The gambling world can sometimes produce really off-the-wall stories. Every month there are plenty of cases of individuals going to extreme lengths to pay back debts, or of simply bizarre behavior at casino properties around the globe. It can be entertaining and sometimes sad.

We at Card Player compile monthly lists of the craziest gambling-related stories, and here we bring you a compilation of the 10 most noteworthy of the year that was.

Gambler Sues Casino For $300,000 After Roulette Ball Hit Him In The Face

A Washington, D.C. resident is suing Maryland Live! Casino for injuries he claims were sustained after a roulette ball became airborne and hit him above the eye in December 2013. The original complaint was filed in 2014, but this year a second amended complaint was filed in U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia. The casino was unsuccessful earlier this year in trying to get the lawsuit dismissed.

Man Arrested For Slapping Poker Player He Taunted For Having ‘Baby Nuts’

In November, a Florida poker player was arrested after allegedly slapping a fellow poker player at the Gulfstream Park casino in Hallandale. Cemal Egilmez was allegedly taunting the player he ended up slapping, saying to the man that he had “baby nuts.” According to a police report, Egilmez was taunting his opponent at the table when the man being heckled got out of his seat and showed Egilmez and a woman sitting next to Egilmez a $500,000 balance in his bank account from his cellphone. That reportedly sent Egilmez over the edge.

Archie Karas Gets Lifetime Ban From Nevada

One-time high-stakes poker player Anargyros Karabourniotis, better known as Archie Karas, has been placed on Nevada’s list of persons barred from entering any casino in the state. Karas was famous for turning $50 into $40 million in the 1990s, but eventually lost it all. Karas has been convicted of cheating in casinos numerous times over the past 20 years.

Poker Player Takes Chips From Opponent’s Stack As A ‘Prank,’ Gets DQ From Final Table

In September, an apparent “prank” during the late stages of a poker tournament cost one poker pro. Italy’s Gaetano Preite was deep in the People’s Poker Tour main event in Malta when he decided to play a joke on his friend by hiding some of his chips. Preite left the table to go talk to some friends and let them in on the prank he had just pulled, but when he got back to the table Abrusci had already bagged his chips without noticing any were missing. Preite was kicked out of the tournament with no money.

Indiana Warns Senior Center Over Card Game That Awarded Prizes Like T.P.

A micro-stakes card game at a senior center in Muncie, Indiana has ceased its tradition of offering prizes such as toilet paper and fruit after state gaming regulators contacted them and said the activity is gambling. The absurd situation actually got the attention of Gov. Mike Pence and it irked him because “common sense” wasn’t being used.

Poker Player Claims Injury After Casino Employee Drops Poker-Chip Box On Her Head

A poker player in Florida is suing a casino for injury she claims was sustained when an employee dropped a box containing poker chips on her head. The alleged incident happened at the Seminole Hard Rock Hotel and Casino Tampa. The lawsuit was filed in Hillsborough County court in late May and apparently is moving toward trial.

Two Identical Cards Come Out On Flop In Super High Roller Cash Game

This past summer’s Super High Roller Cash Game that featured a minimum $250,000 buy-in and the game’s best poker pros had a crazy moment when a flop fell A Q Q. The hand was between Doug Polk and Dan Colman, and the money was returned to the players.

Deaf Poker Player Killed While Trying To Buy 10 Pounds Of Marijuana In Las Vegas

Minnesota-based poker player Jonathan Cyril Collins, a three-time winner of National Deaf Poker Tour events, was killed earlier this year in Las Vegas. The 39-year-old Collins and his girlfriend drove to Las Vegas to meet with a man Collins knew only by first name to buy 10 pounds of marijuana, according to police. The couple apparently fell into a robbery attempt, which resulted in one of the suspects shooting Collins while he was in his car, authorities said.

Casino Doesn’t Have To Pay $41 Million After Slot Malfunction

The Iowa Supreme Court said that Isle Casino Hotel doesn’t have to pay a grandmother $41 million because the penny slot machine she was playing on was defective. Pauline McKee thought she had won the incredible prize at the casino during a family reunion in 2011. She later sued after the state determined that the prize was invalid because of a software error. The machine she was playing on had a $10,000 maximum prize.

