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3:35pm: Level up
Level 8: Blinds 4,000/8,000 (1,000)

3:30pm: Timex tank-calls himself to the rail
Level 7: Blinds 3,000/6,000 (1,000)

We arrived on the river to see Mike McDonald had made a bet and Igor Kurganov had raised for enough to cover the Canadian's stack.

The board read [9h][3d][js][4d][ks] and McDonald had a decision for his tournament life. He was in the tank with [kh][qh] for a rivered top pair, and after a few moments he called it off.

"I've got a set" announced Kurganov tabling [9s][9c] and McDonald was out of his seat and leaving the tournament area.

3:25pm: Tollerene building
Level 7: Blinds 3,000/6,000 (1,000)

David Peters was chip leader a few minutes ago but such are the swings in this tournament, he's now well back in the pack after losing a big pot against Ben Tollerene.

Tollerene opened with a raise from the cutoff to 15,000 before Peters three-bet the button to 42,000. Action folded back to Tollerene who made the call and they saw a flop of [2c][7h][td].

Tollerene checked and then called the bet of 37,000 from Peters before both players checked the [5s] turn. The river was a repeat [5h] and Tollerene splashed out a healthy bet of 125,000. Peters was quick to make the call but mucked when Tollerene showed [ts][th] for a full house!

Tollerene is now into the chip lead with 740,000 with Peters back down to 355,000.

3:20pm: Greenwood doubles
Level 7: Blinds 3,000/6,000 (1,000)

After making a big river laydown against Ben Tollerene, Sam Greenwood has recovered those chips and then a few more with a big double up on the very next hand.

It started with Connor Drinan raising to 15,000 from under the gun. David Peters called on the button before Greenwood moved all in from the small blind for 119,000 in total. Drinan folded but Peters gave it some thought and then made a gambling call with [5c][5h]. He was hoping to be racing but Greenwood tabled a strong [qc][qd].

The board ran out [3d][ac][ks][ad][2s] to see Greenwood double up to around 275,000 with Peters still in good shape with around 600,000.

3:10pm: Ivey gone
Level 7: Blinds 3,000/6,000 (1,000)

The comeback of Phil Ivey was short-lived.

After defending from the big blind with [8s][6s], Ivey check-raised all in on a flop of [2h][2s][5s] with his flush draw. His opponent was Ben Tollerene, runner-up in the $100,000 Challenge. Tollerene had bet the flop for 15,000 and then made the call for a total of 89,000 with his [as][5d] top pair, top kicker.

Ivey was looking for spades, a six or and eight to stay alive but the [3h] turn and [qh] river completed the board. Ivey is out as Tollerene continues his good form in Melbourne as he climbs to over 400,000 chips.

3:00pm: Fedor Holz exits
Level 7: Blinds 3,000/6,000 (1,000)

Fedor Holz has been on a massive heater of late but he couldn't make much of his time in this $250,000 Challenge. He was the first eliminated yesterday and after a re-entry, the German has busted first again here today.

It was back to back hands that would see Holz's demise.

The first saw Phil Ivey rise to 13,000 from the hijack seat, Holz call on the button and David Peters defend from the big blind. The flop landed [7h][tc][jc] and it checked to Holz who made it 16,000 to go. Peters was the only caller and the [qs] arrived on the turn.

Peters checked again before Holz continued for 28,000, only to face a check-raise from Peters to 80,000 in chips. Holz took his time but did commit to a call before players went to the [2d] river. It was then that Peters moved all in for 240,000, only just covered by Holz, sending the latter into the tank.

A couple of minutes passed but Holz threw the chips in for a call only to see he had been coolered for most of his stack. Peters showed [9d][8s] for a flopped straight ahead of the [qh][jd] top two pair of Holz.

The hand left Holz with only 17,000 which he got all in from the cutoff in the very next hand. Sam Greenwood called to put him at risk from the big blind and the cards went on their backs.

Holz: [kh][9d]
Greenwood: [qd][7s]

Holz got it in good but the [qs][6c][7d][5s][td] runout saw Greenwood hit two pair to send Holz packing.

2:55pm: Ivey triples
Level 7: Blinds 3,000/6,000 (1,000)

If there's anyone who can recover from six big blinds in the LK Boutique $250,000 Challenge, it's Phil Ivey. The man that everyone fears most, and the winner of this event three of the last four years, Ivey is now a force again after tripling up his short stack.

Ivey was blinded down to just 36,000 when he moved all in from the cutoff. Connor Drinan flat-called on the button before Fedor Holz raised from the small blind to isolate the all-in player. It worked as Drinan got out of the way.

Ivey tabled [qc][jc] but would need to improve against Holz's [ac][ks].

The flop was [4h][7c][6c] and Ivey picked up a flush draw which then connected on the [4c] turn. Ivey wouldn't want to see any more clubs with Holz holding the ace, but the river bricked the [3d].

Ivey is now back up to around 120,000 and has a pulse once again in this tournament.

2:50pm: Turn jam from O'Dwyer
Level 7: Blinds 3,000/6,000 (1,000)

Mike McDonald opened to 15,000 on the button and Steve O'Dwyer defended his big blind.

On the [9s][4c][7s] flop O'Dwyer check-called 18,000 before the dealer turned the [td].

O'Dwyer checked again and McDonald continued for 40,000. After eyeing McDonald's stack and contemplating his decision, O'Dwyer moved all in.

McDonald waited a few moments but opted to throw his hand away.

2:35pm: Cards in the air
Level 7: Blinds 3,000/6,000 (1,000)

The cards are now in the air on Day 2 of the LK Boutique $250,000 Challenge.

The LK Boutique $250,000 Challenge set to crown a champion!

The final day of the 2016 Aussie Millions will bring the conclusion of the largest buy-in tournament of the series - the LK Boutique $250,000 Challenge.

