Usually, just one Sunday Million is enough to rule the roost, but this weekend PokerStars is looking to capture the attention of every single poker player on the planet. The Double Vision promo bursts into life on Sunday October 16, adding a second Sunday Million to the tournament schedule.

30 minutes after the usual version gets underway, a duplicate of the original begins at 15:30 ET. True to their name, both feature a guaranteed prize pool of $1,000,000. That’s double the normally available prize money. You’ll need to buy in separately for both events, for the standard price of $215 per tournament.

It’s not just the Million that’s undergoing a cloning procedure. To get in some high stakes multi-table practice, try out the two Sunday Warm-Ups taking place earlier in the day. They kick off at 11:00 ET and 11:30 ET, both costing $215 to enter and both sporting a guarantee of $500,000.

The Double Vision tournaments have guarantees that total at $3 million, so you can be sure that the best players in the game will be on hand to extract an unprecedented level of value from the day’s festivities. Those still stuck inside the U.S. might want to fast track their travel plans.

Plus, there’s the usual gamut of PokerStars Sunday MTTs to sink your bankroll into. The Sunday Kick-Off is a $109 event with $75,000 guarantee, while the $215 Sunday Second Chance gives defeated Million players the chance to win a slice of a $125,000 guarantee prize pool.

There are satellites available to all of these events, with Sunday Million qualifiers starting as low as $1. Just remember that, this week, you need to win two seats, not one.

The 2011 WCOOP features 62 events, with a guaranteed prize pool of $30 million. More than enough to convince pros like Daniel Negreanu to move out of the U.S.A. so that they can take part. For KidPoker in particular, that gambit appears to have paid off. Currently touring around Europe, Negreanu posted solid cashes in Events #6, #7, and #8.

The first of these was Event #6, a $215 No Limit Hold ‘em Turbo Rebuy. With a super-fast clock and the ability to re-enter during the first hour, the prize pool quickly mounted. PokerStars had laid on a guarantee of $500,000, but they needn’t have bothered, as the 1589 entrants quickly forgot any dreams of an overlay. After rebuys and add-ons had been totaled, the prize pool stood at $1,094,600.

Negreanu was not the only PokerStars Pro to get a slice of the cash. Five others made the money, including Humberto Brenes (201st), George Danzer (185th), gkap13 (94th), and Shane Schleger (83rd). The highest ranked PokerStars player was Polish native Marcin Horecki (27th), who plays online as Goral.

By the time the final table rolled around, the subtly named MONSTER_DONG was the biggest name left in the tournament. Better known as Australian grinder Jonathan Karamalikis, he has over $1.1 million in lifetime tournament winnings, including a $450,000 score for first place in a $6k NLHE event at APPT Sydney in 2010. Karamalikis was undeniably the story of the final table as he became the latest player to echo Jack Strauss’ iconic ‘chip and a chair’ achievement.

In the early stages of the final nine, it was FrankThomas8 making waves. He dispatched 4kinghelll with 7-7 against 10-3, followed by filfedra with Ace high against King high. ShippityShip was next to go, as his A-8 top pair was outdrawn by a gl18089′s runner-runner A-9 flush.

This is where the MONSTER_DONG story really begins. Midway into the final table, the pro moves all-in with J-4, only to see himself horribly dominated by the A-4 of medmar. No help arrives on board and Karamalikis is left with less than a big blind in change. All-in on his next hand, he runs 9-6 into A-Q, but manages to find the cards he needs. Shortly afterwards, his 8-6 defeats K-9 and he his back in the game.

Meanwhile, gp18089 falls at the hands of filfedra, who sees his K-K hold up against A-9 suited. Iftarii then exists in similar fashion, failing to find the King he needed to beat lostos’ Q-Q or medmar’s 6-6.

