2013-06-16 - Mr.SlavaPro outlasts 225,000 players to win World Record Tournament and $25,000

http://www.pokerstarsblog.com/2013/mrslavapro-outlasts-225000-players-to-wi-138817.html

Mr.SlavaPro outlasts 225,000 players to win World Record Tournament and $25,000

by Kristin Bihr on June 16, 2013 2:25 PM

Records are made to be broken, and PokerStars players do just that with astounding regularity. Eighteen months ago, PokerStars celebrated its tenth anniversary and the surrounding festivities included its fourth World Record tournament, where 200,000 players played for a $250,000 prize pool. But after Thursday's bombastic 100 Billionth Hand celebration (don't think about how big 100 billion is, it will either trigger an existential crisis or make your head explode) did you really think we weren't gonna take the opportunity to smash that record again?

By game time, a capacity crowd of 225,000 players had gathered, officially breaking the record for the largest poker tournament ever played. Their $1 buyins contributed $225,000 to the $300,000 guaranteed prize pool, PokerStars kicking in a $75k overlay to sweeten the pot even further. 60,000 players earned a share of it with first place set to earn $25,000.

After only an hour of play, the crowd thinned to 28,000 and another hour later only 2,595 remained. Hour three saw the field reduced to 190, and with five minutes left before the fourth break, the final table bubble hit and play went hand for hand. With the blinds up to 3M/6M with a 750k ante, chip leader Mr.SlavaPro opened for a min-raise to 12 million. With 3.75 milllion of his remaining 4.1 million already committed in the small blind, MattDooms called all-in and Ravic77 folded his big blind. MattDooms' 5♥T♠ was already drawing thin against Mr.SlavaPro's K♦K♣, but went completely dead on the K♥K♠5♣ flop. Mr.SlavaPro raked in the 19 million pot with quad kings and sent us to the final table, while MattDooms exited in eleventh place.



Final table chip counts

Blinds: 3,000,000/6,000,000, ante 750,000

Seat 1: johnnykara75 (17,560,748 in chips)
Seat 2: SOY PATO355 (14,065,727 in chips)
Seat 3: Evgeniy33377 (3,729,288 in chips)
Seat 4: Mr.SlavaPro (87,268,525 in chips)
Seat 5: KARI#9 (64,386,794 in chips)
Seat 6: Ravic77 (17,422,024 in chips)
Seat 7: jpstef06 (13,712,929 in chips)
Seat 8: 1star09 (52,884,148 in chips)
Seat 9: Tormenter85 (34,974,394 in chips)
Seat 10: jmmetra (31,495,423 in chips)

johnnykara75 doubles with aces, Evgeniy33377 eliminated in tenth

It took 11 minutes and only 20 hands to distribute the $73,000 in remaining prize money. The jumps were huge and the stacks extremely shallow, the chip average only 6.25 big blinds as the final table began.

On Hand #1, jmmetra picked up 9♥9♣ and moved all-in for 30.7 million on the button, only to have johnnykara75 wake up with A♣A♥ in the small blind. Johnnykara75's aces held and he doubled to 47.1 million, leaving jmmetra on only 14.5 million (2.5 bb). However, jmmetra's situation wasn't quite as dire as Evgeniy33377's. On Hand #2, Evgeniy33377 was all-in for 1.97 million in the big blind while SOY PATO355 had 4 of his remaining 7.3 million committed in the small blind. Johnnykara75 limped in for 8 million on the button, SOY PATO355 called all-in and the cards went on their backs.