World Series Of Poker Bracelet Winner Jailed For Cheating At Online Poker

Darren Woods, a World Series of Poker bracelet winner in 2011, was sentenced to 15 months in jail over in the United Kingdom and ordered to repay a hefty sum of £1 million after he cheated for years at online poker. Woods engaged in fraudulent misconduct on 888.com and several other sites by setting up an elaborate scheme to play multiple hands at once at the same table.

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Team PokerStars Pro Bertrand 'ElkY' Grospellier is a PCA legend, winning the Main Event in 2008 and returning one year later to win the High Roller title. In this exclusive interview, the French superstar reveals just what it is about Atlantis that is so special...

When you think of the PCA, the player that immediately comes to mind is Bertrand 'ElkY' Grospellier. The French poker and gaming superstar has won two outright titles and $2,480,480 in total winnings at the Atlantis Resort - and did it all with the style that has made him one of the most popular players in the world.

ElkY will be back at the PCA in 2016 broadcasting on his hugely successful Twitch channel and, most importantly, going for a third title at the venue which made him famous. Can he do it again? The Frenchman certainly isn't lacking in confidence...

PCA: Can you describe what the PCA is like for players who have never been there before?

ELKY: The PCA is a very unique poker tournament, for many reasons. It's the stop with the most PokerStars qualifiers so you will feel like you know or have played with most of the field already online! It also feels more like a poker summer camp because of the location, and the Atlantis is filled with so many poker players at the same time. The PCA is one of the best places to play poker in the world, and in 2016 it will have the biggest schedule in EPT history too.

PCA: Does the PCA sometimes feel more like a holiday than a serious poker tournament?

ELKY: Yes for sure, especially with the weather in January, and the whole resort concept. All of the EPT stops are in wonderful cities but the players are usually a bit more spread out, whereas at the PCA we are all together most of the time.

PCA: Does that mean that the parties at the PCA are the best too?

ELKY: Yeah, I have fond memories of the PokerStars parties at the PCA, and not just the ones when I won! There is usually a huge farewell party outside which is awesome. I can remember Kelly Rowland performing at one of the parties.

PCA: Two of your biggest live victories have happened at the PCA. Is there something about Atlantis that brings out your best game? Or is it just a coincidence?

ELKY: It's hard to say of course. I think in most cases it's a combination of both, but I definitely feel very confident at Atlantis, even though it might just be the placebo effect. It always feels great returning there.

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PCA: Back in 2008 (when ElkY won the PCA Main Event for $2M) you were mainly known for becoming the first ever Supernova Elite on PokerStars. But was winning a major live tournament one of your key goals? Or were you much more focused on online poker?

ELKY: I was already very focused on live tournaments, as I came so close to a major win one year earlier at EPT Copenhagen when I finished runner-up. Winning a live tourney really became one of my main goals when I got the chance to be a Team PokerStars Pro in 2006. Winning the PCA after that was truly the most magical feeling of them all!

Treasure chest: ElkY scoops the 2008 PCA Main Event

PCA: The Main Event field at the PCA is one of the biggest of the year. What's the key to beating a field of thousands?

ELKY: Being prepared is definitely very important, both mentally and physically. You have to bring your 'A' game, but of course running well is also part of the equation.

PCA: You were known for being hyper-aggressive in 2008. Could you get away with a lot more then than you can today?

ELKY: Yes, definitely. I think it's partly that people knew less of me back then, but when you think back to 2008 the game of poker has changed so much. Overall gameplay and metagame were very, very different. In fact, I reviewed the final table that I won in 2008 just last year and I couldn't believe what we were all doing in some spots!

PCA: Can you give any examples?

ELKY: There were barely any squeeze plays in 2008 so a lot of pots ended up being played multi-way. In one hand David 'The Dragon' Pham opened, and he got two callers. One of those was Kristopher Kuykendall, who just called with A-Q in the big blind. With the table dynamic it's a 100% three-bet nowadays because David Pham opened a lot of hands!

