FullTilt threw a wrench into our normal Sunday plans with the tenth installment of their Online Poker Series, known as FTOPS X.  Instead of their normal lineup, players could find two FTOPS events and the Sunday Mulligan.  Event #8 was a $300+$22 buy-in, $1.5M Guarantee event hosted by Full-Tilt founder/owner Howard Lederer.  Instead of the Sunday Brawl players found event #9, a $240+$16 Knock-Out event with a $600k Guarantee Prize Pool.  PokerStars still had their standard events, and for consecutive weeks had tournaments actually reach their guarantees!  Who knows, maybe tournament entries and gas prices DO have a direct correlation to one another.

FTR is covering FTOPS in more detail; however, I feel my report will not be complete if I fail to give at least some coverage to these huge events.

Event #8, as mentioned before, was a 6-max KO event.  This special structure pays a player for every person they knock out. In big buy-in tournaments like this, each player earns $40 for every player they bust!  That’s not too bad for those who get deep and like to splash their chips around. 3,499 players entered event #8, which built the prize pool to $699,800, well over the $600,000 Guarantee.  Andrew Black was the FullTilt Pro Host for this event. If you recall, he made a deep run in the WSOP a few years ago and ran poorly at the final table.  Over 30 FullTilt Red Pros took part in the event, five of which actually made the money.  While Pros like Allen Cunningham, Chip Jett, and Eli Elezra would fail to make the money, lesser-knowns such as Bruno Stefanelli, Luis Velador, and R Romanello were able to cash in.  High-stakes cash game player Brandon Adams would also cash along with Scott Clements. Unfortunately for the five making the money, none would find themselves inside the top 100 finishers.

In the end the battle for over $137,000 in first place money came down to “whatariver1” and “Emansnrg”.  While whatariver1 is no stranger to success, the same can not be said for Emansnrg who I had little luck finding any information on.  Whatariver1 has won the Monday $1k and finished 2nd in the same event for scores of $91,000 and $54,000.  This cash makes a bakers-dozen of five-figure scores for him.  In the end it would see experience would win out, as whatariver1 would ship the victory and a big first-place check for $137,153 and the coveted FTOPS Jersey Avatar.  Emansnrg would have to “settle” for 2nd place and $86,075.

FTOPS Event #8 $240+$16 $600k Guaranteed
3499 Entrants

1. whatariver1 $137,153.80
2. Emansnrg $86,075.40
3. Fzth1 $58,783.20
4. gogogivestack $45,487
5. EddyStoefs $31,840.90
6. zapatero $21,693.80
7. fkscreennames $13,786.06
8. Olikawe $13,786.06
9. andrebicudo $8,992.43
10. loriZZo $8,992.43

Next in line was Event #9, which replaced the $750k, with a $300+$22 buy-in $1,500,000 Guaranteed tournament.  FullTilt Owner/Founder Howard Lederer was the guest host for this event, one of the biggest events in the series. More than 50 FullTilt Pros would participate, a number I cannot ever remember the site reaching before.  Former WSOP ME Winner Huck Seed, WPT Champion David Chiu, and two-time bracelet winner Jeff Madsen were all on hand vying for a first place prize of $277,929, the biggest of the day.  5370 players would eventually register, generating a prize pool of $1,611,000, once again, well over the guaranteed amount.  738 players would survive and make the money, including FlopTurnRiver Forum Member McatDog who finished in 268th, but don’t worry, we’ll hear from him later in the Report.  Only four Red Pros would make the money, most notably, Berry Johnston and Clonie Gowen who finished in 189th and 663rd respectively.

