Ralph Perry, Michael “SirWatts” Watson, Luke “IWearGoggles” Staudenmaier, David Benyamine, Gabriel Thaler, and John Phan comprised this final table, with no weak links. Anyone familiar with online tournaments know SirWatts and IWearGoggles quite well, as both players shared the same cheering section, one that was often conflicted on who to root for as the day wore on. Gabriel Thaler and Ralph Perry are two legitimately tough live pros, John Phan is fresh off of his two bracelets this summer, and David Benyamine is having a positively huge year, with a bracelet and with millions of winnings in the online nosebleed cash games.

446 players started this $15k tournament, up from the $10k buy in last year. At the end of the road, here were the stacks of the players heading into the massive final table.

Mike Watson: 5,060,000
David Benyamine: 4,860,000
Luke Staudenmaier: 3,495,000
John Phan: 3,495,000
Ralph Perry: 1,635,000
Gabe Thaler: 1,550,000

And here’s what waited for them:

1st: $1,673,770
2nd: $840,295
3rd: $452,465
4th: $290,900
5th: $193,915
6th: $129,275

Blinds were starting at 40k/80k with a 10k ante, which meant no one was in any real trouble, despite Gabe Thaler and Ralph Perry being on the short stack. Watson came in holding a very narrow lead over David Benyamine, with less than 3 big blinds separating the two players.

Thaler battled up to 2 million, while Watson still hung around 5 million, when a huge hand between the two players went down. Watson bumped it up to 220k preflop, as everyone folded to Thaler in the big blind. He put in the extra 140k, and they were off to the flop. The flop came down 754, with two hearts, and Thaler checked the action to Watson. Watson led at it for 320k, and Thaler shoved in the rest of his chips. After some thought, Watson made the call with AJ of hearts, good for overcards and the nut flush draw. Thaler had pocket tens, and Watson was a small favorite. The turn was the three of diamonds, shifting the favorite to Thaler, but the river was the eight of hearts, giving Watson the nut flush, and ousting Thaler in 6th place. Thaler took home $129,275 for his efforts.

After that huge pot, here’s how things looked:

Michael Watson: 7,140,000
Luke Staudenmaier: 4,280,000
John “The Razor” Phan: 4,085,000
David Benyamine: 2,785,000
Ralph Perry: 1,535,000

The blinds moved up to 60k/120k with a 15k ante before the next elimination went down.

After taking a bad beat at the hands of Ralph Perry, John Phan was down to 760k. He moved in with A9 off suit, and was called down by David Benyamine’s A6 of spades. The KJ7 flop with one spade and two diamonds was a relatively safe one for John. However, the turn queen of spades gave him a big sweat. The river three of spades completed another brutal suckout on Phan, and this year’s only multiple bracelet winner was taken down in 5th place, for $193,915.

Just a few hands later, another played exited stage left. The action folded to Michael Watson in the small blind, who raised it up to 360k, Ralph Perry moved in for over 2.1 million, total. Watson snap-called with the AQ of spades, and was decently ahead of Ralph’s KJ off-suit. The 542 rainbow offered no help to Perry. The turn nine pushed Perry out the door a little bit more, and the river ace sealed the deal. Perry finished in fourth place, for $290,900.

Entering three-handed play, here’s where Benyamine, Watson, and Staudenmaier stood.

Luke Staudenmaier: 7,685,000
Michael Watson: 7,555,000
David Benyamine: 4,865,000

After a bit of play, Benyamine and Staudenmaier got into a conflict which lead to the biggest pot of the tournament thus far. With the blinds still at 60k/120k with a 15k ante, Benyamine raised it up from the button to 360k. Watson folded, and Staudenmaier moved all in over the top from the big blind. Benyamine made the call, putting himself and his over 4 million chip stack at risk. However, he was well ahead with AJ, up against Staudenmaier’s AT. The flop rolled out 643, with neither player having a flush draw of any sort. The turn sent out a Q, and the river a 7, giving Benyamine the pot and the chip lead.

After that mammoth hand, Benyamine was up to 9 million, Watson at 6.7 million, and Staudenmaier down to 4.2 million.

However, it wouldn’t take long for Luke to get back on his feet. Just a few hands after, he raised it up to 360k from the button. Watson three-bet, making it 1.1 million to go. Staudenmaier moved in for roughly 3 million more, and Watson made the easy call with pocket queens. Staudenmaier flipped up AK, and the classic race was underway. The flop came out QJ2, giving Staudenmaier just the four remaining tens as outs, and needing to avoid any board pairing, as Watson flopped a set. The turn was a big one – the ten of hearts. Staudenmaier suddenly had vaulted into the lead, and needed to avoid a Q, J, 2, or T, and he’d double up. The river was none of those cards, as it came down the six of diamonds, doubling up Staudenmaier. After that hand, Watson was down to 4.9 million, while Benyamine held 8 million, and Staudenmaier was back up over 7 million.

As the blinds rose to 80k/160k with a 15k, the players continued to battle. Benyamine was up to around 10 million at the time, with Watson and Staudenmaier hovering around 5 million apiece. Watson and Staudenmaier were against each other blind vs. blind when the next massive pot went down. Benyamine folded the button, and Watson made it 480k to go from the small blind. Staudenmaier moved all in, and was instacalled by Watson, who was at risk. Watson was way ahead with AQ, vs. Staudenmaier’s AT. The flop came down KJ9, meaning Staudenmaier would need a Q for the win. The turn was a 7, giving Staudenmaier an 8 as an out. However, the river paired the 7, giving Watson the win. Watson was up to 7.5 million, while Staudenmaier was crippled to just over 500k. He wasn’t able to make a miraculous comeback, and soon exited in 3rd, for a respectable $452,465.