SOY PATO355 Q♣9♥
Evgeniy33377 3♣3♥
johnnykara75 T♦4♥

SOY PATO355 snagged the lead on the A♠9♠6♣ flop and held onto it, the turn and river falling the J♣ and the A♣ to send Evgeniy33377 to the rail in tenth place ($1,000).
Ravic77 out in ninth, jmmetra exits eighth

Evgeniy33377's elimination left jpstef06 as the table short stack. On Hand #3, jpstef06 moved all-in for 11 million from UTG+1 and KARI#9 called the 3 million balance from the big blind. Jpstef06's A♠Q♥ held up aganist 6♣7♥ and he doubled to 35 million, only to move all-in from UTG on the next deal. Ravic77 called all-in for 5.67 million more with Q♠J♠ in the big blind, but did not improve against jpstef06's 7♠7♣. For ninth place, Ravic77 took home $1,500.

With only one more hand to go before he'd be committed in the 8 million big blind, jmmetra pulled the trigger with Q♣T♦ and moved all-in for 9.9 million from UTG+1. 1star09 called with A♣K♥ in the big blind and flopped a king, ending jmmetra's run in 8th place ($2,000).

johnnykara75 eliminates SOY PATO355 in seventh

On Hand #8, the action folded to johnnykara75 in the small blind. Holding A♥2♥, he moved all-in for 23.3 million and SOY PATO355 called off his remaining 8.1 million from the big. SOY PATO355's K♥8♥ took the lead with top two pair on the K♣6♠6♥ flop, but johnnykara75 picked up the nut flush draw on the turn when the 3♥ fell. The 7♥ river completed it and SOY PATO355 was out in seventh place, earning $2,500.

KARI#9 flips out in sixth, Tormenter85 falls in fifth

Six players remained as the tournament went to it's regularly scheduled synch break. With stacks ranging from 41 million (4.1 bb) to 75 million (7.5 bb), it was really anyone's game, and surprisingly no one had uttered a word about making a deal.

Hand #9 saw 1star09 open-shove for 59.8 million and KARI#9 call all-in for 29.9 million from the big blind. KARI#9's A♥K♥ lost a coinflip against 1star09's pocket threes, the board falling T♥7♣4♠T♦3♦ to end his run in sixth place ($3,500).

1star09 took the chip lead with 112.2 million, but six hands later doubled johnnykara75 to 108 million when his Q♦7♦ fell to K♦J♦. On the next deal, 1star09 opened for a 3x raise to 36 million from the small blind and Tormenter85 called all-in for 13.7 million more from the big. 1star09's Q♠8♠ hit middle pair on the 9♥8♦2♣ flop, but Tormenter85's K♥5♣ made top pair on the turn when the K♦ fell. However, 1star09 wrested victory away on the river, the Q♥ landing to make him queens up.Tormenter85 was eliminated in fifth place, earning $5,000 for his efforts.

Mr.SlavaPro KOs two

With four players remaining, blinds were up to 7M/14M. Mr.SlavaPro was at the top of the counts with 115.5 million, johnnykara75 was right behind him with 107 million, 1star09 held 97 million and jpstef06 was the short stack with 17.6 million. Facing the big blind on the next deal, jpstef06 moved all-in from UTG. 1star09 reshoved for 95 million on the button, but Mr.SlavaPro woke up with A♠A♣ in the big blind and called an additional 81.3 million. Mr.SlavaPro's aces held up against 1star09's A♥9♣ and jpstef06's 9♦T♦ to win the 220 million pot and score a double knockout. Jpstef06 took fourth place ($7,500) while 1star09 finished third ($10,000).

Heads-up chip counts

Seat 1: johnnykara75 (98,583,022 in chips)
Seat 4: Mr.SlavaPro (238,916,978 in chips)

Johnnykara75 has his work cut out for him arriving to heads-up play at a 2.4 to 1 chip defecit. However, the gap between them only grew wider on the second hand of their match. In a limped pot, johnnykara75 and Mr.SlavaPro saw a 4♥2♥2♣ flop. Johnnykara75 checked, Mr.SlavaPro bet 14 million, and johnnykara75 came in with a check-raise to 42 million. Mr.SlavaPro responded with a shove and johnnykara75 gave up his hand, saving his remaining 56.5 million in chips.

