With only two Sundays left in the year, FullTilt decided to “up the ante” and take its biggest tournament, the $216 buy-in $750k gtd and make it a $530 buy-in $1,000,000 guarantee. The tournament, as well as all other majors, had a nice turnout, easily eclipsing its guarantee. Even with tougher economic times and growing speculation about the future of online poker, tournaments still find ways to break records in payouts and field-size. An FYI, next Sunday PokerStars is attempting to break the record for largest tournament field ever, as they are hosting a $10+$1, $500k gtd tournament. As of now they are limiting the field to 35,000 entrants, meaning there will be $150,000 in overlay for those participating; quite a nice little bonus to end the year.

We’ll change it up this week and run PokerStars tournaments first and then Full Tilt.  You’ll want to read the FullTilt results though, as one of our own, Johnnyfish a.k.a. Busto_Soon, took down the Sunday Brawl.

Getting the day started was the $750k gtd PokerStars Sunday Warm-Up.  This tournament is a great way to gear up for a long day of donkament grinding.  The final table didn’t have any immediately noticeable names, meaning the entire MTT community might get a nice boost.  Before today, “snowking_85” was a losing player on stars, but after shipping nearly $100k for first he’s turned that number around nicely.  His heads-up competitor, “jas21,” was also quite the losing player before going from the red to the black today while earning just over $69,000 for 2nd place.  Here’s the final hand:

Seat 8: snowking_85 (28997168 in chips)
Seat 9: jas21 (9372832 in chips)
snowking_85: posts small blind 400000
jas21: posts big blind 800000
*** HOLE CARDS ***
snowking_85: raises 1000000 to 1800000
jas21: calls 1000000
*** FLOP *** [Th Qs 9h]
jas21: checks
snowking_85: bets 1800000
jas21: raises 5692832 to 7492832 and is all-in
snowking_85: calls 5692832
*** TURN *** [Th Qs 9h] [9d]
*** RIVER *** [Th Qs 9h 9d] [Ah]
*** SHOW DOWN ***
jas21: shows [Td Kh] (two pair, Tens and Nines)
snowking_85: shows [9s Ts] (a full house, Nines full of Tens)
snowking_85 collected 18745664 from pot

PokerStars Sunday Warm-Up $750k Guaranteed
3837 Entrants

1. snowking_85 $99,762
2. jas21 $69,066
3. dan82mur $46,044
4. ael1979 $38,370
5. OMGSHIPIT $30,606
6. cadillasca $23,022
7. AhKhQhJh10h $15,348
8. elitishoo $9,592.50
9. liverdracon $6,559.64

Next on the list is the Sunday Million.  When the tournament started there were only 7000 players who had paid the $200+$15 entry fee, which would make the tournament fall well below its guarantee.  However, like it has done recently, PokerStars kept the registration open for quite some time, and eventually over 8,000 players entered, easily passing the tournament guarantee.  It seems Stars is intent on not paying out overlay in their biggest tournament of the week.  The prize pool, which ended up over $1,600,000 would pay over $195,000 for first place.  Let’s take a look at the final table seating assignments and chip stacks:

Seat 1: crazylarry43 (15059126 in chips)
Seat 2: tAAggart (2531626 in chips)
Seat 3: dstrung (12033491 in chips)
Seat 4: KopplarJocke (4990670 in chips)
Seat 5: vuki (26436817 in chips)
Seat 6: gladik (5689408 in chips)
Seat 7: mezyoureyez (2709944 in chips)
Seat 8: DFGBOYS (4995812 in chips)
Seat 9: phil steve (5703106 in chips)

There were not many big names making the final table, or making deep runs for that matter.  Here’s how the final 8 players were eliminated:

Seat 1: crazylarry43 (15539126 in chips)
Seat 2: tAAggart (2451626 in chips)
Seat 3: dstrung (12793491 in chips)
Seat 4: KopplarJocke (4910670 in chips)
Seat 5: vuki (26396817 in chips)
Seat 6: gladik (5649408 in chips)
Seat 7: mezyoureyez (2669944 in chips)
Seat 8: DFGBOYS (4715812 in chips)
Seat 9: phil steve (5023106 in chips)
crazylarry43: posts small blind 200000
tAAggart: posts big blind 400000
*** HOLE CARDS ***
dstrung: folds
KopplarJocke: folds
vuki: raises 488888 to 888888
gladik: folds
mezyoureyez: raises 1741056 to 2629944 and is all-in
DFGBOYS: folds
phil steve: folds
crazylarry43: folds
tAAggart: folds
vuki: calls 1741056
*** FLOP *** [4h Js Ts]
*** TURN *** [4h Js Ts] [3s]
*** RIVER *** [4h Js Ts 3s] [2c]
*** SHOW DOWN ***
vuki: shows [7s 6s] (a flush, Jack high)
mezyoureyez: shows [9s 9d] (a pair of Nines)
vuki collected 6219888 from pot

Seat 1: crazylarry43 (10287500 in chips)
Seat 2: tAAggart (4453252 in chips)
Seat 3: dstrung (13013491 in chips)
Seat 4: KopplarJocke (6920670 in chips)
Seat 5: vuki (30137873 in chips)
Seat 6: gladik (1919408 in chips)
Seat 8: DFGBOYS (5665812 in chips)
Seat 9: phil steve (7751994 in chips)
DFGBOYS: posts small blind 250000
phil steve: posts big blind 500000
*** HOLE CARDS ***
crazylarry43: folds
tAAggart: raises 3903252 to 4403252 and is all-in
dstrung: folds
KopplarJocke: folds
vuki: folds
gladik: folds
DFGBOYS: calls 4153252
phil steve: folds
*** FLOP *** [9h 7c Th]
*** TURN *** [9h 7c Th] [Js]
*** RIVER *** [9h 7c Th Js] [4s]
*** SHOW DOWN ***
DFGBOYS: shows [Ts Td] (three of a kind, Tens)
tAAggart: shows [Ad Ah] (a pair of Aces)
DFGBOYS collected 9706504 from pot

Seat 1: crazylarry43 (8918092 in chips)
Seat 3: dstrung (12963491 in chips)
Seat 4: KopplarJocke (5770670 in chips)
Seat 5: vuki (30087873 in chips)
Seat 6: gladik (4288816 in chips)
Seat 8: DFGBOYS (9669064 in chips)
Seat 9: phil steve (8451994 in chips)
phil steve: posts small blind 250000
crazylarry43: posts big blind 500000
*** HOLE CARDS ***
dstrung: folds
KopplarJocke: folds
vuki: folds
gladik: raises 1500000 to 2000000
DFGBOYS: folds
phil steve: raises 6401994 to 8401994 and is all-in
crazylarry43: folds
gladik: calls 2238816 and is all-in
Uncalled bet (4163178) returned to phil steve
*** FLOP *** [Td 7d 8c]
*** TURN *** [Td 7d 8c] [8s]
*** RIVER *** [Td 7d 8c 8s] [8d]
*** SHOW DOWN ***
phil steve: shows [Jd Ad] (a flush, Ace high)
gladik: shows [Ac Qh] (three of a kind, Eights)
phil steve collected 9327632 from pot

Seat 1: crazylarry43 (11876184 in chips)
Seat 3: dstrung (7658924 in chips)
Seat 4: KopplarJocke (5880670 in chips)
Seat 5: vuki (20905284 in chips)
Seat 8: DFGBOYS (14298128 in chips)
Seat 9: phil steve (19530810 in chips)
dstrung: posts small blind 300000
KopplarJocke: posts big blind 600000
*** HOLE CARDS ***
vuki: folds
DFGBOYS: folds
phil steve: folds
crazylarry43: folds
dstrung: raises 6998924 to 7598924 and is all-in
KopplarJocke: calls 5220670 and is all-in
Uncalled bet (1778254) returned to dstrung
*** FLOP *** [5s 5d 4d]
*** TURN *** [5s 5d 4d] [Qc]
*** RIVER *** [5s 5d 4d Qc] [9h]
*** SHOW DOWN ***
dstrung: shows [2c Kh] (a pair of Fives)
KopplarJocke: shows [Qd Qs] (a full house, Queens full of Fives)
KopplarJocke collected 12001340 from pot