Going into heads-up play, here’s how Benyamine and Watson shaped up:

David Benyamine: 11,700,000
Michael Watson: 8,420,000

The two pros jostled for a bit, trading chips, ultimately in the same spot as the blinds moved up to 100k/200k with a 20k ante. Benyamine was down to 11,395,000, while Watson was up to 8,720,000.

Just a bit after the blind change, Benyamine and Watson got into a pot for nearly all of the chips. Benyamine made it 500k from the button, and Watson reraised to 1.5 million from the big blind. Benyamine went all in, and Watson made the easy call with AK. However, he was behind Benyamine’s QQ, but not by far. The T82 flop was barren, offering nothing to Watson. The turn 5 followed suit. However, the ace of diamonds on the river was sweet salvation for Watson, and he doubled up to over 17 million! Benyamine was left with 2.6 million in chips, and would need to get to work fast.

Benyamine was up to 3 million when his final hand occurred. Watson moved all from the button, and Benyamine made the call with K9 of hearts, which was in a dominant spot over Watson’s Q9. However, the AQ6 flop changed everything, vaulting Watson into the lead. The turn 9 changed nothing, and the river 7 doomed Benyamine, sending him home in 2nd place, $840,295 richer.

However, the day belonged to Watson. The 24 year old pro from Waterloo, Ontario, Canada, is well-respected amongst his online peers, and has clearly made a huge impact on the live scene now, taking down the Bellagio Cup IV for $1,673,770! 

Before we take a look at where we’re at this week, let’s take a step back, and take a quick look at last week.

1. p3rc4 8513
2. tons26 6593
3. Chick91 5722
4. sanbu 5439
5. Nase66 x 5257
6. Griff94 4903
7. Jukka S. 4835
8. Classhill 4823
9. FlitschCoKG 4692
10. kyfran91 4676

The face of the Top 10 has changed, and doesn’t even remotely resemble what it did last month. Without further adieu, let’s see where we stand as of July 17th, 2008.

1. p3rc4 12852
2. Chick91 9933
3. tons26 8729
4. Jukka S. 8461
5. kyfran91 8003
6. cessy12 7983
7. ToMontana8 7912
8. rhumagricole 7488
9. Griff94 7397
10. xocolate 7301

In what is an extreme surprise, the Top 3 still contains the same players, with Chick91 and tons26 switching places, and the Top 10 has 6 of the same players from last week. While it’s not perfect, it’s a definite step in the right direction. However, our number one for another week, p3rc4, is straight up crushing the field right now. He now enjoys a nearly 3,000-point lead over Chick91, and is showing no signs of relenting. It’s going to be extremely tough to catch p3rc4 now, but it will be interesting to see if the other players can adjust and make a run for first still.

Chick91 has made the jump to 2nd, amassing a solid 9,933 points, and sending tons26 back to 3rd place in the process. Chick91 has had a great week, garnering over 4,000 points while doing so. Tons26 on the other hand, has had a bit of a sluggish week, barely gaining over 2,000 points, which just wasn’t enough to hold onto the 2nd place spot.

Jukka S. is a player to watch, not only staying in the Top 10, but also jumping all the way up from 7th to 4th. If they can keep this kind of play up, they’ll be able to make a name for themself in the Top 10. But as has been shown, consistency is hard to come by these days.

Speaking of consistency, kyfran91 is quietly building a solid reputation in the [url=http://poker-network.flopturnriver.com/PokerNetwork-Ongame-Network.php]Ongame[/url] Leaderboard. Despite never quite hitting the top spots, kyfran91 is still quite the mainstay in the Top 10 itself. You can always be sure to see them middling around often during any given month of play. Kyfran91 has had a great week, jumping up from 10th to 5th.

Cessy12, ToMontana8, rhumagricole, and xocolate are our new entries this week, coming in at 6th, 7th, 8th, and 10th respectively. Rhumagricole has had very sporadic showings in the Top 10. For a while some time back, ToMontana8 looked like the real deal, ready to run roughshod over the [url=http://poker-network.flopturnriver.com/PokerNetwork-Ongame-Network.php]Ongame[/url] Leaderboard. However, as for now, it appears that he was just a pretender, as he fell back quite fast.

Griff94 continues to stick around in the Top 10. Though, this week he took a tumble from 6th to 9th. He’s going to have to work hard this week to right the ship, if he wants to stay in the Top 10.

That’s all for this week! If you’d like to take a better look at today, check out http://www.flopturnriver.com/Ongame-PokerRoom-Players-20080717.php. Be sure to check back next week as we march on through July!

So let’s kick it off with said tournament, which saw an unbelievable amount of players show up for the $215 buy-in! A record 14,181 players came out, inflating the prizepool to over $2.8 million! It took just twelve hours of play to whittle the field down to its eventual winner – TimDawg888. He made a deal with the remaining players, and took the lion’s share when it was all said and done.

1. TimDawg888: $235,356.
2. xanja: $235,000
3. PokerMurphy1: $167,789
4. kpax22: $113,448
5. KAG1: $85,086
6. Roundhauskik: $63,815
7. sjoko: $45,379
8. Bumper111: $29,496
9. funplay800: $21,272

The Sunday Warmup had its prizepool doubled as well, yesterday. With the jump from $500k to $1 million, it comes as no surprise that that a record field showed up for the Warmup, with 5,357 players coming out. Unfortunately, 5,356 players left disappointed, as Parnish was the winner, taking down the full amount of $137,675!

