Spoiler: Eugene Katchalov wins the $100,000 Super High Roller. Let’s start at the beginning though, shall we?

Jason Mercier’s tournament uniform almost always includes something with the word “Miami” on the front of it. South Florida represent.

Hoyt Corkins’ tournament uniform? Sunglasses, a hat, a cigar, and earplugs.

2010 Main Event champion Jonathan Duhamel probably could have found the $100,000 buyin under his couch cushions

Dutchman Koen Berendsen only lasted a few minutes before running his pocket kings into pocket aces to fall as the first player eliminated

The beneficiary? Nick Schulman, who used Berendsen’s chips to run all the way to the final table

South America’s only entry to the Super High Roller was Caio Pimenta of Brazil

Vivek Rajkumar made it through Day 1 with a good stack

Andrew “LuckyChewy” Lichtenberger decided to play the Super High Roller just about 24 hours before it began. He booked a last-minute flight, and three days later, he ended up at the final table.

The always-animated Bryan Colin

The always-smiley Scott Seiver

If you were Masa Kagawa, you’d be smiling too

The massage therapists were kept awfully busy for the duration of the event

Hopefully he tipped her well; Daniel Negreanu was in “the zone” with the chip lead for a good chunk of the three-day event

Mike “Timex” McDonald came out of “retirement” to play the $100,000, then promptly flew north to return to school immediately after busting

Jason Mercier seeing stars

A few of the online heavyweights showed up to play including Dan “jungleman12″ Cates

Daniel Negreanu’s hat in front; a Swede shrouded in mystery in the back

It’s Viktor Blom — before he revealed himself to the world as the enigmatic “Isildur1″

One of the richest men in Hungary, Sandor Demjan picked his way through the field to reach the final table as well

Vivek Rajkumar moments before he was eliminated on Day 2

The seven-handed final table (clockwise from top left): Bryn Kenney, Daniel Negreanu, Humberto Brenes, Nick Schulman, Eugene Katchalov, Andrew Lichtenberger, Sandor Demjan

The Super High Roller trophy waiting for its new owner

Daniel Negreanu in game mode at the final table

Nick Schulman finished in 4th place for $400,000

Bryn Kenney finished in 3rd place for $643,000

Guess whose chips?

If you had Humberto Brenes, take your tickets to the window. Brenes finished in 5th place for $200,000.

Eugene Katchalov with Tournament Director Danny McDonagh presiding over the festivities

The battle was a captivating one as Negreanu and Katchalov traded blows for a couple hours

Daniel Negreanu moves in, one of several times during the heads-up duel with Katchalov

All eyes on the table

Daniel Negreanu in the tank on the final hand of the day

Negreanu spent more than five minutes considering before realizing it was an easy decision. “What am I doing? Of course I call,” he said.

Negreanu’s last stand

A pump of the fist as Negreanu sees the good news that his pocket fives are crushing Katchalov’s pocket fours

Negreanu plays it up for the cameras and the spectators as he sweats the final board of the day…

…Until a crushing four lands on the turn to put Negreanu one card from elimination

That’s the ballgame; Negreanu and Katchalov share a final handshake

The two finalists spent about ten minutes after the match discussing a few of the pivotal hands they’d just played

Katchalov has his moment with his new trophy

Ta-da! Eugene Katchalov celebrates his $1.5 million win

Wed, 01/12/2011 – 23:28 – PokerPages Staff

PokerStars has unveiled a new Homes Games section on the site which is set to revolutionize how poker players play games with friends.

The innovative software allows users to create and customize a club. The manager of the club chooses a respective name before deciding on appropriate table designs, stakes, lobby and the options of tournaments or private tables.

They can then invite friends to play by emailing them an invitation code. Game variants such as Omaha, Hold’em, Mixed Game and HORSE are supported in the new Home Games section.

Tournament buy-ins currently range from a minimum of $0.40 to a maximum of $500. Micro cash games, ranging from $0.01/$0.02 to $1/$2 are also supported.

Team PokerStars sponsored pro Daniel Negreanu spoke of his excitement at the announcement in an introduction video posted on the world’s biggest online poker site.

“Nothing like PokerStars Home Games has been offered before and it is so easy to use.”

“You have so many options when you open your Poker Club and you can customize it anyway you want, just like you would in a home game with friends.”

PokerStars players are limited to creating only one club. Each club has a limit of 50 players.

Poker players currently participating at the PokerStars Caribbean Adventure are also celebrating the new addition. There is a $10,000 prize on offer for players who submit a video explaining why their home game is the finest.