For a little fun today, we’re going to live blog the PokerStars Sunday Warm-up. Over the next eleven hours or so, Brad Willis, Martin Harris, David Aydt, and Dave Behr will be on hand to bring you the latest information on the Sunday Warm-Up. Have a story for us? E-mail to blog@pokerstars.com.

10:14pm– Incredible call nets Supa4real the win!

On the heels of the unusual pre-flop re-raise from goodvibe1, both players limped into the pot and took a J-4-J flop. goodvibe1 checked, then raised to 1.6 million after Supa4real bet 500,000. With plenty of ammunition, Supa4real called and went to the turn.

When the turn came down the nine of spades, goodvibe1 again checked. Perhaps sensing weakness, Supa4real took another stab with a bet of 1.6 million. goodvibe1 instantly check-raised all-in for a total of 7 million, putting Supa4real to the test. He made the call and opened Qc-4d for two pair, jacks and fours(!). goodvibe1 was on a draw, albeit a very large draw with Kc-9c. The river blanked out, allowing Supa4real to win the pot and the whole tournament.

A full recap of the final table can be found HERE.

10:13pm– Times-a-changin’; Supa4real takes over chip lead

A rare preflop reraise just backfired for goodvibe1. After Supa4real opened for 1 million, goodvibe1 re-raised to 2.8 million. Supa4real called, then moved in on the Td-Qh-6d flop after goodvibe1 made a half-pot bet. We could only imagine the sigh of frustration as goodvibe1 folded his hand.

10:12pm–Wanna play heads up for $30,000?

Just in case you’re not paying close enough attention, what we’re witnessing here is essentially a $30,000 heads-up sit-and-go. Not that there is anything wrong with that. First place is $101,250. Second place is $71,250.

10:08pm– Not much movement

After ten minutes of heads-up play, little has changed. Supa4real briefly threatened to take over the chip lead by winning a series of small pots, but goodvibe1 sniffed out a bluff and made a great river call with top pair to reset the chip counts to what they were ten minutes ago.

9:58pm–Heads-up chip counts

Here’s how the two remaining players stack up at the start of heads-up play.

Seat 1: goodvibe1 (22882846 in chips)
Seat 3: Supa4real (13107154 in chips)

9:54pm–And suddenly, it’s heads up

Supa4real must have been tired of watching goodvibe1 take all the chips. After goodvibe1 came in for a raise, Supa4real re-raised. He couldn’t have liked it when Dudelinio came over the top all-in for 3,850,648. Supa4real had to call 2,040,648 more and did so after goodvibe1 folded. Dudelinio showed Ac-Qc to Supa4real’s Ah9h. Say goodnight, Dudelinio. The board showed 6c-2s-9s-5h-Ad. Dudelinio won $48,750 for third place.

9:51pm– goodvibe1 barrelling towards the finish line

Just five minutes after turning down a chop, goodvibe1 eliminated another of his opponents. Sitting in the big blind, he called a raise from the small blind, tallgeir. The flop was 3c-Ks-9c. tallgeir led out with a half-pot bet of 750,000, but goodvibe1, with a commanding chip lead (and, we would soon discover, the best hand), raised to 1.5 million. tallgeir called, then led out for 750,000 again on a blank turn. A raising war ensued, with tallgeir eventually all in. He showed Qh-9s for middle pair and was in rough shape against goodvibe1’s top pair with Kh-8d. tallgeir missed the river and was bounced in fourth place, earning $38,625.

9:50pm–No curse yet for goodvibe1

Goodvibe1 has silenced any silly talk about the no-chop curse. He just busted vanky. Goodvibe1 came in for a standard raise with JcJs and vannky came over the top all-in with Qs-Ad. When you’re running good, you’re running good. Goodvibe1’s race was a winner on a ten-high board. Vanky finished in fifth place for $30,750.

9:46pm–goodvibe1 must be feelin’ it

Five-handed is often the place you see a talk of a chop. The story is no different tonight. Goodvibe1 wanted none of it.

Supa4real: we could look at the numbers
goodvibe1: no chop sry
vanky: ok

And that’s that. And so the players commenced with re-raising the chip leader.

9:40pm– Dudelinio finds gold with suited connectors

With five players remaining and 2.5 million in his stack, Dudelinio opened for 750,000 holding 8h-9h. The big stack, tallgeir, threw his weight around holding A-T and raised enough to put Dudelinio all in. Dudelinio called and promptly flopped top two pair, which held up through the river.

9:38pm– Chip counts at break
Level 33
Blinds 125,000/250,000, antes 25,000
Average chip count: 7,198,000
Players remaining: 5
First Prize: $101,250.00

Seat 1: goodvibe1 (9716470 in chips)
Seat 2: vanky (6464280 in chips)
Seat 3: Supa4real (9176506 in chips)
Seat 4: Dudelinio (2602824 in chips)
Seat 5: tallgeir (8029920 in chips)

9:30pm– goodvibe1 takes out lordhuttyx

The good times kept on rolling for goodvibe1. lordhuttyx open-shoved with pocket sevens, only to discover that goodvibe1 was sitting on pocket jacks, an easy call. The jacks held up, bouncing lordhuttyx from the tournament in 6th place with an extra $23,250.

9:28pm– RuudGullit can’t overcome domination

With fifteen big bets left in his stack, RuudGullit open-shoved Ad-6h from the button. goodvibe1, sitting in the small blind with 4.5 million, elected to call with Ah-Js. He was in a dominating position that was quickly reversed on a 6-K-9 flop. Perhaps channeling his screenname, goodvibe1 found a good vibe when the turn came Jd. There was no re-suck on the river for RuudGullit. He was eliminated and earned $15,750.

