Chip-chops were in the air yesterday as some of the day’s biggest events ended rather abruptly.  Not only did the two biggest events of the day fail to come to a normal end, they both ended with around half of the final table still in play. Unfortunately this has become more routine lately as more amateurs make deep runs and then become a bit tight at the final table. Instead of playing out the event they decide to cut out the variance and just chop up the prize pool based on current chip counts.

The Sunday Warm-Up was once again the 2nd biggest event of the weekend. While it will never catch up to the Million it has supplanted the $750k on FullTilt over the past six months. Even with an early start time the tournament has been hovering around 5,000 entrants for the past few months including surpassing the $1,000,000 prize pool mark on numerous occasions.  With six players remaining at the final table the rail was a bit shocked to see chip-chop talks started. Usually one or two players won’t agree and play will move on, but yesterday all six gave the necessary “I agree” in chat and that was that. With only $10,000 left to play for the final table finished quickly. Taking home the title was the actual chip-leader when the chop was made, Bolivar “Ramux” Palacios.  This was the biggest score of his career and the 2nd time he found himself at a major in the past 10 months. Last year he took 6th in FTOPS event #10 for $45,000.  9th-place finisher “shaaarrrp” almost won this very event last March, as he took 3rd place for $51,744.

Seat 3: Hismoon (10077196 in chips)
Hismoon: posts small blind 300000
Ramux: posts big blind 600000
*** HOLE CARDS ***
Hismoon: raises 844444 to 1444444
Ramux: raises 38218360 to 39662804 and is all-in
Hismoon: calls 8572752 and is all-in
Uncalled bet (29645608) returned to Ramux
*** FLOP *** [Th 2s Kc]
*** TURN *** [Th 2s Kc] [Td]
*** RIVER *** [Th 2s Kc Td] [8h]
*** SHOW DOWN ***
Ramux: shows [3c Ad] (a pair of Tens)
Hismoon: shows [Ac 6c] (a pair of Tens)
Ramux collected 10077196 from pot
Hismoon collected 10077196 from pot

PokerStars Sunday Warm-Up $750k Guaranteed
4980 Entrants; $996,000 prize pool
*6-way deal

1. Ramux $139,163.73
2. Hismoon $77,163.71
3. juda10 $66,163.71
4. Ansgar2000 $86,163.71
5. Method999 $68,163.71
6. ƒeezØ $48,163.71
7. gaffel $22,410
8. L C P $12,450
9. Shaaarrrp $7,968

The Sunday Million also fell victim to the chip-chop bug that was going around yesterday. This time is was slightly less ridiculous than the Warm-Up as “only” four players decided to chop the remaining pool.  This was another great showing for the Sunday Million as it topped the $2,000,000 for consecutive weeks after the 4-year anniversary in February. The Sunday Million is so far ahead of any other online tournament including the Warm-Up and $750k. In fact, its prize pool each week is more than those two combined.  Taking home 3rd place for $150,000 after the chop was “reelhugefish”. This was the biggest cash of his career and bested wins in both the $50k and $22k guaranteed on FullTilt for $48,147 and $23,413 respectively.

Seat 1: over.be (9465306 in chips)
Seat 2: adam eterno (1932992 in chips)
Seat 3: camillo30 (22425333 in chips)
Seat 4: maestrocaggi (18292096 in chips)
Seat 5: asturiano (17730819 in chips)
Seat 6: reelhugefish (5508071 in chips)
Seat 7: Lagerborg (7959486 in chips)
Seat 8: MAE9690 (15234599 in chips)
Seat 9: AA TURON AA (2681298 in chips)

Seat 1: over.be (9025306 in chips)
Seat 2: adam eterno (1492992 in chips)
Seat 3: camillo30 (22385333 in chips)
Seat 4: maestrocaggi (19412096 in chips)
Seat 5: asturiano (17690819 in chips)
Seat 6: reelhugefish (5468071 in chips)
Seat 7: Lagerborg (7919486 in chips)
Seat 8: MAE9690 (15194599 in chips)
Seat 9: AA TURON AA (2641298 in chips)
adam eterno: posts small blind 200000
camillo30: posts big blind 400000
*** HOLE CARDS ***
maestrocaggi: folds
asturiano: folds
reelhugefish: folds
Lagerborg: folds
MAE9690: folds
AA TURON AA: folds
over.be: folds
adam eterno: raises 1052992 to 1452992 and is all-in
camillo30: calls 1052992
*** FLOP *** [6c 6s 9d]
*** TURN *** [6c 6s 9d] [Th]
*** RIVER *** [6c 6s 9d Th] [7d]
*** SHOW DOWN ***
adam eterno: shows [Qc Js] (a pair of Sixes)
camillo30: shows [8h 7s] (a straight, Six to Ten)
camillo30 collected 3265984 from pot