Yesterday saw 15 entrants in this event and a short day of just six levels would reduce that to just 12 players. GPI Player of the Year Bryon Kaverman leads the way with Fedor Holz close behind, although Holz did have to fire a second bullet into the prize pool to make it this far. Steve O'Dwyer, Brian Rast, $100k Challenge champion Fabian Quoss and the immortal Phil Ivey are also still in the field, although Ivey has some work to do to win his pet event as he enters today as the short stack.

We have word that there has been one late entry today with Mike "Timex" McDonald jumping in with a fresh stack of 250,000. Blinds will kick off at 3,000/6,000 with a 1,000-chip ante.

We'll be providing live updates throughout the day, with live streaming hosted by Jason Somerville over on RunItUp.TV. Stay tuned!

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Take a look at the Aussie Millions official website for tournament schedules, structures, news and information from the Crown Poker Room in Melbourne.

Live updates brought to you courtesy of Brad Kain and Heath Chick. Photos by Jonno Pittock and Christian Zetzsche.

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It's quite something to watch the final table of a turbo-fueled tournament with five-minute levels at which more than $1.4 million of prize money is still up for grabs and no final deal is being made. Such was the case for most of the 2016 Turbo Championship of Online Poker Main Event final table, a $700 buy-in tournament that saw no chop considered until they reached heads-up.

That's when Switzerland's Dinesh "NastyMinder" Alt and KungKroon of Norway finally did strike a deal, and shortly thereafter Alt would be the one to claim the last hand and the title. Alt -- who has chopped a Sunday Million and won the ANZPT Sydney Main Event in 2013 -- took away a huge prize of $396,691.43 for the win.

Dinesh "NastyMinder" Alt

Alt came close once before this series, taking runner-up in Event #11 ($215 NLHE Heads-Up), and with seven total cashes managed to finish sixth in the TCOOP Player of the Series race. Incidentally, it was the U.K.'s ouchbadbeat who with 16 total cashes was able to finish the last day atop the TCOOP series leaderboard.

Alt's first prize just barely exceeds -- by less than two hundred bucks -- what 2015 TCOOP Main Event champion Nikki_Hefner took away last year, thus setting a new record for biggest TCOOP Main Event cash in the four-year history of the series. Here's the story of how Alt managed to outlast this year's huge field to turn $700 into nearly $400K in just over five-and-a-half hours.

There were already more than 2,000 players in their seats by the time the first hands were dealt Sunday afternoon, and after two hours of late registration more than twice that many had joined the fun for a total of 4,077 entries. That meant a $2,711,205 prize pool (easily besting the $2M guarantee for the tournament) with the top 540 places paid.

At that point the field had already been cut in half, and after another dozen five-minute levels whizzed past the money bubble burst as Akash "funwheel" Majumdar of Thailand grabbed the chip lead as the first player to 1 million chips.

Majumdar continued to lead as the field was carved down further, then others rushed ahead as many other big stacks quickly got bigger. Meanwhile among those hitting the rail during that stretch was Team PokerStars Pro Online's Jorge "Baalim" Limon (346th, $1,355.60), with Team PokerStars Pros George Danzer (205th, $2,033.40) and Aditya "Adi Agarwal" Agarwal (163rd, $2,440.08) also taking away small parts of the prize pool.

With 100 left rookie1609x of Canada had taken over first position in the counts, but by the four-hour mark both rookie1609x (88th, $4,066.80) and Akash "funwheel" Majumdar (73rd, $4,337.92) had been sent to the rail.

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As the tournament's fifth hour proceeded and they wound down to the last few tables, the U.K.'s RSRMCA began to pull away from the field, and with 30 left had moved up close to 10 million when no one else has as much as half that. A little while later they were down to 18, with IMFICKLE having briefly grabbed the top spot before marcasa edged into the chip lead with two tables left.

Event #24 ($82 PLO H/L, 6-Max) winner Raabinator93 (18th), liran2788 (17th), and funchstar7 (16th) were the next three knockouts, with each player earning $8,133.61.

eijseijs (15th), manyadecano (14th), and Oscar "MendaLerenda" Serradell (13th) were then eliminated, earning $12,200.42 apiece. For Serradell, the finish capped off an especially successful TCOOP that included a win in Event #36 ($82 NL Draw, Optional Re-Entry) and a runner-up finish in Event #19 ($215 NLHE).

malekfatte (12th), garompon (11th), and rasta25 (10th) then became the last three players eliminated before the final table, with those three each taking away $16,267.23 apiece. With KungKroon having moved up into the lead, the final table was underway.

Seat 1: anthonyff (United Kingdom) -- 9,047,944
Seat 2: Petr "Hurloon" Jaros (Czech Republic) -- 8,631,717
Seat 3: Dinesh "NastyMinder" Alt (Switzerland) -- 7,646,928
Seat 4: RSRMCA (United Kingdom) -- 8,072,527
Seat 5: IMFICKLE (Finland) -- 4,400,715
Seat 6: KungKroon (Sweden) -- 16,592,440
Seat 7: gringenkov (Brazil) -- 6,147,653
Seat 8: marcasa (Netherlands) -- 10,470,302
Seat 9: Makuherra (Finland) -- 10,529,774

Hurloon hits rail in ninth

With the blinds a whopping 500K/1M with a 125K ante, the idea of a chop was brought up immediately in the chat box as the final table began. But as noted above, not everyone was interested, and so the all-ins continued soon thereafter.

It was less than orbit before gringenkov open-shoved from early position and Petr "Hurloon" Jaros called all in from the cutoff for 1,934,064 (less than two big blinds). gringenkov had [Ac][Kd] and Jaros [8h][7h], and after the board came [Tc][6c][Jh][3d][3c], Jaros was out ninth.

RSRMCA run out in eighth

The blinds moved up to 600K/1.2M with a 150K ante, then RSRMCA shoved for 5,122,527 from the button and got called by KungKroon in the big blind.

