nearly $20,000. Jason Kirk was on hand to write it up.

Here are the scores in full:

Event #26: $700 NLHE [Sunday Million SE]
Entries: 3,418

Prize pool: $2,272,970
Places paid: 432

1. Andy 'wiisssppppaa' Taylor (United Kingdom) $275,850.02*
2. asq201 (Australia) $202,233.81*
3. ModzillaPL (Canada) $278,109.54*
4. ham1l_I0n (Ukraine) $188,000*
5. nemesis278 (Russia) $97,737.71
6. ratboy x (Canada) $75,008.01
7. Thor 'osten' Hansen (Norway) $52,278.31
8. flopped6810 (Canada) $29,548.61
9. Keith 'Kungfumonk' Johnson (United Kingdom) $18,183.76
* indicates prize money after a four-way deal was made

Event #28: $320 NL Hold'em (6-Max)
Entrants: 2,014
Prize Pool: $604,200
Places Paid: 252

1. bajskorven87 (Sweden) $95,161.50
2. Jigs Flippin (Canada) $70,993.50
3. Monio81 (Bulgaria) $52,867.50
4. Skrigepas (Denmark) $34,741.50
5. forcadellmg (Mexico) $23,684.64
6. Nick "FU_15" Maimone $13,534.08

Event #29, $700 Seven-Card Stud Championship
Entrants: 138
Prize pool: $91,770
Places paid: 24

1. TIETYMM (Germany) $19,960.06
2. Fresh_oO_D (Germany) $14,224.35
3. Randy "RolldUpTrips" Ohel (Mexico) $11,012.40
4. Christer "lennart" Johansson (Sweden) $7,800.45
5. Multifox (Austria) $5,047.35
6. Thor "osten" Hansen (Norway) $4,129.65
7. Kiryl "angry moron" Radzivonau (Belarus) $3,211.95
8. ilushan (Russia) $2,523.67

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 to start, three more to finish

Today
Event 33: $665 FL Badugi Championship 08.00 ET
Event 34: $300 NL Hold'em (6-max, optional re-entry) 11.00 ET
Event 35: $300 PL Omaha w/rebuys (6-max) 14.00 ET

Still to conclude
Event 30: 11.00 ET, PL 5-Card Omaha Hi/Lo (6-max, 2R1A) 10 of 396
(Chillolini going for a second WCOOP bracelet in a week)
Event 31: 14.00 ET, NL Hold'em (Super Tuesday SE) 58 of 1,624
Event 32: 17.00 ET, FL Omaha Hi/Lo Championship (8-max) 25 of 208
(Naoya "nkeyno" Kihara returns in 8th place while Jason Mercier is in 18th. Others include Bryn Kenney, mikal12345, and shaundeeb)

Video of the Day

Watch Team Pro Jason Somerville break the Twitch record on his way to a WCOOP final table.

We're not saying you need to Twitch it, but you can open a PokerStars account in minutes and take on WCOOP yourself by clicking here. Not only will you have access to the full WCOOP schedule, but you can enter any one of the WCOOP satellites now running. Get all the details you'll need on the WCOOP homepage

Leader board

Fourth place in Event #27 moved Aftret up one place into top spot on the WCOOP Player of the Series leader board, with 240 points. That's narrowly ahead of previous leader RuiNF, now in second place, with 230.

TIETYMM, a winner yesterday moves into the top ten, as do shaundeeb. Jason "jcarverpoker" Somerville also remains in the top ten.

Click to enlarge

Find all the leader board details right here

Today's dubious fact

Players from Canada and the United Kingdom are in a race to top certain statistics in WCOOP 2015.

