by Chris Edge

Last year the inaugural All Star week went right down to the wire, with both sides deadlocked at 17-17 going into the final match of the series. The Pros ultimately prevailed to come out on top 18-17 victors.

Today the prospect of a repeat scenario seems as distant as ever, with the Challengers on Tuesday racking up a further four victories, surging them into an unprecedented 8-2 lead. In short, the Challengers have been running away with it.

On Wednesday the Pros pinned their All-Star hopes on WSOP stalwarts Hevad Khan, Ivan Demidov, Joe Cada, Joe Hachem and Johnny Lodden to get their beleaguered campaign back on track.

True to form however, it didn't start at all well for the Pros. Multi-tabling sensation Hevad
Khan was first to the felt, pitted against the Chicago-based, 'InstantLei'. Any observers who logged on eager to watch the drama unfold will have been left sorely disappointed as neither player showed up for the first 73 hands - with stacks dead-even on 2500 apiece.

On Hand #74 some 5 minutes in, InstantLei finally took his seat and can hardly have believed his luck to find a markedly unoccupied seat on the opposite side of the baize. In the easiest tie of the round, InstantLei raised every single hand to coast to victory after 16 minutes, with Khan sat out and automatically folded.

Onto match 12 at 14:00 ET and up stepped Russian Ivan Demidov, charged with negotiating the Challengers' 'Timmy K' in the day's Single Draw 2-7 Lowball event. First blood went to the Challenger, who had managed to chip up to 3200 at the half way stage after one hand in which he bet after drawing 2 cards to reveal the winning [9c][3h][7h][8c][5d], for a 9,8,7,5,3 low.

Just 2 minutes later Demidov had all but wiped out Timmy K's lead in one foul swoop, his 9,5,4,3,2 low getting the better of Timmy K's 9,7,6,5,4, and enough to rake the 1500 pot.
That took Demidov to 2900 in chips, a lead he would never relinquish. After 58 hands Timmy K raised to 180, then called a Demidox re-raise to 420. Timmy K stood pat, and with good reason: his 9,7,6,5,4 representing a relative powerhouse in single-draw. Demidov drew one card and hit the miracle [2s] to take down Timmy K with an 8,7,4,3,2 low, and restore some much needed cheer to the Team Pro ranks.

Match 13 saw reigning WSOP Main Event Champ Joe Cada go tête-à-tête against the
returning Hurloon, who on Tuesday saw off the challenge of David Williams.
Cada would go on to pose an altogether trickier threat for the Czech challenger, and add a further $1k to the Pro prize pool after 15 minutes of play.

Most of the damage came in the 20th hand. Hurloon made it 40 to go pre-flop, then called after Cada pumped it up to 140. The flop fell [7s][5d][8s]. Cada received calls of 200 and 420 on the turn and river, before Hurloon folded to his 1540 shove. What either player had is anyone's guess, with Cada opting not to show.

The following 52 hands passed with little noteworthy action, Cada all the while maintaining his lead and never falling below 2900 in chips. Hurloon finally found a hand to go to war with after 15 minutes, committing his stack after some pre-flop jostling with [Ad][9s]. Off to the races we went as Cada called with [7c][7d] for two wired 7s. The subsequent [3d][2c][2h][7s][Ks] board handed Cada victory and reduced the overall deficit to 9-4 in favor of the Challengers.

The penultimate match of the day drew another observer favourite from Day 1, caprioli, back to the fore. His opponent for the PLO Match 14, yet another Main Event champ in the form of Joe Hachem.

With neither Moneymaker nor Raymer registering victories in their respective matches, Hachem was keen to buck the curse of the Main Event winners and prolong the Pros' recent Day 3 resurgence.

Such hope soon faded however, as caprioli marched into a 3:2 chip lead after just the 3rd hand. Hachem raised pre-flop to 100, looked up by caprioli. The flop brought an intriguing [Kc][7d][Qs][Tc], which drew checks from both parties.

The action hotted up again with the [Td] falling; caprioli betting then calling a 300 raise from Hachem. Both players slowed on the [2h] river, with caprioli showing [9h][3s][Th][Ts] for the winning, three 10s.

caprioli went on to add a further chink in Hachem's armour on hand 21. The former check-called Hachem's bet on a flop of [4h][7c][8h], before both checked the [2c] turn. The [4c] river elicited a bet from Hachem, looked-up by caprioli. It proved decisive as caprioli turned over [4d][Qc][Td][9h] for trip 4s, which had got there against Hachem's [9s][Tc][Kd][Ks].

Hachem never recovered and the white flag was raised just 4 hands later. The [5d][5c][6h] flop gave Hachem three 5s holding [7d][9h][Qd][5h], and ample reason to ship his remaining 1000 stack to the middle.

caprioli was gambling with the [7h][Ac][8s][Qh] for an up-and-down straight draw, which duly came in on the [4c] river to restore the Challengers' 6 game lead.

Nordic pro Johnny Lodden lined up against Czech player 'Brezi26' in the final match of the day at 20:00 ET. The chip lead see-sawed back and forth early on, with the first all-in confrontation witnessed after just 10 minutes of play.

