One of the biggest days in recent online history has come to an end. Yesterday not only marked the final day of FTOPS XV but it was also the 4-year anniversary of the PokerStars Sunday Million. Finishing up on FullTilt was the $500+$35 FTOPS 2.5M Guaranteed Main Event, the $2500 2-day Event, and Event #25, the $240 $800k Guaranteed Knock-Out.
There were plenty of great players on hand on both sites as tournaments reached record heights in both entries and prize pools. Every tournament on PokerStars saw a nice boost from both the Million as well as their 40-Billion-Hand promotion. The Warm-Up started things off early as more than 5,300 players gave the days earliest event its biggest prize pool in some time. with more than $1,060,000 up for grabs it was no accident that the final table was full of experienced and successful professionals. 7th-place finisher Aditya “intervntion” Agarwal took down yet another $20k+ score. He has more than 10 other big cashes including a 2nd in the $1K Monday on FullTilt and a win in the Quarter Million on Stars last month.
The final four players were all great tournament professionals and decided to chop the remaining prize pool leaving only $10,000 on the table. Fourth-place finisher Ben “ANIMAL5050” Pappas guaranteed himself over $92,000 after the chop which is the biggest score of his career on PokerStars. Pappas also had a close call in both the FTOPS and Sunday Mulligan on FullTilt in years past as he finished runner-up in both events for $66,000 and $42,952 respectively. Chip-leader at the time of the chop, “cumicon”, squeezed out $128,000 in the deal guaranteeing him the biggest payday of the bunch. While he does not have a lot of tournament experience he is a high-stakes cash game grinder who plays $5/$10 and up.
The final $10,000 came down to Justin “APerfectGent” Schwartz and “homanga”. Both players are used to big scores including homanga who was at the Warm-Up final table for the 3rd time in the past 10 months! Previously he finished 3rd and 6th last year for $56,286 and $26,500. Schwartz is a feared tournament, SNG, and cash game grinder who has more than $600,000 in cashes on PokerStars alone. Schwartz did come under fire in years past under allegations of multi-accounting that link him with JJ Prodigy. During those times he played under the name “YourTimeIsUp” on FullTilt where he battled with the world’s best in nosebleed cash games.
The two heads-up players joked back and forth during the battle, seemingly unconcerned about the additional $10,000 on the line or the TLB points. In the end homanga coolered Schwartz for the title and $111,000 in prize money:
Seat 1: homanga (29560000 in chips)
Seat 4: APerfectGent (23850000 in chips)
APerfectGent: posts small blind 300000
homanga: posts big blind 600000
*** HOLE CARDS ***
APerfectGent: raises 600000 to 1200000
homanga: calls 600000
*** FLOP *** [9c 9s Kh]
homanga: bets 600000
APerfectGent: raises 1990000 to 2590000
homanga: calls 1990000
*** TURN *** [9c 9s Kh] [7d]
homanga: checks
APerfectGent: bets 4600000
homanga: calls 4600000
*** RIVER *** [9c 9s Kh 7d] [8d]
homanga: checks
APerfectGent: bets 15400000 and is all-in
homanga: calls 15400000
*** SHOW DOWN ***
APerfectGent: shows [4h 9h] (three of a kind, Nines)
homanga: shows [Js 9d] (three of a kind, Nines – King+Jack kicker)
homanga collected 47700000 from pot
PokerStars Sunday Warm-Up $750k Guaranteed
5,341 Entrants; $1,068,200 prize pool
*4-way chop
1. homanga $111,006.50
2. APerfectGent $109,006.50
3. cumicon $128,006.50
4. ANIMAL5050 $92,006.50
5. bigbear17 $45,399
6. Skryll $34,717
7. intervntion $24,035
8. alexuuus $13,353
9. polpolpol $8,546
Over the years the Sunday Million has established itself as the biggest weekly poker event on the internet. The tournament has grown to its current stature through promotions, satellites, and a great structure. It once again proved its dominance yesterday as more than 36,000 players entered the $200+$15 event. On a day where the FTOPS had a $500+$35 Main Event and a $2500 2-day high-roller tournament finishing, the Sunday Million was able to steal the show. In fact, the $7,233,800 prize pool bested the sum of the three biggest events on FullTilt yesterday.
