PokerStars Poker Blog

PokerStars Macau Poker Cup is back

2008-07-24T11:36:08Z

It's time for another Macau Poker Cup this weekend at Grand Waldo Casino in Macau. The exciting series of events will include a $1,000 buy-in Deep Stack event on Saturday at 12:30 and a $10,000 Red Dragon event at 8PM.

There will also be other events, including a charity tournament benefiting Caritas de Macau on Friday
night, a $500 buy-in MTT on Sunday, as well as APPT qualifiers.

Players from at least six different countries will be participating. Among them, you'll find:

Steve Chung (Hong Kong) who won a HKD $100,000 package at PokerStars Macau in June to the World Series of Poker in Las Vegas and placed 667th of 6844 players

Tony "Bond18" Dunst (USA) who won a Bellagio Cup event in Las Vegas 3 weeks ago for $193,720 US

Celina Lin (Australia) who cashed in 24th place (of 352 players) in last November's first APPT Macau

Roger Spetz (Malaysia) who finised 6th at APPT Manila (of 255 players) and 7th at APPT Seoul (of 186 players)

Here's a full run-down of this weekend's activities:

Thursday, July 26: 8PM - Freeroll to win tickets to this weekend's events (Free entry)

Friday, July 25: 8PM - PokerStars Macau Charity Event - HKD $500 (450+50) plus Charitable donation of $1,500

Saturday, July 26: 12:30PM Macau Cup Deep Stack Event - HKD $1,000

4PM - Mega Satellite (Phase 1) to APPT Macau - HKD $600

8PM - Macau Cup Red Dragon Event - HKD $10,000

Sunday, July 27: 12:30PM Macau Cup $500 Challenge - No-Limit Hold'em - entry: HKD $500

4PM Mega Satellite (Phase 2) to APPT Macau - HKD $2,700

You can find full details HERE

PokerStars Poker Camp launches more satellites

2008-07-21T19:01:24Z

You may already know how it is. You put in the hard work, the graft and the hours to win yourself a spot in one of poker’s most prestigious events such as the European Poker Tour. You arrive determined to do well in your first live event but soon realize that it takes more than a knack online, and that it just isn't easy to go deep to where the real action is.

PokerStars is now looking to help you solve that problem and take the next step in a major live tournament with the help of some exclusive lessons from Team PokerStars Pro, and 2004 World Series Champion, Greg Raymer.

PokerStars is planning to send you to Barcelona where a team of experts will work with you to develop your live poker talents, adapting your game to this new environment and arming you with the confidence needed to make an impact in slow structured tournaments - into the money, and beyond.

The plan is to host a two day training camp that will include a live multi-table tournament where the top two finishers will win EPT Barcelona prize packages – a total that includes your event buy-in, hotel accommodation and money for expenses.

PokerStars will be running satellite qualifiers--starting as low as $8.80 or 250 FPPs--to the Poker Camp Final tournament from now until August 3.

If you hadn’t already heard, Barcelona is one of the most popular destinations on the EPT thanks to the enviable mix of sun, beautiful beaches, great food and a nightlife like few others. The Poker Camp prize package gives you access to all that and more in a package worth $4,000; three nights hotel accommodation, exclusive gifts and much more. PokerStars will also throwing a drinks and tapas party where you can chill out with other players and celebrity tutors – undoubtedly an appealing way to spend an evening after a day at the tables.

You can find out more detail on the PokerStars Poker Camp schedule page for how things will work and the subjects we’ll be covering. Anyone can enter for a chance to win the package; the only stipulation is that you have a good grasp of English. While you’re at it, why not check out the EPT site to find out how things went at last year’s Barcelona event, which had a total prize pool of €4 million.

PokerStars Sunday Tournament Results (7-20-08)

2008-07-21T13:18:01Z

For the first time in a very long time, Every Sunday major on PokerStars finished without a deal. That meant the first place winners all walked away with some very big money. Take, for instance, SAM66 who won more than $200,000 for his win in the Sunday Million (REPORT). More than 8,000 players signed up for this week's Sunday Million, proof that even in a regular week, the Sunday Million is the biggest weekly tournament on the planet.

Congratulations to all this week's winners. Here are the final table results for all the big Sunday tournaments.

