Another huge weekend of online tournaments is in the books, and once again every major tournament on FullTilt and PokerStars managed to reach their guarantees. While this is normally a great sign, it is even more welcome as FTOPS XIII sets to kick off later this week. The series runs from August 5th through the 16th and includes tournaments of all games, including a $2500+$120 two-day event, and culminates with a $500+$35 $2.5M Guaranteed Main Event.
Before FTOPS could start FullTilt had to get through another big Sunday of major tournaments including the $750k Guaranteed, $350k Brawl, and $200k Mulligan. Getting the day going was the Brawl, a $200+$16 Knock-Out event which pays $40 to a player every time he/she knocks out a fellow opponent. The Brawl has been crushing lately, easily surpassing $500,000 for three straight weeks now. Yesterday over 2,500 players joined, creating a $513,400 prize pool. Out of the 2,567 playing, 24 were FullTilt sponsored professionals, including Mike “Timex” McDonald who final tabled the Mulligan last week. Also playing were WSOP multiple-bracelet winner Scott Fischman, Ivy-league educated Brandon Adams, and WSOP Main Event Final Tablist Lee Watkinson. The only professional making the money was Soraya Homam who finished in 72nd place.
Payouts below reflect a 3-way chip chop:
FullTilt Sunday Brawl $350k Guaranteed
2,567 Entrants; $513,400 prize pool
1. jab946649 $79,309.50
2. Sabbyhund $69,954.44
3. Newbie_Dog $72,011.37
4. greenman21 $37,478.20
5. AZlZtahleLOFT $26,183.40
6. nesta123 $17,455.60
7. xBumblex $11,808.20
8. redfishtoo $8,214.40
9. bignate904 $6,160.80
FullTilt’s biggest weekly tournament, the $750k, keeps on growing. There was a time this year when PokerStars had two of the biggest prize pools over FullTilt; however, with the resurrection of the $750k, that is no longer the case. Over 4,400 players created a massive $880,200 prize pool with $155,434.52 going to eventual winner “DOOLfan”. Allen Cunningham, Paul Wasicka, and Huck Seed were just three of the 42 FullTilt “Red Pros” playing in the tournament. James Akenhead made the deepest run of all the professionals, finishing in 31st place, earning just over $2,600. Jordan Morgan also finished in the top 100.
FullTilt Sunday $750k Guaranteed
4,401 Entrants; $880,200 prize pool
1. DOOLfan $155,434.52
2. truesyalose $94,093.38
3. jpapola $61,614
4. bb_ShiNing $48,411
5. sedore623 $36,352.26
6. wat-dee $26,934.12
7. chavarie $20,244.60
8. leeman26 $15,843.60
9. njw11 $11,794.68
Wrapping up a stellar day at FullTilt was the $200,000 guaranteed Sunday Mulligan. Just like the Brawl the Mulligan has been crushing its guarantee, and this Sunday was no exception, as 1,326 players created a nice $265,200 prize pool. Twenty of FullTilt’s finest, including Kelly Kim, Scott Clements, and Mandy B, played the event with Mike “Timex” McDonald once again making the deepest run, finishing in 38th place. One of the bigger names in online poker, “Kenny Rap”, nearly took down the title, finishing in 3rd place for just over $27,000. He has had much more success on PokerStars in the past, having won the Sunday 500 and $215r within the past two years.
FullTilt Sunday Mulligan $200k Guaranteed
1,326 Entrants; $265,200 prize pool
1. EASY DZER $58,344
2. AmkarPerm $37,128
3. Kenny Rap $27,183
4. NoBadBeatsPlz $21,547.50
5. HaiducF $16,575
6. croll103 $11,934
7. CzarBushov $7,690.80
8. foldorbebroke $5,569.20
9. acap11 $4,084.08
PokerStars, whose 2009 WCOOP stars next month, is working hard to compete with FullTilt during August. After dropping guarantees in a few of their majors during the WSOP one might figure the tournaments were going to suffer. However, quite the opposite has happened, as the $215r and Sunday Second Chance continue to thrive despite losing $50,000 from their guarantees.
The five biggest tournaments on Sunday, the Warm-Up, Million, $500k, $215r, and Second Chance, all successfully passed their guarantee, with the Warm-Up going more than $100,000 over. While it has failed to beat the $750k on FullTilt lately, the Warm-Up continues to thrive, as evidenced by its 4,288 entrants yesterday. Some well-known names made the final table; however, their stay was short-lived, as they busted in the back of the pack. Top-50 ranked “The-Toilet0” took 8th place, earning just over $10,000. The five-figure score was the 18th of his career which includes two wins in the $109r and a win in the Super Tuesday on PokerStars.