Lodden opened the action with [Tc][Ts], re-raised to 400, then called Brezi26's 5-bet shove. The board ran out an emphatic [Kc][Kd][As][2s][6h] to hand the Challenger's [Ad][Qd] the 3460 pot and the chip lead.

Stacks evened out at the half-way stage, as Lodden assumed the role of aggressor, applying pressure both pre-flop and on the flop. On the half-hour mark Lodden's typically Scandi-approach paid dividends as he re-took the chip lead. Further exchanges late on saw Brezi26 claw back some lost ground, with neither player able to command a dominating chip advantage. The blinds soon caught up with both after 45 minutes play however, and coerced their stacks into the middle.

After Brezi26 raised to 300 with [7c][7s], Lodden shipped it in with [4h][Kd]. Naturally, Brezi26 obliged, a 70% favourite. The [5c][9c][8h] flop was kind to the Challenger, although the [8c] turn added counterfeit outs to the remaining 3 Kings in the deck to sweat.

Just like that Brezi's two sevens were toast as the [9h] river slammed to give Lodden the same 9s and 7s, his King kicker playing to hand him the 4288 pot and all but seal the deal.

Sure enough Brezi26 pushed his remaining 1574 into the middle just hands later. Lodden looked him up with [Th][Kd] and fortune favoured the Norwegian again as the virtual dealer dropped [Ts][Ks][5h][6s][8d]. With that Lodden ended the day on a high note for the Pros, who now sit 5 matches adrift the Challengers at 5-10.

by Chris Edge

Following their disastrous start to All Star Week on Monday, PokerStars Team Pro lined up Tuesday determined to cut into the Challengers' overnight 4-1 lead in their quest to take home a 2nd successive title.

First out of the blocks for the Pros was 2003 WSOP Main Event winner, Chris Moneymaker. Once the champion of the underdog, Moneymaker nowadays finds himself sat on the Pros' side of the fence, here seeking to register only their 2nd win of the campaign.

Flying the flag for the Challengers in the NLHE event was seasoned online cash-cow, 'MOJOEX1'. Any hopes of a speedy turnaround in fortunes for the Pros were short-lived however, with the match consigned to history after only 8 minutes.

Much of the damage to Moneymaker's cause was done after raising a MOJOEX1 turn bet to 900 with the board reading [7d][Ks][9c][3h], only to then fold to an all-in 3-bet.
That left Money down to 1080 in chips, a near 4:1 deficit he was never able to recover from. Down to just 810, some pre-flop sparring saw the chips eventually find their way to the middle; [7c][As] for MOJOEX1, vs Moneymaker's [Qd][Ad]. The poker gods were with the Challenger on this one, as the board ran out [3h][6s][7h][Ts][8s] to felt the former WSOP Champ and lengthen the Challengers' overall lead.

Next up to enter the fray was popular UK journalist-come-pro, Vicky Coren. Her opponent: the Canadian, '72good'.

The match didn't go quite to Coren's expectations, immediately expressing her surprise at the game choice: "what? what are we playing? I was expecting holdem lol"

One might surmise Omaha Hi/Lo is not Coren's particular fortay, given her rather frank admission just moments later: "you should be alright, I haven't played this game in about 5 years lol"

The London-based pro's fears proved justified as 72good went on to exploit Coren's apparent rustiness and build a steady lead throughout the match, with a series of probing bets that caught the Pro off-guard.

The ever-gregarious Coren later commented "I just ate a bowl of cheerios too fast"; an apparent bout of indigestion accounting for several pots gone awry, with Coren seemingly content to perpetrate her own demise.

Fourteen minutes in and 72good's early work all came undone. A series of bets and raises on the [2s][3d][Qs] flop saw Coren all-in with [As][3h][4s][Ac] to 72good's [4d][Ad][Kc][7s], for Ace-high and a solitary straight draw to boot. The resulting [Th] turn and [Kh] river slid the 2380 Coren's way and restored parity.

That particular dent to the Challenger's stack did little to reign in his aggression and he was soon back up to the heady heights of 4115 in chips to Coren's 885, displaying much of the same, probing formula that had served him well for much of the match.

Coren was afforded brief restbite for her troubles late on, earning a double up when her [Jd][Ac][Jh][7c] was enough to see off 72good's [Kh][8d][Ah][Ts] after an all-in tussle on the [Qh][Td][5d] flop and subsequent [5s][5h].

However moments later and her efforts proved in vain; a pre-flop 5-bet all-in by the Pro holding [Jd][Ac][2d][Ks] resulting in a board of a [8h][3d][As][Kd][Ts] - enough to hand 72good's [4c][Ad][Ah][7d] victory and make it 2/2 on the Day for the Challengers.

It was next the turn of recently-signed PokerStars Pro and all round nice guy David Williams, to put a stop to the Pro's downfall. Standing in his way in Match 8 was Prague-based, 'Hurloon'.

The chip lead changed hands on several occasions throughout the opening skirmishes, with Williams eventually coming out on top at the half-way stage by just 690 in chips. Much of the frenetic NLHE matches we had seen hitherto in the series had displayed all of the blood-and-thunder, 'all-in poker' that separates NLHE from the rest; with matches often over after the 8 minute mark.