The final few eliminations were all Karamalikis. He knocked filfedra out in 4th with 5-5 holding up against A-2 and then three hands later dispatched lostso64 by pairing his kicker while dominated. Heads up play lasted a mere two hands before medmar moved all-in with K-8 against MONSTER_DONG’s A-10. No help on the board for medmar left Karamalikis with $179,569.13 to show for his perseverance and good fortune.

Final table payouts for the 2011 WCOOP Event #6 were as follows:

1st place: MONSTER_DONG (Australia) $179,569.13
2nd place: medmar (Argentina) – $131,352
3rd place: lotos64 (Russia) – $98,514
4th place: filfedra (Czech Republic) – $73,338.20
5th place: Iftarii (Canada) – $51,993.50
6th place: gp18089 (Greece) – $41,047.50
7th place: ShippityShip (Australia) – $30,101.50
8th place: FrankThomas8 (Spain) – $19,155.50
9th place: 4kinghellll (United Kingdom) – $10,946

It’s a sad fact that the number of women who enter the World Series Main Event is still miniscule compared to the male Erikacontingent. Although that does have the pleasant side effect of making the Last Woman Standing title all the more valuable.

It can do wonders for a woman’s career. Just ask former holders Mario Ho and Tiffany Michelle, the last females to exit the 2007 and 2008 Main Events respectively. The duo went on to appear in reality TV show, The Amazing Race. Not to mention that Maria was only one elimination away from winning her first bracelet in a $5k NLHE event at this year’s WSOP.

Erika was already guaranteed plenty of ESPN coverage, but the 25-year-old semi-pro also has a love story to tell. Her boyfriend of 6 years is professional player David Sands, who also made a deep run in the 2011 WSOP Main Event. In fact, when his table split for the last time, he was moved to the feature table alongside Ms. Moutinho.

Sadly, that was where the fairy tale ended. Sands finished just one place behind his other half in 30th. His elimination came at the hands of John Hewitt, who dominated his J-10 with A-J. It was a similar story for Erika, who followed her partner to the rail a few hands later after being similarly dominated by Andrew Hinrichsen.

She picked up $242,636 for her efforts. Not bad for her first ever attempt at a $10,000 event. Ever since David introduced her to poker, Erika has been playing prodigiously. The pair now reside in Panorama Towers, home to many of the world’s best online players. Erika told ESPN’s Gary Wise how useful it was having some of the best minds in the game as next door neighbours. “I was eager to learn, so having all these players over … it was a wealth of knowledge I could use to my advantage.”

She’s also turned her organizational skills into a business venture. Moutinho and Sands run DGS Management and Consulting, a firm which specializes in managing the lives of successful online pros.

Speaking after their romantic run came to an end, Sands was overwhelmed. “The word that comes to mind is ‘legendary.’ It’s really awesome because it’s both an individual and a collective accomplishment coming together in such an extraordinary way. It was on TV, she was the last woman standing … it was just incredible.”

You can follow Erika on Twitter @EMoutinho.

In 2011, things have changed. There’s a sense of injustice, not derision. The past few years have seen the growth of a fairly juvenile kind of protest. By Nevada law, casinos are not permitted to ban any sex from entering a poker tournament, which means that men can register for the Ladies Event.

Whether for opportunism or politics, fifteen males bought in and there was nothing anyone could do to stop them. While it’s sad to see, there are some positive elements to be drawn from this phenomenon. The quality of female poker play has clearly increased to a state where it is considered unfair by some that they are able to compete against a thinner field. There are now enough women at the top of the game who find it significantly easier to win in a field bereft of their usual male competition.

One can only imagine the storm that would have erupted had any of the Chivalrous Fifteen go on to win Event #53. Luckily, none of them did, but Jonathan Epstein got close. Reportedly playing out of lust for a bracelet, rather than to make a point, Epstein made it all the way to the final table before being eliminated in 9th place.

Photo courtesy of PokerNews

The woman who knocked him out, Marsha Wolak, would go on to win the tournament. She defeated pro player Karina Jett heads up. Jett has already amassed almost $500,000 from live tournaments and was/is sponsored by Full Tilt Poker. Wolak, however , had an even stronger female pro on her side.

