We may be in the middle of PokerStars’ World Record Week, but this weekend was where the biggest action happened. In just the span of one day, we saw the world’s biggest ever poker tournament, the biggest ever Sunday Million, the biggest ever Sunday Warm-Up, and more than $12 million in real cash tournament prizes awarded to PokersStars players.

Oh…and while we’re mentioning broken records, we should also mention that Sunday around 3:30pm ET, we saw the biggest number of people ever logged into PokerStars. As you can see in the screen capture below, the number topped out at more than 250,500 players (click on the image for a full-size version).

Perhaps the most talked about attraction all week long was PokerStars’ attempt to break the Guinness World Record for the largest ever poker tournament. The players came through–all 35,000 of them. Not only was it a win for PokerStars, it was a pretty significant win for stan34powa who topped the field of 35,000 to win the Guinness World Record tourney and $30,000.

The Guinness World Record attempt may have been the tournament with the most players, but the PokerStars Sunday Million dwarfed everything with its prize pool. The tourney pulled in a whopping 16,260 players who played for a $3,252,000 prize pool. Not only was it a monster Sunday Million, it was also one where the winner cut no deals and collected a $331,378 prize. Many congratulations go to lp_Saki Saki from Sweden. Read how he did it in the 12/28/08 Sunday Million report.

If that’s not enough broken records (and yes, I’m perfectly aware I’m starting to sound like one), the Sunday Warm-Up eclipsed its largest ever number of players this weekend. When the tournament finally settled on a total number, it looked like 5,836 playing for a $1,167,200 prize pool. Hr_Herman went into the final table with one of the smaller chip stacks but emerged with the victory and $147,067. Read all about it in the 12/28/08 Sunday Warm-Up report.

Oh, that should be enough, right? Well, it’s not. Not only was PokerStars rocking and rolling in the record-breaking department, it was also celebrating the last Sunday of the month (and year). That meant it was time for the PokerStars Turbo Takedown and the Battle of the Planets Triple Shootout. Turbo Takedown honors (and $100,000) went to perky246 (read the full report HERE). In the Battle of the Planets showdown, el cuCut ran the table and came out with the victory (full report HERE).

You think that’s it? Well, it’s not.

This weekend also marked the time when the members of Team PokerStars Pro would face off against each other and determine the team’s captain. Who won? After a tough heads-up battle with Daniel Negreanu, Victor Ramdin walked away with the win. We provided full coverage of the match. You can see the whole live blog HERE or read the Team PokerStars Pro Championship match wrap-up.

You think that’s all? Well, that’s all we have room for here, but there were still tons of other major tournaments on Sunday. For a full breakdown of winners from the big weekend, visit the (12-28-08) PokerStars Sunday Tournament Results page.

Congratulations to PokerStars for its record-breaking weekend. Moreover, congratulations to all the players who raked in the big cash.

What better way to end a successful year (or slide back into the black) with a nice four to five-figure score from a freeroll? PokerStars rewards its players in many ways, but for the serious SnG players the biggest perk is a free entry into the Battle of the Planets race each month. Even if you were not one of the lucky nine to make it to the final table today, there are weekly prizes to be won regardless of the size of your bankroll. From the $1-$2.99 buy-in Mercury division to the high-rolling $300+ buy-in Jupiter division, size doesn’t matter for the below final nine as they played for bulk of the $50,000 month-end triple shootout freeroll.

klop0007 went out for a six-course meal as he was the first to nail down his seat at a final table (and waited nearly 45 minutes to play) awarding $12,500 to the winner. solody, a former 2006 WCOOP final tablist in Razz got to play Hold’Em with hopes of adding on to the $22,827.20 he won two years ago. doucheburger returned to the final table as he trapped potlogic with pocket aces versus pocket queens. He managed a 6th place finish back in September (link here), and one month later nearly took down the $1 million Turbo Takedown (link here) with a runner-up finish for $52,000.

The last final table seat was decided between Vegas_Matt78 and levaitom, sadly 10th place pays the same as 81st in the triple shootout and it was after a well spirited heads-up match that levaitom fell for the $195 consolation prize in 10th place to set our final table.

Despite two victories to get here, all players started off with the same $1,500 chip stacks and the blinds at an easy going 10/20. Any chance at an early deal was taken off the board by doucheburger:

AdamDay342: do they do table deals at this table?
doucheburger: they do
doucheburger: but i don’t

He may not do deals, but PokerStars does, by now if you have been playing this weekend there are several World Record Week promotions going on. Check out the promo page (link here) for reload bonuses, 10,000 player SnGs, and Milestone hands which can make you a winner just for sitting down and playing cash games!

