The fields were super-sized during World Record Week and December 28th’s special edition of the Million drew a mind-boggling 16,260 players to the felt creating a prizepool of $3,252,000, easily surpassing the $2.5 million guarantee placed on the event in honor of World Record Week. As the tournament neared the end of its fourth hour, 2.475 of those players made the money, with Katja Thater winning the Team PokerStars Pro last-longer, making a deep run that ended in a 134th place finish.

Podarok ended up the final table bubble boy, busting out in 10th place when salmor turned a flush against his flopped two pair. With that, we had our final nine, their stack sizes looking like this:

Seat 1: lp_SakiSaki (31,505,955 in chips)
Seat 2: manifest23 (13,908,936 in chips)
Seat 3: kharak (14,643,069 in chips)
Seat 4: MauryFishant (2,944,989 in chips)
Seat 5: salmor (26,352,162 in chips)
Seat 6: Beufford (13,892,416 in chips)
Seat 7: La_Alvarado (12,286,663 in chips)
Seat 8: AAmerican (35,907,574 in chips)
Seat 9: k0rt (9,458,236 in chips)

Kharak was the first player to exit the final table. After AAmerican opened for 1.5 million with blinds of 250,000/500,000, khrarak moved all in for 10.8 million and salmor called from the big blind. AAmerican gave it up and kharak revealed Ah-Qc to salmor’s 9d-9h. The first race of the final table went to the underpair, as the board ran out Jc-8c-4d-6d-4h, eliminating kharak in 9th place for a $22,764 payday. Next to go was La_Alvarado, who from the small blind shoved over the top of lp_SakiSaki’s 1.5 million opening raise and MauryFishant’s flat-call. Lp_SakiSaki folded but MauryFishant made the call. La_Alvarado was in trouble, his Ac-Td dominated by MauryFishant’s As-Js. La_Alvarado couldn’t catch up on the eight-high board and he hit the rail in 8th place, collecting $32,520.

Nearly 30 minutes would pass before the next elimination. With blinds up to 400,000/800,000, MauryFishant opened for a min-raise to 1.6 million. AAmerican shoved for just over 3.9 million and MauryFishant made the call, showing Qh-Jh to AAmerican’s Ad-5h. A queen hit the flop, though and AAmerican could not improve, finishing in 7th place for $50,406. Four hands later, salmor would get very unlucky against lp_SakiSaki. With the board reading 7c-6s-5c-7h, salmor moved all in on the turn holding As-7d, only to run into lp_SakiSaki’s flopped straight with 4s-8s. The 3d fell on the river and salmor was out in 6th, earning $73,170.

Manifest23 was the short stack as play turned five-handed, and with only seven big blinds left, he needed to make something happen quickly. He moved in on a steal from the cutoff, but Beufford looked him up, showing pocket sixes to his 3c-6c. No help on the board for manifest23 and he collected $97,560 for his 5th place finish.

With the field down to four k0rt broached the subject of a deal, but lp_SakiSaki quickly put the kibosh on it. Then, only about twenty seconds later k0rt was all in against lp_SakiSaki and in great shape, with Kc-Kd vs. lp_SakiSaki’s Ad-Js. Though the flop was a seemingly safe-looking 9h-8c-6c, lp_SakiSaki turned the Qh and rivered the Tc to make a runner-runner straight and sent k0rt to the rail with a one-two punch and $130,080 in his pocket for 4th place.

Beufford was the next to bring up a chop, asking if his opponents wanted to “look at numbers”. With 70 million in chips to Beufford’s 54.2 million and MauryFishant’s 37.3 million, lp_SakiSaki again declined, preferring to play it out for the full amount. Though MauryFishant won a few small pots early on in three-handed play, his stack began to dwindle steadily while lp_SakiSaki turned up the aggression. He may have been tightening up, he may have been utterly card-dead, but when he found 3c-3h on the button, he raised to 4.8 million, only to have lp_SakiSaki move in for his entire 101 million stack from the big blind. MauryFishant made the call, and was crushed to see lp_SakiSaki turn up Kc-Kd. The flop was Jh-7h-4s, and though MauryFishant got a ray of hope on the turn when the 5c fell and he picked up a gutshot straight draw, the 2d on the river sealed his elimination in 3rd place. He earned $162,600 for his finish–which, on a “normal” weekend, would be close to the Million’s top prize.

As lp_SakiSaki and Beufford went heads-up, their chip counts looked like this:

Seat 1: lp_SakiSaki (127,356,568 in chips)
Seat 6: Beufford (35,243,432 in chips)

Lp_SakiSaki began heads-up play with a nearly 4-1 chip lead over Beufford. The two mostly traded small pots, lp_SakiSaki grinding Beufford down to a low of 21.3 million to his 141.2 million, but Beufford was able to double up to 42 million when he made two pair and lp_SakiSaki’s straight draw failed to materialize. Beufford appeared to be gaining momentum and at one point narrowed the gap to a 5-3 chip deficit, but ultimately, it would not be enough to overcome lp_SakiSaki. On the final hand, lp_SakiSaki opened for 2.8 million from the button and Beufford called. Beufford led out for 4.2 million on the 8h-2d-2c flop and lp_SakiSaki came along with a call. The turn was the 4c and Beufford made a massive all-in overbet for his remaining 50.7 million in chips and lp_SakiSaki practically beat him into the pot, showing 2h-8d for a flopped full house! Beufford and his Kd-8c were drawing nearly dead–only the case 8 could end the hand in a tie. The Ts fell on the river, though and lp_SakiSaki took down the largest non-WCOOP tournament ever held on PokerStars, banking $331,378.80 for his win. Beufford earned $227,640 for his runner-up finish.

After playing for huge stakes with no chop of the prize money, here’s what our nine finalists took home:

Sunday Million Results for 12/28/2008
1st place lp_SakiSaki ($331,378.80)
2nd place Beufford ($227,640)
3rd place MauryFishant ($162,600)
4th place k0rt ($130,080)
5th place manifest23 ($97,560)
6th place salmor ($73,170)
7th place AAmerican ($50,406)
8th place La_Alvarado ($32,520)
9th place kharak ($22,764)

For more information on how to register or satellite in to the Sunday Million, hit up the Sunday Million page.