PokerStars Sunday Million Final Table Results
(REPORT)

1. SAM66 (Switzerland) $209,571.60
2. Shantaram (France) $141,718.50
3. MrMuck1976 (Norway) $95,337.90
4. rubenrtv (Netherlands) $77,301.00
5. pepperdiablo (United Kingdom) $60,123.00
6. my_emolument (United States) $42,945.00
7. moorten (Sweden) $30,061.50
8. Axinar (United States) $19,754.70
9. Cjh1224 (United States) $13,398.84

PokerStars Sunday Warm-Up Final Table Results

1. eisenhower1 (Sweden) $97,664.00
2. seberek (Greece) $69,760.00
3. hanji (Canada) $45,692.80
4. nukemaster1 (Canada) $34,880.00
5. AyeReady1966 (United Kingdom) $27,904.00
6. AA_Legend (United Kingdom) $20,928.00
7. bartleby666 (Germany) $14,998.40
8. ryanfitz05 (United States) $10,464.00
9. truls77 (Norway) $6,766.72

PokerStars Sunday Hundred Grand Final Table Results

1. ftb_1988 (United States) $23,826.01
2. SickLord66 (United States) $16,678.21
3. Havana03 (Germany) $11,913.01
4. MHysler (United States) $9,530.41
5. SvenOLDB (Germany) $7,147.81
6. ncav08 (United Kingdom) $4,765.21
7. NuKEr2k Russian Federation $3,573.91
8. SingleFileD (United States) $2,382.61
9. retros94 (France) $1,786.96

PokerStars $215 Weekly PL Omaha Final Table Results

1. Laph (Sweden) $5,566.00
2. PPfinest (Canada) $3,872.00
3. StarTeenGirl (Sweden) $2,940.30
4. mohamar (United States) $2,178.00
5. KrazyVoodoo Brazil $1,452.00
6. Jackal69 (United Kingdom) $1,210.00
7. MIRCEA123 Romania $968.00
8. MyNewHaircut (United States) $726.00
9. Faraday (United States) $605.00

PokerStars $215 PL Omaha Hi/Lo Final Table Results

1. pstarfish (United States) $6,164.00
2. topset1 (United States) $4,288.00
3. draajcito (Colombia) $3,256.20
4. awobball44 (United States) $2,412.00
5. thedonator (United States) $1,608.00
6. doublerubble (United States) $1,340.00
7. takitdown (United States) $1,072.00
8. Miklan300 (United States) $804.00
9. Yackem012 (United States) $670.00

PokerStars $215 FL Omaha Hi/Lo Final Table Results

1. 7CardRyon (United States) $7,182.50
2. t soprano (United States) $5,239.00
3. gaffel (Norway) $3,971.50
4. MissHerpes (United States) $3,042.00
5. schaddy (United States) $2,028.00
6. omahaking_13 (Canada) $1,690.00
7. Entropy xx (United States) $1,352.00
8. SamENole (United States) $1,014.00
9. simmsux (United States) $676.00

PokerStars $215 Weekly FL Hold'em Final Table Results

1. ozenc (Netherlands) $5,940.00
2. Perplexity (United States) $3,960.00
3. The Omaholic (United States) $2,376.00
4. TiltHappens (United States) $1,980.00
5. sagettarius (Hungary) $1,584.00
6. gboro780 (United States) $1,287.00
7. turataika Finland $1,089.00
8. geord918 (United Kingdom) $891.00
9. Barrbarian (United States) $693.00

PokerStars $215 Weekly Stud Hi/Lo Final Table Results

1. NYC TK (United States) $3,360.00
2. The Omaholic (United States) $2,240.00
3. somebody (United States) $1,568.00
4. tiburonbig (Peru) $1,120.00
5. FishList_net (United States) $896.00
6. thedonator (United States) $784.00
7. Memphie (United States) $672.00
8. domina33 (Slovak Republic) $560.00

PokerStars $215 Weekly HORSE Final Table Results

1. late_entry (United States) $13,300.00
2. Fovedu21 Netherlands $8,458.80
3. captaindoo (United States) $5,985.00
4. Yackem012 (United States) $4,256.00
5. grapenuts (United States) $3,298.40
6. RoyalCrusher (United States) $2,394.00
7. rockets23 (United States) $1,835.40
8. MrSmokey1 (United States) $1,330.00

PokerStars Sunday Second Chance Final Table Results

1. Taknapotin (United States) $57,766.00
2. uncledrkmeat (United States) $43,494.40
3. P0ker D0h (United States) $32,450.90
4. Rugieee (Germany) $23,786.00
5. voyager7o9 (United States) $16,990.00
6. v1nc Netherlands $13,592.00
7. Universe112 (United States) $10,194.00
8. mcatdog (United States) $6,796.00
9. Brezi26 (Czech Republic) $4,757.20

