Day 2 action in the Pokerstars.net Asia Pacific Poker Tour Main Event in Seoul, South Korea, saw 83 players on hand to start play, the survivors of 165 initial Day 1 entrants at the Walker-Hill Casino. The 83 players worked down to the 16-spot money bubble as action was halted for the day, with Brian Kang emerging as the overnight leader following a wild close to the action.

The day began with Jan Van Dyk and David Saab atop the leaderboard, though neither would survive the session. First, though, came the winnowing of the shorter stacks, with several notables among them. Australian Van Marcus, who final-tabled last year’s APPT Manila stop, was one of the first. Marcus exited after getting his
chips in after a

flop. Marcus held

for trips, but Michael Bang held

for the same trips and a better kicker, which held up when the board completed with the

and

.

Team PokerStars Pro Bertrand “ElkY” Grospellier lasted only a short while longer. ElkY’s last 16,000 went in against Osawa Masahiro after an

flop. Again it was trips vs. trips, with ElkY’s

trailing Masahiro’s

, and again the higher kicker held. This time the turn and river brought the

and

, ending Grospellier’s tournament run.

Meanwhile, both start-of-day leader Van Dyk and recent APPT Macau winner Eddie Sabat made early climbs. Van Dyk eliminated two players to become the first to top 100,000 in chips, while Sabat neared 60,000 after doubling through early, then collecting a second large pot. Sabat, though, took a couple of big hits to depart midway through the session. On his final hand, he got his chips in on a big draw with

and a board of

-10. Sam Faqiryar was in the hand with A-J, however, which held up when the board completed with 8-6.

Jan Van Dyk fared no better as the day wore on. First, his pocket jacks went down to a shorter stack’s pocket eights when an eight fell on the river, and as his stack withered, he pushed all in from the cutoff with

. Hori Katsiyohi pushed over the top from the button with

, which held up when the board rolled out

.

David Saab, meanwhile, moved out to the lead with about 160,000 in chips, but the prosperity wouldn’t last. Saab shipped half his stack to Brian Kang after trying to bully Kang while holding

on a

flop. Saab raised to 8,000, was check-raised to 24,000, and then pushed all in. Kang snap-called with

and pulled in the massive pot when the turn and river both brought aces. Saab regained those chips and more in a hand where he eliminated Jae Jung. Saab tried to re-steal a pot pre-flop with

, which turned out to be ahead of Jung’s

when Jung decided to play for the rest of his chips and pushed all in. Saab was priced in for the call and won when the board ran out

. “I will not fold!” cried Saab as he pulled in the chips.

Saab dropped a third of his chips soon after when he flopped two pair with 9-7 on a

flop, but had to dodge two all-ins, those of Wooka Kim with

and Hidenari Shiono with

. The

turn was harmless to Saab, but the

river gave the main pot to Kim and a larger side pot to Shiono, who had Kim well covered. Then Saab crashed out of the tournament in 17th, again while trying to bully Brian Kang.

The last hand of the night saw Saab raise to 6,000 preflop, with Kang calling from the button. Saab bet out for 17,500 after the

flop, and Kang called again. “Blah blah blah I check the turn dark,” said Saab, rising from his chair as the turn brought the

. “Careful, my friend,” Saab admonished Kang, but Kang bet 25,000 anyway. Saab immediately check-raised all in, and Kang immediately called. Saab showed

for bottom pair and a flush draw, while Kang opened

for another small set. The river brought the

, sending Saab off as the bubble boy and boosting Kang to the lead as play ended for the night.

The chip counts for the 16 survivors:

Brian Kang – 302,000
Yoshihiro Tasaka – 245,000
Sam Faqiryar – 242,400
Hidenari Shiono – 154,700
Diwei Huang – 131,300
Daniel Schreiber – 125,700
David Horvath – 92,500
Wooka Kim – 44,900
Fam Kai Yat – 41,200
Yuji Masaki – 39,000
Michiyuki Kondo – 37,100
Daniel Williams – 35,500
Hori Katsiyoshi – 23,800
Kwok Gi (Ken) Yeung – 21,800
Robert Campitiello – 20,900
Terry Gardiner – 16,100

Action resumes at 1pm Seoul time on Sunday (late Saturday night in North America), as the final-table lineup is setlled and the winner decided in the PokerStars.net APPT Seoul Main Event.