The final table was not as strong as the one seen in the Warm-Up but there was a $1,141,000 first place prize on the line that had everyone watching. Eventual champion “RichieRichZH” was truly a rags-to-riches story as he did not have a single $10,000+ score to his name entering the final table. Despite previous failures he was not to be denied, as was a chip-chop. The players finished out the tournament the right way with RichieRichZH coming out on top and earning the biggest single prize of the year so far. Below are the final table stacks, bust-out hands, and pay-outs:
Seat 1: Jaggy42 (22896415 in chips)
Seat 2: WNYCEC (10021139 in chips)
Seat 3: Amoneymagnet (10584212 in chips)
Seat 4: petinvest7 (81920648 in chips)
Seat 5: DerHenker666 (48546362 in chips)
Seat 6: RichieRichZH (34873357 in chips)
Seat 7: highplaya (19849828 in chips)
Seat 8: lankeshwar (59776803 in chips)
Seat 9: lirarerik (73221236 in chips)
Seat 1: Jaggy42 (22896415 in chips)
Seat 2: WNYCEC (18922278 in chips)
Seat 3: Amoneymagnet (15568424 in chips)
Seat 4: petinvest7 (78560648 in chips)
Seat 5: DerHenker666 (39645223 in chips)
Seat 6: RichieRichZH (41033357 in chips)
Seat 7: highplaya (16489828 in chips)
Seat 8: lankeshwar (62552591 in chips)
Seat 9: lirarerik (66021236 in chips)
Amoneymagnet: posts small blind 700000
petinvest7: posts big blind 1400000
*** HOLE CARDS ***
DerHenker666: folds
RichieRichZH: folds
highplaya: folds
lankeshwar: folds
lirarerik: folds
Jaggy42: folds
WNYCEC: folds
Amoneymagnet: raises 14028424 to 15428424 and is all-in
petinvest7: calls 14028424
*** FLOP *** [9d 6d 3h]
*** TURN *** [9d 6d 3h] [9c]
*** RIVER *** [9d 6d 3h 9c] [4s]
*** SHOW DOWN ***
Amoneymagnet: shows [Tc Ac] (a pair of Nines)
petinvest7: shows [Qh Ah] (a pair of Nines – Ace+Queen kicker)
petinvest7 collected 32116848 from pot
Seat 1: Jaggy42 (19256415 in chips)
Seat 2: WNYCEC (24942278 in chips)
Seat 4: petinvest7 (91609072 in chips)
Seat 5: DerHenker666 (35305223 in chips)
Seat 6: RichieRichZH (43133357 in chips)
Seat 7: highplaya (11449828 in chips)
Seat 8: lankeshwar (68572591 in chips)
Seat 9: lirarerik (67421236 in chips)
highplaya: posts small blind 700000
lankeshwar: posts big blind 1400000
*** HOLE CARDS ***
lirarerik: folds
Jaggy42: folds
WNYCEC: folds
petinvest7: folds
DerHenker666: folds
RichieRichZH: raises 1400000 to 2800000
highplaya: raises 8509828 to 11309828 and is all-in
lankeshwar: folds
RichieRichZH: calls 8509828
*** FLOP *** [6h 8h Ah]
*** TURN *** [6h 8h Ah] [Td]
*** RIVER *** [6h 8h Ah Td] [Jd]
*** SHOW DOWN ***
highplaya: shows [4h Ac] (a pair of Aces)
RichieRichZH: shows [As Qs] (a pair of Aces – Queen kicker)
RichieRichZH collected 25139656 from pot
Seat 1: Jaggy42 (12146415 in chips)
Seat 2: WNYCEC (16982278 in chips)
Seat 4: petinvest7 (107009072 in chips)
Seat 5: DerHenker666 (55370446 in chips)
Seat 6: RichieRichZH (34237962 in chips)
Seat 8: lankeshwar (64652591 in chips)