PokerStars Sunday $5,200 Freezeout

1. BrynKenney (United States) $45,000.00

PokerStars $215+R NLHE Final Table Results

1. likeitGOOD69 (United States) $58,784.00
2. FishOnTilt (United States) $40,347.20
3 . PURPLEPILS99 (Canada) $27,521.60
4. 4ofaKindBud (United States) $21,376.00
5. nathalie111 (United States) $16,032.00
6. s00tedj0kers (United States) $12,558.40
7. jclark9001 (United States) $9,619.20
8. dpeters17 (United States) $6,947.20
9. loluno123 (United States) $4,275.20

Sam I Am The Winner: SAM66 Wins the Sunday Million 07-20-08

2008-07-21T06:07:27Z

$209,571 and don’t forget the sixty cents. Thanks to another packed house of 8589 runners for the PokerStars Sunday Million, that is how much will be transferred immediately if not sooner to the victor tonight (unless there’s a deal of course). If there is a let down of poker activity after the grueling month and a half at the World Series of Poker it is not showing at this tournament. 1233 players received a spot of cash for their play this evening, and two players will go home with six figures, here’s how the final shaped up after ZUREHABAZU’s KQo could not out race Shantaram’s pocket nines:

Seat 1: moorten (14903308 in chips)
Seat 2: pepperdiablo (4224128 in chips)
Seat 3: my_emolument (5392975 in chips) out of hand (moved from another table into small blind)
Seat 4: Cjh1224 (1129360 in chips)
Seat 5: Axinar (4769157 in chips)
Seat 6: Shantaram (11552878 in chips)
Seat 7: rubenrtv (12192690 in chips)
Seat 8: SAM66 (23492228 in chips)
Seat 9: MrMuck1976 (8233276 in chips)

SAM66 drops into the final table with the big stack which was accumulated by frequent raises on the second to last table, using his huge chip pile to bludgeon the smaller stacks. Cjh1224 took some grief from the rail for his patience, but the small stack was rewarded with a final table placing, along with a minimum of $5,000 extra. He will need some additional luck and timely cards to advance into the big dollars tonight especially with blinds at $250,000/$500,000 antes $50,000.

At the start of the final table SAM66 has the table shaking their collective heads while amassing an even greater lead and not turning over those two cards he is dealt. At 30 million in chips with approximately 52 million for the remaining eight players, there seems to be no building of clay chips (or pixels in this case) strong enough to defend against SAM66’s chip tank coming thru.

Cjh1224 was the small stack coming into the final nine and unfortunately for Cjh1224, the small stack went out first and not advancing up the pay scale. Rubentv found himself in good position to call with AKo and Cjh1224 having to push with any two cards. With J7o those cards were live for a few moments prior to the flop but an Ace on the door quickly dashed any worst to first dreams for Cjh1224 and with $13,398.84 in his pocket he leaves us in ninth place.

Trapping someone in any game with a set against top pair has players screaming for a call, even more so with thousands on the line. Axinar was looking at a board of Kh 9c 3h with two beautiful nines in his hand making a set and to his right Shantaram complied to stealthy trap with a push for his remaining 5.7 million chips with KcQs. Needing runner-runner for a straight or a higher boat, the Js on the turn gave Shantaram outs when there was none before, and the Tc on the river slid nearly 17 million chips into Shantaram’s stack leaving Axinar with a few antes worth to his name. Right move, tough result for Axinar as he’ll be consoled with $19,754.70 for his eighth place finish.

Crippled by the SAM66 express tollway with a broadway straight on the river after heavy betting on the flop and turn, moorten’s once sizable stack was diminished to 1.5 big blinds. After a minimal double up, moorten found KcQd and when left with enough to fill an orbit, one could do worse with two picture cards. But, Shantaram was more then happy to assist with moorten’s exit while holding pocket rockets. Nothing significant trickling down the flop, turn, river and moorten was $30,061.50 richer while heading out in seventh place.

My_emolument played a fairly quiet final table, having to face the frequent raises of SAM66 and rubenrtv. Needing cards to turn the tide never came as my_emolument snagged a few small double ups with his short stack but eventually had to face the music with any two cards that will be hidden until the replays are shown tomorrow. Rubenrtv’s Js9h finding a pair of nines on the board of 9d Tc 3d 6h Kh with SAM66 checking it down as well, was good enough to hand my_emolument $42,945.00 and sixth place.

