First of all, HAPPY 2009 from the STR! The last week of 2008 was a historic week in online poker tournaments, and many sites looked to build on that momentum in 2009 yesterday.
PokerStars continues to hit its guarantees in the $1.5M Sunday Million, $750k Sunday Warm-Up, and $250k Sunday Second Chance. With no “special” tournaments running this week, Stars was still able to generate nearly 250,000 online members near the middle of the day yesterday. At a few points in time the site became a bit laggy, with 30,000 people joining in on the fun in the PokerStars $200k guaranteed $10+$1 buy-in event.
FullTilt poker also ran its full compliment of Sunday majors, the $750k Guarantee, the $350k Sunday Brawl, and $200k Sunday Mulligan.
Getting the day started was the Sunday Brawl on Full Tilt. The $240+$16 buy-in “knock-out” event pays a player $40 every time he/she eliminates another opponent. This week 2,017 players created a $403,400 prize pool which was to be paid out over 234 spots. Twenty Full Tilt “Red Pros” played in the event, including Eli Elezra (232nd), Lee Watkinson (234th), and Jon Turner (69). Let’s take a look at the stacks entering the final table:
Seat 1: OUSOONERS24 (373,060)
Seat 2: ChuckSty (1,155,123)
Seat 3: PHW (528,703)
Seat 4: OnkelAndrey (396,846)
Seat 5: navigator82 (1,260,090)
Seat 6: neilblue (1,405,750)
Seat 7: bobbywing (415,994)
Seat 8: rooseraperi (206,520)
Seat 9: borrfan (308,914)
Final table chip leader “neilblue” was eliminated in the middle of the pack, finishing 5th for just under $21,000. Heads-up play came down to “ChuckSty” and “PHW,” with ChuckSty eventually claiming the title and over $82,000 in first place money. Here’s the final hand and Final Table payouts:
Seat 2: ChuckSty (5,300,688)
Seat 3: PHW (750,312)
PHW posts the small blind of 40,000
ChuckSty posts the big blind of 80,000
The button is in seat #3
PHW: gg
*** HOLE CARDS ***
PHW raises to 740,312, and is all in
ChuckSty calls 660,312
PHW shows [9s Ts]
ChuckSty shows [Jc As]
*** FLOP *** [3c 6c 2c]
*** TURN *** [3c 6c 2c] [2h]
*** RIVER *** [3c 6c 2c 2h] [Qs]
PHW shows a pair of Twos
ChuckSty shows a pair of Twos
ChuckSty wins the pot (1,500,624) with a pair of Twos
Full Tilt Sunday Brawl $350k Guaranteed
2017 Entrants; $403,400 prize pool
1. ChuckSty $82,273.43
2. PHW $53,248.80
3. bobbywing $39,533.20
4. navigator82 $29,851.60
5. neilblue $20,976.80
6. OUSOONERS24 $13,715.60
7. rooseraperi $9,278.20
8. OnkelAndrey $6,454.40
9. borrfan $4,840.80
The first major tournament of the day on PokerStars is the Sunday WarmUp. The $200+$15 buy-in, $750k Guaranteed event always attracts a large crowd of both American and European players. This week, 4103 players generated a $820,600 prize pool, growing on the success of last week’s $1M Guaranteed WarmUp. No big names stood out as the players entered the final table. Let’s look at the stacks:
Seat 1: buller00 (4877513 in chips)
Seat 2: warty31 (690584 in chips)
Seat 3: rbeckwith (3838434 in chips)
Seat 4: luetch1 (10045784 in chips)
Seat 5: Drago0906 (2342041 in chips)
Seat 6: LOGIST_14 (4662312 in chips)
Seat 7: frtk (3392418 in chips)