PCA: Does the extra aggression in today's poker make it much tougher to win?

ELKY: I think so, not necessarily because the dynamic and metagame has changed, but because most of the players are much more experienced.

PCA: Would you say the 2008 PCA Main Event win is the highlight of your career so far?

ELKY: It's always difficult to say but the 2008 PCA is what started it all for me, so for sure!

Atlantis, home of the PCA

PCA: After the Main Event win you came back the next year to win the Super High Roller for over $500,000. Was it more prestigious to win the Main Event or to win the High Roller versus a smaller, more skilled field?

ELKY: I think the Main Event was definitely more important because of the sheer size of the field, and how prestigious an EPT Main Event is. Of course, it means a lot to win the High Roller as well!

PCA: Away from the tables, what would you recommend players do while at the PCA?

ELKY: I think my favourite restaurant is Dune at the Ocean Club. As for activities, the water slides are very fun but I think it depends on what you usually like to do. There are so many things to do at the PCA - from swimming in the ocean to walking on the beach or even swimming with dolphins. I love to do that, it's a unique experience.

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^

At 43 years old, Ilkin Amirov has already made history on the European Poker Tour. He's the first person from the former Soviet Republic of Azerbaijan to make an EPT final table. Wednesday, he could be his nation's first winner.

Ilkin Amirov

After slowly working his way to the chip lead early on Day 5, Amirov won one of the most spectacular and memorable hands in the EPT's 12-season history. The four-way all-in pre-flop pot was worth nearly ten million chips. His pocket kings held up against pocket queens, pocket jacks, and [8d][9d] to give Amirov nearly a full third of the chips in play. (Read about how that hand happened here: City gets chilly; Amirov livin' the dream.)

When the final table resume on Day 6, Amirov will take his chip lead up against five other players who hope to run as well as Amirov ran today. Here's how they stack up.

Ilkin Amirov (Azerbaijan) 9,965,000
Gleb Tremzin (Russia) 7,785,000
Thomas Butzhammer (Germany) 5,490,000
Slaven Popov (Bulgaria) 3,640,000
Hossein Ensan (Germany) 2,725,000
Olivier Ferrero (France) 1,715,000

The final table, in happier times for the now-departed Onur Unsal and Vlado Banicevic

We've seen Amirov before. This will be the sixth time he has cashed in an EPT Main Event. Just last year, the businessman from Baku finished in 40th place here in Prague. While he has racked up nearly $800,000 in live winnings over the past half-decade, he is on track to crush his prior best result, a €105,336 cash for a third place in the €3k Berlin Cup High Roller back in Season 9.

While Amirov won the most exciting hand of the day, he'll be up against Russia's Gleb Tremzin who dispatched Marc Macdonnell (the man who started the day with the cheap lead) in a massive boat-over-boat cooler that was good enough, for a time, to move Tremzin up to second place in the counts.

Tremzin, 27 and known as Ti0373 online, hails from Arkhangelsk, one of the northernmost cities on the planet. Tremzin is an online monster who has three WCOOP titles to his name. He's looking to be Russia's fourth EPT Main Event champion.

Gleb Tremzin

Right now, it's Amirov and Tremzin's tourney to lose, but they're not far enough ahead to count out the others, including Germany's Thomas Butzhammer (who finished 16th here last year) and 51-year-old Hossein Ensan who is enjoying his third Main Event final nine appearance in the last 16 months.

Butzhammer (left) speaks to Sebastian Gohr and PokerStars German Blogger Robin Scherr

Hossein Ensan

Ensan will have some familiar company at the final table. Bulgaria's Slaven Popov was at Ensan's final table in Season 11's Barcelona event. Ensan finished third to Popov's eighth. Read more about how rare this second table final table meeting is here: Not since the days of Thew and Vaswani...

Slaven Popov

Finally, none of them should count out France's Olivier Ferrero, the 33-year-old for Marseille who is in the middle of his best-ever live tournament poker run. His winnings have already eclipsed his lifetime total.

