Some invitations are simply meant to be accepted. When the parents invite you for holiday dinner, you should probably accept. If your significant other invites you on a trip to a luxurious vacation destination, thinking twice might cause you some trouble. And when PokerStars.net invites you to play in the prestigious $25,000 buy-in Invitational Bounty Shootout, you just say yes.

The invitation-only event not only boasted of a $460,0000 first place prize, but $5,000 bounties were placed on every player, the fields were challenging and perfect to feed any player's need for a great game, and the event was set to be filmed by 441 Productions for broadcast on ESPN2. So when asked to play, whaddya say?

Yes.

So said the 49 players who accepted their invitations to this unique high roller event, and while it was fun for everyone involved, there were seven players especially excited about the final table because they won their seats by taking down their first heats on Tuesday, February 23 and each claimed $75,000 for doing so. In addition, players collected bounties from that first table, and several were in contention for the $100,000 bonus established for the ultimate bounty hunter, the one who personally handled the most eliminations.

And no one could be happier that he accepted that invitation than to play in the $25K Bounty Shootout than Ashton Griffin. He won his first day's heat, then took a day off before the final table but spent the night before playing online poker, putting him at an all-important final table with no sleep. But sleeping during breaks and staying focused took the young pro all the way to the winner's circle and $460,000, in addition to collecting $30,000 for bounties throughout the two day event.

Final table action got underway on Thursday, February 25, in a rather large ballroom at the Venetian with the following seven players, all starting with 150,000 in chips:

Seat 1: Joe Cassidy
Seat 2: Faraz Jaka
Seat 3: Peter Eastgate
Seat 4: Scott Seiver
Seat 5: Ashton Griffin
Seat 6: Hoyt Corkins
Seat 7: Brett Richey

Just over an hour into the action, Team PokerStars Pro Peter Eastgate was already one of the shorter stacks at the table. He took some hits early, and when he finally decided to push with pocket eights, Seiver was able to call with pocket jacks, and the board couldn't help Eastgate. He was the first to exit the table in seventh place.

Several hours later, Brett Richey had become the short stack and pushed with A-K, which held up to the A-8 of Cassidy. But on the very next hand, Richey tried it again, this time with A-Q. Griffin called with K-Q, and everything looked good for another double until he was three-outed by a king on the river, sending Richey out in sixth place.

It wasn't until after the dinner break that players got aggressive and action sped up. The first thing to happen was an all-in move from Faraz Jaka with [Qs][Td] and a call from Seiver and his [Ac][Jc]. The board came [Ah][9c][2c][Ad][2h], and the full house knocked Jaka out in fifth place.

Moments later, Corkins doubled through Seiver with pocket jacks over fives, and Scott Seiver was the shortest stack of the four. He was clearly looking to move and ultimately did so with [Qs][Th]. However, Corkins made the call with [Ah][Kc], and the board hit [6d][7d][Ad][Kh][7s] to eliminate Seiver in fourth place. However, Seiver took with him a $100,000 award for collecting the most bounties - eight in all - during the tournament. Not a bad consolation prize, indeed.

It took three hours to find an all-in and a call that changed the make-up of the table, and the hand happened with Joe Cassidy pushing from the small blind with [Ad][2d]and Ashton Griffin calling immediately from the big blind with [As][9d]. A nine came on the flop and solidified Cassidy's position as the third place finisher.

Corkins came in as nearly a two-to-one underdog in chips, and it was only two hands into it that he risked it all. The two went to see a raised flop of [4s][5d][9s], and a raising war ensued during which Griffin pushed all-in and Corkins insta-called for his tournament life with [9h][3h]. But Griffin showed [9d][8d] for top pair with the better kicker. And the [7h] turn and [Jc] river ended the tournament. Hoyt Corkins had to accept second place.

And Ashton Griffin became the first NAPT $25K Bounty Champion. He accepted the invitation to participate, and it paid off in spades...and hearts, clubs, and diamonds. Lack of sleep mattered none, and the experience of the competition did not dissuade him. He plowed through the table and made it worth every moment of his time.

Congratulations to Ashton Griffin and all of the prize winners in this exciting inaugural event!

For all of the double-ups, bustouts, struggles, triumphs, and even a nap story or two, check out the final table coverage.

Introduction
Levels 1-3
Levels 4-6
Levels 7-9

All photography © Joe Giron

The final table area is set. Cameras are in place. Players are starting to stroll down the hallways. Fans are here early to get seats to see some of their favorite poker players battle it out in a unique tournament that offers bounties, an award for the most overall bounties, and a whopping first place prize of $460,000.

There's definitely something to see here at the Venetian in Las Vegas today.

The first heats took place on Tuesday, February 23, and out of 49 starting players, the winner of each of the seven tables won their way to today's final table. Those seven players are as follows:

Seat 1: Joe Cassidy
Seat 2: Faraz Jaka
Seat 3: Peter Eastgate
Seat 4: Scott Seiver
Seat 5: Ashton Griffin
Seat 6: Hoyt Corkins
Seat 7: Brett Richey

They will all begin today with 150,000 in chips, and the level will start them with 600/1,200 blinds and a 100 ante. Every one of the competitors has an equal chance, as far as starting chips, of winning this tournament.

But not all are equal as far as prize money they've won thus far. Seiver comes into action after having not only collected $75,000 for winning the table, but he eliminated every single person from his initial table to collect $30,000 in bounties. He leads the pack on the way to the $100,000 prize for taking the most bounties in this event. However, Corkins eliminated five already, and Cassidy and Jaka each have four to their credit.

To catch up on the action thus far, check out the Day 1 recap.

And don't forget to follow today's play right here, as we have a front row seat for all of the $25,000 Bounty Shootout final table.

All photography (c) Joe Giron

Clear your schedules and set your DVRs, because there is about to be a whole lot more poker to watch on TV.

