Online poker tournaments continue to “march” even as the final Sunday of the month comes to an end. This month saw a lot of great poker, big names winning major, and the continual growth of online tournaments. Even between the lull that occurs during March and April while we wait for the SCOOP in May, tournaments still held strong, not just besting their guarantees, but smashing through them.
The final Sunday of March was kicked off by the Sunday Warm-Up. I’ll keep giving shout-outs if FTR members keep getting deep. Last week a member nearly final tabled the Sunday lotto and this week Mike “mcatdog” Catlin received the same fate in the Warm-Up, falling in 22nd place for just over $2,300. The final table had a few familiar faces itself including Dan “djk123” Kelly who is a top-10 ranked tournament professional who has more than $4,000,000 in cashes between PokerStars and FullTilt alone. Kelly’s biggest scores have come in major events, including winning $252,350 and $643,200 on the same day last September! After Kelly won the $10k HORSE WCOOP Event he proceeded to finish 4th in the WCOOP Main Event, that single day performance ranks up there with just about any online poker accomplishment. Kelly also won an FTOPS Event in 2008 for $104,870.
Kelly was joined in three-handed play by Corey “comandr_cool” Burbick and “FIGARO10”. Burbick is another top-25 ranked professional who has a resume full of $10k-$50k scores including a win in the $150k and $200k on FullTilt, the $200k on UB, and the Nightly $100k on PokerStars. He has more than $2.5M in earnings between the world’s two biggest poker sites. A truly crazy hand knocked out Burbick in 3rd place when all 3 players got their chips in on a Qxx flop with Kelly holding AA, FIGAR010 holding KK, and Burbick holding KQs. After that huge cooler it was down to heads-up play were FIGARO10 would take the tournament down just a few hands later.
This was by far and away FIGARO10’s biggest cash of his career, besting a couple $14,000 scores in January.
Seat 4: FIGARO10 (33615364 in chips)
Seat 8: djk123 (13294636 in chips)
djk123: posts small blind 150000
FIGARO10: posts big blind 300000
*** HOLE CARDS ***
djk123: raises 300000 to 600000
FIGARO10: raises 1200000 to 1800000
djk123: raises 11464636 to 13264636 and is all-in
FIGARO10: calls 11464636
*** FLOP *** [2s Ac Qd]
*** TURN *** [2s Ac Qd] [Ts]
*** RIVER *** [2s Ac Qd Ts] [6d]
*** SHOW DOWN ***
FIGARO10: shows [6h 6c] (three of a kind, Sixes)
djk123: shows [4d 4c] (a pair of Fours)
FIGARO10 collected 26589272 from pot
PokerStars Sunday Warm-Up $750k Guaranteed
4,691 Entrants; $938,200 prize pool
1. FIGARO10 $147,187.03
2. djk123 $109,300.30
3. Comandr_Cool $77,401.50
4. LuckyTC $53,008.30
5. DNA2RNA $39,873.50
6. SNo0oWMAN $30,491.50
7. Radioheads $21,109.50
8. Firaldo87 $11,727.50
9. Coltaine $7,505.60
The Sunday Million continues to dominate the weekend tournament scene. While the week’s biggest event failed to hit the $2M prize pool mark yesterday, it still garnered more than double the entry fees than any other event. With over $1,870,000 in the pool and $267,640 going to first, there were plenty of players looking to make a life-altering score. The final table was dominated by “tony6733” who numerous times turned down chops and bulldozed his way to a huge win. Play was stopped a few times, once when 4-handed and once when heads-up to discuss the possibility of a chop, but in the end tony6733 would not budge on the numbers. Below you will find the final-table stacks, bust-out hands, and pay-outs:
Seat 1: Peetoon (5511321 in chips)
Seat 2: goldfing (8992128 in chips)
Seat 3: He1en ke11er (4179431 in chips)
Seat 4: kvnok88 (17764191 in chips)
Seat 5: VTA09 (9873209 in chips)
Seat 6: tinyeyez (4421555 in chips)
Seat 7: Galgeberg (7758630 in chips)
Seat 8: cwp394 (9963871 in chips)
Seat 9: tony6733 (25245664 in chips)
Seat 1: Peetoon (5481321 in chips)
Seat 2: goldfing (10670908 in chips)
Seat 3: He1en ke11er (3429431 in chips)
Seat 4: kvnok88 (17734191 in chips)
Seat 5: VTA09 (8453209 in chips)
Seat 6: tinyeyez (5841555 in chips)
Seat 7: Galgeberg (6858630 in chips)
Seat 8: cwp394 (8135091 in chips)
Seat 9: tony6733 (27105664 in chips)
cwp394: posts small blind 200000
tony6733: posts big blind 400000
*** HOLE CARDS ***
Peetoon: folds
goldfing: folds
He1en ke11er: folds
kvnok88: folds
VTA09: folds
tinyeyez: folds
Galgeberg: folds
cwp394: raises 467820 to 867820
tony6733: calls 467820
*** FLOP *** [Jd 7d 5d]
cwp394: bets 1018920
tony6733: raises 1381080 to 2400000
cwp394: raises 4827271 to 7227271 and is all-in
tony6733: calls 4827271
*** TURN *** [Jd 7d 5d] [Ac]
*** RIVER *** [Jd 7d 5d Ac] [9s]
*** SHOW DOWN ***
cwp394: shows [Tc Jh] (a pair of Jacks)
tony6733: shows [Ks Jc] (a pair of Jacks – Ace+King kicker)
tony6733 collected 16550182 from pot
Seat 1: Peetoon (3261321 in chips)
Seat 2: goldfing (6540908 in chips)
Seat 3: He1en ke11er (12288862 in chips)
Seat 4: kvnok88 (13665850 in chips)
Seat 5: VTA09 (5433209 in chips)
Seat 6: tinyeyez (7374330 in chips)
Seat 7: Galgeberg (7598630 in chips)
Seat 9: tony6733 (37546890 in chips)
kvnok88: posts small blind 250000
VTA09: posts big blind 500000
*** HOLE CARDS ***
tinyeyez: raises 1500000 to 2000000
Galgeberg: folds
tony6733: folds
Peetoon: folds
goldfing: folds
He1en ke11er: raises 10238862 to 12238862 and is all-in
kvnok88: folds
VTA09: folds
tinyeyez: calls 5324330 and is all-in
Uncalled bet (4914532) returned to He1en ke11er
*** FLOP *** [Jd Qd 5c]
*** TURN *** [Jd Qd 5c] [Ts]
*** RIVER *** [Jd Qd 5c Ts] [3d]
*** SHOW DOWN ***
tinyeyez: shows [9c 9d] (a pair of Nines)
He1en ke11er: shows [As Qs] (a pair of Queens)
He1en ke11er collected 15798660 from pot
Seat 1: Peetoon (2211321 in chips)
Seat 2: goldfing (4390908 in chips)
Seat 3: He1en ke11er (19941092 in chips)
Seat 4: kvnok88 (15337950 in chips)
Seat 5: VTA09 (4383209 in chips)
Seat 7: Galgeberg (7498630 in chips)
Seat 9: tony6733 (39946890 in chips)
He1en ke11er: posts small blind 250000
kvnok88: posts big blind 500000
*** HOLE CARDS ***
VTA09: folds
Galgeberg: folds
tony6733: folds
Peetoon: raises 1661321 to 2161321 and is all-in
goldfing: folds
He1en ke11er: calls 1911321
kvnok88: folds
*** FLOP *** [4d Kh Qh]
*** TURN *** [4d Kh Qh] [3s]
*** RIVER *** [4d Kh Qh 3s] [9h]
*** SHOW DOWN ***
He1en ke11er: shows [Kc 8c] (a pair of Kings)
Peetoon: shows [8h As] (high card Ace)
He1en ke11er collected 5172642 from pot
Seat 2: goldfing (3940908 in chips)
Seat 3: He1en ke11er (20713188 in chips)
Seat 4: kvnok88 (6567570 in chips)
Seat 5: VTA09 (3683209 in chips)
Seat 7: Galgeberg (15290760 in chips)
Seat 9: tony6733 (43514365 in chips)
kvnok88: posts small blind 250000
VTA09: posts big blind 500000
*** HOLE CARDS ***
Galgeberg: folds
tony6733: folds
goldfing: folds
He1en ke11er: folds
kvnok88: raises 6017570 to 6517570 and is all-in
VTA09: calls 3133209 and is all-in
Uncalled bet (2884361) returned to kvnok88