1. Parnish: $137,675
2. Benjaphon: $94,926
3. Tgonz: $62,677
4. markkx: $51,963
5. scossett: $41,249
6. ggiillaadd: $30,535
7. flyingdonk: $21,428
8. mrudy68: $13,393
9. Thaiti: $8,785

2,032 players came out for the Sunday Second Chance on [url=http://www.flopturnriver.com/reviews/Online-Poker-PokerStars.php]Poker Stars[/url], as the guarantee was up to $400k this week. However, with that field, the prizepool was up to $460k, creating a solid $73.6k for 1st! Donnysack was able to beat out the field, taking down $73,618 in the process, as the players opted for no chop at the final table.

1. donnysack: $73,618
2. hookembaby83: $52,946
3. CPT CRUX: $38,213
4. Alex_Moscow: $25,782
5. WINTERS25: $21,178
6. Fold Ü Phish: $16,574
7. bonzo9876: $11,970
8. ozenc: $8,287
9. nsd4eva: $5,064

The [url=http://www.flopturnriver.com/reviews/Online-Poker-FullTilt.php]Full Tilt[/url] $750k saw a player show up who was mentioned earlier. Dipthrong has been on a tear lately, winning the Sunday Mulligan this week and winning the [url=http://www.flopturnriver.com/reviews/Online-Poker-FullTilt.php]Full Tilt[/url] $750k! He came into the final table as the chip leader and never looked back, grinding out the competition en route to a massive $147,382 payday.

1. dipthrong - $147,382
2. DG101: $89,219
3. alow4194: $58,422
4. TSDwarrior: $45,903
5. Berthiaumel01: $34,469
6. DUSoonerKid: $25,539
7. boykee: $19,196
8. lazman04: $15,023
9. Pfefffff: $11,184

The Sunday Brawl on [url=http://www.flopturnriver.com/reviews/Online-Poker-FullTilt.php]Full Tilt[/url] saw Ari Engel (playing as I Am Ari) and GB2005 come out. This comes as no surprise given their talent and as GB2005 has been making major final tables all over the place lately, as he made this very same final table last week! He didn’t improve on his second place finish from last week, busting in 6th for $14,243. Ari had the best showing of the two pros, taking 3rd for $35,087, as neither player could outlast SMIFF_29, who took it down for $71.5k.

1. SMIFF_29: $71,564
2. Ace18: $47,246
3. I Am Ari: $35,087
4. VincentVegas007: $27,445
5. AKbully8: $20,497
6. GB2005: $14,243
7. StckedOff21: $8,685
8. footwork: $5,906
9. RascalKing: $4,169

The Sunday Mulligan saw one of the very best tournaments players around show up, as Annette_15 destroyed the competition, taking down $51.6k in the process! Annette doesn’t play the volume she used to, but is always a huge threat in whatever tournament she plays.

1. Annette_15: $51,660
2. nickdawgg: $32,718
3. FM2T: $24,223
4. scam8: $18,942
5. YanniYankievich: $14,350
6. Radford999: $10,332
7. ahab32: $6,888
8. ktc5×4: $5,166
9. dsindy: $3,674

Rounding out FTR’s coverage of the Sunday Majors, is the [url=http://www.flopturnriver.com/reviews/Online-Poker-Bodog.php]Bodog[/url] $100k. 783 players showed up, lessening the overlay down to $21.7k this week. As mentioned before, and as you may have figured out, Dipthrong took this down, effectively taking down two majors in one day! The sickest part of it all is he took this down earlier in the day, taking down the [url=http://www.flopturnriver.com/reviews/Online-Poker-FullTilt.php]Full Tilt[/url] $750k to wrap up his day. Amazing.

1. dipthrong: $23,600
2. 1ManCrew: $13,600
3. fatal: $9,100
4. GotSmChange4Ya: $7,000
5. Yardmaster: $5,700
6. scorpiovie: $4,500
7. Poncelet: $3,300
8. ryder_back: $2,200
9. kobepeyton: $1,300

Congrats to everyone who cashed big yesterday!

David Thorne: How’d you get your start in poker, what’s your story?

Richard Lyndaker: When I was around 16, I started playing in $5 home games with my friends from school. During the summer, we played 3-4 nights a week. One summer a couple of my friends started playing online, and one of them made over $1,200 in his first weekend, which was a pretty big deal. So, I thought I should give it a try. I deposited like $50 on [url=http://www.flopturnriver.com/reviews/Online-Poker-UltimateBet.php]Ultimate Bet[/url] and gave it a whirl.

After I was beating 10NL, I moved to [url=http://www.flopturnriver.com/reviews/Online-Poker-PartyPoker.php]Party Poker[/url] and played SNGs since they were extremely easy back then. I had some success there, but eventually had a long unsuccessful bout with 100NL in the fall of 2005. I didn’t play too much online again until the fall of 2006, where I was able to make a bunch at 1/2 and 2/4 Full Ring on [url=http://www.flopturnriver.com/reviews/Online-Poker-Bodog.php]Bodog[/url]. I used most of the money for school and stuff, and ended up not playing much until the fall of 2007, where I played a lot of live poker at Turning Stone in New York. A few times I had a small bankroll on [url=http://www.flopturnriver.com/reviews/Online-Poker-PokerStars.php]Poker Stars[/url], but used pretty terrible [url=http://www.flopturnriver.com/Bankroll-Management-101.html]Bankroll Management[/url] and busted it.