On a weekend laden with free money getting tossed into the ring, why not join PokerStars’ biggest monthly freeroll? For 5,000 FPPs you receive a seat for a shot at a prize pool worth $1 million and a $100,000 first place prize. Tonight’s $1 Million Turbo Takedown featured 9,532 players that “bought-in” or worked the satellite circuit to reach the final nine shown below:

Seat 1: pezi2000 (5,844,901 in chips)
Seat 2: BigDennys (2,745,539 in chips)
Seat 3: plattsburgh (1,939,168 in chips)
Seat 4: krissyb24 (3,374,825 in chips)
Seat 5: lexwilly (865,053 in chips)
Seat 6: Shogu (3,359,768 in chips)
Seat 7: joehenry (1,779,972 in chips)
Seat 8: perky264 (5,434,185 in chips)
Seat 9: GKnight00001 (3,252,589 in chips)

lexwilly had to make something happen early and often to get into the deep money at this final table. Something happened early that negated the often, as six hands into the final table with blinds at 60,000/120,000 ante 12,000 lexwilly found himself open pushing his remaining 1,051,053 from middle position with pocket sixes. He got action from perky264 in the cutoff with Ac-7c who called creating the nearly 2.4 million chip pot. Top two flopped for perky264 on the board of 7d-As-3c-Qc-5d leaving lexwilly hanging in ninth place for $5,500 from his 5,000 FPPs spent.

Three hands later plattsburgh, Shogu, and GKnight00001 got into a three-way hand that would leave one person in eighth place. All three checked the flop of 4s-Ks-Kh, and then on the turned 6s, GKnight00001 led out for 240,000 from the big blind. plattsburgh responded with a shove for 1.3 million and Shogu took some ninja cover as GKnight00001 made the call holding just As-3h for the nut flush draw. Seeing the flush draw and not a king made plattsburgh’s pocket jacks (Js-Jd) very happy. But the river 3s turned that smile upside down as GKnight00001 held the larger flush and collected the 3.7 million chip pot while $10,000 real cash was shipped to plattsburgh for his eighth-place finish.

Short on chips with ever-growing blinds means you must push when you get a chance. joehenry took that chance when the table folded to his button while holding just 361,972 chips (only three big blinds). perky264 folded in the small blind while GKnight00001 could make a math call with any two, but actually held a decent Ac-Ts. Unfortunately for joehenry he did not have the live cards he was hoping for with Th-9c. A flush board for both players ran out 4c-Kc-Ah-6c-2c but GKnight00001’s nut flush toppled the nine kicker flush for joehenry. Slaying another dragon, GKnight00001 knocked off his second opponent and joehenry received $15,000 for his seventh-place finish.

Shogu managed to increase his short-ish stack after netting a nut flush against GKnight00001, knocking him off his steed for once in a 5.1 million chip pot. BigDennys also tried to get out of the short stack hole by putting a squeeze play on perky264’s 319,500 chip raise from the cut-off and a call by GKnight00001 on the button. A push of 2.4 million chips from the big blind with hopes to collect the 933,000 in the middle went south in a hurry for BigDennys’ Ah-6h as perky264 had 6 million chips behind after making the call with As-Qh. Queen on the flop of 3h-Qs-4c left BigDennys gasping for some runner-runner skillet combo, but the Kc and Jh on the turn and river left BigDennys searching for a grand slam breakfast in sixth place but with an extra $20,000 to tip the third shift waitress with.

Chip deals sour quickly when we just can’t all get along. While five-handed the remaining players got the chip-chop numbers but couldn’t form a circle of friendship large enough to split up the remaining prize pool. So, onward they played until pezi2000 found himself calling the all-in push of GKnight00001. Both players formed a 5.4 million chip pot with GKnight00001 leaving only 341,523 chips behind with the blinds at 90,000/180,000 and ante of 18,000. Ac-Jh for GKnight00001 was well ahead of pezi2000’s Ah-7s as a battle of the zeros was won by the gallant GKnight00001 when the board produced 6d-5s-6c-2h-6h and sent pezi2000 home with $25,000 in fifth place.

krissyb24 was the thorn in the side of the deal talks and that proved to be a costly decision as he got short-stacked with 3.4 million chips and blinds at 90,000/180,000 ante 18,000 decided to pushed those chips from the big blind eliciting calls from button perky264 and small blind GKnight00001. With 11 million chips in the middle both perky264 and GKnight00001 checked down the board of Kh-Qd-Ad-Jh-9d to reveal GKnight00001’s pocket black jacks for the set. krissyb24 mucked his hand without showing and was awarded fourth place, good for $32,500.

Shogu would gain some chips for GKnight00001 with a Ac-Kc vs. Ad-6s showdown that chopped into GKnight00001’s stack and gave Shogu 8.3 million chips with the blinds escalating to 100,000/200,000 ante 20,000. Three-handed poker would be played for over 30 hands until GKnight00001 took a couple of nicks to his armor and was blinded down to 2.3 million when perky264 raised to 489,500 from the button and GKnight00001 responded from the small blind with a three-bet to 1.4 million. perky264’s final answer? Let’s play. They formed a 7.7 million chip pot, Kd-Jh for perky264 and Ah-2h for GKnight00001. GKnight00001 looked well on his way back to the round table with the 6c-6h-5d flop, but was sent to the dungeon as the Jc fell on the turn and no ace 9c on the river. $40,000 to save a fair maiden was transferred to our third-place finisher GKnight00001.

perky264 would start heads up play with 19.5 million to Shogu’s nine million as the two had some wiggle room to play for a while and still no deal in place. The two traded blinds for over 20 hands, but perky264 got the bigger pots as he sliced at the ninja’s stack until he pushed all-in from the button with 4.7 million chips left. perky264 with 23.7 million had enough to safely cover and made the call with Kd-Qd. With As-3c for Shogu the race was short and sweet for this month’s $1 Million Turbo Takedown champion. 5h-Kc-2c gave perky264 a big lead but three aces and four fours were out there for Shogu to collect the 9.7 million in the middle.