RSRMCA was hoping [4s][4h] would hold against KungKroon's [As][Kc], and the [5h][Ac][4c] flop was promising for RSRMCA, making a set of fours versus KungKroon's top pair of aces. But the turn was the [Jc] and the river the [7c], completing a club flush for KungKroon and knocking RSRMCA out in eighth.

IMFICKLE finished in seventh

Just three hands after that, the blinds were already 700K/1.4M (with a 175K ante) when IMFICKLE shoved for 6,425,715 from middle position and Makuherra called from the big blind.

IMFICKLE turned over [Ac][4s] and needed to improve versus Makuherra's [9h][9s]. But the [Ks][9d][6c] flop gave Makuherra a set, the [Kd] turn a full house, and the pair-making [4h] river meant nothing for IMFICKLE who was out in seventh.

anthonyff sunk in sixth

The final six marched onward, with deal talk continuing to be suggested by some. But gringenkov -- a former Sunday Million winner who had chipped up over 27 million and into the chip lead -- typed "sry i dont deal" and so they continued to play it out.

Just like that the blinds were 800K/1.6M (with a 200K ante), and it was marcasa open-shoving from UTG for 2,393,496, anthonyff reraise-pushing for 5,497,944 from the cutoff, and gringenkov caling both from the big blind.

gringenkov: [Jc][9h
anthonyff: [As][Qd]
marcasa: [Qh][3h]

The community cards came [2h][8c][8h], then [9c], then [Kh], missing anthonyff, giving gringenkov nines and eights, and making a heart flush for marcasa. gringenkov collected the side pot while marcasa survived, and anthonyff departed in sixth.

Makuherra makes it to fifth

The torrid pace continued with Makuherra soon open-pushing all in from the small blind for 8,980,489 (about 4.5 BBs) and Dinesh "NastyMinder" Alt calling from the big blind.

Makuherra had [Ad][5d] while Alt turned over [Jd][Js], and five cards later -- [4h][Ts][9h][Qh][7c] -- Makuherra's run ended in fifth.

marcasa moves on after finishing fourth

With four left, Alt brought up the deal topic again.

NastyMinder: still no deal guys?
marcasa: I checked
gringenkov: no, sry
NastyMinder: ok
NastyMinder: gl :)
gringenkov: glgl

It would only take three more hands for the field to be reduced by one more.

With the blinds an even 1M/2M (with a 250K ante), the table folded to marcasa who pushed in 6,930,488 over the small blind and Dinesh "NastyMinder" Alt called from the big blind. Alt had but [8d][3d] but was ahead of marcasa's [7c][3c], and after a [Qh][2h][6s][3s][Td] both had a small pair but the kickers played, and marcasa had been eliminated in fourth.

That matched marcasa's fourth-place finish in Event #34, another $700 buy-in NLHE event.

gringenkov grounded in third

Before long Alt was the one pushing out ahead with more than 45 million while both KungKroon and gringenkov hovered around 17-18 million. That's when gringenkov open-shoved a stack of 16,949,570 (not quite seven big blinds) from the button and got called by KungKroon who had that barely covered from the big blind.

gringenkov had [Ac][Qd] and the edge over Kungroon's [Ad][9s]. But the flop came [9c][Js][2h] to pair KungKroon's nine. The turn was the [2d] and river the [7d], and gringenkov was out in third for a cash of nearly a quarter million.

A deal, then a short duel as NastyMinder KOs KungKroon

Dinesh "NastyMinder" Alt had a slight lead over KungKroon to start heads-up play, and after one hand they managed to pause the tournament at last for some deal talk with Alt sitting on 47,029,833 versus KungKroon's 34,510,167.

Numbers were produced -- $356,691.43 for Alt, $346,181.46 for KungKroon, and $40,000 set aside for which to play. The discussion that followed was a short one:

KungKroon: agreedio!
KungKroon: no use trying to get more, nasty ;)
KungKroon: this or we play for the lot
NastyMinder: I agree
KungKroon: I agree

Once play resumed, the heads-up match was short as well, lasting just eight hands total.

The last hand began with Alt up to just over 50 million and watching KungKroon shoving all in for 31,072,667 from the button. Alt called, and the players' hands were turned over:

NastyMinder: [Ah][Jh]
KungKroon: [Qs][5s]

The board came [Kd][2d][4c][8d][6h], hitting neither player's hand, KungKroon had come one spot shy of the win, while Alt had collected all of the chips to earn the extra $40K, the special TCOOP card capper, and a coveted Main Event title.

NastyMinder collects the last of the chips

Congratulations to Dinesh "NastyMinder" Alt for outlasting more than 4,000 opponents to win this year's TCOOP Main Event and over $396K.

Dinesh "NastyMinder" Alt

Kudos to KungKroon as well for surviving to make that heads-up deal and take away a nice $346K-plus prize.

TCOOP-49 ($700 NL Hold'em Main Event) results

Entrants: 4,077
Total prize pool: $2,711,205 

Places paid: 540

1. Dinesh "NastyMinder" Alt (Switzerland) $396,691.43*
2. KungKroon (Norway) $346,181.46*
3. gringenkov (Brazil) $223,674.41
4. marcasa (Netherlands) $155,894.28
5. Makuherra (Finland) $115,226.21
6. anthonyff (United Kingdom) $88,114.16
7. IMFICKLE (Finland) $61,002.11
8. RSRMCA (United Kingdom) $33,890.06
9. Petr "Hurloon" Jaros (Czech Republic) $21,689.64
*Reflects the results of a two-way deal that left $40,000 in play for the winner

Thanks for following our start-to-finish coverage of all 50 events of the 2016 Turbo Championship of Online Poker here on the PokerStars Blog. You can check results and other stats from the series on the TCOOP page as well.