*** FLOP *** [9h 4s 4c]
*** TURN *** [9h 4s 4c] [Qc]
*** RIVER *** [9h 4s 4c Qc] [9c]
*** SHOW DOWN ***
kvnok88: shows [Js Ah] (two pair, Nines and Fours)
VTA09: shows [2s 2d] (two pair, Nines and Fours – lower kicker)
kvnok88 collected 7566418 from pot
Seat 2: goldfing (2940908 in chips)
Seat 3: He1en ke11er (19713188 in chips)
Seat 4: kvnok88 (10750779 in chips)
Seat 7: Galgeberg (14790760 in chips)
Seat 9: tony6733 (45514365 in chips)
kvnok88: posts small blind 250000
Galgeberg: posts big blind 500000
*** HOLE CARDS ***
tony6733: folds
goldfing: raises 2390908 to 2890908 and is all-in
He1en ke11er: folds
kvnok88: folds
Galgeberg: calls 2390908
*** FLOP *** [3s Ac 2c]
*** TURN *** [3s Ac 2c] [6d]
*** RIVER *** [3s Ac 2c 6d] [2d]
*** SHOW DOWN ***
Galgeberg: shows [Jd Kc] (a pair of Deuces)
goldfing: shows [Ks 7c] (a pair of Deuces – lower kicker)
Galgeberg collected 6281816 from pot
Seat 3: He1en ke11er (15460338 in chips)
Seat 4: kvnok88 (18060748 in chips)
Seat 7: Galgeberg (11421794 in chips)
Seat 9: tony6733 (48767120 in chips)
Galgeberg: posts small blind 400000
tony6733: posts big blind 800000
*** HOLE CARDS ***
He1en ke11er: folds
kvnok88: raises 988520 to 1788520
Galgeberg: raises 9553274 to 11341794 and is all-in
tony6733: raises 9553274 to 20895068
kvnok88: folds
Uncalled bet (9553274) returned to tony6733
*** FLOP *** [9c 2s Ts]
*** TURN *** [9c 2s Ts] [3c]
*** RIVER *** [9c 2s Ts 3c] [2h]
*** SHOW DOWN ***
Galgeberg: shows [5d Ad] (a pair of Deuces)
tony6733: shows [9h 9s] (a full house, Nines full of Deuces)
tony6733 collected 24792108 from pot
Seat 3: He1en ke11er (30840676 in chips)
Seat 4: kvnok88 (811890 in chips)
Seat 9: tony6733 (62057434 in chips)
kvnok88: posts small blind 400000
tony6733: posts big blind 800000
*** HOLE CARDS ***
He1en ke11er: calls 800000
kvnok88: calls 331890 and is all-in
tony6733: checks
*** FLOP *** [8h Jd 6c]
tony6733: checks
He1en ke11er: checks
*** TURN *** [8h Jd 6c] [Kh]
tony6733: checks
He1en ke11er: checks
*** RIVER *** [8h Jd 6c Kh] [2d]
tony6733: checks
He1en ke11er: checks
*** SHOW DOWN ***
tony6733: shows [Jh 3s] (a pair of Jacks)
He1en ke11er: mucks hand
tony6733 collected 136220 from side pot
kvnok88: mucks hand
tony6733 collected 2435670 from main pot
Seat 3: He1en ke11er (20801352 in chips)
Seat 9: tony6733 (72908648 in chips)
tony6733: posts small blind 400000
He1en ke11er: posts big blind 800000
*** HOLE CARDS ***
tony6733: raises 800000 to 1600000
He1en ke11er: raises 19121352 to 20721352 and is all-in
tony6733: calls 19121352
*** FLOP *** [Jh 5d 8c]
*** TURN *** [Jh 5d 8c] [Kc]
*** RIVER *** [Jh 5d 8c Kc] [Qs]
*** SHOW DOWN ***
He1en ke11er: shows [As 3s] (high card Ace)
tony6733: shows [Tc Ah] (a straight, Ten to Ace)
tony6733 collected 41602704 from pot
PokerStars Sunday Million $1.5M Guaranteed
9,371 Entrants; $1,874,200 prize pool
1. tony6733 $267,640.62
2. He1en ke11er $196,791
3. kvnok88 $138,534.19
4. Galgeberg $93,710
5. goldfing $74,968
6. VTA09 $56,226
7. Peetoon $37,484
8. tinyeyez $20,616.20
9. cwp394 $13,119.40
The Sunday $500k keeps on delivering solid final tables with many recognizable names. The first player to go at the final table might have been the best player there. “P0cket00”, a top 40-ranked poker professional, made just less than $6,000 for a hard days work. He has a plethora of solid scores to his name on PokerStars including a win in the $109r as well as the $100k for $38,304 and $27,552 respectively. His biggest registered score came in the Titan Poker $1M Guarantee where he took 4th place for $60,000.