The ninja left in a cloud of smoke after the 6s and 9d fell on the turn and river handing the victory to perky264.

Here’s the final money tally with no deals, perky264 snagged the entire $100,000!

December $1 Million Turbo Takedown

1. perky264 $100,000
2. Shogu $60,000
3. GKnight00001 $40,000
4. krissyb24 $32,500
5. pezi2000 $25,000
6. BigDennys $20,000
7. joehenry $15,000
8. plattsburgh $10,000
9. lexwilly $5,500

As part of World Record Week here at PokerStars, several tournaments received a money injection into their guarantees. The Sunday Warm-up, normally a guaranteed $750,000, became a $1 million guarantee, and just so people would not confuse this tournament with the “Sunday Million” the marquee weekly PokerStars tournament’s guarantee was bumped up to $2.5 million!

The added guarantee wasn’t necessary as a record 5,836 showed up for the Sunday Warm-up to boost the prize pool to a staggering $1,167,200.

The stars of MTT’s at PokerStars came out swinging as TLB regular BeL0WaB0Ve put in a valiant effort in 21st place. He led with a commanding lead during several portions of the tournament but ran into the force from down under known as Andy McLEOD who defeated BeL0WaB0Ve’s K-Qs with A-To that connected a rivered two pair to overcome BeL0WaB0Ve’s flopped top pair, sending him home. The Aussie has been a force on the TLB standings with Sunday Million final tables, and nearly getting Australia into the World Cup of Poker (being played next month as part of the PokerStars Caribbean Adventure).

In Andy-like fashion, he ran over the table with a variety of head-turning plays, and once the table came back to their senses, he was the one standing tall with the most chips. Here’s how the final table started off with aforementioned Andy McLEOD with the final table chip lead:

Seat 1: Andy McLEOD (13,573,358 in chips)
Seat 2: Hr_Herman (3,975,211 in chips)
Seat 3: zmeyer (4,242,287 in chips)
Seat 4: groengras (3,943,729 in chips)
Seat 5: Tehanu (7,989,306 in chips)
Seat 6: KKgeoroAA (2,646,560 in chips)
Seat 7: totaloser (10,787,241 in chips)
Seat 8: Iceman1278 (4,573,710 in chips)
Seat 9: 69CANA69 (6,628,598 in chips)

It took nearly 30 minutes for Andy to claim his first victim, but KKgeoroAA was short-stacked with blinds at 200,000/400,000 ante 40,000, and facing a 800,000 chip raise from Andy McLEOD while in the big blind. KKgeoroAA responded with a push for his remaining 1.2 million behind his big blind with Kh-Tc. A snap call by Andy McLEOD with Ah-Ks proved to be the right one as the aggressive player had the cards to back up the bet this time and the Jc-2d-6c-9d-8d changed nothing. 3.8 million chips to Andy, and KKgeoroAA was the first to fall in ninth place earning $8,170.40

This set off an explosion of action as on the very next hand Andy McLEOD raised from UTG+2 to 800,000 and groengras pushed for 6.8 million from the cut-off. Button and small blind folded but Iceman1278 made the call in the big blind with Ad-Ks for his remaining 4.4 million. Andy McLEOD folded and groengras’ three-bet steal attempt was exposed as he turned over Qd-6s. Neither player hit the 5c-2s-5h-Th-9d board and the 11 million chip pot was shipped coolly to Iceman1278 while groengras was left with 1.9 million. Two hands later groengras tried shoving again but Andy McLEOD was waiting in the wings, dominating the Th-6c of groengras with As-Ts. Andy hit his ace on the board of Js-3h-Jh-Ah-3d sending the aggressive groengras to the rail with $14,006.40 for eighth place.

The very next hand, terminator Andy McLEOD again knocked out a rival as 69CANA69 open-shoved his remaining 2.8 million on the button and with 15 million in chips, Andy McLEOD gambled a bit and made the call with Kd-Jc. It proved to be the right thing as 69CANA69 turned over the dominated Kh-4h. Five cards later, Jd-3c-9s-7c-9d, and the 6.3 million chip pot increased his lead to 19.2 million, nearly double of Iceman1278 in second place with 10.7 million. A seventh-place finish for 69CAN69 earned him $22,176.80

Sixth place was decided in a huge 18.2 million chip pot with the blinds increasing to 250,000/500,000 ante 50,000, when a three-way, all-in preflop chip battle broke out.

Andy McLEOD: Js-Jh
totaloser: Ac-Qh
Tehanu: 6c-5c

Tehanu had 4.1 million and totaloser 6.7 million as Andy covered both as all three pushed all-in to see a flop of 7d-4c-Kc. Tehanu flopped the world with an open-ended straight and flush draws. The turn 2h gave the lead back to Andy McLEOD, but the cruel Qs on the river missed Tehanu’s huge draw and beat Andy McLEOD for the main pot shipping 18.2 million chips totaloser’s way and sending the unlucky Tehanu out in sixth place, earning $33,848.80

In fifth place, and for the first time, Andy McLEOD decided to let someone else do the deed as Hr_Herman started things off with a 1.5 million chip raise UTG and zmeyer to his immediate left three-bet his remaining six million chips. Lucky pocket sevens for Hr_Herman were good enough to make the call as the race was on against zmeyer’s Kd-Qd. The jackpot flop of 3c-6h-7h hit Hr_Herman’s set and left zmeyer drawing dead to a chop. The 5c provided some ooohs and ahhhs but the 8s handed $45,520.80 for fifth-place money to zmeyer.