No blood was drawn early, as AdamDay342 was the first to reach 2,000 chips followed closely by eL cuCut whose connection problems got the table grumbling, but none of the players felt the hurt from the blinds escalating from 10/20 to 15/30. Patient play shown by all the players as 3x big blind preflop raises took the blinds as very little post flop play was seen.

The first push came after a 3X big blind raise from the shortstacked klop0007 from Sleven11 with the blinds at 25/50. But, klop0007 decided to fight another day with his $775 in chips and folded. doucheburger jumped on a raise from Deurdy on his immediate right with a push but much like the prior hand, Deurdy took his $1,600 in chips and passed $150 of them quietly to doucheburger while mucking.

Steal attempt gone wrong, but chips shipped regardless. As the blinds moved up to 50/100, it folded around to doucheburger on the button who pushed with $1,310 chips remaining hoping to snag the $150 in the middle. But, AdamDay342 woke up with pocket nines in the big blind as doucheburger had to show the Qd7d busted steal attempt. The flop Kd-Jh-Ah provided some love for doucheburger for straight outs, the turn 6d added on the flush outs which hit on the cruel 9d river. Despite hitting his set, AdamDay342 fell to doucheburger’s flush and had to settle for $775 in ninth place.

The blinds at 50/100 now represented some problems for the shorter stacks as Vegas_Matt78 and klop0007 managed to double up off doucheburger and eL cuCut respectively to go from short stack to average stack.

At the break here’s how the stacks looked as the players came back to 75/150 blinds:

Seat 1: Sleven11 (1,180 in chips)
Seat 2: eL cuCut (2,465 in chips)
Seat 3: Fosca1 (2,170 in chips)
Seat 4: Vegas_Matt78 (1,580 in chips)
Seat 5: solody (1,300 in chips)
Seat 6: Deurdy (1,600 in chips)
Seat 7: doucheburger (1,655 in chips)
Seat 8: klop0007 (1,550 in chips)

Many all-ins but no one all out as the 75/150 blind level went thru without incident. But, as soon as the blinds bumped up to 100/200, solody and Sleven11 started the rain on all-ins and a call. Leaving $445 in chips behind, solody called the all-in push of Sleven11 from middle position with pocket jacks. Sleven11 was short on chips and short on luck as his Tc-9c never had a chance on the 5d-2d-Qc-Ah-8s board. solody collected the $2,410 chip pot and Sleven11 collected $1,200 in eighth place.

Two hands later, with only $605 left, Vegas_Matt78 open-pushed two off the button and Deurdy followed in suit on the button with a push of his own while holding $1,225 in chips. No “Deurdy” river needed in this race of Deurdy’s Ac-Qc versus Vegas_Matt78’s pocket deuces. The flop hit Deurdy’s ace showing 9d-4d-As and held up through the Td turn and 9c river. Vegas_Matt78 was chatting about $1 SnG and will now be able to play a little higher thanks to the $1,700 he won in seventh place.

Another two hands later, another all-in and a call preflop. This time klop0007’s button push with Ac-7d found himself well behind the big blind Fosca1’s Ad-Ks. No suspense in the outcome as the flop showed Kc-7h-Kh giving Fosca1 flopped trips and leaving klop0007 searching for the remaining sevens in the deck. Td and Qh on the turn and river sent the double agent home for the holidays with an extra $2,200 in his PokerStars account in sixth place.

Most hands this late in the tournament with the blinds at 125/250 ante 25 begin with a push and end with either a fold or call preflop. eL cuCut raised from the button with Ah-Qd to $600 and was facing a push from solody in the big blind for most of his chips saving $1,010 behind. He made the correct call and found himself racing with the pocket deuces on solody. The 3c-Jd-Ks flop added four more outs to the race for eL cuCut, the 8d on the turn did nothing, but the Ts on the river danced eL cuCut to his winning broadway straight and sent solody home with $2,735 in fifth place.

The very next hand produced a very “Deurdy” river. Again it was eL cuCut mixing it up leaving $1,560 in chips behind this time as he called the three-bet push of Deurdy with a suited big slick (Ac-Kc) and Deurdy found himself well behind with Ad-Td. The flop 3h-Tc-3c hit Deurdy hard he now he was dodging clubs and three kings to take the $7,620 chip pot. Js on the turn opened up three more queens for outs, and the “Deurdy” river 6c flushed Deurdy out of the last 2008 Battle of the Planets final table in fourth place earning $3,350.

doucheburger decided to go on the offensive pushing the next three out of four hands but losing most of his chips to Fosca1 when his Ac-3s missed the board, and Fosca1’s Jc-7s connected for a winning pair of sevens. Down but not out, doucheburger with only $730 left won the blinds the next hand but lost the following hand when his 6d-2d could not make up for lost ground against Fosca1’s Ad-2h on the 9c-3c-9h-8h-Ks board. doucheburger did add another impressive finish to his mantle with a third-place finish worth $4,500.