Here is how the stacks looked heading into the Final Table:

Seat 1: megax82 (2,829,206)
Seat 2: Stamdogg (6,882,571)
Seat 3: lapozie (1,522,454)
Seat 4: Fdidier8 (879,453)
Seat 5: SN8WMAN (1,677,482)
Seat 6: bigdogpckt5s (7,551,961)
Seat 7: pocketrockets11 (2,861,590)
Seat 8: Wachovia (1,906,888)
Seat 9: xTheory (738,395)

The first two knock outs at the final table happened in the same hand, “fdidier8” would take home nearly $21,000 for his ninth place finish and “SN8QMAN” would go home in eighth for just over $28,000:

Seat 1: megax82 (2,659,206)
Seat 2: Stamdogg (6,922,571)
Seat 3: lapozie (1,762,454)
Seat 4: Fdidier8 (709,453)
Seat 5: SN8WMAN (1,547,482)
Seat 6: bigdogpckt5s (7,511,961)
Seat 7: pocketrockets11 (3,021,590)
Seat 8: Wachovia (1,856,888)
Seat 9: xTheory (858,395)
SN8WMAN posts the small blind of 40,000
bigdogpckt5s posts the big blind of 80,000
The button is in seat #4
*** HOLE CARDS ***
pocketrockets11 folds
Wachovia folds
xTheory folds
megax82 folds
Stamdogg folds
lapozie folds
Fdidier8 has 15 seconds left to act
Fdidier8 raises to 260,000
lapozie is sitting out
lapozie has returned
SN8WMAN has 15 seconds left to act
SN8WMAN has requested TIME
SN8WMAN raises to 1,400,000
bigdogpckt5s raises to 7,501,961, and is all in
Fdidier8 calls 439,453, and is all in
SN8WMAN calls 137,482, and is all in
bigdogpckt5s shows [Js Jh]
Fdidier8 shows [Qd Ac]
SN8WMAN shows [2c 2h]
Uncalled bet of 5,964,479 returned to bigdogpckt5s
SN8WMAN: 2222222
*** FLOP *** [Kc Ah Jc]
*** TURN *** [Kc Ah Jc] [Kh]
*** RIVER *** [Kc Ah Jc Kh] [8d]
bigdogpckt5s shows a full house, Jacks full of Kings
SN8WMAN shows two pair, Kings and Twos
bigdogpckt5s wins the side pot (1,676,058) with a full house, Jacks full of Kings
Fdidier8 shows two pair, Aces and Kings
bigdogpckt5s wins the main pot (2,188,359) with a full house, Jacks full of Kings

Going out in 7th place was “Wachovia” when he took a bit of a beat, losing a 70/30.  He takes home just over $37,000 for a long days work:

Seat 1: megax82 (1,469,206)
Seat 2: Stamdogg (6,262,571)
Seat 3: lapozie (2,684,908)
Seat 6: bigdogpckt5s (10,969,554)
Seat 7: pocketrockets11 (2,536,590)
Seat 8: Wachovia (1,220,381)
Seat 9: xTheory (1,706,790)
xTheory posts the small blind of 50,000
megax82 posts the big blind of 100,000
The button is in seat #8
*** HOLE CARDS ***
Stamdogg folds
lapozie folds
bigdogpckt5s folds
pocketrockets11 folds
Wachovia raises to 300,000
xTheory folds
megax82 has 15 seconds left to act
megax82 raises to 1,459,206, and is all in
Wachovia calls 910,381, and is all in
megax82 shows [6d Ah]
Wachovia shows [8h 8d]
Uncalled bet of 248,825 returned to megax82
*** FLOP *** [4h Ad As]
*** TURN *** [4h Ad As] [6h]
*** RIVER *** [4h Ad As 6h] [Js]
megax82 shows a full house, Aces full of Sixes
Wachovia shows two pair, Aces and Eights
megax82 wins the pot (2,540,762) with a full house, Aces full of Sixes

Sixth place finisher, “pocketrockets11”,  would get short but fortunately find QQ. Unfortunately it wasn’t good enough as he would take a sick beat to bust in 6th place, good enough for $47,524:

Seat 1: megax82 (1,544,587)
Seat 2: Stamdogg (7,192,571)
Seat 3: lapozie (2,749,908)
Seat 6: bigdogpckt5s (11,459,554)
Seat 7: pocketrockets11 (799,800)
Seat 9: xTheory (3,103,580)
bigdogpckt5s posts the small blind of 50,000
pocketrockets11 posts the big blind of 100,000
The button is in seat #3
*** HOLE CARDS ***
xTheory folds
megax82 folds
Stamdogg folds
lapozie folds
bigdogpckt5s raises to 11,449,554, and is all in
pocketrockets11 calls 689,800, and is all in
bigdogpckt5s shows [3h As]
pocketrockets11 shows [Qs Qc]
Uncalled bet of 10,659,754 returned to bigdogpckt5s
*** FLOP *** [5h Th 5c]
*** TURN *** [5h Th 5c] [6c]
*** RIVER *** [5h Th 5c 6c] [Ac]
bigdogpckt5s shows two pair, Aces and Fives
pocketrockets11 shows two pair, Queens and Fives
bigdogpckt5s wins the pot (1,639,600) with two pair, Aces and Fives