He might lose sometimes but those sometimes are far less then the ones he wins. Andy McLEOD once again was in the eye of the storm as Iceman1278 tried to push his remaining 6.3 million chips into a 10.8 million chip pot and claim it with the board showing 5h-3c-7d. Andy sniffed out the Ad-8h bluff from Iceman1278 with ace high himself but with a better kicker as his Ah-Kd was in the lead. 2d and Td later and Andy McLEOD landed the 19 million chip pot into his lap and the Iceman1278 was a melted memory in fourth place with $57,192.80

Andy would lose many of those chips to Hr_Herman on a 30 million chip preflop all-in hand with Hr_Herman holding pocket kings (Kh-Kd) and Andy Jd-Td. The board was an enticing 7h-Th-6h-5h…. 3h. Andy McLEOD still held 11 million in chips while totaloser sat in second with 16.3 million.

Pre-flop play dominated the next 20 hands, then totaloser and Andy McLEOD got into a preflop all-in with Andy holding one million behind and the blinds moving up to 300,000/600,000 ante 60,000. Pocket sevens for totaloser and Ad-Th for Andy McLEOD, and the flop provided all the love Andy would need as the Td-4s-3s gave him the lead with top pair. 8d on the turn and an unnecessary Ac on the river for two pair sent totaloser home with an unloser-like $68,864.80 in third place.

“Chop?”, asked Hr_Herman.

Andy politely declined and they played one of the quickest heads up matches seen in the Sunday Warm-up. With blinds still at 300,000/600,000 ante 60,000, and Hr_Herman holding a 35.8 million to 22.4 million chip lead, they played nine hands with the big hand coming on hand number six when Hr_Herman came in for a 1.8 million chip raise on the button and was called to see a flop of 3d-9c-Ac. The 2.4 million chip continuation bet was called by Andy McLEOD as was the 6.6 million turn bet when the 6h fell. After the 7d splashed the river, Hr_Herman splashed the pot with a push that would leave Andy with either the victory or 1.9 million in chips.

Andy got 1.9 million in chips as Hr_Herman turned over Ad-Ts for flopped top pair to overcome Andy’s second pair with Jd-9s. One double up later, the two faced off for the final hand as Hr_Herman’s Tc-4s overcame Andy McLEOD’s Js-6h on the turn when the board played out 3h-6c-9d-Ts-Ks to become this week’s Sunday Warm-up champion!

Both players scored six-figure paydays as Andy McLEOD received $101,546.40 as the runner-up and Hr_Herman got $147,067.20 for the win.

Sunday Warm-up Results 12-28-08

1. Hr_Herman $147,067.20
2. Andy McLEOD $101,546.40
3. totaloser $68,864.80
4. Iceman1278 $57,192.80
5. zmeyer $45,520.80
6. Tehanu $33,848.80
7. 69CANA69 $22,176.80
8. groengras $14,006.40
9. KKgeoroAA $8,170.40

PokerStars bloggers Change100 and Johnny Kampis will be live blogging the whole of the Team PokerStars Pro Championship Match. Click refresh to see the latest updates. This match will be an 8-game mixed contest with 29 players. The top three finishers will be awarded money for charity. The winner will be declared Team PokerStars Pro captain.

5:00pm — That’s a wrap!

Congratulations again to Victor Ramdin, who proved himself to be the pro of pros today as he defeated a 29-strong field, comprised entirely of his fellow members of Team PokerStars Pro. Many of the Team Pros have now headed over to play the Sunday Million, which, in honor of World Record Week, boasts a 16,260 player field and a monster prize pool of $3,252,000!

Stay tuned for continuing coverage as World Record Week makes history.

4:58pm — Victor Ramdin wins Team PokerStars Pro Championship! Daniel Negreanu eliminated in 2nd place

After a protracted battle in which he got down nearly to the felt, Victor Ramdin has defeated Daniel Negreanu heads-up to win the tournament.

On the final hand of stud, Ramdin started with two eights in the hole, and improved to queens up by seventh after a raising war with Negreanu. Though KidPoker caught a pair of sevens on fifth with running flush and straight possibilities, Negreanu could not improve and two pair ruled the day and won the event.

Congratulations to Victor Ramdin, Team PokerStars Pro’s newly anointed team captain! He also earns $15,000 for the charity of his choice. Negreanu’s charity will also receive $10,000 for his efforts.

4:47pm — Negreanu puts Ramdin on the ropes, Ramdin resurges

Daniel Negreanu had Victor Ramdin whittled all the way down to 2,772 chips to his 55,228 but Ramdin has staged an amazing comeback, winning or splitting 11 out of the 12 pots that followed. Ramdin is now back up to 24,712 while Negreanu sits with 33,288.

4:38pm — Heads-up play commences

Here’s how the chip counts look as heads-up play gets underway between Victor Ramdin and Daniel “KidPoker” Negreanu:

Victor Ramdin: 32,972
Daniel Negreanu: 25,028

4:37pm - Chris Moneymaker eliminated in 3rd place

Victor Ramdin raised to 2,000 from the button playing limit hold’em. Moneymaker called from the big blind after Negreanu folded his small blind. Both players checked the Kc-8s-5s flop. Moneymaker led out for 2,000 after the 6d hit the turn and Ramdin raised to 4,000. Moneymaker put in his last 496 and revealed Kh-7d. Ramdin held As-Ks for top pair top kicker and the nut flush draw. The river was the 5h and Moneymaker finished in third, leaving Ramdin to duke it out with Daniel Negreanu for the title. Not all is lost, though. The charity of Moneymaker’s choice will receive $5,000 for his play today.

4:34pm — Hevad “Rain” Khan eliminated in 4th place

Hevad Khan played his last hand on the 2-7 triple draw round, getting the remainder of his chips in after the second draw. Khan made a T-9 low but it was crushed by Victor Ramdin’s 7-6 low, eliminating the “bulldozer” from the tournament.