Canada is $4,869.30 ahead of the UK in terms of Money Won by Country
Canada (with 1,005) is 69 cashes ahead of the UK
Canada and the UK each have 24 final tables
The UK (with 6,500) has had 27 more entries than Canada
Players from both Canada and the UK have won three events

Image of the day

A picture says a thousand words. In this case most likely all of them expletives...

click to enlarge

On to Day 12

WCOOP continues today as we head towards the half way mark. Find out everything there is to know about the Championship on the WCOOP homepage, and good luck to everyone playing this weekend, whether in WCOOP or other events. Send us your thoughts and comments to us on Twitter: @PokerStars Blog.

Every poker variant is a skill game. But seven-card Stud, with dead cards to keep track of and more betting streets than other games, has long been considered one of the most demanding of its players. That often means smaller crowds playing Stud than other, faster-paced games like hold'em, but for those who master Stud's intricacies there are just as many rewards.

When it comes to tournament play, those smaller crowds translate to a mathematically easier path to a title than your typical no-limit hold'em behemoth. That makes them attractive for players looking to pick up Player of the Series points and build on earlier successes to make a run at the title and all the prizes that come with it. Two such players ended up heads-up for the title in Event #29, the $700 Seven-Card Stud Championship, and in the end it was TIETYMM, a past Sunday Million and WCOOP chopper, who emerged with the bracelet.

A small and unimpeachably elite field of 138 players showed up for this year's WCOOP Seven-Card Stud Championship, putting up $700 each to build a $91,770 prize pool. The two-day event paid just the top 24 players, only nine of whom would collect their payouts before the end of the first day of play. Besides Event #6 winner Matt "plattsburgh" Vengrin (19th place, $1,147.12), Bryn Kenney (17th, $1,147.12), and Shaun Deeb ($1,605.97), two Red Spades cashed. ElkY bowed out early in 21st place and Eugene Katchalov finished in 15th, the last player to cash out before play paused overnight.

Randy "RolldUpTrips" Ohel, a past WCOOP finalist in no-limit hold'em and badugi, held the chip lead with 189,266 chips when Day 2 kicked off at 5:00 p.m. ET. Kiryl "angrymoron" Radzivonau, a 2012 Sunday Million champion, was five big bets back with 157,041 chips. And sitting in third with 153,438 chips was Fresh_oO_D, a past WCOOP and SCOOP finalist already holding 100 Player of the Series points thanks to three deep runs and two other cashes since the start of WCOOP 2015.

All three would remain in the field when the final table began 73 minutes later, though angrymoron coasted in on fumes:

Seat 1: ilushan (103,317 in chips)
Seat 2: Multifox (135,784 in chips)
Seat 3: TIETYMM (217,821 in chips)
Seat 4: osten (85,420 in chips)
Seat 5: angrymoron (29,688 in chips)
Seat 6: RolldUpTrips (348,966 in chips)
Seat 7: lennart (203,823 in chips)
Seat 8: Fresh_oO_D (255,181 in chips)

Joining those three in this final were five other players with notable past accomplishments. Russia's ilushan was a 2013 SCOOP Stud hi/lo finalist. Austria's multifox was appearing at a WCOOP Stud final table for the second straight year. Two-time WSOP bracelet winner Thor "osten" Hansen was seeking a second WCOOP Stud bracelet to go with the one he won in 2012. TIETYMM had taken fifth place in Event #18, the Stud Hi/Lo Championship, just three days prior. And Christer "lennart" Johansson, winner of the $109 heads-up limit hold'em event during the very first WCOOP back in 2002, was a four-time SCOOP 2014 finalist, all in different games - Stud, PLO, Triple Draw, and Badugi.

You can't build an impressive tournament resume of your own if you aren't playing! Click here to get a PokerStars account today.

Coming in with just three big bets forced angrymoron into action early, but it didn't bring a knockout. He took the first two pots without a fight and then stacked up to 100K with a split pair of kings against RolldUpTrips's split pair of eights. Instead, ilushan would end up busting first.

