Online tournaments continue to march on in October and while 10/10/10 might sound like a small-stakes tournament on PokerStars it was actually the date of this weekend’s major events. The majority of the Sunday majors have seen a nice boost from the 2010 WCOOP and FTOPS XVII, but a few others have failed to keep up. The Sunday Million on PokerStars continues to be the biggest event each week while the $750k on FullTilt has fallen even further behind the pace. Cementing itself as a solid #2 to the Million is the $750,000 guaranteed Sunday Warm-Up on PokerStars. The $200+$15 buy-in event has been consistently attracting more than 4,200 players lately and this past week’s tournament was no exception. With an $871,600 prize pool and more than $135,000 slated for the winner the Warm-Up is certainly second fiddle to no one.
The final table was set up for a great finish with a handful of solid players making deep runs. Unfortunately for those on the rail the tournament ended rather abruptly once play became three handed. With PokerStars allowing final table deals to happen at any time it has become rather routine for major events to finish without much suspense. The last three players decided to chop the remaining prize pool (with $10,000 on the side) according to chip counts leaving “el_rage” with the largest piece of the pie. With a six-figure payday guaranteed el_rage was set to take down a life changing score of more than $110,000. After dominating three-handed play he added another $10,000 on the top taking home a total of $120,195 for his efforts. This is an incredible score for a small-stakes player who before Sunday did not have a big score to his name. Runner-up “upay4mytreez” was certainly no slouch but his experience in higher stakes events failed to pay off as he earned $92,570 after the chop and failed to win the $10,000 side pot. The five-figure score was the best of his career and among a handful of $15,000+ cashes on his resume. Rounding out the chip-chop trio was “diphazz” who much like his fellow competitors took down a score which dwarfed the rest of his combined career earnings.
Seat 2: upay4mytreez (9020326 in chips)
Seat 6: el_rage (34559674 in chips)
el_rage: posts small blind 250000
upay4mytreez: posts big blind 500000
*** HOLE CARDS ***
el_rage: raises 500000 to 1000000
upay4mytreez: raises 7970326 to 8970326 and is all-in
el_rage: calls 7970326
*** FLOP *** [4h 9c 9s]
*** TURN *** [4h 9c 9s] [4c]
*** RIVER *** [4h 9c 9s 4c] [8s]
*** SHOW DOWN ***
upay4mytreez: shows [Js As] (two pair, Nines and Fours)
el_rage: shows [Ad Ah] (two pair, Aces and Nines)
el_rage collected 18040652 from pot
PokerStars Sunday Warm-Up $750k Guaranteed
4,358 Entrants; $871,600 prize pool
*3-way chop
1. el_rage $120,195
2. upay4mytreez $92,570
3. diphazz $97,422
4. Tulkaz $49,245
5. hetzandrea $37,043
6. andersmeli $28,327
7. Robinson47 $19,611
8. TPROP $10,895
9. Arkantos85 $6,973
Lately the Sunday Million final table has been full of relatively unknown players taking down scores well outside their past performances. While such feats are great for attracting new players to high-stakes tournaments it does make some wonder how much skill is actually involved in taking down a field of more than 5,000 players. Yesterday we saw a bit of variance swing in favor of the seasoned professional as Mark “SHIPP ITT” Herm (also known as dipthrong) took down the Sunday Million for a massive $229,833 payday. The former winner of the $750k and Mulligan on FullTilt as well as the PokerStars Sunday500, $215r, and Wednesday Quarter Million has to be considered one of the best online tournament players of all time. With more than a dozen $40,000+ scores on his resume including two runner-up finishes in the Sunday Brawl Herm has proven to be completely dominant on the week’s holiest day.
