With just a few Sundays left in the year there are only a handful of opportunities to make your mark in 2010. Online tournaments have never been stronger as lately events such as the $750k on FullTilt and $500k on PokerStars have risen out of the cellar and once again proven to be big time championships. Only a month or so ago these tournaments were struggling to come close to their guarantees which forced PokerStars and FullTilt to pay out a lot of overlay to those in the field. Perhaps it was FTOPS XVIII or even the WSOP getting more airtime on ESPN that boosted online attendance. Either way no one is complaining as there were multiple six-figure scores on the line this past weekend in events such as the $750k, Warm-Up, and Sunday Million.
The day started with the Sunday Warm-Up on PokerStars. The $750,000 Guaranteed event is still firmly planted in the weekly #2 spot despite the recent turnaround in the $750k on FullTilt. Yesterday proved to be no exception as more than 4,700 of the world’s best poker players were on hand to vie for a $148,034 first-place prize. Headlining the final table was eventual winner “26071985” who won WCOOP Event #32 earlier this year for $92,468. His victory here proved to be the biggest score of his career as he took down “P1ngPoNgPr0” heads-up for the title when his AQ offsuit won a race against Pocket 6’s.
Seat 2: P1ngPoNgPr0 (8988514 in chips)
Seat 5: 26071985 (38191486 in chips)
26071985: posts small blind 200000
P1ngPoNgPr0: posts big blind 400000
*** HOLE CARDS ***
26071985: raises 400000 to 800000
P1ngPoNgPr0: raises 8148514 to 8948514 and is all-in
26071985: calls 8148514
*** FLOP *** [9s 2d 2h]
*** TURN *** [9s 2d 2h] [5c]
*** RIVER *** [9s 2d 2h 5c] [Qd]
*** SHOW DOWN ***
P1ngPoNgPr0: shows [6d 6s] (two pair, Sixes and Deuces)
26071985: shows [Ad Qh] (two pair, Queens and Deuces)
26071985 collected 17977028 from pot
PokerStars Sunday Warm-Up $750k Guaranteed
4,718 Entrants; $943,600 prize pool
1. 26071985 $148,034
2. P1ngPoNgPr0 $109,929
3. biotop $77,847
4. Lecherous $53,313
5. Me12640 $40,103
6. Jiigsaw $30,667
7. mmaxx2009 $21,231
8. Banderivets $11,795
9. ForRealDD $7,549
The Sunday Million continues to lead the way in terms of online events. The weeks biggest tournament proved itself once again to be head and shoulders above the rest as more than 8,500 players ponied up the $200+$15 entry fee Sunday afternoon. With more than $1,700,000 in the prize pool and a quarter-million slated to the winner it certainly was a fight to the finish. Fourth place finisher “GraveDanger3” earned $85,140 for a hard days work which was the biggest score of his carer. The former winner of the Nightly Hundred Grand on PokerStars fell just short of a huge payday when his pocket 7s could not outrace J9o. Heads-up play was short-lived as “ettiezzi” and “artohme” decided to chop leaving just $30,000 on the table in a winner-take-all format. The chop guaranteed each player right around $200,000 before the final $30,000 went ettiezzi’s way. Below you will find the final-table stacks, bust-out hands, and chop-adjusted payouts:
Seat 1: artohme (12699403 in chips)
Seat 2: Robi.gool (10096869 in chips)
