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Sunday, September 21st was not just the first day of fall, but the grand opening of Poker Stars.com World Championship of Online Poker (WCOOP) Main Event. 2,185 entrants posted the $5k buy-in, or skillfully worked their way into a free seat at the tables, jumping the $10m guaranteed prize pool by nearly another million, to an impressive $10,925,000.

The 2-day WCOOP Main Event is the first online poker tournament to award such a massive guaranteed prize where the top place finisher will actually walk away with $1.7 million to show for it. Overall, 352 participants will eat a piece of that beautiful $10.9 million pie.

Taking an early exit on day one of the PokerStars WCOOP Main Event were several big names in th professional poker industry, including Greg Raymer, Chris Moneymaker, Isabelle Mercier, Vicky Coren, Dario Minieri, and Annette Obrestad, winner of the inaugural 2007 WSOP Europe.

Action will resume at 4:30pm ET today as the remaining 60 participants reconvene on the tables to write history. “august35” holds the current chip lead with 3,865,986. Alex “AJKHoosier1” Kamberis is currently in fourth position with 2,184,184 chips and Team PokerStar.net’s Bertrand “ElkY” Grospellier is still in the running with 482,177.

We can expect tight, fierce action as the final 60 dwindles down. Everyone is eyeing that awesome 1st place prize of $1,775,312.50… may the best poker player win!

Remember, you can practive for the next WCOOP tournament for free at PokerStars.net!

The long awaited Poker Stars.com 2008 World Championship of Online Poker (WCOOP) kicked off Friday, September 5th with Events #1 and #2, followed by Event #3 and #4 on Saturday. The results are in, so let’s take a brief look at the winners of each PokerStars WCOOP Event.

PokerStars.com WCOOP Event #1: $200+$15 6-Max NL Hold’em, $1m GTD
A field of 7,217 started off the opener is stellar fashion, upping the $1m guaranteed prize pool to $1,443,400. It was an exhausting 17-1/2 hours before a winner was revealed, but in the end, “shane147” eliminated “pffwhatever” in heads-up to claim the 1st place win.

Final Table Results
1st – shane147 ($212,179.81)
2nd – pffwhatever ($148,670.21)
3rd – SilverSocks ($106,089.91)
4th – – DoV – ($76,500.21)
5th – CURDOG1KCK ($49,075.61)
6th – scarface_79 ($23,686.20)

www.PokerStar.net WCOOP Event #2: $200+$15 PL 5 Card Draw, $100k GTD
Another 1,024 players joined in the action for WCOOP Event #2, which got underway at 4:30pm ET. With a much lower guaranteed prize than the previous event, the high entry rate boosted the prize pool by more than double to pay the top 156 finishers their share of $204,800. As the final cards fell, “ImBillMcNeal” took the WCOOP title for ousting “wedlowjones” in heads-up.

Final Table Results
1st – ImBillMcNeal ($34,201.60)
2nd – wedlowjones ($25,395.20)
3rd – Isidor3 ($18,739.20)
4th – Yamzit ($14,848.00)
5th – nathalie111 ($11,038.72)
6th – xoxol73 ($7,680.00)
7th – RaiNKhAN ($4,096.00)
8th – Crispy86 ($4,096.00)
9th – lasker ($4,096.00)

www.PokerStars.net WCOOP Event #3: $200+$15 Limit Hold’em, $300k GTD
Again, the prize pool was bolstered by excessive player participation as 2,258 entries jumped the guaranteed prize pool to $451,600, paying 324 positions. The relentless competition brought about another nearly 18 hour battle that came to an end when “cwp394” eliminated “#1PEN” for the 1st place victory.

Final Table Results
1st – cwp394 ($73,385.00)
2nd – #1PEN ($54,192.00)
3rd – Teacher G ($38,927.92)
4th – Bdbeatslayer ($26,192.80)
5th – edwinv070 ($21,676.80)
6th – skizer ($17,160.800
7th – Perumov ($12,644.80)
8th – BadcardsAA ($8,128.80)
9th – lucky_aces08 ($5,012.76)

PokerStars WCOOP Event #4: $200+$15 2-7 Triple Draw, $100k GTD
One more time, PokerStars saw enough entries to hike the prize pool to $146,800 as 734 players converged on the WCOOP Event #4 tables. This time it took not quite 15 hours for a victor to emerge as “mardene” fell victim to “playitsafe” in the final hand of heads-up action.

Final Table Results
1st – playitsafe ($24,809.20)
2nd – mardene ($18,555.52)
3rd – thevoice72 ($13,579.00)
4th – jordan999 ($11,010.00)
5th – Mills23 ($8,074.00)
6th – gudfaren ($5,505.00)
7th – GymZQuirk ($3,009.40)
8th – SgtKyle ($3,009.40)
9th – thetinkerman ($3,009.40)

While most of the world was enjoying a relaxing Sunday afternoon, much of the online poker community was poised to take on the weekly PokerStars.com Sunday Million, with a guaranteed prize pool of $1.5 million.

7,212 online poker players leapt into the action at www.PokerStar.net last Sunday, resulting in something the online poker room is no longer accustomed to – an overlay. While 7,200 players is a massive number, the extreme prize pool of $1.5 million is also massive in its own right, and requires the attendance of 7,500 to cover. Considering PokerStar.com’ regular track record of surpassing that number to boost its guarantees by hundreds of thousands, I must say it was a bit of a shocker to see the online poker room’s first Sunday Million overlay in a very long time.

One by one, more than 7,000 players were quickly eliminated from their virtual seats, left to watch on the sidelines as everyone competed to finish within the top 1,080 spots – the precious “money bubble”. It was a true battle to the bitter end, lasting one minute shy of 12 hours before a winner was revealed.

As the final table shrunk, “FlopeDeNuts” was sent to the rails in 3rd place for a respectable $84,000, leaving heads-up play to commence between the evident skills of “TheRodGuy” and “diegoaiz”. Chip by chip, hand by hand, these two tough competitors gave it everything they had, but the cards fell in the favor of diegaiz this day, eliminating TheRodGuy in 2nd for a worthy cash of $124,950.

The monumental 1st place prize of $184,500 went to diegoaiz of Buenos Aires.

PokerStars Sunday Million $1.5m Guarantee Final Table Results

1st – diegoaiz ($184,500)
2nd – TheRodGuy ($124,950)
3rd – FlopeDeNuts ($84,000)
4th – IamUnlucky ($69,000)
5th – krs528 ($54,000)
6th – UnbrokeN ($39,000)
7th – Bury2k4 ($26,250)
8th – c j mcon ($17,250)
9th – CodeRedRulez ($10,500)