In December 2007, I was pretty busto. I made a small deposit on [url=http://www.flopturnriver.com/reviews/Online-Poker-PokerStars.php]Poker Stars[/url] and decided to try to take the online stuff seriously. I built $200 into $20,000 in like three weeks, and then I went on a trip to Niagara Falls with some poker guys, most of whom I didn’t know. I was invited by adam001, who has been crushing midstakes on [url=http://www.flopturnriver.com/reviews/Online-Poker-PokerStars.php]Poker Stars[/url] for a couple of years. I had met him at Turning Stone a few months prior. When I watched Adam and one of his friends (kingsofcards, who has done an FTR interview) play sessions, I was introduced to whole new levels of thought that I wasn’t able to see before. I began thinking a ton more when I played and having a lot of success. This year I’ve been able to move up the limits pretty quickly, and since my World Series of Poker score I’ve been playing mostly 25/50 NL and feel only a select few regs are able to outplay me.

DT: Speaking of the World Series of Poker, would you mind talking about your experiences this summer? You had a great run in a $1.5k event, and of course, you just hit it huge in the $5k 6-max event. How much is this going to change the direction of your poker career?

Richard Lyndaker: I was living in Vegas with Adam, Tom, and a bunch of other guys intending to play a few events for fun but mostly just grind online. I played a $1500 LHE tourney a few days after I got there and busted in the last level of the first day. I went deep in the $1500 NL a couple weeks later but was shortstacked for all of Day 2 so I never had any real big expectations. It was a pretty fun experience but it was also pretty grueling so I didn’t feel like playing many more events, if any. My friends insisted that I play the 5k 6max and it sounded like a pretty +EV opportunity since it was deep stacked, so I went for it. It was the longest 3 days of my life but the grind was obviously worth it. As far as changing the direction of my career, I dunno; I was already intending to play professionally for quite a while longer, but I guess now I’m able to play a bit higher stakes which may be a good thing.

DT: As it pertains to the $5k, can you describe how heads-up went for you? A lot of players don’t understand the variance in heads-up play. (including certain players who have trashed your play) How do you feel you played at your final table, as well?

Richard Lyndaker: Basically I was playing my normal HU game, which is fairly strong. I was calling slightly wider out of position than normal because Joe was a huge station postflop. I never flopped top pair or a reasonable draw in any hand where I called a raise out of position the entire match

Also most of the flop textures were bad for bluffing vs. a station since I had no equity most of the time. At the end it was a shovefest because the blinds got pretty high and I got lucky a couple of times but so did he. In the last two big hands he sucked out with an open ended straight draw vs. top pair and then he held with AQ vs. my 97. I think I could have played slightly better but I’m certainly not mulling over any of the hands in disgust. I should have thrown in a couple checkraise bluffs with air but I just didn’t feel any of the spots were independently +EV.

DT: You said before that you feel only a select few regulars can outplay you. How much do you feel your game has grown this year, and do you think that you’re getting more action now, after your World Series score?

Richard Lyndaker: My game has grown a ton; I’d say I was an above average taggfish capable of beating 1-2 and good 2-4 games 6 months ago. And now I am comfortable playing in most any game on Stars. It seems like people were looking to join my games when I first played 10/20+ but now I have the respect of the majority of regs. A few might still feel I’m a fishy but I play nonstandard in a ton of spots in 6max, so that is to be expected and is welcomed.

DT: So clearly you’re comfortable and confident with your game now. It’s also clear that you’re doing a lot of things right with your results this year. What do you think you do that really sets you apart from your competition?

Richard Lyndaker: I think I pick apart when people have unbalanced ranges pretty well and I’m never afraid to go with a read even if it makes me look extremely silly some of the time.

DT: What are your thoughts on live poker? You don’t sound very fond of it; do you intend to play much of it in the future?

Richard Lyndaker: It’s pretty fun; I just don’t like playing 10 hours a day under a lot of pressure. I’ll probably play a few random events per year and a few WSOPs but I’ll never be a grinder who plays 20 events in June. As for live cash games, they’re soft but just not as profitable as multi-tabling online so I won’t be doing much of that either.

DT: What does the future hold for you? Where do you foresee yourself taking poker?

Richard Lyndaker: I’ve probably got another year or so in me of playing a ton of online poker. After that I’ll finish up with school unless I’m super rich, in which case I probably won’t bother if I’m able to find some quality investment opportunities or other business ventures.

DT: Awesome. It’s time for the fun portion of the interview that I’ve adopted from ISF, the lightning portion. First question. What’s your favorite movie?

Richard Lyndaker: Pulp Fiction.

DT: Favorite song?

Richard Lyndaker: As far as classics I’m gonna go with Summer Of ‘69 by Bryan Adams, for Modern Rock I’ll go with Corduroy by Pearl Jam, and for Rap music which I’m most fond of I’d say anything from the Slim Shady LP.

DT: Favorite beer?

Richard Lyndaker: Crown Lager (Australian beer)

DT: Favorite poker memory, and why?

Richard Lyndaker: Sending ElkY (Bertrand Grospellier) to the rail cursing at himself after I flatted preflop and then check-called 3 streets with aces with 16 left in the $5k 6-max.

DT: Out of curiosity, what made you play the hand like that?

Richard Lyndaker: Well, preflop he was raising 100% of button and I hadn’t made an aggressive move vs. him yet. As for the flop, the big blind had also called preflop (I was small blind) so checkraising with a player to act would look super strong, and ElkY continuation bets a J84 rainbow flop with 100% of his range so a slowplay looked best. The turn was a 7, so I thought a checkraise would look like 87 or a straight, basically overrepping my hand, and I thought he’d be able to lay down anything worse for his tourney life. I thought the best option was to let him valuetown himself on the river if he had slightly worse, and the only argument for a checkraise was to protect my hand, which I’m never too concerned with.

DT: Thanks for the interview, Rich.

Richard Lyndaker: No problem…thanks FTR for helping me become successful at poker!