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Martin Harris is Freelance Contributor to the PokerStars Blog.

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You've had a successful career when a six-figure score is just another bullet point on your multimillion-dollar resume.

Grayson "gray31" Ramage has more than $1 million in live tournament earnings and more than $5.5 million online. Now he can add $213k to that number along with a TCOOP title.

While it's Ramage's first TCOOP victory, it's not the first time he's won a major online event. Ramage took down the WCOOP Challenge Series $2,100 Main Event for $502k back in 2014.

While that re-entry event took two days to complete, Event #47 went from 805 players to a winner in less than seven hours.

About an hour of that was at the final table, where Ramage and Alex "steakaddict." Papazian dealt all but one elimination.

The two players traded the lead back-and-forth as well, but Ramage dealt the final elimination and took the title.

Grayson "gray31" Ramage

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Seat 1: ex6tenceLV - 515,316
Seat 2: ILIOS72 - 642,299
Seat 3: TMoney0209 - 858,471
Seat 4: Alex "steakaddict." Papazian - 1,486,494
Seat 5: Pimmss - 1,308,149
Seat 6: Rafael "GM_VALTER" Moraes - 1,040,880
Seat 7: Grayson "gray31" Ramage - 979,821
Seat 8: Mark "RenRad 01" Darner - 678,608
Seat 9: PureCash25 - 539,962

Aside from dealing the last elimination, Ramage dealt the first.

PureCash25's last hand started with Ramage moving all-in for 913,321 from the hijack. PureCash25 called all-in for 382,462 from the button and the blinds folded.

Ramage turned over [kc][9s] while PureCash25 showed a dominating [ad][ks]. The [5h][6c][tc] flop kept PureCash25 in the lead, but then a [9s] came on the turn to give Ramage a pair. The river was a [4h] and PureCash25 hit the rail.

PureCash25 won $20,608.00 for the 9th place finish while Ramage chipped up to 1.5 million.

We had another elimination just a few hands later.

ILIOS72 moved all-in for 452,299 from the cutoff and Pimmss called from the big blind.

ILIOS72 tabled [kc][9h] while Pimmss showed [ad][qh]. The [kd][th][kh] flop catapulted ILIOS72 into the lead with trip kings, but a [jh] came on the river and Pimmss hit an ace-high straight.

"gg :(," said Alex "steakaddict." Papazian.

Aside from Papazian's condolences, ILIOS72 got $35,851.00 for finishing 8th.

Then Ramage struck again.

Ramage moved all-in for 2.2 million from the button and ex6tenceLV called all-in for 297,816 from the big blind.

Ramage was dominated again, but it didn't matter.

ex6tenceLV had [ah][8h] to Ramage's [ac][2d], but the [2s][ks][2h] flop gave Ramage a pair of 2s and a [kd] on the turn filled him up.

Ramage extended his lead to 2.8 million while ex6tenceLV won $50,715.00 for the 7th place finish.

It was Papazian's turn to deal an elimination next.

A short-stacked TMoney0209 was down to less than a big blind and called all-in for 140,971 from the hijack. Papazian raised to 420,420 from the cutoff and got no callers.

TMoney0209: [ah][5s]
Papazian: [qd][qh]

The board ran [Kc][3h][5h][6s][6h] and TMoney0209 got $66,815.00 for finishing 6th.

Papazian wasn't ready to hand over the conch of elimination just yet.

A few minutes later, Papazian moved all-in from the button and Pimmss called all-in from the small blind. Papazian showed [jd][tc] while Pimmss was trying to stay alive with [ac][5h].

The [3h][9d][4s][jh][kd] board gave Papazian a pair of jacks and the pot. Papazian's lead grew to 3.1 million while Pimmss got paid $82,915.00 for finishing 5th.

Ramage was done sitting out. The final table had been going on for about 45 minutes, but it went from four to one in just five minutes.

Action folded to GM_VALTER on the small blind and the Brazilian player moved all-in for 1.3 million. Ramage called from the big blind with [kd][9s] while GM_VALTER tabled [tc][3s].

Rafael "GM_VALTER" Moraes

Ramage paired his nine on the [5h][5d][8c][9h][ac] board and chipped up to 2.7 million while GM_VALTER won $167,370.45 for finishing 4th.

RenRad 01 moved all-in for 1.3 million about a minute later and Papazian re-shvoed from the small blind. Ramage folded and players tabled their hands.

Papazian: [as][qc]
RenRad 01: [ac][5d]

The [ad][qs][tc] flop paired both players' aces, but it also paired Papazian's queen. The turn brought a [3d], and the [kc] was the last card RenRad 01 would see this tournament.

RenRad 01 won $180,925.29 for finishing 3rd while Papazian started the heads-up match with the lead. Ramage quickly retook it though and ended the match less than two minutes after RenRad 01's elimination.

Mark "RenRad 01" Darner

Papazian moved all-in for 2.4 million and Ramage called. Players showed their final hands of the tournament. Ramage had [ac][ts] and had Papazian's [ad][8h] dominated.

The [5s][2c][4d][qh][5d] board missed both players and their kickers came into playe. Ramage won the tournament with ace-queen-ten high while Papazian finished 2nd.

Papazian won $213,052.03 for the runner-up finish while Ramage took the title and $213,867.23.

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TCOOP-47 ($2,100 NL Hold'em, Turbo, High-Roller) results
Entrants: 805
Total prize pool: $1,610,000.00
Places paid: 108

1. Grayson "gray31" Ramage (Canada) *$213,867.23
2. Alex "steakaddict." Papazian (Romania) *213,052.03
3. Mark "RenRad 01" Darner (Canada) *$180,925.29
4. Rafael "GM_VALTER" Moraes (Brazil) *$167,370.45
5. Pimmss (Netherlands) $82,915.00
6. TMoney0209 (Canada) $66,815.00
7. ex6tenceLV (Latvia) $50,715.00
8. ILIOS72 (F.Y.R.O.M) $35,581.00
9. PureCash25 (Canada) $20,608.00

*Reflects the results of a four-way deal.