Seat 3: Maxacante (7439408 in chips)
Seat 4: jobayank (19291187 in chips)
Seat 5: ettiezzi (7999506 in chips)
Seat 6: 7spades7 (3470930 in chips)
Seat 7: GraveDanger3 (9778291 in chips)
Seat 8: abe_AA64 (11527866 in chips)
Seat 9: Dimancho (2836540 in chips)
Seat 1: artohme (12819403 in chips)
Seat 2: Robi.gool (9536869 in chips)
Seat 3: Maxacante (7279408 in chips)
Seat 4: jobayank (19131187 in chips)
Seat 5: ettiezzi (7879506 in chips)
Seat 6: 7spades7 (3350930 in chips)
Seat 7: GraveDanger3 (11338291 in chips)
Seat 8: abe_AA64 (10767866 in chips)
Seat 9: Dimancho (3036540 in chips)
Robi.gool: posts small blind 200000
Maxacante: posts big blind 400000
*** HOLE CARDS ***
jobayank: folds
ettiezzi: folds
7spades7: folds
GraveDanger3: folds
abe_AA64: folds
Dimancho: raises 2596540 to 2996540 and is all-in
artohme: calls 2996540
Robi.gool: folds
Maxacante: folds
*** FLOP *** [Jc Tc 9d]
*** TURN *** [Jc Tc 9d] [4c]
*** RIVER *** [Jc Tc 9d 4c] [3h]
*** SHOW DOWN ***
Dimancho: shows [Th Ad] (a pair of Tens)
artohme: shows [9s 9h] (three of a kind, Nines)
artohme collected 6953080 from pot
Seat 1: artohme (17475943 in chips)
Seat 2: Robi.gool (9006870 in chips)
Seat 3: Maxacante (7429407 in chips)
Seat 4: jobayank (16029781 in chips)
Seat 5: ettiezzi (15479012 in chips)
Seat 6: 7spades7 (1900930 in chips)
Seat 7: GraveDanger3 (7721306 in chips)
Seat 8: abe_AA64 (10096751 in chips)
abe_AA64: posts small blind 250000
artohme: posts big blind 500000
*** HOLE CARDS ***
Robi.gool: folds
Maxacante: folds
jobayank: folds
ettiezzi: folds
7spades7: raises 1350930 to 1850930 and is all-in
GraveDanger3: folds
abe_AA64: folds
artohme: calls 1350930
*** FLOP *** [8d 2c 3c]
*** TURN *** [8d 2c 3c] [Ad]
*** RIVER *** [8d 2c 3c Ad] [3s]
*** SHOW DOWN ***
artohme: shows [Qs Ks] (a pair of Threes)
7spades7: shows [Jd Kh] (a pair of Threes – lower kicker)
artohme collected 4351860 from pot
Seat 1: artohme (20476873 in chips)
Seat 2: Robi.gool (9006870 in chips)
Seat 3: Maxacante (6329407 in chips)
Seat 4: jobayank (5283030 in chips)
Seat 5: ettiezzi (14379012 in chips)
Seat 7: GraveDanger3 (10071306 in chips)
Seat 8: abe_AA64 (19593502 in chips)
abe_AA64: posts small blind 250000
artohme: posts big blind 500000
*** HOLE CARDS ***
Robi.gool: folds
Maxacante: raises 1000000 to 1500000
jobayank: folds
ettiezzi: raises 2250000 to 3750000
GraveDanger3: folds
abe_AA64: raises 15793502 to 19543502 and is all-in
artohme: folds
Maxacante: calls 4779407 and is all-in
ettiezzi: calls 10579012 and is all-in
Uncalled bet (5214490) returned to abe_AA64
*** FLOP *** [6h Kc 5h]
*** TURN *** [6h Kc 5h] [Ad]
*** RIVER *** [6h Kc 5h Ad] [4d]
*** SHOW DOWN ***
abe_AA64: shows [Ah Qc] (a pair of Aces)
ettiezzi: shows [As Ac] (three of a kind, Aces)
ettiezzi collected 16099210 from side pot
Maxacante: shows [Qs Qd] (a pair of Queens)
ettiezzi collected 19688221 from main pot
Seat 1: artohme (21187873 in chips)
Seat 2: Robi.gool (5323190 in chips)
Seat 4: jobayank (987080 in chips)
Seat 5: ettiezzi (40077431 in chips)
Seat 7: GraveDanger3 (1766466 in chips)
Seat 8: abe_AA64 (15797960 in chips)
artohme: posts small blind 300000
Robi.gool: posts big blind 600000
*** HOLE CARDS ***
jobayank: raises 327080 to 927080 and is all-in