In 2009 she attended the Ladies’ Academy with Annie Duke, an experience which propelled her into the world of professional poker. “It was wonderful, she was there all three days. I thought maybe she’d make a guest appearance and then disappear, but she gave her heart and soul, she’s a wonderful teacher,” said Wolak.

Marsha used Annie’s teaching to good effect in the tournament’s final hand. On a board of Q-J-8, she check-raised all-in, encouraging Jett to call with just a K-T straight draw. Wolack already had top pair and was able to fade the turn and river to take home the bracelet. “It’s a dream come true,” said Marsha after her victory. “You start out thinking it would be so much fun and you dream about this.”

Congratulations to everyone who cashed in the Ladies Event, but in particular to a certain Courtney Gee, who finished in 64th place. I’m sure I’ve heard of her somewhere before.

Final table payouts for Event #53 were as follows:

1. Marsha Wolak – $192,344
2. Karina Jett – $119,010
3. Carol Tomlinson – $74,459
4. Valerie McColligan – $54,045
5. Peg Ledman – $39,897
6. Katherine Stahl – $29,909
7. Jennifer Cowan – $22,750
8. Genevieve Gloutnez – $17,537
9. Jonathan Epstein – $13,701

It all began with a law suit, demanding that Full Tilt pay out millions of dollars owed to their customers and an announcement that he would be skipping this year’s World Series.

His absence from the WSOP was billed as a kind of protest, but it’s nothing more than a defense mechanism. Designed to shield the world’s greatest player from a barrage of questions and abuse that would no doubt have spilled in his direction.

The lawsuit evaporated quicker than Isildur’s bankroll and news from the Rio has quickly eclipsed all memory of Phil’s bold boycott. Another Phil has been making all the headlines. “Ivey isn’t at the World Series” only generates interesting copy for so long. After a few days, hard-bitten journos have to find something else to write about and it’s usually easier to build stories around stuff that’s happening rather than stuff that isn’t.

There’s certainly no danger of Ivey being marginalised. He’s still the greatest player on Earth and is likely to emerge from his foxhole for the remaining big events of the year. By all accounts he’s signed on for Annie Duke and Jefferey Pollack’s Epic Poker League, for example.

More relevant is the impact to his image. Full Tilt is still a villain to many ordinary poker players, but there’s no doubt that Phil Ivey’s crusade to win back their money didn’t sound totally genuine. Had he kept his head below the parapet, it’s likely that Phil would have been mostly left alone. Fans think of him as a high roller and a great player, not a businessman. The Howard Lederers of this world will come in for far more scrutiny.

By lashing out at his former masters, Ivey became embroiled in a war of tittle tattle. Full Tilt accused him of welching on debts he owed to the company and while these accusations may or may not be true, it’s degrading to be involved in that kind of exchange. With the writing on the wall, Full Tilt lashed out like a cornered animal. By launching his lawsuit, Phil communicated to Full Tilt that he was no longer their prize asset. Without that admission, you can bet your bottom dollar they would have tried everything in their power to hang on to the most recognizable name in poker.

His decision to trigger conflict with Full Tilt is all the more confusing, seeing as he is often listed among the pros who were involved in starting the company. ‘For the Pros, by the Pros’ the slogan used to read and Ivey has always been counted among that number.

Until he officially severs all connection with the company or gains sponsorship from a new site, his name will be inextricably tied to its tarnished reputation. His lawsuit noted as much, claiming that the actions of Full Tilt executives had brought his image into disrepute.

That’s no doubt true, but signposting that fact showed naivety. If your friends with a murderer, it’s probably not the greatest idea to open a window and shout to the street, “Hey everyone. I’m hanging out with this murderer at the moment, but I’d rather not and, by the way, I’ve totally not killed anyone at all.” It might be true, but it only draws negative attention. Much better to extricate yourself quietly from the situation and wait until you’re clear to make comment.