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Going into the final day of the 2016 TCOOP, Team Online Naoya "nkeyno" Kihara from Japan cashed in seven other TCOOP events this year, with one final table appearance. Kihara had began the final day 24th overall on the leader board, but a TCOOP title had eluded him. Alas, he'd have to postpone a victory party once again. Naoya "nkeyno" Kihara advanced to the final table in Event #48 8-Game, but he busted in fourth place.

When the dust settled at the 8-Game final table, Switzerland's bambelbi3510 rallied to come from behind during heads-up to win Event #48.

On the final day of the 2016 TCOOP, 320 mixed-game specialists showed up to rumble in Event #48 $530 8-Game. The first-place payday was worth $33,600 and only the top 42 places were awarded a cut of the $160,000 prize pool, which surpassed the initial 100K Guarantee.

Another 4th place finish for Team Online Naoya "nkeyno" Kihara

This 8-Game turbo-soaked affair featured three minute levels and was such an enticing attraction that it drew in the likes of Team PokerStars Pros Kosei Ichinose and Jason Mercier.

The money bubble popped in under 2 hours and 15 minutes during a round of PLO. When the bubble burst, nkeyno was in the Top 5 in chips and although Mercier and Ichinose were near the back of the pack, both secured themselves a min-cash. Ichinose and Mercier busted in consecutive places. On the last hand of hold'em, Ichinose lost a race with [7c][7h] against WRUUUUM' [As][Ts] and was knocked out in 31st place, which paid out $960.00. Jason Mercier attempted to triple up during a round of Omaha8, but he busted in 30th place and cashed for $1,120.00.

With two tables remaining and 12 to go, Russia's aramesko, who won TCOOP Event #33, seized the lead during a round of Razz with over 333K and nkeyno was 7th overall.

Action went hand-for-hand with seven remaining. During a round of Stud, bambelbi3510 had snagged the lead and nkeyno was the short stack. During a round of NL hold'em, MaTitheone failed to double up with [As][3c] against bambelbi3510's [Ac][8h] and Poland's MaTitheone bubbled off the final table in seventh place. The 8-Game final table was set and Naoya "nkeyno" Kihara made another TCOOP final table.

TCOOP 2016 - Event #48 Final Table Chip Counts:
Seat 1: jutrack (195,742)
Seat 2: Sputnick_PT (263,531)
Seat 3: PokerStars Team Online Naoya "nkeyno" Kihara (100,422)
Seat 4: zzwwzzwwzz (209,454)
Seat 5: aramesko (256,098)
Seat 6: bambelbi3510 (574,753)

The final table kicked off during a round of PLO at Level 56 with blinds at 6,250/12,500. With six to go, Team Online Naoya "nkeyno" Kihara was the shortstack and bambelbi3510 sat atop the big stack with approximately 575K.

Russia's aramesko shipped TCOOP Event #33 Razz three days earlier, plus the Russian made final tables in both 2014 SCOOP and 2014 WCOOP. Germany's Julian "jutrack" Track made at least two WCOOP final tables, but was seeking his first-career COOP title.

Talk about a great coincidence: jutrack and aramesko also made the same 2014 WCOOP O8 final table together...neither won though!

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PET SOUNDS: zzwwzzwwzz eliminated in 6th place

The final table played five levels before we saw the first elimination. During a round of Razz, short-stacked zzwwzzwwzz was knocked out by aramesko. zzwwzzwwzz's J-9-7-5-3 low with [5c][Jc][9s][Ks][9d][7s][3c] lost to aramesko's 9-6-5-4-A low and [5d][6s][4s][Qh][Ad][Kc][9h]. China's zzwwzzwwzz became the first player to bust at the final table. Sixth place paid out $6,400.00.

I JUST WASN'T MADE FOR THESE TIMES: aramesko eliminated in 5th place

During a round of Stud, aramesko bowed out. Betting was capped on third street and aramesko was all-in for 41,727 against Sputnick_PT. At showdown...

Sputnick_PT: [Jd][As][Jh][2s][5h][6h][Jc]
aramesko: [7s][7d][4s][3d][9c][Ad][9s]

Sputnick_PT won with trip Jacks versus two pair. Russia's aramesko was dunzo in fifth place, which paid out $9,600.00. TCOOP Event #33 champion, aramesko, missed out on winning a second TCOOP title.

SLOOP JOHN B: PokerStars Team Online Naoya "nkeyno" Kihara eliminated in 4th place

During a round of Stud Hi/Lo, nkeyno hit the virtual rail. nkeyno was all-in on 4th street with (X-X)/[Ah][7s] against bambelbi3510. By seventh street...

nkeyno: [Qs][5h][Ah][7s][Tc][4s][5s]
bambelbi3510: [Ac][6h][4h][Jh][8h][7c][2h]

At showdown, nkeyno could only muster up a pair of fives and bambelbi3510 scooped with a Jack-high flush and a 7-6-5-4-2-A low. Without a qualifying low, Team Online Naoya "nkeyno" Kihara busted in fourth place, which paid out $12,800.00.

With three remaining, bambelbi3510 (669K) held a slight lead over Sputnick_PT (645K). And jutrack (284K) was the shorty by default.

I KNOW THERE'S AN ANSWER: jutrack eliminated in 3rd place

Germany's jutrack was the next player to bust. It happened during a round of NLH. Classic race. jutrack bombed it all-in for 351,242 with [Ad][Kc] and bambelbi3510 called with [7c][7d]. The board ran out [Jd][Tc][3s][2c][2d]. bambelbi3510's pocket sevens held up to win the pot with two pair. Although jutrack flopped a Broadway gutshot draw, jutrack whiffed on the river. Germany's Julian "jutrack" Track went busto in third place, which paid out $18,400.00.