It was all over on the next hand. All the marbles went in on the flop, Mr.SlavaPro's flopped two pair besting johnnykara75's top pair.

Congratulations to Russia's Mr.SlavaPro on winning the largest poker tournament ever held! He banked $25,000 while runner-up johnnykara75 earned $15,000.

PokerStars Road to 100 Billion World Record Attempt results

Players: 225,000
Prizepool: $300,000 ($75k added)
Places paid: 60,000

1. Mr.SlavaPro (Russia) $25,000.00
2. johnnykara75 (Greece) $15,000.00
3. 1star09 (Russia) $10,000.00
4. jpstef06 (Germany) $7,500.00
5. Tormenter85 (Australia) $5,000.00
6. KARI#9 (Slovenia) $3,500.00
7. SOY PATO355 (Argentina) $2,500.00
8. jmmetra (Argentina) $2,000.00
9. Ravic77 (Estonia) $1,500.00
10. Evgeniy33377 (Ukraine) $1,000.00

We may have dealt 100 Billion hands and broken a World Record, but the party isn't over yet. The $1M Golden Sit-N-Goes begin tomorrow and run through June 23rd, and one week from today we're debuting the Zoom 100, a $1M guaranteed Zoom Poker tournament with a $100+9 buyin. For a look at all the celebrations still to come, check out the 100 Billiion Hands page.

Kristin Bihr is a freelance contributor to the PokerStars Blog.

@JaredLeto & @30SecondsToMars, 2011-12-13 - Guiness World Record Holders!

http://www.yesthisisacult.com/jaredleto-30secondstomars-guiness-world-record-holders/

@JaredLeto & @30SecondstoMars: Guiness World Record Holders!

Jared Leto his fellow 30 Seconds to Mars rockers, Tomo Milicevic andShannon Leto, salute the crowd at the final show of their tour at Hammerstein Ballroom on Friday (December 9) in New York City.

The 39-year-old rocker and his band mates set the Guinness World Record for “Longest Concert Tour by a Rock Band”! The band has performed for two years at over three hundred shows.

The group even got a certificate from the Guinness folks!

“Thank you for the dreams. Thank you for the memories. And thank you for sharing this unforgettable adventure with us. It was the journey of a lifetime and we are so grateful to you all for that,”Jared wrote on his website.

Credit: Just Jared

Posted by yesthisisacult, December 13, 2011 9:53 PM

30 Seconds To Mars, 2011-12-13 - BLITZ (in portuguese), 30 Seconds To Mars batem recorde mundial

http://blitz.sapo.pt/30-seconds-to-mars-batem-recorde-mundial=f78255#ixzz1gSMP8biY

30 Seconds to Mars batem recorde mundial

Banda de Jared Leto é responsável pela digressão de promoção a um álbum mais longa de sempre.

Os norte-americanos 30 Seconds to Mars bateram um recorde mundial: são responsáveis pela digressão de promoção a um álbum (neste caso, o disco This Is War , de 2009) mais longa de sempre. A banda liderada por Jared Leto deu 300 concertos em apenas dois anos.

A banda tocou o 300º concerto no Hammerstein Ballroom, em Nova Iorque, no dia 7 de dezembro e Jared Leto agradeceu aos fãs no seu blogue da seguinte forma: "Ao longo de dois anos andámos em viagem por este milagroso planeta (...). E aprendemos sobre este mundo e sobre nós próprios através de todos vocês".

"Obrigado pelos sonhos. Obrigado pelas memórias. E obrigado por partilharem esta aventura inesquecível connosco. Foi a viagem de uma vida e estamos muito gratos a todos vocês por isso", concluiu.

Notícia escrita por MRV Terça, 13 de Dezembro de 2011 às 16:26

Jared Leto (30 Seconds To Mars), 2011-12-10 - A thank You

http://jaredleto.com/thisiswhoireallyam/2011/12/10/a-thank-you/

Jared Leto

For over two years we have traveled this miraculous planet. Pushing relentlessly over mountains and seas, exploring this earth in the most unique of ways. All the while learning about this world, and ourselves, through all of you.