The Russian player made a ten-high straight by fifth street in a hand against Fresh_oO_D but lost out on the 109K-chip pot when Fresh_oO_D, who had a pair of tens and a jack-high flush draw at that same point, picked up a fifth club on the river. That left ilushan with 36K, which had been cut in half by the time the Russian was able to get all-in nine hands later with a split pair of sixes. That turned into jacks and sixes on seventh street, but multifox had already made a king-high heart flush to win the 112K-chip pot, so ilushan bowed out in 8th place ($2,523.67).

Short-stacked Stud veteran Thor Hansen survived his first all-in hand in style, turning a split pair of eights into trips on fourth street to move ahead of RolldUpTrips's split pair of kings, then rivering the case eight for four of a kind and the 87K-chip pot. Another 80K-chip pot two orbits later, won uncontested from Multifox on seventh street with (x-x) [Kc] [6s] [3c] [5h] (x), kept Hansen off the bubble for the time being.

angrymoron took his place after losing a pot to RolldUpTrips, who had limped into the pot after angrymoron posted the bring-in. angrymoron checked with the [2d] up and then check-called bets on fourth, fifth, and sixth before leading out on seventh with a board of (x-x) [2d] [Jd] [6s] [4h] (x). angrymoron called RolldUpTrips's raise but mucked when he showed a ten-high straight made by fifth street.

angrymoron got his last 38K in the middle two hands later after starting with a split pair of queens and raising after TIETYMM completed to 6K with the [Ad] showing and Thor Hansen called with the [7s] up. TIETYMM re-raised to 18K to drive Hansen out and then called angrymoron's fourth bet, showing ([Qc] [4d]) [Ad] [Th] when angrymoron finally got all-in on fourth street. The queens stayed ahead through sixth street, but TIETYMM made a pair of aces with the [Ah] on seventh and angrymoron left in 7th place ($3,211.95).

Thor Hansen's earlier reprieve hit its expiration date on the next level. With just 58K in chips and the table playing 8K/16K stakes, Hansen raised with the [Kc] showing and a pair of eights in the hole after Multifox opened with the [Tc] up. Multifox called the raise and then check-called Hansen's bets all the way to the river, showing down an unimproved split pair of tens. Hansen's own board had run out with out improvement as well, so his quest for another WCOOP Stud title ended in 6th place ($4,129.65).

Davids and Goliath

With 230K more than anybody else and the next three biggest stacks all clustered together, Fresh_oO_D was able to step up the aggression at the table five-handed table. First a 136K-chip pot came the German player's way in a pot against TIETYMM after what appeared to be a steal attempt with ([3h] [Qh]) [Tc] became a full house thanks to a runner-runner-runner-runner combo of three jacks and a queen. With all four other players holding onto stacks worth 232K or less, Fresh_oO_D was able to steal the bring-ins and antes liberally.

That left the others to dance around the leader and take each other on. The beneficiary of that was TIETYMM, who closed out the 8K/16K level by winning seven out of eight pots. Two of those came at Fresh_oO_D's expense, but the others were against the other shorter stacks, including one worth 160K against RolldUpTrips with after being stuck with the bring-in, calling with a split pair of deuces, and making fives and deuces on fifth street. Three hands later, when the stakes rolled over to 10K/20K with 2K antes, TIETYMM closed out the run with a 113K-chip pot won from lennart, who folded on sixth street with four clubs showing on TIETYMM's board. Those eight wins in the span of 11 hands left TIETYMM with 550,097 chips, less than 400 chips behind Fresh_oO_D.

Multifox was the short stack at that point with 37K, which had shrunk to just 27K five hands later when the Austrian player was dealt a split pair of queens and raised after Fresh_oO_D opened with the [Qh] showing. TIETYMM called behind with the [3c] showing and two more treys beneath it for rolled-up trips, and then called again when Fresh_oO_D raised to 30K and Multifox called all-in. TIETYMM got one value raise out of Fresh_oO_D on fourth street before checking fifth and driving the German player off with a bet on sixth. By the point the trips had become treys full of tens, good enough to take the 137K-chip side and main pots and eliminate Multifox in 5th place ($5,047.35).