HEADS-UP: Sputnick_PT (United Kingdom) vs. bambelbi3510 (Switzerland)
Seat 2: Sputnick_PT (616,911)
Seat 6: bambelbi3510 (983,089)

With two to go, bambelbi3510 held a small lead...but it wouldn't last long. On the fourth hand of heads-up during a round of NL hold'em, Sputnick_PT doubled up by snapping off bambelbi3510's [Qh][Qs] by flopping a set of tens with [Tc][Ts]. Sputnick_PT won a 1.3M pot and bambelbi3510 was down to under 300K.

During Triple Draw, bambelbi3510 mounted a comeback and nearly pulled even after winning a clutch hand with 7-6-4-3-2 versus Sputnick_PT's 10-7-6-5-4. That hand sparked off a rush of 11 wins inside of 13 hands that thrust bambelbi3510 into the winner's circle.

WOULDN'T IT BE NICE: Sputnick_PT eliminated in second place; bambelbi3510 binks Event #48

bambelbi3510 won the last six hands to bink TCOOP Event #48. During a round of Limit Hold'em, short-stacked Sputnick_PT was all-in for 155,288. Sputnick_PT made a valiant final stand with [Ad][Kh] against bambelbi3510's [Tc][8s]. However, bambelbi3510 flopped a pair and turned two pair. Sputnick_PT's Big Slick never improved on a board of [Td][6d][4h][8c][5d] and was knocked out in second place.

For a cosmic runner-up performance, the U.K.'s Sputnick_PT took home $24,480.00.

Congrats to Switzerland's bambelbi3510 for winning TCOOP Event #48. First place paid out $33,600.00.

TCOOP-48 ($530 8-Game Turbo) results
Entrants: 320
Total prize pool: $160,000.00
Places paid: 42

1. bambelbi3510 (Switzerland) $33,600.00
2. Sputnick_PT (United Kingdom) $24,480.00
3. Julian "jutrack" Track (Germany) $18,400.00
4. PokerStars Team Online Naoya "nkeyno" Kihara (Japan) $12,800.00
5. aramesko (Russia) $9,600.00
6. zzwwzzwwzz (China) $6,400.00

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The 2016 Aussie Millions $10,600 AUD no-limit hold’em main event drew a healthy field of 732 entries, the fourth largest turnout in the event’s storied history. In the end it came down to an exciting final table that featured three Australians, two top female players and two of the game’s young stars who got their start on the internet. When the dust settled it was Ari Engel who came out on top, emerging victorious with the title and the first-place prize of $1.6 million AUD ($1,120,110 USD).

The final day of the main event resumed with Engel holding a massive chip lead with seven remaining. His 8.1 million stack was larger than the combined stacks of the five shortest players going into the final table. Tony Dunst had the second most chips to start the day with just under six million, with American pro Samantha Abernathy coming into the day in third position with 2.5 million.

Abernathy picked up the first knockout of the day to close the gap a bit, but she was only able to hang on as Engel and Dunst did all of the eliminating to get it down to three-handed play. Abernathy eventually shoved 15 big blinds from the small blind with 108 and Engel called with the A9. The flop brought plenty of sweat with the AJ9 giving Engel two pair and Abernathy an open-ended straight draw. The J on the turn and the 8 on the river did not fill Abernathy’s straight and she was eliminated in third place, earning $625,000 AUD ($437,543 USD).

Heads-up play began with Dunst holding roughly a 4-to-3 chip advantage. The two ended up battling for more than four hours, playing 121 hands together before the final cars were dealt. With blinds of 80,000 – 160,000 Dunst raised to 325,000 from the button and Engel three-bet to 925,000. Dunst called and the flop brought the 1042. Engel bet 825,000 from out of position and Dunst called. The turn brought the J and Engel fired again, this time for 1.7 million. Dunst called and the river brought the 9. Engel moved all-in, putting Dunst to the test for his last 6 million or so in chips. After plenty of thought Dunst made the call with the A4 for fourth pair, only to see Engel reveal the J7 for a turned pair of jacks. With that Dunst was sent to the rail, earning $1 million AUD ($700,069 USD) for his deep run.

In addition to the title and the prize money, Engel also scored 1,824" Card Player Player of the Year":http://www.cardplayer.com/poker-players/player-of-the-year/%20 points for the win down under, enough to catapult him into the outright lead in the POY race. This was his second final table of the year, having finished eighth in a small prelim at the PokerStars Caribbean Adventure.

Abernathy moved into fourth place in the overall standings after adding the 1,216 points she earned from this event. Earlier in the Aussie Millions festival she finished third in a $1,100 AUD prelim event. With these two scores she now has 1,536 total points and year-to-date earnings of $448,575. Dunst moved into fifth on the POY leader board as a result of his runner-up showing.

Here is a look at the payouts and POY points awarded at this final table:

Place	Player	Earnings (USD)	POY Points
1	Ari Engel	$1,120,110	1824
2	Tony Dunst	$700,069	1520
3	Samantha Abernathy	$437,543	1216
4	Alex Lynskey	$311,530	912
5	Dylan Honeyman	$238,023	760
6	Kitty Kuo	$189,018	608
7	John Apostolidis	$147,014	456

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We're in the money! 27 players remain and you can see the current chip counts right here.

3:55pm: Down to 27
Level 19, Blinds 5,000-10,000(1,000 ante)

Just 27 players remain now in this UKIPT Series tournament. The latest players to exit are: Colin Couldrey (28th), Fotis Stoupis (29th), Tom Waterman (30th), Jamie Sanders (31st), Christian Juksch (32nd), James Millman (32nd), David Percik (34th) and Simon Brooks (35th).

The next player out will win £710.