Seat 1: crazylarry43 (17872368 in chips)
Seat 4: KopplarJocke (11601340 in chips)
Seat 5: vuki (28650962 in chips)
Seat 8: DFGBOYS (4624520 in chips)
Seat 9: phil steve (17400810 in chips)
phil steve: posts small blind 400000
crazylarry43: posts big blind 800000
*** HOLE CARDS ***
KopplarJocke: folds
vuki: folds
DFGBOYS: raises 3744520 to 4544520 and is all-in
phil steve: calls 4144520
crazylarry43: folds
*** FLOP *** [4s 2c 7s]
*** TURN *** [4s 2c 7s] [9c]
*** RIVER *** [4s 2c 7s 9c] [3s]
*** SHOW DOWN ***
phil steve: shows [6s As] (a flush, Ace high)
DFGBOYS: shows [8s 8h] (a pair of Eights)
phil steve collected 10289040 from pot

Seat 1: crazylarry43 (31904736 in chips)
Seat 4: KopplarJocke (14924086 in chips)
Seat 5: vuki (3689208 in chips)
Seat 9: phil steve (29631970 in chips)
crazylarry43: posts small blind 500000
KopplarJocke: posts big blind 1000000
*** HOLE CARDS ***
vuki: raises 2589208 to 3589208 and is all-in
phil steve: folds
crazylarry43: folds
KopplarJocke: calls 2589208
*** FLOP *** [Kc 8s As]
*** TURN *** [Kc 8s As] [6h]
*** RIVER *** [Kc 8s As 6h] [Jd]
*** SHOW DOWN ***
KopplarJocke: shows [Ah 6c] (two pair, Aces and Sixes)
vuki: shows [Ts 9s] (high card Ace)
KopplarJocke collected 8078416 from pot

Seat 1: crazylarry43 (20268362 in chips)
Seat 4: KopplarJocke (47578467 in chips)
Seat 9: phil steve (12303171 in chips)
crazylarry43: posts the ante 120000
KopplarJocke: posts the ante 120000
phil steve: posts the ante 120000
crazylarry43: posts small blind 600000
KopplarJocke: posts big blind 1200000
*** HOLE CARDS ***
phil steve: raises 10983171 to 12183171 and is all-in
crazylarry43: folds
KopplarJocke: calls 10983171
*** FLOP *** [5d Qd Ks]
*** TURN *** [5d Qd Ks] [6d]
*** RIVER *** [5d Qd Ks 6d] [Kd]
*** SHOW DOWN ***
KopplarJocke: shows [Ah 3d] (a flush, King high)
phil steve: shows [6c 9c] (two pair, Kings and Sixes)
KopplarJocke collected 25326342 from pot

Seat 1: crazylarry43 (27378362 in chips)
Seat 4: KopplarJocke (52771638 in chips)
crazylarry43: posts the ante 170000
KopplarJocke: posts the ante 170000
KopplarJocke: posts small blind 850000
crazylarry43: posts big blind 1700000
*** HOLE CARDS ***
KopplarJocke: raises 2550000 to 4250000
crazylarry43: raises 22958362 to 27208362 and is all-in
KopplarJocke: calls 22958362
*** FLOP *** [Ts 8d 9c]
*** TURN *** [Ts 8d 9c] [7c]
*** RIVER *** [Ts 8d 9c 7c] [Ks]
*** SHOW DOWN ***
crazylarry43: shows [As 4h] (high card Ace)
KopplarJocke: shows [7d Ad] (a pair of Sevens)
KopplarJocke collected 54756724 from pot

There was a chop when play got down to four-handed, with “vuki,” the chipleader, being the biggest beneficiary as he/she would go out in 4th place, but still earned over $133,000.  Until this point, vuki had been a losing player on PokerStars this year.  It was definitely better late than never for him.   “Phil Steve” had also found himself in the red this year, but the $119,579 he received in the chop easily erased that figure.  “Crazylarry43” seems to only play big buy-in tournaments, and this was his first big score, netting himself just over $107,000 for a long days work.  Finally, “KopplayJocke” won the tournament and the $30,000 that comes with it, netting him just over $130,000.  He hasn’t even played 50 tournaments on PokerStars this year but has two victories.  His earlier win came in an $11 tournament.  I think it’s safe to say this is his biggest win ever.