9:20pm– lordhuttyx’s ace almost isn’t enough

With just 1.5 million chips, lordhuttyx has been tight, choosing not to tangle with most of his opponents. When chip leader tallgeir open-shoved from the small blind, lordhuttyx took a chance with Ah-3c. He was ahead of tallgeir’s Qh-6c, but it looked like disaster when the flop came 5-Q-5. An ace on the turn bailed out lordhuttyx and allowed him to double up to 3 million.

9:14pm– EDWARDHOPPER goes broke in 8th place, and not in a pretty way

EDWARDHOPPER, the man of all caps, had 1,721,407 to start and open-raised to 398,000. Vanky pushed all-in and got the fast call from EDWARDHOPPER’s KdKc. Vanky held Ah-2s. Wanna guess what the board looked like at the end? We’ll just tell you…5c-3d-9h-9s-4h. Not pretty, not funny, but decidedly the end for EDWARDHOPPER. He picked up $9,750.

9:07pm– GB2005 unlucky in 2008

We have the first elimination of the final table. With blinds at 80,000 and 160,000, tallgeir opened from the button for 640,000. GB2005 quickly reraised all in with the hand that many players dread — ace-king. tallgeir, with chips to burn, made the call and showed two live suited cards: Qs-8s. Neither player improved by the turn, but on the river GB2005’s tournament ended when tallgeir paired his queen. With that pot, tallgeir moved to over 10 million in chips and GB2005 was eliminated in 9th place. His payday was $6,750.

9:03pm–Final table set

The final nine are in place. Here are the chip counts.

Seat 1: goodvibe1 (3125226 in chips)
Seat 2: vanky (3620984 in chips)
Seat 3: Supa4real (6992395 in chips)
Seat 4: Dudelinio (3842824 in chips)
Seat 5: tallgeir (8572505 in chips)
Seat 6: GB2005 (1103480 in chips)
Seat 7: lordhuttyx (2034545 in chips)
Seat 8: EDWARDHOPPER (2634407 in chips)
Seat 9: RuudGullit (4063634 in chips)

9:01pm–tjechw bubbles final table

It was a good call with a bad result. It was an all-in raise to tjechw’s big blind. He made the call with two black fives and was up against AsJs. Needless to say, he lost the race and went out in 10th place for $4,500.

8:55pm– Connolly the latest casualty

Short on chips, Connolly moved in for 1.5 million with a small ace. He was called by tallgeir who had a bigger ace and finished with a flush. Connolly never improved and was bounced from the tournament in 11th place, $3,150 richer.

8:53pm–p0ck3tp3ar goes to war without pocket pair…or pear

With only 808,000 in chips left, p0ck3tp3ar open-raised for nearly all his chips and got re-raised by vanky. He called for the few thousand more with Ah-7d. Vanky held 9c-Ac. Neither hand paired and vanky’s kicker played. p0ck3tp3ar finished in 12th place for $4,500.

8:52pm– CASINOICE iced

lordhuttyx was behind when all the chips went in the middle, but his cards were suited and live. Both players hit the flop in a big way, with CASINOICE flopping two pair. Unfortunately for him, his two pair made the nut flush for lordhuttyx. CASINOICE ha d two chances to fill up, and missed them both. He was eliminated in 13th place and earned $3,150 for his efforts.

8:49pm–RUS_FISH hooked and fileted

With only 724,024 chips in his stack, RUS_FISH cast his last lure with Ad-4d. RuudGullit took the bait and call with Jh-Kd. RUS_FISH was cooked by the turn on a board of 8s-Ts-Qd-9h-2c. He finished in 15th place, picking up $3,150.

8:42pm– sebmenk find no love with the ladies

sebmenk found exactly what he was looking for: Qc-Qh. He came in for a raise to 300,000 and Supa4real came back at him for 800,000. The rest of sebmenk’s 1,638,288 chips went in and it was the pocket queens vs Ah-Jc. The board was not as pretty as sebmenk’s hand. It rann out 2d-Jd-Ks-4d-Ad to eliminate sebmenk in 16th place for $1,875.

8:40pm– nafudoma loses battle of the blinds

nafudoma must have felt good when he moved in his whole stack of 1.7 million from the big blind after tallgeir opened the action from the small blind with a raise. Things went south for nafudoma from there. tallgeir called with Ad-Tc, which dominated nafudoma’s Ac-9s. He took the lead on an 8-9-K flop, but the turn and river were a queen and a jack to make a straight for tallgeir. He eliminated nafudoma in 17th place and cracked the 5-million chip mark at the same time.

8:37pm– tdomeski crippled, then eliminated

Two tough hands in rapid succession resulted in the elimination of tdomeski from the tournament in 18th place. First, he called the all-in bet of lordhuttyx, who had pushed from the button with pocket eights. tdomeski’s Kd-Jd took the lead when the flop came K-J-T, but an 8 on the turn made a set for lordhuttyx. Neither player filled up on the river.

That left tdomeski with just over 100,000 chips, which went in on the next hand after a raise by Dudelinio from late position. Dudelinio’s pocket nines were well ahead of tdomeski’s 6c-4d, and even moreso when the flop came down nine-high. Although tdomeski ended the hand with trip 4s, he couldn’t top Dudelinio’s full house, nines full of fours.

8:33pm– webster426 86’d

With fewer than one million chips, webster426 shove with K9 offsuit and got called by AhJh. A flop with one ace and two hearts was all he needed to see. He was eliminated in 19th place for $1,575.