Seat 1: over.be (16490612 in chips)
Seat 3: camillo30 (24917027 in chips)
Seat 4: maestrocaggi (13002096 in chips)
Seat 5: asturiano (19201932 in chips)
Seat 6: reelhugefish (6236959 in chips)
Seat 7: Lagerborg (214179 in chips)
Seat 8: MAE9690 (17524599 in chips)
Seat 9: AA TURON AA (3642596 in chips)
AA TURON AA: posts small blind 200000
over.be: posts big blind 400000
*** HOLE CARDS ***
camillo30: folds
maestrocaggi: folds
asturiano: calls 400000
reelhugefish: folds
Lagerborg: calls 174179 and is all-in
MAE9690: calls 400000
AA TURON AA: calls 200000
over.be: checks
*** FLOP *** [8s 7s 9d]
AA TURON AA: checks
over.be: bets 1200000
asturiano: folds
MAE9690: folds
AA TURON AA: folds
Uncalled bet (1200000) returned to over.be
*** TURN *** [8s 7s 9d] [Jh]
*** RIVER *** [8s 7s 9d Jh] [7h]
*** SHOW DOWN ***
over.be: shows [9s Td] (a straight, Seven to Jack)
over.be collected 903284 from side pot
Lagerborg: shows [8c Kh] (two pair, Eights and Sevens)
over.be collected 1190895 from main pot

Seat 1: over.be (19794791 in chips)
Seat 3: camillo30 (24042027 in chips)
Seat 4: maestrocaggi (4517096 in chips)
Seat 5: asturiano (13634769 in chips)
Seat 6: reelhugefish (6061526 in chips)
Seat 8: MAE9690 (27644599 in chips)
Seat 9: AA TURON AA (5535192 in chips)
camillo30: posts small blind 250000
maestrocaggi: posts big blind 500000
*** HOLE CARDS ***
asturiano: folds
reelhugefish: folds
MAE9690: folds
AA TURON AA: folds
over.be: folds
camillo30: raises 13500000 to 14000000
maestrocaggi: calls 3967096 and is all-in
Uncalled bet (9532904) returned to camillo30
*** FLOP *** [8c 9c Tc]
*** TURN *** [8c 9c Tc] [Qs]
*** RIVER *** [8c 9c Tc Qs] [As]
*** SHOW DOWN ***
camillo30: shows [Kd Jd] (a straight, Ten to Ace)
maestrocaggi: shows [7h Ad] (a pair of Aces)
camillo30 collected 9284192 from pot

Seat 1: over.be (8114791 in chips)
Seat 3: camillo30 (22017597 in chips)
Seat 5: asturiano (13314769 in chips)
Seat 6: reelhugefish (11543052 in chips)
Seat 8: MAE9690 (41534599 in chips)
Seat 9: AA TURON AA (4705192 in chips)
AA TURON AA: posts small blind 300000
over.be: posts big blind 600000
*** HOLE CARDS ***
camillo30: folds
asturiano: folds
reelhugefish: folds
MAE9690: raises 40874599 to 41474599 and is all-in
AA TURON AA: folds
over.be: calls 7454791 and is all-in
Uncalled bet (33419808) returned to MAE9690
*** FLOP *** [4c 5s Js]
*** TURN *** [4c 5s Js] [3h]
*** RIVER *** [4c 5s Js 3h] [9d]
*** SHOW DOWN ***
over.be: shows [8d 8c] (a pair of Eights)
MAE9690: shows [Tc 9s] (a pair of Nines)
MAE9690 collected 16769582 from pot