“Lapozie” would go out in 5th place after running his 33 into the chipleader’s 99:

Seat 1: megax82 (2,714,174)
Seat 2: Stamdogg (6,927,571)
Seat 3: lapozie (2,804,908)
Seat 6: bigdogpckt5s (12,774,354)
Seat 9: xTheory (1,628,993)
bigdogpckt5s posts the small blind of 60,000
xTheory posts the big blind of 120,000
The button is in seat #3
*** HOLE CARDS ***
megax82 folds
Stamdogg folds
lapozie raises to 2,789,908, and is all in
bigdogpckt5s raises to 12,759,354, and is all in
xTheory folds
bigdogpckt5s shows [9c 9s]
lapozie shows [3h 3c]
Uncalled bet of 9,969,446 returned to bigdogpckt5s
*** FLOP *** [4c 2c 8s]
*** TURN *** [4c 2c 8s] [2s]
*** RIVER *** [4c 2c 8s 2s] [5d]
bigdogpckt5s shows two pair, Nines and Twos
lapozie shows two pair, Threes and Twos
bigdogpckt5s wins the pot (5,774,816) with two pair, Nines and Twos

“Stamdogg” would also fall victim to “bigdogpckt5s” in a crazy hand. AIPF the hand was a race, but on the flop Stamdogg was a 92% favorite.  However, like most of us know anything can happen in poker, and that’s what did, knocking out Stamdogg in fourth place for just under $85,000:

Full Tilt Poker Game #8899278248: FTOPS Event #9 (62634915), Table 548 – 60K/120K Ante 15K – No Limit Hold’em – 4:58:17 ET – 2008/11/10
Seat 1: megax82 (4,453,348)
Seat 2: Stamdogg (6,962,571)
Seat 6: bigdogpckt5s (13,690,088)
Seat 9: xTheory (1,743,993)
Stamdogg posts the small blind of 60,000
bigdogpckt5s posts the big blind of 120,000
The button is in seat #1
*** HOLE CARDS ***
xTheory folds
megax82 folds
Stamdogg calls 60,000
bigdogpckt5s raises to 420,000
Stamdogg calls 300,000
*** FLOP *** [Kh 5c 6c]
Stamdogg checks
bigdogpckt5s bets 480,000
Stamdogg has 15 seconds left to act
Stamdogg raises to 1,260,000
bigdogpckt5s calls 780,000
*** TURN *** [Kh 5c 6c] [8c]
Stamdogg checks
bigdogpckt5s bets 11,995,088, and is all in
Stamdogg has 15 seconds left to act
Stamdogg has requested TIME
Stamdogg calls 5,267,571, and is all in
bigdogpckt5s shows [Jh 7c]
Stamdogg shows [5s 5h]
Uncalled bet of 6,727,517 returned to bigdogpckt5s
*** RIVER *** [Kh 5c 6c 8c] [9h]
bigdogpckt5s shows a straight, Nine high
Stamdogg shows three of a kind, Fives
bigdogpckt5s wins the pot (13,955,142) with a straight, Nine high

Once play was down to 3-hand, “xTheory” was a distant third, which usually means 2nd in chips (in this case “megax82”) waits around for that player to bust.  However, megax82 found a big pair and went with it, only to lose a race and go out in 3rd, earning over $108,000 for his deep run:

Seat 1: megax82 (4,423,348)
Seat 6: bigdogpckt5s (20,832,659)
Seat 9: xTheory (1,593,993)
xTheory posts the small blind of 60,000
megax82 posts the big blind of 120,000
The button is in seat #6
*** HOLE CARDS ***
bigdogpckt5s has 15 seconds left to act
bigdogpckt5s raises to 300,000
xTheory folds
megax82 raises to 4,408,348, and is all in
bigdogpckt5s calls 4,108,348
megax82 shows [9d 9s]
bigdogpckt5s shows [Ah Jd]
*** FLOP *** [Jh 6s Qd]
*** TURN *** [Jh 6s Qd] [Kc]
*** RIVER *** [Jh 6s Qd Kc] [6h]
megax82 shows two pair, Nines and Sixes
bigdogpckt5s shows two pair, Jacks and Sixes
bigdogpckt5s wins the pot (8,921,696) with two pair, Jacks and Sixes

Once heads-up play began it seemed as if it would be over sooner rather than later looking at the chip counts:

Seat 6: bigdogpckt5s (25,331,007)
Seat 9: xTheory (1,518,993)

“Bigdogpckt5s” would have nearly a 17:1 chip advantage, and with xTheory only having 12BBs it would be an all-in fest, of which he would actually win the first few, getting his stack over 8,000,000.  However, his comeback would finally stall out, as he would bust out, finishing 2nd for nearly $169,000.  Bigdogpckt5s takes home the title, $277,929, and the FTOPS Jersey Avatar:

Seat 6: bigdogpckt5s (22,727,085)
Seat 9: xTheory (4,122,915)
bigdogpckt5s antes 30,000
xTheory antes 30,000
bigdogpckt5s posts the small blind of 120,000
xTheory posts the big blind of 240,000
The button is in seat #6
*** HOLE CARDS ***
bigdogpckt5s raises to 22,697,085, and is all in
xTheory calls 3,852,915, and is all in
bigdogpckt5s shows [Kc 6h]
xTheory shows [Qh Ad]
Uncalled bet of 18,604,170 returned to bigdogpckt5s
*** FLOP *** [Th 7c Kd]
*** TURN *** [Th 7c Kd] [9s]
*** RIVER *** [Th 7c Kd 9s] [8s]
bigdogpckt5s shows a straight, Ten high
xTheory shows Ace King high
bigdogpckt5s wins the pot (8,245,830) with a straight, Ten high

FTOPS Event #9 $1.5M Guaranteed
5370 Entrants

1. bigdogpckt5s $277,929.72
2. xTheory $168,349.50
3. megax82 $108,259.20
4. Stamdogg $84,577.50
5. lapozie $63,634.50
6. pocketrockets11 $47,524.50
7. Wachovia $37,053
8. SN8WMAN $28,192.50
9. Fdidier8 $20,943

The Sunday Mulligan made it 3-for-3 today in Full Tilt majors reaching their guarantees.  1,128 players ponied up the $200+$16 buy-in, creating a prize pool of $225,600, well over the $200,000 guarantee.  One Full Tilt Pro, Pearljammed, made a nice run, busting 5th for just over $14,000.  Mandy B, who seems to be making our report a lot, finished inside the money as well, in 30th place.  In the end, the ever-pessimistic “iloseflips2424” would take home the crown and over $50,000.  A name we’re getting more and more used to seeing is “gboro780” who made our report in the $100r last week.  Gboro finished 4th in this event and was definitely not through with big cashes as we’ll see later in the report.

FullTilt Sunday Mulligan $200k Guaranteed
1128 Entrants

1. iloseflips2424 $50,760
2. mendieta19 $32,148
3. payems $23,800.80
4. gboro780 $18,612
5. PeralJammed $14,100
6. therookieqq9 $10,152
7. SPIRITSLAYER $6,678
8. switzzle $5,076
9. noble_work $3,609.50

As always the Sunday Warm-Up gets things going on PokerStars.  This week 3805 entrants from all around the world ponied up the $215 buy-in, creating a prize pool of $761,00, just over the $750k guarantee.  A few lesser-known players made it to the final table, as “Snookerfun” would eventually take home the title and nearly $100,000.  Not a bad way to start of your day if you ask me!  The Final table was once again filled with foreigners, as not a single American player would make the final table.  It would appear the highest-finishing American was “a_zuzolo,” who hails from Las Vegas, and finished 15th.