Williams' and Hurloons' affair was proving a much closer-run thing altogether, with small-ball, raise-and-take-it poker the order of the day.

It was the latter who was first able to gain real headway in the match, establishing a 3:2 lead after 20 minutes in when Williams called down a 250 river bet on a board of [Kc][8s][Ks][Td][2s], only to be shown [Kh][7h] for a very deceptively played trip 3's.

Hurloon was able to capitalise on his newly-found riches, with a series of pre-flop and continuation bets building his stack up to a Match-high of 4550. With blinds at 25/50 Williams eventually shipped it all-in pre-flop holding [Ah][9c], and was looked up by the dominating [As][Th]. Williams was to encounter kicker-trouble on the resultant [2s][6c][2h][5d][Qs] board, to make it a remarkable 87.5% win rate for the Challengers.

A familiar face provided the competition for Match 9 of the series, as Monday's success story 'jimenezzzz' faced off against another former WSOP champ, Greg Raymer.
FossilMan managed to race into an early 3:2 lead after Hand #4 in the Limit Hold'Em round. The action went check, bet, raise, raise, call on the flop with Raymer holding [Ac][9c] for the nut flush draw - which got there on the [4c] river. jimenezzzz called Raymer's final 100 bet, only to muck upon seeing the bad news.

FossilMan capitalized on his early lead to build his stack up to 3421 a quarter of an hour in, with the Razz round responsible for much of Raymer's early dominance. Yet just 2 minutes later and a pivotal 7 Card Stud hand swung the chip lead jimenezzzz's way following some check-betting-calling all the way to 7th street.

FossilMan kept the pot small on 4th and 5th street with [2c][Ah] and [2c][Ah][9c] showing, calling all jimenezzzz had to throw at him. jimenezzzz's final 120 river bet proved decisive, revealing [6c][3c][Jc][Tc][9h][Kc][5d] for a King-high flush to relent Raymer's charge.

FossilMan went on to lose further ground throughout the 7 Card Stud round, with jimenezzzz taking his stack as high as 4779 after showing down [6s][Tc][Ts][Ah][5s][Td][Jh] for 3 tens made on 6th street; enough to take down a 1312 pot.

Raymer's fate was eventually sealed after moving all in on a turn of [Ac][Js][7s][3h]. He was insta-called by jimenezzzz, understandably so when holding the powerhouse [Ad][Ah]. Raymer sheepishly revealed [Qd][6d] for a bluff-gone-wrong. The irrelevant [Tc] river compounded the Pro's misery to make it a bad day all round for former world champs.

2 hours later and all-eyes turned to Portuguese Pro Henrique Pinho, as the Pros faced the humiliating prospect of a Challenger whitewash for the 2nd consecutive day.
The Challengers' conqueror from before, 72good was back to do his part in the history-making and hammer a firm nail into the Pro's coffin.

72good was indeed proving too good for Pinho in the early running, amassing a 3:2 chip lead by the 10-minute stage. A series of check-folds from Pinho aiding 72good's cause, making for some nervous viewing for the onlooking Pros.

The Challenger was not only running good but also being paid off with marginal holdings. In one such hand and with 240 in the middle 72good induced a call from the thinnest of value-bets on a [5h][8d][Ts][4s][4c] board, showing [Qh][8h] for 8s and 4s.

Fate turned on 72good just minutes later, and a cold-deck soon signified the start of a recovery from Pinho. A well-timed flopped set of 9s bettered 72 good's riverred 2-pair, with the eventual [8d][3h][9h][5h][4c] board earning the Portuguese Pro the double-up, and putting him right back into contention. Pinho then went on to make a great river-call in the latter stages holding just [As][Jh], for ace-high on a [Qc][3c][9d][5h][8c] board - enough to take the 1118 pot and the chip lead.

[Ac][Jc] again proved Pinho's lucky charm with the chips finding their way into the middle in the final hand. 72good's dominating [Ah][Ks] finding no favours on a nasty [Jd] turn, following a safe [7d][Qs][Qh] flop. The [2d] river ended the match to finally salvage some much-needed pride and leave the Pros to lick their wounds overnight, leaving the scoreboard at a Challenger-dominant 8-2.

PokerStars issued the following press release this morning:

PokerStars, the world's largest poker site, welcomes news of the successful mark up of H.R. 2267: The Internet Gambling Regulation, Consumer Protection, and Enforcement Act in the House Financial Services Committee by an overwhelming, bipartisan margin of 41-22.

The bill, sponsored by Committee Chairman Barney Frank, offers a long overdue common sense approach to internet gaming regulation in the United States. PokerStars wholeheartedly supports the efforts of Chairman Frank and the bill's proponents.

This bill represents the most significant US legislative accomplishment in the history of the internet gaming industry. The Committee vote was one step in a road to passage of H.R. 2267 in the US Congress. Further steps are required and a great deal of hard work for the legislators lies in store.

It is important to note that H.R. 2267 was passed out of Committee with the addition of certain amendments. Two in particular warrant additional comment:

Representative Brad Sherman offered language accepted by the Committee which would in part render as unsuitable for licensure any person who fails to certify in writing that it and its affiliated business entities have never committed an intentional felony violation of Federal or State gambling laws.