4:33pm — Chad Brown goes down in 5th

Playing 2-7 triple draw with 1,000/2,000 stakes, Chad Brown got all in against Victor Ramdin after the third draw. Before the third draw Ramdin stood pat and Brown drew one. He called for his last 944 and showed 9-8-7-4-2, but could not beat the monster hand of 7-6-5-4-2 held by Ramdin, who is now up to 21,268.

John Duthie, watching from the rail while apparently enjoying some mulled wine, couldn’t resist a quip about Brown’s bulging biceps.

John Duthie said, “well played Chad. Back to the bench presses.”
ChadBrownPRO said, “lol. that was the problem.”

4:28pm — The Chris Moneymaker comeback

The game was PLO and Daniel Negreanu started off the action with a min-raise to 800 from the button. Chris Moneymaker reraised to 1,800 and Negreanu called the 1,000 balance. The flop was Qh-3h-3c. Moneymaker bet 1,600, about half of his remaining stack. Negreanu moved him all in and Moneymaker called, turning over Qs-8s-5d-3d for a flopped boat to Negreanu’s As-Jd-Td-3s for trips. The turn was the Jc, also giving Negreanu a boat, but it couldn’t sink Moneymaker’s queens full. The river was the 5c and the 2003 WSOP champion dragged the pot, doubling his stack to 12,196 as Greg Raymer cheered on his comeback from the rail.

4:20pm — Hevad Khan doubles through Victor Ramdin

We promised you action with this NLHE round and our Team Pros delivered. After Victor Ramdin opened for 1,200 from the cutoff, Hevad Khan moved all in for 3,404 from the big blind and Ramdin made the call, turning up As-7c to Khan’s Kc-Qc. A queen hit the flop, however, and though Ramdin turned a pair when a 7 came off, he couldn’t hit an ace on the river and Khan got a much-needed double up to 7,258.

4:19pm — Moneymaker survives

Chris Moneymaker shoved all-in for 2,124 with Ad-5c and ran into the Ac-Kh of Daniel Negreanu in the small blind, but Moneymaker flopped a five to win the hand and move up to 4,795.

4:13pm — Break it down!

Here are the chip counts for our five remaining players at the third break. Victor Ramdin continues to maintain a commanding lead.

1. Victor Ramdin 27,578
2. Daniel Negreanu 15,000
3. Chad Brown 9,544
4. Hevad Khan 3,004
5. Chris Moneymaker 2,874

When they return from break, the game will be no-limit hold’em with 200/400 blinds and a 50 ante, which should inject some serious action into the proceedings.

4:10pm - Cream rises

John Duthie is observing the final table and recently typed into the chat box: “I see that the cream has risen to the top.”

Responded KidPoker: and the riff raff ended on the bottom? [; )]

3:59pm — Ramdin owns final table so far

Victor Ramdin has managed to build his stack up to 24,400 while his opponents all hold between 7,000 and 10,000 chips.

3:39pm - Bill Chen first out at final table

Bill Chen led out betting most of the way on his final hand of 2-7 triple draw, but Chad Brown outdrew him in a heads-up pot. Chen ended up with A-8-7-5-2 against the 8-7-6-3-2 of Brown. Chen left the tournament in 6th place while Brown moved up to 9,604.

3:35pm — We have a final table!

Victor Ramdin, Chris Moneymaker, Daniel Negreanu, Chad Brown, Hevad Khan and Bill Chen are your final six! Here’s how they stack up as the final table gets underway:

3:34pm — Kravchenko KOed in 7th place

The majority of Alex Kravchenko’s remaining chips went in the middle before the flop after Daniel Negreanu opened a PLO hand with a raise to 300. Kravchenko re-potted to 1,050 and Negreanu called. The flop came down Kh-3s-Kd and Kravchenko’s last 561 sailed into the middle. Negreanu made the call. The turn was the 4h, the river was the Ad and Negreanu’s Ah-7h-5d-4d made two pair, aces and kings to beat out Kravchenko’s Qh-Qc-9d-7s to win the pot and eliminate the Russian sensation.

With Kravchenko’s elimination, we’ve reached our final table of six.

3:34pm - Goral leaves in eighth

Marcin “Goral” Horecki got the rest of his 1,600 chips into the pot pre-flop in good shape against Victor Ramdin on a PLO hand, but it was not to be. The Ah-Kh-Js-Jd of Horecki was bested by the Ks-Ts-6s-7c after the board came 9d-Qc-8c-4s-5d. Ramdin is steamrolling the competition with a stack of 19,650.

3:30 pm - Dario Minieri eliminated in 9th place

Dario Minieri made his last stand, moving all in pre-flop with As-7c in a no-limit hold’em pot and found his hand dominated by Victor Ramdin’s Ad-8c. No help for the young Italian on the Qd-9h-6c-4s-9d board and Ramdin added even more to his growing stack, which now sits at the 18,445 mark, good for the chip lead.

3:29pm - Gomes goes home in 10th

Playing no-limit hold’em, Alexandre “Allingomes” Gomes shoved his 1,800 stack all-in from the small blind and Chad Brown called from the big blind. Brown was a 2-to-1 favorite with Qh-Kc versus 8h-7s and the board ran out Qs-2h-6c-6h-9c to give him a 8,265 stack and send Gomes to the rail.

3:26pm - NoMercy for 11th place Isabelle

There was no luck for Isabelle Mercier when she got it all in pre-flop in NLHE with pocket kings against the A-K of Victor Ramdin and the flop came A-6-9. She could not catch the case king and Ramdin was up to a commanding 17,351 after the hand.

3:18pm — Exclusive exits in 12th

More stud carnage–after being crippled by Chris Moneymaker’s straight two hands earlier, Noah “Exclusive” Boeken was eliminated when he got it all in with Q-J-8 versus the J-4-2 of Moneymaker. The 2003 world champion managed to catch two deuces and a four to make a full house and was up to 10,500 after the hand, challenging Victor Ramdin for the chip lead.

3:14 pm — Lee Nelson eliminated in 13th place

Lee Nelson’s last hand in the tournament would also be a stud hand. Though he started with two jacks in the hole, Alexandre Gomes caught up to him by the river making a queen-high flush to send the Kiwi to the rail.