Seat 9: lirarerik (71291236 in chips)
DerHenker666: posts small blind 850000
RichieRichZH: posts big blind 1700000
*** HOLE CARDS ***
lankeshwar: folds
lirarerik: folds
Jaggy42: raises 10276415 to 11976415 and is all-in
petinvest7 is connected
WNYCEC: folds
petinvest7: folds
DerHenker666: folds
RichieRichZH: calls 10276415
*** FLOP *** [Qh 4h 9d]
*** TURN *** [Qh 4h 9d] [Kh]
*** RIVER *** [Qh 4h 9d Kh] [5c]
*** SHOW DOWN ***
RichieRichZH: shows [Kc As] (a pair of Kings)
Jaggy42: shows [Jc Ks] (a pair of Kings – lower kicker)
RichieRichZH collected 25992830 from pot
Seat 2: WNYCEC (10804556 in chips)
Seat 4: petinvest7 (150849072 in chips)
Seat 5: DerHenker666 (7615577 in chips)
Seat 6: RichieRichZH (55414377 in chips)
Seat 8: lankeshwar (75185182 in chips)
Seat 9: lirarerik (61821236 in chips)
WNYCEC: posts small blind 1000000
petinvest7: posts big blind 2000000
*** HOLE CARDS ***
DerHenker666: raises 5415577 to 7415577 and is all-in
RichieRichZH: folds
lankeshwar: folds
lirarerik: folds
WNYCEC: raises 3188979 to 10604556 and is all-in
petinvest7: calls 8604556
*** FLOP *** [Kc 9c 8h]
*** TURN *** [Kc 9c 8h] [Qs]
*** RIVER *** [Kc 9c 8h Qs] [Js]
*** SHOW DOWN ***
WNYCEC: shows [As 5s] (high card Ace)
petinvest7: shows [Kh Td] (a straight, Nine to King)
petinvest7 collected 6377958 from side pot
DerHenker666: shows [Jd Ad] (a pair of Jacks)
petinvest7 collected 23446731 from main pot
Seat 4: petinvest7 (173669205 in chips)
Seat 6: RichieRichZH (104828754 in chips)
Seat 8: lankeshwar (71785182 in chips)
Seat 9: lirarerik (11406859 in chips)
lankeshwar: posts small blind 1000000
lirarerik: posts big blind 2000000
*** HOLE CARDS ***
petinvest7: folds
RichieRichZH: raises 2000000 to 4000000
lankeshwar: folds
lirarerik: calls 2000000
*** FLOP *** [2c Jh 3h]
lirarerik: bets 7206859 and is all-in
RichieRichZH: calls 7206859
*** TURN *** [2c Jh 3h] [Ts]
*** RIVER *** [2c Jh 3h Ts] [Qs]
*** SHOW DOWN ***
lirarerik: shows [Ks 5s] (high card King)
RichieRichZH: shows [Td Ah] (a pair of Tens)
RichieRichZH collected 24213718 from pot
Seat 4: petinvest7 (6483592 in chips)
Seat 6: RichieRichZH (244671226 in chips)
Seat 8: lankeshwar (110535182 in chips)
RichieRichZH: posts small blind 1500000
lankeshwar: posts big blind 3000000
*** HOLE CARDS ***
petinvest7: raises 3183592 to 6183592 and is all-in
RichieRichZH: folds
lankeshwar: calls 3183592
*** FLOP *** [3d 6h 9s]
*** TURN *** [3d 6h 9s] [Js]
*** RIVER *** [3d 6h 9s Js] [3s]
*** SHOW DOWN ***
lankeshwar: shows [Jc As] (two pair, Jacks and Threes)
petinvest7: shows [Qh 4h] (a pair of Threes)
lankeshwar collected 14767184 from pot
Seat 6: RichieRichZH (304952452 in chips)
Seat 8: lankeshwar (56737548 in chips)
RichieRichZH: posts small blind 2000000
lankeshwar: posts big blind 4000000
*** HOLE CARDS ***
RichieRichZH: raises 8000000 to 12000000
lankeshwar: raises 44337548 to 56337548 and is all-in
RichieRichZH: calls 44337548