Olivier_Ferrero

Play resumes at 1pm CET tomorrow, but for security reasons, the EPT Live stream and our EPT Main Event live coverage will begin exactly one hour later at 2pm CET.

Join us then when we'll find out whether Amirov's domination will continue.

Until then, good night from Prague.

To catch up with the rest of our coverage from EPT Prague, check out any of the links below:

MAIN EVENT LIVE COVERAGE
10K HIGH ROLLER COVERAGE
SIDE EVENT REPORTS
SIDE EVENT RESULTS

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Brad Willis is the PokerStars Head of Blogging.

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^

buckguy2200: how much do you like this tourney jony
OMGjonyctt: :P
OMGjonyctt: i like it
buckguy2200: haha y play anything else
buckguy2200: :D

Such was the chatbox exchange between Sam "buckguy2200" Phillips and Jonathan "OMGjonyctt" Concepcion on the bubble of this week's Super Tuesday final table, the last installment of the year for PokerStars' weekly $1,050 no-limit hold'em event.

Phillips was remarking on Concepcion's frequent success in the tournament, something he's demonstrated time and again for several years. Just here in 2015, Concepcion won the Super Tuesday in late July (for $101,270), then finished third in the tournament in November.

And this week's result should make the U.K. player like the tournament even more, as he managed to top a big field of 525 players in relatively short order to take down a second Super Tuesday title in 2015 and a cool $99,750 first prize.

Jonathan "OMGjonyctt" Concepcion

That big turnout meant a prize pool of $525,000 (beating the $450K guarantee by a wide margin). It took a little over six hours for the money bubble to burst, and with 63 left Concepcion had already raced into first position in the counts. About an hour-and-a-half after that they were already down to 18, with Concepcion still sitting on a big stack and pAYtAXiSnICE the new leader.

Jean-Pascal "hopezACE" Savard (18th), prsalute (17th), and Martin "tinchoarce" Arce (16th) were the next players out, picking up $4,200 each for their efforts. luckyfish89 (15th), GLODU14 (14th), and Alex.Z5518 (13th) followed, earning $5,250 apiece. Then Zach "zackmorris99" Donovan (12th), üä-qaypö.wsx (11th), and blakjak19 (10th) were successively knocked out, with each claiming $6,300 from the prize pool.

With the tournament's nine-hour mark just a hand away, the final table had begun with Jonathan "OMGjonyctt" Concepcion back in the top spot by a wide margin.

Seat 1: Sam "buckguy2200" Phillips (Mexico) -- 357,722
Seat 2: Kenny "SpaceyFCB" Hallaert (Belgium) -- 315,373
Seat 3: hownorez (Czech Republic) -- 154,579
Seat 4: shrekpoker91 (Ukraine) -- 226,321
Seat 5: shalevhalfa (Israel) -- 151,314
Seat 6: Jonathan "OMGjonyctt" Concepcion (United Kingdom) -- 735,121
Seat 7: esenin-001 (Russia) -- 88,206
Seat 8: pAYtAXiSnICE (Sweden) -- 280,620
Seat 9: Nkoyi (Belgium) -- 315,744

They'd made it to the final table relatively quickly, and with such deep stacks all nine players nearly survived through another full hour of play before the next elimination came.

The blinds had increased to 6,000/12,000, and Sam "buckguy2200" Phillips had recently lost a big preflop all-in when his [Ad][Th] couldn't outdraw shrekpoker91's pocket kings. Down to 1.5 big blinds, Phillips then called all in from the big blind after a shrekpoker91 open, turning over [Ad][6d] while shrekpoker91 had [9s][9h]. The [5d][Jh][5h][7c][Kd] board meant the nines had held, and Phillips was done in ninth.

Sam "buckguy2200" Phillips

Just a couple of hands later, pAYtAXiSnICE was open-shoving from late position for about 128,000 with [3c][3s], hownorez reraised all in from the blinds with [Jh][Jd], and after the community cards came [5h][6s][5s][9s][8h] they were down to seven.

