Another strong day of Sunday tournaments has come to an end. This week could have been titled the week of the pro, as many big name players made deep runs in online pokers biggest events. It seems all of the majors reached and exceeded their guarantees, a good sign of things to come for 2010. Unfortunately for the railbirds the majority of the tournaments were chopped, including the Sunday Million and FullTilt $750k.
The Sunday Warm-Up got the day off to a roaring start, as more than 4,700 players entered the early-bird event. Ryan “AceKicker_19” McClean and TJ “ufchamp” Tsanadis, and “ely_cash41” all headlined the final table. Both players have had some success on PokerStars in the past including ufchamp’s win in the Nightly Hundred Grand last year for just under $25,000. The final three players decided to chop, with chip leader ely_cash41 taking home $126,259 the biggest piece of the pie. This was his 2nd six-figure payday on PokerStars alone and his 5th $50k+ score of his career. Overall he has nearly $1,400,000 in tournament cashes.
PokerStars Sunday Warm-Up $750k Guaranteed
4,718 Entrants; $943,600 prize pool
1. ely_cash41 $126,259
2. AceKicker_19 $113,477
3. UcfChamp $96,074
4. shalzy13 $53,313
5. Fylleborje $40,103
6. manu34300 $30,667
7. Edith_Piaf $21,231
8. skalexjung $11,795
9. Patrolman35 $7,549
The Sunday Million had one of the best players in the world reach its final table for the second straight week. Jon “PearlJammer” Turner is one of a small handful of players to ever win more than $500,000 in a single online event. Earlier this year in the SCOOP Main Event Turner finished in 3rd place for $527,100. He has many other $10,000+ scores to his name on a variety of sites, including a near miss in SCOOP Event 12 for $39,200.
Just like the Warm-Up the Million failed to reach its conclusion before a chip-chop. While Turner busted in 5th place for $69,008, the final two players chopped for just over $200,000 with another $30,000 going to eventual winner “ran77”. This was by far and away the biggest score of his career. In fact, it was his first registered five-figure score, quite a nice way to break the $10k barrier.
PokerStars Sunday Million $1.5M Guaranteed
8,626 Entrants; $1,725,200 prize pool
1. ran77 $238,685
2. SeraphimV $200,544
3. Team Angle $129,390
4. aaronmermel $86,260
5. PearlJammer $69,008
6. Cynicism328 $51,756
7. paushtero $34,504
8. Fymez $18,977
9. umbrillo $13,370
The PokerStars 500 typically brings a strong final table every weekend, and yesterday was no exception. While the $530 buy-in attracts less players than the other majors, it certainly weeds out the amateurs, bringing in a tough group of professional players. Derek “Derek8” Lemer, a top-notch professional, nearly won PokerStars Tournament Leader Board last year, coming in 2nd behind Shaun “shaundeeb” Deeb. Luck was not on his side at the final table, as he busted in 7th place earning $15,738. Lemer currently ranks 6th on the 2009 PokerStars TLB. 4th place finisher “Skämmes” is another big name pro who nearly won the Sunday Million in July, taking 2nd for nearly $180,000. Last year he almost won this very event, taking 3rd for $50,250. Winner “mikeylions” took down the biggest score of his career, just over $92,000.
PokerStars Sunday $500k Guaranteed
1,067 Entrants; $533,500 prize pool
1. mikeylions $92,082
2. apalma2156 $66,688
3. Legendus $50,683
4. Skämmes $37,132
5. Treadinwater $26,408
6. psuNYY51 $21,073
7. derek8 $15,738
8. Bdk685 $10,403
9. HR_Dub $5,869
Pat “TorontoToro” Pezzin chopped the Sunday $215r yesterday with “Digable”. The $31,178 cash was merely the 5th biggest of his career, well behind a win in the Super Tuesday in February for $80,080. He had one other high finish in a Sunday major, a 3rd place finish in the Second Chance for $33,720 the very next week. Top-50 ranked “belabacsi” found his way onto our report yet again, as he finished in 7th for $6,426. He has a ton of big scores to his name including a $173,420 cash for finishing in 5th in this years SCOOP High Roller event in September. Finishing in 9th place was one of the world’s best tournament players “JohnnyBax”.
PokerStars Sunday $215r $150k Guaranteed
263 Entrants; $183,600 prize pool
1. Digable $34,000
2. TorontoToro $31,178
3. nikov $20,747.80
4. mcnallyville $15,606
5. Glebarm $10,832.40
6. EOxxx $8,262
7. Belabacsi $6,426
8. Oxota $4,590
9. JohnnyBax $3,213
The Sunday Second Chance capped off a strong day of tournaments on PokerStars. The $215 buy-in event attracted more than 1,300 players, once again surpassing the quarter million prize pool mark. Eventual winner “Jarfish” took home $48,232 for his efforts. This wasn’t the first time he found himself heads-up in a Sunday major, as he nearly won the Sunday Warm-Up in August, winning $95,940 for his runner-up finish. Playing the role of runner-up in this event was “fidget65”, who is having a strong 2009. Earlier this year in June he nearly shipped a huge $109r event, taking 3rd place and $34,360.
