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Online poker's biggest weekly tournament continues to draw in a field large enough to meet the guaranteed $1.5 million prize pool week after week.  Sunday's event proved to be just as lucrative drawing 7,557 players who increased the prize pool to $1,511,400 with a first place prize of $185,902.20. 

But as we have all learned, poker tournaments rarely go as planned and this one was no different.  As the final table drew to a close, two players, es_dame and NFrost_10 cut a deal in which they both left the table with a six-figure pay day.  The final table chip counts at the start of play were: 
  
Seat 1: es_dame (19,017,280)
Seat 2: Duffs#1fan (19,095,542)
Seat 3: NFrost_10 (15,509,260)
Seat 4: SonnyInMtl (3,531,064)
Seat 5: hidden1s (2,501,824)
Seat 6: kidkanada99 (2,572,780)
Seat 7: lecharentais (6,833,678)
Seat 8: karelli (4,280,972)
Seat 9: afiopeneyes2 (2,227,600)

9th Place Finisher: afiopeneyes2

With blinds at 150K/300K (30K ante) afiopeneyes2 moved all-in for 1,987,600 from the cut off and NFrost_10 called from the big blind

NFrost_10: Ad 3d
afiopeneyes2: Kd Qc
Flop: 4s 6d 5s
Turn: 6h
River: 5d

NFrost_10 picked up the first elimination of the night, sending afiopeneyes2 packing when the board ran without a king or queen.

8th Place Finisher: hidden1s

Blinds continued to move up to 200K/400K (40K ante) when SonnyInMtl went all in for 2,881,064 from middle position.  hidden1s, with the smallest remaining stack, called right behind him for 841,824 and the remaining players all folded.
 
SonnyInMtl: Ah Kh
hidden1s: Ac Js
Flop: 9c 7h 5c
Turn: Ad
River: 6d

hidden1s, dominated from the flop, didn't catch a Jack to stay alive in the game and SonnyInMtl won the pot and sent hidden1s home in 8th place.

7th Place Finisher: kidkanada99

In a previous hand kidkanada99 lost a large portion of his stack which left him with less than a big blind.  After paying the 40K ante he was forced to put his last 351,808 in and es-dame called from the small blind while Duffs#1fan checked.  The blinds were checked on every street.

Flop: Td 3c 4s
Turn: Th
River: 2s
 
es_dame revealed Kd-Jc at the conclusion of the hand and the other two players both mucked their hands, knocking kidkanada99 out in seventh place.

6th Place Finisher: lecharentais

Blinds were 250K/500K (50K ante) and action folded to lecharentais in the small blind who moved all in for 3,653,678.  karelli called from the big blind, ending the night for lecharentais.

lecharentais: 8h 6h
karelli: Kc Tc
Flop: Qs 3s 7d
Turn: 5c
River: 5d

Even though lecharentais picked up an open ended straight draw, he was unable to catch any cards to keep him alive, sending him home in sixth place.

5th Place Finisher: SonnyInMtl

Blinds were 250K/500K (50K ante) raised from UTG+1 to 1,000,000; SonnyInMtl called the bet and was all-in.

Flop: Ts Th 6c
SonnyInMtl lead out for 2,000,000 with es_dame quickly raising to 5,000,000.  SonnyInMtl called the bet and was all-in.
SonnyInMtl: Kh Qc
es_dame: Ks 6s
Turn: 5s
River: 7h

SonnyInMtl had the better hand pre-flop but done in when the turn and river gave him no help, eliminating him from the table in fifth place.

4th Place Finisher: Duffs#1fan

Duffs#1fan went the way of SonnyInMtl in another elimination hand where players wanted to see a slop before putting all the money in.  Blinds remained at 250K/500K (50K ante) when es_dame limped from UTG, Duffs#1fan raised from UTG+1 to 2,150,000, es_dame called.

Flop: Js 3h 8s

Duffs#1fan bet 3,700,000 and was then faced with a minimum raise by es_dame to 7,400,000.  Instead of opting to call or fold, Duffs#1fan three-bet all in and was called by es_dame.
es_dame: 3d 3s
Duffs#1fan: As 9s

Turn: 5c
River: 2h
The set was good enough to eliminate Duffs#1fan in fourth place.

3rd Place Finisher: karelli
 
Blinds were increased to 300K/600K (60K ante)  and NFrost_10 opened with a button raise to 1,800,000 followed by karelli who re-raised all-in to 10,330,622 from the small blind.  NFrost_10, who was second in chips, called.

karelli: Ac 7s
NFrost_10: As Jh

Flop: 9s 5c Jd
Turn: 7h
River: Td

When the Jack turned up in the flop, it sealed the fate of karelli, shutting him out and finishing in third place.  NFrost_10 and es_dame entered heads-up play with almost even chip stacks.  It was at this point that the two players agreed to a deal that split the prize pool (less $30,000 as per PokerStars policy) down the middle.  Both players took home $140,900.91 each and agreed to play it out for the $30,000 and the title.
 