The spicy pepperdiablo never caught true fire with the final five but managed to get his final three million in chips towards the middle with the best of it. Calling SAM66’s 23,675th button raise with Ad3d, pepperdiablo found himself ahead of SAM66’s KdQd. A flush would lock things up, as the cards peeled off towards the river pepperdiablo was safe until the King gave SAM66 ownership of the chips in the middle and the hot one left us with $60,123.00 in fifth place.

With the chips getting smaller and smaller with the rising blinds any pair takes on a newer meaning. Sixes were Rubenrtv’s choice of weapon against the mighty chip wall of SAM66, but instead of slaying the dragon, the brave knight was holding nothing more then a nerf sword when SAM66’s pocket Aces found another Ace on the flop of Ad 3s 8d. A six hit the river but did not change anything; rubenrtv took $77,301.00 back to Amsterdam to spend however he pleases.

SAM66 turned the chip vacuum dial from 9 to 59 as he sucked up chips so quickly I couldn’t even keep up with the bust outs. In the biggest pot of the tournament up to this point MrMuck1976 was facing a decision for his remaining 18 million chips on a Qd 5h 2h board while holding middle pair with Ad 5c. The aggressiveness of the chip leader surely was on his mind, but once again SAM66 held the goods as MrMuck1976 made the call and SAM66 calmly flipped over KhQh for top pair decent kicker and a flush draw to boot which cut into MrMuck1976’s potential outs. The flush did not materialize, but neither did trips or two pair for MrMuck as his yellow button “Muck” showed poker’s white flag of surrender but a tidy sum of $95,337.90 for third place made the eleven hours of poker worth the time spent.

For the first time while covering these tournaments, I saw no deal was ever whispered as SAM66 entered heads-up play versus Shantaram with a 5:1 chip lead. Shantaram battled mightily against the very aggressive SAM66, and while all-in and holding identical A2s hands and a flop showing a four-flush for Shantaram, there was a little light that the tide would turn. No flush came for Shantaram, nor did a badly needed double up through out the heads-up duel with SAM66.

Ts9c was Shantaram’s final stand as SAM66’s Ad6h made a race of things while SAM66 increased his lead to nearly 7:1 at this point. 5h 3d 3s helped no one, 6d on the turn might as well been a blank, and with a Jh on the river, Shantaram helped himself to a six-figure score with $141,718.50 for second place. SAM66 played his chip lead to the max and was rewarded the right to call himself this week’s Sunday Million champion!

Here’s the payouts for the final table, congratulations to all who cashed in this massive field:

PokerStars Sunday Million Final Table Result:

1. SAM66 $209,571.60
2. Shantaram $141,718.50
3. MrMuck1976 $95,337.90
4. rubenrtv $77,301.00
5. pepperdiablo $60,123.00
6. my_emolument $42,945.00
7. moorten $30,061.50
8. Axinar $19,754.70
9. Cjh1224 $13,398.84

PokerStars 2x: Double Reload Bonus!

2008-07-21T04:01:44Z

It's Week 4 for the PokerStars 2X promotion and PokerStars has cooked up a list of fun stuff that will make you forget about the past 20 days.

Double the pot was fun for a week, but now it's time for something new. Ready for it?

It's a double reload bonus in celebration of the PokerStars World Championship of Online Poker. Players who reload their PokerStars account between July 21-31 will get a 40% bonus, up to $240--double the standard bonus. All you have to do us use the code ‘2X’ when making your deposit. Oh, and get this...when you reload your account with that code, you'll you'll get a ticket to one of four special WCOOP satellites on August 2nd and August 9th. So, you have that going for you, which is nice.

Let's not forget...

PokerStars has been running all of these 2X Chance tournaments that give players the opportunity to buy back in once if they bust out within the first hour. Well, now is a good time to start practicing on those, because this coming Sunday, the PokerStars Sunday Warm-Up will be a 2X Chance tournament and have a $1 million guarantee.

But, that's not all....

PokerStars will continue to award extra VIP Player Points for regular Heads-Up Sit & Go tournaments. You will get 1.5X the amount of VPPs and Frequent Player Points that you would normally awarded.

AND FINALLY…

Don't forget, if you make your first deposit with the code FIRST2X, you will get into to the 2X First Depositor Freerolls. There are two $2,222 freerolls running every day, from July 8-30, at 13:00 ET & 20:00 ET. If you cash in any of the freerolls, you'll win a seat in the $22,222 finals on July 31.

For full information, visit the PokerStars 2X page.

2008 World Series: Darus Suharto interview

2008-07-17T12:37:45Z

It only cost him $80.