Thank you for the dreams. Thank you for the memories. And thank you for sharing this unforgettable adventure with us. It was the journey of a lifetime and we are so grateful to you all for that.

Please remember

Be brave
Fight for what you believe in
And make your dreams
Your reality.

-JL

Provehito In Altum
2011

By @JaredLeto (30 Seconds To Mars) in "Notes From The Outernet"

30 Seconds To Mars, 2011-12-08 - MTV, 30 STM Make History At Triumphant Show

http://www.mtv.com/news/articles/1675610/30-seconds-mars-record-breaking-show.jhtml

Dec 8 2011 1:28 PM EST 16,430

30 Seconds To Mars Make History At Triumphant Show

Band entered the Guinness Book of World Records on Wednesday night at New York's Hammerstein Ballroom.

By James Montgomery (@positivnegativ


NEW YORK — For a band that, over the past three years, has been no stranger to adversity — everything from battles with their label to scraps with censors and the occasional stage collapse — 30 Seconds to Mars had probably never had to deal with the kind of trouble that occurred during the encore of their record-setting show Wednesday night in New York.


During the crashing crescendo of "Kings and Queens," a female fan was crushed against a barricade and required immediate medical assistance. "Queens" was the final song of the band's set, which was preceded by a lengthy presentation from the folks at Guinness World Records, who honored 30STM for Most Shows Played During An Album Cycle (309 was Guinness' count). Jared Leto invited fans to join them onstage for the finale. Spirits were high inside the Hammerstein Ballroom, and as "Queens" unfolded, they only got higher ... until Leto stopped the song and asked for medics to tend to the injured fan. After 20 solemn minutes, EMTs carried her away on a stretcher.

"As soon as she got oxygen, she sat up and is doing OK," 30STM's management told MTV News after the show. After getting the all-clear, 30 Seconds to Mars undauntedly finished the song and the night ended with the crowd triumphantly chanting its "woah-oh-oh" hook while streamers fell from the ceiling.

And not to downplay the severity of the situation, but it helped illustrate everything that made 30 Seconds to Mars' record-setting run with This Is War so unique. Their ability to overcome obstacles, their willingness to push on, and the otherworldly bond they share with their fans — displayed best when drummer Shannon Leto left the stage to assist the EMTs.

The band had already played more than 300 shows, and yet, they still pushed hard on Wednesday, imbuing songs like "Search and Destroy" and "Night of the Hunter" with walloping guitars, anthemic sing-along choruses and washes of spooky synths. Jared sprinted up and down the catwalk stage (not easy to do in a huge black cloak), shined a massive spotlight into the crowd to illuminate fans' faces, and even performed a few acoustic numbers mid-set. Shannon pounded his kit as sweat flew, and guitarist Tomo Milicevic crunched chords and charmed ethereal soundscapes out of his ax. It could have been show number one, not the final gig of a two-year trek.

Of course, 30STM's fans matched, if not doubled, the band's enthusiasm. There were signs in the audience touting the Detroit chapter of the Echelon, and at one point, Leto brought a fan onstage who had traveled all the way from Maryland. Every chorus was sung back to the band loudly, each massive chant repeated at top volume, and the opening chords of each new song greeted with squeals of delight. Fans reached skyward as confetti fell, and ooh-ed and aah-ed as lasers shot from the stage. This was definitely a celebration, in just about every conceivable way.

Not surprisingly, the band seemed genuinely touched and a tad nostalgic. Jared told fans that the Guinness award was theirs, too, shouting, "I want everyone in here to carry this with them for the rest of their lives," as he thrust the certificate above his head.

As if their record-setting tour didn't already tip you off to it, the rather frightening delay proved that 30STM are a band seemingly at their best when forced to push on. And on. And on.

Did you attend any stops on 30STM's record-setting tour? Share your reviews in the comments below!

