Another Sunday, another huge day of major online poker tournaments. Both PokerStars and FullTilt manged some big days today, as every single major easily eclipsed their guarantees. The recent “upswing” in entries is a welcome sign after quite a lull following the FTOPS and WCOOP series.

The day began with the Sunday Warm-Up on PokerStars. The $215 buy-in tournament easily bested it’s guarantee, swelling to over $950,000. The Warm-Up continues to grow weekly, and has supplanted the $750k on FullTilt for the 2nd biggest tournament available to US players each week. Those taking note of the chat already know that runner-up “sizzlinbetta” is a relatively unknown player in tournaments. He mentioned numerous times to be a losing player, yet he was not only at this final table, but leading the Sunday $500k at the same time. A bit of drama was taken out of the heads-up duel, as both players quickly agreed to a chop. There was still a bit of money to be played for, and “a$$ou” took care of the final hand when he flopped top pair vs. his opponent’s underpair:

Seat 4: sizzlinbetta (17768669 in chips)
Seat 7: a$$ou (29911331 in chips)
sizzlinbetta: posts the ante 40000
a$$ou: posts the ante 40000
a$$ou: posts small blind 200000
sizzlinbetta: posts big blind 400000
*** HOLE CARDS ***
a$$ou: calls 200000
sizzlinbetta: raises 987888 to 1387888
a$$ou: calls 987888
*** FLOP *** [2s 9c 3h]
sizzlinbetta: bets 1666587
a$$ou: raises 3133413 to 4800000
sizzlinbetta: raises 7200000 to 12000000
a$$ou: raises 7200000 to 19200000
sizzlinbetta: calls 4340781 and is all-in
Uncalled bet (2859219) returned to a$$ou
*** TURN *** [2s 9c 3h] [Ac]
*** RIVER *** [2s 9c 3h Ac] [Jd]
*** SHOW DOWN ***
sizzlinbetta: shows [5d 5h] (a pair of Fives)
a$$ou: shows [Qc 9s] (a pair of Nines)
a$$ou collected 35537338 from pot

PokerStars Sunday Warm-Up $750k Guaranteed
4,768 Entrants; $953,600 prize pool

1. a$$ou $140,745.60
2. sizzlinbetta $119,520.46
3. Catenaccio $78,672.01
4. seppmann7 $53,878.41
5. jasonbarton $40,528.01
6. sdrltd55 $30,992.01
7. WhiteRabbito $21,456.01
8. dawod_swe $11,920.01
9. POKER-OBIWAN $7,628.81

The Sunday Million saw a slight increase in action, as the tournament prize pool exceed $1,600,000 this week. The final table was flat out owned by “grifo173”, who took down the majority of the players, including the 3rd/4th place finishers in the same hand! He swiftly declined a chop heads-up, and dispatched “deoxyribo” rather quickly, taking home the title and more than $242,000 in first-place money. What is even more impressive is this score, according to most online records, was the first $5,000+ cash of his career. Below are the final-table stacks, bust-out hands, and for once, non-adjusted pay-outs:

Seat 1: deoxyribo (14,538,925 in chips)
Seat 2: subby1 (8,078,530 in chips)
Seat 3: grifo173 (15,358,479 in chips)
Seat 4: moseley8 (8,669,948 in chips)
Seat 5: JBlaze20 (8,693,022 in chips)
Seat 6: tobias fuke (4,127,000 in chips)
Seat 7: AKSchwan (5,456,349 in chips)
Seat 8: nickj7777 (5,699,925 in chips)
Seat 9: Pokerpiggen (11,797,822 in chips)