Seat 8: SrixXxon (5844993 in chips)
Seat 9: IW1LLH1TN0Ts (5335921 in chips)
“luetch1” started heads-up play with nearly a 5:1 chip lead. His opponent, “buller00” offered an even-chop, which was laughed down. However, after winning two huge pots, buller00 assumed the chip lead and eventually took home the title and over $105,000 in first place money:
Seat 1: buller00 (24923608 in chips)
Seat 4: luetch1 (16106392 in chips)
luetch1: posts small blind 200000
buller00: posts big blind 400000
*** HOLE CARDS ***
luetch1: raises 500000 to 900000
buller00: calls 500000
*** FLOP *** [6s 4h 6c]
buller00: checks
luetch1: bets 1200000
buller00: raises 3200000 to 4400000
luetch1: calls 3200000
*** TURN *** [6s 4h 6c] [5s]
buller00: bets 19583608 and is all-in
luetch1: calls 10766392 and is all-in
Uncalled bet (8817216) returned to buller00
*** RIVER *** [6s 4h 6c 5s] [Td]
*** SHOW DOWN ***
buller00: shows [3d 6d] (three of a kind, Sixes)
luetch1: shows [Ac Jh] (a pair of Sixes)
buller00 collected 32212784 from pot
PokerStars Sunday WarmUp $750k Guaranteed
4103 Entrants; $820,600 prize pool
1. buller00 $105,857.40
2. luetch1 $73,854
3. IW1LLH1TNOTs $49,236
4. rbeckwith $41,030
5. LOGIST_14 $32,824
6. frtk $24,618
7. SrixXxon $16,412
8. warty31 $10,257.50
9. Drago0906 $6,646.86
The $750k Guarantee on Full Tilt continues to hit its guarantee. This week 3,908 players including 29 Full Tilt Pros played, creating a $781,600 prize pool. 522 players made the money including Ali Sarkeshik (298th), Chip Jett (54th), Jon Turner (44th), and Sigi Stockinger (227th). Eventual champion “007Paghman” is no stranger to success on Full Tilt, boasting a 243% ROI (Return-On-Investment) over 400+ tournaments. He is now up over $222,000 on Full Tilt alone. Here are the final table stacks and payouts:
Seat 1: blackbeanbun (339,109)
Seat 2: BeNzitO85 (1,288,260)
Seat 3: chickensalad (2,032,015)
Seat 4: GoLeafsGoEh (1,121,290)
Seat 5: WPChaser (2,058,951)
Seat 6: knickadam55 (1,102,590)
Seat 7: king silas (898,486)
Seat 8: 007Paghman (1,866,935)
Seat 9: coach257 (1,016,364)
Full Tilt Poker $750k Guaranteed
3908 Entrants; $781,600 prize pool
1. 007Paghman $138,382.28
2. WPChaser $83,631.20
3. coach257 $54,712
4. chickensalad $43,144.32
5. BeNzitO85 $32,358.24
6. king silas $23,955.12
7. blackbeanbun $17,976.80
8. knickadam55 $14,068.80
9. GoLeafsGoEh $10,473.44
The biggest event of each Sunday, as always, is the $1,500,000 Guaranteed PokerStars Sunday Million. Last week the Million was a $2,500,000 Guaranteed event, and much like the other events, the Million saw a nice boost in entrants this week. All in all, 8504 players entered the $200+$15 buy-in tournament creating a prize pool of over $1,700,000. With such a large amount of entries, first place pay out was to be over $200,000 for the first time in a while in the $1.5M guaranteed version of this tournament. However, first place still failed to pay over $200,000 this week as the final three players agreed to a chip chop, leaving $30,000 on the table. Let’s take a look at the final table stacks and how each player was eliminated.