We've been hinting at it for some time, and now it's official. The North American Poker Tour is headed to the ESPN broadcast schedule.

The NAPT announced this week that 16 original hours of programming will appear on ESPN2 beginning in April. That monster block of poker shows will include all the NAPT stops, including January's PokerStars Caribbean Adventure and this weekend's stop at The Venetian in Las Vegas.

"Having the North American Poker Tour on ESPN2 is going to take poker on this continent to a different level," said Team PokerStars.net Pro Daniel Negreanu. "With some of the most important gaming venues in the US on board and the reach of ESPN2, the NAPT is set to bring the excitement of world-class tournament poker to millions who love this game as much as I do."

In addition to broadcasting the Main Event of this weekend's Venetian contest, ESPN2 will also show the brand new $25,000 buy-in Invitational High Roller Bounty Shootout tournament, featuring 36 of the biggest names in poker battling it out for a spot at a winner-take-all final table. All of it will be taped and produced by 441 productions, the same company that produces the top-notch WSOP coverage.

As if that wasn't enough, PokerStars.tv has a full line-up of live programming already set for next week.

February 23, 11:00 ET: Bounty Shoot Out Round 1
February 24, 14:00 ET: Main Event Final Table
February 25, 14:00 ET: Bounty Shootout Final Table

You can watch all of it on PokerStars.tv's live channel. Of course, if you dig words and pictures and much as the video, we'll be live blogging all the action of the Bounty Shootout and Main Event beginning Saturday right here.

Stay tuned for more NAPT announcements in the coming days.

They say you can tell a lot about a man by the way he treats dogs and bloggers. While I'm not entirely sure about how English poker pro Julian Thew would feel about my little blind mutt, I am happy to report Team PokerStars Pro is signing a pretty good guy.

The man from Nottingham has been on the poker circuit for what seems like forever. I met him during the first season of the EPT and he's been both a familiar and tough player on the tour ever since. Today it was announced Thew has been signed to poker's most elite stable of players.

"I'm thrilled to have been offered a spot on Team PokerStars Pro and I look forward to promoting the brand on my travels throughout the year," Thew said.

Thew is one of the most respected players around. He's won nearly $2.5 million during his career, a big chunk of it coming during season 4 of the EPT. That's when he took down EPT Baden for €670,800. Since then Thew has become the leading British player on the EPT tournament leader board. He currently sits in 12th place overall.

Thew joins four other members of Team PokerStars Pro UK: John Duthie, Vicky Coren, Jude Ainsworth and JP Kelly. Look for Thew tomorrow when the UKIPT hits Manchester.

Meanwhile, a few countries away, the Germans have signed up another familiar face for Team PokerStars Pro Germany. Michael "The Doc" Keiner is now playing with a Team PokerStars Pro badge on his shoulder.

Keiner has been active on the international tournament scene since 1997. One of his biggest wins came in 2007 when he won a WSOP Seven Card Stud bracelet. He is also one of German poker's most respected experts.

"PokerStars and I pursue the same goal," he said. "We need to get poker recognized as a strategy game in the minds of the public."

Keiner is expected to make his Team PokerStars Pro debut in Berlin when the EPT arrives there early next month.

Congratulations to both Keiner and Thew for making the team. We dogs and bloggers look forward to covering your action in the coming months and years.

* Our video team caught up with Thew at the start of the UKIPT Manchester event. Here's what he had to say...

Live updates from Day 1, level 7 of the $25,000 High Roller brought to you by Marc Convey and Simon Young.
Click refresh to see the latest updates below. Click through to the chip count page for the chip counts, updated regularly throughout the day.

Blinds:
Level 7: 400-800 (100 ante)

1.20am: That's a wrap
That's all for day one of the high roller event. A wrap of today's events will be with you shortly. Meanwhile head over to the chip count page for the full official overnight chip counts.

1.00am: Last six hands of the day
As is customary at EPTs these days the clock has been stopped and a random card pulled out to determine how many more hands will be played out. You've probably worked out from this post heading that the number in six more hands.

12.50am: Dangerous two-pair
We'd reached the turn stage of the hand and Nick Shulman was heads-up with an opponent and facing a 5,500 bet that he took a while to consider before calling. Both checked through the [2d] river and Shulman revealed [qd][td] for the pot.

12.40am: Taking on two Team Pros
Kevin Saul raised and found callers in the shape of Team PokerStars Pros Dario Minieri and William Thorson before the flop came [7d][8h][4c]. Action checked around to Thorson on the button who bet 6,200. Only Saul called to see the [4s]. Check-check. It was the same deal on the [2s] river and after Saul announced no pair Thorson opened [5h][5s] and took the pot.

12.30am: Naujoks takes it
Sandra Naujoks has been moved on to the mad table - Minieri etc. On a [6h][4d][9h][2c] board, Minieri bets 9,300, Naujoks bumps it up to 25,000 and Minieri lets it go.

12.25am: Double up for Brown
Chad Brown doubles through Mike Matusow. It's all in pre flop...

Brown: [as][kh]
Matusow: [10h][10d]

The flop is grim for Brown, coming [3d][5s][9h], but the [ah] turn did the trick. The [8d] river kept him ahead and he shoots up to around 50,000 once more. Matuso slips back to 65,000.

12.20am: Marafioti found
The owner of the stack left untouched all day has shown up. Turns out Matt Marafioti was running deep in the $5,000 NL side event, busted tenth and then came and sat down at the high roller. He had about 33,000 left from his 50,000 starting stack.

12.15am: Alex Gomes busts
Team PokerStars Pro Alex Gomes is out. He made it 2,000 under the gun, was re-raised by Kevin Saul, and then moved all in for around 25,000. Call! Gomes had 7-7, Saul A-A and that improved to a full house on the K-8-4-4-A board.