1. sanbu 3021
2. LencsA 2732
3. ozxkn 2556
4. Tommo666x 2526
5. E.D woopass 2502
6. kyfran91 2441
7. mmtwga3 2401
8. Chick91 2350
9. tibo03 2322
10. -Sir X- 2320

As you can see, we had a new number one in sanbu, who was making his first trip to the Top 10 of the [url=http://poker-network.flopturnriver.com/PokerNetwork-Ongame-Network.php]Ongame[/url] Leaderboard, let alone the number one spot! Could he hold onto it this week and bring some consistency back?

1. p3rc4 8513
2. tons26 6593
3. Chick91 5722
4. sanbu 5439
5. Nase66 x 5257
6. Griff94 4903
7. Jukka S. 4835
8. Classhill 4823
9. FlitschCoKG 4692
10. kyfran91 4676

Well, if nothing else, the Top 10 is sticking to a trend, and that trend is currently chaos. We have seven new players to the Top 10 of the [url=http://poker-network.flopturnriver.com/PokerNetwork-Ongame-Network.php]Ongame[/url] Leaderboard this week, which means once again there are seven players who have fallen out of the Top 10, and couldn’t stay consistent. This includes a new number one in p3rc4, who has an astounding 8,513 points right now, and is 1,440 points ahead of tons26, who is in second this week! Both of these players are new to the top ten, adding to the chaos. It will be interesting to see if either of these players are around next week at this time.

Chick91 is one of our three players making it from last week to this week, making a nice move from 8th to 3rd this week. Sanbu was also present last week as our leader, but takes a nasty fall down to 4th this week. Griff94 makes his re-entry to the Top 10 this week, showing up at 6th. Griff94 has had some small successes on the [url=http://poker-network.flopturnriver.com/PokerNetwork-Ongame-Network.php]Ongame[/url] Leaderboard in the past, but it remains to be seen if he can string together some good weeks and make a name for himself on this leaderboard.

Nase66 x, Jukka S., Classhill, and FlitschCoKG are all new to the Top 10, coming in at 5th, 7th, 8th, and 9th, respectively. Very little is known about any of these players, so we’ll have to see if they’re still around next week.

Rounding out the Top 10 this week is kyfran91, who has been here quite a few times, sharing a quite similar fate with Griff94. Kyfran91 has been unable to throw up many great weeks in a row, but is here, rounding out the Top 10 quite often.

That is all for this week folks. If you’d like to take a better look at today’s results, check out http://www.flopturnriver.com/Ongame-PokerRoom-Players-20080710.php. Thanks for checking out the [url=http://poker-network.flopturnriver.com/PokerNetwork-Ongame-Network.php]Ongame[/url] Leaderboard for this week, be sure to come back next week for more results!

A solid line-up made its way to the illustrious Sunday Million final table, with Devon “PokerSavage1” Miller and Cody “thugmoneymkr” Slaubaugh making their way through over 7,000 players. Devon found his way to three handed play, when he and the other two players made a deal, guaranteeing each player over six figures. This left $30k for the eventual winner. BeatBeatKid_2 ended up with the biggest prize of them all, not only claiming $145k from the chop, but the remaining $30k!

1. BeatBeatKid_2: $175,000
2. PokerSavage1: $103,000
3. racin77db: $100,370
4. dynoalot: $66,318.30
5. GravityPilot: $52,056.30
6. etushekki: $37,794.30
7. MyMaria44: $25,671.60
8. thugmoneymkr: $17,114.40
9. Oderec25: $11,124.36

The [url=http://www.flopturnriver.com/reviews/Online-Poker-PokerStars.php]Poker Stars[/url] Sunday Warm-up is the tournament that kicks off the majors on Sundays, and offers up a solid first place prize to whomever can make it to the end of the long road. One_life22 was the big winner this week, outlasting the field en route to a $86k payday.

1. one_life22: $86,199
2. Mekong~x: $61,362
3. Pango0274: $43,246
4. daNutz15: $32,142
5. U_TILT_ME: $26,298
6. keksdose68: $20,454
7. matjouz: $14,610
8. drhms: $9,350
9. timigod: $5,669

The [url=http://www.flopturnriver.com/reviews/Online-Poker-PokerStars.php]Poker Stars[/url] Second Chance saw two players show up who became repeat offenders, each making separate major final tables on [url=http://www.flopturnriver.com/reviews/Online-Poker-FullTilt.php]Full Tilt[/url] as well! Quite the achievement, indeed. As for this final table itself, JohnnyBelow and SNo0oWMAN were the best at the final table, so it comes as no surprise that those were the two players that made repeat final tables yesterday. Sunset King took it all down for $48,935, in the process beating out some solid players in JohnnyBelow and Sno0oWMAN.

1. Sunset King: $48,935
2. ollie570: $35,880
3. JohnnyBelow: $27,600
4. jinglenutz: $20,700
5. mnbvcxy: $14,490
6. central106: $11,730
7. SNo0oWMAN: $8,970
8. BrokenTPot: $6,210
9. grind4mine: $3,864

The [url=http://www.flopturnriver.com/reviews/Online-Poker-FullTilt.php]Full Tilt[/url] $750k Guaranteed was another tough, tough final table that went down yesterday. It also saw one of the two players that were mentioned before; make it to this massive final table. SN8WMAN continued his solid Sunday, finishing in 6th for $23,025. However, the talented holdplz had the best finish of them all, winning it for $132,788.

1. holdplz: $132,788
2. jibossh: $80,250
3. Belig: $52,500
4. fratboy247: $41,400
5. kasper74: $31,050
6. SN8WMAN: $23,025
7. wmmcl: $17,250
8. jtd24: $13,500
9. ohjay310: $10,050

JohnnyBelow made his second appearance of the day at the Sunday Brawl on [url=http://www.flopturnriver.com/reviews/Online-Poker-FullTilt.php]Full Tilt[/url] Poker and made the most of it, besting GB2005 and David “Bussa Buss” Baker, who are no strangers to big money tournaments. For his efforts, Johnny came away with the win and $61,533.