Below are the final-table stacks, bust-out hands, and payouts:
Seat 1: cyberkanguru (11855603 in chips)
Seat 2: SHIPP ITT (3734120 in chips)
Seat 3: yourmybread (25446682 in chips)
Seat 4: repz221 (9612253 in chips)
Seat 5: qbgoose (5045213 in chips)
Seat 6: Oakmeal (4938732 in chips)
Seat 7: suchthaufen (4198993 in chips)
Seat 8: e1mdopp (5498229 in chips)
Seat 9: CRFer (6280175 in chips)
Seat 1: cyberkanguru (9545603 in chips)
Seat 2: SHIPP ITT (3674120 in chips)
Seat 3: yourmybread (29828163 in chips)
Seat 4: repz221 (9552253 in chips)
Seat 5: qbgoose (1367962 in chips)
Seat 6: Oakmeal (9097464 in chips)
Seat 7: suchthaufen (3222512 in chips)
Seat 8: e1mdopp (4821748 in chips)
Seat 9: CRFer (5500175 in chips)
e1mdopp: posts small blind 150000
CRFer: posts big blind 300000
*** HOLE CARDS ***
cyberkanguru: folds
SHIPP ITT: folds
yourmybread: folds
repz221: folds
qbgoose: raises 1037962 to 1337962 and is all-in
Oakmeal: folds
suchthaufen: calls 1337962
e1mdopp: folds
CRFer: folds
*** FLOP *** [2s Jh Qh]
*** TURN *** [2s Jh Qh] [2h]
*** RIVER *** [2s Jh Qh 2h] [7h]
*** SHOW DOWN ***
qbgoose: shows [9c Qs] (two pair, Queens and Deuces)
suchthaufen: shows [Tc Kh] (a flush, King high)
suchthaufen collected 3395924 from pot
Seat 1: cyberkanguru (8945603 in chips)
Seat 2: SHIPP ITT (3074120 in chips)
Seat 3: yourmybread (30818163 in chips)
Seat 4: repz221 (9792253 in chips)
Seat 6: Oakmeal (8947464 in chips)
Seat 7: suchthaufen (6510474 in chips)
Seat 8: e1mdopp (4521748 in chips)
Seat 9: CRFer (4000175 in chips)
repz221: posts small blind 150000
Oakmeal: posts big blind 300000
*** HOLE CARDS ***
suchthaufen: raises 600000 to 900000
e1mdopp: folds
CRFer: calls 900000
cyberkanguru: folds
SHIPP ITT: folds
yourmybread: calls 900000
repz221: folds
Oakmeal: folds
*** FLOP *** [Jh 7s 3d]
suchthaufen: bets 900000
CRFer: folds
yourmybread: calls 900000
*** TURN *** [Jh 7s 3d] [5s]
suchthaufen: bets 1200000
yourmybread: calls 1200000
*** RIVER *** [Jh 7s 3d 5s] [2s]
suchthaufen: checks
yourmybread: bets 3600000
suchthaufen: calls 3480474 and is all-in
Uncalled bet (119526) returned to yourmybread
*** SHOW DOWN ***
yourmybread: shows [Js Ad] (a pair of Jacks)
suchthaufen: shows [Qs Jd] (a pair of Jacks – lower kicker)
yourmybread collected 14550948 from pot
Seat 1: cyberkanguru (5955483 in chips)
Seat 2: SHIPP ITT (10240980 in chips)
Seat 3: yourmybread (37254147 in chips)
Seat 4: repz221 (10042253 in chips)
Seat 6: Oakmeal (4382909 in chips)
Seat 8: e1mdopp (4231748 in chips)
Seat 9: CRFer (4502480 in chips)
e1mdopp: posts small blind 200000
CRFer: posts big blind 400000
*** HOLE CARDS ***
cyberkanguru: raises 400000 to 800000
SHIPP ITT: folds
yourmybread: calls 800000
repz221: folds
Oakmeal: folds
e1mdopp: folds
CRFer: folds
*** FLOP *** [Qs 6c 2h]
cyberkanguru: bets 1400000
yourmybread: calls 1400000
*** TURN *** [Qs 6c 2h] [9d]
cyberkanguru: bets 3715483 and is all-in
yourmybread: calls 3715483
*** RIVER *** [Qs 6c 2h 9d] [4d]
*** SHOW DOWN ***
cyberkanguru: shows [Jh Kh] (high card King)
yourmybread: shows [Ah Qh] (a pair of Queens)
yourmybread collected 12710966 from pot
Seat 2: SHIPP ITT (9250980 in chips)
Seat 3: yourmybread (39267882 in chips)
Seat 4: repz221 (10102253 in chips)
Seat 6: Oakmeal (3642909 in chips)
Seat 8: e1mdopp (10733496 in chips)
Seat 9: CRFer (3612480 in chips)
