Coming off a record breaking weekend last week, online tournaments continued their upward trend in 2011 as both FullTilt and PokerStars benefited from the previous weekend’s festivities. Coming off the heels of the Sunday Million 5th Year Anniversary celebration, PokerStars was looking to maintain the momentum all the way up until May and their Spring Championship of Online Poker. Things looked good early as their first major of the day, the $750k Warm-Up, drew more than 5,200 entrants creating a $1,042,600 prize pool. Anytime the Warm-Up eclipses $1,000,000 it’s going to be a good day.
With more than $163,000 slotted for the winner, the final table was going to change a few lives. However, once play became three handed with “stofzuiger73” holding a large chip lead the final trio decided to chop the remaining prize pool based on chip counts. PokerStars rules state $10,000 has to be left on the table which was inevitably scooped up by stofzuiger73 who earned more than $151,000 for his efforts. Second and third place finishers “AVAN77” and “radik-dn” took home $111,690 and $107,270 after the chop.
PokerStars Sunday Warm-Up $750k Guaranteed
5,213 Entrants; $1,042,600 prize pool
*3-way chop
1. stofzuiger73 $151,690
2. AVAN77 $111,690
3. radik-dn $107,270
4. crow1975 $58,906
5. Polse68 $44,310
6. Olis2 $33,884
7. PlayaPlz $23,458
8. Biggest_Fi5h $13,032
9. hitthehole $8,340
While the Sunday Million didn’t have 60,000 players this week it certainly remained in the top spot as poker’s biggest weekly event. With a $200+$15 buy-in and more than 10,300 players the Million cruised past the $2,000,000 prize pool mark with over $287,000 on tap for the winner. Much like the Warm-Up that number would not be reached as this time five players decided upon a chip chop with just $30,000 left on the table for the winner. The chop talks took some time as chip-leader “Graftekkel” was trying to hold out for an additional $9,000 but his opponents called his bluff and forced him to take $201,941. With five players fighting over the remaining $30,000 there was still plenty of action. One of the shorter stacks during the chop, “klorinho1”, was able to outlast the former chipleader and took home the Million title and a nice $172,401 payday.
PokerStars Sunday Million $1.5M Guaranteed
10,352 Entrants; $2,070,400 prize pool
*5-way chop
1. klorinho1 $172,401
2. Graftekkel $201,941
3. Cardinal2003 $164,631
4. timmybwee $145,402
5. davianvalek $141,927
6. PompYouUp $62,112
7. KUBIBR $41,408
8. fkasbergen $20,704
9. Deam0n18 $13,044
The Sunday500 continues to climb each and every week as more than 1,100 of the best online tournament players entered the $500+$30 event yesterday. With some big names at the final table including eventual winner Anthony “wwwBTHEREcom” Gregg the rail was treated to a lot of great action. Runner-up “tlyzack” had rarely played on PokerStars in the past but his inexperience did not cost him until he ran into Gregg late in the tournament. His $69,437 score was easily the biggest of his career on PokerStars. As for Gregg, the $94,435 cash was just one of a handful of huge scores on PokerStars which also include a win in the Million earlier this year for $195,000. He has also won the $109r on numerous occasions including one for $34,871 last May.
PokerStars Sunday $500k Guaranteed
1,111 Entrants; $555,500 prize pool
1. wwwBTHEREcom $94,435
2. tlyzack $69,437
3. Kovalski1 $52,716
4. ADZ122 $37,774
5. noirduck $27,497
6. Danny98765 $21,942
7. Tagult $16,387
8. benpatt $10,832
9. hwtd1 $5,999
The Sunday $215r did not quite see the carryover from last weekend like the Warm-Up or $500k, but the day’s biggest re-buy event still easily surpasses its $150,000 guarantee. With just 265 players in the field there were plenty of re-buys and add-ons taking place in the first 90 minute period. With a lot of extra chips the stacks were quite deep entering the final table full of big name online and live professionals. Amongst those with big titles to their names were Jeff “yellowsub86” Williams, “jus2awsum”, Matt “All_in_at420” Stout, and Brandon “brandon78” Adams. Adams is actually a FullTilt Professional who was spotted playing on PokerStars in their high stakes games lately. It is an interesting observation as it seems FullTilt has been trying to keep their professionals like Tom Dwan off of the world’s leading poker site.
Heads-up play was short lived as Jordan “iMsoLucky0” Morgan (another FullTilt professional) and “krasark” decided to chop the remaining prize pool with each player receiving the same amount of prize money, $34,477. Morgan splashed onto the poker scene at the 2006 United States Poker Championship which saw him take 2nd place against fellow online phenom Alex Jacob. Since then he has won a WSOP Circuit Event at Grand Tunica and has made a few other live final tables. krasark is also no slouch having nearly won the $1M Guarantee on FullTilt in 2009 for $164,306.
PokerStars Sunday $215r $150k Guaranteed
265 Entrants; $188,600 prize pool
1. krasark $33,477
2. iMsoLucky0 $33,477
3. Brandon78 $21,312
4. JBT449 $16,031
5. All_in_at420 $11,127
6. yellowsub86 $8,487
7. jus2awsum $6,601
8. HarryTVV $4,715
9. 00psiedaisy $3,301
Finishing off another solid day of online majors on PokerStars was the $250,000 guaranteed Second Chance. The latest starting big buy-in event of the day gives everyone a final shot at a big Sunday payday. Well over 1,600 players entered the $200+$15 major creating a nice $325,600 prize pool. It seems the Second Chance has constantly been over the $300,00 mark for a while now and it could be just a matter of time before PokerStars ups the guarantee again. It is quite the turnaround for a major which saw its guarantee dip to just $200,000 last year during some slow periods.