Fourth-place finisher David “dpeters17” Peters now has more than $1,000,000 in cashes on PokerStars including eight $30k+ scores. WCOOP winner Darryl “df1986” Fish finished in 7th place for $16,062, well behind the $160,525 he took for winning Event 33 last year. “joe E scar” took home 8th place and $10,617 which pales in comparison to his near miss in WCOOP Event 24 last year for $55,000. His 3rd place finish in the heads-up event is one of the biggest scores of a career that included a $48,450 cash in the Wednesday Quarter Million just ten days prior.
After “Jhonny_br” bowed out in 3rd when his KTo failed to improve against pocket Eights, heads-up play came down to “raphou” and Brandon “AreTheseUtz” Hall. Hall appeared to be the more seasoned of the two competitors having won the $200k on UB for $45,240 and finishing 2nd in the Super Tuesday on PokerStars for $63,127 last August. The two would get the money in with each holding a pair, yet it was raphou who had the best hand and shipped the $500k for more than $92,000.
Seat 3: AreTheseUtz (3811748 in chips)
Seat 4: raphou (7078252 in chips)
raphou: posts small blind 50000
AreTheseUtz: posts big blind 100000
*** HOLE CARDS ***
raphou: raises 100000 to 200000
AreTheseUtz: raises 324360 to 524360
raphou: calls 324360
*** FLOP *** [7d Kd Jc]
AreTheseUtz: checks
raphou: bets 500000
AreTheseUtz: raises 2777388 to 3277388 and is all-in
raphou: calls 2777388
*** TURN *** [7d Kd Jc] [Qc]
*** RIVER *** [7d Kd Jc Qc] [3d]
*** SHOW DOWN ***
AreTheseUtz: shows [Ac Jh] (a pair of Jacks)
raphou: shows [Td Kh] (a pair of Kings)
raphou collected 7623496 from pot
PokerStars Sunday $500k Guaranteed
1,089 Entrants; $544,500 prize pool
1. raphou $92,565
2. AreTheseUtz $68,062.50
3. Jhonny_br $51,573.05
4. dpeters17 $37,026
5. ferth22 $26,952.75
6. ExtremeUA $21,507.75
7. df1986 $16,062.75
8. joe E scar $10,617.75
9. p0cket00 $5,880.60
The final table of the Sunday $215 was quite top and bottom heavy. Two of the more well known players reaching the final nine were the first two go. Rajesh “BadCardsAA” Vohra and “AlusivPnkBny” finished in 8th and 9th place respectively. AlusivPnkBny is more well known as Jimmie23 on FullTilt where he has participated in some epic nosebleed NL battles with some of the best players in the world. It seems after some time off from the game he is back and building his roll. Vohra has made our STR numerous times and even has a huge FTOPS win to his name, having taken down the 2-day event last month for $430,000.