12.10am: Last level of the day
This will be the last level of the night. We started with roughly 84 players (still to be confirmed) and already we're down to 57. For a $25,000 four-day event, that's a pretty sharp fall. Here's a picture of Peter Eastgate...

Live updates from Day 1B, level 8 of the PokerStars Caribbean Adventure Main Event brought to you by Stephen Bartley, Howard Swains, Brad Willis, and Simon Young.

Blinds: 400-800-100

9pm: Over
Today's battle is over. We're counting - and we're counting hard. But we reckon Anibal Tacla leads, with 166,000. Matt Graham, with 146,700, is right up there too. A full wrap will follow momentarily.

8.35pm: Battle of the Finns
Jani Vilmunen, a World Series of Poker Europe Omaha bracelet winner opened for 2,200 from middle position whish was called by Sami Kelopuro in the big blind for a flop of [9d][8c][7d]. Both checked for a [2c] on the turn. Kelopuro made it 3,500 which Vilmunen called for a river card [ks]. Kelopuro made it another 7,500. Vilmunen tanked for a while then called. Kelopuro turned over [td][jd]. Vilmunen could only chuckle and muck his cards.

8:28pm: By way of apology
The last time we saw Brad Stebeleski, we were in Playa Cochal. An hour or two before, he'd been in the sickest of situations. He and two other players were all-in for their antes on the money bubble of the event. Stebeleski, who--if memory serves--had the best hand and still came out the loser. It was then we did what we do. We deemed him Bubble Boy. Oh, sure, Stebeleski was friendly about it, but it was clear the nom de bubble stung a bit. And he told us so.

And so we promised that at our next opportunity, we would feature him in such a way that he would be known as something other than Bubble Boy.

This is that opportunity. Stebeleski is on the verge of making Day 2. As for the bubble...well, we still have a couple of days before that becomes an issue.

8:24pm: Ramdin rebound
When we walked by Ramdin just a little while ago, he was down to 7,000 chips. Now? He has around 60,000.

"What happened?" we asked, because there had to be a story.

Ramdin didn't answer, except with a smile, so his neighbor obliged (after good-naturedly knocking over Ramdin's stack).

"He had kings and aces, back to back," the man said. "Flopped a king with the kings, made the nut flush with the aces."

And so that's the story, and Ramdin is back to stacking his chips.

8.20pm: Let's go to dinner
That was William Reynolds to his girlfriend watching from the rail after his tournament was ended in the last level of the day. Returning from the break and posting a 800 big blind, one of the table big stacks raised to 3,000 from the button. Reynolds announced he was all in for his last 6,000 without even looking at his cards.

He got an approving smile from a neighbour when he turned over [7c][7h] and he was well in the races against [js][kc].

The flop, however, wasn't so good for Reynolds. It came [5h][10h][2c] and another jack on the river ended Reynolds' participation and send him to a restaurant.

8:13pm: "It's like kindergarten"
That quote from an anonymous member of the media about the table featuring Peter Eastgate and Christian Harder. Why? Because they are having so much fun.

Minutes ago, Harder and Eastgate got involved in a high stakes game of How Many Children Does the Dealer Have? After bidding on the line back and forth, it finally settled on Eastgate's "plus two and half." Harder went in the tank when another player at the table spoke up. "I would take the under," he said.

Shane Schleger held up his arm. "One player to a hand, sir."

Finally, Harder did, indeed, take the under.

The dealer's answer: One.

Schleger turned to the dealer. "I'm sure you're very proud of him."

"Her," the dealer said.

Eastgate, meanwhile, shook his head at the loss.

And meanwhile, everybody else played for the millions in the prize pool.

8.05pm: We're back!
Yes, we're back. Play restarts after the colour up. The last level of the day.

Peter Eastgate

Like day after night, sunshine after showers and drooling poker players after Jayde Nicole at the PCA welcome party the other night, Day 1B follows hot on the heels of Day 1A.

Yesterday was merely the appetiser for this continuing feast of poker. We witnessed an opening field of 668 players sliced and diced down to 432 - and today will be the same only different. It will be bigger.

The second of the opening flights at major poker tournaments is always the more popular, and few commentators will be surprised if 750 names (or more) appeared on the starting list. Establishing the precise number is high on our agenda today, as the number of runners informs the amount of money the winners will be snaffling. All details of prize pools and records broken will be with us this afternoon.

Before that, we'll have a scan around the tables to see who is in the house. This is being written an hour before the first players arrive to the tables, but the following are just of few of those guaranteed to make an appearance today. There are so many, they're best approached in groups.

Deep breath, these are the Team PokerStars Pros playing today: Arnaud Mattern, Benjamin Kang, Gavin Griffin, Alexandre Gomes, Hevad Khan, Johannes Strassmann, Andre Akkari, Bertrand "Elky" Grospellier, Humberto Brenes, Johnny Lodden, Peter Eastgate, Victor Ramdin, Victoria Coren, William Thorson, JC Alvarado, Joe Cada, Vanessa Rousso, Maria Mayrinck, Gualter Salles, Pieter De Korver, Thierry Van Den Berg, Juan Manuel Pastor, Leo Fernandez, Veronica Dabul, Lex Veldhuis, Luca Pagano.

(You could make a World Champion subset of those if you like, which would, of course, feature the two youngest in World Series history: Messrs Cada and Eastgate.)

From the stable of Team PokerStars SportStar, we have Mats Sundin, Boris Becker, Orel Herscheiser and Fatima De Melo. And a few other sports heroes are also in the mix: the former Spanish soccer star Poli Rincon, the NBA giant Martin Muursepp and the Lithuanian canoeist Alvydas Duonela.

In her own category, the model and Playboy Playmate: Stephen Bartley Jayde Nicole.