*** FLOP *** [5s 2s Tc]
*** TURN *** [5s 2s Tc] [9d]
*** RIVER *** [5s 2s Tc 9d] [5c]
*** SHOW DOWN ***
lankeshwar: shows [As 4c] (a pair of Fives)
RichieRichZH: shows [3h 3d] (two pair, Fives and Threes)
RichieRichZH collected 113475096 from pot
PokerStars Sunday Million $4M Guaranteed
36,169 Entrants; $7,233,800 prize pool
1. RichieRichZH $1,141,510
2. lankeshwar $754,775
3. petinvest7 $506,366
4. lirarerik $282,118
5. WNYCEC $151,910
6. DerHenker666 $86,806
7. Jaggy42 $57,870
8. highplaya $43,403
9. Amoneymagnet $28,935
The Sunday $500k always seems to benefit from other promotions. Whether it is FTOPS or PokerStars boosting the prize pool in the Million, the more chances of high-stakes players being online jump starts the $500 buy-in event. This week more than 1,500 players entered the tournament creating a $787,500 prize pool with $126,001 going to first-place.
The final table had plenty of good poker players including high-stakes cash game professional “teacuppoker”. He is also no slouch when it comes to tournaments as this $37,406 cash was merely his 3rd biggest score on PokerStars alone. Previously he finished 9th in the SCOOP $10k buy-in for $83,332 andalso won a $1k buy-in for $70,425 in 2007. The biggest name at the final table, “rusostreet”, took down the title and $126,001. He has more than $1,500,000 in cashes between FullTilt and PokerStars including a 4th in the $750k on FullTilt, a win in the Second Chance for $54,480, and a 2nd place finished in this very event in 2008 for $67,584.
Seat 1: rusostreet (12863555 in chips)
Seat 7: desmond9 (2886445 in chips)
desmond9: posts small blind 50000
rusostreet: posts big blind 100000
*** HOLE CARDS ***
desmond9: raises 200000 to 300000
rusostreet: raises 299995 to 599995
desmond9: calls 299995
*** FLOP *** [5c Td 6h]
rusostreet: bets 599995
desmond9: raises 1676455 to 2276450 and is all-in
rusostreet: calls 1676455
*** TURN *** [5c Td 6h] [Qs]
*** RIVER *** [5c Td 6h Qs] [8h]
*** SHOW DOWN ***
rusostreet: shows [9s 9c] (a pair of Nines)
desmond9: shows [Ks Jd] (high card King)
rusostreet collected 5772890 from pot
PokerStars Sunday $500k Guaranteed
1,575 Entrants; $787,500 prize pool
1. rusostreet $126,001
2. desmond9 $94,500
3. Roberta114 $70,875
4. IceyBSimpson $51,778
5. teacuppoker $37,406
6. timkrank $29,138
7. bardana $21,263
8. PrinceAndrew $13,781
9. 4everunknown $7,875
The $215 rebuy also benefited from the days promotions as the $150,000 guaranteed event saw its prize pool balloon to $211,600. The final table was chock-full of great poker players including Jeff “yellowsub86” Williams, “belabacsi”, Joshua “pbdrunks” VanDuyn, and “ASPoker8”. Williams is well-known in the online poker world as a young internet professional who has tangled in the nosebleed games on FullTilt in the past. His online tournament results are outstanding as well with more than $1,000,000 in cashes to his name between PokerStars and FullTilt.
