Although the year has just begun and there is plenty of poker left to play, this was, perhaps, the biggest weekend for online poker in 2009. Some of the very best in the game were able to claim victories and with the Full Tilt Online Poker Series (FTOPS) running, the wins gave first-place prizes that were much more inflated than usual.
While the Sunday Million remained the largest tournament on PokerStars, other tournaments were able to produce more notable winners. Kevin "KevBoyStar" Stani pocketed $108,450 for winning the Sunday 500, making up for the runner-up finish he had in last week’s Super Tuesday.
Over at the Sunday Second Chance, Jonathan "xxjondxx" Delong scored $59,785 for taking first and was followed in second and third place by CPT CRUX and Pat "TorontoToro" Pezzin, respectively.
Adam "Roothlus" Levy’s little brother Justin "Roothlus2" Levy took down the $100,000 guarantee for $27,601. The rebuys were kind to the pros, as well. Ben "NeverScaredB" Wilinofsky won the $100 rebuy for $42,256, and Zachary "nofingclue11" Clark (pictured above left) beat Brian "SNoOoWMAN" Hawkins heads up to take the $200 rebuy and $48,126.
The action was just as exciting over at Full Tilt, where Chancew took down event No. 8 for $168,518. Philip "USCphildo" Collins took third and $71,634.
Red pro Matt "Plattsburgh" Vengrin took home $61,600 for winning the Sunday Mulligan, and Chad "jse81" Batista (pictured right) returned to his winning ways with a win the $200,000-guaranteed rebuy for $84,782.
Read the recaps for Sunday’s flagship events on Full Tilt, PokerStars, UltimateBet, Cake, and Bodog below:
FTOPS Event No. 10 — $1.5 Million Guarantee
Replacing the usual $750,000 guarantee was event No. 10 of the FTOPS, hosted by John Phan, doubling that guarantee to $1.5 million. A total of 5,325 entrants put up the $300 buy-in to make the prize pool $1,597,500.
More than 700 places were paid, and among those to go deep were Greg "gregior" Howard (98th), Tim "TMay420" West (79th), Mike "SowersUNCC" Sowers (73rd), Dave "doubledave22" D’Alesandro (68th), Aditya "Intervention" Agarwal (39th), LoLiNa (26th), Keith "DaMurdera3" Ferrera (16th), and Dutch "Dutchalicious" Boyd (12th).
Red pro Roy Winston represented his site well and finished in 17th place.
Pat "TorontoToro" Pezzin (seventh) has been on a tear lately and cashed for over six figures in three tournaments alone. His seventh-place finish was worth $36,743.
Just one month ago, Steve "gboro780" Gross (pictured right) told our reporters that although he was happy with his 2008 performance, his major regret was not being able to secure a high-profile victory. He came close to start the year with a second place-finish in the $1 million guarantee, but he finally closed the deal with a win here in event No. 10. The score was by far his largest to date and worth an astounding $275,601.
With the win, Gross now has a huge lead in Card Player’s Online Player of the Year race, with an almost 700-point buffer between himself and second place resident BigDennys.
Here were the final table results:
- Steve "gboro780" Gross — $275,601
- BUSTYOU79 — $166,939
- Shoomie — $107,352
- Jerms13 — $83,869
- nevermo — $63,101
- ilovemypuppy — $47,126
- Pat "TorontoToro" Pezzin — $36,743
- J4d3dr4g0n — $27,956
- Drow — $20,768
PokerStars Sunday Million
The Sunday Million on PokerStars benefitted from the big tournament series, as well, drawing 8,748 entrants and creating a total prize pool of $1,749,600.
The tournament lasted for nearly 11 hours and paid out 1,260 places. The notable cashes were Ryan "ryanbluf" Karp (89th), Derek "dmkay" Kromm (65th), Justin "looshle" Pechie (52nd), Chris "Universe112" Leveroni (51st), Brent "usourcek" Hanks (48th), Alex "Prince Tendee" Smith (40th), and Luke "BdBeatSlayer" Vrabel (12th, pictured right).
The final table featured multiple unknowns, and the final six players agreed to chop the tournament based on the chip counts, leaving $30,000 for the eventual winner. Because he held such a massive chip lead, THE_ALPACA was given the lion’s share and ultimately went on to claim the title and bonus money, as well.
Here were the final table results:
- THE_ALPACA — $174,501*
- hartwith — $99,707*
- $uBzEr0-AK — $69,581*
- Matt "ADZ124" Marafioti — $107,432*
- gimmedat717 — $96,668*
- crminalface — $87,389*
- sln112 — $30,618
- cannibal23 — $20,120
- mozitas — $12,247
*Based on a six-way chop made at the final table which left $30,000 to the eventual winner.
UltimateBet $200,000 Guarantee
The $200,000 guarantee on UltimateBet avoided an overlay this week when it drew 1,063 entrants and created a prize pool of $212,600.
A total of 99 places were paid to players such as Tommy "Robot Piemel" Nguyen (46th), Michael "MikeIvey" Meredith (44th), CrazySixes66 (38th), Jonathan "M0NSTERD0NG" Karamalikis (35th), William "GPTBigGuy33" Looper (32nd), Jason "ICU_FISH" Smith (30th), and Ryan "daut44" Daut (24th, pictured right).
Notables jblaze20 (sixth) and bootswild (second) made the final table, but the eventual winner was -HALIGON-, who pocketed $47,474 for his victory. This was the second time making the final table for both jblaze20 and bootwild.
Here were the final table results:
- -HALIGON- — $47,474
- bootswild — $28,382
- ZLEEPWALKER — $19,240
- DEEZZNUTTZZZ — $13,713
- ACEFISHIN77 — $11,587
- jblaze20 — $9,461
- DELANEY_KID — $7,335
- HUSKERLOVER — $5,209
- ERLAND — $3,614
Bodog $100,000 Guarantee
Bodog returned with its $100,000 guarantee after the suspending the tournament last week due to the Super Bowl. The tournament attracted 702 players, leaving a $29,800 overlay for the site to cover.
A total of 90 players made the money, including Wade "soggyvag2" Woelfel (54th), David "SirSands" Sands (53rd), Brian Townsend (35th), Dovid "The Maven" Yisrael (eighth), and Vince "vinnyb9" Byrd (second).
The winner was yoda lover, who won $23,600.
Here were the final table results:
- yoda lover — $23,600
- Vince "vinnyb9" Byrd — $13,600
- Nate Avenson — $9,100
- 1_ALL_DAY_1 — $7,000
- narf — $5,700
- Bevos_Nuts — $4,500
- kingpin0023 — $3,300
- Dovid "The Maven" Yisrael — $2,200
- redman7027 — $1,300
Cake Poker $100,000 Guarantee
The big tournament on the Cake Poker network met its guarantee when 903 players put up the $150 buy-in, creating a total prize pool of $135,450.
The final two were tupac2 and Big Hell, who were facing off for nearly $8,000 in prize differentials. tupac2 came out on top and scored the $27,361 first-place prize.
Here were the final tables results:
- tupac2 — $27,361
- Big Hell — $19,288
- Wawa711 — $12,963
- AnimalSpirit — $9,644
- ghostface13k — $6,556
- Gaether — $4,985
- souletr — $3,671
- ANIMAL5050 — $2,763
- mercy — $2,330
Card Player is working with several sites that continue to serve U.S. players to provide deposit bonuses to our readers. Click on the following names to receive bonuses: UltimateBet, Bodog, Absolute, Cake, and Full Tilt Poker.