A very busy Monday at the 2008 World Championship of Online Poker (WCOOP) at PokerStars saw three different winners crowned and bracelets awarded. The biggest story of all was the conclusion of Event #20, which saw 43 players on hand to decide the lion’s share of a $3,647,000 prize pool. The final five survivors eventually agreed on a deal that netted them an average of more than a quarter million dollars each.

WCOOP Event #20, $1,000+50 NLHE, $3,000,000 Guaranteed, Day 2

Day 2 of Event #20 of the 2008 WCOOP, $1000+50 No-Limit Hold’em, concluded Monday night. 43 players returned with hopes of winning the title. Among them were Team
PokerStars pros Bertrand “ElkY” Grospellier and Humberto Brenes, but both fell short of the final table. ElkY saw his

outflopped by

and finished in 14th place ($14,561.40) while Brenes ran

into

to finish in 15th place ($14,561.40). Taylor “ElMasterMind” McFarland finished in 18th for $8,667.50. High finishers who didn’t survive to Day 2 included Hoss_TBF in 56th ($5,547.20), Dani “supernova9″ Stern in 86th ($5,200.50), Mr. Tim Caum in 90th ($5,200.50), Andre “aakkari” Akkari in 191st ($3,813.70), Joe Hachem in 240th ($3,467) and Noah “Exclusive” Boeken in 350th ($2,426.90).

The chip counts to start the final table were as follows:

QuasiFiction – 17,614,385
Mary 717 – 11,817,844
CamoJr – 6,325,276
Christian “C.K.” Krue – 4,630,228
NYC P.I.M.P – 4,068,719
henri72 – 3,134,664
Jeff “JSchnett” Schnettler – 2,093,726
Sumar07 – 1,223,614
VuaXi`Tô’ – 1,096,544

The first to be eliminated was Sumar07. With blinds of 80,000/160,000 and an ante of 16,000, Sumar07 moved all in from middle position for 1,559,614 with

. On his immediate left, Jeff “JSchnett” Schnettler reraised all in and isolated the action with

. The board rolled out

and Sumar07 took home $31,203 for ninth. Later in the level, VuaXi`Tô’ moved all in under the gun for 1,745,088 and CamoJr called from the big blind. VuaXi`Tô’s JdTd needed help to beat CamoJr’s

, but was unable to find any. VuaXi`Tô’ finished in eighth place for $45,071.

WCOOP Event #7 winner Mary 717 certainly showed what it takes to win a WCOOP event, and continued here by eliminating henri72 in seventh place. The blinds and antes had moved to the 100,000/200,000/20,000 level, when, on the button, Mary 717 moved all in for 9,393,669 with

to force the smaller stacks in the blinds to pick up hands and make decisions for their tournament lives. Henri72 woke up with

and quickly called. Unfortunately for henri72, the board rolled out

to give Mary 717 a straight, eliminating henri72 in seventh place for $72,807. Sixth place was determined when Jeff “JSchnett” Schnettler moved all in from the cutoff for 2,485,340 and was called by Christian “C.K.” Krue in the big blind. Schnettler’s

ran into Krue’s

, and only a king would come on the board, not enough to save Schnettler. He earned $107,477 for sixth.

The remaining five players discussed a chip count chop and with a slight adjustment, a deal was reached. Each was guaranteed as follows:

QuasiFiction – $340,000
Mary 717 – $288,155.21
CamoJr – $230,388.83
Christian “C.K.” Krue – $226,965.07
NYC P.I.M.P. – $197,953

The remaining $60,000 would be awarded to the winner as would be the championship bracelet. Play slowed down for a while but eliminations soon came at a frantic pace. At the 150,000/300,000/30,000 level, QuasiFiction opened to 700,000 and Mary 717 reraised to 2.4 million. QuasiFiction moved all in and Mary 717 called all in showing

, but was in a precarious position seeing QuasiFiction’s

. The board ran out 10-high and Mary 717 finished in fifth place. The next hand, Christian “C.K.” Krue moved all in for 1,424,330 and NYC P.I.M.P reraised, successfully isolating the action. Krue showed

but was trailing NYC P.I.M.P’s

. No king would pair Krue’s hand as he finished the tournament in fourth place. It would take only five hands for the next player to fall. CamoJr made it 800,000 to go and NYC P.I.M.P moved all in for just over ten million. CamoJr called all in with

but was dominated by NYC P.I.M.P’s

. The board rolled out

and CamoJr placed third.