1. JohnnyBelow: $61,533
2. GB2005: $38,923
3. Brahmann: $28,906
4. spady 007: $22,896
5. pokerhuber: $17,172
6. Bussa Buss: $12,307
7. ronnex: $8,014
8. nate7177: $5,724
9. PainkPanther05: $4,007

Staying with the theme of repeat offenders making appearances at final tables, noted SNG grinder dipthrong owned the Sunday Mulligan final table on [url=http://www.flopturnriver.com/reviews/Online-Poker-FullTilt.php]Full Tilt[/url] Poker, taking down all comers while attaining a great payday of $44,436.

1. dipthrong: $44,436
2. okstate345: $28,014
3. sugarbritches10: $20,769
4. fergwrx: $15,939
5. uuhhhicall: $12,075
6. baxshatr: $8,694
7. IWntErinNess: $5,796
8. DallasRounder: $4,521
9. Ace18: $3,284

Rounding out our weekly coverage of Sundays is the [url=http://www.flopturnriver.com/reviews/Online-Poker-Bodog.php]Bodog[/url] $100k, as once again the overlay was solid, clocking in at $27.2k this week. Pkb6786 was the skilled and lucky recipient of that value this week, taking down the $23.6k first prize!

1. pkb6786: $23,600
2. Dartanian: $13,600
3. Zieg30: $9,100
4. denlm: $7,000
5. Whitey03: $5,700
6. sanzard: $4,500
7. ryder_back: $3,300
8. yuengling: $2,200
9. dinoucla: $1,300

That’s all for this week. Be sure to stay tuned to [url=http://www.flopturnriver.com/blogs/]FTR Blogs[/url] as we continue to cover the latest in poker news.

Yesterday started out with 1,297 players, all in search of the big one. 636 players survived the breakneck pace of Day 1 that saw players start with 20k in chips, but still move at a relatively brisk pace. The most notable name from the top of Day 1A would have to be Brandon “wins_pot” Adams. A long time, well respected pro who’s played some of the biggest cash games in the world, he’s primed to make a good run in the 2008 World Series of Poker Main Event. Despite the fact that with his 176,450 stack, he’ll have hundreds of big blinds heading into Day 2, it’s going to be a heck of a climb to the top, as the variance is just mind boggling. He’ll be well equipped to do damage with that stack, however.

1,158 players came out today, adding up to 2,455 players thus far. It will be interesting to see if nearly 4,000 players show up tomorrow and Sunday, because that is what it will take to eclipse last year’s number of 6,358 entrants. After this weekend, the players will get a one day break, as they will reconvene on Tuesday, with all four Day 1’s joining up.

As for today, there are some tough customers showing up atop the leaderboard. As this is written, the players are heading into 200/400 with a 50 ante, the last level of the day. So the storylines may be a bit different tomorrow, but here’s what we’re looking at as of now. Michael “SirWatts” Watson is looking good with 98,000, as is Marc Karam with 94,000. Patrik Antonius is taking a break from high stakes cash games to amass a 82k stack on Day 1, as first time bracelet winner [url=http://www.flopturnriver.com/Erick-Lindgren.php]Erick Lindgren[/url] is right behind him with 81k. This is of course only scratching the surface of the world-class talent still left in the Main Event, so it’ll be extremely interesting to see how things pan out over the next few hours.

That’s all for today’s WSOP ME update, be sure to check back to [url=http://www.flopturnriver.com/blogs/]FTR Blogs[/url] as we’ll be covering the mother of all poker tournaments all the way down to the final table.

1. kitakami 14002
2. EVG 1969 11987
3. manito43 11625
4. 23744550 11602
5. spaulding13 11576
6. Griff94 11314
7. p0cket00 11064
8. clem2511 10661
9. tonkiista 10383
10. raymond12345 10288

Utter dominance on the part of kitakami, as he more or less destroyed the [url=http://poker-network.flopturnriver.com/PokerNetwork-Ongame-Network.php]Ongame[/url] Leaderboard in June, ending the month with an over 2k lead over the closest competitor in EVG 1969. Now the question is, can kitakami keep this up through the summer, and become the new top dog on the [url=http://poker-network.flopturnriver.com/PokerNetwork-Ongame-Network.php]Ongame[/url] Leaderboard? Finnrene destroyed the Top 10 throughout the Spring, coming off as relentless. However, all good things must come to an end, and finnrene just slipped out of the Top 10 in June. Let’s take a look at how this month is shaping up, as of July 3rd.

1. sanbu 3021
2. LencsA 2732
3. ozxkn 2556
4. Tommo666x 2526
5. E.D woopass 2502
6. kyfran91 2441
7. mmtwga3 2401
8. Chick91 2350
9. tibo03 2322
10. -Sir X- 2320

The unpredictability of the [url=http://poker-network.flopturnriver.com/PokerNetwork-Ongame-Network.php]Ongame[/url] Leaderboard returns, as not one of the players who ended June in the Top 10 remain. Granted, it’s very, very early in July, but this isn’t the best sign of things to come for said players. Atop the leaderboard stands sanbu, an entirely new face to our Top 10, a player who’s yet to make a splash on the [url=http://poker-network.flopturnriver.com/PokerNetwork-Ongame-Network.php]Ongame[/url] Leaderboard. Not much is known about any other of these players, as outside of kyfran91 who’s coming in at 6th, these players appear to be all completely new to the Top 10. Will any of them stand the test of time? Check back next week to find out!