ettiezzi: folds
GraveDanger3: folds
abe_AA64: folds
artohme: calls 627080
Robi.gool: calls 327080
*** FLOP *** [Jh Th Kd]
artohme: checks
Robi.gool: checks
*** TURN *** [Jh Th Kd] [5c]
artohme: checks
Robi.gool: checks
*** RIVER *** [Jh Th Kd 5c] [Tc]
artohme: checks
Robi.gool: checks
*** SHOW DOWN ***
artohme: shows [Js 7h] (two pair, Jacks and Tens)
Robi.gool: mucks hand
jobayank: mucks hand
artohme collected 3141240 from pot
Seat 1: artohme (23162033 in chips)
Seat 2: Robi.gool (3856110 in chips)
Seat 5: ettiezzi (36690965 in chips)
Seat 7: GraveDanger3 (4072932 in chips)
Seat 8: abe_AA64 (17357960 in chips)
abe_AA64: posts small blind 300000
artohme: posts big blind 600000
*** HOLE CARDS ***
Robi.gool: raises 3196110 to 3796110 and is all-in
ettiezzi: folds
GraveDanger3: folds
abe_AA64: folds
artohme: calls 3196110
*** FLOP *** [Jc 7h 3h]
*** TURN *** [Jc 7h 3h] [Kd]
*** RIVER *** [Jc 7h 3h Kd] [2s]
*** SHOW DOWN ***
artohme: shows [Kh Kc] (three of a kind, Kings)
Robi.gool: shows [Ac Ah] (a pair of Aces)
artohme collected 8192220 from pot
Seat 1: artohme (27138143 in chips)
Seat 5: ettiezzi (40170965 in chips)
Seat 7: GraveDanger3 (3952932 in chips)
Seat 8: abe_AA64 (13877960 in chips)
ettiezzi: posts small blind 300000
GraveDanger3: posts big blind 600000
*** HOLE CARDS ***
abe_AA64: folds
artohme: raises 800000 to 1400000
ettiezzi: folds
GraveDanger3: raises 2492932 to 3892932 and is all-in
artohme: calls 2492932
*** FLOP *** [Tc 4h 9s]
*** TURN *** [Tc 4h 9s] [Td]
*** RIVER *** [Tc 4h 9s Td] [Ks]
*** SHOW DOWN ***
GraveDanger3: shows [7h 7d] (two pair, Tens and Sevens)
artohme: shows [9h Jh] (two pair, Tens and Nines)
artohme collected 8325864 from pot
Seat 1: artohme (29471075 in chips)
Seat 5: ettiezzi (46230965 in chips)
Seat 8: abe_AA64 (9437960 in chips)
artohme: posts small blind 300000
ettiezzi: posts big blind 600000
*** HOLE CARDS ***
abe_AA64: raises 8777960 to 9377960 and is all-in
artohme: calls 9077960
ettiezzi: folds
*** FLOP *** [Ah 7s Kc]
*** TURN *** [Ah 7s Kc] [9d]
*** RIVER *** [Ah 7s Kc 9d] [Qs]
*** SHOW DOWN ***
artohme: shows [Kh Ad] (two pair, Aces and Kings)
abe_AA64: shows [Jc Jh] (a pair of Jacks)
artohme collected 19535920 from pot
Seat 1: artohme (26714080 in chips)
Seat 5: ettiezzi (58425920 in chips)
ettiezzi: posts small blind 600000
artohme: posts big blind 1200000
*** HOLE CARDS ***
ettiezzi: raises 1200000 to 2400000
artohme: calls 1200000
*** FLOP *** [8c 8d 9c]
artohme: bets 6000000
ettiezzi: raises 6000000 to 12000000
artohme: raises 12194080 to 24194080 and is all-in
ettiezzi: calls 12194080
*** TURN *** [8c 8d 9c] [Kh]
*** RIVER *** [8c 8d 9c Kh] [5h]
*** SHOW DOWN ***
artohme: shows [7d 9h] (two pair, Nines and Eights)
ettiezzi: shows [7c 8h] (three of a kind, Eights)
ettiezzi collected 53428160 from pot
PokerStars Sunday Million $1.5M Guaranteed
8,514 Entrants; $1,702,800 prize pool
*2-way chop
1. ettiezzi $229,030
2. artohme $204,507
3. abe_AA64 $127,710
4. GraveDanger3 $85,140
5. Robi.gool $68,112
6. jobayank $51,084
7. Maxacante $34,056
8. 7spades7 $18,731
9. Dimancho $13,197