Phil Ivey’s image is not what it was before the events of Black Friday, but he is partially to blame, as he did very little to insulate himself from the Full Tilt fallout. Like the proverbial phoenix, poker’s most precious commodity will rise again, but by digging himself into a hole, he has made the climb back to credibility much harder than it could have been.

For those unfamiliar with the rules. Each players is dealt five face down cards which they use to make the lowest possible hand. Aces are always high and straights and flushes count against you. That makes 2-3-4-5-7 without a flush the best possible hand. In Triple Draw, each player has three chances to discard any redraw any amount of cards. Preceding and following each draw there is a round of betting.

The final table contained plenty of well known names. It is almost surprising to see a final table with out Jason Mercier on it, so no shock to see him popping up again in Event #49. He was joined by Justin Bonomo and Eli Elezra, both noted players from generations old and new. David Bach may not be as well known to poker fans, but his performance in WSOP mixed events have proved his all round abilities. Most notably taking down the 2009 $50k Players Championship.

Also at the final table was a little known grinder by the name of Leonard “Lenny” Martin. Lenny was born in the Ukraine and works as a real estate investor. He’s also a regular poker player and an expert at 2-7 triple draw. The 55-year-old has made the final table of the WSOP $2,500 lowball event for three out of the last four years and has career earnings of almost $400,000.

That high skill level got him down to heads up play against Justin Bonomo, but ZeeJustin was still the favorite to win thanks to his 2:1 chip lead. However, Event #49 proved to be another case of the amateur outplaying the pro, as Lenny recovered the deficit and took the match into its final hand.

The last pot of the tournament began with Martin putting in a raise from the button, followed by a call from Bonomo. He drew two and Martin drew a single card. Bonomo checked to Lenny who made a bet which Justin quickly called. Martin indicated that he was happy with his hand by standing pat, while Justin drew a single card. This time, Justin decided to check raise all-in, which Lenny dutifully called, once again electing to stand pat on the final draw. Bonomo risked his tournament on a final swap, but was unable to beat his opponents 8-7-6-4-3 with his K-7-4-3-2.

Full final table results for WSOP 2011 Event #49 were as follows:

1. Lenny Martin – $189,818
2. Justin Bonomo – $117,305
3. David Bach – $77,517
4. Masayoshi Tanaka – $52,680
5. Eli Elezra – $36,596
6. Jason Mercier – $25,967

Phil Ivey originally filed his complaint on June 1st, siting worries that his image had been irreparably damaged. He also claimed to be acting the behalf of his “fans” awaiting multi-million dollar cashouts. A stringent non-compete clause in Ivey’s contract was also the source of some controversy.

Full Tilt’s reaction was swift and furious, labelling Ivey a self-centred liar who owed money to the company he had yet to pay back. Quite descended following that opening salvo, until the reveal on June 30th that Ivey voluntarily dismissed his law suit without prejudice. Ivey’s lawyer, David Chesnoff, made a public statement, explaining that, “Mr. Ivey intends to dismiss his lawsuit as he believes Full Tilt is taking steps to see that the players are paid.”

In the wake of this retraction, another legal challenge has emerged. Brought by Steve Segal, Nick Hammer, Robin Houghdahl, and Todd Terry, the suit requests that Full Tilt pay out damages to their customers to the tune of $150 million. They claim to “represent a nation-wide class of Full Tilt account holders residing in the United States.”

The filing claims that, “U.S. players are wrongfully denied access to approximately $150 million (USD) in funds they deposited in their own Player Accounts. After deceitfully separating U.S. players from their money, Full Tilt Poker refuses to refund the U.S. players’ deposits, to reimburse U.S. players for the dollar-value of the contents of their Player Accounts, or to permit U.S. players access to their Player Accounts.”