And you're not going to need much introduction to the following familiar faces, all playing today: Annette Obrestad, Scotty Nguyen, Isaac Baron, Darus Suharto, Terrance Chan, Praz Bansi, Marc Naalden, Joe Elpayaa, Alex Brenes, Shirley Rosario, Isaac Haxton, Josh Arieh, Carlos Mortensen, Marc Karam, Cliff Josephy, Freddy Deeb.

There are a good few bracelets and a good number of PCA final table appearances on that list. You know who they are.

Play will start at noon and, as ever, we'll have selected chip counts updated throughout the day on the chip count page, as well as level-by-level updates on PokerStars blog. Go nowhere.

It may have been eight hours long but the story of day 1a at the PCA 2010 was decided in the first ten minutes. That was when Wayne Bentley, a PokerStars qualifier from the UK, found pocket aces, ran them into pocket kings and doubled up. From that moment on he never looked back, and he's is your chip leader tonight with 329,500 - that's nearly 11 times the amount he started with.

Chip leader tonight - Wayne Bentley

Bentley tops a list that at noon today, when Team PokerStars Pro Daniel Negreanu gave the order to shuffle up and deal, was 668 names long, the first half of the first day of the first major event of the year at the biggest festival of poker outside the Las Vegas city limits. Tonight, after eight levels, 430 of that crowd remain.

Daniel Negreanu

For the defeated the consolation of 48 other events scheduled for the coming two weeks, and for those remaining a day off with time away from the tables to splash in the pool, swim with dolphins, take near vertical leaps of faith or have Nicolas Cage's house pointed out to you during the ferry trip to Nassau.

But as Bentley pulls away in chip stack luxury a few notables have their foot down in pursuit. Established tournament pro Amnon Filippi was Bentley's nearest challenger with around 220,000, Kevin Saul and Eric Froelich are not far back either, bagging up roughly 170,000 and 165,000 respectively.

Amnon Filippi

Kevin Saul

The ranks of Team PokerStars Pro finished strong; Dennis Phillips, Dario Minieri and Sebastian Ruthenberg bagged up stacks primed to soar. Luske, Negreanu, Brown, Boeken, Duthie, Demidov and others survived the day, their counts appearing on the chip count page which will become official once tournament staff make them so.

Their success came after the loss of others. Chris Moneymaker, Greg Raymer and Joep van den Bijgaart leave their teammates behind, as do Ruben Visser and Jason Mercier, each of whom departed late into the last level of the day.

Chris Moneymaker

Jason Mercier

Today was merely the start, the first of many days just like this one, starting tomorrow, when the other half of the world's best players take their seats. Satellites play on into the night, we expect numbers to be big.

Until then you can click through the links below for a recap of the action, including a fraught period spent wrestling with spiteful internet gods.

The main event
Level 1 updates
Level 2 updates
Level 3 updates
Level 4 updates
Level 5 updates
Level 6 updates
Level 7 updates
Level 8 updates

Join us again tomorrow for day 1b, played with a back drop of a PLO freeze out, a PLO turbo and some debut Badugi. If you can't be here; either you've lost your passport or are snowed in somewhere, the PokerStars Blog, written in 70 degree Bahamian heat, is your best alternative.

Naturally all of this is available on our sister blogs, written, we're told, in Swedish, German and Italian, Spanish and Brazilian, although we have no way of knowing whether any of it makes sense. Our thanks to Joe Giron, provider of photography today, along with the EPT's photography stalwart Neil Stoddart. Thanks also to those of you emailed in - that means you Mr and Mrs Phillips. Send more to blog@pokerstars.com.

Play resumes at noon. The forecast is for warmth and great poker. See you then.

The "Duthie Position"

Updates from levels one and two of EPT Vilamoura, brought to you by Stephen Bartley, Marc Convey, Howard Swains and Simon Young.

Blinds:
Level 1: 50-100
Level 2: 75-150

2.25pm: Break time
Two levels down and the first fifteen minute break is upon us.

2.25pm: Naalden caught
In one of those hands that drifts long into the break, Marc Naalden was caught at it again, this time by Eric Van Der Burg. There was about 2,500 in the middle and four cards exposed: [kd][8c][3h][10c]. Van Der Burg bet 1,750, Naalden raised to 4,500 and Van Der Burg called. The river was [2d] and both clearly thought about move making, but ended up checking it down. "Nothing," said Naalden. "Jack-high." Van Der Burg said: "Ace high." He showed [ac][4c] to take it down.

2.20pm: Busy Bichon
Thomas Bichon is getting busy, especially in position. After Harold Dijkstra bet 1,350 on a board of [10c][4s][kd], Bichon, on the button, raised 2,400 more. Dijkstra folded. Bichon was in the cut off the next hand and limp-called Giuseppe Sarlo's raise from the small blind. The flop came [2s][8s][qh] and Sarlo bet 1,200. Bichon made it 3,400 and Sarlo folded pocket fives face up, with a flamboyant Italian wince.

2.15pm: Lucky number seven
Dragan Galic raised from under-the-gun and then called a re-raise from a player in mid position to see a [7h][9c][7s] flop. Galic then check-raised his opponent's 1,200 bet up to 3,000. The call was quick in coming as it was when Galic led for 5,000 after [as] turn came down. The [ah] river slowed them both down to checks before laughter erupted around the table when Galic showed [7d][8d] and his opponent showed [7c][5c] for a split pot. Galic on 26,000 right now.

2.10pm: Thater takes one
Team PokerStars Pro Katja Thater had a tough call to make on a [ac][9c][2s][as][jh] board. With around 6,500 in the pot already, Ricardo Garcia from Spain had bet another 6,150.

Eventually Thater called, and Garcia insta-mucked. After throwing her cards away, Thater hauled them back and turned over [ad][10c] when neighbour Eric Van Der Berg insisted she should show. Thater is now up to 35,000.