8:32pm– Top ten chip counts at end of hour number seven; 19 remain

Level XXIX
Blinds 50,000/100,000, antes 10,000
Average chip count: 1,890,000
Players remaining: 19
First Prize: $101,250.00

1. Supa4real 4,136,113
2. Dudelinio 3,774,969
3. goodvibe1 2,865,876
4. tallgeir 2,859,641
5. Ruudgullit 2,613,185
6. tjechw 2,418.940
7. GB2005 2,337,175
8. EDWARDHOPPER 2,234,316
9. Conno!!y 2,052,436
10. sebmenk 1,628,288

8:31pm– oknergard out in 20th

tallgeir raised to 240,000 from the hijack seat, and oknergard, sitting to his left, reraised all in with his remaining 720,000-plus chip stack. It folded back around and tallgeir called, showing Kd-Jd. oknergard showed Ad-8d.

The flop was Qs-10h-3c, and oknergard was still ahead, but tallgeir had a lot of outs. One came on the turn — the Ks. And the Ac on the river sealed it, bouncing oknergard in 20th place. tallgeir is up to 3 million.

8:29pm– Cruel river sends Se7enTr3y home in 21st place

GB2005 raised to 180,000 from the cutoff, and Se7enTr3y reraised all in for a total of about 543,192 from the big blind. GB 2005, having about 1.4 million behind, made the call.

Se7enTr3y showed 8d-8c, and GB2005 turned over Ac-4h. The flop and turn — 9d-2s-9h-10h — were fine for Se7enTr3y. But the Ah on the river stole it away, knocking him out in 21st place.

GB2005 is up to 2.2 million.

8:26pm– PyroWalter flames out in 22nd place

A bit of a cooler for the flame thrower PyroWalter. After nafudoma had raised to 240,000 from middle position, PyroWalter reraised all-in for his remaining 1,396,996 chips with Jd-Jc. But an instacall from Supa4real from the big blind — who had him covered — spelled trouble.

nafudoma folded, and Supa4real turned over Ad-Ah, well ahead of PyroWalter’s jacks. Neither player improved on the 3h-3c-7h-Qh-6d board, and PyroWalter’s flame was extinguished in 22nd place.

8:19pm– Sticky situation for stiCKypiFF14

stiCKypiFF14 open-shoved a stack of just over 400,000 from middle position, and Supa4real, having about 1.38 million when the hand began, made the call from the small blind.

Supa4real turned over 4d-4c, and probably didn’t mind one bit seeing stiCKypiFF14 show 5d-3c. The board came Ks-8d-6s-2s-7d, and stiCKypiFF14 was bounced in 23rd place. Supa4real now has 1.88 million.

8:12pm– Pocket pairs continue to be good for p0ck3tp3ar; iapetus out in 24th

With just 313,747 in chips and the blinds & antes climbing fast (currently 30,000/60,000 plus 6,000), iapetus made a move for the blinds from middle position, shoving all his chips in with Kc-8s. p0ck3tp3ar gladly called from the small blind with Td-Th.

A board of 7c-2s-Jd-9c-Ad sent iapetus home with $1,575.00 in 24th place.

8:09pm– taktloss overrun by tjechw’s pocket rockets

taktloss47 was eliminated in 25th place after getting it all in with Ac-Qd only to be up against tjechw’s As-Ah. The aces held, and tjechw is now up over 3 million.

8:06pm– blokwillem eliminated in 26th place

vanky pushed opened by pushing all in for 311,000-plus from late position, and blokwillem responded by reraising all in for just over a million from the button. Supa4real thought about it for a moment, then called the reraise from the small blind, leaving only 16,000 or so behind.

supa4real: Kc-Ad
vanky: 9s-Ks
blokwillem: As-Qc

The board came 2h-9c-5c-4h-4c, giving vanky the main pot of just over one million and Supa4real the side pot, pushing his stack to 1.48 million. blokwillem is out in 26th place.

8:01pm– Louise6 finds no flush, and no more chips

Louise6 fought the good fight after being crippled on a rivered set of eights previously by webster426. But, blind steals only work if no one calls, and with 404,212 chips left Louise6 shoved with Ad-5d UTG only to have RuudGullit waiting on the button with As-Ah.

The pocket aces held up on the board of Tc-9c-Js-Jh-5s sending Louise home in 27th place.

7:55pm– 27 remain

There are currently 27 players on three tables. The next nine players to be eliminated will each receive $1,575.00. WiLDmAn75 is our current chip leader with 3.09 million. The average stack size is just over 1.33 million.

7:51pm– There exactly four aces in the standard deck of cards

Se7enTr3y checked his hole cards to find black aces — As-Ac — leaving two more in the deck. So when p0ck3tp3ar re-raised his UTG bet, the sounds of fireworks may have gone off in his head.

Unfortunately, the boom of the explosives was reduced to whistling in the air as p0ck3tp3ar turned over the red aces — Ah-Ad. A little excitement on the flop of 6d-3s-2s, giving Se7enTr3y outs to a four-flush, but the turn of 6c meant they chopped up the two-million chip pot and went back to work. Se7enTr3y has about 1.5 million, while p0ck3tp3ar has about one million.

7:48pm– WiLDmAn75 goes wild, man

WiLDmAn75 just took a 2 million-plus chip pot when his pocket jacks held up against both Duka333’s 7c-7h and Preußenhusar’s Kd-Ah.

WiLDmAn75 had both covered, so Duka333 is out in 31st, Preußenhusar is out in 30th, and WiLDmAn75 is near the top of the leaderboard with just over 2.8 million.

7:44pm– End of the road for engels23

engels23 open-raised to 111,111 from the cutoff, and tallgeir reraised all in from the big blind with his stack of 1.1 million-plus. engels23 had about 475,000 behind, and made the call.

tallgeir showed Js-10d, and engels23 turned over Ad-9s. The board came 8d-10c-8s-9d-7h, and engels23 was out in 32nd place. tallgeir is up to 1.7 million.