With 12 players remaining, we’re now down to two tables.

3:12pm — Seven-card stud spells the end for Steve Paul-Ambrose

Locking horns with Bill Chen in a stud hi pot, Steve “stevejpa” Paul-Ambrose bet the last of his chips on sixth street and earned a call from Chen. Paul-Ambrose couldn’t manage more than a pair of eights by the river and Chen took down the pot with aces up, sending the 2006 PCA champion home in 14th place.

3:10pm — Chip counts at second break

More than half the field is gone now after two hours and we are about to play 250/500 Stud with a 50 ante. Here are how things stack up:

1. Victor Ramdin 12,394
2. Chad Brown 7,976
3. Noah Boeken 5,672
4. Bill Chen 4,834
5. Chris Moneymaker 4,687
6. Daniel Negreanu 3,964
7. Isabelle Mercier 3,767
8. Alexandre Gomes 3,560
9. Alex Kravchenko 2,388
10. Dario Minieri 2,142
11. Martin Horecki 2,110
12. Lee Nelson 1,800
13. Steve Paul-Ambrose 1,552
14. Hevad Khan 1,154

3:06pm — Negreanu giving razz lessons

After watching his tablemate Dario Minieir put in a third street reraise with a 9 showing in razz, Daniel Negreanu offered his fellow Team Pro a bit of a lowball lesson.

KidPoker said, “wjy re-raise with a 9 my friend?”
Dariominieri said, “cuz u had any 2 and i had 2 very low cards+ is it wrong”
KidPoker said, “if the 9 is in the hole its fine but not if its showing”
Dariominieri said, “mmm ok”
Dariominieri said, “thx a lot”
KidPoker said, “you cstch one bad card on 4 or 5 and you’re dead
William said, “just wait for 2-7 dario”
William said, “:p”

2:59pm — Two pair no good for Katja Thater; out in 15th

Now playing Omaha hi/lo with 100/200 stakes, Katja Thater raised it to 400 from the button and Alexandre “Allingomes” Gomes called from the big blind. After a flop of Qh-4s-6h, he checked and she bet 200. He raised and she called. He led out for 400 after the As hit the turn and Thater moved all-in for 729. The hands were Ad-4d-6s-8c for her and 2s-5d-7s-3c, giving Thater two pair, but providing Gomes with the nut low and wraparound straight draw. The straight got there when the 2h hit the river and Gomes was up to 6,855 in chips.

2:56pm - William Thorson out in 16th

Playing limit hold’em, William Thorson got his 642 stack into the pot pre-flop from the cutoff with Qs-3s against the Ah-Td of Alex Kravchenko. The board ran out 3h-8d-7d-6h-9c to give the Russian pro the straight and move him up to 4,648 in chips.

2:54 pm — Pagano doubles through Gomes, then eliminated by Nelson in 17th place

EPT player of the year Luca Pagano has had a bit of a rough go of it this afternoon, but was just able to double through Alexandre Gomes to survive for a few more hands. Playing limit hold’em, Pagano jammed the pot pre-flop with J-J and Gomes called him with A-9. The fish hooks held up and Pagano doubled up to nearly 1,000.

Only two hands later he got it all in again, his Ad-Ks dominating Lee Nelson’s As-7c. Unfortunately for Pagano, the board ran out Ts-6s-5s-2s-7d, and Nelson made an ace-high flush on the turn, besting Pagano’s king-high flush and eliminating the Italian in 17th place.

2:53pm - LadyMaverick exits in 18th

Playing limit hold’em, Victor Ramdin raised Vanessa Rousso’s big blind to 320. She called and check-raised Ramdin on a flop of Ts-Kc-3s. Ramdin called and then the two got into a raising war after the 2h hit the turn, putting Rousso all-in. The hands were Ks-7s for Rousso for a pair of kings and flush draw, while Ramdin was ahead with pocket aces. The river bricked off with the 5d and Rousso was out. Ramdin was up to 6,454 following this hand.

2:44 pm — Love is in the air

With Barry Greenstein’s elimination in 19th place, another table was broken and Dario Minieri was shuffled over to Table 5, where his girlfriend and fellow Team Pro Isabelle Mercier is playing. Mercier just nearly doubled her stack, taking down a 2,100 chip pot in 2-7 triple draw and now leads her man in the chip count with 4,100 to his 2,800.

One other Team PokerStars Pro couple remains in the hunt for the title, though they haven’t had to square off on the same table yet– Chad Brown and his fiance Vanessa Rousso.

2:42pm - Barry Greenstein wakes up in time to finish in 19th

Barry “barryg1″ Greenstein finally made an entrance and found himself with 85 chips.

Said Greenstein: just woke up

Replied KidPoker: you don’t seriously think you can spot the field this much

Greenstein was eliminated two hands after appearing when he got it all-in on a PLO hand with Ah-9d-6s-4s against the As-Kc-Qc-Jh of Lee Nelson. The board came 7d-5s-Tc-2s-Qh to knock Greenstein out. Nelson had 2,588 after the hand and we are down to three tables.

2:34 pm — No sugar for 20th place Hachem

Joe Hachem limped into a NLHE pot pre-flop and was joined by potential Bikram yoga recruit Victor Ramdin, who completed the small blind. William Thorson checked his option in the big blind. The flop came down Ks-Jc-8s. Ramdin and Thorson checked it over to Hachem, who bet 120. Ramdin called and Thorson got out of the way. When the Qh fell on the turn, Ramdin checked it again, Hachem bet 360, and Ramdin shoved all in for his remaining 1,123. Hachem called all in, Ramdin having him slightly covered. The 2d on the river changed nothing, and Hachem turned over a set of kings, only to see the bad news when Ramdin shows 9c-Th for the straight. No sugar for everyone’s favorite Aussie as he exited in 20th place.