2.05pm: Must be nice
With a board showing [10s][9c][2d][9h][10d], Aurelien Guiglini from France has moved all in for his last 14,500. PokerStars qualifier Tuna Serdar Tascioglu is the man with the decision to make. He leans back, he leans forward, he scratches his head, he looks at his cards, he leans back again.... he calls!

But Guiglini quickly shows him the bad news, turning over [10c][10h] for quads and a stack approaching 60,000. Tascioglu, meanwhile is adrift with around 5,000 left.

2pm: Lacay lets one go
Pick the bones out of this one. Dennis Boekel made it 500 from mid position and Sofia Mendes called, one seat to his left, which tempted Ludovic Lacay into the pot from the small blind. The flop came [7h][7c][3s] and Lacay checked, Boekel bet 1,000 and Mendes raised to 2,600. Lacay called, as did Boekel and so three of them saw the [8h] turn. Lacay checked, Boekel checked and Mendes checked and the river was [kc]. Lacay now led out, betting 4,200. Boekel raised to 10,000 and Mendes went into the tank. Eventually she folded, which gave Lacay some tanking time. He pondered and pondered, going through the "Will you show if I fold?" routine, and then saying: "So, you have kings." He then folded a seven face up, which brought a chuckle from Boekel, who did not show his hand. Hmmmm.

1.58pm: Deeb's stock rising
Shaun Deeb raised to 375 from under-the-gun and was called by Christiano Blanco on the button and the player in the big blind. Deeb bet 725 on the flop and 1,600 on the turn and it was only Blanco that hung around to the river where the board read [6c][js][5h][tc][4s]. Deeb checked, but raised Blanco's 2,300 bet up to 13,600. Blanco called fairly quickly but mucked even quicker when Deeb showed [7s][8s] for the nuts. Deeb up to 58,000, Blanco down to 13,000.

1.50pm: Brail Buch
A couple of PokerStars qualifiers, Alexandre Brail and Jochim Buch, just got involved in a fairly sizable pot - at least for this stage in the tournament. Brail took it, leaving Buch to muck his cards having almost certainly been outdrawn. Here's how it played out: Buch made it 400 from under-the-gun and Brail called in the cut off. The flop came [4d][9c][10h] and Buch c-bet, making it 625 to go. Brail called and they both checked the [qh] turn. The river was [9h] and after Buch checked, Brail got cute, moving 10 black chips (worth 100 each) and three green chips (25 each) in. Buch tossed in one red chip, worth 1,000, and three green chips to make the call, and was shown [9s][7s] for the rivered trips. Muck.

1.45pm: Flushed out the backdoor
Barny Boatman just briefly filled me in on a pot he should really have gone broke on. Guillaume De La Gorce still benefitted from 20,000 of the Brit's chips though after he hit the back door nut flush to Boatman's second nut flush. Boatman somehow managed to check-call on the river and hang around a while longer with a stack currently at 12,000. De La Gorce meanwhile is on 50,000.

1.30pm: Vadim had 'im.
An under-the-gun raise from Steve Eichenburger, who gets calls from Martin Wendt and the Foxwoods Poker Classic winner Vadim Trincher. They're ready, they see a flop: [th][7d][ts]. Eichenburger checked before Wendt made it 825. Trincher was still sticking around, but Eichenburger passed ahead of the [kd] turn. Wendt checked this time, leaving it to Trincher to make it 1,500 and take the pot which puts him back to his original 30,000 stack.

1.25pm: Hitting the Marc
Marc Naalden, the Dutch player with more than $1.1million in tournament winnings to his name, is a busy boy at his table, which he shares with Katja Thater. He's been taking many pots (maybe stealing is too strong a word), but has just been looked up by Jan Skampa.

First Naalden raised on the button to 425, but Skampa, from the Czech Republic, came over the top with 1,300. Call. The flop came [4h][7s][6d] and Skampa made it 1,800. Call. Both checked the [qc] turn and the [9d] river.

"Nothing," said Naalden, sheepishly showing [3d][10d]. Skampa showed [5d][5c] and took the pot.

Remember, folks, local laws forbid us from taking photographs on the tournament floor. But we'll be using our initiative throughout the week to ensure you get your image fix.

1.20pm: Video video
Last night the hordes of PokerStars qualifiers joined a host of Team PokerStars Pros for a welcome party at the lavish Tivoli Hotel, Vilamoura. They were also greeted by a troupe of Portuguese dancers, who took many of them by the hand and sent them gliding and spinning across the ballroom. Let Vanessa Rousso explain:

1.15pm: Level up
We're into level two, with the blinds now at 75-150.

1.10pm: From the internet...
The day 1a field is characteristically smaller than expected, meaning day 1b tomorrow will be much bigger. That said, there are still some titans at the felt this afternoon, and typically they've found their way next to one another. How else to explain the pairing of Shaun "shaundeeb" Deeb and Mike "Timex" McDonald, side by side on the lower level. One table over, there's Ricky Fohrenbach, another dervish of the online tables.

1.05pm: Pressure Poker
Mess with Team PokerStars Pro Jason Mercier at your peril. He was sat in the hijack and called a raise from the player to his right as did the player in possession of the famed button. The flop came [2c][jc][3d] before Mercier bet 525 when checked to him. The button folded but the original aggressor raised to 1,800. Mercier called to see the [4d] turn where he raised his opponent's 2,100 bet up to 9,300. A long dwell ensued prompting another player at the table to call the clock and that did the trick as the fold came handing the pot to Mercier to put him up to 34,000.

12.50pm: In order of appearance
A lot of familiar faces have made their way to Portugal this week and are out there in the field today, including a couple of line-ups to make you want to stick around.