Seat 3: camillo30 (22677597 in chips)
Seat 5: asturiano (12174769 in chips)
Seat 6: reelhugefish (10403052 in chips)
Seat 8: MAE9690 (51809390 in chips)
Seat 9: AA TURON AA (4165192 in chips)
MAE9690: posts small blind 300000
AA TURON AA: posts big blind 600000
*** HOLE CARDS ***
camillo30: folds
asturiano: raises 600000 to 1200000
reelhugefish: folds
MAE9690: raises 50549390 to 51749390 and is all-in
AA TURON AA: calls 3505192 and is all-in
asturiano: folds
Uncalled bet (47644198) returned to MAE9690
*** FLOP *** [9c 7d Ac]
*** TURN *** [9c 7d Ac] [4d]
*** RIVER *** [9c 7d Ac 4d] [6h]
*** SHOW DOWN ***
MAE9690: shows [7s 9s] (two pair, Nines and Sevens)
AA TURON AA: shows [Ad Jd] (a pair of Aces)
MAE9690 collected 9710384 from pot

Seat 3: camillo30 (22257597 in chips)
Seat 5: asturiano (10254769 in chips)
Seat 6: reelhugefish (10283052 in chips)
Seat 8: MAE9690 (58434582 in chips)
asturiano: posts small blind 300000
reelhugefish: posts big blind 600000
*** HOLE CARDS ***
MAE9690: raises 1200000 to 1800000
camillo30: folds
asturiano: raises 2199999 to 3999999
reelhugefish: folds
MAE9690: raises 54374583 to 58374582 and is all-in
asturiano: calls 6194770 and is all-in
Uncalled bet (48179813) returned to MAE9690
*** FLOP *** [2s 6h Kh]
*** TURN *** [2s 6h Kh] [5c]
*** RIVER *** [2s 6h Kh 5c] [9c]
*** SHOW DOWN ***
asturiano: shows [As Td] (high card Ace)
MAE9690: shows [6c 6s] (three of a kind, Sixes)
MAE9690 collected 21229538 from pot

Seat 3: camillo30 (20457597 in chips)
Seat 6: reelhugefish (11723052 in chips)
Seat 8: MAE9690 (69049351 in chips)
camillo30: posts small blind 300000
reelhugefish: posts big blind 600000
*** HOLE CARDS ***
MAE9690: folds
camillo30: raises 1200000 to 1800000
reelhugefish: raises 9863052 to 11663052 and is all-in
camillo30: calls 9863052
*** FLOP *** [Qc 8s 7s]
*** TURN *** [Qc 8s 7s] [4c]
*** RIVER *** [Qc 8s 7s 4c] [Js]
*** SHOW DOWN ***
camillo30: shows [Ac Jc] (a pair of Jacks)
reelhugefish: shows [8c Ah] (a pair of Eights)
camillo30 collected 23506104 from pot

Seat 3: camillo30 (18220649 in chips)
Seat 8: MAE9690 (83009351 in chips)
MAE9690: posts small blind 400000
camillo30: posts big blind 800000
*** HOLE CARDS ***
MAE9690: raises 800000 to 1600000
camillo30: raises 16540649 to 18140649 and is all-in
MAE9690: calls 16540649
*** FLOP *** [Ah 2h 5d]
*** TURN *** [Ah 2h 5d] [3d]
*** RIVER *** [Ah 2h 5d 3d] [8h]
*** SHOW DOWN ***
camillo30: shows [Qc Tc] (high card Ace)
MAE9690: shows [4d Ad] (a straight, Ace to Five)
MAE9690 collected 36441298 from pot

PokerStars Sunday Million $1.5M Guaranteed
10,123 Entrants; $2,024,600 prize pool
*4-way deal

1. MAE9690 $260,000
2. camillo30 $176,959.80
3. reelhugefish $150,000
4. asturiano $150,000
5. AA TURON AA $80,984
6. over.be $60,738
7. maestrocaggi $40,492
8. Lagerborg $20,246
9. adam eterno $13,767

The $500k guaranteed got back on the right track this week after a bit if of lull last Sunday.  With nearly 1,100 entrants the day’s most prestigious event found itself on the right side of the $500,000 guarantee.  Runner-up “99NvrLosez” took home another big score on an impressive resume that includes a 2nd place finish in the Sunday Brawl last August for $63,201 and a win in the $125k for $51,082.50. “iloseflips24” took home fourth place and more than $37,000, his biggest cash in recent years. In the past he has more than a handful of $10,000+ scores including a win in the $75k on FullTilt last month for $28,940.