PokerStars Sunday Second Chance $200k Guaranteed
1,328 Entrants; $265,600 prize pool
1. Jarfish $48,232.96
2. Fidget65 $35,059.20
3. Pistolpeak $26,560
4. skarb $19,920
5. ATHIED87 $13,944
6. showmeez $11,288
7. aka_advanced $8,632
8. TeamWispy $5,976
9. Waters81 $3,718.40
FullTilt has the tough task of trying to keep up with the “world’s largest poker site” each and every week. While their tournaments may not garner as many entries or as big of prize pools, they are able to outdo PokerStars in big name professionals.
Nearly 30 of those professionals were on hand for the Sunday Brawl yesterday including the aforementioned Jon “PearlJammer” Turner, David Benyamine’s significant other Erica Schoenberg, and David Pham. Finding his way onto our report for the second straight week was 7th place finisher “JBurleson”. Last week Burleson took home nearly $36,000 for his 4th place finish in the Sunday $500k on PokerStars. “El Spewtardo” earned the biggest score of his career, just over $101,000 in winning the Brawl. Before this tournament he had only three $10k+ scores to his name.
FullTilt Sunday Brawl $400k Guaranteed
2,927 Entrants; $585,400 prize pool
1. El Spewtardo – $101,272
2. goalie1984 – $71,638
3. Karcsibohoc – $70,210
4. kacper88 – $51,920
5. lacaste32 – $29,855
6. runner669 – $19,904
7. JBurleson – $13,464
8. LiNyB55 – $9,366
9. AllisBeautiful – $7,025
Following the Brawl was the 3rd biggest event of the day on Sunday, the $750k Guaranteed. Coming in just behind the Warm-Up on PokerStars, the $750k attracted 4,239 players, creating a massive $847,800 prize pool. Just like the Million and Warm-Up on Stars this even was chopped three-ways. David “The Dragon” Pham, a FullTilt professional just missed out on the final table, bubbling in 10th place. Gardar “garreh” Hauksson took home the biggest piece of the chop, earning just under $120,000 for his “victory”. This was easily the biggest score of his career, besting a previous high of $27,582 from the $200k on FullTilt in June. Third-place finisher Russ “MclovinLovin” Floyd won exactly $90,000, also the biggest cash of his tournament career. Finally, “dubbeemin” also won $90,000, surpassing a win in the $75k on FullTilt in May for $29,927 as his biggest cash.
FullTilt Sunday $750k Guaranteed
4,239 Entrants; $847,800 prize pool
1. garreh – $119,482
2. dubbeemin – $90,206
3. MclovinLovin – $90,000
4. jj2times – $46,629
5. pokrclass101 – $35,014
6. rmull9 – $25,943
7. SorryMamo – $19,499
8. ManuelB100 – $15,260
9. Dutchalicious – $11,361
Two extremely recognizable names made it all the way to the final table of the Sunday Second Chance late last night. Mike “SowersUNCC” Sowers and Adam “Roothlus” Levy both ran out of luck a bit early, busting in 6th and 8th place respectively. It’s safe to say both of these players are used to much bigger scores. Sowers nearly won the WCOOP High Roller event in September, finishing in 2nd place for $448,500. He also nearly won the FTOPS XI Event #12, once again taking 2nd place for $221,680. On the live circuit, Sowers took down a $5k buy-in event at the 2008 Borgata Winter Open for $399,000. He is one of the few players who can say they have a bigger online score than Adam Levy. Earlier this year in FTOPS Event #22 Levy took 2nd place and a whopping $387,500 payday. He is also a seasoned live professional, having final-tabled the 2008 Festa al Lago Classic, taking 5th place and $266,445.
In the end Ronald “ScarJo” Lee was able to beat two of the world’s best and ship the Mulligan for $55,660. This score just barely beat out a $47,012 cash for his final table appearance in August’s FTOPS Event #12.
FullTilt Sunday Mulligan $200k Guaranteed
1,265 Entrants; $253,000 prize pool
1. ScarJo – $55,660
2. IzabelG – $35,420
3. juzlearnin – $26,059
4. brin1285 – $20,556
5. bgitty – $15,813
6. SowersUNCC – $11,385
7. SupFie – $7,590
8. Roothlus – $5,693
9. HeyImDro – $4,048