While the Sunday Million tends to garner the most attention it does not necessarily provide the best final table action. With its propensity to be full of amateurs and end early due to chip chops the railbirds are often left wanting more. Enter the Sunday $500k. The weekends most expensive tournament at $500+$30 it is also one of the most difficult to win. With a 1,000+ player field full of the world’s best live and online players it takes more than just a skilled player to make it to the finish line. Grayson “Spacegravy” Physioc” certainly fits the mold as a player worthy of the Sunday500 crown. The Supernova Elite grinder and PokerStars sponsored professional is best known for taking on crazy volume prop bets including mid-stakes turbo SNGs. He push/fold fundamentals are second to none which unfortunately does not come in hand all that often during a deep-stack tournament like the $500k. Still, he was able to get all the way down to three-handed play before busting and earning $48,498 in the process. The title came down to “stanman420” and “Anton_AY” in a battle for nearly $25,000 in prize money. Both players are solid tournament professionals looking for a breakthrough score which eventually went to stanman420 as his opponent became quite short-stacked and the two got less than 10 Big Blinds in with mediocre holdings:
Seat 2: stanman420 (9045396 in chips)
Seat 6: Anton_AY (1164604 in chips)
stanman420: posts small blind 65000
Anton_AY: posts big blind 130000
*** HOLE CARDS ***
stanman420: raises 8902396 to 9032396 and is all-in
Anton_AY: calls 1021604 and is all-in
Uncalled bet (7880792) returned to stanman420
*** FLOP *** [Ts Th 5s]
*** TURN *** [Ts Th 5s] [Kd]
*** RIVER *** [Ts Th 5s Kd] [3c]
*** SHOW DOWN ***
Anton_AY: shows [8c 9h] (a pair of Tens)
stanman420: shows [Qh 2s] (a pair of Tens – King+Queen kicker)
stanman420 collected 2329208 from pot
PokerStars Sunday $500k Guaranteed
1,021 Entrants; $510,500 prize pool
1. stanman420 $88,112
2. Anton_AY $63,813
3. spacegravy $48,498
4. ACE43five $35,531
5. Scarypooper5 $25,270
6. Zareta $20,165
7. West $15,060
8. FIREintheSUN $9,955
9. LaAtizadora $5,616
Much like the $500k the Sunday $215 re-buy’s higher entry fee tends to filter out the amateur players. While players could enter the event for just $215 they stand very little chance if they are not willing to re-buy multiple times and add-on at the 90-minute break. Case in point, even though there were only 256 players on hand yesterday the average buy-in ended up being well over $700. Mickey “mement_mori” Petersen, a poker professional from Denmark, was no stranger to success on PokerStars before winning the $215r Sunday. The $37,638 score barely cracks the top-5 of his all-time scores on the world’s biggest poker site falling well behind a $169,286 cash in this year’s SCOOP. However, this did prove to be his biggest Sunday major victory having never won any of the other championships on PokerStars in the past. At the other end of the final table spectrum was Jamie “pokerjamers” Armstrong who busted in 9th place for $3,213. The top-10 ranked MTT professional has multiple six-figure scores to his name as well as wins in the $1k Monday, $200k on FullTilt, as well as this very event just a month ago.