Heads-up play began with these chip counts:

QuasiFiction – 34,796,431
NYC P.I.M.P – 17,208,569

It took 30 hands for NYC P.I.M.P to double up with pocket aces and eventually take down the title. The winning hand came on a limped pot that brought out a flop of

. QuasiFiction check-called a bet of 550,000 and the turn delivered the

. This time QuasiFiction led out for 1,200,000 but was raised all in by NYC P.I.M.P. After a few moments of pondering, QuasiFiction called and showed

but was behind NYC P.I.M.P’s

. The river was the

and the tournament was over. QuasiFiction finished as runner-up, but still took home the biggest payday of $340,000.

The winner of WCOOP Event #20 was NYC P.I.M.P. After securing $197,953 per the five-way deal, NYC P.I.M.P battled valiantly to win the championship bracelet and the additional $60,000 to take home a total of $257,953. The final results:

*1. NYC P.I.M.P – $257,953
*2. QuasiFiction – $340,000
*3. CamoJr – $230,388.83
*4. Christian “C.K.” Krue – $226,965.07
*5. Mary 717 – $288,155.21
6. Jeff “JSchnett” Schnettler – $107,477
7. henri72 – $72,807
8. VuaXi`Tô’ – $45,071
9. Sumar07 – $31,203

* — five-way chop for remaining prize money, $60,000 to eventual winner

WCOOP Event #21, $500+30 Stud Hi/Lo, $200,000 Guaranteed

Though it had a relatively low number of entrants at 525, the $530 Stud Hi/Lo event generated a prize pool of $262,500, easily eclipsing its pre-tourney guarantee. Just missing out on the final table were Scott “emptyseat88″ Fischman in 14th place ($3,412.50) and Chad “ChadBrownPRO” Brown in 16th place ($3,412.50). Other top finishers included Lee “LeeNelsonP*” Nelson in 29th ($1,968.75), Michael “The Grinder” Mizrachi in 30th ($1,968.75), Shane “Shaniac” Schleger in 41st ($1,312.50), Andre “aakkari” Akkari in 44th ($1,312.50) and Isabelle “NoMercy” Mercier in 72nd ($918.75).

The final table still possessed star power, though, as James “Andy McLEOD” Obst finished in seventh place for $6,562.50. In the end, weaktight defeated aldenpogi to capture the $530 Stud Hi/Lo title. The final results were as follows:

*1. weaktight – $42,735.78
*2. aldenpogi – $34,439.22
3. sagwise – $19,687.50
4. Bad Beat Oz – $14,437.50
5. CR00K – $9,187.50
6. The_Drow – $7,875
7. James “Andy McLEOD” Obst – $6,562.50
8. 7CardRyon – $5,250

* — two-way deal for remaining prize money, $4,000 to eventual winner

WCOOP #22, $500+30 O/8 Mixed (6-max) $200,000 Guaranteed

Event #22 was a unique mixed game that went back and forth between limit Omaha Hi/Lo and Pot Limit Omaha Hi/Lo. It drew 620 entrants for a prize pool totaling $310,000. Notable finishes included Scott “BigRiskky” Clements in 10th place ($4,030), Victor Ramdin in 14th place ($2,790), 2007 WCOOP bracelet winner copi in 31st ($1,550), horryclutch in 32nd ($1,550), Alexander “allingomes” Gomes in 33rd ($1,550), Dario “Dariominieri” Minieri in 45th ($1,178) and Chris “Money800″ Moneymaker in 58th ($1,023).