Ranking Member Spencer Bachus and Representative Michelle Bachmann also sponsored an amendment, accepted by the Committee, which would in part render unsuitable for licensing any person who knowingly participated in illegal internet gambling activity after enactment of the UIGEA in 2006.

The UIGEA by its clear terms shall not be construed as "altering, limiting or extending any Federal or State law or Tribal-State compact prohibiting, permitting, or regulating gambling within the United States". Therefore, in light of the more comprehensive view on this point set forth in Rep. Sherman's amendment, the Bachus/Bachmann amendment, with its UIGEA timeline, appears redundant (as Ranking Member Bachus himself observed during the mark up).

Nevertheless, PokerStars supports the provisions in both amendments as neither would adversely affect the availability of a license for a respected operator such as PokerStars. As reflected in legal opinions provided to PokerStars, its activities in the US are and at all times have been lawful.

Paul Telford, PokerStars' General Counsel stated that "PokerStars maintains its strong support for H.R. 2267 and encourages the full House and ultimately the Senate to move quickly to secure passage during the current Congressional term. PokerStars, a pioneer in operating online poker under stringent regulatory frameworks, looks forward to working with incumbent and new operators in promoting a safe and healthy online poker industry in the United States, as it currently does under similar licensing models in Italy and France".

by Joanne Haslam
The first season of the PokerStars Twitter Poker League has ended after eight weeks of busy point gathering, leader board checking, and lashings of Twitter #tpoker banter. There was so much going on it's a surprise anyone found time to win a poker tournament. 1,244 Twitter poker players assembled for the season finale, some with good claims to the 100 leader board prizes, others more interested in winning a share of the $1,244 prize pool.

Bra boy84 had won 40 points from back-to-back Twitter tourney wins, but failed to cash in his other Twitter tourneys. 3detch had played every game and with two final tables and three cashes was just three points behind the leader. Danilo1012 was 5th on the leader board with 30 points; he'd need a big finish to overtake the pair, but as the tourney progressed this became a possibility.

Bra boy84 busted
Bra boy84 really only needed a cash to take the league win, but he never really got into the game. He finally fell in 724th when his [Ks][Qc] was beat by stratten's [Ad][7d]. He was stuck on 41 points and would be watching the tourney from the sidelines, hoping his rivals fell on their swords to gift him the win.

3detch had played solid poker throughout the league season and he wasn't going to make it easy for bra boy84. 123rd place might not sound like a poker finish worthy of celebration, but it was in this case, the cash was worth 5 points - enough to take 3detch to the top of the league. However Danilo1012 would still be around to give him a scare...

3detch tweeted: "With tension watching the game Danilo1012 at #tpoker." There were a few others railing the final stages 'with tension' or bizarrely celebrating his skills with a chat box campaign calling for "Danilo for President".

Danilo1012 knew this wasn't going to be easy, he had to make the top 3 to win the league.

Bubble trouble
With 10 players remaining Danilo1012 was the short stack but still fighting. He saw a flop from the small blind with [Ad][3h]. Tessary and Dreams78 were along for the ride, and they all checked the [5c][6c][9c] flop. It was when the turn card [As] was dealt that everything kicked off. Danilo1012's all-in was called by tessary, the big blind player had been playing his [Ah][Qs] sneakily slow. Danilo1012 couldn't beat that queen kicker and was out. His performance made this a closely fought race and gave tweeters plenty to tweet about in the final stages of the tourney; his 10th place was still good for 3rd in the #tpoker league.

Danilo1012's bubble elimination meant the final table chat box was full of congratulations for 3detch. Bra boy 84, and danilo1012 were both keen to congratulate the winner and wish him well with his $700 Step Ticket prize. Of course while the leader board win was being debated the final table players still had work to do...

Final table chips
Seat 1: xkr1 (301,982 in chips)
Seat 2: winona1978 (148,708 in chips)
Seat 3: enjoy2playAK (108,513 in chips)
Seat 4: ashphx (260,624 in chips)
Seat 5: LABUBONICA (346,848 in chips)
Seat 6: sfrol (145,424 in chips)
Seat 7: flickerflick (120,820 in chips)
Seat 8: tessary (291,641 in chips)
Seat 9: Dreams78 (141,440 in chips)

Tessary won a sizeable pot in the first hand at the table, his [Kc][Qc] hit the flush on the turn [Ac], and that ace got winona1978 in deep with an [Ah][Kh].

Dreams78 nightmare
Dreams78 was the next to hit [As][Ks] trouble, simply calling under the gun with the hand and then playing along when xkr1 raised. On the [Js][8d][2d] flop Dreams78 check-called xkr1's all-in. Xkr1 showed [Kd][Jd] for top pair and a flush draw. An [Ah] on the turn gave Dreams78 a pain-free moment, but the [4d] on the river killed all hope. Dreams78 was out in 9th place, and may or may not, have wanted the following advice from the guy who won his chips, "Next time push this hand pre-flop and I fold my KJs."

When winona1978 bet out on a [4h][Ac][5h] flop he was re-raised by LABUBONICA. Winona1978 was not for folding, and LABUBONICA was ready to go all the way with him; on their backs time. It was [Ah][Qd] for winona1978 and [8h][7h] for LABUBONICA. A [Th] river brought the flush and winona78 was the unlucky loser, finishing in 8th place.