Darus Suharto qualified on PokerStars for the World Series Main Event. His $80 win got him into a bigger qualifier and there he won his prize package to Las Vegas.

Now, Suharto is one of the November Nine, the final table players of the 2008 World Series Main Event.

Here's what he had to say in the moments after he made the final table.

Watch WSOP 08: Darus Suharto Finalist on PokerStars.tv

See the other interviews with The PokerStars Six:

Dennis Phillips interview
Ylon Schwartz interview
Peter Eastgate interview
David Chino Rheem interview
Ivan Demidov interview

2008 World Series: Dennis Phillips interview

2008-07-17T12:22:47Z

Dennis Phillips told us ini the last few days of the World Series that the ESPN crews were calling him "red hat." His autographed St. Louis Cardinals baseball cap was not hard to spot in the crowd. Otherwise, the accountant from Missouri is humble enough to blend into any poker tournament.

That all changed this week when Phillips emerged as the chip leader in the 2008 World Series. Now, plans to go back to work for four months and plan for what will be one of the biggest days of his life.

Here's what he told our video blog team as he got ready to go home.

Watch WSOP 08: Dennis Philips WSOP Finalist on PokerStars.tv

See the other interviews with The PokerStars Six:

Darus Suharto interview
Ylon Schwartz interview
Peter Eastgate interview
David Chino Rheem interview
Ivan Demidov interview

2008 World Series: Ylon Schwartz interview

2008-07-17T12:15:10Z

Perhaps better known online as TenthPlanet, Ylon Schwartz is no stranger to live poker. A regular on the East Coast live scene, Schwartz has been around long enough to have paid his dues. Now the chess expert, lover of all games, and PokerStars is looking to get away for a while.

In his own words, he was "bugging out" when he finally made the final table. He took a few minutes to talk to us before escaping to places unknown in preparation for the November final table.

Here's what he had to say.

Watch WSOP 08: Ylon Schwartz on PokerStars.tv

See other interviews with the PokerStars Six

Darus Suharto interview
Dennis Phillips interview
Peter Eastgate interview
David Chino Rheem interview
Ivan Demidov interview

2008 World Series: Peter Eastgate interview

2008-07-17T12:08:57Z

It's one thing to be one of the top five cash game players from your home country. It's another thing to be at the final table of the 2008 World Series of Poker. PokerStars player Peter Eastgate happens to be both of those things.

In the blur that followed the minutes after making the final table, a stunned Eastgate talked to our video blog team. Here's what he had to say.

Watch WSOP 08: Peter Eastgate WSOP Finalist on PokerStars.tv

Darus Suharto interview
Dennis Phillips interview
Ylon Schwartz
David Chino Rheem interview
Ivan Demidov interview

2008 World Series: David "Chino" Rheem interview

2008-07-17T12:03:20Z

David "Chino" Rheem is a young up-and-comer in the poker world. The PokerStars player had a big contingent of famous players on the rail cheering him on as he made the final table of the 2008 World Series.

The player from California talked to the PokerStars video blog team as he stepped away from the World Series for a 117-day break. Here's what he had to say.

Watch WSOP 08: David Rheem Finalist on PokerStars.tv

See more interviews with the PokerStars Six

Darus Suharto interview
Dennis Phillips interview
Ylon Schwartz interview
Peter Eastgate interview
Ivan Demidov interview

2008 World Series: Ivan Demidov interview

2008-07-17T11:55:13Z

In minutes that followed PokerStars player Ivan Demodov's making it to the 2008 World Series final table, he was still in shock. After coming all the way from Moscow to compete in his first major live tournament, Demidov could barely find the words to explain what had just happened to him.

Now, Demidov is set to become a superstar in Russia and around the poker world. Here is what he had to say in the moments after making the final table.

Watch WSOP 08: Ivan Demidov Finalist on PokerStars.tv

See more interviews with the PokerStars Six

Darus Suharto interview
Dennis Phillips interview
Ylon Schwartz interview
Peter Eastgate interview
David Chino Rheem interview

From Freerolls to $235K – xanja turns pennies into huge score in 2X Sunday Million

2008-07-16T17:54:18Z

It’s one thing to take the chip lead at the final table of the PokerStars Sunday Million. It’s another thing to take a commanding chip lead at the final table of the largest Sunday Million in PokerStars history. And it’s something else entirely to take the chip lead at the Sunday Million final table when you’ve never deposited a penny into your online account! That’s exactly what happened to xanja when he knocked out sjoko in 7th place in last week’s Sunday Million tournament.