Seat 1: The Midget (4759579 in chips)
Seat 2: stoledog (21146264 in chips)
Seat 3: bukithepro (13340694 in chips)
Seat 4: aceskay (7758953 in chips)
Seat 5: USA_20080920 (9613727 in chips)
Seat 6: Fold Ü Phish (2293680 in chips)
Seat 7: simon1471 (4366848 in chips)
Seat 8: jayvedo (18089056 in chips)
Seat 9: Prom Queens (3671199 in chips)
Seat 1: The Midget (4759579 in chips)
Seat 2: stoledog (21146264 in chips)
Seat 3: bukithepro (13340694 in chips)
Seat 4: aceskay (7758953 in chips)
Seat 5: USA_20080920 (9613727 in chips)
Seat 6: Fold Ü Phish (2293680 in chips)
Seat 7: simon1471 (4366848 in chips)
Seat 8: jayvedo (18089056 in chips)
Seat 9: Prom Queens (3671199 in chips)
simon1471: posts small blind 150000
jayvedo: posts big blind 300000
*** HOLE CARDS ***
jayvedo said, “nh”
Prom Queens: folds
stoledog said, “ty”
The Midget: folds
stoledog: folds
bukithepro: folds
aceskay: folds
USA_20080920: folds
stoledog said, “gl all”
Fold Ü Phish: raises 1963680 to 2263680 and is all-in
simon1471: folds
jayvedo: calls 1963680
*** FLOP *** [Kh 5d 7d]
*** TURN *** [Kh 5d 7d] [3s]
*** RIVER *** [Kh 5d 7d 3s] [5h]
*** SHOW DOWN ***
jayvedo: shows [Th Ad] (a pair of Fives)
Fold Ü Phish: shows [9d Ah] (a pair of Fives – lower kicker)
jayvedo collected 4947360 from pot
Seat 1: The Midget (4759579 in chips)
Seat 2: stoledog (20456264 in chips)
Seat 3: bukithepro (12650694 in chips)
Seat 4: aceskay (1997754 in chips)
Seat 5: USA_20080920 (8923727 in chips)
Seat 7: simon1471 (4366848 in chips)
Seat 8: jayvedo (22472736 in chips)
Seat 9: Prom Queens (9412398 in chips)
simon1471: posts small blind 150000
jayvedo: posts big blind 300000
*** HOLE CARDS ***
Prom Queens: folds
The Midget: folds
stoledog: folds
bukithepro: folds
aceskay: raises 1667754 to 1967754 and is all-in
USA_20080920: folds
simon1471: folds
jayvedo: calls 1667754
*** FLOP *** [6s 6h As]
*** TURN *** [6s 6h As] [Ks]
*** RIVER *** [6s 6h As Ks] [Qd]
*** SHOW DOWN ***
jayvedo: shows [9d Ac] (two pair, Aces and Sixes)
aceskay: shows [8c 9c] (a pair of Sixes)
jayvedo collected 4325508 from pot
Seat 1: The Midget (4099579 in chips)
Seat 2: stoledog (11247417 in chips)
Seat 3: bukithepro (16616693 in chips)
Seat 5: USA_20080920 (6260727 in chips)
Seat 7: simon1471 (6797696 in chips)
Seat 8: jayvedo (29730490 in chips)
Seat 9: Prom Queens (10287398 in chips)
simon1471: posts small blind 150000
jayvedo: posts big blind 300000
*** HOLE CARDS ***
Prom Queens: raises 500000 to 800000
The Midget: raises 3269579 to 4069579 and is all-in
stoledog: folds
bukithepro: folds
USA_20080920: folds
simon1471: folds
jayvedo: folds
Prom Queens: calls 3269579
*** FLOP *** [2c 7c Ac]
*** TURN *** [2c 7c Ac] [9d]
*** RIVER *** [2c 7c Ac 9d] [6c]
*** SHOW DOWN ***
Prom Queens: shows [Qd Qc] (a flush, Ace high)
The Midget: shows [8h 8s] (a pair of Eights)
Prom Queens collected 8799158 from pot
Seat 2: stoledog (22282414 in chips)
Seat 3: bukithepro (13361694 in chips)
Seat 5: USA_20080920 (5050727 in chips)
Seat 7: simon1471 (1947697 in chips)
Seat 8: jayvedo (29420491 in chips)
Seat 9: Prom Queens (12976977 in chips)
stoledog: posts small blind 200000
bukithepro: posts big blind 400000
*** HOLE CARDS ***
USA_20080920: folds
simon1471: raises 1200000 to 1600000
jayvedo: folds
Prom Queens: folds
stoledog: folds