Not enjoy 2playthat
Enjoy2playAK told the table he was lowering his card playing standards due to a severe shortage of chips, "Soon gonna push any2. Just that u know :P"

When he pushed it wasn't quite 'any two' but deciding to make a stand with [Ah][Jc], calling sfrol's all-in bet. Sfrol showed [8c][8s], and the pair was enough to take it. As it turned out the king-high board would have suited his name, it didn't suit A-J. Down to six players.
Flickerflick went all-in twice with no takers, and the third time found a double-up with [Ad][Tc] versus xkr1's [Ac][7c].

Then Flickerflick raised with [As][Ad] and was called by tessary and LABUBONICA. Flickerflick thought the [9d][5c][4c] flop good enough for a bet, and worthy of an all-in re-raise when tessary raised back at him. Tessary had hit the set with [4d][4h] to beat aces, so a 6th place exit for Flickerflick.

Pass the chip lead
The chip lead had swung around the table, no one holding on to the elusive title for more than two or three hands, but at this stage of the game LABUBONICA, tessary and xkr1 had what I like to call 'happy stacks' while ashphx and sfrol had what I see as, 'need work' stacks.

Ashphx got to work with that 'needs work' pile of chips, pushing all-in from the button with [5d][5h]. Sfrol who also held a 'needs work' stack made the call with [Kc][Qs]. The [Qd] on the turn decided ashphx's tournament fate, and he exited typing 'gg' through gritted teeth with good grace.

LABUBONICA won a few pots without showing cards and was gradually gaining the advantage. Xkr1 was in last place chips-wise but had a plan for that. He started raising. In fact he raised all-in seven out of eight hands, winning blinds and antes like nobody's business. He had LABUBONICA asking with concern: "Are u tilt¿?"

Perhaps it was inevitable that one of these bets was going to be called. Xkr1's eighth all-in was called by LABUBONICA with [Th][Ts]. Xkr1 was still perfectly live with [Qc][Jc] although the rest of the table might have been wishing him a goner - that pesky all-in prone German was making life difficult for everyone.

There were a couple of clubs to give xkr1 flush draw hope, but hope doesn't win chips like a pair of tens can. Xkr1 out in 4th place.

If chips were mountains...
LABUBONICA increased his lead with xkr1's elimination, and if the three players' chips were mountain ranges then LABUBONICA would be the mighty Himalayas, tessary the Alps, and sfrol the Brecon Beacons in Wales. Or minus the geography lesson it would be LABUBONICA 1,142,464, tessary 512,806, and sfrol 205,480.

Sfrol tried to fight back with his small Welsh mountain of chips, he raised with [Kc][Jc] and LABUBONICA called with [5d][5c]. The [Tc][9c][6d] flop got sfrol betting out again. LABUBONICA was having none of that and re-raised. Sfrol pressed his case yet again with an all-in bet. LABUBONICA was chip-happy and chose to call. He must also have been happy to see he was ahead with his low pair, but the [Qs] on the turn gave sfrol the straight and he took the pot.

Three-handed play was cagey with LABUBONICA holding the lead but not powering ahead. Then sfrol pushed all-in with 270,000, [As][8d] in his hand. LABONICA had enough chips to try to take him down with a [Kd][7d]. The ace high won, and sfrol fought on. Next Tessary lost a big pot holding [Ac][Js] on a jack-high board, LABUBONICA hit the straight to leave Tessary looking for an all-in hand. When sfrol raised a few hands later Tessary found [Ts][Td] and pushed. Sfrol called with [Ad][Kh] for one of those classic poker confrontations. The classic [Ks] on the flop put an end to tessary's game.

Six, six, six - six
Heads-up now. LABUBONICA was ahead with 1,013,524 but there would still be plenty of play with sfrol fielding 852,476. LABUBONICA eased ahead, a steady pattern of raised pots and continuation bets sending chips to his corner.

Sfrol clawed some back, all-in with [6d][Js] on a board showing two sixes. LABUBONICA must have thought his [6c] would win the match - but no. His lower [8s] side card sent the pot to sfrol. Sfrol climbed back to 800,000.

The final hand was another side-card battle, this time LABUBONICA had the best of it. Sfrol re-raised all-in with [Ac][Jd]. LABUBONICA made the call with [Ah][Qd]. The flop didn't change anything, and [Ah][Qd] was the #tpoker tournament winning hand. Well done to LABUBONICA for claiming the win in the final game of the Twitter Poker League season.

Top 100
So now league points will be totted up, leaderboard tables published, and the best 100 Twitter Poker League players will share $2,100 of Step Ticket prizes. Congratulations to 3detch for winning the league in its first season. Thanks to all players who participated in the league and tweeted their thoughts tagged with #tpoker for other Twitter League players to follow.

There'll be a brand new league season starting next week, with eight tournaments to prove a point to the rest of the #tpoker world. We hope you'll add your name to the leader board and grab a share of the prizes. You can find more information by visiting the Twitter Poker League website. Or follow PokerStars on Twitter for news, competitions, league reports and all manner of fun for tweeting types.