PokerStars Sunday Warm-Up $750k Guaranteed
4,288 Entrants; $857,600 prize pool
1. vluff $134,520.29
2. DAFLYINGKIWI $99,910.41
3. PetjeXL $70,752.01
4. Hobbes200 $48,454.41
5. gokveld $36,448.01
6. kingpin023 $27,872.01
7. RickyPal $19,296.01
8. The-Toilet0 $10,720.01
9. jdog_fl $6,860.81
The Million failed to produce many big names at the final table, as Patrick “BigRed0000” Stemper was the most well-known player making the final 9. Stemper, whose career best finish coming into the final table was a $32,256 5th place finish in the Warm-Up this January, would bust in 6th place, earning just under $48,000. Heads-up play came down to “almaty.kz” and “Sosnoviy”, two players who did not have any big scores to their name before Sunday. Sosnoviy eventually outlasted almaty.kz, taking home the title and over $237,000.
PokerStars Sunday Million $1.5M Guaranteed
7,911 Entrants; $1,582,200 prize pool
1. Sosnoviy $237,330.01
2. almaty.kz $174,042.01
3. shack232 $118,665.01
4. getdaragzout $79,742.89
5. kenneeoin $62,288.01
6. BigRed0000 $47,466.01
7. EAlriksson $31,644.01
8. grebnrets86 $18,195.31
9. Jakelamotta3 $12,262.06
DocSands, also known as “SexSeen” on PokerStars added another huge score to his name as he took down the Sunday500 against a tough final table for over $90,000. Sands, widely considered a top-10 online tournament professional, has won the $750k and an FTOPS Event on FullTilt alone. While $90,097.20 is a great score, it pails in comparison to those two wins, which were worth $132,787 and $259,400 respectively. Coming in 2nd was another top-100 professional, “papamat25”. The $65,250 score was the 3rd biggest of his career as well, coming behind two victories in the $1k Monday on FullTilt for $103,250 and $87,500.
PokerStars Sunday $500k Guaranteed
1,044 Entrants; $522,000 prize pool
1. SexSeen $90,097.20
2. papamat25 $65,250
3. AJinOk $49,590
4. DeuceBuster $36,331.20
5. AABenjaminAA $25,839
6. chris777444 $20,619
7. 7DeLuX7 $15,399
8. copi $10,179
9. LeoFernandez $5,742
The Sunday500 and $215r both had stellar final tables this past Sunday, as “amichaikk”, JC Alvarado, and RandALLin all made the final table of the $215 re-buy. Amichaikk finished in 2nd place, earning just under $30,000. The score was the 3rd best of his career, behind two 3rd place finishes in the Super Tuesday for $44,000 and $39,160. RandALLin added another five-figure score to his name, coming in 4th for $16,813. While a nice cash, it is dwarfed by a 2nd place finish in a SCOOP event this past April for nearly $105,000. “capinhabr”, a player will slightly less success on PokerStars than those two, took down the title and over $40,000, eclipsing his previous best score, a $20,758 cash for finishing 32nd in the WCOOP Main Event last year.
PokerStars $215r $150k Guaranteed
282 Entrants; $197,800 prize pool
1. capinhabr $40,549
2. amichaiKK $29,670
3. Yingda $22,351.40
4. RandALLin $16,813
5. Crowned_expl $11,670.20
6. JC Alvarado $8,901
7. littlela $6,923
8. gregior $4,945
9. kurt105 $3,461.50
Concluding a great Sunday full of action was the $200k Second Chance on PokerStars. The appropriately named tournament gives everyone a final shot at a big Sunday score. Dylan “ImaLucSac” Linde, not to be confused with Kevin “ImaLuckSac” MacPhee, finished in 7th place for nearly $10,000. The top-100 ranked professional has 5 $20,000+ scores to his name, including a win in the $109r on PokerStars for over $23,000. Taking down the title was “Plankton”, a player without a five-figure score to his name on PokerStars before last night.
PokerStars Sunday Second Chance $200k Guaranteed
1,419 Entrants; $283,800 prize pool
1. plankton $51,311.04
2. Believer82 $37,177.80
3. consuming $28,380
4. shaffrey $21,285
5. Octavian_C $14,899.50
6. kilphil1975 $12,061.50
7. ImaLucSac $9,223.50
8. JackinBox17 $6,385.50
9. hookembaby83 $3,973.20