First of the eight Team PokerStars Pros playing today is Jason Mercier, joined by Chad Brown, Katja Thater, Henrique Pinho and the Frenchman Arnaud Mattern who lands on the same table as Danish pro Martin Wendt, Dutch pro Rolf Slotboom and the unofficial face of Portuguese poker Joao Barbosa, who obliterated the then none-existent EPT cash record for Portuguese players last year with seven, including a win in Warsaw.

The other stand out clash features a poker heavyweight head-to-head between Shaun Deeb and Mike McDonald. They'll sit side by side today for the prescribed eight one hour levels, unless one of them is dealt a game ending blow. Elsewhere Barny Boatman, Jan Collado and Ricardo Sousa play day 1a, as does the last EPT Dublin winner Reuben Peters who sits opposite the Dutch Team PokerStars Pro Joep Van Den Bijgaart. Ludovic Lacay, Antony Lellouche and Michel Abecassis make up part of the French contingent, Dragan Gallic the Croatian, while Thomas Brolin represents former footballers now plying their trade at the poker table.

12.30pm: Qualifier knocked a little
The PokerStars blog first discovered the existence of qualifier Matt Johns at Stansted airport in the early hours of yesterday morning. He's playing today but hasn't got off to the best of starts. An early tangle with Frenchman Anthony Roux saw him lose a few thousand of his 30,000 starting stack. He raised from middle position and was called by Roux on the button to see a [2c][6c][ts] flop. His 450 continuation bet was called before his 1,000 bet after the [9c] turn came was raised up to 2,800. A call was quick in coming before both players checked through the [td] river. Roux tabled [7h][8h] for a turned straight that was good for the pot as Johns mucked.

12.15pm: Cards are in the air
Barely 15 minutes past noon, and we begin. A list of a few selected day 1a players is available on the chip count page, where we'll have the updated stacks throughout the day.

At close to 1.45am Tuesday, in the Penn and Teller Theater at the Rio Hotel and Casino, Las Vegas, Joe Cada, from Shelby Township, MI, was crowned the youngest World Series of Poker champion in the event's 40-year history. Once the bracelet was wrapped around his wrist and the whooping of his supporters had temporarily abated, PokerStars Blog sat down with Cada for his first exclusive interview since that momentous victory in Las Vegas.

PS Blog: You're the new World Champion. How does that make you feel?
Joe Cada: I feel great. I mean it's a pretty sick feeling, but everything is positive.

PSB: What was going through your mind at that final moment?
JC: I can't picture it any different. It's a dream come true. It really didn't hit me after I won it, and it still hasn't really hit me yet.

PSB: How long do you think it will take to sink in?
JC: A few weeks.

PSB: What did you make of Darvin Moon, your heads up opponent?
JC: Darvin played a great game. He put me in a lot of tough spots. He did really well. Props to Darvin. He played great. He had my back against the wall, but luckily I came through.

PSB: You explained that you were petrified of losing, but did that affect your game?
JC: I mean, the fear of losing sucks, but you just have to play your game. And you can't think about what's at risk. You just have to play correct poker and I just tried to ignore first place at the time.

PSB: Can you just remind us of your online name?
JC: It's JCada99.

PSB: And the nines played quite a big part in tonight's proceedings, didn't they. [Cada's winning hand was pocket nines, but he also lost the first pot of the evening with the same hand against Moon's queens.] Did you look down on the nines and fear the worst?
JC: Yeah. But he was reraising a lot. At first I wouldn't have been so comfortable with him reraising there. But he was reraising a lot and it was an easy hand to ship. Fortunately I won the race.

PSB: How are you going to celebrate?
JC: Party it up with all my friends who came out here to support me.

PSB: Any final words?
JC [admiring bracelet]: PokerStars takes another one down.

This hour began shortly after a 20-minute break, and Darvin Moon seemed by far the more refreshed. He was the aggressor in all of the early pots and took most of them down, regularly making reraises of about five million, which was consistently too rich for Cada.

The Team PokerStars Pro Barry Greenstein, watching from the wings, was impressed by Moon's attitude in the early stages, and told our video blog team how he saw the opening salvos, a video that sets the tone for the action to follow. Here's Greenstein, interviewed during the break.

The action that followed, though, showed that Cada is made of stern stuff. One key pots hauled him right back in it. The next one won the title. Check out the action:

Cada showed [9d][9c]. Moon showed [jd][qd].

They were flipping for it, and after much delay, the board came: [8c][2c][7s] ... [kh] ... [7c].

The stage became a mass of bouncing canaries as Cada's supporters mobbed the youngest winner of the World Series of Poker Main Event.

Full wrap up and quotes to follow. Phew.

The opening hour of final table play was certainly tense but it was anything but tight. There was a huge pot on the very first hand, won by Moon, and the Maryland man ended up taking the chip lead after winning the first few.

But Cada won two decisive big pots to haul himself back into the lead, and the hour ended with the approximate counts as follows:

Joe Cada: 131,050,000
Darvin Moon: 63,750,000

Here are the major incidents from an hour where the blinds and antes were 500,000-1,000,000 (150,000).

Hand one
Wow. That could easily have got even more nasty than it did. On the very first hand, Darvin Moon called Joe Cada's big blind, but the youngster took his option to raise, making it 2,500,000 more. Moon called. The flop came [3s][ks][2d] and Cada bet 3.5m. Moon bumped it up to 10m and Cada called. The turn was [ad] and Cada this time check-called Moon's 10m bet. The river was the [kc] and now both players slowed down, each checking. Moon flipped pocket queens and Cada showed pocket nines: two premium heads up starting hands that sends the first notable pot in Moon's direction.

Hand four
Cada won a small pot back from Moon, when he raised pre-flop to 2.5m and Moon called. The flop came [qs][2h][qd] and when Cada led out, Moon let it go.