Even with doucheburger out, talks of chopping up the final two places only materialized after the following hands: eL cuCut’s 8,430 to Fosca1’s $5,070 heads up lead would evaporate after 18 hands when Fosca1’s pocket eights overcame the overcard and flush draw of eL cuCut’s Kd-5d on the 2d-4h-Qd-4c-7c board leaving eL cuCut with just $1,460 in chips. But, eL cuCut would battle back to even thanks to a few steals and pocket aces versus Fosca1’s pocket nines brought to gap into deal making range.

After a short wait for the trusty PokerStars Host, our remaining contestants divvied up the $19,500 left in the prize pool. Chip-chop it up!

Fosca1: $10,273.52
eL cuCut: $9,226.48

The players pushed the next two hands and with pocket Tens, eL cuCut held off the Qs-8c of Fosca1 to become the December Battle of the Planets champion!

Here’s how the final table’s share of the prize pool was given out:

December Battle of the Planets
(Based on two-way deal)

1. eL cuCut $9,226.82
2. Fosca1 $10,273.52
3. doucheburger $4,500.00
4. Deurdy $3,350.00
5. solody $2,735.00
6. klop0007 $2,200.00
7. Vegas_Matt78 $1,700.00
8. Sleven11 $1,200.00
9. AdamDay342 $775.00

Play on the final table has entered level 29, with blinds at 40,000-80,000 (8,000 ante). The chip counts page will be updated regularly during each level. Prizewinners to date are on the prizewinners page. Remember all the action from the final is available on EPT Live.

Latest update: 12.55am
12.55am: Cicco bets 180,000 pre-flop and Bonavera raises 800,000 more. Cicco wants none of it and folds.

12.52am: On a board of Jh-2c-Qs-Qh Bonavera made it 200,000 which Cicco called. The river brought a 6c which both players checked. Ten high for Cicco, pocket eights for Bonavera who picked up a pot worth 560,000.

12.50am: Massimo takes the chip lead - slightly - betting 210,000 and then moving all in for 2.2 million after Bonavena re-raised 600,000 more.

12.45am: With blinds so big the chip stacks change each hand by hefty amounts. Cicco helps himself a bit by moving all in to win the blinds but still trails Bonavena.

12.42am: Latest chip counts
Salvatore Bonavena - 3,349,000
Massimo Di Cicco - 2,348,000

12.38am: On a board of Tc-4c-2h-7d Cicco bet 120,000 which Bonavena re-raised to 300,000. Cicco moved all-in with Ts-2c and was called by Bonavena with Qc-Th. The river, a 5c, doubled up Cicco.

12.33am: Current chip counts
Salvatore Bonavena - 4,293,000
Massimo Di Cicco - 1,404,000

12.30am: Bonavena wins a 660,000 pot in a cautios pot on a board of 7s-6s-2h-Qc-7h. Cicco bet on the end with Jh-5d and Bonavera called showing 9h-2s. That was enough.

12.25am: Play starts and it’s first blood to Cicco who raises pre-flop before Bonavena folds.

12.20am: While players are still preparing to return, it’s worth remembering what’s at stake. First place pays €774,000 whilst the runner up will receive €445,000.

12.06am: Heads up situation
There’s a pause in play as the final two players prepare to go head to head. The chip counts look like this…
Salvatore Bonavera - 4,123,000
Massimo Di Cicco - 1,574,000

12am: Chen eliminated in third place.
We’re guaranteed an Italian winner after 20-year-old Andrew Chen moved all-in with K-Q and was called by Bonavena with A-6. The 3-7-5 wasn’t good for Chen and the turn ended all hope, a four, giving Bonavera a straight. Chen’s last hope was a chop on the river but an eight ended that hope - the Canadian was out.

11.55pm: Basically, the three remaining players are passing blinds around.

11.50pm: Latest chip counts.
Salvatore Bonavena - 2,896,000
Andrew Chen - 1,494,000
Massimo Di Cicco - 1,307,000

11.40pm: Play resumes with blinds at 40,000-80,000 with an 8,000. That’s big.