About an orbit after that, shrekpoker91 open-pushed from the button and a super-short shalevhalfa called all in from the small blind for just under 20,000 total. shrekpoker91 had [Ad][Qc] and the preflop edge over shalevhalfa's [Qh][9c]. The board came [8d][5c][7d][Kh][Td], and shalevhalfa was shut down in seventh.

Two hands later hownorez opened from UTG, Jonathan "OMGjonyctt" Concepcion reraise-pushed his still-leading stack from a couple of seats over, then Kenny "SpaceyFCB" Hallaert called all in from the big blind for just under 252,000 (about 21 big blinds) and hownorez got out. Hallaert had picked up [Ac][Ah] and appeared in good shape versus Concepcion's [5d][5c], but the [Kc][Tc][5h] flop gave Concepcion a set, and after the [3d] turn and [2c] river Hallaert had been ousted in sixth.

Kenny "SpaceyFCB" Hallaert

With five left, Concepcion was way in front with well over half the chips in play, sitting on more than 1.67 million while the nearest challengers were under 350,000.

About five minutes later Concepcion opened for the minimum by raising to 28,000 from UTG, then watched esenin-001 reraise-push for 137,062 from the next seat. It folded back to Concepcion who called, showing [Ks][8c] versus esenin-001's [Ad][5d]. The [6d][3s][Kd] flop continued Concepcion's hot streak by pairing his king, and two cards later -- the [6c], then the [6h] -- esenin-001 had finished in fifth.

A few hands after that the tournament was paused for a deal discussion, with Concepcion up to 1.85 million, hownorez next with just under 325,000, shrekpoker91 third with almost 243,000, and Nkoyi fourth with a little more than 206,000.

Both "ICM"-based numbers and "chip chop" ones were provided (leaving $8K for which to play), although with the latter set of figures suggesting a greater-than-first-place prize of $108K for Concepcion, the others weren't interested in discussing those at all. Meanwhile Concepcion wasn't going to agree to the "ICM" figures either which recommended $85K for him (he wanted at least $90K).

An impasse had been reached, and with the originally-scheduled $99,750 still up top for the winner play resumed.

Soon hownorez managed to double through Nkoyi with ace-queen versus the latter's ace-king when a queen came among the community cards. But Nkoyi returned the bad beat-flavored favor shortly thereafter, doubling with pocket kings against hownorez's pocket aces after a king fell on fifth street.

Nkoyi doubled through hownorez once more (this time with ace-nine against hownorez's king-seven), then a few hands later hownorez was shoving a stack of almost 116,000 (just over 7 BBs) from UTG and Concepcion called. hownorez had [Ks][Jh] and two live cards versus Concepcion's [Ad][Th], but the board came [Qd][2h][Ah][Ac][3c] and hownorez's Super Tuesday run was over with a fourth-place finish.

Deal talks recommenced, with Concepcion (1,985,709) still the big leader ahead of Nkoyi (424,050) and shrekpoker91 (215,241). "ICM"-based numbers were presented again (once more leaving $8K to the side), but as before Concepcion wanted more and the others weren't willing to give enough, and so play continued.

The two deal discussions had both been brief. So, too, did it only take a brief amount of time for the last two eliminations to come.

First it was shrekpoker91 open-pushing from the button for 270,241, Concepcion three-betting from the small blind, and Nkoyi folding. shrekpoker91 had [Kd][Qd] and was racing against Concepcion's [7h][7s]. The board came [Th][Ah][9c], then [2d], then [6d], and shrekpoker91 was out in third.

Concepcion had nearly 2.25 million to Nkoyi's 376,000 to start heads-up play, and on just the fourth hand between them Nkoyi min-raised to 32,000 from the button, Concepcion made it 95,000 to go, Nkoyi pushed, and Concepcion called.

OMGjonyctt: [Ad][Ks]
Nkoyi: [Kh][8d]

The five shared cards came [9s][Qd][4c][4d][7c] and just like that -- less than 11 hours after the tournament had started -- Concepcion had won.