PokerStars Sunday Warm-Up $750k Guaranteed
3805 Entrants

1. Snookerfun $98,930
2. dave_steven9 $68,490
3. luluxxx $45,660
4. VBOOS $38,050
5. groggy $30,440
6. Schmufix $22,830
7. Polyhymnia $15,220
8. Top-Hand $9,512.50
9. RoadV $6,544.60

The Sunday Million saw a nice boost in entrants this week, as 7711 players would generate a $1,542,200 prize pool, easily passing the $1.5M guarantee.  This was the second consecutive week PokerStars would not have to pay any overlay in their Majors, surely a great sign for the state of online poker!

On our way to the Final Table a member of FlopTurnRiver made a nice run.  MTT-Pro McatDog would go extremely deep,  but would unfortunately run his AQs into AA and bust in 26th place, earning just over $3000.  Here are how the stacks looked going into the Final Table:

Seat 1: Mazelucky 4977442 in chips
Seat 2: TherookieQQ9 15612351 in chips
Seat 3: rickyhatton 4645083 in chips)
Seat 4: ragsrellum 1680622 in chips)
Seat 5: elemonator37 6955714 in chips)
Seat 6: adamx 4158912 in chips)
Seat 7: RunThisTable 26206370 in chips)
Seat 8: 1011001011 7591210 in chips
Seat 9: Lamberjack12 5282296 in chips

First to go at the final table would be “adamx,” as he would be down to his last 11BBs and made a standard shove with KQo.  Unfortunately for him “TherookieQQ9,” who we saw earlier in the report, woke up with ATo in the Big Blind.  The flop would bring some hope for adamx, but alas it was not his day as he would fall short and bust out in 9th, taking home $10,795 for his efforts:

Seat 1: Mazelucky (4497442 in chips)
Seat 2: TherookieQQ9 (15432351 in chips)
Seat 3: rickyhatton (4285083 in chips)
Seat 4: ragsrellum (3331244 in chips)
Seat 5: elemonator37 (6295714 in chips)
Seat 6: adamx (3498912 in chips)
Seat 7: RunThisTable (27375748 in chips)
Seat 8: 1011001011 (8371210 in chips)
Seat 9: Lamberjack12 (4022296 in chips)
Mazelucky: posts small blind 150000
TherookieQQ9: posts big blind 300000
*** HOLE CARDS ***
rickyhatton: folds
ragsrellum: folds
elemonator37: folds
adamx: raises 3168912 to 3468912 and is all-in
RunThisTable: folds
1011001011: folds
Lamberjack12: folds
Mazelucky: folds
TherookieQQ9: calls 3168912
*** FLOP *** [7s Ah Ks]
*** TURN *** [7s Ah Ks] [6c]
*** RIVER *** [7s Ah Ks 6c] [6h]
*** SHOW DOWN ***
TherookieQQ9: shows [Ac Td] (two pair, Aces and Sixes)
adamx: shows [Kc Qs] (two pair, Kings and Sixes)
TherookieQQ9 collected 7357824 from pot

Next to go was “ragsreullum,” who was down to his last 5.5BBs.  He was able to get his money in good, with A2o to the KJo of ChipLeader “RunThisTable.”  All looked great until the river came the 9h, putting a straight on the board, but giving RunThisTable a jack-high straight and the win, eliminating ragsrellum in 8th for $17,735.

Seat 1: Mazelucky (4917442 in chips)
Seat 2: TherookieQQ9 (14526180 in chips)
Seat 3: rickyhatton (9250166 in chips)
Seat 4: ragsrellum (2321244 in chips)
Seat 5: elemonator37 (3825714 in chips)
Seat 7: RunThisTable (27640098 in chips)
Seat 8: 1011001011 (10376860 in chips)
Seat 9: Lamberjack12 (4252296 in chips)
Lamberjack12: posts small blind 200000
Mazelucky: posts big blind 400000
*** HOLE CARDS ***
TherookieQQ9: folds
rickyhatton: folds
ragsrellum: raises 1881244 to 2281244 and is all-in
elemonator37: folds
RunThisTable: calls 2281244
1011001011: folds
Lamberjack12: folds
Mazelucky: folds
*** FLOP *** [8s Td 6s]
*** TURN *** [8s Td 6s] [7c]
*** RIVER *** [8s Td 6s 7c] [9h]
*** SHOW DOWN ***
ragsrellum: shows [2h Ac] (a straight, Six to Ten)
RunThisTable: shows [Jc Kc] (a straight, Seven to Jack)
RunThisTable collected 5482488 from pot

Next up on short-stack death-row was “Lamberjack12.”  Facing an UTG raise from TherookieQQ9, he found a very strong hand in AQs.  With out enough chips to make anyone fold, he was called by 44 and we were off to the races!  Unfortunately for lamberjack12, he would swing and miss, losing the pot and getting eliminated in 7th place in the process, good enough for $26,988.