7:37pm– Million is now the norm

With 33 players left, the average chip stack is now at one million chips which will buy you about 11 orbits. Or, if you happen to bust suddenly, places 28th to 36th are scheduled to receive $1,425.00 for their six hours of work today.

7:26pm– Top ten chip counts at end of hour number six; 37 remain

Level XXV
Blinds at 20,000/40,000 ante 4,000
Players remaining: 37
Average chip stack: 972,702
First Prize: $101,250.00

1. oknergard 2,461,473
2. Dudelinio 2,307,519
3. sebmenk 2,144,134
4. nafudoma 2,136,370
5. letontondu64 1,630,754
6. tjechw 1,463,015
7. p0ck3tp3ar 1,434,952
8. WiLDmAn75 1,331,013
9. RUS_FISH 1,320,008
10. RuudGullit 1,193,308

Team PokerStars Pro: Steve “stevejpa” Paul-Ambrose eliminated in 43rd place ($1,350.00)

7:21pm– Paul-Ambrose out in 43rd

Team PokerStars Pro Steve “stevejpa” Paul-Ambrose open-raised all in with his last 243,761 from the cutoff. Then sebmenk reraised all in with his stack of nearly 450,000 from the button. Both might have been surprised to see Se7enTr3y make the call from the big blind, leaving 344,330 behind.

Se7enTr3y: Ah-Kh
stevejpa: 10d-8d
sebmenk: Ad-As

Not the best spot for Paul-Ambrose. The board ran out 3s-2d-5s-7d-Qh, and sebmenk’s aces held up. Paul-Ambrose is out in 43rd, while sebmenk moved up to 1.15 million.

7:15pm– Make that a THREE million-chip man

With the blinds at 15,000/30,000 with a 3,000 ante here in Level XXIV, Oknergard does it again.

This time Oknergard took two red bullets — Ad-Ah — up against the former chip leader toweliestar’s red ladies — Qh-Qd. The board came 4h-Jc-3s-Js-5h and Oknergard took the massive 2,133,122-chip pot, moving him up past the three million-chip mark.

7:12pm– 45 players remain

We’re down to just five tables. The average chip stack is approaching 800,000. At the moment, everyone is guaranteed at least $1,350.

7:04pm– Oknergard first to two million chips

We’re still in Level XXIII. The table folded around to big-stacked oknergard who minimum-raised from the button, prompting lordhuttyx to fold from the small blind fearing strength. But Turob thought otherwise and pushed over the top from the big blind with his remaining 488,758 chips. Oknergard could not call the push quickly enough as he turned over Ac-Ad, well ahead of Turob’s Kh-Qd.

The board of 2h-3c-Ah-8d-9c meant Turob’s day was done, and gave oknergard the chip lead, making him the tournament’s first two million chip man.

6:59pm– Six players at the million chip mark to start Level XXIII

60 players remain as we begin Level XXIII. The pre-flop pot now holds 57,500 chips as we start the blinds at 12,500/25,000 with a 2,500 ante. nafudoma, oknergard, EDWARDHOPPER, letontondu64, tallgeir, and Pyrowalter are all sitting on a cool million to start the new blind level. Steve “stevejpa” Paul-Ambrose is treading water around the 300,000-chip mark, roughly half of the 600,000 average chip stack.

6:52pm– Gambolllll

Chips are flying back and forth as we find ourselves down to just 65 players. Another eyebrow-raising hand just took place over on Table 367.

Dsavo, sitting with over 900,000, open-raised to 51,500 from the cutoff. blokwillem then reraised to 160,000 from the small blind. The BB folded, then Dsavo pushed all-in and blokwillem called with his remaining 300,000.

blokwillem: As-Kd
Dsavo: 5d-7s

The board ran out 6c-8h-6h-3c-Qc, and blokwillem claimed the nearly one-million chip pot.

After the hand, swishes2000 typed “gambolllll” from across the table. Dsavo is back down to 457,901.

6:48pm– Chip leader toweliestar aces cracked, still looking for 6th street

His avatar shows “6th Street,” but unfortunately for toweliestar hold’em only has five community cards.

After having recently taken over the chip lead, toweliestar called p86ba’s 30,101 raise from middle position, and oknergard did the same from the small blind. After a flop of 9c-8c-2h, p86ba checked and toweliestar bet 111,111. Then oknergard shoved his remaining 590,602 into the pot, getting p86ba to duck for cover.

toweliestar instacalled the push, turning over a slowplayed Ac-Ah, but oknergard was well ahead with a flopped top set of nines. The turn Qd and river 5s shipped the hefty 1,320,210 pot to oknergard and left toweliestar with 717,478.

6:36pm– Tdomeski does double duty with aces

A three-way all-in on table 126 had short stacks tdomeski, plasticard, and LUFCBas all shoving their below par stacks into the middle pre-flop:

Tdomeski: As-Ac
LUFCBas: Kc-Kd
Plasticard: Ah-5h

A cooler for LUFCBas and no flush or trips for plasticard as the board came Qh-7c-8d-Ts-8c. tdomeski rises above the average stack of 400,000, now having 450,674 after the hand.

6:27pm– New chip leader nafudoma applying pressure

New chip leader nafudoma has been demonstrating his willingness to use his big stack to apply maximum pressure. A recent sequence of five hands went thusly:

1. caalling raised to 43,000 from middle position, nafudoma reraised to 115,000 from the big blind, and caalling folded.

2. nafudoma folded his small blind to a button raise.

3. nafudoma open-raised to 46,000 from the button, taking the blinds.