PokerStars Sunday Million $1.5M Guaranteed
8015 Entrants

1. KopplarJocke $130,723.59
2. crazylarry43 $107.565.94
3. phil steve $119,579
4. vuki $133,610.69
5. DFGBOYS $56,906.50
6. dstrung $40,876.50
7. gladik $28,052.50
8. tAAggart $18,434.50
9. mezyoureyez $11,221

The second chance is the latest starting tournament on PokerStars.  However its structure moves a bit faster than others, allowing it finish ahead of a few other of the big buy-in Sunday tournaments.  Here were the chip counts, final hand, and results from today’s event:

Seat 1: bdybldngpkr (644122 in chips)
Seat 2: el kudos (511033 in chips)
Seat 3: donnysack (366523 in chips)
Seat 4: coxquinn (338404 in chips)
Seat 5: Squirrely1 (333888 in chips)
Seat 6: tsza1 (344074 in chips)
Seat 7: gerard95 (705781 in chips)
Seat 8: shipshipit (420906 in chips)
Seat 9: icaredr1 (373269 in chips)

Seat 1: bdybldngpkr (2127912 in chips)
Seat 3: donnysack (1910088 in chips)
donnysack: posts small blind 25000
bdybldngpkr: posts big blind 50000
*** HOLE CARDS ***
donnysack: raises 85575 to 135575
bdybldngpkr: raises 244925 to 380500
donnysack: raises 1524588 to 1905088 and is all-in
bdybldngpkr: calls 1524588
*** FLOP *** [Ac Td 9d]
*** TURN *** [Ac Td 9d] [2c]
*** RIVER *** [Ac Td 9d 2c] [3s]
*** SHOW DOWN ***
bdybldngpkr: shows [Ad 9c] (two pair, Aces and Nines)
donnysack: shows [7d Ah] (a pair of Aces)
bdybldngpkr collected 3820176 from pot

“Bdybldngpkr” is a solid tournament player, having made over $40,000 in profit this year previous to this win.  I’m sure we’ll see more great things from him in the future.  “Donnysack” is also very good, having previously won a $215 event for over $73,000 this past July.  It’s good to see some proven players make a final table and go on to achieving some nice scores.

PokerStars Sunday Second Chance $250k Guaranteed
1346 Entrants

1. bdybldngpkr $48,886.72
2. donnysack $35,534.40
3. gerard95 $26,920
4. el kudos $20,190
5. icaredr1 $14,133
6. coxquinn $11,411
7. Squirrely1 $8,749
8. shipshipit $6,057
9. tsza1 $3,768.80

One tournament everyone should enjoy following is the $215 buy-in re-buy/add-on event.  This week a boost in entries + some extra re-buys allowed PokerStars to keep their money in their pocket as no overlay was necessary.  Some big names, as always, made the final table including “Bruno GT,” UB Pro “Roothlus” and “SBRounder”.  Bruno GT would make it to heads-up play but would lose a large chiplead and falter to a second place finish.  It would seem “Jarfish” could not be stopped as he would go on to collect the victory and over $43,460.  Here’s the final hand:

Seat 1: Bruno GT (236992 in chips)
Seat 4: Jarfish (1458008 in chips)
Bruno GT: posts small blind 15000
Jarfish: posts big blind 30000
*** HOLE CARDS ***
Bruno GT: raises 203992 to 233992 and is all-in
Jarfish: calls 203992
*** FLOP *** [4h As Ah]
*** TURN *** [4h As Ah] [4s]
*** RIVER *** [4h As Ah 4s] [2s]
*** SHOW DOWN ***
Jarfish: shows [5c Ac] (a full house, Aces full of Fours)
Bruno GT: shows [Tc 9d] (two pair, Aces and Fours)
Jarfish collected 473984 from pot