Seat 2: mement_mori (1703340 in chips)
Seat 5: VicksMyDawg (344660 in chips)
VicksMyDawg: posts small blind 8000
mement_mori: posts big blind 16000
*** HOLE CARDS ***
VicksMyDawg: raises 327060 to 343060 and is all-in
mement_mori: calls 327060
*** FLOP *** [7c 2h 7s]
*** TURN *** [7c 2h 7s] [3d]
*** RIVER *** [7c 2h 7s 3d] [Qh]
*** SHOW DOWN ***
mement_mori: shows [Ts As] (a pair of Sevens)
VicksMyDawg: shows [8h 6h] (a pair of Sevens – lower kicker)
mement_mori collected 689320 from pot
PokerStars Sunday $215r $150k Guaranteed
256 Entrants; $183,600 prize pool
1. mement_mori $37,638
2. VicksMyDawg $27,540
3. HITTHEPANDA $20,747
4. carreira $15,606
5. shinbunshi $10,832
6. bugstud $8,262
7. RJules12 $6,426
8. badplyr99 $4,590
9. pokerjamers $3,213
The latest starting major on the day on PokerStars happened to be the 2nd earliest to finish. Often is the case for the Sunday Second Chance as it does not have as deep of starting stacks or as slow a structure as the Million, $215r, or $500k. The day’s final event carries a $250,000 guarantee and gives everyone a final shot at a $50,000+ payday. Keven “Stammdogg” Stammen was busy at three final tables yesterday including the Second Chance where he took 4th place for $21,555. The Ohio native has earned nearly $2,500,000 in cashes on PokerStars including a handful of $50k+ scores. While Stammen was unable to win the title the same issue could not be said for “Gorrioncillo” who took down the 4th $50,000 score of his career on PokerStars after outlasting “StuMan123” for the victory:
Seat 6: Gorrioncillo (3213931 in chips)
Seat 8: StuMan123 (1097069 in chips)
Gorrioncillo: posts small blind 20000
StuMan123: posts big blind 40000
*** HOLE CARDS ***
Gorrioncillo: raises 40000 to 80000
StuMan123: raises 92500 to 172500
Gorrioncillo: raises 92500 to 265000
StuMan123: raises 828069 to 1093069 and is all-in
Gorrioncillo: calls 828069
*** FLOP *** [As Ad Qd]
*** TURN *** [As Ad Qd] [5h]
*** RIVER *** [As Ad Qd 5h] [Jd]
*** SHOW DOWN ***
StuMan123: shows [Ac 3s] (three of a kind, Aces)
Gorrioncillo: shows [Qh Qc] (a full house, Queens full of Aces)
Gorrioncillo collected 2194138 from pot
PokerStars Sunday Second Chance $250k Guaranteed
1,437 Entrants; $287,400 prize pool
1. Gorrioncillo $51,961
2. StuMan123 $37,649
3. Balla-B13 $28,740
4. Stammdogg $21,555
5. IMOKANDYOU $15,088
6. call110 $12,214
7. CuCbKu $9,340
8. jdtjpoker $6,466
9. WlkRambo $4,023
FullTilt, not to be outdone by PokerStars, continued to run its three Sunday majors including the $400k Brawl, $750k Guaranteed, and $200k Mulligan. All three events easily bested their respective guarantees in yet another successful weekend for online events at FullTilt. The world’s second largest poker site tends to struggle to keep up with PokerStars at time but they are a clear-cut number 2 when it comes to online tournaments. The Sunday Brawl kicked things off as more than 2,600 players entered the Knock-Out event. With $40 on the line for every time a player knocks out a fellow competitor there is always a chance to walk away with some dough. This past weekend FullTilt changed things up and turned the Brawl into the Sunday Brawl Rush which certainly makes things interesting. Instead of staying put at the same table players were immediately transferred to a new table with fresh faces after completing a hand. This means as soon as you fold (or you go to showdown) you are instantly dealt a new hand at a different table. This leads to a lot more hands per hour and ultimately a lot more action.