4. Crowdog49 raised to 45,000 from UTG, nafudoma reraised to 150,000 from the cutoff, and Crowdog49 called with his last 100,000-plus chips. Crowdog showed As-9c, and nafudoma Ah-Js. A nine flopped, and Crowdog49 survived.

5. nafudoma open-raised to 45,000 from the hijack, traveller469 pushed all in for just over 90,000 from the small blind, and nafudoma called. nafudoma’s Ac-10c outlasted traveller469’s Kd-10h, and he’d knocked out another opponent.

nafudoma currently has over 1.3 million in chips.

6:18pm– Top ten chip counts at end of hour number five; 112 remain

Level XXI
Blinds at 7,500/15,000 ante 1,500
Players remaining: 112
Average chip stack: 321,339

1. nafudoma 1,025,497
2. vidal14 1,017,829
3. EDWARDHOPPER 948,493
4. Dsavo 923,668
5. BB_dont_cry 812,173
6. kipa58 756,883
7. engels23 756,823
8. dappadan777 710,564
9. lordhuttyx 688,365
10. Stullenjack 622,987

Team PokerStars Pros:
Steve “stevejpa” Paul-Ambrose 409,761 (28th place)

6:08pm– 132 remain

We’re now down to 132 players as we begin Level XX. Blinds are now 6,000/12,000 with a 1,200 ante. The average chip stack is just under 280,000.

EDWARDHOPPER and vidal14 continue to trade the chip lead. Both are nearing the one million-chip mark. And with his recent double-up, Steve “stevejpa” Paul-Ambrose has climbed back into the top 20 with a little over 430,000.

Those lasting into the top 117 will all guarantee themselves a payday of at least $1,050. Not a bad return on their $200+$15 investment, though many still have that $101,250 first prize in their sights.

5:58pm– Steve Paul-Ambrose eliminates Da_FoRcE16, doubles up

A fairly quiet Steve “stevejpa” Paul-Ambrose over the past 30 minutes has suddenly come alive. After Da_FoRcE16 raised pre-flop to 26,000, Paul-Ambrose three-bet to 80,000. Da_FoRcE16 wasted no time to get his remaining 185,462 chips into the pot, but wasn’t as excited when the Team PokerStars Pro called with 34,037 chips behind and flipped up Kc-Kh to his 5c-5d.

No presto magic for Da_FoRcE16, as the board came 3c-Th-6c-9c-8d. Ambrose is up to 480,000 in chips while Da_FoRcE16 has been eliminated in 159th place.

5:45pm– vidal14 gives up chip lead, but his hair still looks good

We are in Level XVIII, with 22 tables and 196 players left standing. With blinds at 4,000/8,000 with an 800 ante, several players are taking their chances pre-flop given the sizable 26,400-chip pot sitting in the middle for a blinds thief to take.

The chip leader is now EDWARDHOPPER after vidal14 lost a pre-flop battle versus dappadan777. vidal14 held Jd-Jh, and dappadan777 Qs-Qh. The board came 6s-3d-Tc-8s-Ks, and both players are now hovering around the 400,000-chip mark with the blinds changing to 5,000/10,000 with a 1,000 ante in two minutes.

5:33pm– The old suck-resuck

sebmenk, flirting with the top 20 with nearly 300,000 chips, raised to 18,000 from early position, and it folded around to ben81000 who shoved all in for nearly 100,000 from the small blind. sebmenk made the call.

sebmenk: Jd-Jc
ben81000: Qs-Qc

The flop came 8c-9c-Kd, and ben81000’s queens were still ahead. But the Js on the turn gave the lead to sebmenk.

However, the 10c on the river saved ben81000, giving him a king-high straight. ben81000 has 213,908, while sebmenk has slipped to 198,143.

5:29pm– More winners lining up on the leaderboard

Another big PokerStars MTT winner has slowly crept into to the top ten in chip counts. Halfrek has taken down the Tuesday weekly $1,050 buy-in MTT — good for $66,600 — and also has several cashes in the Sunday Million and Sunday Million Warm-up. He currently stands in sixth place with 320,860 in chips.

5:18pm– Play for more next week in the Warm-Up

This just in to the PokerStars Blog: Next week’s Sunday Warm-Up will have a $1 million guarantee. It will also be a Second Chance tournament. So, all players will have an opportunity to rebuy once in the first two hours.

5:15pm– Top ten chip counts at end of hour number four; 282 remain

Level XVII
Blinds at 3,000/6,000 ante 600
Players remaining: 282

1. vidal14 593,599
2. krabben 471,644
3. T.P.S. 349,996
4. AA_Legend 346,838
5. Dsavo 335,737
6. Halfrek 329,260
7. BB_dont_cry 323,651
8. rock23 323,202
9. Maisteri 316,494
10. Team PokerStar Pro Steve “stevejpa” Paul-Ambrose 311,299

5:09pm– Definitely not one-hit wonders at the top of the leaderboard

The top of the leaderboard is currently riddled with past Sunday Million and Sunday Warm-up final tablers. AA_Legend (currently 3rd) took sixth in the Sunday Warm-up last month, Dsavo (currently 4th) walked away with third in the Sunday Million on July 1st, and current chip leader vidal14 won a $215 rebuy and add-on tourney just two weeks ago.

5:06pm– Set over set helps vidal14 cross half-million mark

vidal14 minimum-raised to 10,000 from under the gun, and A6540 called from the cutoff. The flop came 2h-Jc-5c, and vidal14 bet 35,000 into the 32,000 pot. A6540 raised to 70,000, and vidal14 quickly pushed all in. A6540, having just 33,680 left, made the call.

A6540 had 5h-5d for a set of fives, but vidal14 had Jd-Js for the better set. The turn was the 3c and the river the 6d, and A6540 hit the rail. Meanwhile, vidal14 is our new chip leader with 582,599.