PokerStars professional Andre “aakkari” Akkari was one of the bigger names who was able to navigate his way through the final table all the way to heads-up play where he faced off with “Vingtcent”. Akkari calls Brazil home and has been a team PokerStars Pro for some time now. He plays a lot of mid-to-high stakes Limit Holdem where he has seen small amounts of success over the years. The two battled heads-up for some time before Vingtcent was able to win a flip and take down the title. This was one of the bigger scores of his career, having previously finished 3rd in Event #39 of the WCOOP last year for $44,793. Much like Akkari, he also plays cash games, having won a decent amount of money at mud-stakes PLO and NL over the past few years.
Seat 3: aakkari (804578 in chips)
Seat 7: Vingtcent (922922 in chips)
aakkari: posts small blind 12500
Vingtcent: posts big blind 25000
*** HOLE CARDS ***
aakkari: raises 30000 to 55000
Vingtcent: raises 81750 to 136750
aakkari: raises 665328 to 802078 and is all-in
Vingtcent: calls 665328
*** FLOP *** [Th 7h 5d]
*** TURN *** [Th 7h 5d] [Jh]
*** RIVER *** [Th 7h 5d Jh] [Qd]
*** SHOW DOWN ***
Vingtcent: shows [Ah Js] (a pair of Jacks)
aakkari: shows [8d 8s] (a pair of Eights)
Vingtcent collected 1609156 from pot
PokerStars Sunday $215r $150k Guaranteed
303 Entrants; $213,800 prize pool
1. Vingtcent $43,829
2. aakkari $32,070
3. greener_tree $24,159.40
4. troster16 $18,173
5. slimshaggy $12,614.20
6. alex72 $9,621
7. NoraFlum $7,483
8. BadcardsAA $5,345
9. AlusivPnkBny $3,741.50
The Sunday Second Chance saw a very familiar face take down the big prize as Casey “bigdogpckt5s” Jarzabek once again found himself at a major final table on Sunday, this time against “GripDsNutz”. A short-lived heads-up battle was interrupted after a chop was proposed and each player decided to take home $48,081 and call it a day. Either PokerStars support was waiting on these two to chop, or they have seriously improved their response time because only a few minutes elapsed between the request and the chop going through.
With more than $2.5M in tourney cashes between PokerStars and FullTilt, Jarzabek is truly one of the best players in the world. He is ranked in the top 10 and boats multiple major victories including an FTOPS win in 2008 for $277,930. His opponent, “GripDsNutz”, is no slouch himself having finished 2nd in the Warm-Up last year for $95,401 and shipping the $200k re-buy on FullTilt 3 times with in the past 12 months for more than $215,000 in earnings. Heads-up play ended quickly and Jarzabek was able to pick up a few extra TLB points by wining the battle.
Seat 1: bigdogpckt5s (3515118 in chips)
Seat 7: GripDsNutz (1137882 in chips)
GripDsNutz: posts small blind 40000
bigdogpckt5s: posts big blind 80000
*** HOLE CARDS ***
GripDsNutz: raises 1049882 to 1129882 and is all-in
bigdogpckt5s: calls 1049882
*** FLOP *** [Qd 2s 5d]
*** TURN *** [Qd 2s 5d] [Kh]
*** RIVER *** [Qd 2s 5d Kh] [Qc]
*** SHOW DOWN ***
bigdogpckt5s: shows [8h 8d] (two pair, Queens and Eights)
GripDsNutz: shows [4h 3h] (a pair of Queens)
bigdogpckt5s collected 2275764 from pot
PokerStars Sunday Second Chance $200k Guaranteed
1,551 Entrants; $310,200 prize pool
*2-way chop
1. bigdogpckt5s $48,081
2. GripDsNutz $48,081
3. mikki696 $31,020
4. EZz_GAME $23,655
5. kikolacasas $16,285.50
6. moryoca $13,183.50
7. PokerToronto $10,081.50
8. Antonio7 $6,979.50
9. diemasu36o $4,342.80
The Sunday Brawl continues to roll through the $500,000 prize pool mark as it has seemingly benefited tremendously from FTOPS XV over a month ago. The tournament’s $400k guarantee is starting to look quite conservative by all accounts. One can only wonder how big FullTilt’s 2nd largest tournament could be if they were to raise the guarantee $100,000 or so. This week 25 of FullTilt’s finest tournament professionals were on hand vying for the $117,780 first-place check. Unfortunately only one “red pro”, Bruno Stefanelli, was able to crack the top-100, finishing in 72nd place. Other big names on hand were five-time WSOP bracelet winner Allen Cunningham, Harvard professor and high-stakes cash game specialist Brandon Adams, and one of the best online tournament players of all time, Isaac “Menlo” Baron.