PokerStars $215r $200k Guaranteed
312 Entrants

1. Jarfish $43,460
2. Bruno GT $31,800
3. Roothlus $23,956
4.  plattsburgh $18,020
5. ender555 $12,508
6. mattg1983 $9,540
7. yexas $7,420
8. SBRounder $5,300
9. kcsp $3,710

Last, but certainly not least, is the PokerStars Sunday 500.  The $500+$35 tournament tends to bring out as star-studded a final table as the $215r.  This week, a very familiar face made a nice run.  “Mcatdog” as he’s known on FTR and PokerStars made a valiant effort but would fall short, finishing in 6th place.  His run was quite the roller-coaster ride, winning two coin-flips (both hitting on the river) on the final table bubble.  He would make a re-shove 6-handed and, unfortunately for him, would run his 9Ts into ATo, unable to improve.  The $21,420 cash is just another impressive mark on his ever- growing tournament resume.  He now has nine five-figure scores this year including 3 of $20,000 or more.  “DahJinerat” and “perky264” were the other notable players at the final table.  Jerky264 was also seen at the FullTilt Sunday Mulligan Final Table, and in each he would finish 4th, quite a nice Sunday even with out a win.  Once play became heads-up Dyzalot would double through DahJinerat multiple times, causing both players to consider a chop.  After a while PokerStars support arrived and a chop was agreed upon, leaving nearly $84,000 to DahJinerat. The final hand was elementary, as the two were playing for nothing but Tournament Leaderboard Points.  That doesn’t mean, however, that Stars would let it finish with out a bang:

Seat 6: DahJinerat (6217072 in chips)
Seat 7: Dyzalot (3862928 in chips)
DahJinerat: posts small blind 40000
Dyzalot: posts big blind 80000
*** HOLE CARDS ***
DahJinerat: raises 6129072 to 6209072 and is all-in
Dyzalot: calls 3774928 and is all-in
Uncalled bet (2354144) returned to DahJinerat
*** FLOP *** [Jh Ts Kh]
DahJinerat said, “lol”
*** TURN *** [Jh Ts Kh] [Qc]
DahJinerat said, “sick”
*** RIVER *** [Jh Ts Kh Qc] [4s]
*** SHOW DOWN ***
Dyzalot: shows [Tc Th] (three of a kind, Tens)
DahJinerat: shows [6c 9h] (a straight, Nine to King)

PokerStars Sunday 500 $500k Guaranteed
1008 Entrants

1. DahJinerat $83,961.60
2. Dyzalot $75,000
3. Pytan $50,400
4. perky264 $37,800
5. exomil $26,460
6. mcatdog $21,420
7. KOTspoker $16,380
8. PurpleHazze $11,340
9. raidalot $7,056

The first major that runs on Sunday on FullTilt is the Brawl.  This special “knock-out” event pays $40 to a player every time they eliminate an opponent.  $40 may not seem like much, but considering that the players at the final table could bust 10 or more players in the tournament, and you can see how it adds up.  Just as in the 500 we see another familiar face reaching the final table, that of eventual champion Johan “Busto_soon” Van Til.  Johhnyfish, as most of FTR knows him, is one of the most dominant tournament players in the world.  He is consistently ranked in the top-20 in a major online leaderboard and has accomplished many feats, including his incredible run to Supernova Elite this year.  He dominated the final table, and, although he lost multiple races, he would eventually win the one that counted:

Seat 1: busto_soon (4,430,048)
Seat 6: Calimaty (1,380,952)
Calimaty posts the small blind of 60,000
busto_soon posts the big blind of 120,000
The button is in seat #6
*** HOLE CARDS ***
Calimaty calls 60,000
busto_soon raises to 4,415,048, and is all in
Calimaty calls 1,245,952, and is all in
busto_soon shows [3c 3h]
Calimaty shows [6c Ks]
Uncalled bet of 3,049,096 returned to busto_soon
*** FLOP *** [4s 2h 9s]
*** TURN *** [4s 2h 9s] [7d]
*** RIVER *** [4s 2h 9s 7d] [Qs]
busto_soon shows a pair of Threes
Calimaty shows King Queen high
busto_soon wins the pot (2,761,904) with a pair of Threes