4:48pm– Steve Paul-Ambrose, still not showing his cards, moves into top ten

Despite the presence of the second-highest stack of Da_FoRcE16 at the table, Team PokerStars Pro Steve “stevejpa” Paul-Ambrose is racking up the most chips whether its pre-flop or on the river.

Without even showing his cards, the applied pressure to his tablemates has grown Paul-Ambrose’s stack to second overall. With blinds now at 2,500/5,000 with a 500 ante, Paul-Ambrose took down yet another pot, this time from Da_FoRcE16. With a board showing 7h-9h-Js-8d-2c, Paul-Ambrose bet 38,000 into a pot of 77,600, and Da_FoRcE16 folded.

4:43pm– Grinder out

With blinds of 1,500/3,000, Michael “The Grinder” Mizrachi shoved his remaining 16,000-plus in the middle and was called by misterkoen3. The Grinder showed Ah-Qd, not a good hand to have against misterkoen3’s Ad-Kd.

The board ran out 3d-8s-9d-5d-3d, and The Grinder is out in 451st.

4:39pm– The bubble bursts

Midway through Level XIV, the money bubble has burst with uncledrkmeat being eliminated in 541st. As expected, the eliminations came fast and furious afterwards, with nearly a hundred players going out within the next ten minutes.

4:29pm– Hand for hand

541 players remain, which means play is now hand for hand until the money bubble bursts. After that, expect an avalanche of eliminations, as the next 117 players to go out will all be receiving $375.00 for their efforts today.

4:26pm– The Grinder, many others, sitting tight

Just ten spots off of the money bubble, and it appears Michael “The Grinder” Mizrachi is sitting tight.

The Grinder had taken a hit earlier when his pocket sevens failed to improve against alonso88’s pocket queens. That hand knocked him down to just over 30,000. Then, in the last hand before the most recent break, he lost a race with Ac-Qc vs. a short-stacked iecavniex who held pocket eights, leaving him with just over 13,000.

After the break, a fortunate hand from the big blind in which he flopped trip tens got him back to 24,000, and he’s been quiet since then, apparently looking to make the money.

4:21pm– YEBOBOZ rushes his way into the chip lead

On back-to-back hands, YEBOBOZ eliminated three players. The first came against j.thaddeus and BrandanZ as the three players shoved pre-flop for a massive 250,000 chip pot.

j.thaddeus: Kc-Ks
BrandanZ: As-Ah
YEBOBOZ: 7d-7h

YEBOBOZ still had over 45,000 in chips behind after all the chips went into the middle pre-flop, but he would be getting a whole truckload back as he flopped his set of sevens as the board ran out 7c-4h-Qd-Tc-8c.

Just to make sure he was the new chip leader, on the very next hand YEBOBOZ battled with tylen after a flop of 7d-4d-6c came out with all the chips going to the middle for a total pot of 149,194.

YEBOBOZ: Ac-Qd
Tylen: Kd-Td

Tylen could not connect with his flush or pair draws, and YEBOBOZ now has a 100,000-chip lead over Da_FoRcE16.

4:02pm– Top ten chip count during hour number three, 87 players to the money

Level XIII
Blinds at 1250/2500 ante 250
Players remaining: 627

1. Da_FoRcE16 238,581
2. Dsavo 228,635
3. kbad81 220,194
4. vidal14 204,251
5. r3491 192,035
6. OLEGMERGES 188,781
7. supermario70 188,144
8. kiehndk 182,052
9. parksy1066 180,469
10. schokonugget 179,399

Team PokerStars Pros

Steve-Paul “stevejpa” Ambrose 90,799
Katja Thater eliminated

3:57pm– Thater out, TuneEmUp movin’ up

Down to just over 20,000, Katja Thater pushed all in from the button with Ad-5s, and was called by TuneEmUp who held Ah-9h in the big blind. The board ran out Kh-9s-8h-5c-Qh, and Thater is out in 673rd place.

TuneEmUp is now up over 145,000.

3:54pm– Can’t keep up with Steve-Paul Ambrose

Wow, my head gets turned for two seconds and the Team PokerStars Pro doubles up yet again. With blinds at 1000/2000 ante 200 and facing a 6,000 chip UTG raise from Erdnase, Steve-Paul Ambrose re-raised all-in to 38,425 total. Everyone else got out of the way and Erdnase made the call with the last of his 29,224 in chips.

Erdnase: As-Qh
Ambrose: Ad-Kd

The board ran out 6c-3h-Ah-Th-7c giving Ambrose nearly 80,000 in chips and in fine shape to make a run deep in the money today.

3:47pm — Money bubble on the horizon

As we approach the three-hour mark, we’re down to 770 players. The money bubble will be coming into view before too long, as the top 540 finishers get paid.

3:45pm– Steve-Paul Ambrose rolling along by not showing

Team PokerStars Pro Steve-Paul Ambrose is doing just fine while picking up the 3,600 in chips in the pot preflop during Level XI’s 750/1500 blinds with 150 antes. He has nearly double up to 30,175 in the last orbit without even showing his cards.

3:40pm– New chip leader has track record

If you’re following the chip movement in the Sunday Warm-Up, you’ll see a familiar name atop the leaderboard. Current leader usourcek has a Sunday Million win to his credit. In February, usourcek won $155,000 in the Sunday Million.

3:38pm– Huge pot for usourcek, new chip leader

usourcek raised to 2,920 from UTG, and Eeedz reraised to 5,900 from middle position. A short-stacked MisterTBH pushed all in with his remaining 3,899 and the table folded back around to usourcek who then repopped it to 26,995. Eeedz four-bet all in — a total of 115,617 — and usourcek pushed his remaining 67,577 in the middle, making the call.

