The first day of November proved to be quite a big day for online poker tournaments. Those remembering to set their clocks forward did not have to wait an extra hour for the early-bird events. The Sunday Warm-Up started a big day of tournament action, and the event did not experience a Halloween hangover of any sort, as 4,747 players entered, creating a massive $949,400 prize pool.
The final table had a few familiar names, including notable cash game grinder Daniel “DCal Zone” Didech. While he appears to have had more success play cash games, he did nearly win the $55r in August, taking home 2nd place and over $10,000. Facing off with Didech for the title was “akia86”, another player without a ton of success playing tournaments on PokerStars. Unfortunately for the railbirds the two took a bit of drama out of the championship, quickly agreeing to a chip-chop once heads-up play began. With only $10,000 left to play for, the tournament ended quickly, with Didech taking the win and $138,000.
Seat 1: akia86 (17320057 in chips)
Seat 6: DCal Zone (30149943 in chips)
akia86: posts small blind 250000
DCal Zone: posts big blind 500000
*** HOLE CARDS ***
akia86: raises 704823 to 1204823
DCal Zone: raises 2095177 to 3300000
akia86: raises 13970057 to 17270057 and is all-in
DCal Zone: calls 13970057
*** FLOP *** [Td 7c Kd]
*** TURN *** [Td 7c Kd] [Ts]
*** RIVER *** [Td 7c Kd Ts] [Jh]
*** SHOW DOWN ***
DCal Zone: shows [8s 8d] (two pair, Tens and Eights)
akia86: shows [As 6d] (a pair of Tens)
DCal Zone collected 34640114 from pot
PokerStars Sunday Warm-Up $750k Guaranteed
4,747 Entrants; $949,400 prize pool
1. DCal Zone $138,000
2. akia86 $121,546.99
3. SebbyGI $78,326
4. Brughtality $53,641
5. Loverat $40,350
6. kregme1 $30,856
7. oli4ever $21,362
8. KvicKiller $11,868
9. CMOT_Donkey $7,595
The Sunday Million continues to best its guarantee, as this week nearly 8,000 players entered online poker’s biggest weekly tournament. A few recognizable names made the final table including the top-3 finishers: “siola”, “spitznspots”, and “mizarkshzark”. Just like the Warm-Up, a chip-chop took all the air out of the sails of the Sunday Million. This time a chop occurred with SIX players remaining, guaranteeing chip-leader “Lounatic0815” $160,000. There was still $30,000 on the table, and Siola was able to take down the 6-man SNG and take down $187,860.54 for the victory.
PokerStars Sunday Million $1.5M Guaranteed
7,962 Entrants; $1,592,400 prize pool
1. siola $187,860.54
2. spitznspots $121,318.48
3. mizarkshzark $100,000
4. Lounatic0815 $160,000
5. TEACH604 $96,000
6. monkeyboxes $60,000
7. wader $31,848
8. sandman201 $18,313
9. RickoT $12,341
The Sunday $500k generally delivers one of the best final tables of the week, and yesterday’s final nine was no exception. Two huge names in online tournaments, Shaun “Shaundeeb” Deeb and Steve “Gboro780” Gross, made the final table. Both Deeb and Gross are widely considered two of the top 10 online tournament players, and are ranked 6th and 1st respectively by an independent site. Deeb’s biggest claim to fame is winning the PokerStars TLB a few years ago, as well as winning the $109r for $75,7890 and the Super Tuesday for $81,812.50. Gross has a ton of huge scores to his name, including three six-figure scores. Gross shipped the $1M Guaranteed on FullTilt for over $275,000 in February and won a SCOOP event in April for $128,000. Unfortunately neither player was able to mount much of a charge yesterday, as Gross went out in 9th and Deeb busted in 6th. Joining this two greats was 8th place finisher “Bruno GT”, who has nearly $1,500,000 in earnings on PokerStars alone including three wins in the $109r.
PokerStars Sunday $500k Guaranteed
1,031 Entrants; $515,500 prize pool
1. cypriots $88,975
2. w00ki3z. $64,438
3. sheckwave $48,973
4. Steve Oss $35,879
5. mendieta19 $25,517
6. shaundeeb $20,362
7. Oxota $15,207
8. Bruno GT $10,052
9. gboro780 $5,671
The $215 re-buy continues to rebound from a slow start earlier this year, as the tournament has been nearing the $200,000 prize pool mark for some time. Yesterday there were just enough re-buys and add-ons to make it happen, as 286 players created a $200,800 prize pool. Juan “koolkeith13” Dixon, a solid tournament professional, finished in 5th place for just under $12,000. The $12k cash falls well short of a win in this very event last September, where he took home over $51,000 for his efforts. He is no stranger to success in re-buys, as he has 10 combined top-5 finishes in the $109r and $215r. Taking home the title and $41,164 was “HustlerGrune”, winner of the Sunday Warm-Up in May for over $118,000. This $41k and change was the 2nd biggest score of his career and helped him to eclipse over $300,000 in lifetime earnings on PokerStars.