Four orbits later it was lennart's time to go. The Swede completed with a split pair of jacks and called when TIETYMM raised to 20K, then check-raised to 20K on fourth street with [Js] [3s] showing against TIETYMM's [6s] [Th]. lennart check-raised fifth and the two players got four bets in apiece, the last 22K going in on sixth with those jacks still unimproved. They were up against a similarly unimproved, but better, pair of queens that had been buried below TIETYMM's [6s] door card. Both players made two pair on seventh street, leaving the situation the same, and that knocked lennart out in 4th place ($7,800.45).

RolldUpTrips's six-big-bet stack would shrink to just 49K over the next 35 hands amid the constant assault of his opponents and the antes. Those remaining chips went in the middle after completing to 12K with ([Kc] [9h]) [Th]. TIETYMM, who had the bring-in with the [6d] up, held another six below for a pair and raised. RolldUpTrips was all-in two bets later, and when neither player improved, the sixes took the pot and RolldUpTrips finished in 3rd place ($11,012.40).

An all-Germany final

With the stakes at 12K/24K/2.4K, two accomplished players from Germany faced off for the 2015 WCOOP Seven-Card Stud Championship:

Seat 3: TIETYMM (802,319 in chips)
Seat 8: Fresh_oO_D (577,681 in chips)

After TIETYMM won the first hand with a queen-high straight to take down a 244K-chip pot, the two discussed a deal for close to 10 minutes before calling them off to keep playing. With TIETYMM holding better than a 2-to-1 advantage, they would continue to play for the next 35 minutes and come up against the 8:55 ET break. Though Fresh_oO_D did manage briefly to take a lead of about 80K during that stretch, TIETYMM won back-to-back pots worth just over 290K apiece to close out the hour.

Fresh_oO_D came out of the break with two straight wins, the first worth 102K and taken down on sixth street with a pair of eights showing on-board. The second saw Fresh_oO_D bring it in with a split pair of treys and have them hold up through seventh street against a king-high flush draw for 262K. That left Fresh_oO_D within two big pots of retaking the lead, but those pots would never come around.

Instead a turning point came six hands later when Fresh_oO_D had the bring-in with the [8h], defended, and picked up a pair of jacks with the [Jc] on fourth and [Js] on fifth. TIETYMM had opened with the [Kd] showing and improved to a pair of kings on fifth with the [Ks], and then to kings and sevens with the [7d] on sixth street. Fresh_oO_D called down but mucked (x-x) [8h] [Jc] [Js] [6h] (x) and slid back to a stack of 236K.

Defending another bring-in three hands later, only to muck when TIETYMM had [9s] [8s] [6s] showing by fifth street, left Fresh_oO_D with 153K. All but 11K of that disappeared five hands later as Fresh_oO_D called down TIETYMM's bets only to fold on seventh with a (x-x) [9s] [Td] [6h] [Ah] board, and TIETYMM made a pair of fours on the following hand to beat Fresh_oO_D's pair of treys and end the tournament.

With no deal in place, Fresh_oO_D settled for $14,224.35 as the runner-up. TIETYMM collected $19,960.35, the bracelet, and the title of 2015 WCOOP Seven-Card Stud Champion. Congratulations to both players!

WCOOP 2015: Event #29, $700 Seven-Card Stud Championship
Entrants: 138
Prize pool: $91,770
Places paid: 24
1. TIETYMM (Germany) $19,960.06
2. Fresh_oO_D (Germany) $14,224.35
3. Randy "RolldUpTrips" Ohel (Mexico) $11,012.40
4. Christer "lennart" Johansson (Sweden) $7,800.45
5. Multifox (Austria) $5,047.35
6. Thor "osten" Hansen (Norway) $4,129.65
7. Kiryl "angry moron" Radzivonau (Belarus) $3,211.95
8. ilushan (Russia) $2,523.67

Jason Kirk is a freelance contributor to PokerStars Blog.