Oakmeal: posts small blind 250000
e1mdopp: posts big blind 500000
*** HOLE CARDS ***
CRFer: raises 3062480 to 3562480 and is all-in
SHIPP ITT: folds
yourmybread: calls 3562480
repz221: folds
Oakmeal: folds
e1mdopp: folds
*** FLOP *** [Th 2h 6h]
*** TURN *** [Th 2h 6h] [Qd]
*** RIVER *** [Th 2h 6h Qd] [5d]
*** SHOW DOWN ***
CRFer: shows [Jd Ah] (high card Ace)
yourmybread: shows [6s 6c] (three of a kind, Sixes)
yourmybread collected 8174960 from pot
Seat 2: SHIPP ITT (9200980 in chips)
Seat 3: yourmybread (43830362 in chips)
Seat 4: repz221 (11052253 in chips)
Seat 6: Oakmeal (2342909 in chips)
Seat 8: e1mdopp (10183496 in chips)
e1mdopp: posts small blind 250000
SHIPP ITT: posts big blind 500000
*** HOLE CARDS ***
yourmybread: folds
repz221: folds
Oakmeal: raises 1792909 to 2292909 and is all-in
e1mdopp: raises 7840587 to 10133496 and is all-in
SHIPP ITT: calls 8650980 and is all-in
Uncalled bet (982516) returned to e1mdopp
*** FLOP *** [2h 9c 4s]
*** TURN *** [2h 9c 4s] [9s]
*** RIVER *** [2h 9c 4s 9s] [4h]
*** SHOW DOWN ***
e1mdopp: shows [Ah 5c] (two pair, Nines and Fours)
SHIPP ITT: shows [Ts Tc] (two pair, Tens and Nines)
SHIPP ITT collected 13716142 from side pot
Oakmeal: shows [Ac 6h] (two pair, Nines and Fours)
SHIPP ITT collected 7128727 from main pot
Seat 2: SHIPP ITT (17530284 in chips)
Seat 3: yourmybread (39886694 in chips)
Seat 4: repz221 (2970848 in chips)
Seat 8: e1mdopp (16222174 in chips)
repz221: posts small blind 400000
e1mdopp: posts big blind 800000
*** HOLE CARDS ***
SHIPP ITT said, “for leo”
SHIPP ITT: raises 800000 to 1600000
yourmybread: folds
repz221: raises 1290848 to 2890848 and is all-in
e1mdopp: folds
SHIPP ITT: calls 1290848
*** FLOP *** [2c 3c Jc]
*** TURN *** [2c 3c Jc] [8c]
*** RIVER *** [2c 3c Jc 8c] [8h]
*** SHOW DOWN ***
repz221: shows [Qh Ah] (a pair of Eights)
SHIPP ITT: shows [Jh Kh] (two pair, Jacks and Eights)
SHIPP ITT collected 6901696 from pot
Seat 2: SHIPP ITT (53293347 in chips)
Seat 3: yourmybread (11054479 in chips)
Seat 8: e1mdopp (12262174 in chips)
SHIPP ITT: posts small blind 400000
yourmybread: posts big blind 800000
*** HOLE CARDS ***
e1mdopp: folds
SHIPP ITT: raises 52413347 to 53213347 and is all-in
yourmybread: calls 10174479 and is all-in
Uncalled bet (42238868) returned to SHIPP ITT
*** FLOP *** [Th 3c 3h]
*** TURN *** [Th 3c 3h] [Kh]
*** RIVER *** [Th 3c 3h Kh] [Qd]
*** SHOW DOWN ***
SHIPP ITT: shows [Jd 9c] (a straight, Nine to King)
yourmybread: shows [Ad 7c] (a pair of Threes)
SHIPP ITT collected 22188958 from pot
Seat 2: SHIPP ITT (73978750 in chips)
Seat 8: e1mdopp (2631250 in chips)
SHIPP ITT: posts small blind 600000
e1mdopp: posts big blind 1200000
*** HOLE CARDS ***
SHIPP ITT: raises 1200000 to 2400000
e1mdopp: raises 111250 to 2511250 and is all-in
SHIPP ITT: calls 111250
*** FLOP *** [Ad 3c 9h]
*** TURN *** [Ad 3c 9h] [5c]
*** RIVER *** [Ad 3c 9h 5c] [7c]
SHIPP ITT said, “selsun blue”
*** SHOW DOWN ***
e1mdopp: shows [2s 6c] (high card Ace)
SHIPP ITT: shows [7s Ks] (a pair of Sevens)
SHIPP ITT collected 5262500 from pot
PokerStars Sunday Million $1.5M Guaranteed
7,661 Entrants; $1,532,200 prize pool
1. SHIPP ITT $229,834
2. e1mdopp $168,542
3. yourmybread $114,915
4. repz221 $72,223
5. Oakmeal $61,288
6. CRFer $45,966
7. cyberkanguru $30,644
8. suchthaufen $17,620