Jared Leto (30 Seconds To Mars), 2011-12-07

"I wanna tell you something. You've done something really magical, and I don't want you to take this too lightly. You have, through your belief, through your will, through your passion, through your love… you have made reality from a dream. And I want everyone in here to carry this with them for the rest of their lives, ok? This is an example to all of you, all of you out there who wanna do something different with their lives, who wanna do something special, who wanna contribute, who wanna do something meaningful; dreams are possible. You can do what you dream. So after tonight, tomorrow let's all promise we're gonna live the first day of our new lives you understand? Let's promise each other we will be brave we will fight for what we believe in and we will live dreams. Thank you so much for, everything."

By @JaredLeto (30 Seconds to Mars)

sokoluk1991 bests field of 200,000 in World Record tourney, wins $40K for $1, 2011-12-05

http://www.pokerstarsblog.com/10th_anniversary/2011/sokoluk1991-bests-200000-field-in-world-089039.html?source=10405355

sokoluk1991 bests field of 200,000 in World Record tourney, wins $40K for $1

by Martin Harris on December 4, 2011 5:22 PM
 

We've been spending a lot of time these last few weeks looking back and marveling at the 10-year history of PokerStars, online poker's biggest site. Part of that time has been occupied leafing through the nifty PokerStars 10th Anniversary e-magazine in which the story of the site's first decade is told in words and pictures (some of which move!).

Among the many items one finds in the e-magazine are milestone moments regarding the number of players simultaneously playing on PokerStars. In 2002, staff were excited when 100 players were playing at once. Then in November 2003 came another big day when 10,000 had logged on.

"The whole office erupted into rounds of applause," says then-Poker Room Manager Lee Jones, recalling the moment the total hit 10,000. "It seemed unreal that so many people were playing online at once."

That might have seemed unreal at the time. But soon 10,000 players playing at once would seem like small change. Really.

In February 2006, PokerStars became the first online poker site to have 100,000 players playing at once. By December 2007, PokerStars would crack the 150,000-player mark, and the following year the site would become the first to host more than 200,000 simultaneous players.

In December 2008, it was noted that more than 250,000 were logged in at once. Then in early September 2009, a record 307,016 were seen playing on 42,814 virtual tables. And in February 2011, a whopping 508,097 were on PokerStars at the same time!

Breaking Records

As the site continued to grow, PokerStars began hosting "world record" tournies featuring largest-ever fields in online poker history -- or all of poker, for that matter.

On December 28, 2008, a record 35,000 entered an $11 buy-in tourney. Then on July 19, 2009, an event with a $1 buy-in saw 65,000 participate. Actually that was the second time the old record was broken on that Sunday, as 59,128 played the Sunday Million as well.

Then on December 27, 2009, the record was shattered once more as 149,196 participated in another $1 buy-in event.

It only seemed fitting to mark the 10th anniversary with another run at the record. With a $250,000 guaranteed prize pool and a cap at 200,000 players for the $1 tournament, an overlay was going to be part of the deal. 12,150 players would divide up the loot, with $50,000 of it going to the player managing to outlast the massive mob and emerge as victor (barring any final table deals).

That would add up to an ROI of 4,999,900%. Not a bad day, no sir.

Once registration opened and spots began to fill, it quickly became clear the old record was in danger. It was on Saturday that the number of entrants passed the previous high, and by mid-morning on Sunday -- about three-and-a-half hours before the first hands were dealt -- that the number of players registered reached the 200,000 cap.

Soon after the tourney began, Joe Stapleton and Nick Wealthall invited Gaz Deaves, an adjudicator from the Guinness Book of World Records, to appear as a guest on PokerStars Radio. As they awaited Deaves' appearance, Wealthall wondered if perhaps the judge would have to count each player individually, marking his progress with a sip of Guinness for each.