3:45pm: Three (almost four) way all in!
Level 19, Blinds 5,000-10,000(1,000 ante)

Andrew King waved me over to his table and said: "I think this is going to be a good one." It was a solid read by the Irishman.

By this point a lot had already happened. Colin Couldrey had raised to 25,000 from under-the-gun, Christian Jucksch had re-raised all in for 126,000 from under-the-gun+1, King had shoved over the top of that for 140,000 and then Phil Baker had put both of them at risk by re-raising all in for about 250,000.

Action was now back on Couldrey who'd raised from a stack of about 18 big blinds and been shoved on in three spots! He tanked for ages, even flipping a coin, before folding what he said was pocket queens.

Jucksch: [Ah][Ks]
King: [Ac][Ad]
Baker: [Kd][Kh]

Three big hands had collided with King having the best of it. It only got better for him on the [Th][8d][As][Ts][Tc] board as he made a full house. He tripled up to about 480,000, Baker dropped to aroun d 100,000, Jucksch was eliminated in 32nd place and Couldrey lived to fight another day with a stack of 140,000.

3:30pm: Orledge and King still in
Level 19, Blinds 5,000-10,000(1,000 ante)

It's rarer than you'd think for both the Day 1A and Day 1B chip leaders to make the money, but that's what's happened here at The Hippodrome. Sam Orledge - who was the Day 1A chip leader - is still right at the top of the chip counts as he's got 560,000. However his Day 1B counterpart isn't doing as well. Andrew King has roughly 140,000.

3:20pm: New chip in town
Level 18, Blinds 4,000-8,000(1,000 ante)

A 25K chip was introduced at the break, it's a lovely yellow colour making it stand out from the red and blue chips that are also in play.

3:05pm: Out, but in the money
Level 18, Blinds 4,000-8,000(1,000 ante)

We're down to just 35 players now with the average stack at 200,500. The latest in the money finishers are: Seb Parsons (41st), Carlos Del Vigo Gonzalez (40th), Leslie Rycroft (39th), Pradyumna Chand (38th), John O'Donnell (37th) and Daiva Barauskaite (36th).

Parsons and Gonzalez min-cashed for £480, whilst the others picked up £540.

Daiva Barauskaite

2:50pm: A few chip counts
Level 17, Blinds 3,000-6,000(1,000 ante)

Here are a few chip counts from around the room:

Chris Gordon - 120,000
Daiva Barauskaite - 58,000
Vincent Moses - 240,000
Timothy Timotheou - 275,000
Dean Perry - 93,000
William Funnell - 52,000

2:40pm: First in the money finishers
Level 17, Blinds 3,000-6,000(1,000 ante)

We've already had six in the money finishers in the opening 15 minutes of this level: Francis Hazelwood (47th), Tingjun Ye (46th), Robbie O'Brien (45th), David Buckley (44th), George Evans (43rd) and Mike Lee (42nd) have all cashed for £480.

2:30pm: Chips
Level 17, Blinds 3,000-6,000(1,000 ante)

We've just updated the chip counts page. It's Jay Samani - who burst the bubble - who leads with 570,000.

2:06pm: Break time
Level 16, Blinds 2,500-5,000(500 ante)

Right. Time to get our breath back. The players are on a 20 minute break.

2:05pm: Shane D'Moirah bubbles the UKIPT Series; O'Brien survives all in on same hand
Level 16, Blinds 2,500-5,000(500 ante)

Almost a double bubble here but Shane D'Moirah is the last player to leave empty handed but there were two all ins on different tables at the same time.

The first involved Robbie O'Brien, who with just 3,500 was forced all in from the big blind. Andrew King raised to 12,000 from early position and everyone else folded to leave them to it. They then had to wait an age for showdown as a big pot involving D'Moirah was brewing on another table.

Robbie O'Brien waits for his showdown

In that hand Elliot Panyi opened to 12,500, D'Moirah smooth called and Jay Samani then three-bet to 35,700 from the button. Panyi folded but D'Moirah called. On the [9s][Ad][7d] flop Samani c-bet 41,100 and D'Moirah check-called. The [8h] fell on the turn and D'Moirah moved all in for around 110,000 and Samani snap called.

Back to O'Brien's table as his showdown was first. He was all-in with [Jc][2c] and King held [Kc][8c] the [Jh][2s][Ad][7c][Js] board meant O'Brien made a full house to survive. The pressure was now on D'Moirah.

Samani was first to show, he had [Ac][Th] but was behind to D'Moirah's [9c][8c], which had turned two pair. "I've never wanted to bust someone so much," said Samani. The dealer then revealed the river card which was the [Td].

D'Moirah took the beat incredibly well and shook Samani's hand before leaving the table.

Shane D'Moirah (standing - left) watches on as his fate is dealt

1:58pm: Parsons, Timotheou and Crossan survive, Rees exit takes us to the bubble
Level 16, Blinds 2,500-5,000(500 ante)

So much action!

First Seb Parsons moved all in for 28,500 with pocket kings. A fine hand but Vincent Moses had the only one that could beat him - pocket aces. The [Kh][8d][9h][8c][6s] board meant Parsons stayed alive.

So there were still 49 players left when Timothy Timotheou three-bet all-in for 113,200. The action had been opened by Robbie O'Brien, who'd been called in two spots before Timotheou shoved. O'Brien re-raised all in and everyone else folded.

O'Brien: [Jc][Jh]
Timotheou: [Kh][Kd]

The kings held on the [4d][Qc][2h][3d][9d] board and O'Brien was left with just 4,000 and he had just one hand until he'd be forced all-in from the big blind.

Meanwhile though John Crossan had three-bet shoved for 73,800 with [8s][8h] and got a call from Tingjun Ye, who held pocket fours. A [6d][2h][Kh][7d][6s] board meant Crossan also survived.

However, George Rees would not be so lucky his [Q][J] flopped best against Nicholas Case's [K][Q] but a king on the river sent him to the rail.