The total pot was 195,743 — possibly the largest of the tourney thus far.

usourcek showed Ad-Kh, well behind Eeedz’ Ac-Ah. MisterTBH meanwhile was hoping his 9h-9d would get him the small main pot.

The flop was Qd-10s-2d, and Eeedz remained ahead. The 6d on the turn gave usourcek a few more outs.

Then the river brought the Js, giving usourcek the Broadway straight and a boost all of the way to the top of the leaderboard. MisterTBH is out, and Eeedz has fallen all of the way down to 21,045.

3:26pm– Tall stacks don’t faze The Grinder

2Much$4U_08 opened with a raise to 3,299 — a bit above the size of the pot — from under the gun. Michael “The Grinder” Mizrachi called the raise from UTG+1, as did carolusXX from the big blind.

The flop came 8h-2s-Ah. carolusxx checked, and 2Much$4U_08 bet the unusual amount of 5,999. The Grinder thought a moment, then put his own tall stack out to make the call. carolusxx folded.

The turn was the Jd, and both players quickly checked. The river brought the 6s. After some thought, 2Much$4U_08 bet out 10,999, and The Grinder quickly called.

2Much$4U_08 showed 10h-Jc for a pair of jacks, and The Grinder Ad-Qd for aces. The Grinder is up to 94,233, while 2Much$4U_08 falls to 29,991

3:21pm– Sunday two hundred grand is starting in ten minutes
For the low, low price of $11 you can join over 18,000 players in the Sunday two hundred grand with a shot of at least $20,000 first place prize

edit at 3:32pm… make that over 21,500 players

3:04pm– Top ten chip counts at second break

1. taktloss47 154,499
2. parksy1066 112,120
3. Eeedz 104,789
4. annikipp 97,140
5. Fidoo 96,508
6. angmarkram 96,001
7. John FR 93,077
8. thewolvesuk 90,189
9. TheSent 88,385
10. xoxol73 86,613

Team PokerStars Pros

Katja Thater 41,794
Steve Paul-Ambrose “stevepja” 16,275.
Vanessa “LadyMaverick” Rousso and Andre “aakkari” Akkari have both been eliminated.

3:00pm–taktloss47 no stranger to chip lead
Sebastian “taktloss47” Ruthenberg, a top German pro, currently holds the chip lead and it’s a familiar place for him. He’s placed third in an EPT event in Germany. Last year, Ruthenberg placed second in WCOOP Event #5 for $260,184.82. As of the last break, Ruthenberg sat with 154,449 chips in today’s Sunday Warm-Up.

2:59pm– Lady Maverick runs into rough waters and is out

With the antes starting on level VII and blinds at 400/800/50, Team PokerStars Pro Vanessa Rousso used a little pressure and got squeezed on back-to-back hands. Rousso re-raised all in pre flop for 29,862 chips after posting the big blind and facing a three times the big blind button raise from Veg101 and a call by Klanfear in the small blind. Veg101 got out of the way, but Klanfear made the call all-in with Kc-Qc leaving Rousso with 7,825 behind.

Reluctantly, she turned over Qh-3d, the board ran out 6c-Qs-9s-4h-Kd giving Klanfear 48,474 in chips.

After a blind steal on the next hand, Rousso found herself outkicked with Ad-3s against the table chip leader, Veg101’s Ac-6c. With no help on the board Lady Maverick is out.

2:58pm– River saves Thater in three-way all-in

The antes have kicked in here in Level VIII, so at nine-handed tables there’s 1,750 in the middle when each hand begins. In this one, FranckZ shoved all in for 14,019 from UTG, and P0lak called from middle position, leaving 10,481 behind. It folded around to Katja Thater in the big blind who pushed all in for a total of 14,375. FranckZ called the few extra chips, making the pot 43,619.

The players’ hands…

Katja Thater: Kc-Ks
FranckZ: Qd-Jh
P0lak: Ad-Kh

The flop came a tantalizing Ac-10c-Jc, giving P0lak the advantage. The Qs gave POlak Broadway, but FranckZ still had outs to a full house, and Thater her flush draw.

The river was the 2c, giving Thater the flush and the pot. FranckZ is out, and P0lak has slipped to just over 10,000.

2:40pm– 1,600 remain

We just finished Level VII, and already over half of the starting field of 3,599 has been eliminated. Exactly 1,600 players currently remain. The average stack is just over 22,000, with NicStic sitting atop the leaderboard at the moment with 90,822.

2:31pm– Lights out for two more, courtesy the Sunset King

Action began with a short-stacked wizard123abc pushing all in with his last 3,341 from early position. david0603, who had nearly 30,000 when the hand began, called from the hijack seat, and Sunset King, who had just over 60,000, also called from the big blind.

The flop came 5c-3d-5h. Sunset King checked, david0603 bet 7,000, and Sunset King called. The turn was the Jc. Sunset King again checked, and david0603 shoved his remaining 19,000-plus in the middle. Sunset King instacalled, showing Ad-5s for flopped trips. david0603 had 9h-9d for two pair, and wizard123abc was drawing dead with Qs-Tc.

The river was the 10h, and the Sunset King had knocked out two opponents. With that hand, he overtakes the chip lead from Michael “The Grinder” Mizrachi, moving up to 95,079.

2:17pm– No Repeat for GrtWhtHype

Last week’s Sunday Warm-Up champ GrtWhtHype has been eliminated. Down to just 4,420 in Level V (blinds 200/400), GrtWhtHype pushed all in from the button after rnoord had raised to 1,200 from middle position. The blinds stepped aside, and rnoord made the call.