Whether or not that was the case, Deaves did come on the show to confirm the event had indeed established a new world record for the largest-ever online poker tournament. And thereafter in Prague -- where the PokerStars folks are gearing up for the upcoming EPT event -- glasses were raised.



Like that celebration in the PokerStars office long ago, Gaz Deaves of the Guinness Book of World Records and Team PokerStars Pro Fatima Moreira de Melo celebrate the record in Prague  
From 200,000 to 20,000

The tournament's fast structure -- 2,000-chip stacks to start, five-minute levels, with antes kicking in after 20 minutes -- ensured players wouldn't have to play until PokerStars' 20th anniversary celebration to settle things.

5,000 were eliminated within five minutes. After 18 minutes, 25,000 had run out of chips. The first break came just 25 minutes into the event (mid-level 5), by which time 160,493 remained.

Shortly before the one-hour mark the field had been perfectly halved with 100,000 on the rail and another 100,000 still with chips. Just a few minutes later they were already down to 75,000, and by the 73-minute mark just 50,000 remained.

After exactly two hours, 20,000 remained. Of those, 25 players had accumulated more than 100,000 chips, with bazuzu620 holding the most with a little over 133,000.

From 20,000 to 200

The money bubble burst just prior to the two-and-a-half-hour mark, and about 10 minutes later 10,000 were left. maksfray led with more than 262,000 chips, one of 18 players with more than 200k.

By the three-hour mark they were down to 5,000, with Grzala_PL on top with close to 550,000. A little over an hour later they were down to 1,000, with arknight87 leading with more than 2.4 million, pelocho71 closing in on 2.2 million, and more than 40 others with 1 million chips or more.

Still, with exactly 400 million chips in play, there were just a few more all-ins left to go.

As the field shrunk to 500 players mark, just one representative of Team PokerStars remained from the many who'd help break the record, Kevin "WizardofAhhs" Thurman of Team PokerStars Online.

Thurman soon lost nearly all of his chips, however, when his Q♠Q♣ failed to hold in a preflop all-in versus KayJay83's A♥Q♥. He'd double up his short stack a few times to survive a little longer, but Thurman's run good finally ran out when his pocket threes failed to hold versus sasodiits' A♦T♠, sending the WizardOfAhhs out in 380th place for $27.00.



Kevin "WizardOfAhhs" Thurman, Team PokerStars Online  
From 200 to 20

They were just a few minutes beyond the five-hour mark when the field shrunk to 200 players, gathered around 20 ten-handed tables.

At that point the average chip stack was exactly 2 million, with the blinds at 80,000/160,000 (Level 53). By then mrgardem was ahead of everyone with more than 5.7 million, with sokulok1991 and mr_wickedown also in the 5-million chip club.

By the time they'd gotten down to 100 players, it took eight digits' worth of chips to find a spot at the top of the counts.

At that moment RaZoFaZoR was the one with the most chips with 16,857,836, followed by fenners (14.14m), kerkel1 (13.2m), _Bonumm_ (12.0m) and King-1-Z (10.73m).

The tourney had been running a little over six hours and 15 minutes when the field was trimmed to 20, with Kaitz20 on top with a massive 54.2 million-chip stack, King-2-Z next with 42.4 million, and kerkel1, RaZoFaZoR, and Bjoomhjaer all above 30 million.

From 20 to 8

Just two 10-handed tables remained. By now those eliminated were earning hundreds of dollars for their $1 investment. But all continued to eye that $50,000 first prize.

The two tables were whittled down to short-handed play as the following players successively hit the rail one table shy of the last one: Mivoxx (20th, $700), Jenek084 (19th, $700), f1live7 (18th, $850), kezzer-ste (17th, $850), Pokerklemi (16th, $1.050), manutdsam123 (15th, $1,050), kerkel1 (14th, $1,250), mellonuts (13th, $1,250), and Buenobueno (12th, $1,500).

With just 11 left, hand-for-hand play commenced. Soon there was action on both tables that saw a total of three players eliminated on the same hand, meaning only eight would be left by the time the final table started.