PokerStars Sunday $215r $150k Guaranteed
286 Entrants; $200,800 prize pool
1. HustlerGrune $41,164
2. brainwash $30,120
3. BabyGrand $22,690.40
4. GripsDsNutz $17,068
5. koolkeith13 $11,847.20
6. melikman $9,036
7. late_entry $7,028
8. knecht_poker $5,020
9. sexygee $3,514
Finishing off a solid day of tournaments on PokerStars was the $200,000 guaranteed Second Chance. Once again the tournament easily crushed its guarantee, as over 1,300 players created a $261,800 prize pool. Eventual champion, “msusyr24”, has had plenty of success on PokerStars in the past. While this was his first five-figure score, he has grinded out quite a big amount of cashes, over $718,000 to be exact. He has played nearly 40,000 tournaments lifetime, and did ship the $55r a few years ago for nearly $10,000. Runner-up “brendon1717” barely missed the biggest score of his career, as his $34,557 cash fell just short of a $36,119 score for winning the $109r in July.
PokerStars Sunday Second Chance $200k Guaranteed
1,309 Entrants; $261,800 prize pool
1. msusyr24 $47,542.88
2. brendon1717 $34,557.60
3. skater3598 $26,180
4. JamesWyn $19,635
5. hwtd1 $13,744.50
6. DannyN13 $11,126.50
7. horyna $8,508.50
8. ELFook $5,890.50
9. DIAMOND789 $3,665.20
FullTilt continues to see a lot of growth in their three Sunday majors, the Brawl, $750k, and Mulligan. The Brawl has been on quite an upswing lately, especially since the guarantee was raised from $350,000 to $400,000 a few weeks ago. This past Sunday the Brawl continued its recent success, as over 2,700 players created a $549,000 prize pool, which might just be a new record. FullTilt professionals were on hand, and made a huge impact in the event as two pros, Lee Watkinson and Michael Tureniec made the final ten. While Watkinson busted out on the final table bubble, Tureniec made it all the way to heads-up play, where he faced off with “Biggest Donkey” for a $111,447 first place prize.
There were some other big names at the final table, including “ANIMAL5050”, a professional who nearly won the Sunday Mulligan in August, taking home $42,952 for a second place finish. His biggest score came in another runner-up finish, taking $60,967 in the $109r on PokerStars in February. “tedlogan19”, also known as “pokerbrat13”, took 3rd place for over $53,000. This was the 3rd biggest score of his career, behind a 2nd place finish in the Sunday $500k on PokerStars in June and a win in the $200k on FullTilt in April.
FullTilt Sunday Brawl $400k Guaranteed
2,745 Entrants; $549,000 prize pool
1. Biggest Donkey $111,447
2. MichaelTureniec $71,919
3. tedlogan19 $53,253
4. Kingphil30 $40,077
5. katiemother $27,999
6. koemeester $18,666
7. ANIMAL5050 $12,627
8. blueszu66 $8,784
9. aka_advanced $6,588
The $750k Guaranteed saw a bit of a drop-off this week, as the tournament barely squeaked by its guarantee. 27 of FullTilt’s finest played in the event, including Scott Fischman, Isaac “Menlo” Baron, and Huck Seed. The final table was highlighted by “PureCash25”, a player with nearly $1,000,000 in cashes on FullTilt alone. He is most well-known for taking 3rd in FTOPS Event #22 last November for $262,500. Once again he found himself in 3rd place, however, after a chop he took home more than his fair share. Dustin “yogano83” Lehman took home the biggest score of his career, $100,000 even, for finishing in 2nd place. Eventual winner “whatzthebet” only won $91,256 after the chop, but that was still more than enough to eclipse his previous career high, a $26,208 score for winning the $75k Guaranteed in April.
FullTilt Sunday $750k Guaranteed
3,859 Entrants; $771,800 prize pool
1. whatzthebet $91,256
2. yogano83 $100,000
3. PureCash25 $82,000
4. Ame_Stram-Gram $42,603
5. Pimpnuho $31,953
6. luckylow15 $23,694
7. cokers66 $17,751
8. pscoot $13,892
9. BeerMe $10,342
Finishing off a big day of tournaments on FullTilt was the Sunday Mulligan. The $200,000 guaranteed event easily passed its guarantee, as 1,164 players created a $232,800 prize pool. Nearly 20 FullTilt sponsored professionals played in the event, including Jeff Madsen, Mike “Timex” McDonald, and David “The Dragon” Pham. A few names made it to the final table, including eventual winner “Frank1The1Tank”. The $52,380 cash bested his previous career high, a $34,262 score for winning the $100k “Double Deuce” earlier this year.
FullTilt Sunday Mulligan $200k Guaranteed
1,164 Entrants; $232,800 prize pool
1. Frank1The1Tank $52,380
2. 7IMLOVINIT7 $33,174
3. CoinFlip $24,560
4. djcoin $19,206
5. JaspudUF $14,550
6. Negrelli $10,476
7. amarkf $6,984
8. Mement_mori $5,238
9. zestfulyclean $3,725