Segal et al claim that many of the site’s big name pros have an equity interest in the company and, as such, are liable. Alongside company executives Ray Bitar and Nelson Burtnick, named poker pros include: Howard Lederer, Phil Ivey, Chris Ferguson, John Juanda, Jennifer Harman, Phil Gordon, Erick Lindgren, Erik Seidel, Andy Bloch, Mike Matusow, Gus Hansen, Allen Cunningham, and Patrik Antonius.

It is further alleged that Phil Ivey has a 5% stake in Full Tilt. The filing contains a clause that allows for further names to be added as the case continues and if successful, could lead to a full blown jury trial in the near future.

In poker at the highest level, the smallest shift in your favour can be decisive. Under the bright lights of a World Series feature table, the roar of a supporting crowd can be just the kind of boost you need. “I can’t say enough about my rail,” said Caldwell after his victory. “None of this could have possibly happened without them.” It’s no coincidence that the three Canadian players who entered the final table all finished within the top four.

Some of that large cheering section likely had more than just friendship and national pride to stir them on. Kirk qualified for Event #32 via a mini-satellite run as part of the Orangeville Poker Tour. Everyone who competed in Caldwell’s qualifier will share 15% of his winnings.

That prize money totalled $668,276, an amount the Ontario native admitted was a life changing sum. “I can now pay my debts and work for myself, instead of for the credit card companies,” he said. Known as Pudge to his friends, the amateur player added that the tournament had been, “the best four days of my life.”

His heads up opponent was fellow Canuck, Corbin White. The heated pan-province rivalry began with Caldwell holding a 2:1 chip advantage. That lead would not be relinquished at any point during a heads up battle that took just under 30 minutes.

On the final hand, Kirk put in a tentative raise, before moving all-in after a re-raise came back in his direction. He was willing to take a chance with 8-8 and it looked liked the tournament would be decided on a coinflip, after White flipped up A-Q. He didn’t need it in the end, but a rivered 8 to go with the two 9s on board meant that Caldwell won his first bracelet off the back of a full house.

He might not have generated much of a media frenzy, but this WSOP champion is guaranteed a healthy dose of coverage next time he makes a deep run in a World Series event.

The final table payouts for WSOP 2011 Event #32 were as follows:

1st: Kirk Caldwell – $668,276
2nd: Corbin White – $414,918
3rd: Marc McLaughlin – $292,634
4th: Gabriel Morin – $211,353
5th: Dror Michaelo – $154,506
6th: Randy Haddox – $114,304
7th: Rodrigo Portaleoni – $85,556
8th: Kyle Cartwright – $64,788
9th: Alan Stevens – $49,631

Usually an excursion for the game’s elite, Event #16 was a $1,500 version designed to give the masses a chance to play. They responded graciously, with 963 entrants comprising the biggest ever HORSE field at a WSOP event.

Among that number was unknown player Aaron Steury. The Indiana native has been grinding poker tables since he was old enough to enter a casino and showed his ability by placing 14th in the 2009 $3k WSOP HORSE event. At 24 years old, he as quietly amassed  over $900,000 in career winnings.

Until this week, major titles have eluded him, but he can now claim ownership of poker’s most coveted artifact. “I’ve been playing high stakes online multi-table tournaments for about four years and never really had a score of any significance until this. It’s finally my day, I guess.”

He bested the likes of Michael Chow and Denis Ethier at the final table, both of whom already have their own golden wrist decorators. A large number of other big names fell along the way, but some survived to make meaningful cashes. Among the notable names near the final table were Victor Ramdin (9th), Todd Brunson (19th), Eli Elezra (21st), and Pat Pezzin (28th).

It’s not impossible for an unskilled player to win a bracelet by sheer luck and with no prior history, Steury will have some doubters to conquer. Still, as part of such a stacked field in such a skill intensive format, it seems unlikely that Aaron doesn’t have what it takes to compete at the highest level.