Over on one table, both Guzzi46 and Garin4o were all in before the flop against King-2-Z. Guzzi46 held K♣Q♣, Garin4o A♥Q♥, and King-2-Z A♦K♦. The board ran out nine-high, eliminating Guzzi46 in 11th ($1,500) and Garin4o in 10th ($2,250).

Meanwhile, herbert68 was all in on the other table with K♦Q♦ against sokoluk1991's A♦T♣. The board ran out Q♠A♠J♥8♥K♥, leaving herbert68 with two pair but sokoluk1991 with a straight, knocking out herbert68 in ninth ($3,000).

The final table -- with just eight players left -- was set.





Seat 1: empty
Seat 2: tristan2287 -- 27,865,420
Seat 3: King-2-Z -- 93,317,380
Seat 4: Bjoornkjaer -- 19,212,334
Seat 5: Kaitz20 -- 97,323,991
Seat 6: sokoluk1991 -- 71,305,235
Seat 7: pumata13 -- 464,488
Seat 8: RaZorFaZoR -- 55,661,354
Seat 9: empty
Seat 10: casasola10 -- 34,849,798

Super big stacks all around. And super big blinds, too -- 2,000,000/4,000,000 -- which meant the fast-paced action would continue. And how. In fact, it would take just 10 minutes for the final eight to be reduced to just three.

pumata13 actually was down to less than an ante (500,000), and was soon all in with A♥J♦ against both tristan2287 and casasola10. A flop of T♥A♠5♣ encouraged a bet from tristan2287, forcing a fold from casasola10 and revealing he held T♣5♦ for bottom two pair against pumata13's top pair of aces. The turn then brought the 5♠, giving tristan2287 a full house, and after the J♥ river pumata13 was out in eighth.

Shortly after the blinds had already moved to 2.5m/5m when Bjoornkjaer open-shoved from the small blind for 11,337,334 and Kaitz20 called from the big blind. Bjoornkjaer held Q♦6♠ and Kaitz20 9♦2♠, and the 9♣T♣4♣ brought the latter a pair of nines. The turn was the A♦ and river the 3♦, and Bjoornkjaer was eliminated in seventh.

Kaitz20 then opened for 15 million from early position (a 3x raise), and it folded to casasola10 who reraised all in for a little more -- to 16,599,798 -- from the small blind. tristan2287 folded the big blind, and Kaitz20 quickly called, showing J♠J♣ to casasola10's 9♦9♠. The five community cards came 3♦K♥3♠Q♣8♥, and casasola10 was gone in sixth.

The blinds moved to 3m/6m, and sokoluk1991 min-raised to 12 million from the small blind. RaZorFaZoR then shoved for 41,964,622, and sokoluk1991 called. RaZorFaZoR had picked up a monster in Q♦Q♠, but unfortunately for him sokoluk1991 had drawn A♦A♣. The board ran out 8♦2♦5♣J♣2♠, and they were down to four.

That's when tristan2287 opened with an all-in raise for 7,204,920 from UTG and got two callers -- Kaitz20 (small blind) and sokoluk1991 (big blind). Both checked down the J♠4♠Q♦3♦Q♣ board, and when Kaitz20 tabled 9♠4♦ for two pair the others mucked, with tristan2287 knocked out in fourth.

At that point the remaining trio hastily agreed to pause the craziness and talk about a possible deal. sokoluk1991 had the chip lead with about 174.3 million, Kaitz20 was next with 165.4 million, and King-2-Z had the "short" stack with almost 60.2 million.

It took a few minutes, but the players eventually agreed to terms with $35,258.83 going to sokoluk1991, $34,000 to Kaitz20, and $25,741.17 for King-2-Z, leaving $5,000 on the table for which to play.

Cards back in the air, it took about two minutes for the next elimination to occur.