bukithepro: raises 1200000 to 2800000
simon1471: calls 307697 and is all-in
Uncalled bet (892303) returned to bukithepro
*** FLOP *** [Jd Ts 7c]
*** TURN *** [Jd Ts 7c] [Kc]
*** RIVER *** [Jd Ts 7c Kc] [Kd]
*** SHOW DOWN ***
bukithepro: shows [7s Qc] (two pair, Kings and Sevens)
simon1471: shows [Ah 4d] (a pair of Kings)
bukithepro collected 4255394 from pot
Seat 2: stoledog (25332413 in chips)
Seat 3: bukithepro (12774391 in chips)
Seat 5: USA_20080920 (4210727 in chips)
Seat 8: jayvedo (18808513 in chips)
Seat 9: Prom Queens (23913956 in chips)
bukithepro: posts small blind 250000
USA_20080920: posts big blind 500000
*** HOLE CARDS ***
jayvedo: folds
Prom Queens: folds
stoledog: raises 799999 to 1299999
bukithepro: calls 1049999
USA_20080920: folds
*** FLOP *** [3c 2s Ts]
bukithepro: bets 2650000
stoledog: raises 21332414 to 23982414 and is all-in
bukithepro: calls 8774392 and is all-in
Uncalled bet (12558022) returned to stoledog
*** TURN *** [3c 2s Ts] [9d]
*** RIVER *** [3c 2s Ts 9d] [Ad]
*** SHOW DOWN ***
bukithepro: shows [Ks Qs] (high card Ace)
stoledog: shows [Ac Kc] (a pair of Aces)
stoledog collected 26198782 from pot
Seat 2: stoledog (37756804 in chips)
Seat 5: USA_20080920 (9021454 in chips)
Seat 8: jayvedo (1255284 in chips)
Seat 9: Prom Queens (37006458 in chips)
Prom Queens: posts small blind 250000
stoledog: posts big blind 500000
*** HOLE CARDS ***
USA_20080920: folds
jayvedo: raises 705284 to 1205284 and is all-in
Prom Queens: calls 955284
stoledog: calls 705284
*** FLOP *** [Qc Qs 4c]
Prom Queens: checks
stoledog: bets 1000000
Prom Queens: folds
Uncalled bet (1000000) returned to stoledog
jayvedo said, “gg”
*** TURN *** [Qc Qs 4c] [9c]
*** RIVER *** [Qc Qs 4c 9c] [4d]
*** SHOW DOWN ***
stoledog: shows [9s Qh] (a full house, Queens full of Nines)
jayvedo: shows [Ah 8s] (two pair, Queens and Fours)
stoledog collected 3815852 from pot
After “jayvedo” was eliminated the final three agreed to this chip-chop:
$150,793 stoledog
$108,182 USA_20080920
$150,000 Prom Queens
PokerStars policy forces there to be $30,000 left in the middle to be given to who ever wins. “Prom Queens” was be first to go, then “Stoledog” eliinated “USA_20080920” to take home first place and just over $180,000.
Seat 2: stoledog (21107372 in chips)
Seat 5: USA_20080920 (47962908 in chips)
Seat 9: Prom Queens (15969720 in chips)
stoledog: posts small blind 300000
USA_20080920: posts big blind 600000
*** HOLE CARDS ***
Prom Queens: raises 900000 to 1500000
stoledog: raises 3499999 to 4999999
USA_20080920: folds
Prom Queens: raises 10909721 to 15909720 and is all-in
stoledog: calls 10909721
*** FLOP *** [Qd 9d Jh]
*** TURN *** [Qd 9d Jh] [Tc]
*** RIVER *** [Qd 9d Jh Tc] [2c]
*** SHOW DOWN ***
stoledog: shows [Qs Qh] (three of a kind, Queens)
Prom Queens: shows [Jd Ac] (a pair of Jacks)
stoledog collected 32599440 from pot
Seat 2: stoledog (62160850 in chips)
Seat 5: USA_20080920 (22879150 in chips)
stoledog: posts the ante 80000
USA_20080920: posts big blind 800000
*** HOLE CARDS ***
stoledog: raises 1600000 to 2400000
USA_20080920: raises 1600000 to 4000000
stoledog: calls 1600000
*** FLOP *** [6s 9d Ah]
USA_20080920: bets 5000000
stoledog: raises 16600000 to 21600000
USA_20080920: calls 13799150 and is all-in
Uncalled bet (2800850) returned to stoledog