Congratulations to Jonathan "OMGjonyctt" Concepcion for winning a second Super Tuesday this year and almost a second six-figure payday!

Jonathan "OMGjonyctt" Concepcion

12/29/15 Super Tuesday ($1,050 No-Limit Hold'em) results
Entrants: 525
Prize pool: $525,000.00
Places paid: 63

1. Jonathan "OMGjonyctt" Concepcion (United Kingdom) $99,750.00
2. Nkoyi (Belgium) $73,500.00
3. shrekpoker91 (Ukraine) $53,812.50
4. hownorez (Czech Republic) $40,950.00
5. esenin-001 (Russia) $28,875.00
6. Kenny "SpaceyFCB" Hallaert (Belgium) $22,312.50
7. shalevhalfa (Israel) $17,062.50
8. pAYtAXiSnICE (Sweden) $11,812.50
9. Sam "buckguy2200" Phillips (Mexico) $8,715.00

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^The new UK betting law is expected to be finalized by July 1st and go into effect by September 1st. However, many are concerned the law could create another wild-west situation in the UK.

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For the holidays and to celebrate the last Sunday Million of 2015, PokerStars once again gave the weekly $215 buy-in no-limit hold'em tournament a $5 million guarantee, which in turn guaranteed a huge turnout of tens of thousands took part in the event.

At the end of it all -- some 14-and-a-half hours after it had begun -- there were two Brazilians battling at the end, with Internett93o eventually outlasting tutinho for the title and a huge $354,187.08 payday following a seven-handed final table deal. Read on for the story of how Internett93o earned the distinction of ruling internet poker last night.

From 31,335 to 4,671

Suspense over whether or not the $5 million guarantee would be met ended before the first hour of late registration had ended. By the time the doors closed, a huge turnout of 31,335 had bought in, creating a massive $6,267,000 prize pool -- almost exactly the same turnout (31,439) for the $5M guaranteed Sunday Milly that ended 2014.

The scheduled payouts dictated the top 4,671 places paid in this one, with $582,500.49 the original, pre-deal payout for the first-place finisher, again well over the $500K that had been guaranteed to go to the winner.

It took less than four hours for the field to be whittled down to 10,000, at which point holderben had been in the top spot in the counts for some time. Then by the five-hour mark they were down under 5,000 players, with holderben still the frontrunner.

The money bubble burst about 15 minutes later, with azat89126 the unfortunate 4,672nd-place finisher landing one spot outside of the cash and kole100 having edged into the chip lead.

From 4,671 to 9

Right around the six-and-a-half-hour mark, rodrigoGDL and serguny1955 almost simultaneously became the first players to reach the 1 million-chip mark. About a half-hour after that holderben was out (1,318th, $626.70) and they were down to 1,000 players, with Monckeybone the new leader.

Picking things up again at the 11-hour mark, kole100 (227nd, $2,846.67), Monckeybone (169th, $3,814.72), and serguny1955 (68th, $9,014.45) were all out, with rodrigoGDL super short with 50 players remaining. Meanwhile Internett93o had built an enormous chip lead, sitting with more than 28 million when the nearest challenger had less than half that amount.

rodrigoGDL went out shortly after (44th, $12,052.06), then not long after they'd reached the break due at the 12-hour mark. Just just 18 players remained with Internett93o having recently relinquished the lead to MrlonV and tutinho, both nearly even with almost 42 million.

Jokerovios (18th), Iwantbearich (17th), and kirdface (16th) were the next knockouts, with each player earning $21,665.64. stephparo (15th), URAMARK (14th), and Mr. Justice7 (13th) were the next out, cashing for $29,129.64 apiece. Then Highmach (12th), stevo1981521 (11th), and snazzy333 (10th) were successively eliminated, taking away $39,238.31 each from the prize pool.

With tutinho having by then raced way ahead by accumulating a stack of more than 96 million, the final table was underway.