Twitter Poker League Leaderboard - Week 8 (07-25-10)
3detch - 46
bra boy84 - 45
Danilo1012 - 35
captainlgf -32
McNamara2011 -32
Sashhh27 - 30
thop5574 - 30
Debiloki - 29
0 RAM 0 - 28
firebreather - 28
JRMR802 - 28
Matosh - 28

It's hard to believe we're already well in to season two of the PokerStars Italian Poker Tour. This series has surpassed all expectations and is now one of the most hotly-contested events in the European poker calendar.

Tomorrow sees the start of IPT Venice, a €2,000 (+ €200) buy-in tournament held in one of the most beautiful cities in the world.

Casino Ca' Noghera is the place to be, but if you can't make it you can follow all the action on our sister Italian blog. There you'll find Matteo Viola hard at work bringing you the words and photos. Don't read Italian? A small problem, you may think, but by using Google's translation tool you'll be up to speed in no time! Warning: the tool does not come with free arm-waving and wild Italian gesticulation.

Watch out for a host of big names in Venice, including the Italian faction of Team PokerStars Pro and Team PokerStars Online as they battle to repeat the trick pulled off by Luigi Pignataro, who won the title and €190,000 in the season's first event in San Marino in June.

by Chris Edge
With the dust settling on the World Series for another year, the focus for many Team PokerStars Pros shifts from the live to the virtual scene, with the second annual All Star Week.

Over the course of this week the ranks of Team Pro square off against an array of recent top performing PokerStars players in a series of 35 heads-up matches.

Yesterday's first day of five matches did not go well for the Pros - they lost 4-1!

The curtain raiser pitted Team Pro and WPT winner Alex Gomes against Spanish-based 'jimenezzzz' in the opening NLHE event.

Following a conservative opening jimenezzzz stole the chip lead thanks to some well-timed check-raises and generally revealing winners when play reached showdown. Twelve minutes into the match and jimenezzzz took a firm grip on proceedings to extend his lead to a near 3:1 chip advantage. With the board reading [7h][3d][5c][Qh] Allingomes fired out a bet of 90, duly called by jimenezzzz holding a lowly [4s][3h]. The [3c] river proved Gomes' downfall; calling a 330 bet, only to be shown trip 3's by jimenezzzz.

Minutes later and it was all over; jimenezzzz hitting gin on the [9d][5d][4c] flop holding [9h][5c], to Gomes' [Ad][Ah], for two red aces. All the money found its way in the middle on the [Th] turn, with jimenezzzz fading the eight outs on the river to chalk up the first victory for the Challengers and prompt a "gg" from the vanquished Pro.

Two hours later it was the turn of 'traction1' to face off against Team Pro. He would need to overcome Brazilian heavyweight, Andre Akkari (aakkari) in the Limit Stud event of the series.

A fiercely contested encounter saw aakaari gain much of the early momentum, aided by several continuation bets that forced traction1 out of the action. Just three minutes into the match and aakkari surged into a 2:1 chip lead after raising a 7th street bet from traction1, showing down [Kh][Ad][4h][6c][Ah][3d][6s] for two pair; enough to better traction1's holding.

At one point traction1 was down to just 876 as aakkari continued to apply pressure with the dominating stack. Undeterred, traction1 rallied before a big hand 11 minutes in all-but restored parity.

Following some jousting back and forth, both players made it to 7th street with 720 in the middle. aakkari displayed some pot control to check-call traction1's 100 river bet, only to be shown the winning [Ah][Qc][Qh][9h][9s][Kc][Js].

It was 2 pair that again set traction1 up for victory approaching 40 minutes in, earning a 200 call on the river and with it the chip lead for the 1st time in the match, holding [8c][8h][5c][7h][9s][3d][9d].

Only minutes later and down to just 670 in chips, Akkari's fate was sealed when he committed his remaining stack on 4th street. traction1 obliged and again his [Kh][7c][7d][Qd][8c][4c][4h] was enough to take victory and double the Challengers' lead.

Match 3 between Team Pro Canada's Greg DeBora and challenger 'caprioli' proved a much shorter affair. The early exchanges saw caprioli race to an early 3:2 chip lead, after receiving a 490 call on the river with a full house, holding [2s][Ts]. Lady Luck's allegiance remained with caprioli as the very next hand he showed down [8s][Js] on a [6s][4s][8c][Ac] [8d]. His three eights enough to take the 1820 pot and a 4:1 chip lead.

Eight minutes in and the Challengers had established a 3-0 lead, after DeBora pushed his remaining 1255 into the middle on the [5c][4h][Kc][7d] turn, holding [7s][6d]. caprioli snapped him off with [6h][Ks], and his top pair held up to make it an impressive 3/3 for the Challengers.

traction1 returned to the felt for the Limit Triple Draw 2-7 Lowball Match 4, hoping to replicate some of the good form demonstrated against Andre Akkari. His adversary on this occasion was Dutch Pro Ruben Visser.