Final table play has entered level 22, with blinds at 8,000-16,000 (1,000 ante). The chip counts page will be updated when official counts are taken at the end of each level; approximate counts will appear on this page. Prizewinners to date are on the prizewinners page. Remember all the action is also available on EPT Live.

3pm: Bonavena and Alexiou again get to a flop in a raised pot. It’s 8d-Qd-3s and both check. The turn is 9d and after Bonavena checks, Alexiou bets 50,000. Bonavena folds and Alexiou shows the Ad-4d, otherwise known as the nuts. That’s the end of the level, or thereabouts. Players take a 15 minute break.

Konstantinos Alexiou

2.55pm: Nasr El Nasr raises from the cut off and Massimo Di Cicco reraises all in from the big blind. It’s 177,000 more than El Nasr’s original raise. El Nasr thinks for a while, but folds, and Di Cicco shows pocket eights.

2.51pm: Nygard refuses to slow down and makes a standard pre-flop raise of close to 40,000. Nasr El Nasr shoves all in for another 224,000 from the big blind and the Finn goes into the tank again, where he has spent a good deal of this final table so far. El Nasr seems confident, but that doesn’t stop Nygard calling. He’s got A-J and is way behind against El Nasr’s A-K. The flop has plenty of action on it: 10h-Jh-Ks, but the turn and river brick and El Nasr doubles up to 556,000. Nygard has fewer than 600,000 now.

2.50pm: Konstantinos Alexiou is now the comfortable chip leader with 1,700,000 in chips after taking down that 700,000 pot from Fredik Nygard.

2.45pm: Di Cicco gets his short stack in pre-flop, but no one fancies taking it on. He stacks the blinds and antes. Soon after, Fredrik Nygard tries another pre-flop raise and Alexiou re-raises 190,000. Nygard never seems to fold to a re-raise and doesn’t this time either. He calls and sees 6d-Qs-Kh, which both players check. The Jc turns and they check it again, then the river is 5s. Finally someone bets - it’s Alexiou, who casually throws in 120,000. Nygard is visibly baffled - that’s one hell of a furrowed brow - and after a good deal of staring he calls. Alexiou has J-7 and it’s good.

2.35pm: Massimo Di Cicco makes a minimum raise and Nygard calls from the big blind. The flop comes Qs-3c-6d and after Nygard checks, Di Cicco bets 100,000 into an 86,000 pot. Nygard looks mighty confused, so decides to put the question back at the Italian, re-raising all in, which covers the Italian. But it looks like he’s made a decent read here as Di Cicco folds. Nygard is back with more than a million, Di Cicco has 211,000 and is the short stack.

2.32pm: Nasr El Nasr tries a button raise, tossing in close to 30,000-odd. But Massimo Di Cicco wants none of it and re-raises all in from the big blind, forcing the aggressive young German to rethink. He folds and is now the short stack.

2.30pm: Andrew Chen is getting involved with his newly acquired stack. He raises to 39,000 from mid-position, and Nasr El Nasr seems interested from the small blind. Interested, well, not that much. He folds.


Andrew Chen

2.25pm: Andrew Chen is all in again, with his stack now at 224,000. It’s still short, and he has no option. Bonavena calls with K-Qd and Chen is again staring at the abyss with K-9c, another dominated hand. But this time the flop is another miraculous one for the young Canadian: it’s A-9-9. “Wow,” he mouths. There’s no further action through turn and river and Chen can now play poker again.

2.10pm: Andrew Chen doubles up. He is forced to get his chips in pre-flop with just about any two, and he finds Q-7. Alexiou calls with K-Q and Chen is dominated. But the young Canadian sees a seven on the flop and doubles up, staying alive.

2.05pm: A peculiar hand plays out between the two millionaire chip leaders. Bonavena and Alexiou three and four bet pre-flop and build a pot of 354,000. The first three cards come down 4d-10d-8h and Bonavena suprises just about everyone with an all-in shove for more than a million. Alexiou shrugs and folds.

Although there’s just the one table still in play, this is not the “real” final table, which on the EPT can only feature eight players. We need to lose one more from this pseudo final table until we can pack up for the night.

The TV bubble is a cruel one, denying television time as well as additional money. No wonder then that the short stacks at the moment are reluctant to get involved unless they have the goods, while the big stacks will do anything they can to polish them off. The Nygard/Cirianni hand moments ago was typical, and it was followed up by a similar hand where Nasr El Nasr re-raised all in on the flop after Nygard had had a tickle.

Nasr El Nasr

This time the Finn laid it down and the German stacked another few.

This period of play can last a good long while, and we will wait patiently until the inevitable explosion.