If you’d like to do some research of your own on today, check out http://www.flopturnriver.com/Ongame-PokerRoom-Players-20080703.php, and if you’d like to check out any other days, go to http://poker-network.flopturnriver.com/PokerNetwork-Ongame-Network.php.

The Sunday Million saw some stiff competition come out yesterday, as DumpingKGB and aaaaaaaa have both had great success in the past. On top of that, KtheKing was back again, and made the Sunday Million final table for the second month in a row! When play got to 3-handed, the remaining players made a three-way even split, leaving $30k for the eventual winner. GoMukYaSelf had the best showing of them all as he took down the Sunday Million, and $135k! Supadphat had more on his table than the Sunday Million, though, as he also made the final table of the [url=http://www.flopturnriver.com/reviews/Online-Poker-FullTilt.php]Full Tilt[/url] Poker $750k Guaranteed! How did he do? Keep reading to find out.

1. GoMukYaSelf: $135,335
2. supadphat: $105,335
3. jalla75: $105,335
4. central106: $60,645
5. PokerED: $47,603
6. aaaaaaaa: $34,561
7. KtheKing: $23,476
8. Patrolman35: $15,650
9. DumpingKGB: $10,173

The Sunday Warmup on [url=http://www.flopturnriver.com/reviews/Online-Poker-PokerStars.php]Poker Stars[/url] saw the second of the three players who made two major final tables yesterday. LoneHixx came in a very respectable 6th place, banking $18k for his efforts. However, the day belonged to notable MTT grinder, nutshot2, as he took it all down for $79,950. He beat a solid player in Sir_winalot9 to win.

1. nutshot2: $79,950
2. Sir_winalot9: $57,500
3. mAAdScientst: $41,500
4. farfalla7: $28,000
5. Sveden House: $23,000
6. LoneHixx: $18,000
7. JONAS 08: $13,000
8. obywatel_g: $9,000
9. spank01: $5,500

LoneHixx made sure to improve on his Warmup finish at the Sunday Second Chance final table on [url=http://www.flopturnriver.com/reviews/Online-Poker-PokerStars.php]Poker Stars[/url], as he had to outlast some extremely tough players en route to the victory. These players included the ever-talented shaundeeb, as well as the third player who made two final tables, gbecks. Congrats to LoneHixx on a sick Sunday.

1. LoneHixx: $49,538
2. florian69: $36,322
3. Castro: $27,940
4. leafsstanley: $20,955
5. gbecks: $14,669
6. Believer82: $11,875
7. ryanghall: $9,081
8. potatopolice: $6,287
9. shaundeeb: $3,912

[url=http://www.flopturnriver.com/reviews/Online-Poker-PokerStars.php]Poker Stars[/url] made their end of the month $250k Guaranteed a $1,050 buy-in yesterday, which attracted 723 players, shattering the guarantee! When it was all said and done, adam001 had mowed down the competition for $133,755!

1. adam001: $133,755
2. dapalma150: $96,882
3. loluno123: $72,300
4. aliwak: $54,225
5. Iftarii: $37,958
6. JLPARIS: $30,728
7. G8vMyLfeAway: $23,498
8. TESIK: $16,268
9. Hasn82: $10,122

The 5K FPP buy-in $1 Million Turbo Takedown on [url=http://www.flopturnriver.com/reviews/Online-Poker-PokerStars.php]Poker Stars[/url] continues to be insanely popular, as 10,586 players came out yesterday, looking for $100k. After eight hours, dickson007 laid claim to $100k, taking down the full amount as the players made no chops.

1. dickson007: $100,000
2. Chaesi: $60,000
3. Bratcat: $40,000
4. cRRusher: $32,500
5. hustler730: $25,000
6. 2 irmaos: $20,000
7. iupeli: $15,000
8. YWEplay: $10,000
9. stortv: $5,500

The [url=http://www.flopturnriver.com/reviews/Online-Poker-FullTilt.php]Full Tilt[/url] $750k Guaranteed saw a tough final table yesterday, as supadphat and gbecks made their second final tables in this tournament, and both had their biggest cashes of the day in it. Supadphat is known as phatchoy888 on [url=http://www.flopturnriver.com/reviews/Online-Poker-FullTilt.php]Full Tilt[/url], and as you can see, he improved upon his second place finish in the [url=http://www.flopturnriver.com/reviews/Online-Poker-PokerStars.php]Poker Stars[/url] Sunday Million! While Gbecks clearly had an amazing Sunday, with nearly $100k in tournament winnings, yesterday belonged to phatchoy888/supadphat. With his 2nd in the Sunday Million, and his win in the $750k, he made nearly $240k yesterday! A huge congrats to him for one of the most memorable days in Sundays, ever.

1. phatchoy888: $132,788
2. GBecks: $80,250
3. Roekiks: $52,500
4. Doc Sands: $41,400
5. TheMasterJ33: $31,050
6. adamoos: $23,025
7. Bashful101: $17,250
8. herdgolf86: $13,500
9. vandAAgnog: $10,050

The innovative [url=http://www.flopturnriver.com/reviews/Online-Poker-FullTilt.php]Full Tilt[/url] Sunday Brawl saw 1,422 players come out in search of that five-figure payday. When it was all said and done, Tincup35 had outlasted the field, and was the final player remaining.

1. Tincup35: $61,146
2. Hesperides: $38,678
3. jman5j23: $28,724
4. lilfishy897: $22,752
5. ILLDECIDE: $17,064
6. MaddM1ke: $12,229
7. I LIKE CATZ: $7,963
8. RonJovi7: $5,688
9. MileHiMadman: $3,982

The [url=http://www.flopturnriver.com/reviews/Online-Poker-FullTilt.php]Full Tilt[/url] Sunday Mulligan saw a talented tournament grinder take down the $45k first place prize, as dw2k6 took it down.