2:33pm — Vicky Coren finishes in 21st place

Playing no-limit hold’em, Vicky Coren shoved the rest of her 443 stack in from the button with Tc-Jc and Lee Nelson called from the big blind with Kh-5h. The board was a tease for Coren as it ran out 9h-Ts-6c-4h-Qh, giving her flopped top pair but providing a running flush for Nelson. After the hand, he was up to 2,773.

2:26 pm - Raymond Rahme eliminated in 22nd place

Playing seven-card stud hi/lo, Raymond Rahme got the rest of his chips in on third street showing the 6h vs. Joe Hachem, who had the Qd up. Rahme’s starting hand of 6d-9c-6h was behind Hachen’s Qd-9d-9s and he’d need some serious help to improve. Rahme only caught blanks, though, while Hachem made aces and nines by the river. With neither player making a low, Hachem scooped the lot and sent Rahme to the virtual rail.

2:21pm — Gavin Griffin gone in 23rd place

Playing seven-card stud, Gavin Griffin raised on third with the As showing and only Noah “Exclusive” Boeken called, showing the 5c. Griffin led out on fourth after catching the 5h and Boeken called with the 3s. Boeken checked his option after pairing the 3 on fifth and Griffin bet. Boeken then check-raised and Griffin called.

Boeken bet out on the last two streets and Griffin called all-in. Boeken showed trip threes while Griffin could only manage two pair — fives and fours. Griffin was eliminated in 23rd place and Boeken was up to 5,719.

2:20 pm — Team YogaStars?

Bill Chen just popped into the chat box on Table 5, where Isabelle Mercier and Victor Ramdin are seated. The two are avid practicioners of a particularly torturous brand of yoga called Bikram, which is done in a room heated to a toasty 105 degrees. Mercier got Chen hooked on the practice over the WSOP and they just may have a new recruit in Ramdin. Check out their chat, and Victor– get ready to sweat!

Bill Chen said, “hey guys, isa”
NoMercy said, “whats up bikram yoga partner?”
NoMercy said, “:)”
VictorRamdin said, “can i join the bikram party”
NoMercy said, “FOR SURE”
NoMercy said, “cant wait”
VictorRamdin said, “what is bikram is that all u can eat buffet”
VictorRamdin said, “lolol”
NoMercy said, “you gonna love it”
NoMercy said, “Bill and I were going to win the wsop main event thanks to bikram”

2:10 pm — ElkY out in 24th

Chris Moneymaker raised to 160 from the cutoff in Omaha hi/lo and Bertrand “ElkY” Gospellier put in his last 176 from the button. Noah “Exclusive” Boeken also called from the small blind and the three players saw a flop of 4s-Ts-7d.

Boeken check-raised Moneymaker’s bet after the flop and also after the 8h hit the turn. After the 8c fell on the river, Boeken bet out and Moneymaker raised. Boeken called and showed 5h-6h-Jd-7c for a straight and Moneymaker held As-Ac-Kc-2h for aces up and nut low.

ElkY mucked, while Boeken and Moneymaker were up to 3,199 and 3,539 after the hand respectively.

2:02pm — Chip leaders at the break

We are an hour in and about to play Omaha hi/lo with 80/160 stakes after the break. Of the 24 players remaining here are the top 10:

1. Daniel “KidPoker” Negreanu 4,651
2. Alexandre “Allingomes” Gomes 4,016
3. Alex Kravchenko 3,504
4. Chris “Money800″ Moneymaker 3,431
5. Steve “stevejpa” Paul-Ambrose 3,415
6. Noah “Exclusive” Boeken 3,171
7. Bill Chen 3,148
8. Dario Minieri 3,046
9. Hevad “RaiNKhAN” Khan 2,980
10. William Thorson 2,890

1:54pm — FossilMan out in 25th

Greg “FossilMan” Raymer was eliminated in 25th place when his 9-8-7-6-2 low in triple draw couldn’t best the 8-5-4-3-2 of Daniel “KidPoker” Negreanu. Negreanu was up to 4,800 after the hand.

1:52 pm — Tom McEvoy eliminated in 26th place

The first level of pot-limit Omaha was unkind to 1983 WSOP Main Event champion McEvoy, as his stack was decimated on a three-way hand where his top two pair fell to Chad Brown’s Broadway straight. Left with only about 300 in chips, he got it all in a few hands later in 2-7 triple draw, but ran into Marcin “Goral” Horecki’s wheel to hit the rail in 26th place.

1:51 pm - Andre Akkari eliminated in 27th place

Down to only 375 in chips, Andre Akkari called William Thorson’s opening raise in a 2-7 triple draw hand and each player took one card. Thorson check-called Akkari’s bet and drew one card on the second draw while Akkari rapped pat. Thorson check-called another bet and drew one card again on the final draw. Thorson checked, Akkari bet his last 15 chips and Thorson called. Thorson’s T-5-4-3-2 bested Akkari’s T-8-7-6-4 and the Brazilian became the second Team PokerStars Pro eliminated from this event.

After the hand, Thorson was up to 3,940.

1:49 pm — Humberto Brenes eliminated in 28th place

Chris Moneymaker raised it to 90 preflop playing PLO and Brenes made it 285 from the big blind. Moneymaker called and the two saw a flop of 9c-3c-6c.

Brenes led out for 585 and Moneymaker put him all-in for 352 more. The hands were Ah-Ac-Qh-9s for Brenes and As-th-8s-7s for Moneymaker, giving him a 16-out straight draw. The 5c on the turn gave Moneymaker the hand and a 3,079 chip count as the Costa Rican “chark” headed to the rail.

1:47pm — John Duthie eliminated in 29th place

John Duthie became short-stacked early on and made his last stand on a pot-limit Omaha hand vs. Lee Nelson and Vanessa Rousso. Duthie made it 105 to go pre-flop, Nelson called from the button and Rousso called from the big blind. Rousso checked the Tc-3d-2d flop, Duthie moved all in for his last 298, Nelson called and Rousso folded.