NFrost_10 winner of the Sunday Million

The final hand of the tournament came with blinds still at 300K/600K (60K ante) level.  es_dame raised from the button to 1,800,000 and NFrost_10 called.

Flop: Js 9s 7s
NFrost_10 checked, es_dame then bet 3,000,000 which NFrost_10 then check-raised all-in, es_dame called and was all-in as well.
NFrost_10: 9d 8s
es_dame: Jc 4s
Turn: 2s
River: 6h

When the fourth spade fell on the turn, both players made a flush but, NFrost_10's flush was bigger and he clinched the extra $30,000 and the title of Sunday Million champion.  

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I would like to apologize to all my fans for the disappointment I have caused in the H.O.R.S.E. Event.  For that I would like to express my sincerest apology. 

I would like to ask for understanding of what really took place.  Keep in mind this was a five day event, with an almost fourteen hour final table that was reduced to two hours of air time including all the commercial breaks.  With that being said, as you can imagine, more took place than what made the final cut for t.v. 

Last year’s Main Event I made the mistake of letting someone get under my skin, of which overtook my mental focus of the game, and cost me my tournament along with a lot of disappointment amongst my fans and peers. 

Since that time, it has haunted me and even now with the mistake that I made.  As a professional, you always critique yourself to make yourself better, and in doing so you have to focus on the mistakes you make, in order to improve.  This year, I needed redemption of my own 2007 Main Event demons to prove to myself that no one would get to me again. 

This tournament was too important for me, the trophy, the fifth bracelet, and history, my head was zoned in for this event, and for that time, I forgot the fans were watching me.  I said things I shouldn’t have said that have disappointed you, and I apologize for my actions. 

All my life, there have been many many tournaments, I put all the fans first, tried to play bad hands and win to give more excitement, and I would blow my tournament, however I have never regretted it, because without all you fans there would never be a Scotty Nguyen, and I appreciate all of you every which way. 

This tournament I played the players game.  They wanted to play a drinking game, and they couldn’t win, they say they can’t even beat a drunk, how can you beat a drunk if I’m not drunk.  They can’t beat me in a drinking game, now they play the talking game to try to get under my skin like in 2007, and I gave it right back to them and got underneath their skin, and they couldn’t win. 

When it came down to playing a poker game, the best will win.  Because they can’t beat me in a drinking game, a talking game and then we played poker, of which they can’t beat me, and I am the one who brought the trophy home. 

This event I had my mind set, I wouldn’t let anything interfere between me and the bracelet and the Chip Reese trophy, and I proved that to the whole world.  I can beat them at any game they want to play.  And all I have to say, I hope all you fans understand what I’m trying to say.  And watch the tape again.  I was not the one to start anything, not even drinking or talking, they wanted to start it with me, and they got beat by me fair and square on all levels they wanted to play.  All I would ever be sorry, is how the fans feel about me, I would never be sorry to beat those players. 

If they can’t accept defeat, then stay home, crawl under their loved ones arms, don’t bad mouth because you got beat by the best poker player.  Another thing, I always bring joy and excitement to the poker game every time I’m on tv, and all of you know, when Scotty Nguyen is on tv, your eyes are glued on the screen.  Why?  Because I make it fun so you guys don’t switch the channel.  All these years that is all you’ve seen of me, and that is the real me. 

That proves to you, how great and nice I am, I am the real deal.  One cannot be on tv all these years with the same persona if it wasn’t the real deal.  Even during this final table, I still took time for all the fans with a smile on my face.  You have not even heard of one fan who was there that came up to me and could say that I was rude to them or out of line with them in any way. 

This was an issue at the table, and one I didn’t take out on the fans even during that time.  This was business.  How many players do you know that would do that to the fans except one, the Prince of Poker, Scotty Nguyen and once again I apologize to all of you. 

No excuses for my behavior in that $50,000 H.O.R.S.E. final table.  And I have explained to you why and how that happened.  Bottom line, I only ask for you to please understand and remember that I, Scotty Nguyen, the Prince of Poker is still a human being, just like all of you.  I too have good times, bad times, sad times and angry times, just like everyone else in this world, and I hope you can understand that. 

I do promise to all the fans that no matter what, from now, I would never disappoint you again any which way.  I forgot about the fans, and only focused on me.  I am sorry.

I am sending you this from my own personal email, I have read all the responses that have been sent to me from my website.  I do care, and please feel free to email me directly for any other questions or comments you may have.