Most of the early skirmishes favored traction1, who got a real stranglehold on the match 26 minutes in, with both players having made lows after the 3rd draw. Unfortunately for Visser, his (Lo: 9,7,6,5,4) was no match for the dominating (Lo: 9,7,5,4,3) of traction1.

rubenrtv went on to reduce the 4:1 deficit on the half-hour mark, standing pat after the 3rd draw with (Lo: T,7,5,4,3) - enough to better traction1's (Lo: J,9,4,3,2). Only three hands later and the writing appeared on the wall for traction1, who lost a huge 3200 chip pot after calling rubenrtv's river raise, and subsequently mucking after being shown the monster 7,5,4,3,2.

Five minutes later, and the see-sawing chip lead reversed yet again; traction1's 8,7,6,4,3 enough to take the 1800 pot, and driven a decisive nail in Visser's coffin. At 18:45 ET and boasting a 6:1 chip advantage, traction1 called Visser's 90 all in bet following the third draw, revealing (Lo: J,9,8,7,4) against Visser's (Lo: A,8,7,5,3), and taking with it, the 4th straight scalp for the Challengers!

Match 5 saw badblood1, representing the Challengers, line up against Team Pro Chad Brown, keen to restore some battered pride to the Team Pro cause before the day's end.

Much cagey to-ing and fro-ing early on set the pace for much of the match; with Brown understandably apprehensive over the prospect of a Day-1 whitewash. His cautious approach helped badblood1 chip up 3:2 by the half way stage, himself adopting some Negreanu-esque smallball poker to steal pots in favorable situations.

Brown recovered to eat into badblood1's lead and after hand #97 there remained little to separate the two. Blinds stood at 25/50 and stacks at 2510 v 2490 in favor of Brown, with the match continuing in the same, cagey tone.

badblood1's aggressive approach once again dwindled Brown's stack until he was reduced to all-in/shove poker at the 35-minute level. Brown duly committed his stack on Hand #142 but yielded no call. Moments later his stack found its way to the middle again, and the prospect of a clean-sweep by the Challengers suddenly seemed a very real one upon badblood1 calling. That was until the moment badblood1 revealed the anti-climatic, identical KT. To no-one's surprise the pot was chopped up and we played on.

Then came the pivotal 'Hand That Might Have Been'. With both players all-in on the [Ts][6d][4c] flop, Brown's [6c][2h] was in dire straits and needing urgent help against badblood1's [8d][Td]. The inconsequential [Ac] left Brown drawing to five outs on the river, 91% likely to hit the felt and hand victory to the Challengers yet again. The cards had other ideas, however, and in true Hollywood fashion the [6s] spiked like a lightning bolt, to hand Brown the chip lead late on.

It was a cruel blow to badblood1, who six hands later shipped it in with [8d][Qh]. Brown obliged with [Ad][Ts], and the [6c][5c][Kh][Tc][8s] board sent Match 5 the Pros' way to leave the scoreboard at 4-1 to the Challengers after Day 1's play.

Join us tomorrow to see whether the Pro's can avenge their Day 1 performance and claw back some of their lost ground. You can follow the action in the PokerStars lobby, going to Tourney >> Special.

For the 11 challengers there is $1,000 to be won in each individual match, plus they'll get to share a $25,000 prize if they win the series. For Team Pro, any winnings they get will be added to a special $11 fan tournament on PokerStars at 4pm ET on August 8.

Last we checked, Canada Day was earlier in the year. Our Canadian friends took the day off and did a bunch of Canadian things. We remember it clearly, largely because we were a little jealous.

So, with the above completely understood, you can probably see why we were like, "Wha?" when Team PokerStars Canada blew up yesterday during the Sunday tournaments.

One $215 Mixed Hold'em final table alone consisted of Team PokerStars Pros Pat Pezzin, Greg Debora, and An Van Nguyen. If that wasn't enough, Pezzin came in runner-up in a fixed limit Omaha event. Outdoing them all was Canadian Team PokerStars Online player Steve Paul who hit the $530 NLHE event for a fifth place finish and $25,863. It was as if someone poured run good in the Canadians drank up.

In news not necessarily related to the Canucks, here are some of the bigger stories that came out of the Sunday tournaments this weekend.

To see all the people who are't from Canada who cashed big this weekend, see our 7-25-10 PokerStars Sunday tournament results page.

Good luck to everyone this week, Canada and beyond.

Like the imminent arrival of a new supply of Atomic Fireballs, the official candy of PokerStars Blog, we look forward to the start of All Star Week. Why? Because starting today it pitches players from Team PokerStars Pro against a challenging team in a series of heads-up matches across all poker disciplines. And no Pro wants to lose face.

The problem for Team Pro is they are up against some of PokerStars' best players - folk who have excelled in WCOOP, SCOOP, the Sunday Million and the Tournament Leaderboard. It all makes for some pretty tasty matches.

For the 11 challengers there is $1,000 to be won in each individual match, plus they'll get to share a $25,000 prize if they win the series. For Team Pro, any winnings they get will be added to a special $11 fan tournament on PokerStars at 4pm ET on August 8.

In other words, although some might quite like to see a Team Pro fall flat on his/her face, most will be cheering them on so there is more to play for in the fan event.

Today's five opening matches feature Team PokerStars Pros Alex Gomes, Andre Akkari, Greg Debora, Ruben Visser and Chad Brown. The full schedule is printed below.