The final table was headlined by two players who ended up facing off during heads-up play. “PokerSkiBum” and “lechuckpoker” avoided the chip-chop bug and played it out for a more than $15,000 difference between first and second place. Both players have seen great success on PokerStars in the past with lechuckpoker having nearly $1,000,000 in lifetime cashes including a 4th in the Warm-Up and $500k. PokerSkiBum is also no slouch having nearly won the FTOPS Main Event back in 2007 as well as making final table appearances in the Sunday Brawl, Million, Mulligan, and $200k on Ultimate Bet. In the end it was PokerSkiBum who had just enough to take down the Second Chance title earning a nice $57,728 check in the process.
PokerStars Sunday Second Chance $250k Guaranteed
1,628 Entrants; $325,600 prize pool
1. PokerSkiBum $57,728
2. lechuckpoker $42,328
3. Klarskov007 $32,560
4. pabritz $24,420
5. Mosheh $17,094
6. Digable $13,838
7. THEROBBOB20 $10,582
8. poker_lord76 $7,326
9. nofingclue11 $4,558
While PokerStars was booming this past weekend it seems FullTilt suffered a slight hangover. Even with MiniFTOPS running, their majors were unable to gain much ground after last week which saw a big Sunday $750k due to their new multi-entry system. Still, FullTilt has the #2 spot all locked up and is doing everything in its power to catch up to PokerStars. The day got off to a nice start as more than 2,600 players entered the $240+$16 Sunday Brawl. The high-stakes KO event pays players $40 every time they eliminate a fellow competitor. This can add up quite nicely for those making deep runs, often easily taking care of their entry fees.
Players also receive a T-Shirt if they bust a FullTilt sponsored professional and there were plenty of opportunities to do so as more than 30 FTP Pros entered the Brawl. Amongst the more famous players on hand were Annette Oberstad, Erica Schoenberg, Huck Seed, and Isaac Baron. James Dempsey nearly made the final table after a deep run, but had to settle for 11th place.
FullTilt Sunday Brawl $400k Guaranteed
2,614 Entrants; $522,800 prize pool
1. WILLY-RUGS $106,128
2. neker2013 $68,486
3. this is punny $50,711
4. viirusss $38,164
5. David Buetta $26,662
6. bearbuck $17,775
7. thristen7 $12,024
8. Coilmaster855 $8,364
9. derdings $6,273
The $750,000 Guaranteed took a major step back this week, mainly due to a change in format for the past weekend. To compete with the Sunday Million 5-year anniversary last week, FullTilt allowed for multiple entries into its biggest weekly event. Instead of a $750,000 prize pool the pot swelled to over $2,000,000 as high rollers entered the event up to 16 times! This week the tournament was back to its old tricks which attracted just 3,835 players, well behind even the Warm-Up on PokerStars. Over 50 of the 3,800+ on hand were FullTilt sponsored professionals including Mike “Timex” McDonald, Scott Clements, Chip Jett, and David Singer who finished inside the top-100 in 88th place. Eventual winner “Private ATM” goes by “teamwispy” online and is a previous FTOPS Champion having won Event #22 last November for an astounding $213,500. He also nearly won the Million way back in 2007 and has wins in the Wednesday Quarter Million, $109r, and $100k to his credit. His $135,797 score here was the third six-figure cash of his career and his 2nd biggest on FullTilt.
FullTilt Sunday $750k Guaranteed
3,835 Entrants; $767,000 prize pool
1. Private ATM $135,797
2. bebota $82,069
3. TheStarver $53,690
4. AA POKORHAN AA $42,338
5. Houtenaar $31,754
6. ChasingIdiot $23,547
7. giucas74 $17,641
8. helderziend $13,806
9. Davidp18 $10,278
Wrapping things up this past Sunday was the $200,000 guaranteed Mulligan on FullTilt. The $200+$16 buy-in event is one of the latest starting and finishing majors of the day and yesterday nearly 1,200 players entered looking for a $50k score. The FullTilt Red Pros had another good showing in the Mulligan as more than 30 entered including Andrew Feldman, Huck Seed, David Pham, and 46th place finisher Isaac Baron. Of those making the final table it was “FatsoFat6969” who had the most experience in big time events. The top-100 ranked online MTT professional has won the $1k Monday, $150k Guaranteed on UB, and the $215 re-buy on PokerStars. Unfortunately he was unable to muster much of a charge at the final table as he busted in 7th place for just $6,809. The title and $51,656 prize went to “johntarheel” who easily took down the biggest score of his career on FullTilt. The midstakes grinder had seen more of his success in the $22 re-buy in the past having won once and finishing in the top-6 on numerous occasions.
FullTilt Sunday Mulligan $200k Guaranteed
1,174 Entrants; $234,800 prize pool
1. johntarheel $51,656
2. imperior $32,872
3. CuCbKu $23,773
4. phat_cat1 $19,077
5. UplayUloseUcry $14,393
6. ekziter $10,566
7. FatsoFat6969 $6,809
8. J4bberW0cky $4,930
9. CNOTE0508 $3,522