Thank you,

PokerStars.com has announced that Natalie Teltscher, aka 'TheV0id', has dropped a suit claiming over $1.2 million after being disqualified from the 2007 World Championships of Online Poker (WCOOP) amid allegations of multi-accounting.  Teltscher, sister of well-known poker player pro Mark Teltscher, quickly filed suit. 
  
Teltscher won the WCOOP and its top prize of $1,228,330 last September after a 22-hour main event battle where she crushed 'ka$ino'.  However, after a two week investigation, PokerStars.com voided the victory that found Teltscher was not the person playing under the username, a breach of the competition's rules. 

It has been reported that 'TheV0id' created the account the same day as play began in the biggest online tournament ever, also using the same IP address as Mark's account, 'PLay2Kill'. 
  
In a statement from the online poker room, “Ms Teltscher initially claimed that she had played the account.  However, when faced with the results from PokerStars.com’s investigation, she eventually admitted she hadn’t played.

The decision of Ms Teltscher to withdraw her claim fully vindicates PokerStars.com’s decision to disqualify her from the tournament and subsequently defend the claim, actions that were taken in order to protect the integrity of the games on offer at PokerStars.com.
 
After the two week investigation was completed and 'TheV0id' was disqualified, former 2nd place finisher 'ka$ino' was crowned champion, while Vanessa 'LadyMaverick' Rousso moved to runner-up.  The rest of the field including the player who bubbled in 415th place, will advance one place in the prize pool as well.  
  
“On her disqualification, all other players were moved one place higher in the prize table and the money confiscated from her account, ‘TheV0id’, was redistributed in full according to the amended tournament placings,” read a statement released by PokerStars.com. 
  
Mark Teltscher has made a name for himself in the online world using the PokerStars account 'Play2Kill'.  That account had also entered the WCOOP Main Event but busted out early on.  'Play2Kill', 'TheV0id' and up to three other accounts belonging to Teltscher were banned from PokerStars.

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Poker pro Scotty Nguyen put on a disappointing show during the televised final table of this years WSOP HORSE 50K event. Shown last week to US homes on ESPN, Scotty can be seen abusing the wait staff, the players at the tables, and being visibly intoxicated for almost the entire duration of the event.

The fallout started after fellow player, Michael DeMichelle took a bow and celebrated a little too much after a few key hands. While many of the players took offense to his actions (including Erick Lindgren and Barry Greenstein), it was Scotty that took it to another level.

While the televised portion of the event was condensed to only two hours, the actual table was played out over a grueling 14 hours. Someone should have cut off the flow of alcohol to Scotty because his rambling, abusive behavior was a blow to the game and a remarkable degree of disrespect to Chip Reese’s legacy. The event now honors the late Reese (who passed away unexpectedly this past winter and perhaps the best player of all time) with a trophy named after him.

A bigger question remains is why didn’t the WSOP put a stop to this? Why wasn’t his access to alcoholic beverages restricted? Why was he allowed to show his cards to the audience during play? What about the relentless assault of “F” bombs and his use of vulgar language?

The WSOP had this to say regarding the event:

“All players at the WSOP must conduct themselves appropriately. We obviously have some work to do on this matter. With that in mind, a process has been under way since the end of the WSOP to re-examine the rules related to player conduct and the enforcement of those rules. We will have something more substantive to say on this matter well before the start of the 2009 WSOP.”

 One thing is for sure, the debate will rage on regarding his despicable behavior for some time. For the time being, the court of public opinion seems to feel Scotty is guilty of all charges.

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Multi table professional poker player Muuzzy79 recently made headlines of an unusual sort. You see, in his small hometown of Pelham, Alabama he almost shut down the power grid on his block.

Was he playing with a transformer? Digging a trench? Not at all, according to his mother, Jenny.

“He was playing with those damn computers. He says he’s playing poker in there but I swear he’s looking at porn!” she exclaimed to this reporter.

Using a bank of 21 monitors connected to no less than 8 computers, the young poker player does concede that his game (and his Internet connection) sometimes suffers from the load. However, he did indicate that his winning more than covers his $600.00 (US) utility bill each month.

Playing more than one poker table at a time is commonplace nowadays. Some of the top players use two or more monitors to layout 8 or more tables. This increases the number of hands you see per hour and it also allows a player to spread their bankroll, thus minimizing risk. It also helps protect against variance, which can be a bankroll killer.

Muuzzy79 wasn’t fazed by the recent attention from his run-in with his power company. Word is, he’s looking to add even more machines and monitors as his game continues to improve. When pressed about how to explain this to his mother, he offered a simple reply:

 “I’ll just tell her it’s to look at more porn.”