Seat 2: 99NvrLosez (2205378 in chips)
Seat 5: m3tph (8774622 in chips)
m3tph: posts small blind 50000
99NvrLosez: posts big blind 100000
*** HOLE CARDS ***
m3tph: raises 200000 to 300000
99NvrLosez: raises 1895378 to 2195378 and is all-in
m3tph: calls 1895378
*** FLOP *** [6s 9h 2c]
*** TURN *** [6s 9h 2c] [Jc]
*** RIVER *** [6s 9h 2c Jc] [4d]
*** SHOW DOWN ***
99NvrLosez: shows [Qh 2h] (a pair of Deuces)
m3tph: shows [Ts Td] (a pair of Tens)
m3tph collected 4410756 from pot

PokerStars Sunday $500k Guaranteed
1,098 Entrants; $549,000 prize pool

1. m3tph $93,330
2. 99NvrLosez $68,625
3. pad100 $52,100
4. iloseflips24 $37,332
5. call110 $27,176
6. HN Kakaroto $21,686
7. PCI70 $16,196
8. NoraFlum $10,706
9. Drewfus81 $5,929

The $215r had plenty on big names at the final table including 5th place finisher Dan “Wretchy” Martin who has made this report multiple times in the past.  The top-25 ranked poker professional has had a ton of big scores on PokerStars in the past namely from the $109r where he has more than five victories and seven $20k+ scores alone.  On FullTilt he final tabled FTOPS Event #12 last November for $72,750 and shipped the Sunday Brawl two years ago for $69,961.

Joining Martin was another highly-respected player, Pat “TorontoToro” Pezzin, who ended up falling during heads-up play.  He won the Wednesday Quarter Million last year for $80,080 and has nearly $1,000,000 in cashes between PokerStars and FullTilt. This $31,710 was merely the 4th biggest of his career on Stars and was his 2nd deep run in a Sunday major which includes a 3rd place finish in the Second Chance last year just days after his win in the $250k. Timothy “Tim0thee” Adams took home the title and one of the biggest scores of his career. He had come close to a major win last year when he took 9th in the SCOOP $5,200 buy-in $1.25M Guaranteed event for $44,685.

Seat 7: TorontoToro (323095 in chips)
Seat 8: Tim0thee (1380405 in chips)
TorontoToro: posts small blind 8000
Tim0thee: posts big blind 16000
*** HOLE CARDS ***
TorontoToro: raises 16000 to 32000
Tim0thee: raises 1346805 to 1378805 and is all-in
TorontoToro: calls 289495 and is all-in
Uncalled bet (1057310) returned to Tim0thee
*** FLOP *** [Tc Ad Td]
*** TURN *** [Tc Ad Td] [8s]
*** RIVER *** [Tc Ad Td 8s] [Ah]
*** SHOW DOWN ***
Tim0thee: shows [8c As] (a full house, Aces full of Tens)
TorontoToro: shows [Jh Kh] (two pair, Aces and Tens)
Tim0thee collected 646190 from pot

PokerStars Sunday $215r $150k Guaranteed

1. Tim0thee $43,337
2. TorontoToro $31,710
3. respect82 $23,888.20
4. jus2awsum $17,969
5. Wretchy $12,472.60
6. twopairdad $9,513
7. dpeters17 $7,399
8. rasputin41 $5,285
9. thechips55 $3,699.50

Tim “Tmay420” West shipped the Sunday Second Chance yesterday for nearly $52,000.  West is one of the best online poker players in the world and there is no more proof of that than his $3,000,000 in cashes between PokerStars and FullTilt. On FTP he has multiple major final table cashes including a 4th in FTOPS Event #16 in 2008 for $83,827 and a 5th in the Sunday Brawl for $29,345.  This score was the biggest of his career on PokerStars which is baffling for someone with nearly $2,000,000 in scores on Stars alone. West is quite the grinder and even though he has a ton of five-figure scores he may not be as profitable as other players who have been fortunate enough to ship that one big score. Either way, he has proven time and time again that he is a great tournament player and a force to be reckoned with at any final table.