1. dw2k6: $45,045
2. Factor101: $29,029
3. toomuchaction: $21,522
4. chrisbirtle: $16,517
5. TM1933: $12,513
6. mich_alumni: $9,009
7. scoopydoo: $6,006
8. EASY DZER: $4,505
9. GPTBigGuy: $3,203

Rounding out our coverage this week is the [url=http://www.flopturnriver.com/reviews/Online-Poker-Bodog.php]Bodog[/url] 100k. As usual, the overlay was huge, clocking in at $29.7k this week. Floppedout cashed in on the huge overlay, pocketing $23.6k in the process!

1. floppedout: $23,600
2. pokerarg: $13,600
3. king silas: $9,100
4. moonman25: $7,000
5. vasctrainer: $5,700
6. thedude81: $4,500
7. Riverdancer37: $3,300
8. tehdow: $2,200
9. McNair0938: $1,300

That’s all for this week, be sure to stay tuned to [url=http://www.flopturnriver.com/blogs/]FTR Blogs[/url] for all your poker news needs!

Dale Eberle: 1,414,000
Dan Lacourse: 1,364,000
Marc Fluss: 873,000
Jerry Yamachika: 558,000
Charles Wood: 531,000
Fred Berger: 518,000
Ed Clark: 504,000
Martyn Wilson: 454,000
Peter Silverstein: 435,000

And here’s what these nine gentlemen were playing for:

1. $368,832
2. $235,141
3. $156,424
4. $131,194
5. $106,974
6. $84,771
7. $64,588
8. $49,450
9. $34,312

The blinds were starting out at the final table at 12k/24k with a 3k ante, so none of the remaining nine players were in any real trouble, with a lot of play left. While some people may have the misconception that this Seniors final table would be a long, boring grind filled with tight play, they were indeed wrong. These players wasted no time, and the first elimination happened just a few hands in.

Martyn Wilson got his remaining chips in with pocket eights, and after a long think, Fred Berger called him down with AQ. The flop was a disaster for Martyn Wilson, coming down QQK, with two hearts. Hearts would be no good for Martyn despite holding the eight of hearts, as Fred held the ace of hearts. The turn was the jack of hearts, giving Fred the unnecessary royal flush draw, and the river was the seven of spades, shutting the door on Martyn. He exited stage left, taking away $34,312 in 9th, and vaulting Fred towards the top of the leaderboard.

The pace continued, as Yamachika doubled through Wood with JJ vs. TT, and not long after, Wood doubled through Lacourse with KT vs. Lacourse’s 99.

Not long after, another player departed the final table. Ed Clark had whittled down a bit, and got his stack in with A7 vs. Marc’s 99. The board came out Q5QJ9, and Marc’s full house bested Ed, as Ed busted in 8th for $49,450. Soon after this, the blinds climbed up to 20k/40k with a 5k ante.

Peter Silverstein came into the final table as the short stack and grinded for awhile, but unfortunately he got unlucky with A6 vs. Fred Berger’s JT to double Berger up, and soon after he was gone in 7th for $64,588. Berger would once again double a few hands later through Marc Fluss on a T35 flop with AT vs. Fluss’s KQ.

With this, the blinds shot up to 25k/50k with a 5k ante.

And this re-ignited the breakneck pace at the final table, as Charles Wood would bounce out on a bluff in 6th place, pocketing $84,771.

Fred Berger got it in with two black deuces vs. Dan Lacourse’s jacks. Unfortunately for Berger, an already dire situation got worse on the flop as it came down J48. No running twos came, and Berger finished in 5th for $106,974.

Lacourse continued his destruction of the final table, as he made it 200k to go preflop, and was met by an all in by Yamachika for 610k total. Lacourse made the easy call with AQ, holding a nice lead over Yamachika’s KJ. The QTJ flop was an exciting one, but ultimately yielded nothing for Yamachika, and he was eliminated in 4th, for a hefty $131,194.

The players took a short break, and when they returned the blinds were 30k/60k with a 5k ante. And of course, Dan Lacourse continued destroying the final table. The very first hand after the break, Lacourse and Fluss butted heads in an enormous pot. In a blind vs. blind battle, Lacourse bet out 160k on a 653 flop with two clubs. Fluss then moved in over the top for an additional 665k! Lacourse made a gambling call with Q4 offsuit, while Fluss held 6T of spades. The turn was an 8, keeping Fluss in the lead. However, the river was a cruel 2, and he was eliminated in 3rd for $156,424.

And staying par for the course, heads-up was short and brutal. Dale Eberle made a standard raise of three times the big blind, bumping it up to 180k on the button. Lacourse called, and they were off to the flop. The board came out 99K with two spades, and Lacourse checked to Eberle, who bet 200k. Lacourse called. The turn was the two of diamonds, prompting Lacourse to check yet again, and prompting Eberle to bet 500k. This time, Lacourse came over the top, putting Eberle all in. Eberle made the call, flipping up K4 of diamonds for two pair. Unfortunately, he was way behind Lacourse’s 97 offsuit, good for flopped trip nines. The river was a blank eight, and despite coming in the day as chip leader, Dale Eberle fell just short of the goal in second place, leaving with $235,141.

Dan Lacourse was a one man wrecking crew for the second half of the final table, eliminating the last four players en route to an impressive victory, and $368,832. All in all, a great performance from Dan Lacourse.

That’s all from Event #42, be sure to keep posted to [url=http://www.flopturnriver.com/blogs/]FTR Blogs[/url] as we continue to cover WSOP 2008.