Hand seven
Cada made it 2.5m pre-flop, as he has done more than once. Moon called for a flop of [8s][6c][4h], which both of them checked. The turn was [ac] and after Moon checked, Cada bet 3.5m. Moon made it 5m more, which Cada called, but he was forced to let it go when Moon fired 7.5m on the river. Two big pots for Moon at the start of heads up play drew the chip stacks close to even.

Hand 11
Joe Cada flopped the nuts. He had [kd][9d] and managed to extract about 5m out of Moon on an ace-high, all diamond board. He checked the flop and bet small on turn and river. Moon called and mucked.

Hand 12
This hasn't been the case for a while, but Darvin Moon is the chip leader of the World Series Main Event. They got to a flop of [6s][5d][jc] and after Cada bet 3.5m, Moon raised another 5m on top. Cada called. The turn came [qd], which both players checked, but Cada called Moon's 7.25m bet on the [2h] river. Moon showed [qh][8s] and Cada mucked. With that, Moon moved to more than 100,000,000 and Cada just shy of that.

Hand 15
Darvin Moon makes it 3m to play, to which Cada is amenable. The flop comes [qc][js][7d] and they both check. The turn is [10h], checked again. The river comes [5h]. Cada bets 1,750,000, Moon calls, but Cada's pocket tens are better than Moon's eights. A small chunk back to Cada.

Hand 17
There's the massive hand we've been leading up to, and it goes in the favour of Joe Cada. Moon made it 3m pre-flop and Cada called. The flop came [jc][4h][2d] and Moon bets 4m at it, which Cada calls. It all gets nasty on the [qh] turn. Cada checks, Moon bets 6m and Cada now comes to life, making it another 10m or so. Moon calls that one and they see a [5c] on the river. Cada says no more checking, and leads out 35m. Moon slumps back in his chair, then folds. Cada regains the chip lead.

Hand 27
Darvin Moon showed down a couple of strange bluffs during Saturday's play and Joe Cada has just caught him at another one. Moon raised pre-flop to 2.5m and Cada called. They then checked it all the way down to the river: [10d][ah][3h][6c][4s]. Cada bet 3m but Moon now raised 10m more. Cada seemed perplexed but made the call and trapped Moon's hands in the cookie jar. Moon showed [jh][5h] for jack high, while Cada had [js][10h] for a pair of tens.

There are some poker commentators on World Series final table day who end up sounding like an little league soccer coach. "You're all winners!" they insist, citing the fact that each of the November Nine, who reconvened at the Rio Hotel and Casino, Las Vegas, today was guaranteed at least a million dollars before a card was even dealt.

But the format of final table play -- nine down to two today; two to one on Monday -- always meant we would never be able to crown a winner in this first passage of play. And that means there always had to be seven players leaving Las Vegas who felt like losers, despite their bulging wallets and an achievement that they will inevitably look back on with pride.

Before we get too negative and list that unfortunate handful, let's focus on the two who are still in with a chance of entering the most prestigious winners' enclosure in poker. Our heads up duo, decided after a marathon 17 hours play, are these:

Joe Cada, USA, PokerStars player: 136,925,000 chips
Darvin Moon, USA, 58,875,000 chips

They were the survivors from the buffeting of a spiteful day, enduring what by anyone's standards was an exacting, fatiguing session at the felt. Cada in particular will be the first to admit he might be watching this one from his hotel room. He was all in with pocket threes against Jeff Shulman's jacks mid-way through the day. The three in the window kept him alive. And when they were down to three players, he was all in with deuces against Antoine Saout's queens. Yep, that's a deuce on the flop right there.

"I wouldn't change much," Cada said of his day. "Some of the situations were unfortunate. Luckily I sucked out, but that's part of the game."

Cada also won a crucial flip three-handed, rivering a king with his [ad][ks] to finish the job against Saout and his pocket eights. The Frenchman missed out by a whisker after a day that has done wonders for his reputation. But Cada, who was at one point down to two million, proved that PokerStars' finest never give up. And now look at him. He's massive chip leader playing heads up poker for the World Championship. It would make him the youngest ever.

As for Moon, he knows all about the chip lead. He held that accolade for two months, finishing the summer's passage of play with almost a third of the chips in play and returning here with a nonchalant and enviable attitude of: "If I win, I win. If I lose, I lose."

Moon just played his game today, and that meant putting his chips to work and doing his fair share of eliminating opponents, chief among them Phil Ivey, many spectators' tip for the title. Moon's ace-queen downed Ivey's ace-king. The self-confessed recreational player took out the pro.

His reward, like Cada's, is to return to the Penn and Teller Theater on Monday night to see who picks up the bracelet. And, oh yeah, $8.5m.

To get to those two, we had to lose seven, and they fell in the order best displayed on the payouts page. The short version of how they went out looks a bit like this:

Eventually he traded chips four handed with Darvin Moon, but then his [ad][5c] lost to Moon's [kd][jd] and that was terminal. Hear it in his own words:

The long version of all that is available in the following posts. Click through and let us know our long day was appreciated.

Any minute nows...
One hour in the books
Analysing the opening echanges
Short stack fight back
James Akenhead eliminated
Cold deck accounts for Schaffel
Schaffel sick, Buchman bouyed, dinner
The baying crowd returns, refreshed
Joe Cada's 25-hand rollercoaster
Coming up on Sunday
Goliath gone, David suspected
It's a skill game
Money makes the play slow down
Pursuit of Happy-less
The other side of the witching hour
Antoine Saout, Buchman out

So that's it for this epic. We'll restart on Monday at 10pm. An interesting statistic to leave you with: Darvin Moon is entering the heads up passage of play with approximately the same number of chips with which he came to the final table. That means that Joe Cada hoovered up all the rest.

Here's what else Cada had to say.

Good night!

We're not going to lie to you, but as the clock ticks towards 4.30 a.m. Vegas time, and with four players still remaining, we're thinking less about bed and not even breakfast. Where do you fancy meeting for lunch?