*** TURN *** [6s 9d Ah] [Js]
*** RIVER *** [6s 9d Ah Js] [Th]
*** SHOW DOWN ***
USA_20080920: shows [As 3s] (a pair of Aces)
stoledog: shows [Ts 9s] (two pair, Tens and Nines)
stoledog collected 45758300 from pot
PokerStars Sunday Million $1.5M Guaranteed
8504 Entrants; $1,700,800 prize pool
1. stoledog $180,793
2. USA_20080920 $108,182
3. Prom Queens $150,000
4. jayvedo $76,536
5. bukithepro $59,528
6. simon1471 $42,520
7. The Midget $29,764
8. aceskay $19,599.20
9. Fold U Phish $11,905.60
One of the smaller Sunday tournaments that always brings out the best players is the PokerStars Sunday 500. The $500k guaranteed tournament only attracted 897 entrants yesterday, forcing PokerStars to pay out over $50,000 in overlay. A few big names made deep runs, including “pbdrunks,” a player that should need little introduction. He is up over $425,000 on PokerStars alone, including a victory in a $1050 buy-in event for over $71,000. Mark “newhizzle” Newhouse, winner of a WPT event made the final two tables busting in 14th place. “Mrvogt,” who is up nearly $200,000 on PokerStars also made a nice run, eventually busting in 16th place for just over $3,000. Here are the final table stacks, final hand, and pay outs:
Seat 1: Donk Crusher (773964 in chips)
Seat 2: Rayons X (118420 in chips)
Seat 3: Dany1984 (1528666 in chips)
Seat 4: pbdrunks (758561 in chips)
Seat 5: mozitas (2379399 in chips)
Seat 6: bigtonyk123 (703718 in chips)
Seat 7: Ron Fillers (275048 in chips)
Seat 8: AlexB81 (605584 in chips)
Seat 9: stivolino (1826640 in chips)
Seat 5: mozitas (1485928 in chips)
Seat 9: stivolino (7484072 in chips)
stivolino: posts small blind 40000
mozitas: posts big blind 80000
*** HOLE CARDS ***
stivolino: raises 160000 to 240000
mozitas: raises 1237928 to 1477928 and is all-in
stivolino: calls 1237928
*** FLOP *** [3d 9d 8d]
*** TURN *** [3d 9d 8d] [7h]
*** RIVER *** [3d 9d 8d 7h] [Ah]
*** SHOW DOWN ***
mozitas: shows [As 6d] (a pair of Aces)
stivolino: shows [Tc Ac] (a pair of Aces – Ten kicker)
stivolino collected 2971856 from pot
PokerStars Sunday 500 $500k Guaranteed
897 Entrants; $500,000 prize pool
1. stivolino $91,500
2. mozitas $66,500
3. Rayons X $50,000
4. Dany1984 $37,500
5. pbdrunks $26,250
6. Donk Crusher $21,250
7. AlexB81 $16,250
8. bigtonyk123 $11,250
9. Ron Fillers $7,000
Another tournament that always delivers with a star-studded final table is the PokerStars $200+$15 re-buy event. The $200,000 guaranteed prize pool was not met after 252 players re-bought 390 times and only 155 took advantage of the add-on after the first break, forcing PokerStars to pay out over $40,000 in overlay. A few huge names made the final table, including the eventual champion “rusostreet” who seems to be finding his way into the STR every other week. Rusostreet is now up nearly $200,000 on PokerStars after his tenth five-figure score on the site. Finishing in 3rd place was “twirlpro” who won the Million this past November for nearly $200,000. Needless to say there were some fireworks at the final table as players battled out for the $41,000 first place check. Heads-up play came down to “rusostreet” and “thedonator.” Here’s the final hand:
Table ‘129736515 5’ 9-max Seat #2 is the button
Seat 2: rusostreet (1260604 in chips)