More than 20 FullTilt sponsored professionals entered the Brawl including Michael Mizrachi, Schott Fischman, and Erica Schoenberg. Both Ali Sarkeshik and Joao Barbosa cracked the top-100 in 50th and 34th place respectively. The final table had a few familiar faces including “BigredAK” who earned $68,539 for his second place finish. The high-stakes tournament professional had won the Second Chance on PokerStars in the past as well as the Nightly Hundred Grand. All of his experience failed to pay off against Keith “damurdera3” Ferrera who earned the top spot this past Sunday and a $106,210 payday. The former winner of the Wynn Classic in 2009 has seen great success both live and online where he has millions of dollars in cashes amongst the two disciplines.
FullTilt Sunday Brawl $400k Guaranteed
2,616 Entrants; $523,200 prize pool
1. DaMurdera3 $106,210
2. bigredAK $68,539
3. Magic_AND_Ken $50,750
4. mikkelstrack $38,194
5. inhoo $26,683
6. SPARTAK111 $17,789
7. oneshaygiven $12,034
8. harbourhow $8,371
9. el_divino88 $6,278
The Sunday $750k continued its climb after last weeks huge turnaround with more than 4,200 players this past weekend and a $842,600 prize pool. This stunning change of events has to be a direct result of the success of FTOPS XVIII. Just weeks ago the $750k was failing to even come close to reaching its guarantee and now the tournament is surpassing its baseline by nearly $100,000. A big part of that turnaround was the appearance of many FullTilt professionals including Scott Clements, Vitaly Lunkin, and Justin Smith. Two players, Toto Leonidas and Joseph Cheong, were able to make the money but could not fare much better than a mincash.
Keven “Stammdogg” Stammen found himself at his second final table of the day but ultimately could not walk away with a title in either event. His 6th place finish capped off a strong day of big scores but probably left him wanting more. Top-50 ranked “Obvamentz_IMO” also left with an empty feeling as he was the first to bust at the final table for just $11,291. The well known online professional has had great success on Stars and FullTilt in the past having won the $109r, $75k Guarantee, and Nightly Hundred Grand. Heads-up play came down to “ravagee” and “Cobalt56” who decided to chop the remaining $238,869 in the prize pool. While he technically finished 2nd it was Cobalt56 who earned the biggest piece of the pie ($125,000) after the dust settled.
FullTilt Sunday $750k Guaranteed
4,213 Entrants; $842,600 prize pool
*2-way chop
1. ravagee $113,869
2. Cobalt56 $125,000
3. JoyHappyJoy $58,982
4. jullle_looser $46,343
5. TheoWalcott14 $34,799
6. Stamdogg $25,784
7. blake0921 $19,380
8. galacticos23 $15,167
9. Obvamentz_IMO $11,291
The appropriately-named Sunday Mulligan capped a big day of online events this past Sunday. With more than 1,200 players including 15 FullTilt “red pros” on hand the Mulligan saw its prize pool swell to over $242,000. Amongst the pros on hand were Ivy-league educated Brandon Adams, online wunderkind “TheWacoKidd”, and the ever dangerous mixed game professional Scott Clements. None of the professionals could make the final table but that did not stop it from being full of online pros. Kenny “SpaceyFCB” Hallaert led the charge at a final table that once again included Stammdogg. His third final table of the day again ended in disappointment as he finished in 9th place for just $3,642. Top-150 ranked “4everunknown” busted in 3rd place for $24,584 which barely cracks his top-1o scores. The high-stake pro has won the $1k Monday, $100k Guaranteed, $200k Guaranteed, and the Friday Night Fight on FullTilt in the past. With just one player left to beat it looked like it was Hallaert’s time to shine but he was unable to outlast “UNLEASHED66” who took down the Mulligan title and a nice $53,416 payday for his efforts.
FullTilt Sunday Mulligan $200k Guaranteed
1,214 Entrants; $242,800 prize pool
1. UNLEASHED66 $53,416
2. SpaceyFCB $33,992
3. 4everunkown $24,584
4. Ozzington $19,728
5. casinomouth $14,884
6. InFiniTiO $10,926
7. Messing_Oleg $7,041
8. brayza21 $5,099
9. Stamdogg $3,642