The 2010 PokerStars World Championship of Online Poker (WCOOP), wrapped up in a big way late last night with Tyson “POTTERPOKER” Marks winning $2,278,097.50 in Event #62- the $5,200 buy-in, No-Limit Hold ‘em main event.

I’ve noticed often when playing online poker, that random people still stop by who just don’t understand it, or how truly serious it’s become over the years, so lets take a minute here to make this really clear.  That’s nearly $2.3 million in actual US money.  In other words, almost a million more than horse Super Saver earned for winning the Kentucky Derby this year.  Almost a million more than golfer Phil Mickelson claimed for taking down the 2010 Masters, and over four times what Heavyweight Champion Brock Lesnar was paid, to pummel Shane Carwin at UFC 116 in July. 

And it's worth noting, Marks earned that money in just two days, without having to deal with any post-match bruising, aching muscles, or the possibility of breaking a leg and getting euthanized on the track. 

Marks, a live tournament player as well with about $160,000 in cashes, earned the life changing payday after outlasting a total field of 2,443 players, including most of Team PokerStars, and well, pretty much every serious online poker player out there.

Thanks to a total guaranteed prize pool of $10 million, that actually swelled to $12,215,000 by the time entrance to the event actually closed, Marks was just one of three players to earn a million-plus payday for making the main event final table, and one of the nine assured of at least $100,000, when the final table began yesterday.

The final table finish positions for the 2010 PokerStars WCOOP main event were as follows:

1st.  POTTERPOKER- $2,278,097.50

2nd.  joeysweetp- $1,404,725

3rd.  Russian_nuts- $1,019,952.50

4th.  dazzy2004- $696,255

5th.  jackellwood- $509,976.25

6th.  darrenelias- $396,987.50

7th.  ROMDOM- $280,945

8th.  gray31- $183,225

9th.  carryhero- $112,988.75

With Tyson Marks’ victory- and the conclusion of the WCOOP 8-Game High Roller event, which also ran Sunday and Monday before being claimed by poker master Alexander Kravchenko for $345,800- it’s now back to business as usual at PokerStars, the World’s largest online poker room; most likely a welcome rest for organizers after a 62 event series that lasted nearly all of September.  To learn more about this year’s World Championship of Online Poker, or to get involved and start building a bankroll for the next one, visit www.pokerstars.com.