Seat 5: thedonator (12396 in chips)
rusostreet: posts the ante 1000
thedonator: posts the ante 1000
rusostreet: posts small blind 5000
thedonator: posts big blind 10000
*** HOLE CARDS ***
rusostreet: raises 10000 to 20000
thedonator: calls 1396 and is all-in
Uncalled bet (8604) returned to rusostreet
*** FLOP *** [Ad Qs 7s]
*** TURN *** [Ad Qs 7s] [Jh]
*** RIVER *** [Ad Qs 7s Jh] [Jc]
*** SHOW DOWN ***
thedonator: shows [Th 9d] (a pair of Jacks)
rusostreet: shows [6d 6c] (two pair, Jacks and Sixes)
rusostreet collected 24792 from pot
PokerStars Sunday $215-Rebuy $200k Guaranteed
252 Entrants; $200,000 prize pool
1. rusostreet $41,000
2. thedonator $30,000
3. twirlpro $22,600
4. richiric $17,000
5. 0ccamzRaz3r $11,800
6. Jagz7 $9,000
7. Ditri $7,000
8. Hibbs08 $5,000
9. yankees1111 $3,500
The final two events of every Sunday are the PokerStars Second Chance and the Full Tilt Poker Sunday Mulligan. Each of these tournaments are designed to give players a final chance at a big score.
The Sunday Mulligan attracted 1,091 players, generating a $218,200 prize pool in the $200,000 guaranteed event. Seventeen Full Tilt Pros entered the event, with high-stakes cash game player Brandon Adams the only one making the money. Top-ranked “purecash25” highlighted the final table, eventually making it to heads-up play against “Iddy McFiddy.” PureCash25 finished 3rd in the FTOPs two-day $5k buy-in event this past year, netting himself $262,500. He also plays high-stakes heads-up SNGs up to $5000 buy-ins. In the end he was not able to overcome a 2-1 chip deficit and Iddy McFiddy took home the title and over $49,000 in first place money.
Full Tilt Sunday Mulligan $200k Guaranteed
1,091 Entrants; $218,200 prize pool
1. Iddy McFiddy $49,095
2. PureCash25 $31,639
3. MattZman $23,456.50
4. zekulya $18,001.50
5. BKBaddog $13,637.50
6. crisbus $9,819
7. SimpleVr6 $6,546
8. cardno $4,909.50
9. pjh1243 $3,491.20
The final tournament of the day is the PokerStars Second Chance. The $200+$15 buy-in, $250k Guaranteed tournament is one of the latest starting tournaments around. Eventual champion “Metsfan512” is no stranger to taking down huge fields, having won the $11 $200k guaranteed in July for $25,000. That tournament had 25,000 entries, making it one of the largest poker tournaments ever. Metsfan512 outlasted “bbooommmmmm” heads-up for just over $47,000 in prize money. Here’s the final hand and pay outs:
Seat 1: Metsfan512 (2670470 in chips)
Seat 5: bboooommmmmm (1217530 in chips)
Metsfan512: posts the ante 4000
bboooommmmmm: posts the ante 4000
Metsfan512: posts small blind 20000
bboooommmmmm: posts big blind 40000
*** HOLE CARDS ***
Metsfan512: raises 61010 to 101010
bboooommmmmm: raises 1112520 to 1213530 and is all-in
Metsfan512: calls 1112520
*** FLOP *** [9d 9s 2d]
*** TURN *** [9d 9s 2d] [8s]
*** RIVER *** [9d 9s 2d 8s] [5c]
*** SHOW DOWN ***
bboooommmmmm: shows [Jh Kh] (a pair of Nines)
Metsfan512: shows [Kc Ad] (a pair of Nines – Ace kicker)
Metsfan512 collected 2435060 from pot
PokerStars Sunday Second Chance $250k Guaranteed
1296 Entrants; $259,200 prize pool
1. Metsfan512 $47,304
2. bboooommmmmm $34,447.68
3. DrUPSWING $25,920
4. CHSE00011364 $19,440
5. CaptainCrabs $13,608
6. Antoshka $11,016
7. Lockey369 $8,424
8. Jonny98 $5,832
9. NeverScaredB $3,628.80