Runner-up “NLBrewZ” shipped the biggest score of his career on FullTilt, easily ahead of a few other five figure scores including a $27k cash for a 3rd place finish in the $109r last November. In third place was “pokerskibum”who is no stranger to success on FullTilt having nearly recorded $500,000 in cashes through out his career. This $56,279 win was the second biggest of his career, behind a $91,560 score back in August 2007.
Eventual winner “oopsULu412” reached his 2nd final table major in the past 8 months, following up on his 5th place finish in the Mulligan in August with a $117k win here.
FullTilt Sunday Brawl $400k Guaranteed
2,901 Entrants; $580,200 prize pool
1. oopsULu412 $117,780.60
2. NLBrewZ $76,006.20
3. pokerskibum $56,279.40
4. HHHUGO $42,354.60
5. BerkeleyBoss $29,590.20
6. Speede Gonzales $19,726.80
7. DOYLES DISCIPLE $13,344.60
8. Monster555 $9,283.20
9. KARAHHHYO $6,962.40
The $750k continues to headline the FullTilt Sunday majors but cannot seem to compete with PokerStars 2nd biggest event, the Sunday Warm-Up. While the Warm-Up continues to flirt with a seven-figure prize pool it is the $750k that can barely sustain itself above $800,000. This is not a slight against the $750k, as in years past it would have easily held the #2 slot, but more of a compliment of PokerStars and how they’ve been able to grow their events.
A FullTilt sponsored professional found his way to the final table in the $750k in the form of Stefan Rapp. Rapp is worldly poker professional having lived in Buenos Aries, Almeria, and Austria. He is well known for his ability in Seven-Card Stud and has more than $200,000 in tournament earnings. Rapp was joined in the top-20 by fellow FullTilt professional Caio Pimenta who fell in 17th place.
The final table was chopped 3 ways, the numbers below reflect the chop between “BOOP BOOP NEB”, “Sebago2811”, and “timmihendrix”.
FullTilt Sunday $750k Guaranteed
4,006 Entrants; $801,200 prize pool
*3-way chop
1. BOOP BOOP NEB $113,270.20
2. Sebago2811 $104,217,87
3. timmihendrix $65,728.12
4. werpennstate23 $44,066
5. finker216 $33,089.56
6. Stefan Rapp $24,516.72
7. kunkles27 $18,427.60
8. gregior $14,421.60
9. Annetta-86 $10,736.08
The FullTilt Sunday Mulligan is one of the latest starting events each Sunday, but always seems to finish before the bulk of the afternoon majors. This week was no exception as the Mulligan was completed before the $750k and both the $500k and Million on PokerStars. Fourteen FullTilt sponsored professionals played in the $216 buy-in event yet none were able to crack the top-135 and make the money. Busting early was Jeff Madsen, Jon Turner, and Michael Tureniec.
Heads-up play came down to “Optimisten” and “Cmoney3”, with the experience edge going to the latter. Cmoney3 has over $1,000,000 in cashes on FullTilt including a $79,500 win back in 2007. Optimisten seemed to be quite the new player on FullTilt only having played in a handful of events and min-cashing in a couple, including the $216 re-buy FTOPS Event #4 last month for $1,146. While he may not have had big scores like his opponent that did not seem to factor into his play, as he was able to take down the Mulligan and more than $56,000 in prize money.
FullTilt Sunday Mulligan $200k Guaranteed
1,288 Entrants; $257,600 prize pool
1. Optimisten $56,672
2. Cmoney3 $36,064
3. Chris_Page $26,082
4. fahmie $20,930
5. nicos11 $15,790.88
6. PrincessDonk $11,592
7. CalBandGreat $7,470.40
8. TheJimFish $5,409.60
9. ragfelix4 $3,864