He proved as much in a hand that made headlines. During a Hold’em round, Steury was facing down some big bets with just Queen high, but refused to fold his hand. What would be pure madness in most situations turned out to be an amazing play, as his opponent flipped a busted draw to ship the pot.

Reminiscing about the moment post-match, Aaron recalls it as a pivotal moment. “I thought there was a pretty good chance I had the best hand. I was right and I was confident the rest of the tournament. I was spot on. That was the turning point.”

Final table payouts for WSOP 2011 Event #16 were as follows:

1. Aaron Steury ($289,283)
2. Michael Chow ($178,691)
3. Adam Friedman ($121,437)
4. Jonathan Tamayo ($84,516)
5. Ron Ware ($60,036)
6. Denis Ethier ($43,512)
7. David Baker ($32,150)
8. Paolo Compagno ($24,219)
9. Victor Ramdin ($18,577)

There is no name bigger in poker than Phil Hellmuth. The Poker Brat is often derided for the atrophic status of his poker skills, but there’s no denying the man’s incredible history at the WSOP. After becoming the youngest ever Main Event winner in 1989, he has gone on to amass an unbeaten 11 bracelets.

At the final table of Event #16 Hellmuth was going for his twelfth, in addition to topping off a few more high scores. With 80 WSOP cashes and 41 final tables, he is the world leader in both categories. It also seemed like his play was back to its best as he ran over the entire table during the $10k event.

That was until he came head-to-head with John Juanda. The Indonesian maestro has demonstrated his prowess at this very niche form of poker, finishing 4th in this event the previous two years running. He was notching up his 56th WSOP cash and was on the look out for his 5th bracelet. John’s last World Series victory came in the 2008 WSOPE Main Event.

Intriguingly, if Juanda were to win Event #16, he would leapfrog Hellmuth into 5th place on the All Time Money List. Facing down a chip deficit of 3:1, it looked like Phil would be writing the headlines, but an impressive come back from the Juanda quickly set the record straight. So it was John who took the plaudits, but Hellmuth deserves some credit for recapturing a sense of just why he was considered the best tournament player in the world.

There were a bucket-load of famous names littered throughout the event’s 126 entrants and a few of the biggest made it into the money. Almost every player who cashes will be known to poker fans, but stars like Greg Raymer (9th), Bertrand Grospellier (11th), and Johnny Chan (12th) were a cut above the rest.

The $10k Lowball Championship wasn’t the first time that John Juanda has filled column inches this WSOP. At the $25k Heads-Up event that began the open portion of the series, UK pro James Bord was heard threatening John. After being called a “thieving prick,” Juanda was escorted from the building, reportedly for his own protection. Details of why the fracas occurred are not known, but may be related to a similar incident that occured during an April cash game in Macau.

With a fifth bracelet on his wrist, John was considerably happier. “Tonight there were a lot of great players. It’s tough to post a $10,000 buy-in tournament, especially in a game like no-limit 2-7, so I didn’t expect it to be easy. I actually started today as the shortest stack and obviously had to catch some cards. You know, I just took it one hand at a time.”

He was also complimentary about Hellmuth’s effort. “Overall I was very impressed with the way he played. You know, a lot of people said he couldn’t play anything besides hold ‘em, but tonight he played really well. If the cards would have fallen his way he could be standing here doing the interview instead of me.”

Full payouts for WSOP 2011 Event #16 are as follows:

1. John Juanda ($367,170)
2. Phil Hellmuth ($226,907)
3. Richard Ashby ($143,833)
4. Steve Sung ($97,416)
5. Nick Schulman ($69,216)
6. David Bakes Baker ($51,485)
7. Hasan Habib ($40,020)
8. Joe Cassidy ($32,440)
9. Greg Raymer ($27,928)
10. Benjamin Parker ($27,928)
11. Bertrand Grospellier ($27,928)
12. Johnny Chan ($24,043)
13. Brandon Cantu ($24,043)
14. Chino Rheem ($24,043)