GrtWhtHype held 10d-9d, and was thus far behind rnoord’s Kh-9h. The board ran out 6d-2c-Ad-Jh-7c, and GrtWhtHype is out. rnoord currently has 11,480.

2:13pm– The Grinder chews up another

Chip leader Michael “The Grinder” Mizrachi limped in from early position, wolf1864 called from the button, Rockiesbiker completed from the small blind, and a short-stacked Lokern, down to 6,250, probably didn’t mind seeing the flop for free.

The flop came 7c-5d-3s, and lokern bet 800 into the 1,600 pot. The Grinder called, and the others folded. The turn was the 7s. This time lokern bet 2,000, leaving himself just 3,450 behind. The Grinder again called.

The river brought the 4c. lokern pushed his remaining chips in, and The Grinder didn’t hesitate before calling. lokern showed 9s-4s for a pair of fours (and busted flush draw), while The Grinder showed 6h-4h for the flopped straight. lokern is out, and The Grinder continues to move up. He now has over 76,000.

2:11pm– Set versus the flush draw, Ambrose nearly doubles up

Steve-Paul Ambrose just found the double-up he needed. With 5,000 in the middle before the flop, Ambrose set out a 2,800 chip bet on a flop of Qc-7s-Js against RACE18. RACE18 met the bet with an all-in push of 5,800, Ambrose called leaving 4,275 behind.
RACE18 flipped up As-6s for the nut flush draw and Ambrose flopped a middle set of jacks. The seven on the turn filled up Ambrose and left RACE18 drawing dead. Ambrose now has 20,875 in chips.

1:48pm– First break top ten chip counts

1. The Grinder (68,825),
2. viennacoup (56,820)
3. Mrdawwe (55,875),
4. franck223 (55,125)
5. BrandanZ (54,775)
6. Alpha 5.20 (52,367)
7. Hash78 (50,375)
8. ciaomama (49,130)
9. Maisteri (49,043)
10. Gohan03 (47,482)

Team PokerStars Pros

Vaneesa Rousso “Lady Maverick” (31,925)
Katja Thater (22,325)
Steve-Paul Ambrose “stevejpa” (13,075)
Andre Akkari “aakkari” (6,150)

1:45pm– The Grinder Looking to Add A PokerStars Title to His Trophy Case

Michael “The Grinder” Mizrachi dropped by to take some chips as we approach the first break. The noted pro is standing tall with nearly 70,000 chips, good enough for the present chip lead.

1:36pm– Three is a Magic Number

In Level II (blinds 50/100), GrtWhtHype raised to 255 from UTG. wojna987 called from the cutoff, as did sevenspades from the SB. The flop came 3h-8h-Qc. GrtWhtHype bet 555, wojna987 called, and sevenspades folded. The 7h came on the turn, putting a possible flush on board. Both checked. The river brought the 2c, and GrtWhtHype bet 725, and wojna987 called.

GrtWhtHype showed 3c-3d for the flopped set, and wojna987 mucked.

GrtWhtHype sits with about 11,000 at the moment, just a bit above the starting stack, while wojna987 has slipped to 7,000.

1:32pm– Aces cracked

ChipLieder00 raised to 200 from UTG, then tmoneyy reraised to 564 from middle position. Four others called, including geirto from the button, making a pot of 2,870.

The flop came 6h-8s-Jc, and tmoneyy led out for 2,200. geirto called, and the others got out of the way. Both checked the 3d on the turn. The river brought the 6c, pairing the board. tmoneyy bet 3,900, leaving himself just 1,779 behind, and geirto, who had tmoneyy covered, promptly raised all in. tmoneyy made the call, showing Ad-Ac. But geirto had Jd-Js for jacks full, knocking out tmoneyy and claiming the 18,000-plus pot.

At the time, that pot put geirto over 20,000 and near the early chip lead.

1:15pm–Vanessa “LadyMaverick” Rousso hits early

Team PokerStars Pro Vanessa Rousso has started the day nicely. Just one hour into the tourney she has already chipped up to 32,925 chips after a quick double up and taking out sambr when the money went into the middle on a 2s-6c-2d flop, she pushed sambr all-in holding 3s-4s and sambr leading with Ac-7c, but a 4h on the turn and 8c on the river send the chip to LadyMaverick good for a top ten spot on the earlly leaderboard.

1:00pm– Big hand meets bigger hand

At Team PokerStars Pro Steve-Paul Ambrose’s table number 437, Agiletto was value betting cglinn with top set on a flop of 6d 4s Jd, the turn saw the Ac fall and cglinn put out a 400 chip bet which was quickly called by agiletto. A river six of clubs started the fireworks as the two players raised back and forth until all their chips were in the middle and agiletto seeing the bad news as cglinn found quads on the river to take down 20,225 chip pot. Agiletto is not out however still alive with 2,050 in chips. Watch the hand play out below.

12:58pm– Last week’s champ sniffs out a monster

Play has started out tentatively at Table 245, where last week’s winner GrtWhtHype is seated. Just now GrtWhtHype was in the big blind when upjump made a minimum raise to 100 from UTG+1. The table folded around to GrtWhtHype, who paused a moment before folding as well.

The table’s instincts were correct — upjump showed Ad-As as he took the small pot.

12:30pm– Sunday Warm-Up set to begin

Today’s PokerStars Sunday Warm-Up will begin in about 15 minutes. Last week’s winner, GrtWhtHype of the United States won $105,000 and is back to defend his title. Already signed up to play are such notable players as 55lucky55, CASINOICE, Kongsgaard, mrrain, PearlJammer, Mr. Wrong, THE__D__RY, BKiCE, brainwash, charder30, Daut44, and zangzeban24. They will no doubt be just a few of the people we watch over the next several hours.

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