Seat 1: deoxyribo (15353823 in chips)
Seat 2: subby1 (5963530 in chips)
Seat 3: grifo173 (19373479 in chips)
Seat 4: moseley8 (8664948 in chips)
Seat 5: JBlaze20 (5308124 in chips)
Seat 6: tobias fuke (5462000 in chips)
Seat 7: AKSchwan (4556349 in chips)
Seat 8: nickj7777 (6994925 in chips)
Seat 9: Pokerpiggen (10742822 in chips)
AKSchwan: posts small blind 200000
nickj7777: posts big blind 400000
*** HOLE CARDS ***
Pokerpiggen: folds
deoxyribo: folds
subby1: folds
grifo173: folds
moseley8: folds
JBlaze20: folds
tobias fuke: raises 5022000 to 5422000 and is all-in
AKSchwan: calls 4316349 and is all-in
nickj7777: folds
Uncalled bet (905651) returned to tobias fuke
*** FLOP *** [9c 2s Ks]
*** TURN *** [9c 2s Ks] [Qc]
*** RIVER *** [9c 2s Ks Qc] [9s]
*** SHOW DOWN ***
AKSchwan: shows [Ac Qs] (two pair, Queens and Nines)
tobias fuke: shows [Kc 5d] (two pair, Kings and Nines)
tobias fuke collected 9792698 from pot

Seat 1: deoxyribo (15478823 in chips)
Seat 2: subby1 (5683530 in chips)
Seat 3: grifo173 (22553479 in chips)
Seat 4: moseley8 (11174948 in chips)
Seat 5: JBlaze20 (3628124 in chips)
Seat 6: tobias fuke (9173349 in chips)
Seat 8: nickj7777 (6564925 in chips)
Seat 9: Pokerpiggen (8162822 in chips)
JBlaze20: posts small blind 250000
tobias fuke: posts big blind 500000
*** HOLE CARDS ***
nickj7777: folds
Pokerpiggen: folds
deoxyribo: folds
subby1: folds
grifo173: raises 1000000 to 1500000
moseley8: folds
JBlaze20: raises 2078124 to 3578124 and is all-in
tobias fuke: folds
grifo173: calls 2078124
*** FLOP *** [Ks Kc 7c]
*** TURN *** [Ks Kc 7c] [Qs]
*** RIVER *** [Ks Kc 7c Qs] [7s]
*** SHOW DOWN ***
JBlaze20: shows [Jc Ac] (two pair, Kings and Sevens)
grifo173: shows [7h Jh] (a full house, Sevens full of Kings)
grifo173 collected 8056248 from pot

Seat 1: deoxyribo (15378823 in chips)
Seat 2: subby1 (5583530 in chips)
Seat 3: grifo173 (26931603 in chips)
Seat 4: moseley8 (11074948 in chips)
Seat 6: tobias fuke (8573349 in chips)
Seat 8: nickj7777 (6214925 in chips)
Seat 9: Pokerpiggen (8662822 in chips)
Pokerpiggen: posts small blind 250000
deoxyribo: posts big blind 500000
*** HOLE CARDS ***
subby1: folds
grifo173: raises 1000000 to 1500000
moseley8: folds
tobias fuke: folds
nickj7777: raises 4664925 to 6164925 and is all-in
Pokerpiggen: folds
deoxyribo: folds
grifo173: calls 4664925
*** FLOP *** [Th 4s 6s]
*** TURN *** [Th 4s 6s] [3h]
*** RIVER *** [Th 4s 6s 3h] [Qd]
*** SHOW DOWN ***
grifo173: shows [Td Tc] (three of a kind, Tens)
nickj7777: shows [9d Ac] (high card Ace)
grifo173 collected 13429850 from pot

Seat 1: deoxyribo (20148823 in chips)
Seat 2: subby1 (5973530 in chips)
Seat 3: grifo173 (35866528 in chips)
Seat 4: moseley8 (3354948 in chips)
Seat 6: tobias fuke (8803349 in chips)
Seat 9: Pokerpiggen (8272822 in chips)
deoxyribo: posts small blind 300000
subby1: posts big blind 600000
*** HOLE CARDS ***
grifo173: folds
moseley8: raises 2694948 to 3294948 and is all-in
tobias fuke: folds
Pokerpiggen: folds
deoxyribo: raises 15905052 to 19200000
subby1: folds
Uncalled bet (15905052) returned to deoxyribo
*** FLOP *** [8d Kh 7c]
*** TURN *** [8d Kh 7c] [Jh]
*** RIVER *** [8d Kh 7c Jh] [5c]
*** SHOW DOWN ***
deoxyribo: shows [Js Jc] (three of a kind, Jacks)
moseley8: shows [Ac 3s] (high card Ace)
deoxyribo collected 7549896 from pot