Seat 1: Mazelucky (4037442 in chips)
Seat 2: TherookieQQ9 (13646180 in chips)
Seat 3: rickyhatton (8710166 in chips)
Seat 5: elemonator37 (5245714 in chips)
Seat 7: RunThisTable (31721342 in chips)
Seat 8: 1011001011 (10376860 in chips)
Seat 9: Lamberjack12 (3372296 in chips)
Lamberjack12: posts small blind 200000
Mazelucky: posts big blind 400000
*** HOLE CARDS ***
TherookieQQ9: raises 600500 to 1000500
rickyhatton: folds
elemonator37: folds
RunThisTable: folds
1011001011: folds
Lamberjack12: raises 2331796 to 3332296 and is all-in
Mazelucky: folds
TherookieQQ9: calls 2331796
*** FLOP *** [3d 8s 5s]
*** TURN *** [3d 8s 5s] [9d]
*** RIVER *** [3d 8s 5s 9d] [4d]
*** SHOW DOWN ***
Lamberjack12: shows [Qh Ah] (high card Ace)
TherookieQQ9: shows [4s 4h] (three of a kind, Fours)
TherookieQQ9 collected 7344592 from pot

A couple players we had yet to hear from got tangled up in a pot that sent “elemonator37” home in 6th place, earning just shy of $40,000 for a long days work.  All looked good for elemonator37 on the flop, but once an Ace spiked on the turn it gave “1011001011” a commanding lead in the hand:

Seat 1: Mazelucky (3517442 in chips)
Seat 2: TherookieQQ9 (17138476 in chips)
Seat 3: rickyhatton (7980166 in chips)
Seat 5: elemonator37 (4725714 in chips)
Seat 7: RunThisTable (33491342 in chips)
Seat 8: 1011001011 (10256860 in chips)
elemonator37: posts small blind 250000
RunThisTable: posts big blind 500000
*** HOLE CARDS ***
1011001011: raises 1000000 to 1500000
Mazelucky: folds
TherookieQQ9: folds
rickyhatton: folds
elemonator37: raises 3175714 to 4675714 and is all-in
RunThisTable: folds
1011001011: calls 3175714
*** FLOP *** [5d 6s Qh]
*** TURN *** [5d 6s Qh] [Ah]
*** RIVER *** [5d 6s Qh Ah] [8h]
*** SHOW DOWN ***
elemonator37: shows [Td Th] (a pair of Tens)
1011001011: shows [As Jh] (a pair of Aces)

1011001011’s good fortune was short-lived, as he would be the next up on the chopping block, after he was unable to win a race against TherookieQ99.   While he doesn’t go home with the win, he does take home $54,748 for a hard days work:

Seat 1: Mazelucky (10645182 in chips)
Seat 2: TherookieQQ9 (25328992 in chips)
Seat 3: rickyhatton (23280664 in chips)
Seat 7: RunThisTable (10650336 in chips)
Seat 8: 1011001011 (7204826 in chips)
1011001011: posts small blind 400000
Mazelucky: posts big blind 800000
*** HOLE CARDS ***
TherookieQQ9: raises 1400500 to 2200500
rickyhatton: folds
RunThisTable: folds
1011001011: raises 4924326 to 7124826 and is all-in
Mazelucky: folds
TherookieQQ9: calls 4924326
*** FLOP *** [Ad 6d 2d]
*** TURN *** [Ad 6d 2d] [Qh]
*** RIVER *** [Ad 6d 2d Qh] [Kc]
*** SHOW DOWN ***
1011001011: shows [5d 5s] (a pair of Fives)
TherookieQQ9: shows [8s Ac] (a pair of Aces)
TherookieQQ9 collected 15449652 from pot

Next to go was “Mazelucky” who had stayed fairly quiet at the Final Table.  With less than 10BBs, he shoved from UTG with 63o.  This play typically works a large portion of the time, however, when one of your opponents finds a pair in the hole, you tend to go bust.  RunThisTable would wake up with 44 in the Big Blind and it would hold, busting Mazelucky in 4th, netting him $70,170 for the day.