Belabacsi in a top-75 ranked professional who has performed quite nicely in WCOOP and SCOOP events. Last year in the $10,000 buy-in WCOOP High-Roller Tournament he finished 5th for $173,420. Earlier in the year he finished 2nd in the SCOOP $162 2X for $77,091. In fact, the $9,522 he scored here for his 6th place finish ranks so far down the list of his accomplishments it barely bares mention. Fifth-place finisher VanDuyn is part of the old-guard at PokerStars having won the bulk of his money before 2009. Overall he has more than $1,200,000 in cashes on PokerStars alone including a $71,060 score in 2008 for winning the Wednesday Quarter Million.
Rounding out the tough group of professionals was 9th place finisher “ASPoker8” who has made this report many times in the past. He grinds a lot of events and has more than $1,000,000 in cashes during his online poker career including a near miss in FTOPS Event #4 last year where he took 4th place and $52,752. The $43,378 first-place check went to relatively unknown “PikkuHUMPPA” who before yesterday had only two other five-figure scores to his name.
Seat 5: mendieta19 (285200 in chips)
Seat 8: PikkuHUMPPA (1426800 in chips)
PikkuHUMPPA: posts small blind 10000
mendieta19: posts big blind 20000
*** HOLE CARDS ***
PikkuHUMPPA: raises 20000 to 40000
mendieta19: raises 243200 to 283200 and is all-in
PikkuHUMPPA: calls 243200
*** FLOP *** [Jh Ks Qc]
*** TURN *** [Jh Ks Qc] [4h]
*** RIVER *** [Jh Ks Qc 4h] [9s]
*** SHOW DOWN ***
mendieta19: shows [6s Ac] (high card Ace)
PikkuHUMPPA: shows [Qh Jd] (two pair, Queens and Jacks)
PikkuHUMPPA collected 570400 from pot
PokerStars Sunday $215r $150k Guaranteed
304 Entrants; $211,600 prize pool
1. PikkuHUMPPA $43,378
2. mendieta19 $31,740
3. Tim0thee $23,910.80
4. croll103 $17,986
5. pbdrunks $12,484.40
6. Belabacsi $9,522
7. yellowsub86 $7,406
8. Jonkgbg $5,290
9. ASPoker8 $3,703
Rounding out a great day of tournament action on PokerStars was the Sunday Second Chance that saw an incredible amount of entrants for the late-starting event. Over 1,800 players decided to pony up the $200+$15 buy-in to get their one last chance at Sunday success. One of the more familiar names on our report, Jonathan “MONSTER_DONG” Karamalikis, once again found himself battling for Sunday supremacy. While his late day push fell short with a 5th place finish he did take home nearly $20,000 for his efforts. Even though this was a nice score it pales in comparison to previous triumphs including a win in the $109r for $66,125, 2nd-place in the Sunday500 for $66,500, and a win in the Wednesday Quarter Million for $62,888. On FullTilt he has had more close calls including a 2nd place for $157,084 in the $300r FTOPS in 2008 and a 4th in the Brawl just weeks ago.
“TherookieQQ9” out-battled “Maridu” for the title and more than $66,000. This score vaulted him over the $900,000 mark in career cashes which include a win in the Sunday Million in 2008 for $188,920. Recently he has also won the $109r for $39,766 and now has more than a dozen $10k+ scores to his name on PokerStars alone.
