At a buy-in of $10,300 this one wasnt for the faint hearted.  But 502 players coughed it up, and after 2 days of intense poker j.thaddeus emerged the winner.    The deep structure of this event (30 min blinds, 10,000 starting stack) was still present at the final table with several players sat at least 100 blinds deep.

As the action hotted up, certainly players (in particular PearlJammer) looked in no hurry to bust out, taken full advantage of the deepness of the stacks.

j.thaddeus started to gain a lot of momentum at about 5 players out, and gradually became a very dominant chip leader of the table.   He kept up the pressure constantly with a very high frequency of pre-flop raises and re-raises, and kept on chipping away at his opponents.

 MazeOrBowie pushed back at him perhaps a little too hard in the following hand, pushing around 40 BBs in with pocket sevens

 PokerStars Game #27063523049: Tournament #200904223, $10000+$300 Hold’em No Limit - Level XXX (8000/16000) - 2009/04/13 20:41:17 ET
Table ‘200904223 34′ 9-max Seat #3 is the button
Seat 2: j.thaddeus (3353257 in chips)
Seat 3: MazeOrBowie (627347 in chips)
Seat 5: ragen70 (751322 in chips)
Seat 6: PearlJammer (288074 in chips)
j.thaddeus: posts the ante 2000
MazeOrBowie: posts the ante 2000
ragen70: posts the ante 2000
PearlJammer: posts the ante 2000
ragen70: posts small blind 8000
PearlJammer: posts big blind 16000
*** HOLE CARDS ***
j.thaddeus: raises 24000 to 40000
MazeOrBowie: raises 585347 to 625347 and is all-in
ragen70: folds
PearlJammer: folds
j.thaddeus: calls 585347
*** FLOP *** [4d 3c As]
*** TURN *** [4d 3c As] [Th]
*** RIVER *** [4d 3c As Th] [5c]
*** SHOW DOWN ***
j.thaddeus: shows [Qs Qd] (a pair of Queens)
MazeOrBowie: shows [7d 7s] (a pair of Sevens)
j.thaddeus collected 1282694 from pot
*** SUMMARY ***
Total pot 1282694 | Rake 0
Board [4d 3c As Th 5c]
Seat 2: j.thaddeus showed [Qs Qd] and won (1282694) with a pair of Queens
Seat 3: MazeOrBowie (button) showed [7d 7s] and lost with a pair of Sevens
Seat 5: ragen70 (small blind) folded before Flop
Seat 6: PearlJammer (big blind) folded before Flop

 PearlJammer eventually had to start pushing back.  He got a few through un-opposed, but then ran into a big hand, with four ducks coming to his rescue here:

 PokerStars Game #27064167476: Tournament #200904223, $10000+$300 Hold’em No Limit - Level XXXI (10000/20000) - 2009/04/13 21:03:21 ET
Table ‘200904223 34′ 9-max Seat #5 is the button
Seat 2: j.thaddeus (4273854 in chips)
Seat 5: ragen70 (439748 in chips)
Seat 6: PearlJammer (306398 in chips)
j.thaddeus: posts the ante 2500
ragen70: posts the ante 2500
PearlJammer: posts the ante 2500
PearlJammer: posts small blind 10000
j.thaddeus: posts big blind 20000
*** HOLE CARDS ***
ragen70: raises 25000 to 45000
PearlJammer: raises 258898 to 303898 and is all-in
j.thaddeus: raises 3967456 to 4271354 and is all-in
ragen70: folds
Uncalled bet (3967456) returned to j.thaddeus
*** FLOP *** [2d Jc 2h]
*** TURN *** [2d Jc 2h] [6h]
*** RIVER *** [2d Jc 2h 6h] [Ts]
ragen70 said, “oh my god”
*** SHOW DOWN ***
PearlJammer: shows [2c 2s] (four of a kind, Deuces)
j.thaddeus: shows [Jh Jd] (a full house, Jacks full of Deuces)
PearlJammer collected 660296 from pot
PearlJammer said, “lol”
*** SUMMARY ***
Total pot 660296 | Rake 0
Board [2d Jc 2h 6h Ts]
Seat 2: j.thaddeus (big blind) showed [Jh Jd] and lost with a full house, Jacks full of Deuces
Seat 5: ragen70 (button) folded before Flop
Seat 6: PearlJammer (small blind) showed [2c 2s] and won (660296) with four of a kind, Deuces

ragen70 took some of Pearljammers stack, being a small dog in this hand, but winning:

PokerStars Game #27064238540: Tournament #200904223, $10000+$300 Hold’em No Limit - Level XXXI (10000/20000) - 2009/04/13 21:05:51 ET
Table ‘200904223 34′ 9-max Seat #2 is the button
Seat 2: j.thaddeus (3944797 in chips)
Seat 5: ragen70 (332248 in chips)
Seat 6: PearlJammer (742955 in chips)
j.thaddeus: posts the ante 2500
ragen70: posts the ante 2500
PearlJammer: posts the ante 2500
ragen70: posts small blind 10000
PearlJammer: posts big blind 20000
*** HOLE CARDS ***
j.thaddeus: raises 20000 to 40000
ragen70: raises 289748 to 329748 and is all-in
PearlJammer: raises 410707 to 740455 and is all-in
j.thaddeus: folds
Uncalled bet (410707) returned to PearlJammer
*** FLOP *** [8s 7c 6c]
*** TURN *** [8s 7c 6c] [2c]
*** RIVER *** [8s 7c 6c 2c] [Td]
*** SHOW DOWN ***
ragen70: shows [Jd Tc] (a pair of Tens)
PearlJammer: shows [Ah Qd] (high card Ace)
ragen70 collected 706996 from pot
*** SUMMARY ***
Total pot 706996 | Rake 0
Board [8s 7c 6c 2c Td]
Seat 2: j.thaddeus (button) folded before Flop
Seat 5: ragen70 (small blind) showed [Jd Tc] and won (706996) with a pair of Tens
Seat 6: PearlJammer (big blind) showed [Ah Qd] and lost with high card Ace

Then ragen70 completed the job in the following hand:

PokerStars Game #27064252775: Tournament #200904223, $10000+$300 Hold’em No Limit - Level XXXI (10000/20000) - 2009/04/13 21:06:22 ET
Table ‘200904223 34′ 9-max Seat #5 is the button
Seat 2: j.thaddeus (3902297 in chips)
Seat 5: ragen70 (706996 in chips)
Seat 6: PearlJammer (410707 in chips)
j.thaddeus: posts the ante 2500
ragen70: posts the ante 2500
PearlJammer: posts the ante 2500
PearlJammer: posts small blind 10000
j.thaddeus: posts big blind 20000
*** HOLE CARDS ***
j.thaddeus said, “77″
ragen70: raises 25000 to 45000
j.thaddeus said, “sick”
PearlJammer: raises 363207 to 408207 and is all-in
j.thaddeus: folds
ragen70: calls 363207
*** FLOP *** [2d 5h Jc]
*** TURN *** [2d 5h Jc] [7s]
*** RIVER *** [2d 5h Jc 7s] [3d]
*** SHOW DOWN ***
PearlJammer: shows [Qh Kd] (high card King)
ragen70: shows [Ah Th] (high card Ace)
ragen70 collected 843914 from pot
*** SUMMARY ***
Total pot 843914 | Rake 0
Board [2d 5h Jc 7s 3d]
Seat 2: j.thaddeus (big blind) folded before Flop
Seat 5: ragen70 (button) showed [Ah Th] and won (843914) with high card Ace
Seat 6: PearlJammer (small blind) showed [Qh Kd] and lost with high card King

The heads-up battle between ragen70 and j.thaddeus then commenced, still with j.thaddeus in a dominant chip position.    In the final hand ragen70 bluffed into j.thaddeus, who had just made the flush on the river

PokerStars Game #27064778939: Tournament #200904223, $10000+$300 Hold’em No Limit - Level XXXII (12500/25000) - 2009/04/13 21:24:44 ET
Table ‘200904223 34′ 9-max Seat #2 is the button
Seat 2: j.thaddeus (3711072 in chips)
Seat 5: ragen70 (1308928 in chips)
j.thaddeus: posts the ante 3125
ragen70: posts the ante 3125
j.thaddeus: posts small blind 12500
ragen70: posts big blind 25000
*** HOLE CARDS ***
j.thaddeus: raises 25000 to 50000
ragen70: raises 100000 to 150000
j.thaddeus is connected
j.thaddeus: calls 100000
*** FLOP *** [3d Qc 9h]
ragen70: checks
j.thaddeus: checks
*** TURN *** [3d Qc 9h] [Ac]
ragen70: bets 175000
j.thaddeus: calls 175000
*** RIVER *** [3d Qc 9h Ac] [6c]
ragen70: checks
j.thaddeus: bets 300000
ragen70: raises 680803 to 980803 and is all-in
j.thaddeus: calls 680803
*** SHOW DOWN ***
ragen70: shows [Jh 6d] (a pair of Sixes)
j.thaddeus: shows [8c Tc] (a flush, Ace high)
j.thaddeus collected 2617856 from pot
*** SUMMARY ***
Total pot 2617856 | Rake 0
Board [3d Qc 9h Ac 6c]
Seat 2: j.thaddeus (button) (small blind) showed [8c Tc] and won (2617856) with a flush, Ace high
Seat 5: ragen70 (big blind) showed [Jh 6d] and lost with a pair of Sixes

 Result

1st - j.thaddeus - $963,338
2nd - ragen70 (Niklas Heinecker) - $715,350
3rd - PearlJammer  (Jon Turner) - $527,100
4th - MazeOrBowie (Jesse Martin) - $401,600
5th - $teveyMoney (Steven Merrifield) - $281,120
6th - Chowdahhead4 - $213,350
7th - actionDJ (Derrick Haynie) - $163,150
8th - Moorman1 (Chris Moorman) - $112,950
9th - teacuppoker - $83,332