Seat 1: Mazelucky (10085182 in chips)
Seat 2: TherookieQQ9 (37893818 in chips)
Seat 3: rickyhatton (18280664 in chips)
Seat 7: RunThisTable (10850336 in chips)
rickyhatton: posts small blind 500000
RunThisTable: posts big blind 1000000
*** HOLE CARDS ***
Mazelucky: raises 8985182 to 9985182 and is all-in
TherookieQQ9: folds
rickyhatton: folds
RunThisTable: calls 8985182
*** FLOP *** [3s 5s Qs]
*** TURN *** [3s 5s Qs] [Jh]
*** RIVER *** [3s 5s Qs Jh] [9c]
*** SHOW DOWN ***
RunThisTable: shows [4h 4c] (a pair of Fours)
Mazelucky: shows [6d 3d] (a pair of Threes)
RunThisTable collected 20870364 from pot

Once play became 3-handed, TherookieQ99 had nearly half the chips in play. However, it wouldn’t be soon before he would lose his chip lead.  RunThisTable won a huge race against rickyhatton, in the process knocking him out in 3rd and assuming a slight chip lead in the tournament.  Rickyhatton would have to settle for third place and just over $86,000 for his deep run:

Seat 2: TherookieQQ9 (36693818 in chips)
Seat 3: rickyhatton (19805664 in chips)
Seat 7: RunThisTable (20610518 in chips)
TherookieQQ9: posts small blind 500000
rickyhatton: posts big blind 1000000
*** HOLE CARDS ***
RunThisTable: raises 1225625 to 2225625
TherookieQQ9: folds
rickyhatton: raises 17480039 to 19705664 and is all-in
RunThisTable: calls 17480039
*** FLOP *** [2h 8h 7d]
*** TURN *** [2h 8h 7d] [Kc]
*** RIVER *** [2h 8h 7d Kc] [Kd]
*** SHOW DOWN ***
rickyhatton: shows [As Jd] (a pair of Kings)
RunThisTable: shows [9h 9c] (two pair, Kings and Nines)
RunThisTable collected 40211328 from pot

Heads-Up play would be epic to say the least.  The chip lead would swing back and forth repeatedly with no chip chop deal in sight.  It appeared these two were ready to battle it out for over a $60,000 difference between first and second.   TherookieQQ9 would get the better of RunThisTable and eventually get him all-in dominated.  The flop was a great one for RunThisTable, however, in true PokerStars fashion the river would have something to say about that:

Seat 2: TherookieQQ9 (46420444 in chips)
Seat 7: RunThisTable (30689556 in chips)
TherookieQQ9: posts the ante 170000
RunThisTable: posts the ante 170000
TherookieQQ9: posts small blind 850000
RunThisTable: posts big blind 1700000
*** HOLE CARDS ***
TherookieQQ9: calls 850000
RunThisTable: raises 28819556 to 30519556 and is all-in
TherookieQQ9: calls 28819556
*** FLOP *** [7s 2d 6h]
*** TURN *** [7s 2d 6h] [Tc]
*** RIVER *** [7s 2d 6h Tc] [Jd]
*** SHOW DOWN ***
RunThisTable: shows [2c Ad] (a pair of Deuces)
TherookieQQ9: shows [As Jc] (a pair of Jacks)
TherookieQQ9 collected 61379112 from pot

The Jd on the river gave TherookieQQ9 the best hand, the victory, and a check of $188,919.  While he did take a nasty beat on the end, try not to feel too bad for RunThisTable as he has $127,385 reasons to feel pretty good about himself tonight.