9. qbgoose $11,875
Seat 6: ringosnuff (5201760 in chips)
Seat 7: Mescalin8 (5128240 in chips)
Mescalin8: posts small blind 40000
ringosnuff: posts big blind 80000
*** HOLE CARDS ***
Mescalin8: raises 80000 to 160000
ringosnuff: raises 240009 to 400009
Mescalin8: raises 474991 to 875000
ringosnuff: raises 791666 to 1666666
Mescalin8: raises 3453574 to 5120240 and is all-in
ringosnuff: calls 3453574
*** FLOP *** [2c 5d 6d]
*** TURN *** [2c 5d 6d] [Qs]
*** RIVER *** [2c 5d 6d Qs] [3h]
*** SHOW DOWN ***
ringosnuff: shows [Ks Kh] (a pair of Kings)
Mescalin8: shows [Ad Jh] (high card Ace)
ringosnuff collected 10256480 from pot
A few familiar faces were on hand at what is typically the strongest final table of the day, the Sunday500 on PokerStars. One extremely familiar face present was Johan “Busto_soon” Van Til who is a member of the FlopTurnRiver forums and former moderator of the Multi-Table Tournaments Forum. The highly regarded tournament and cash game professional is no stranger to online success having won the Sunday Brawl on FullTilt in 2008 for $79,804 as well as shipping the $215r for $40,680 earlier that year. Van Til was joined by a few other big name professionals including “Se7enTr3y” who was first to go at the final table. The $5,682 score was a paltry sum for a player who crushed both tournaments and high-stakes cash games on PokerStars. Finishing a few spots higher was “jus2awsum” who took home just over $20,000 for his efforts. The well known online pro has a handful of major wins including an FTOPS title earlier this year as well as a victory in the Mulligan on FullTilt in 2009.
Runner-up “Mescalin8” took home the 2nd biggest cash of his career coming in just behind a $72,540 score for finishing 3rd in the Sunday Million two years ago. The high-stakes MTT pro has dominated tournaments on all American based sites including Absolute Poker and Ultimate Bet. Eventual champion “ringosnuff” was slightly less experienced than his fellow opponents but had made his way to heads-up play in a few big events in 2010 including the Nightly Hundred Grand back in March. The $89,148 first-place check appears to be the biggest score of his career and just one of a handful of five-figure cashes.
PokerStars Sunday $500k Guaranteed
1,033 Entrants; $516,500 prize pool
1. ringosnuff $89,148
2. Mescalin8 $64,563
3. busto_soon $49,068
4. Saynananapls $35,948
5. 0120 $25,567
6. jus2awsum $20,402
7. Callisto 5 $15,237
8. Aleksei1990 $10,072
9. Se7enTr3y $5,682
One of the more intimate events each weekend in the Sunday $215 re-buy on PokerStars. The uber high-stakes event tends to attract only those with extremely big bankrolls who are willing to pony up $1,000 or more in entry fees, re-buys, and add-ons. Only 236 players entered the $215r this week but after all was said and done the prize pool nearly reached $170,000. One of the first to fall at the final table was STR regular Greg “DuckU” Hobson. The top-25 ranked online tournament professional has seen tremendous success on PokerStars having finished 4th in the SCOOP $10k Main Event earlier this year for $473,550 and 2nd in the WCOOP $10k Championship for $459,030 in 2008. While his 7th place score in the $215r yesterday barely registers on such a deep resume it acts as another example of just how skilled a player Hobson is.