Seat 1: deoxyribo (20983771 in chips)
Seat 2: subby1 (7173530 in chips)
Seat 3: grifo173 (36586528 in chips)
Seat 6: tobias fuke (7603349 in chips)
Seat 9: Pokerpiggen (10072822 in chips)
deoxyribo: posts small blind 300000
subby1: posts big blind 600000
*** HOLE CARDS ***
grifo173: raises 1000000 to 1600000
tobias fuke: folds
Pokerpiggen: folds
deoxyribo: folds
subby1: calls 1000000
*** FLOP *** [9h 2h Kd]
subby1: checks
grifo173: checks
*** TURN *** [9h 2h Kd] [Qd]
subby1: bets 5513530 and is all-in
grifo173: calls 5513530
*** RIVER *** [9h 2h Kd Qd] [Jc]
*** SHOW DOWN ***
subby1: shows [9d 8d] (a pair of Nines)
grifo173: shows [Kh Ks] (three of a kind, Kings)
grifo173 collected 14827060 from pot

Seat 1: deoxyribo (20983771 in chips)
Seat 3: grifo173 (46040058 in chips)
Seat 6: tobias fuke (6463349 in chips)
Seat 9: Pokerpiggen (8932822 in chips)
deoxyribo: posts the ante 60000
grifo173: posts the ante 60000
tobias fuke: posts the ante 60000
Pokerpiggen: posts the ante 60000
deoxyribo: posts small blind 300000
grifo173: posts big blind 600000
*** HOLE CARDS ***
tobias fuke: raises 5803349 to 6403349 and is all-in
Pokerpiggen: raises 2469473 to 8872822 and is all-in
deoxyribo: folds
grifo173: calls 8272822
*** FLOP *** [3c 4h 6d]
*** TURN *** [3c 4h 6d] [7d]
*** RIVER *** [3c 4h 6d 7d] [Ts]
*** SHOW DOWN ***
grifo173: shows [Td Th] (three of a kind, Tens)
Pokerpiggen: shows [9d 9c] (a pair of Nines)
grifo173 collected 4938946 from side pot
tobias fuke: shows [Kc Js] (high card King)
grifo173 collected 19750047 from main pot

Seat 1: deoxyribo (16273771 in chips)
Seat 3: grifo173 (66146229 in chips)
grifo173: posts small blind 400000
deoxyribo: posts big blind 800000
*** HOLE CARDS ***
grifo173: raises 1100000 to 1900000
deoxyribo: raises 14293771 to 16193771 and is all-in
grifo173: calls 14293771
*** FLOP *** [Ad As Qs]
*** TURN *** [Ad As Qs] [Tc]
*** RIVER *** [Ad As Qs Tc] [6c]
*** SHOW DOWN ***
deoxyribo: shows [Kh Qd] (two pair, Aces and Queens)
grifo173: shows [Th Ac] (a full house, Aces full of Tens)
grifo173 collected 32547542 from pot

PokerStars Sunday Million $1.5M Guaranteed
8,242 Entrants; $1,648,400 prize pool

1. grifo173 $242,479.65
2. deoxyribo $177,203.01
3. Pokerpiggen $123,630.01
4. tobias fuke $82,420.01
5. subby1 $65,936.01
6. moseley8 $49,452.01
7. nickj7777 $32,968.01
8. JBlaze20 $18,132.41
9. AKSchwan $12,775.11

A well-known PLO professional and tournament grinder, “Gavz101”, made an appearance at the final table of the Sunday $500k on Stars. In fact his biggest score came in a PLO SCOOP Event in April, where he took 3rd place for nearly $75,000. Just like that event, he fell short this week, taking 4th place for $37,672. Another big name at the final table, “mrvogt”, was even less fortunate, finishing in 7th place for $16,343. The five-figure score was the 17th of his career on Stars, which includes a 4th place finish in the Million for $68,951 last December. He has had even more success on FullTilt, winning an FTOPS Event as well as the Sunday Mulligan in 2008.