Four years ago at the 2011 WCOOP, bajskorven8 went on a rush to win a Heads-Up event to secure a first WCOOP bracelet. With nine players remaining in this year's Event #28, bajskorven8 seized the lead. At that point, only eight other players stood in the way of bajskorven8 becoming a repeat WCOOP winner. When it got heads-up against Canada's Jigs Flippin, bajskorven8 quickly overcame a chip deficit. At that point, bajskorven8 froze any of Jigs Flippin's forward momentum. The icy cool bajskorven8 methodically chipped away at Jigs Flippin's stack and won Event #28, which marked a second career WCOOP bracelet for the Swede.

2015 WCOOP Event #28 $320 NL 6-Max attracted 2,014 runners. They created a prize pool worth $604,200, which tripled the initial $200K Guarantee. The top 252 places got a cut of the pool, with $95,161.50 initially set aside to the champion.

Day 1 ended with only 26 players remaining. TeamWispy (Costa Rica) led the pack with 1.05M, followed by CHELitw (Argentina) in second with 1.02M.

The action at the onset of Day 2 proceeded at a brisk pace. Less than 30 minutes into Day 2, we were down to the final three tables. CHELitw led with 1.5M and only rmgil was the only other player over 1M. With 14 to go, Romania's treidei3 seized the lead after knocking out Chirkov77 when [Kh][Kc] held up against [Ad][Jc]. At that point, the lead was a hot potato that got passed around every few hands. With 12 remaining, Monio81 surged to over 1.8M after knocking out angrymoron with [As][Ts] against angrymoron's [8h][8d]. The [Ad] spiked on the river and angrymoron was busto in 13th place. With 9 to go, Sweden's bajskorven87 passed 2M and took over the lead after picking off J. Gelades in 10th place with [9d][9c] vs. [As][9s].

Canada's G's zee bubbled off the final table in seventh place when G's zee's [As][2s] lost to bajskorven87's rivered four-flush with [Kh][Qs].

WCOOP Event #28 - Final Table Chip Counts:
Seat 1: FU_15 (547,313)
Seat 2: bajskorven87 (4,137,711)
Seat 3: Monio81 (2,258,835)
Seat 4: forcadellmg (514,301)
Seat 5: Jigs Flippin (2,005,265)
Seat 6: Skrigepas (606,575)

The final table commenced during Level 35 with blinds at 12.5K/25K and 3,125 ante. Sweden's bajskorven87 was seeking a second WCOOP (won a bracelet in 2011) and began the final table with a hefty lead and a big stack in excess of 4.1M. Both of the short stacks, FU_15 and forcadellmg, had between 514-547K. Final table featured legendary online grinder Nick "FU_15" Maimone, who has seven figures in career earnings, but still seeking his first COOP title.

TOO HIGH: FU_15 eliminated in 6th place

Short-stacked FU_15 never had a chance to get anything going until he woke up with [Qs][Qh]. Alas, he got beat down by Big Slick... bajskorven87 min-raised to 60,000, Jigs Flippin called, FU_15 shoved for 481,888, bajskorven87 bailed, and Jigs Flippin called. Heads-up. Jigs Flippin's [Ad][Kh] hit the flop, turn, and river when the board ran out [Ah][6h][5h][Kc][Ac]. Jigs Flippin won the pot with a full house, and FU_15 became the first player to bust at this 6-max final table. Sixth place paid out $13,534.08.

With five remaining, bajskorven87 led with 5M, followed by Jigs Flippin (2.7M), Monio81 (1.5M), and the two shorties -- forcadellmg and Skrigepas -- held an average of 371K.

VISIONS: forcadellmg eliminated in 5th place

Short-stack ran into the proverbial "ace on the river." Monio81 min-raised to 70,000, forcadellmg bombed it all-in for 409,072 with [9d][9s], and Monio81 called with [Ac][Qc]. The board finished up [3d][2s][Th][5d][Ad]. Monio81 turned a gutshot Wheel draw, but riverd a pair of Aces to win the pot. For fifth place, Mexico's forcadellmg took home $23,684.64.