Thanks to the PokerStars 2X promotion running all July, last week’s Sunday Million was really the Sunday Two Million, with a total prize pool of $2,836,200. Xanja took over the chip lead with six players to go, and rode his big stack all the way to a favorable chip-count chop and a $235,000 payday! We caught up with xanja as he was still trying to process everything about his fantastic run.

Mostly a $5 & $10 SNG player, xanja took a shot at the Sunday Million because of the 2x promotion doubling the prize pool. It also more than doubled the field, as over 14,000 players registered. Xanja got lucky early to survive, saying “I went all-in with pocket sevens after being raised. My opponent held pocket jacks. At that moment I thought the tournament was over for me, but the third seven appeared on the turn and I won the hand. Otherwise I had played really carefully and only played the best hands.”

One of the biggest hands of the tournament came when play was four-handed, and before any deal had been made. After a preflop raise from PokerMurphy1, kpax22 moved all in over the top with Js-10c. Xanja re-raised to isolate with Ah-Kh, and PokerMurphy1 folded. Kpax22 picked up a straight on the turn when the board read 5c-9h-Ks-Qh, but the 2h on the river gave xanja the flush and sent kpax22 to the rail. That hand left xanja a huge chip leader, and the remaining three players cut a deal to give $235,000 to xanja and leave $30,000 to play for. Xanja fell short of the final prize when TimDawg888 caught a couple of big hands to double through him and eventually take down the Sunday Million.

Xanja’s poker career started two years ago in freerolls, and he eventually built up his bankroll without ever making a deposit, winning a few pennies here and there from freerolls and then moving into sit n’ gos and MTTs. Keeping to his bankroll-building strategy, he won a satellite to get into the Sunday Million, making his return on investment even more staggering!

Fortunately for xanja, he has the summer off from his studies until September, so he didn’t have to get up and go to work after playing until the wee hours of the morning Sunday night. His future poker plans include keeping a nest egg on PokerStars from this big score while investing the rest, and eventually playing the WSOP Main Event. We can definitely see big things ahead for this young star!

2008 World Series: The PokerStars Six

2008-07-15T11:12:31Z

In the Rio Amazon Room, there is no Monday. There is no July. Time and date are irrelevant. There is no news from around the world, lamentations about the economy, or even the usual banal discussion of the weather. It took rain in the desert to get anyone to notice the sky. In the thunderdome that is the World Series of Poker, all that matters is life and death at the World Series of Poker table. Once the fallen are carried out and given their due seconds of respect, all that remains is hope for the living.

This has been the case during the days that are defined by number instead of name. Through four day ones, two day twos, and the subsequent days three, four, five and six, even numerologists were stymied. Here, the calendar read Day 7 and that meant only 27 people remained with their life-blood chips. Everyone knew that two-thirds of that number would walk away with at least a quarter million bucks, but a lifetime of what-ifs about what could've been. Nobody could predict or control who would be here at the end of the night. All we knew is that nine people would be able to walk out of this room tonight with their chins up and their eyes set on a $9 million prize.

From here on out, they will be known as the November Nine--the final nine of 6,844 runners who started the 2008 World Series Main Event and emerged tonight with the right to come back in four months and fight for the championship bracelet. Among those players are the PokerStars Six, a tough combination of PokerStars players and qualifiers who will be part of history in November.

In all, PokerStars players have already cashed for more than $9 million combined in the Main Event. The PokerStars Six will have their chance at a total of another $32.6 million that's up for grabs in November.

Here is a look at the PokerStars players who will return to compete for poker's biggest prize.

Dennis Phillips (26,295,000)--Dennis Phillips is an accountant from St. Louis, Missouri who has done his home town proud. His has not yet been seen without an autographed St. Louis Cardinals cap and speaks fondly of his Show-Me State roots. Phillips is a regular at Harrahs St. Louis and plays live there as often as he can. It cost him $200 to get into this Main Event. He plans to leave Vegas and go back to his job for the four months between now and the final table in November. That, and he said, "play a lot of poker." Not a bad plan for the World Series chip leader.

Ivan Demidov (24,400,000) -- Ivan Demidov is from Moscow Russia. "We're having a good year," he says of himself and his countrymen. This year, he placed 11th in the $1,000 rebuy event. Both a tournament and cash game player, Demidov is a 27-year-old online semi-pro. A friend and backer helped him raise the $10,000 to get into the event. The 2008 World Series is his first major live tournament. Demidov has a degree in math and is looking to bring home the big numbers for mother Russia.