Duthie turned up Kh-Qc-Js-Th for top pair to Nelson’s Qd-Jd-9s-5s for the flush draw. The 7d on the turn filled Nelson’s flush and the meaningless 2c hit the river, giving Nelson the hand and eliminating the EPT creator in 29th place.

1:44pm — Paging Barry Greenstein

Three of the four players initially sitting out at Table 2 are now in the game — Greg Raymer, Ray Rahme and Joe Hachem — but there is still no sighting of barryg1.

1:30pm — First half hour chip update

After the first 30 minutes of play, Daniel Negreanu is the chipleader with 4,000 while John Duthie is currently last with 900.

KidPoker has certainly been helped by his table draw that includes the four players who were initially sitting out (Raymer has finally arrived).

Bil Chen popped over to observe long enough to type: ok, I see why you are r00ling daniel

<b1:21pm — Helps to know the game

Chris “Money800″ Moneymaker just got heavily involved in a hand against Noah “Exclusive” Boeken before realizing he wasn’t playing what he thought he was playing.

Money800: shoot this is razz

Moneymaker showed down two pair and Boeken took the pot with 8-5-4-2-A to move up to 2,702.

1:17pm — Ace-deuce comes through for Chen

Noah “Exclusive” Boeken, Gavin Griffin and Bill Chen saw a flop of 2c-Jh-2d for four bets in Omaha Hi-Lo. The action slowed down at this point with Griffin calling Chen down after a turn and river of 8c-7c.

Chen showed As-2s-3d-7d for a full house and nut low to scoop the 855 pot. He is now at 2,050 chips

1:09pm — The sitting out table

Daniel “KidPoker” Negreanu and Steve “stevejpa” Paul-Ambrose are having a field day at Table 2. That’s because Ray Rahme, Joe Hachem, Greg “FossilMan” Raymer and Barry “barryg1″ Greenstein are all sitting out.

Quipped Ambrose, “easy game.”

1:05pm — ElkY holding up the show

Bertrand “ElkY” Grospellier is acting slowly at his table, which prompted this exchange:

Exclusive: elky stop playin 20 screens

GavinGriffin: he’s playing starcraft too

ElkY: im in exuma island [:(]

ElkY: not very good connection here

1:08 p.m.– What’s at stake

Today’s Team PokerStars Pro championship match will not only determine who will captain the team (which will play a significant role in a future promotion) but will divide up the $30,000 prize pool among the winners’ favorite charities. $15,000 will be donated on behalf of the champion, $10,000 for the second-place finisher and $5,000 for third.

1:00p.m. — Off and running

Our 29 Team PokerStars Pros are settling in to play in today’s eight-game Pro Championship Match. The games will be played in this order: Limit Triple Draw 2-7, Limit Hold’em, Limit Omaha Hi-Lo, Limit Razz, Limit Stud, Limit Stud Hi-Lo, No Limit Hold’em and Pot-Limit Omaha. We may not see any eliminations until we get to the seventh level. At that point all bets are off.

Cards are in the air… or rather, on the screen!

12:54pm–Team PokerStars Pro Championship Match set to begin

Join us here for live coverage of the Team PokerStars Pro Championship Match at 1pm ET.

By now, you likely have heard that PokerStars intends to break a world record this weekend. The plan is to have 35,000 people playing in the same poker tournament at the same time. The $11 buy-in $500,000 guaranteed tournament is set to break the Guinness world record for the biggest poker tournament ever. Not only could you say you played in a record-breaking tournament, you could win a bunch of money. You can sign up under Tourney and Special for the December 28 15:30 ET time event.

That feat alone would be reason for PokerStars to celebrate. As usual, PokerStars is going over the top with wild and crazy promotions to mark the occasion. The information has been embargoed until this very moment. Now, we can release the full details of this week’s promotions. Take a deep breath with us and strap in for the ride.

Reload Bonus

You’ve been waiting for it, and now it’s here. During World Record Week, PokerStars is offering a 25% reload bonus up to $150. The bonus kicks off at 14:00 ET today and runs through the end of the year. The code “PS25″ will get you the bonus. For full details, be sure to see the 25% bonus page at PokerStars.

$2.5 Million Sunday Million

The Sunday What? This weekend, the Sunday Million will be the Sunday $2.5 Million. Everything about the tournament is the same–same buy-in, same time, just a much bigger guaranteed prize pool. As an added treat, PokerStars is offering tons of extra satellites for the Sunday Million, including some cool FPP qualifiers that can get you into the Sunday Million for free.,

$1 Million Sunday Warm-Up

Well, you can’t very well increase the guarantee on the Sunday Million without giving the Sunday Warm-Up a bump, right?

This weekend, at 12:45 ET, the Sunday Warm-Up will have a $1 million guarantee. PokerStars is also running extra satellites for this event as well.

10,000 player Sit & Go’s

Remember the day when a Sit & Go was just a few people tossing a few chips back and forth? Well, how about this: PokerStars is going to be running $1 buy-in 10,000 player Sit & Go events this weekend. You will see them pop up in the lobby on December 27.

Need some added incentive? PokerStars is adding $10,000 to the prize pool of each event.

Good enough?

Milestone Hands

The Milestone Hands are back. A tried and true promotion at PokerStars, the Milestone Hands will award some big cash to the people dealt into each millionth hand. Once again, the higher your VIP level, the more money you make for getting dealt in to the milestone hand.

Team PokerStars Pro Championship Match

This Sunday at 13:00 ET, Team PokerStars Pro’s members will face off against each other for a chance to win money for charity and determine who will be the Team PokerStars Pro captain. Why would they need a captain, you ask? Well, the details are still coming in on that one, but it has to do with something called PokerStars All-Star Weekend, a brand new online team competition coming next year

The Team PokerStars Pro Championship match will be an 8-game mixed event. The PokerStars Blog will have live reports for the duration of the match. You can watch the event play out under Tourney/Special. Later in the week you will be able to see the tournament replayed with the cards up.

For complete details, see the PokerStars World Record Week home page.

Have fun this week!