With four to go, bajskorven87 was still out in front with 5.5M, followed by Jigs Flippin (2.4M) and Monio81 (1.6M). Skrigepas took on the role of the shorty with 490K.

LIVING FOR THE CITY: Skrigepas eliminated in 4th place

Shorty Skrigepas did not waste any time before attempting to double up. Skrigepas open-shoved for 410,325 with [Qs][Jh], and Monio81 called with [2c][2s]. The board ran out [6s][5c][3s][Th][4c] and Monio81 actually rivered a six-high straight to win the pot. Denmark's Skrigepas never improved and busted in fourth place, which paid out $34,741.50.

With three remaining in the hunt... bajskorven87 held roughly 50% of the chips in play with 5.07M with Monio81 at 2.5M and Jigs Flippin at 2.4M.

Couple hands later, we had a new leader... on a board of [9s][8s][2d][Qc][7h], Jigs Flippin won a 4.3M pot with [Jh][Td] for a Queen-high straight against bajskorven87's [Qs][9d].

GOLDEN LADY: Monio81 eliminated in 3rd place

Holding 1.34M, Monio81 made a final stand with [Ah][8s] against Jigs Flippin's [Kh][Kd]. Jigs Flippin flopped a set of Kings and won the pot with a full house against Monio81's two pair when the board finished up [Kc][7c][6d][As][7h]. Monio81 was knocked out in third place, which paid out $52,867.50.

HEADS-UP: bajskorven87 (Sweden) vs. Jigs Flippin (Canada)
Seat 2: bajskorven87 (4,106,269)
Seat 5: Jigs Flippin (5,963,731)

With two to go, only one player stood in bajskorven87'sway of winning WCOOP bracelet #2. When heads-up began, Jigs Flippin held the slight edge 5.9M to 4.1M.

During the first ten minutes of heads-up, bajskorven87 pulled even after winning a pot with a better two pair. Eventually, bajskorven87 surged ahead 6M to 4M.

At the start of Level 40, bajskorven87 embarked on another blitz and won 11 out of 12 hands to chip up 7.1M to Jigs Flippin's 2.9M.

HIGHER GROUND: Jigs Flippin eliminated in 2nd place; bajskorven87 wins second WCOOP bracelet with win in  Event #28

Another mini-rush for bajskorven87, who won 8 out of the last 9 hands. Going into the final hand, bajskorven87 amassed a monstrous lead with a 9.4M stack versus Jigs Flippin's paltry 676K. Jigs Flippin made a valiant final stand with [Ad][5s] against bajskorven87's [9h][9c]. The board ran out [Ks][Js][6s][Kh][Td] and bajskorven87's nines held up. Jigs Flippin busted in second place.

For a runner-up performance, Canada's Jigs Flippin took home $70,993.50.

Congrats to Sweden's bajskorven87 for winning Event #28, which marked a second career SCOOP victory. First place paid out $95,161.50.

WCOOP-28: $320 NL Hold'em (6-Max)
Entrants: 2,014
Prize Pool: $604,200
Places Paid: 252

1. bajskorven87 (Sweden) $95,161.50
2. Jigs Flippin (Canada) $70,993.50
3. Monio81 (Bulgaria) $52,867.50
4. Skrigepas (Denmark) $34,741.50
5. forcadellmg (Mexico) $23,684.64
6. Nick "FU_15" Maimone $13,534.08

Visit the WCOOP home page to view a complete schedule of remaining events. Plus, find out who is a top of the Leader Board.

Want to join in on the action at PokerStars? Click here and sign up for an account and start playing!

Pauly McGuire is an author and freelance contributor to PokerStars.

So, it was a weekend night when you might expect a lot of people to be face-down in a pillow or face-up to the sky, howling at the Saturday night moon. It was on a night just like that on which we found 27,000 people watching Twitch hero Jason Somerville play a split pot stud game.