There are 35 matches in total, and last year Team PokerStars Pro squeaked the title by 18-17. To check out the action, open up the PokerStars lobby and click on Tourney >> Special.

Have fun!

1 26/07/2010 12:00 ET NLHE Alexandre Gomes v jimenezzzz
2 26/07/2010 14:00 ET Stud André Akkari v traction1
3 26/07/2010 16:00 ET NLHE Greg Debora v caprioli
4 26/07/2010 18:00 ET 2-7TD Ruben Visser v traction1
5 26/07/2010 20:00 ET NLHE Chad Brown v badblood1

6 27/07/2010 12:00 ET NLHE Chris Moneymaker v MOJOEX1
7 27/07/2010 14:00 ET PLO8 Vicky Coren v 72good
8 27/07/2010 16:00 ET NLHE David Williams v Hurloon
9 27/07/2010 18:00 ET HORSE Greg Raymer v jimenezzzz
10 27/07/2010 20:00 ET NLHE Henrique Pinho v 72good

11 28/07/2010 12:00 ET NLHE Hevad Khan v InstantLei
12 28/07/2010 14:00 ET 2-7SD Ivan Demidov v Timmy K
13 28/07/2010 16:00 ET NLHE Joe Cada v Hurloon
14 28/07/2010 18:00 ET PLO Joe Hachem v caprioli
15 28/07/2010 20:00 ET NLHE Johnny Lodden v Brezi26

16 29/07/2010 12:00 ET NLHE Jose Barbero v caprioli
17 29/07/2010 14:00 ET Badugi JP Kelly v Timmy K
18 29/07/2010 16:00 ET NLHE Lex Veldhuis v MOJOEX1
19 29/07/2010 18:00 ET LHE Marcel Luske v 72good
20 29/07/2010 20:00 ET NLHE Noah Boeken v MOJOEX1

21 30/07/2010 12:00 ET NLHE Joep Van Den Bijgaart v caprioli
22 30/07/2010 14:00 ET L5CD Maridu Mayrinik v Timmy K
23 30/07/2010 16:00 ET NLHE Anh Van Nguyen v MOJOEX1
24 30/07/2010 18:00 ET 8-Game Darus Suharto v badblood1
25 30/07/2010 20:00 ET NLHE Tom McEvoy v caprioli

26 31/07/2010 12:00 ET NLHE Tony Hachem v Hurloon
27 31/07/2010 14:00 ET O8 Julian Thew v Timmy K
28 31/07/2010 16:00 ET NLHE Victor Ramdin v badblood1
29 31/07/2010 18:00 ET Razz Bill Chen v Timmy K
30 31/07/2010 20:00 ET NLHE Veronica Dabul v MOJOEX1

31 01/08/2010 12:00 ET NLHE Pat Pezzin v 72good
32 01/08/2010 14:00 ET PL5CD Victor Ramdin v InstantLei
33 01/08/2010 16:00 ET NLHE Vanessa Selbst v papadelpoker
34 01/08/2010 18:00 ET Stud8 Randy Lew v Brezi26
35 01/08/2010 20:00 ET NLHE Richard Toth v Brezi26

Walk down your local Main Street and ask 100 people to name an expensive, unattainable, luxury sports car. Nine out of ten of them will say, "Lamborghini."

Now that you've done that, just for fun, tell them they can win that car for a little as $0 on PokerStars.

It's fair to say that the Lamborghini Gallardo is one of the most iconic cars in the world, and now PokerStars s going to give away one of the $200,000 super-vehicles.

This weekend, PokerStars will begin running 24 daily freeroll qualifiers (and a few satellites for $1.10 and $11) to get you to the weekly final. There you can get your seat to the Grand Final. Once there, you can win this:

Oh, and it's not like the car is the only thing you can win. There is a million bucks cash available along the road to the car. Each of the weekly final events has a $100,000 prize pool. The Grand Final will award $250,000 in cash (not to mention the car).

You can find all of the Lamborghini freeroll events by clicking "Tourney" and "All" in the PokerStars Lobby or typing 'Lamborghini' into the tournament filter.

For a full schedule of events, see the Lamborghini Freeroll page on PokerStars.

Have fun!

In less than two weeks, PokerStars Macau will attempt to shatter some Asia poker records.

August 4-8, PokerStars Macau at Casino Grand Lisboa will host the inaugural Macau Millions in what is expected to be the biggest poker field ever in Asia.

The Macau Millions has a HKD $1,000,000 guaranteed prize pool for an affordable buy-in of HKD $2,200. Players can enter any of the five Day 1 flights in which the top 7% of each Day 1 will be guaranteed cash and a seat for the Day 2 final. Best of all, if you manage to get eliminated on one of the early Day 1 flights, you can enter another one for a chance to get your money back.

You can find the full schedule here.

That's not all that's happening at PokerStars Macau. August 7th and 8th, the card room will host a $5,000 no-limit hold'em event.

Both of the above events will count towards the Asia Player of the Year (APOY) Leaderboard.

PokerStars Macau Operations Manager Danny McDonagh said, "PokerStars and Grand Lisboa have been synonymous for record-breaking poker events in Macau. The Macau Millions is going to be historic for the Asia poker community and I simply can't wait to get things started."