Entering heads-up play were “throwinphins” and “mlagoo”, two players with past success on PokerStars. Before reaching the final table, both players had already earned more than $600,000 in cashes on Stars, including a $315k score by mlagoo back in 2007 in what had to be a WCOOP event. Just like the Warm-Up, there was a chop in the $500k; however I was unable to record the numbers.

Seat 4: throwinphins (3922928 in chips)
Seat 6: mlagoo (7157072 in chips)
throwinphins: posts the ante 6000
mlagoo: posts the ante 6000
mlagoo: posts small blind 30000
throwinphins: posts big blind 60000
*** HOLE CARDS ***
mlagoo: raises 7091072 to 7151072 and is all-in
throwinphins: calls 3856928 and is all-in
Uncalled bet (3234144) returned to mlagoo
*** FLOP *** [9h As Ad]
*** TURN *** [9h As Ad] [2d]
*** RIVER *** [9h As Ad 2d] [5c]
*** SHOW DOWN ***
throwinphins: shows [7c 3c] (a pair of Aces)
mlagoo: shows [7d Jc] (a pair of Aces – Jack kicker)
mlagoo collected 7845856 from pot

PokerStars Sunday $500k Guaranteed
1,108 Entrants; $554,000 prize pool

1. mlagoo $94,180
2. throwinphins $69,250
3. danceofdead $52,574.60
4. gavz101 $37,672
5. BongBob $27,423
6. DTFTOP18 $21,883
7. mrvogt $16,343
8. zakooza $10,803
9. Mescalin8 $5,983.20

Two big names in online poker made it all the way down to heads-up in the $215 re-buy. “Paolo69” and “apestyles” were set to battle it out for over $38,000 in first-place cash. Apestyles, a top-100 ranked professional, has had a few close-misses in major events, including a 5th in the Million for $57k and a 3rd in the Warm-Up for $67k. Paolo69’s resume is just as impressive, with nearly 30 $10,000+ scores to his name on PokerStars, including a massive $78,342 win of the $109r, he is no slouch himself. In the end it took a bit of a bad beat to end the tournament, leaving apestyles victorious once again:

Seat 2: apestyles (974402 in chips)
Seat 4: Paolo69 (524598 in chips)
apestyles: posts small blind 6000
Paolo69: posts big blind 12000
*** HOLE CARDS ***
apestyles: raises 12000 to 24000
Paolo69: calls 12000
*** FLOP *** [7d Kd 5s]
Paolo69: checks
apestyles: bets 29202
Paolo69: raises 53348 to 82550
apestyles: raises 73450 to 156000
Paolo69: raises 343398 to 499398 and is all-in
apestyles: calls 343398
*** TURN *** [7d Kd 5s] [9d]
*** RIVER *** [7d Kd 5s 9d] [Qs]
*** SHOW DOWN ***
Paolo69: shows [Tc Ks] (a pair of Kings)
apestyles: shows [Kc 9s] (two pair, Kings and Nines)
apestyles collected 1049196 from pot

PokerStars $215r $150k Guaranteed
287 Entrants; $186,400 prize pool

1. apestyles $38,212
2. Paolo69 $27,960
3. kobsame $21,063.20
4. ed.royalbh $15,844
5. vanwylder $10,997.60
6. jas42 $8,388
7. MAURONOMURA $6,524
8. Ml_Elvis $4,660
9. armen13 $3,262

Rounding out a solid day of tournament poker on the world’s largest poker site was the appropriately-named Sunday Second Chance. This tournament has been crushing its guarantee, and although many would like to see a change, it appears PokerStars will not return to the former $250,000 prize pool. Blair “bluf5f6” Hinkle, winner of a WSOP bracelet in 2008 and an oh-so close 23rd in the Main Event this year, made it all the way to heads-up in the Second Chance. He is quite a beast on the live scene, as he approaches the $1,000,000 earning mark. Online, he is a bit more quiet, as a $20,650 score in the Super Tuesday was his best score. He changed all that and then some this week, taking 2nd place and $35,613 in prize money. His opponent, “mariocasPT”, took home his first five-figure score on Stars, just five bucks shy of $49,000:

Seat 3: blur5f6 (834422 in chips)
Seat 8: mariocasPT (3212578 in chips)
blur5f6: posts the ante 2500
mariocasPT: posts the ante 2500
blur5f6: posts small blind 12500
mariocasPT: posts big blind 25000
*** HOLE CARDS ***
blur5f6: raises 25000 to 50000
mariocasPT: raises 100000 to 150000
blur5f6: raises 681922 to 831922 and is all-in
mariocasPT: calls 681922
*** FLOP *** [Ts 9d Qs]
*** TURN *** [Ts 9d Qs] [8s]
*** RIVER *** [Ts 9d Qs 8s] [Qh]
*** SHOW DOWN ***
mariocasPT: shows [Th Tc] (a full house, Tens full of Queens)
blur5f6: shows [9h Ah] (two pair, Queens and Nines)
mariocasPT collected 1668844 from pot

PokerStars Sunday Second Chance $200k Guaranteed
1,349 Entrants; $269,800 prize pool

1. mariocasPT $48,995.68
2. blur5f6 $35,613.60
3. as1025 $26,980
4. sjco22 $20,235
5. USCswimmer $14,164.50
6. colonelkosta $11,466.50
7. kenmrvegas $8,768.50
8. Steelo83 $6,070.50
9. xxDAMAGERxx $3,777.20

FullTilt appears to have done what PokerStars has not, increase the guarantee in one of their Sunday majors. The Sunday Brawl, formerly a $350,000 guarantee, has been bumped to $400,000. Even with the increase in the guarantee, the tournament gained enough entries to nearly reach $500,000 this weekend. Twenty-three FullTilt sponsored professionals played in the event including Vivek Rajkumar, WSOP Main Event winner Huck Seed, and Isaac “Menlo” Baron. “pocketrockets11” was the biggest name making the final table, and he ended up busting in 3rd for nearly $48k. This was the biggest score of his career by $400, barely eclipsing a 6th place finish in FTOPS Event #9 last year.

FullTilt Sunday Brawl $400k Guaranteed
2,448 Entrants; $489,600 prize pool

1, titanfr59 $90,481.11
2. Cheryl45 $74,000.01
3. pocketrockets11 $47,980.80
4. Jsbryan $36,230.40
5. drunk mashimaro $25,459.20
6. this is punny $16,646.40
7. fahmie $11,260.80
8. _The_Ghost_XX $7,833.60
9. KJulius10 $5,875.20

What the Brawl lacked in final-table firepower, the $750 more than made up for. Three well-known players were on hand, including “Kirbynator”, “Scary_Tiger”, and “jordankickz”. Jordankickz is no stranger to final-table success, as he earned over $163,000 for his runner-up finish in FTOPS Event #17 this past February. “Scary_Tiger” shipped the Double Deuce on FullTilt in May for nearly $32,000 and also final-tabled the Brawl last year, ultimately finishing in 6th place for just under $16,000. Both would end up taking a back seat to Kirbynator, as he shipped his first major title, and over $145,000. He is not a big tournament grinder, as he makes the majority of his money playing high-stakes PLO.

FullTilt Sunday $750k Guaranteed
4,126 Entrants; $825,200 prize pool

1. Kirbynator $145,722.07
2. ForEngland $88,213.88
3. cmiller916 $57,764
4. Scary_Tiger $45,386
5. BADNEW3 $34,080.76
6. stanman420 $25,251.12
7. jordankickz $18,979.60
8. asaffer $14,853.60
9. xx BabyGrand xx $11,057.68

Sunday came to an end with the finishing of the Sunday Mulligan on FullTilt. Thirteen of FullTilt’s very own played in the event including Jeff Madsen, David Pham, and Mike “Timex” McDonald. Kenny “Kenny Rap” Weinsteen nearly shipped another Sunday Major, taking second place for over $35,000. While a big score, it pales in comparison to his win in the Sunday $500k on PokerStars in March for nearly $94,000.

FullTilt Sunday Mulligan $200k Guaranteed
1,276 Entrants; $255,200 prize pool

1. postmannen $56,144
2. Kenny Rap $35,728
3. SqueezePlease $26,285.60
4. djflunk $20,735
5. kidcardiff $15,950
6. celinap $11,484
7. FlopNRun $7,656
8. BILLDEAL $5,742
9. JohnnyBelow $4,083.20