We're on the bubble.

1:50pm: Phil Baker is in!
Level 16, Blinds 2,500-5,000(500 ante)

Apologies to Phil Baker's mum. Earlier we reported that he was out when he is in fact very much in. Sorry Mrs Baker.

1:45pm: Almost bubble time
Level 16, Blinds 2,500-5,000(500 ante)

We're oh so close the bubble here. 50 players remain and 47 get paid. There's 16 minutes until the first break, will it burst before then?

1:40pm: Getting closer to the money
Level 16, Blinds 2,500-5,000(500 ante)

The bubble gets ever closer as: James Price, Pierre Khoury, Vimal Patel, Mark Hitchens, Daniel Bland, Bujar Rajta, Thomas Willoughby, Mia Liu, Stefanos Moysidis, John-Paul Santos, Dominic Wells. William Lewis, David Tompkins, Julian Daley and Maxim Syn have all been knocked out.

1:25pm: Vinnicombe vanquished by Tom Waterman
Level 15, Blinds 2,000-4,000(500 ante)

Tom Waterman is up to 160,000 after winning a race to eliminate James Vinnicombe. The short stack got it in good with pocket sixes against the [A][Q] of Waterman but an ace on the board sent him to the rail.

1:10pm: Lots of exits; 65 players left
Level 15, Blinds 2,000-4,000(500 ante)

Many exits to tell you about now. For fans of: Mirko Mostaccio, Leslie Lamnea, Tom Dickenson, Mark Jefferies, Onur Guven, Thomas Bloomfield, Rahim Tadj-Saadat, Rob Munro, Fernando Berlanga, Anthony Wickert, Karol Podsiadio, Chris Gilbert, Philip Marcu, Noel Broadbent, Stuart Bayford, Steven Mayne, Steve Goose, Justin Kyrakidas and Barry Warden it's bad news as they're all out.

65 players remain.

1pm: Huge double for Stoupis
Level 14, Blinds 1,500-3,000(300 ante)

Day 1A chip leader Samuel Orledge just took a big hit that in the process doubled Fotis Stoupis to almost 200,000.

Orledge opened to 6,600, Stoupis re-raised to 24,000, Orledge tanked and then moved all in and Stoupis snap called.

Orledge: [Ad][Jc]
Stoupis: [Ac][Ah]

The Greek player was all in for 95,800 and the aces held on the [7h][2h][7d][Jd][9d] board. Orledge had gained some chips today but drops back to around 105,000 as a result of that hand.

12:50pm: Funnell felts Taylor
Level 14, Blinds 1,500-3,000(300 ante)

Down to just 21,700 Simon Taylor moved all in from middle position for 21,700 and William Funnell - who was to his immediate left - re-raised all-in for about 50,000 and everyone else folded.

Funnell: [Qd][Qh]
Taylor: [8s][7s]

Both players stood as the [Kh][9d][7c][3c][Td] board came down and they shook hands as Taylor departed.

12:40pm: More fallers
Level 14, Blinds 1,500-3,000(300 ante)

There was no way back for Luke Cameron after he doubled up William Funnell (see 12:10pm post). He's one of the early fallers here on Day 2 and joins: Mark Williamson, David Barnes, Ricky Davies, John Lucarotti, Jamie Pugh, Andrea Scappazzoni, Chaminda Tennakoon, Rob Crawford and Joshua Varghese on the rail.

12:30pm: Ace double for Rees
Level 13, Blinds 1,200-2,400(300 ante)

In level one of this tournament George Rees caught lightning in a bottle when he made a royal flush. In level 13 he found aces to double up.

Shane D'Moriah opened from the hijack, Rees shoved for 38,500 from the cut-off and when it folded back to D'Moriah he called with pocket eights. The [3c][9h][Js][6d][Kc] board kept the aces in front and kept Rees in the tournament.

Aces kept Rees in it

12:20pm: Exits
Level 13, Blinds 1,200-2,400(300 ante)

The start of Day 2 is usually carnage and in the opening 20 minutes 10 players have been eliminated. They include: Jeff Barron, Line Olsen, Carl Davies, Philip Baker and Adriano Soares.

12:10pm: Funnell gets chips
Level 13, Blinds 1,200-2,400(300 ante)

From early position John O'Donnell opened to 5,500, Luke Cameron then three-bet to 12,500 and action passed to William Funnell. He asked Cameron how much he was playing and then moved all-in for 28,800, That got rid of O'Donnell but Cameron thought for a bit before making the call.

Funnell: [As][Ac]
Cameron: [9h][9c]

The board came [Kd][2d][Ks][7h][7c] and Funnell more than doubled up to around 65,000 whilst Cameron is down to about 17,000.

"Were you thinking about folding?" asked Funnell.
"I was, but I was priced in," replied Cameron.

12:02pm: Action is go
Level 13, Blinds 1,200-2,400(300 ante)

Almost bang on time the action has started.

11:50am: The Series is about to get serious
The prelims are over, this is the real thing. Sure the 106 players who've made it to Day 2 can give themselves a pat on the back for outlasting the 245 players who've been eliminated but that's about it. 59 of those who're back today will suffer the same fate, that is they'll leave empty handed.

For the other 47 they'll have some financial reward for their efforts, a minimum of £480, rising all the way to £16,590 should they be the last man or woman sitting. You can see the You can see the entire payout structure here.

The man who's sitting in pole position right now is Andrew King. He won a 160,000 chip pot on the final hand of Day 1B to finish on 201,600. He was the only player to break the 200,000 chip mark, but others who'll be back today include: Sam Orledge (170,900), Chris Gordon (148,000) Elliot Panyi (139,300) and Daiva Barauskaite (78,700).

Chris Gordon

Cards are in the air at noon.

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PokerStars Blog Reporting Team at UKIPT Series: Nick Wright. Photos by Mickey May

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