After fifteen hours of play the winner was determined when Matt “BUCKIZ6″ Schulte outlasted jamie2000 and the rest of the field. Schulte’s triumph brought him a $55,800 first-place payday. The final results:

1. Matt “BUCKIZ6″ Schulte – $55,800
2. jamie2000 – $41,850
3. PieOhMy – $31,000
4. lovesimi – $21,700
5. iamaction – $15,500
6. Londolozi – $9,300

Day 7 of the World Championship of Online Poker saw the return of a tournament with a guaranteed prize pool of $1 million, along with a smaller stud event that still cruised past its pre-start guarantee by a wide margin. The $215-plus-rebuys Event #13 at PokerStars featured lots of star power late, with Josh Arieh and Kevin Saul the focal points of attention in the event before “lrdvoldemort” surged to the win.

WCOOP Event #13: $200+15 No-Limit Hold’em w/ Rebuys, $1,000,000 Guaranteed

The $200+15 NLHE event with rebuys had 2,234 entrants, who collectively rebought 2,635 times and added on another 1,524 times. Put it all
together and it made a prize pool of $1,278,600. Several big names made it close to the final table but fell just short. Among them were Rami “arbianight” Boukai in 14th place (7,671.60), Zach “nofingclue11″ Clark in 17th place ($5,114.40), Cliff “JohnnyBax” Josephy in 20th place ($2,685.06), UH Big Tex in 39th ($2,301.48), Stuart “the donator” Paterson in 78th ($1,917.90), Juan “Vietcong01″ Barros in 82nd ($1,917.90), and Team PokerStars Pro member Chad Brown in 144th ($1,662.18).

The final table itself had its share of big names, too. Leading the way in chips was Josh “nitbuster” Arieh, and right behind him was Kevin “BeL0WaB0Ve” Saul. Saul led with roughly 30 players left, but found himself holding the shortest stack with 16 remaining. However, a flurry of good luck (K-9 over A-3, A-9 over A-J, K-K over A-A – all three were all-ins preflop and each doubled his stack) propelled him towards the top of the leader board. An exciting final table was sure to come.

The chip counts as the final table began:

Josh “nitbuster” Arieh – 3,738,562
Kevin “BeL0WaB0Ve” Saul – 2,717,000
ACESEDAI – 2,057,663
Doug “imcastleman” Dicken – 1,702,714
omalos – 1,490,448
moe32746 – 1,257,246
TheKaas – 1,161,020
lrdvoldemort – 1,045,133
Sykoen – 664,214

The first one to be eliminated from the final table was ACESEDAI, who started third in chips before things went downhill. With the blinds at 20,000/40,000 and an ante of 4,000, ACESEDAI made it 120,000 to go from middle position and moe32746 called from the big blind. The

flop saw moe32746 check and ACESEDAI bet 240,000, which was quickly called. The

came on the turn and again it was checked to ACESEDAI, who moved all in for 1,079,663. Moe32746 snap-called and showed

for a straight. ACESEDAI’s

needed a nine for an unlikely chop but the river was the

, eliminating ACESEDAI in ninth place for $14,192.46.

Next to go was TheKaas. The blinds and antes were now at the 25,000/50,000/5,000 level. From the cutoff, lrdvoldemort moved all in for 1,346,266 and TheKaas wasted little time calling all-in for 1,114,974, He showed

, well ahead of lrdvoldemort’s

. However, the board ran out

, felting TheKaas in eighth place for a payday of $23,014.80. Two hands later the tournament was down to six players. Doug “imcastleman” Dicken moved all in from the small blind for his last 782,512 and Sykoen called all-in from the big blind for 561,939. Dicken showed

but had run into

. Dicken would need a nine or diamonds to win the hand and the latter would come. The board ran out

and Dicken made the nut flush to eliminate Sykoen in seventh place for $35,800.80.