Seat 2: Maridu (1103799 in chips)
Seat 5: TherookieQQ9 (4554201 in chips)
Maridu: posts small blind 30000
TherookieQQ9: posts big blind 60000
*** HOLE CARDS ***
Maridu: raises 1037799 to 1097799 and is all-in
TherookieQQ9: calls 1037799
*** FLOP *** [8h 3d 8d]
*** TURN *** [8h 3d 8d] [4h]
*** RIVER *** [8h 3d 8d 4h] [5h]
*** SHOW DOWN ***
TherookieQQ9: shows [As Ks] (a pair of Eights)
Maridu: shows [Jc 7h] (a pair of Eights – lower kicker)
TherookieQQ9 collected 2207598 from pot
PokerStars Sunday Second Chance $200k Guaranteed
1,886 Entrants; $377,200 prize pool
1. TherookieQQ9 $66,538.08
2. Maridu $49,036
3. Brezi26 $37,720
4. caiodream $27,347
5. MONSTER_DONG $19,614.40
6. witness $15,842.40
7. jagsbun $12,070.40
8. czechpro $8,298.40
9. brikdog24 $5,280.80
With the last day of FTOPS XV on the docket FullTilt was slated to have over $5,000,000 in guarantees up for grabs yesterday. FlopTurnRiver has been bringing updates of all the major events including Event #22 2-day Tournament and The FTOPS Main Event. If you would like to read past write-ups of events visit our News Section for more than a dozen wrap-ups. A typical Sunday on FullTilt includes the $400k Brawl, $750k Guaranteed, and $200k Mulligan. Yesterday, FTOPS Event #25 took the place of the Brawl as the typical guarantee was doubled to $800,000.
One of the youngest and most well-known online cash game professionals nearly took down the event. Aurangzeb “Ozzy 87” Sheihk has seemingly been around forever but that is only because he was dominating high-stakes cash games from the day he turned 18. That cash game success has not necessarily translated into tourney success but he does have a few wins in the $109r on FullTilt and more than $500,000 in career cashes. You can see Ozzy battling the best players in the world in nosebleed NL Hold’em and PLO on FullTilt. In Event 25 he made it all the way to heads-up play but fell to Matt “BigMich08” Glassley. This was his first truly big score as he took down more than $194,000 for the win.
Forty-five FullTilt professionals played in the event including David Benyamine as well as his fiance Erica Schoenberg. Joining the couple was Isaac “Menlo” Baron, David Pham, Erick Lindgren, and Gavin Smith. The best finish from all the professionals came from Chris Wolters who took 50th place and $1,876.
FullTilt FTOPS XV Event 25 $800k Guaranteed
5,098 Entrants; $1,019,600 prize pool
1. BigMich08 $194,763.99
2. Ozzy 87 $119,293.20
3. Mr JackhOFFman $82,791.52
4. Tannina80 $61,176
5. kleath $44,862.40
6. E Tyrne $30,588
The latest starting event of the day was the Sunday Mulligan on FullTilt. Much like the Second Chance on PokerStars the Mulligan saw a large boost in both attendance and prize pool due to FTOPS. 1,635 Players entered the event creating a $327,000 prize pool. A few great players made the final table but were unable to make any noise. Falling in 9th place was FullTilt sponsored pro Allen Cunningham. Cunningham not only final tabled this event but he was also the host of the FTOPS Main Event. He has five WSOP bracelets and has appeared on numerous televised cash games including the FullTilt Million Dollar Cash Game currently airing on Fox Sports.
Busting shortly after cunningham was “Jungleman12”, a feared heads-up cash game professional who has recently been involved in epic battles with “Isildur1”, Tom “Durrrr” Dwan, Aaron “aejones” Jones, and Justin “ZeeJustin” Bonomo. Overall he has won more than $1,000,000 in cash games on FullTilt in the past year. These two great players were joined by other FullTilt professionals including Jeff Madsen, Jordan Morgan, and Huck Seed. Third place finisher “jpapola” is no slouch himself having won the $1k Monday for $107,750 last March and the $109r on Stars last October for $82,368.
FullTilt Sunday Mulligan $200k Guaranteed
1,635 Entrants; $327,000 prize pool
1. Grillat $70,305
2. domino20 $44,472
3. jpapola $33,027
4. pokermiester27 $26,160
5. Embla $19,620
6. nahmastay $14,061
7. The_Dean221 $9,156
8. jungleman12 $6,540
9. AllenCunningham $4,578