FullTilt Poker Sunday Brawl $350k Guaranteed
1937 Entrants

1. busto_soon $79,804.40
2. Calimaty $52,686.40
3. takerjs $39,127.40
4. Kool Kyle $30,604.60
5. american soul$22,856.60
6. PLUSizeHoneY $15,883.40
7. thechemist83 $9,685
8. FlawlessV1ctory $6,585.80
9. the_burrtio $4,648.80

Next up for FullTilt was the $1,000,000 guarantee. This special event was able to attract nearly 2200 participants, easily passing through the guarantee.  The tournament also enticed 34 of FullTilt’s red pro’s to play including such big names as PCA winner Ryan Daut, multiple WSOP bracelet winner Scoot Fischman, and the amicable Erick Lindgren.  An interesting thing happened on the way to the title.  “UFMan2,” who won the $750k gtd just this past September, took down the crown!  This $201,848 was over $65,000 more than he earned just three months ago.  He now has made over $233,000 on FullTilt alone this year.  He has also won the $150 re-buy on FullTilt as well. Here’s the final hand and payouts:

Seat 5: Gator93 (2,436,894)
Seat 9: UFman2 (8,533,106)
UFman2 posts the small blind of 80,000
Gator93 posts the big blind of 160,000
The button is in seat #9
*** HOLE CARDS ***
UFman2 raises to 340,000
Gator93 has 15 seconds left to act
Gator93 raises to 2,416,894, and is all in
UFman2 calls 2,076,894
Gator93 shows [9c 7c]
UFman2 shows [Jd Ad]
*** FLOP *** [Th 5h 2h]
*** TURN *** [Th 5h 2h] [Kh]
*** RIVER *** [Th 5h 2h Kh] [Js]
Gator93 shows King Jack high
UFman2 shows a pair of Jacks
UFman2 wins the pot (4,873,788) with a pair of Jacks

FullTilt Poker Million $1M Guaranteed
2194 Entrants

1. UFman2 $201,848
2. Gator93 $123,961
3. bellbop $81,178
4. All4non $64,723
5. Elephant $49,365
6. smfit29$35,323.40
7. bl4z3j4ck $25,779.50
8. s00tedj0kers89 $20,294.50
9. Jimbostar $15,358

Another big name made the final table of the Sunday Mulligan, as Annette “Annette_15” Oberstad found herself heads-up, playing for the nearly $53,000 first-place check.  Unfortunately the 2007 WSOP-Europe Main Event Champion would squander a nice chip lead and fall victim to “topnoodle,” who was more than happy to pull the upset and take home the title.  It was certainly a david vs goliathess battle, as topnoodle hadn’t had a cash over $1200 on FullTilt this year.  Fortunately for him luck (and good play) was on his side.

Seat 8: topnoodle (2,682,910)
Seat 9: Annette_15 (929,090)
topnoodle posts the small blind of 25,000
Annette_15 posts the big blind of 50,000
The button is in seat #8
*** HOLE CARDS ***
topnoodle raises to 150,000
Annette_15 raises to 923,090, and is all in
topnoodle calls 773,090
Annette_15 shows [Ac 8s]
topnoodle shows [Qc Kc]
*** FLOP *** [2c 2s 9d]
Matt Vengrin (Observer): hold it
*** TURN *** [2c 2s 9d] [9c]
*** RIVER *** [2c 2s 9d 9c] [Ks]
Annette_15 shows two pair, Nines and Twos
topnoodle shows two pair, Kings and Nines
topnoodle wins the pot (1,858,180) with two pair, Kings and Nines
FullTilt Sunday Mulligan $200k Guaranteed
1204 Entrants

1. topnoodle $52,967
2. Annette_15 $33,712
3. GimmeDa1time $24,802.40
4. perky264 $19,565
5. SONASAM $15,050
6. kleath $10,836
7. jae_rod811 $7,224
8. UMWolverines $5,418
9. Cmoney3 $3,852.80

That’s it for this Sunday.  Make sure you tune in next week for a write-up on PokerStars attempt to set a world record.  One things for sure, this writer will be helping them accomplish just that.