Coming in as the two biggest stacks, Josh Arieh and Kevin Saul were primed to clash. Arieh still held the top spot on the leader board while Saul had slipped. Their inevitable duel would soon occur, resulting in Kevin “BeL0WaB0Ve” Saul’s sixth-place elimination. With blinds and antes at the 30,000/60,000/6,000 level, lrdvoldemort raised to 150,000 on the button and Saul called from the small blind. Arieh then reraised to 420,000, prompting lrdvoldemort to fold. Saul deliberated briefly before calling and seeing a flop of

. He checked it over to Arieh who immediately moved all in, putting Saul’s tournament life at potential risk. Eventually, Saul clicked the call button and showed

but trailed Arieh’s

. Unfortunately for Saul, the turn and river came

and

. Kevin “BeL0WaB0Ve” Saul earned $48,586.80 for sixth place.

A few hands later lrdvoldemort won a monster pot that left the tournament three-handed. After a flurry of preflop raising involving four of the remaining five players, Doug “imcastleman” Dicken was all in with

as the short stack, omalos was all in with

, and lrdvoldemort had a chance to knock them both out with

. The flop almost certainly guaranteed it, coming out

. The turn brought the

, which gave omalos a chance, but the

river gave lrdvoldemort queens full. Doug “imcastleman” Dicken finished in fifth place for $61,372.80, and omalos was the fourth-place finisher for $74,158.80.

The chip counts at the start of three-handed play were:

Josh “nitbuster” Arieh – 7,154,759
lrdvoldemort – 5,713,069
moe32746 – 2,966,172

Surprisingly, it would be Josh Arieh finishing the tournament in third place. After committing himself to a call with

and failing to catch up to pocket kings, Arieh was the short stack. When the blinds were 40,000/80,000 with an 8,000 ante, Arieh put his remaining chips in with

, but was up against lrdvoldemort’s

. The board would not improve Arieh, coming out

. Josh “nitbuster” Arieh earned $110,215.32 for his third-place showing.

At the start of heads-up play, these were the chip counts:

lrdvoldemort – 8,285,112
moe32746 – 7,548,888

The battle for the bracelet was competitive, with each player managing his own double-up to stay in the fight. The chip lead swung back and forth, but in the end it was lrdvoldemort who reigned supreme. After winning a coin flip to take 4.5-to-1 chip lead, lrdvoldemort had the upper hand. With blinds of 60,000/120,000 and an ante of 12,000, lrdvoldemort min-raised to 240,000 and moe32746 called. The flop came

and moe32746 would soon be all in with

, needing to get lucky to catch lrdvoldemort’s

. The turn and river were no help to moe32746, who finished as runner-up for a prize of $153,432.00.

The winner of WCOOP Event #13 was lrdvoldemort, who bested a final table that boasted two of the game’s elite at the top of the chip counts. Lrdvoldemort battled from eighth in chips at the start to holding all of the chips at the end, winning the championship bracelet and $207,772.50.

The final results were:

1. lrdvoldemort – $207,772.50
2. moe32746 – $153,432.00
3. Josh “nitbuster” Arieh – $110,215.32
4. omalos – $74,158.80
5. Doug “imcastleman” Dicken – $61,372.80
6. Kevin “BeL0WaB0Ve” Saul – $48,586.80
7. Sykoen – $35,800.80
8. TheKaas – $23,014.80
9. ACESEDAI – $14,192.46

WCOOP Event #14: $300+20 Seven-card Stud, $100,000 Guaranteed

The only seven-card stud tournament of the WCOOP took place on Day 7. A field of 627 made up a prize pool of $188,100. Notable finishes included Steve “Rabscuttle” Mil in 14th place ($2,351.25), “xthesteinx” in 16th place ($2,351.25), Steve “Thorladen” Weinstein in 17th ($1,881.00), Chris “TheTownhouse” Odle in 44th ($940.50), and Kevin “BeLOWaBOVe” Saul in 49th ($846.45). The final table came to a close 14 hours after play began and, following a two-way deal, Mildred53 outlasted the rest to capture the title and 28,608.50.