Seat 1: tweeprise (Ecuador) -- 12,206,188
Seat 2: MrIonV (United Kingdom) -- 41,999,529
Seat 3: tutinho (Brazil) -- 96,095,665
Seat 4: haris_at (Austria) -- 15,506,897
Seat 5: Dylan "WhiteRabbito" Honeyman (Australia) -- 17,035,910
Seat 6: Internett93o (Brazil) -- 37,394,802
Seat 7: Inmate10981 (Canada) -- 19,343,429
Seat 8: Nik "Reraiseallin" Persaud (United Kingdom) -- 54,528,259
Seat 9: terabyte11 (India) -- 19,239,321

haris_at halted in ninth, Reraiseallin run out in eighth

On the sixth hand of the final table the blinds were a huge 850K/1.7M when tutinho min-raised to 3.4 million from the cutoff seat, then haris_at reraised all in for just over 12 million from the button. The blinds folded, then tutinho called showing [4s][4c] while haris_at had [Kd][Ks].

A flop of [2h][Kc][5h] appeared all but to seal the hand for haris_at with top set, but the [3h] on the turn provided tutinho an open-ended straight draw. Then came the river -- the [Ah] -- making a runner-runner straight for tutinho, and an abrupt finish in ninth for haris_at.

Shortly after that hand it was Nik "Reraiseallin" Persaud open-raising all in from middle position for about 10.4 million (a little over 6 big blinds), MrlonV reraise-shoving, and everyone else folding. It was Persaud's [As][5h] versus MrlonV's [Qh][Ts], and the [2c][5s][Kc] gave Persaud a pair of fives and kept him ahead.

But the turn was the [Qs], and after the [7h] river MrlonV had a better pair and Persaud was done in eighth. Persaud had started 2015 winning the Super Tuesday back in January, meaning his eighth-place finish here made for a nice score to bookend the year for him.

Nik Persaud

A deal, then Inmate10981 paroled in seventh

It was about this time deal talk began to arise in the chatbox, and before long the tournament was paused so the final seven could discuss possibly redistributing most of the remaining prize money. At that point tutinho was still the chip leader, though with about 61.8 million wasn't so far ahead of Internett93o (56.1 million) and terabyte11 (53.6 million). Meanwhile the other four all sat between 25-42 million.

"ICM"-based payouts were produced -- leaving $50K to the side for the eventual winner -- and all were amenable except Dylan "WhiteRabbito" Honeyman who wanted a bit more added to his total. The others each agreed to give Honeyman $1.5K (except for terabyte11) to ensure the deal was made, and after all seven agreed play continued.

The blinds were up to 1M/2M (with a 200K ante) when Inmate10981 open-shoved from middle position for almost 20.3 million and got one caller in MrlonV from the small blind. Inmate10981 had [Qc][Td] but had run into MrlonV's [As][Ad], and after the board rolled out [Th][6c][9s][4c][3s], Inmate10981's pair of tens wasn't enough and they were down to six.

WhiteRabbito goes down sixth-place hole, terabyte11 bites dust in fifth

Play continued for several minutes, then came two knockouts on back-to-back hands.

In the first, Dylan "WhiteRabbito" Honeyman open-pushed from UTG for just under 20.2 million (then about eight BBs) with [5c][5d], tweeprise reraise-pushed from the button with [Ac][Kh] to scatter the blinds, then the community cards came [Kd][2h][9d][As][Ah] to give tweeprise a full house and end Honeyman's run in sixth.

Dylan "WhiteRabbito" Honeyman

Then on the next hand, terabyte11 raised all in from UTG for about 32.3 million (about 13 BBs) and saw MrlonV reraise-shove to isolate. terabyte11 had [Qd][Ts] and MrlonV [Ah][Js], and five cards later -- [2c][8s][Jc][5s][2h] -- terabyte11 was out in fifth.

tweeprise taken out in fourth, MrlonV rolls on in third

Soon the blinds were 1.5M/3M, and it was tweeprise minraising to 6 million from UTG. It folded to Internett93o in the big blind who was then the chip leader, and after Internett93o reraised all in tweeprise called for almost 43 million total. tweeprise showed [As][3s] and needed help versus Internett93o's [9h][9d], but the [Qd][7d][Tc][Jh][4d] board didn't provide any and tweeprise was eliminated in fourth.