Heads-up play came down to “snake8484” and “pokerjamers”, two highly skilled players used to big scores and deep runs on PokerStars. The title and more than $36,000 went to pokerjamers as he won a basic race with AK vs. a small pocket pair. The $30,000+ score does not crack his top-10 cashes which includes a $297,000 payday in last year’s SCOOP Event #8 and multiple $75,000 scores in the $1k Monday on FullTilt. Snake8484’s $26,133 cash also rates well down on a resume full of big cashes including a win in FTOPS Event #30 this past April for $92,000.
Seat 2: snake8484 (593963 in chips)
Seat 9: pokerjamers (770537 in chips)
snake8484: posts small blind 8000
pokerjamers: posts big blind 16000
*** HOLE CARDS ***
snake8484: raises 16000 to 32000
pokerjamers: raises 41415 to 73415
snake8484: raises 518948 to 592363 and is all-in
pokerjamers: calls 518948
*** FLOP *** [3s Qd Th]
*** TURN *** [3s Qd Th] [9h]
*** RIVER *** [3s Qd Th 9h] [Kc]
*** SHOW DOWN ***
pokerjamers: shows [Kd Ac] (a pair of Kings)
snake8484: shows [7c 7h] (a pair of Sevens)
pokerjamers collected 1187926 from pot
PokerStars Sunday $215r $150k Guaranteed
236 Entrants; $168,600 prize pool
1. pokerjamers $36,249
2. snake8484 $26,133
3. QcKimo $19,811
4. Patrolman35 $14,753
5. tRaMp$d0PrAy $10,116
6. ForzaVaxholm $8,430
7. DuckU $6,744
8. GripDsNutz $5,058
9. ocrowe $3,372
Finishing off a strong day of online events at PokerStars was the appropriately named Sunday Second Chance. With nearly $50,000 going to the winner the $250,000 guaranteed tournament gives all grinders one final shot at a big weekend payday. Making the most of this opportunity was Jon “apestyles” Van Fleet and “Setherson2” who found themselves heads-up early Monday morning. Van Fleet is widely considered one of the best online tournament players of all time with millions in career cashes and a handful of six figure-scores to his name. Even with all of that success he could not hold off Setherson2 for the title and had to settle for 2nd place and a $35,376 check. The $48,688 cash was easily the biggest of Setherson2’s career eclipsing a win in the 10-10-10 earlier this year for $5,714.
Seat 4: apestyles (1455856 in chips)
Seat 6: Setherson2 (2564144 in chips)
Setherson2: posts small blind 25000
apestyles: posts big blind 50000
*** HOLE CARDS ***
Setherson2: raises 50000 to 100000
apestyles: raises 1350856 to 1450856 and is all-in
Setherson2: calls 1350856
*** FLOP *** [2s Qd 8h]
*** TURN *** [2s Qd 8h] [Ts]
*** RIVER *** [2s Qd 8h Ts] [8c]
*** SHOW DOWN ***
apestyles: shows [3s 3d] (two pair, Eights and Threes)
Setherson2: shows [Kd Qh] (two pair, Queens and Eights)
Setherson2 collected 2911712 from pot
PokerStars Sunday Second Chance $250k Guaranteed
1,340 Entrants; $268,000 prize pool
1. Setherson2 $48,688
2. apestyles $35,376
3. thechips55 $26,800
4. bally29 $20,100
5. lankeshwar $14,070
6. poopypoo $11,390
7. freakypokerd $8,710
8. 7tHEcROw7 $6,030
9. jakoon1985 $3,752
Not to be outdone by PokerStars, FullTilt ran their full compliment of Sunday majors including the $400k Brawl, $750k Guaranteed, and $200k Mulligan. The Sunday Brawl had a strong showing from the FullTilt sponsored professionals including a final table appearance by Mihai Manole. Other well known professionals playing in the Brawl included Annette Oberstad, Andrew “luckychewy” Lichtenberger, Gain Smith, David Pham, and Allen Cunningham.