Peter Eastgate -- (18,375,000) -- Peter Eastgate is a 22-year-old PokerStars player. He is known as a fearless but volatile player, among the top five online pros in Denmark. He mainly plays high-stakes cash games - $200-400 short-handed or heads-up. Jacob Rasmussen, who came 5th at EPT4 Dortmund, was asked if Peter Eastgate was the next Gus Hansen. He said, "Not really. It's more like Gus Hansen is the first Peter Eastgate." Eastgate has said all along he won't think about the final table until he makes it. Now, he has.

Ylon Schwartz -- (12,525,000) -- A native New Yorker -- born in Manhattan and now living in Brooklyn -- Ylon Schwartz is a chess whizz and a poker player with 11 previous cashes in World Series events dating back to 2005. He's equally at home playing chess in the super-competitive games in New York's Washington Square Park, idling the time in Golden Nugget low limit ring games or tearing up the major poker tournaments in the east coast casinos of Atlantic City and Foxwoods. You can find him playing as TenthPlanet on PokerStars.

Darus Suharto -- (12,520,000) -- Darus Suharto is from Toronto, Canada. He is an accountant who loves his job so much, he would find it hard to quit, even if he won the World Series Main Event. He would like to find more time to play poker, but because he spends so much time working, most of his tournament poker experience comes from playing online. He qualified for his seat on PokerStars and has already forgotten about his modest cash from the World Series in 2006.

David “Chino” Rheem -- (10,230,000)-- David “Chino” Rheem has had a great year, taking 5th place in the $5k NL tournament in June for $93,624. The 28-year-old from Miami, Florida has enjoyed a string of tournament successes recently including five WSOP cashes in the last three years. This includes $327,981 in the 2006 $1,000 NLHE event. In the main event David was among the chip leaders each day, and rallied superbly when a series of bad hands almost eliminated him in the latter stages but bounced back to make the November Nine.

More than a thousand PokerStars qualifiers competed in this year's 39th World Series Main Event, including 45 who had paid nothing at all to get to Vegas after winning their seats in PokerStars Frequent Player Point (FPP) tournaments. The highest FPP finisher was American Doug Ashmore who turned his 4,000 FPPs into $41,816 with a 124th place finish. Other notable qualifiers included Tim Loecke, from Illinois, who made it to 24th place for $257,334. He won his seat in a $63 satellite and was playing in his first-ever live poker tournament. Online pros Chris "SLOPPYKLOD" Klodnicki came 12th for $591,869 and Owen "ocrowe" Crowe, made it to 15th place and a $463,201 payout. Both spent just $215 to win their WSOP seats via PokerStars satellite tournaments.

Team PokerStars Pros were also out in force at this year's WSOP, including former world champions Chris Moneymaker, Greg Raymer and Joe Hachem, as well as poker legends Daniel Negreanu and Barry Greenstein. Team PokerStars Pro Victor Ramdin lasted longest with a 64th place finish for $96,500. Three other Team PokerStars Pros also cashed - Hevad Khan (240th) for $35,383; Bertrand "ElkY" Grospellier (370th) for $28,950 and Vanessa Rousso (625th) for $21,230.

Kara Scott, presenter of the PokerStars.com European Poker Tour, was sponsored into the main event by PokerStars and was thrilled - in her first ever WSOP - to make 104th place for $41,816. Kirill Gerasimov from Russia and Jan Heitmann from Germany, also both backed by PokerStars, both cashed in 439th and 585th place respectively. PokerStars also sponsored celebrities such as Jason Alexander from "Seinfeld", Simpsons co-creator Sam Simon, "ER" actor Mekhi Phifer, MMA fighter Chuck Liddell, MLB greats David Wells and Orel Hershiser and Indy stock car racer Gualter Salles.

As well as their $10,000 buy-in to the main event, spending money and luxury hotel accommodation at the Palms hotel, PokerStars qualifiers also enjoyed the spectacular PokerStars WSOP party at Rain nightclub, featuring scores of celebrities, star poker players and the burlesque artist Dita Von Teese.

This feels at the same time a conclusion and delayed satisfaction. We will all leave this giant convention center tonight with a feeling that we are finished. Yet, we all know that in four short months the real contest will begin with the biggest money and fame on the line.

To close out our coverage, here's the final wrap, for now, from the PokerStars video blog team...

Watch WSOP 08: JULY 14th Update on PokerStars.tv

So, at this hour we cannnot say goodbye. We can only say goodnight and see you later. It's been yet another astounding World Series for PokerStars and the PokerStars Blog. Over the course of the next several months you can expect to see a lot more on the PokerStars Six. Until then, thanks for reading and congratulations to all the PokerStars players for their performance here at the 2008 World Series.