Seat 2: Tmay420 (2724852 in chips)
Seat 3: amurophil (1577148 in chips)
amurophil: posts small blind 30000
Tmay420: posts big blind 60000
*** HOLE CARDS ***
amurophil: raises 60000 to 120000
Tmay420: calls 60000
*** FLOP *** [8s 5c 6d]
Tmay420: checks
amurophil: bets 124000
Tmay420: raises 153777 to 277777
amurophil: raises 1173371 to 1451148 and is all-in
Tmay420: calls 1173371
*** TURN *** [8s 5c 6d] [Qd]
*** RIVER *** [8s 5c 6d Qd] [Th]
*** SHOW DOWN ***
Tmay420: shows [7s 9d] (a straight, Six to Ten)
amurophil: shows [8d Kh] (a pair of Eights)
Tmay420 collected 3154296 from pot

PokerStars Sunday Second Chance $200k Guaranteed
1,434 Entrants; $286,800 prize pool

1. Tmay420 $51,853.44
2. amurophil $37,570.80
3. CutiePi314 $28,680.00
4. minko23 $21,510.00
5. TommyGunn34 $15,057.00
6. WhySoSerius7 $12,189.00
7. alando44 $9,321.00
8. chessjohn $6,453.00
9. gustavh $4,015.20

FullTilt has been able to spin some success off of FTOPS XV which completed last month. While the site cannot compete with PokerStars and their huge guarantees they have cemented their spot as the 2nd biggest site for weekend tournaments. The Sunday Brawl seems to have benefited the most from the FTOPS success as its prize pool has continued to surpass the $500,000 mark even after the tournament series finished. The $240+$16 Knock-Out event is a player favorite because it pays out $40 every time you knock out a fellow competitor.  This weeks winner “doublencs” busted 16 other players which paid him an extra $640 on top of his $118,187 win.

More than 20 of FullTilt’s sponsored professionals played in the early event including five-time WSOP bracelet winner Allen Cunningham. Joining Allen were a few other big names including Lee Watkinson, Isaac “Menlo” Baron, and Mike “timex” McDonald.  Baron ended up being the only professional to crack the top-200 as he finished in 192nd place for a min-cash of $465.  Runner-up “zhivago2” is no stranger to success on FullTilt having won the FTOPS Main Event last November for a $418,839 pay-day.

FullTilt Sunday Brawl $400k Guaranteed
2,911 Entrants; $582,200 prize pool

1. doublencs $118,187
2. zhivago2 $76,268
3. Liiffe $56,473
4. Laurrra $42,501
5. DNA2RNA $29,692
6. NEONPILS99 $19,785
7. daaaaaaaaaang7 $13,391
8. Treadin Dank $9,315
9. Dearman2 $6,986

The $750k has been beating its guarantee easily lately and yesterday was no exception. While it is still more than $150,000 behind the Warm-Up on PokerStars it does solidly hold the #3 spot over tournaments like the Brawl and $500k.  Over 30 FullTilt “red pros” entered the tournament including Roy Winston who finished in 60th place.  Winston was joined in the money by fellow professionals Steve Brecher (507th place), Lee Watkinson (245th), Bill Gazes (447th place), and former WSOP Main Event winner Carlos Mortenson who finished in 374th.

“shiftzerg” took home the title and more than $147,000 in first-place money.  This was by far and away the biggest score of his career and only his 2nd five-figure cash. Before yesterday his biggest win was in the $42k Guarantee for $13,118 last month. Needless to say, it seems like 2010 has been a great year for this burgeoning poker player.

FullTilt Sunday $750k Guaranteed
4,180 Entrants; $836,000 prize pool

1. shiftzerg $147,629
2. kwickfishycake $89,368
3. Luffy-san $58,520
4. actionjunky32 $45,980
5. cardlover69 $34,527
6. Miwa Iverson $25,582
7. MrAntoha $19,228
8. porkmastachi $15,048
9. Insomniac_pkr $11,202

Michael Tureniec, a FullTilt sponsored professional, final tabled the day’s final event yesterday taking 7th place for $7,407 in the Sunday Second Chance.  While Tureniec was a big name because of his highlighted professional status, the winner of this event is much more well known in the online poker world. As we touched on last week after he won the $215r on Stars, “boobySMILES” is a young nosebleed poker professional who is beginning to delve into tournaments. Just as I mentioned he plays under “UgotaBanana” on FullTilt and shipped his 2nd major in as many weeks. While his tournament scores are nowhere near the swings he plays for daily in cash games he must enjoy the structure or the rush of the events.

FullTilt Sunday Mulligan $200k Guaranteed
1,277 Entrants; $255,400 prize pool

1. UgotaBanana $56,188
2. IHuntItuShipIt $35,756
3. whatastinker $25,859
4. mestre_urubu $20,751
5. doubledave22 $15,656
6. Nairb09 $11,493
7. MichaelTureniec $7,407
8. elcapitanbeluga $5,363
9. mattyv $3,831