Scholars will look at this night at some point when they discuss the people who followed Somerville to colonize Mars, and they will say, "This was the night he got them."

It was a Twitch record for a poker stream, and one of the damnedest things we've ever seen. There aren't a lot of people out there who like to play stud poker anymore, and I'd bet there are fewer people who actually like to watch someone else play it.

But there it was. There was Jason Somerville with the population of a small American city watching his every check, bet, and fold.

If you missed it (read: if you, too, were howling at the moon), we have the bulk of the video below.

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

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

Two hundred sixty-five players crowded into Casino Perla this week for the Italian Poker Tour's first Season 7 stop in Nova Gorica. One of them, Matteo Mutti, walked away with the title and lion's share of the €257,050 prize pool.

Mutti's win earned him €60,000 and Nova Gorica crown.

Heads-up against fellow Italian Christian Favale, Mutti called in with [Qd][5d] vs. Favale's [Ah][9h].

Mutti's heads up opponent was former PokerStars Team Online Christian Favale, from Italy, who took second place for Euro 36,000. The board ran out [Kc][5c][Jd][8d][5h] to give Mutti the win, the cash, and a nice PokerStars watch.
The IPT's next stop will be in Malta 21 - 25 October 2015 where it will join with the European Poker Tour for a massive two-week-long festival. You can win packages on PokerStars right now that award €1,100 IPT buy-ins and €400 for expenses.

A few weeks ago we launched a charity contest that offered one winner the chance to play a private Lads Night In home game with Team Pro Jake Cody, in London, with all the trimmings and accommodation taken care of for the winner and his friends. At the same time you could raise some money for a truly worthwhile cause.

Your Lads Night In host: Jake Cody

To enter the winner needed only to tweet the line-up for their dream home game. Phil Honey, a father of three from Buckinghamshire, did that, impressing the judge (Cody) with his choices. And so he and some lucky friends will be headed to London on September 25, for what should be a night to remember.

Lads Night In winner Phil Honey

But before that, his dream home game would look like this:

Seat 1: Scotty Nguyen. Proper Old Skool and without doubt my ultimate poker hero.
Seat 2: Victoria Coren Mitchell. Funny, intelligent and a winning smile = a lethal combination.
Seat 3: Mike Tindall. Having seen this sporting legend play a few competitions he comes across as totally fearless and a really nice guy.
Seat 4: Shannon Elizabeth. Not sure I need many reasons for the call up. She plays poker and is a total hottie.
Seat 5: Curtis Martin. I'm a big NFL fan and huge Jets supporter. This guy is a legend in that sport.

We spoke to Honey about his home game, and what poker means to a bunch of friends who once a month put real life aside to play cards.

PokerStars has teamed up with Prostate Cancer UK to host Lads Night In

"For me the number one thing is that is has to be fun," he said. "As with many things in life it's all about balance - don't play too often so everyone is longing to play, make sure there's something for those people who bust out early, keep things competitive yet friendly, keep the prize money attractive but make sure the buy-in isn't too much for those that might not have as much spare cash.

"Having a night out with mates is great escapism for everything else. When you're locked in a hand you don't worry about work issues or problems at home as you need to concentrate 100%."

But, as Honey pointed out, a home game is all about the people. Dream line ups or one thing, but really, a reality line-up is just as good, and in our view every home game should have a player nicknamed "Lazarus". Check out the Lads Nigth In line-up below. Some characters may sound familiar.

"Richard 'Dogfish' Honey. Always the flamboyant one and loves playing the table bully. His strengths are his flair and his ability to make others react to what he's doing rather than the other way around.

"Simon 'Robson Green' Rofe. Extreme Fishing!!! This one is a danger. Plays lots of flops and if he is 100% focused on his A-Game he'll take down top spot. Loves 5-6 suited. When it comes to Heads-Up he's the best we have.