The rest of the field was equally strong but unfortunately included a final table which was eager to get things over with. The last four players quickly decided to chop the remaining prize pool which was a shame for such a big event. With more than $255,000 left in the prize pool the players were awarded payouts based on their chips counts which gave “McBulli” the biggest piece of the pie. The eventual winner was a completely unknown player on FullTilt but earned more than $78,000 for a hard day’s work.
FullTilt Sunday Brawl $400k Guaranteed
2,552 Entrants; $510,400 prize pool
*4-way chop
1. McBulli $78,584
2. Thoboy $53,630
3. EliasVeritas $68,704
4. blony_tair $56,323
5. Mrs ProJ3cT $26,030
6. sharrrrkdotcom $17,354
7. Mihai Manole $11,739
8. ALLINDANNY1 $8,166
9. nokaut1212 $6,125
The weekly headliner on FullTilt, the $750k Guaranteed, continues to be the most under-achieving event online today. With just 3,750 players needed to reach the guarantee one might think the world’s 2nd biggest poker site would have little trouble reaching those numbers. However, week after week the $750,000 has not only missed it’s guarantee but has done so in staggering fashion. This past week the $750k fell more than $95,000 short forcing FullTilt to pony up a large amount of overlay. While this is certainly great value for those playing the event it could soon turn into a bit of a headache if FullTilt is forced to lower the guarantee.
The FullTilt red pro contingent is certainly not to blame for the poor attendance as nearly 30 FTP Professionals entered the $200+$16 event. Andrew Lichtenberger was able to crack the top 100 in 96th place and was the only FTP pro to do so. Lichtenberger made a name for himself in the 2010 WSOP Main Event as well as with his cameo appearances in the G4 TV series “2 Months 2 Million”. Frank “Frank1The1Tank” Calo headlined a solid final table which was eventually won by “-FrederickJame-“. Calo is no stranger to success on FullTilt having won the Mulligan last November for $52,380 as well as the Double Deuce earlier that year for $34,362.
FullTilt Sunday $750k Guaranteed
3,272 Entrants; $750,000 prize pool
1. -FrederickJame- $132,788
2. HGC_1 $80,250
3. Frank1The1Tank $52,500
4. chickensalad $41,400
5. Tembelius $31,050
6. Jims619 $23,025
7. Sosnovly $17,250
8. Maxx72alba $13,500
9. J9s_WTF $10,050
Completing a great day of tournament action across all online sites was the FullTilt Sunday Mulligan. The $200,000 guaranteed event easily cleared its guarantee as more than 1,100 players ponied up the $200+$16 entry fee late Sunday evening. Amongst those participating were more than a handful of FullTilt professionals including Brandon Adams, Scott Clements, and Vitaly Lunkin. The best finish from a pro came via Michael Tureniec who took 85th place and just under $400.
The final table had a few powerful names in online poker including Cliff “JohnnyBax” Josephy and Faraz “The-Toilet 0” Jaka. Jaka joined “ElMastermind” and “WISHIGOTFPPS” as a formidable final trio battling over a $51,390 first place check. All three players have seen great success online including eventual winner WISHIGOTFPPS who is best known under the “lipofund” moniker. Third place finisher ElMastermind took down the $1,000,000 guarantee earlier this year for $176,921 and has more than a handful of $40,000+ cashes online. Jaka is both an online and live tournament professional who made a name for himself on an ESPN poker broadcast earlier this year.
FullTilt Sunday Mulligan $200k Guaranteed
1,142 Entrants; $228,400 prize pool
1. WISHIGOTFPPS $51,390
2. The-Toilet 0 $32,547
3. ElMastermind $24,096
4. lol_relig1on $18,843
5. JohnnyBax $14,275
6. neker2013 $10,278
7. skatastoriver $6,852
8. 3dognight $5,139
9. Quatoel $3,654