The remaining three played another dozen hands with Internett93o building up over 202 million versus the 65.2 million of tutinho and 45.9 millino of MrlonV. Then came a hand in which MrlonV open-raised that stack all in from the button with [8h][8c] and tutinho reraise-pushed from the small blind with [4s][4d]. The board then brought four diamonds, coming [2d][Ad][Qd][Td][7c], giving tutinho a flush and stopping MrlonV in third.

Internett93o triumphs over tutinho heads-up, wins

That left the two Brazilians, with Internett93o still ahead to start heads-up play with just under 199 million versus tutinhow's 114 million.

Internett93o began chipping up, and by the time the blinds were at 2M/4M had up over 243 million to tutinho's almost 70 million when the final hand took place.

It began with tutinho min-raising to 8 million from the button, then Internett93o pushed all in and tutinho called.

Internett93o: [Ac][Qc]
tutinho: [Ad][5s]

Both had aces, but Internett93o's kicker was best. The flop fell [Jd][Th][Qs] to pair Internett93o's queen, and after the [3c] turn tutinho was hoping to see a king on the river for a chopped pot. But fifth street brought the [9c] and it was all over -- Internett93o had won.

Congratulations to Internett93o for outlasting a huge field to win the last Sunday Million of the year and a big $354,187.08 first prize!

12/27/15 Sunday Million ($215 No-Limit Hold'em, $5M Gtd) results
Entrants: 31,335
Prize pool: $6,267,000.000
Places paid: 4,671

1. Internett93o (Brazil) $354,187.08*
2. tutinho (Brazil) $316,380.88*
3. MrIonV (United Kingdom) $271,266.00*
4. tweeprise (Ecuador) $249,072.80*
5. terabyte11 (India) $300,069.51*
6. Dylan "WhiteRabbito" Honeyman (Australia) $225,350.09*
7. Inmate10981 (Canada) $256,839.57*
8. Nik "Reraiseallin" Persaud (United Kingdom) $71,459.46
9. haris_at (Austria) $52,952.38
* = denotes a seven-way deal leaving $50,000 for the winner

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---

Martin Harris is Freelance Contributor to the PokerStars Blog.

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^

PokerStars is about to put on one of the biggest showdowns it's ever hosted, and it's one like you've never seen.

Eight people. A $100,000 buy-in. Seven days. A $550,000 first prize.

They're calling it the All-Star Showdown, and it is scheduled to begin this weekend. The contest will pit eight of the biggest dogs in heads-up no-limit online play against each other in a single-elimination event that will end with one of them banking more than half a millon dollars.

If you've been been following along in the PokerStars world for the past week, you won't be surprised to learn the newest member of Team Online, Isaac Haxton, was first in line to sign up for the contest. We're still working to confirm all eight names on the list. Here are the six who have put in their RSVPs so far.

Alexander Roumeliotis (Sussie Smith)

Alexander Millar (Kanu7)

Benjamin Sulsky (Sauce123)

Tobias Kuder (KTPOKP)

Phil Galfond (mrSweets28)

Isaac Haxton (Ike Haxton)

Isaac Haxton

Here's how we're told it will work:

The All-Star showdown will function much like the SuperStar Showdowns of old. Players will face off heads-up on four simultaneous tables. In the old days, the matches lasted for 2,500 hands. Now, the matches will continue until one of the players goes broke. The players will begin their matches with 1,000 big blinds. If the match isn't finished by the 3,000th hand, the blinds will double.

The All-Star Showdown is scheduled to begin Saturday and continue through Sunday November 4th. There will be one match every day except October 30th and November 1st. Each match will begin at noon ET (18:00 CET). We're told the brackets and dates for each match will be ready this Friday.

In the meantime, let the guessing begin on who will fill in the last two spots in the bracket. Who do you think it will be? If you use Twitter, let us know at our account @PokerStarsBlog.

For more information, visit the All-Star Showdown page.

Brad Willis is the PokerStars Head of Blogging

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