Chip counts for the World Series final table can be found on our 2008 World Series Chip Counts page.

Be sure to check out all of our video blogs from Day 7 and before on PokerStars.tv.

If you would like to see PokerStars Blog World Series news in another language, be sure you take a look at all the other coverage on our German, Swedish, and Brazilian blogs.

Here's a look back at all the coverage from Day 7.

Sleep when you're dead
TV time at table Table 3
Flying the PokerStars flag
Slowdown delays showdown
The four minute frenzy
The Denmark Syndicate
At the feature table or not...
The Last Supper
Klodnikci just misses final table
Dreams Die
You wait a while and then

For coverage from all the previous days, we've posted summaries below.

Day 1A
Day 1B
Day 1C
Day 1D
Day 2A
Day 2B
Day 3
Day 4
Day 5
Day 6

Those of us here at the PokerStars Blog--Brad Willis, Howard Swains, and Stephen Bartley--would like to take this last chance to publicly thank everyone who put in countless hours of work on covering the PokerStars players here at the World Series. We couldn't have done any of it without the help of Mad Harper, our statistician and all-around utility writer/researcher; Joe Giron and the entire team at Image Masters; Hass, Rury, and Jamie, the video blog team; Klaus, Robin and Alex from the PokerStars German Blog; Lina from the PokerStars Swedish Blog; Maria from the PokerStars Brazilian Blog; and Nolan Dalla from the World Series of Poker. Thanks to all of you for your dedication to the job and your efforts to champion the players from the world's number one online poker site.

2008 World Series: You wait a while and then...

2008-07-15T07:15:33Z

Long stretches of boredom with moments of sheer terror. It’s an expression that’s been used so many times to describe all sorts of scenarios, but if the long stretches between the action in this main event have been the ‘boredom’, the last half an hour has provided the terror – at least for some of the players involved.

First PokerStars player Darus Suharto doubled up with kings over Joe Bishop’s ace-queen. It was a make or break shuffle for Darus who leapt from being the short stack to the relative safety of the main pack. Joe Bishop was then involved again, with Kelly Kim this time who held pocket eights to Joe’s 7-8. Another bad hand for Joe, culminating with a hand against PokerStars player David Rheem, which would seal Bishop’s demise.

Darus Suharto

Bishop had moved all-in with Ac3h for 2.4m which Chino called with pocket deuces. The flop was rose tinted for Bishop, making two pairs on the Ah3c5s flop. But also lurking was the straight draw for Rheem which his vocal supporters knew all too well. The Qc on the turn made Bishop walk away unable to look. He had good reason or the incredible was about to happen, a 4h on the river, making Rheem his straight and busting Bishop in 11th place.

David 'Chino' Rheem

The hand was followed by cheering and a general scrum for places on the main feature table stage where right now the remaining ten players prepare to play on into the night until one more of them is eliminated.

No more ‘boredom’, a touch of terror for sure, but mainly excitement here as the main event closes in on its finale.

2008 World Series: Dreams die

2008-07-15T06:11:42Z

There are numerous ways to measure the progression of a poker tournament, from the basic count of players eliminated, to the angle of the slouch of the average reporter on media row. The blue screens displaying time, level, blinds and payouts have kept us updated with the key stats throughout the past couple of weeks, and for the last level (level 31), the players have been ante-ing 20,000 chips.

That, in case you forgot, is the equivalent of one player's starting stack.

Yes, each compulsory ante being posted by these 11 players before every single hand is even dealt has previously represented $10,000 in cold hard cash or, in another currency, one player's broken dreams. A couple of orbits of the table without winning a pot equates to nothing short of a massacre of idealism, and yet here it barely registers a wince.

The day is now getting long and the stakes, tension and anticipation are ratcheting up by the minute. Level 32, which we have just entered, now means blinds of 80,000-160,000 and an ante of one-and-a-half splintered fantasies.

Chip leader Dennis Phillips

Six PokerStars players are keeping their dreams alive. Their names and chip counts are:

Dennis Phillips -- USA -- PokerStars player -- 23,100,000
David Rheem -- USA -- PokerStars player -- 13,800,000
Peter Eastgate -- Denmark -- PokerStars player -- 13,540,000
Ylon Schwartz -- USA -- PokerStars player -- 13,160,000
Ivan Demidov -- Russia -- PokerStars player -- 9,800,000
Darus Suharto -- Canada -- Qualifier -- 8,700,000