The final standings were:

*1. Mildred53 – $28,608.50
*2. tiffaniejoy – $25,000
3. adsonvonmelk – $13,637.25
4. fly high989 – $9,405
5. yhcaep – $5,643
6. SanibelSanta – $4,702.50
7. AGame18 – $3,762
8. lilletrold – $3,291.75

* — two-way chop for remaining prize money; $2,000 to eventual winner

The remaining four stops for the APPT’s second season will cover the Asia Pacific region from Seoul, South Korea, to Auckland, New Zealand, and will hit some of the most exotic locations and deluxe accommodations on any poker tour. The second event will be the $2,870 buy-in at the Paradise Walker-Hill Casino, in Seoul, South Korea, and will run from September 26–28, 2008 and host up to 250 players. The next event will be held at the Skycity Casino in Auckland, New Zealand. This $2,400 buy-in event will be held from October 9–12, 2008. The exact dates of the fourth event of the APPT have not yet been announced, but it is set for the the Hyatt Hotel and Casino, in Manila, Philippines, and is expected to be a $2,350 buy-in event for a maximum of 500 players. The final event of Season 2 will be held from December 2–7, 2008, at the Star City Casino, in Sydney, Australia, overlooking the iconic Sydney Harbor Bridge. This event will be a $5,960 buy-in with a guarantee first place of approximately $945,000.

As always, PokerStars will run a wide variety of satellites to give its players a chance to win their way into the events at their site, including some limited free-to-enter satellites at www.pokerstars.net. In addition, live satellites will be available at SkyCity Casino in Auckland for that event, at Star City Casino for the final event in Sydney, and at other locations TBA.

For full information on the first event in Macau and all the remaining stops of the tournament, visit the APPT website, www.appt.com.

pokernews.com

Said Coren, on being named as the latest member of Team PokerStars: “I’m genuinely proud and happy to be an ambassador for PokerStars, I have played on the site for years. And I’m especially delighted to help promote the EPT, which was already my favourite tournament series even before I won in London. The only difference is that I used to play it in cheaper shoes. Team PokerStars Pro is a lineup of some of the most exciting and memorable characters in modern poker, I’m really chuffed to be joining them.”

Initial appearances for Coren as a member of Team PokerStars include the upcoming season of European Poker Tour events, plus other tournaments.

pokernews.com

Griffin recently became the firt player to win the unofficial “Triple Crown” of live poker titles, a WSOP bracelet, EPT title, and most recently, the WPT Borgata Poker Classic, will make his first live appearance as a Stars representative at
the upcoming EPT Monte Carlo Grand Championship, where he returns to defend his crown. Griffin parlayed a $600 double-shootout win on Stars into a ticket to last year’s EPT event, which eventually became the $2.4 million winner’s prize. Griffin will now play as “GavinGriffin” on PokerStars.

Brown, the former actor who turned to poker as a way of supplementing his income until it became his true profession, achieved one of his brightest moments when he captured (under the screen name “stelladora”) the $5,200 H.O.R.S.E. event in the 2006 PokerStars World Championship of Online Poker (WCOOP) series. Brown will now play under the name “ChadBrownPro” on the Stars site.

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Split into eight separate divisions, one named after each of the solar system’s planets in order of increasing size (Pluto having been recently shorn of its “planetary” status), the new Battle of the Planets ongoing series offers competition at all levels of SNG buy-ins, not just the highest ones. The Mercury level, for example, governs SNGs with buy-ins from $1 to $2.99, while the Jupiter level, at the top end of the scale, includes buy-ins at $300
and up.

The concept also splits winners into “low orbit” and “high orbit” brackets, designed for both moderate and high levels of SNG participation. A qualifying group of tournaments in any level’s “low orbit” bracket would consist of a block of 20 tournaments, with each successive block of 20 tournaments played counting as a separate block for qualifying purposes. Similarly, the “high orbit” brackets are computed based on 100-SNG blocks, requiring a higher level of participation to qualify.