At this witching hour, things get a little deranged in the frazzled walnuts that pass for our brains, and a wise decision was therefore made to cut the chat and report this past hour straight. Here's what happened, hand for hand. (Stick with it. The best hand is the last one.)

Blinds at this stage are 400,000-800,000 with a 75,000 ante. All the stack sizes are very similar, with Antoine Saout marginally ahead with about 60,000. All the others are scattered at around 50,000.

1. The button with Darvin Moon and Eric Buchman makes it 2m to play. Joe Cada is the sole caller and the flop comes [jc][5d][4s], which persuades Buchman to bet 3m at it. Cada doesn't like that much and mucks.

2. Cada gets some back. Not many, but some. It's folded to him in the small blind and he raises, making it 2.1m. Antoine Saout, in the big blind, refuses to defend it. Blinds and antes to Cada.

3. Perhaps encouraged by Cada's pilfering of his big blind, Saout follows the pattern when it's folded to him in the small blind. He raises about two million, but Darvin Moon is not so easily moved. He shoves all in (it's about 30 million) and Saout puts his tail between his legs and backs down.

4. Another one for Cada. From under the gun, he makes it his customary two million plus change and no one wants to party.

5. Moon makes it two million pre-flop and Cada comes along. The flop comes [4h][qc][10h], which is checked by both players, but Cada finds his betting arm on the turn. He makes it 4,500,000 and, wow, there goes Moon again. He shoves all in and Cada is put to the test. Cada wants a count, and is told that although he covers Moon, he'll need to find about 35 million more to make this call. He doesn't want to do that.

6. Buchman raises pre-flop and Saout wants to play so makes the call. The flop comes [qh][jd][3s], and Saout check-raises Buchman's 3m tickle. The Frenchman makes it 6,025,000 more and that is good.

7. Joe Cada has the button and makes it 2m to play. No one wants to, so Cada grabs some more blinds and antes.

8. Moon makes up Buchman's big blind and Buchman checks without fanfare. The flop comes [7s][9s][4d] and Buchman's big blind hand seems to like that. After Moon checks, Buchman bets 1,500,000 and Moon calls. The turn is [8c], which they both check, and the river is the [8s]. That fills all kinds of potential draws, but both players check it. Moon shows down ace-high and Buchman's four takes it.

9. After Buchman makes up his blind, Cada raises, asking 1,350,000 more than the blind of 800,000. That is that. Buchman folds.

10. Darvin Moon, Eric Buchman and Antoine Saout see a three-way flop. The former of those was under the gun, the middle one on the button and the latter in the big blind. The flop is [ac][7d][9d] and it's folded to Buchman, who bets three million, which Saout calls. Moon has found his voice though in these late stages, and his voice says: "All in!" Wow. Buchman wriggles out the way instantly, but Saout seems to have a decision. The problem is that losing an all in to anyone at the moment will pretty much cost you the tournament. And so Saout lets it go.

Darvin Moon assumes the chip lead once more.

11. Back to normality. Joe Cada raises under-the-gun and wins.

12. Antoine Saout raises from under-the-gun, and Eric Buchman finds the 1,520,000 more it will cost him to call from the small blind. The two of them see [2s][10h][3c] dealt and after Buchman checks, Saout c-bets to 2.5m approx. Buchman is more than amenable, and he raises, asking for another 2.7m from Saout if they're going to see a turn.

Aha, that's what you think, implies Saout, with his four-bet, sliding in a tower of beige chips. They're playing poker, ladies and gentlemen. This is poker.

Buchman remains defiant and re-re-re-raises (give or take a "re") and this time it's 10m more. Saout gets out of his chair - not leaps, just wriggles a bit - as he ponders what to do next. At this point, it's not the biggest pot of the tournament, but it's certainly the most complicated and Saout gives the conundrum due respect, pondering in deathly silence for a long, long time. Then he folds.

That was the end of that level, and just check out these new blinds folks. Just check them out:

500,000 - 1,000,000 (150,000 ante). That's a million chips for the big blind. A million.

Eric Buchman has reassumed the chip lead.

At around the mid-point of the past hour, there was a discussion between us PokerStars Blog folk about the angle we should adopt for our next post -- this post, that is. After some um-ing and ah-ing (we go to all those lengths) we realised that the story is is right in front of our eyes. Quite literally.

The action is slow at the moment in the Penn and Teller Theater, and we recently endured another 25-minute delay in play. The reason, though, was perfectly valid this time: an army of security guards clutching briefcases came marching onto the stage. Contained inside them (the briefcases, not the security guards) were bundle after bundle of bank-notes, totalling something close to $8.5m, the amount the winner of this thing will collect.

That's a lot of money. It's a mountain of money, in fact. Although I've got a sneaking suspicion that those bundles might not be the genuine article, one of the those security guards has nonetheless been deployed to guard the cash, fake or otherwise.

And it's got to be a distraction for the five players still involved. Darvin Moon, Jeff Shulman and Antoine Saout might not be able to see it in their direct vision, but I've caught sight of them swivelling to check it out once or twice. As for the PokerStars pair Joe Cada and Eric Buchman, they can see the wonga without even moving their heads.

It's maybe this sight that has precipitated a definite slow-down in the past hour. After a relative flurry of eliminations in the last post, we have seen nothing of the sort for more than 60 minutes. The closest we came was when the short-stacked Shulman was all in pre-flop for his last six million, which was called by Saout. Shulman had A-5; Saout K-Q. This time, though, the best hand stood up and Shulman doubled.

He chipped up close to about 15 million total, approximately half of what all the others are sitting behind. Those four are all very evenly chipped at the moment, and the long night shows no sign of drawing to a close.

Stay awake courtesy of another video blog. This one, introducing Eric Buchman to those of you who haven't yet made his acquaintance.