"Rupert 'Pinewood' Warren. He might not quite be 'Hollywood' but he has a great understanding of the game. Favourite hand is 10-8 and 'Never a Jack without an 8'. His biggest strength is that he knows exactly how everyone else plays better than they do and has an uncanny knack of guessing people's hole cards.

"Alexis 'No Fear' Panayiotou. In my opinion he's our outstanding player. I'd love to see him take down a really big tournament as I genuinely think he has it in him. Completely fearless and very astute. The only chink in his armour is that he's having a terrible year with us.

"Pete 'The Street' Panayiotou. 'The Street' because every time we play he picks up loads of houses. Could be first out or just as likely he can steamroller the lot of us in an hour. It's horrible to go up against him when he's the chip leader.

"Jason 'JBJacks' Bennett. A really, really superb all-rounder. Consistently at the top of our leader board every year and won our Championship in 2010 and 2013 so has earned everyone's respect. He's had some notable on-line wins but his weakness is live cash games, especially if mixed with a lot of Drambuie.

"Richard 'AnyTwo' Evens. Burst into our group by winning The Open in 2011 and soon established himself as a regular. Has a background of playing brag and whatever you do, don't bluff this guy - he will always call you, sniffing them out like a police dog.

"Dan 'Lazarus' Rangecroft. It is hard to knock this player out. Like a cat with nine lives he's always there at the end of a game. His biggest asset is the way he thinks about every decision and really pieces together how people have played a hand. Due a big win.

"Phil 'HoneyMonster' Honey. You've already heard enough about me - I'm just the lucky one.

Like a lot of players, Honey and his home game crowd caught the hold'em bug watching Late Night Poker in the 1990s, and gave two cards a try as well as their usual game of five card draw or Stud.

Then they adopted the TV show format ("It capped people's losses, which wasn't happening in messy cash games") and took money from the prize pool to buy a table and chips. Years later the same regulars meet every month, using a points system to create an end of year champion. And with it being a home game there are a few unique varieties thrown in, as Honey explained.

"Our 'normal night' consists of a couple of very familiar NLHE sit & go tournaments but we also play a MONTE (Mental-One-Night-Turbo-Event), Bounty Games, the £5 re-buy is always a great laugh. There's DOSH (Draw, Omaha, 7 card stud and Hold'em), a cash-night and a High Roller event for those that can afford it. The Tag-Team and 'The AshesRyder Cup' team events have come and gone."

All this contributes towards a Grand Final night at the end of the year, with a winner takes all tournament. "Ultimately you get the coveted title and bragging rights for at least 12 months."

But behind what should prove a fun night is a good cause. The idea behind Lads Night In is to increase awareness of prostate cancer, with players encouraged to raise money by taking part in a home game and donating the proceeds. The money goes to Prostate Cancer UK.

Honey is among those who has experienced prostate cancer in his own family.

"My father and his brother both suffered with enlarged prostates once they were into their 60's," he said. "An enlarged prostate doesn't always mean prostate cancer but if anyone starts having trouble when they take a leak they really should find themselves an hour and make an appointment to see their GP.

"I'm very happy to my Dad came through that ordeal and has made a great recovery. Before they operated on him they made him lose weight so he's been down the gym and has never been fitter.

"Most blokes are awful when it comes to health issues but events like Lads Night In are really helping."

So looking ahead to that night in London what is he hoping for when he looks up at Jake Cody across the table?

"It's not top priority but I'd like to win some money off him," said Honey. "I think it's great he's prepared to play with a complete set of donkeys but if we could just learn a few things off him then I'll be very happy.

With that spirit it seems a good night is in store. And who knows, maybe Cody himself will be the real winner.

"If he does well enough - he's more than welcome to join our Grand Final night in December where Christmas jumpers or fancy dress will earn players an extra 500 chips."

You too can play a part by visiting the PokerStars Lads Night In homepage. There you'll find how you can help by hosting your own home game to raise money for Prostate Cancer UK.