PokerStars Sunday Million $1.5M Guaranteed
7711 Entrants

1. TherookieQQ9 $188,919.50
2. RunThisTable $127,385.72
3. rickyhatton $86,363.20
4. Mazelucky $70,170.10
5. 1011001011 $54,748.10
6. elemanator37 $39,326.10
7. Lamberjack12 $26,988.50
8. ragsrellum $17,735.30
9. adamx $10,795.40

The $215-rebuy, as always, brought a great field of MTT-Pros.  FlopTurnRiver Member JohnnyFish, one of the top online-MTT Pros in the world made a nice run before bowing out in 15th place. The final table had many great names, including “ender555,” “THAY3R,” “ComeOnPhish,” “ImaLuckSac,” and “Ch0ppy.”  All of these players have won major tournaments and have huge cashes to their names.  Eventual champion “TheCronic420” is no stranger to success in this very event, having won it and finished 2nd in the $215r before.  This cash, however, was his biggest in the event.  Runner-Up “rdcrsn” is a top-50 ranked MTT Pro who has now finished 2nd three times in this event in the past 11 months.  Hopefully the fourth time will be the charm for him!

Here is how the final hand went down:

Seat 4: rdcrsn (293010 in chips)
Seat 8: TheCronic420 (1445490 in chips)
rdcrsn: posts small blind 10000
TheCronic420: posts big blind 20000
*** HOLE CARDS ***
rdcrsn: raises 271010 to 291010 and is all-in
TheCronic420: calls 271010
*** FLOP *** [3h 3d 2s]
*** TURN *** [3h 3d 2s] [4h]
*** RIVER *** [3h 3d 2s 4h] [Jh]
*** SHOW DOWN ***
TheCronic420: shows [5s Ac] (a straight, Ace to Five)
rdcrsn: shows [Qh Ks] (a pair of Threes)
TheCronic420 collected 586020 from pot

PokerStars $215r $200k Guaranteed
322 Entrants

1. TheCronic420 $44,485
2. rdcrsn $32,550
3. ch0ppy $24,521
4. ImaLuckSac $18,445
5. troster16 $12,803
6. ComeOnPhish $9,765
7. THAY3R $ 7,595
8. nitbuster $5,425
9. ender555 $3,797

The $109r saw a nice bump in its prize pool this week. It easily exceeded the $300k guarantee after 1036 players generated 2064 re-buys and 769 add-ons, creating a prize pool of $386,900. A familiar face from this week and last, “gboro780” took down the title and a huge payday of $71,576.50, completing a nice Sunday.  Gboro is ranked in the top-10 in online-MTTs with nearly 30 five-figure cashes to his name.  While all of the accolades are great, he never had a $70,000+ cash until today.  “ImaLucSac,” whose brother “ImaLuckSac” cashed 4th in the $215r, finished 5th in the $109r, completing a nice day for the LuckSack family.

PokerStars $109r $300k Guaranteed
1036 Entrants

1. gboro780 $71,576.50
2. Jagz7 $51,844.60
3. JizzWag $38,690
4. Norm427 $29,017.50
5. ImaLucSac $20,312.25
6. LosChief $16,443.25
7. AK87 $12,574.25
8. DiPollo $8,705.25
9. phillbort $5,416.60

Last but not least of the PokerStars Sunday Majors is the $250k Second Chance.  This tournament gives everyone one last shot at a huge score. In today’s case, over $50,000 went to first.  1391 players easily eclipsed the $250k guarantee, generating a $278,200 prize pool off of the $215 entries.  High-stakes regular Rami “arbianight” Boukaimake gave a valiant effort, but came up short, finishing 2nd for just over $36,000.  Boukai has a few big scores to his name, including wins in the SuperTuesday and $109r for $71,000 and $64,000.   Eventual champion “All_in_at420” has nearly $750,000 in cashes to his name, however, this score is definitely his biggest win.

PokerStars Sunday Second Chance $250k Guarantee
1391 Entrants

1. All_in_at420 $50,295.56
2. arbianight $36,444.20
3. zezann $27,820.00
4. ipa_25 $20,865
5. DareYou2Call $14,605.50
6. sam2price $11,823.50
7. Astrolux85 $9,041.50
8. scuty06 $6,259.50
9. Mo2244 $3,894.80