With the blinds up to 4m/8m, sokoluk1991 made it 16 million to go from the small blind, and King-2-Z pushed all in for 59,192,380 from the big blind. sokoluk1991 called, showing Q♣J♠ and needing to hit versus King-2-Z's A♣T♥.

sokoluk1991 would hit, the flop coming 4♦3♥Q♦ to pair his queen. The turn was the 3♦ and river the 9♣, and King-2-Z took third.



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Heads up began with those 400 million chips divided thusly: sokoluk1991 243,579,037, Kaitz20 156,420,963. The pair would play but 11 hands, with Kaitz20 seizing the lead momentarily but soon relinquishing it back.
On the final hand, coming just over seven hours after the first hands of the record-setting event were dealt, the blinds were 5m/10m. Kaitz20 opened by pushing all in for 119,433,852 from the button, and sokoluk1991 called. Kaitz20 held an ace with A♣9♦, but sokoluk1991's ace was better as he had A♠Q♦.
The flop came Q♥J♠6♦, increasing sokoluk1991's lead, and the 7♠ on the turn made the T♣ river no matter. Take a look (although you can barely see the community cards behind those mountains of chips):


RSS readers click through to see replay  
Congratulations to sokoluk1991 of Russia for taking down the world's biggest online poker tournament ever, earning just over $40,000 for a little over seven hours' work!

Oh, and one dollar.

PokerStars 10th Anniversary World Record Tournament results (*reflects three-way deal):
1st: sokoluk1991 (Russia) -- $40,258.83*
2nd: Kaitz20 (Estonia) -- $34,000*
3rd: King-2-Z (United Kingdom) -- $25,741.17*
4th: tristan2287 (Spain) -- $10,000
5th: RaZorFaZoR (Germany) -- $8,000
6th: casasola10 (Costa Rica) -- $6,500
7th: Bjoornkjaer (Denmark) -- $5,250
8th: pumata13 (Bulgaria) -- $4,000
9th: herbert68 (Germany) -- $3,000
10th: Garin4o (Ukraine) -- $2,250

For more reports on PokerStars 10th Anniversary celebration, click here.

PokerStars breaks world record for largest tournament, 2011-12-04

http://www.pokerstarsblog.com/10th_anniversary/2011/pokerstars-breaks-world-record-for-large-089036.html

PokerStars breaks world record for largest tournament

by Simon Young on December 4, 2011 11:34 AM

It became very clear many days ago that PokerStars would be making history today. Our previous Guinness World Record for the largest poker tournament was 149,196 players, and we zoomed passed that figure in early registrations so fast that the 200,000 cap was reached well before kick-off today. So a huge pat on the back to all of you who took part in the $1 tournament - a representative from Guinness World Records has approved the result. You're all record-breakers!

At the time of writing, play in the tournament is still going on, with 11,000 hardy souls still in with a shout for the $50,000 first prize, a very healthy return on a $1 buy-in. While legions of you were playing at home all around the world, some folk got together to play at the Prague Hilton hotel, where EPT Prague starts tomorrow.

Just moments after being officially unveiled as a member of Team PokerStars Pro, WSOP runner-up Martin Staszko joined some of his new team mates to play in the tournament. Sitting with him were Fatima Moreira de Melo, Martin Hruby, Richard Toth, Marcin Horecki and Dag Palovic as well as some PokerStars players who were invited to join in the fun and have some drinks on us.


Martin Staszko (left), playing with Martin Hruby and Dag Palovic   Watching all this was Gaz Deaves, Guinness World Records Adjudicator, who confirmed the entry field of 200,000 and then promptly handed Fatima an official Guinness certificate while being showered with confetti and streamers.


Celebration: Gaz Deaves of Guinness confirms the world record is smashed...  
... and presents Fatima Moreira de Melo with the official certificate   As the tournament itself is still a long way from finishing, we'll bring you the full results tomorrow, and also try and get a chat with the winner. If you're still in, the very best of luck to you!


Some balloons and the screen tell the story in Prague  
It's our anniversary