Qualifying SNGs contain fewer than 40 players and points are awarded, roughly speaking, for the money spots. Each week’s action runs Sunday through Saturday, with the specific buy-in levels and the total payouts for each level as follows:

Division ● SNG Buy-in ● Low Orbit Prize Pool ● High Orbit Prize Pool
Mercury ● $1-$2.99 ● $1,500 ● $1,500
Mars ● $3-$4.99 ● $2,000 ● $2,000
Venus ● $5-$9.99 ● $2,500 ● $2,500
Earth ● $10-$19.99 ● $3,000 ● $3,000
Neptune ● $20-$49.99 ● $3,500 ● $3,500
Uranus ● $50-$99.99 ● $4,000 ● $4,000
Saturn ● $100-$299.99 ● $4,500 ● $4,500
Jupiter ● $300+ ● $5,000 ● $5,000

In addition, the top ten players in each division for each week will be awarded free entry into a month-end freeroll with $50,000 in prize money up for grabs in a triple shootout format. More information is available on the PokerStars.com site.

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PokerStars players of any bankroll thickness will have a chance to qualify, from “Big Dance” freerolls through a range of different satellites. Stars will also offer its players the chance to trade in Frequent Player Points (FPPs) for seats. Steps-based SNGs are also part of the satellite mix, with buy-ins
as low as $2.

PokerStars is one of a select few sites that also offers cash incentives to the lucky qualifiers who both qualify online and then perform well during the WSOP. Stars qualifiers who make the WSOP Main Event final table can win bonuses of from $100,000 to $1,000,000, the last figure the extra prize for winning the entire tourney. Stars also offers a cash-bonus program including payments of up to $50,000 for making another to-be-televised final table at the WSOP.

Chris Moneymaker is one such former Stars qualifier who parlayed his initial online success into big money. “If I didn’t win a $39 satellite on PokerStars, I would have been on the sidelines at the 2003 WSOP,” said Moneymaker. “This year’s prize package is even more incredible and the prize pool is set to be its biggest yet.” To date, PokerStars has put more more players into the Main Event than any other site. Over 3,600 Stars qualifier have played in the Main Event since 2002.

The full Main Event prize package includes:

● $10,000 Main Event buy-in;
● $2,500 expense money;
● Eight nights’ complimentary hotel accommodations at the nearby Palms;
● Hotel suite upgrades for Supernova and Supernova Elite VIP members.

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Pham started the day with 2,003,000 in chips, and seemed poised for a route, but instead his opponents had the early edge. The first hours of play saw Pham’s gradual decline to half a million chips, and for several hours, Pham faded from the tournament’s focus. By early evening, however, Pham had battled his way back to where he started for the day, and then he began one of his famed ‘Dragon’ rushes. In just a couple of hours, Pham won just about every hand he played and again took a dominant lead. He finished the day above seven million, more than twice what second-place
player Bertrand ‘ElkY’ Grospellier managed as the final table’s lineup was decided.

Eight final-table players will return on Thursday to battle for the $2 million first prize. In chip-count order, they are:

David Pham 7,390,000
Bertrand ‘ElkY’ Grospellier 3,060,000
Joe Elpayaa 2,755,000
Haffiz Khan 2,560,000
Kris Kuykendall 2,150,000
Richard Fohrenbach 1,855,000
Craig Hopkins 1,770,000
Christian Harder 905,000

For continuing coverage of the final table from the 2008 PokerStars Caribbean Adventure, visit the official PokerStars blog at pokerstarsblog.com.

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David ‘The Dragon’ Pham is no wild, screaming, fire-breathing pro. To hear him make a noise or even break more than a small smile is
an occasion. On Day 3, the well-known pro let his stack do the talking, rising above the two-million-chip mark and ending with a comfortable chip lead.

Elsewhere, members of Team PokerStars spent a good portion of the day beating each other into pieces. Barry Greenstein’s kings couldn’t outrun Hevad ‘RainKhan’ Khan’s aces. Khan received a copy of Greenstein’s Ace on the River, but he would not be able to finish the day either; ElkY put Khan out toward the end of play. Andre Akkari, among the Team PokerStars pros, was also among the players who didn’t finish the day. Among those who did survive were ElkY and Victor Ramdin.

The end of play saw 40 players finish with chips, with the other notables still alive including William Thorson, Lynch, Eric Van der Berg, Rhett Butler, and Thierry Van Den Berg. Tournament director Mike Ward plans to play down to the final table of eight on Wednesday. For further coverage, visit the PokerStars blog at pokerstarsblog.com.

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