It would be downplaying the situation to say that online poker had an incredible run this weekend. Both UltimateBet and Bodog finally shed the shackles of their big tournaments' overlays, as they'd been getting so close to doing recently, making for a record-breaking field at the Bodog $100,000-guaranteed event (and possibly at the UltimateBet $200,000-guaranteed as well, although this was not able to be confirmed). On the other end of the spectrum, the PokerStars Sunday Million broke its own records again and finally got its prize pool above $1.5 million.
In addition to the big money on the line, the final tables featured some big names, including Jared "TheWacoKidd" Hamby at UltimateBet and Eric "basebaldy" Baldwin and Adam "Roothlus" Levy at Bodog. Star power and broken records made this weekend one to remember.
PokerStars Sunday Million
The PokerStars Sunday Million once again had its biggest weekend yet when 7,632 entrants put up their $200 buy-in for a chance at some big money. The entry numbers brought the prize pool to a record $1,526,400, making the first prize a whopping $215,222.
Schmeek was the big stack at the onset of the final table with $15.1 million in chips. Miamihans was close behind with $13.1 million and D brickwall was the short stack with $2.4 million. Despite his chip lead, schmeek's stack continuously shrunk until he was sitting with just $7.4 million.
In the first elimination hand, Eskil raised to $1.4 million preflop with the big blind at $480,000. SwedisRotKuk called and schmeek pushed all in for his remaining $7.4 million. Eskil folded and SwedisRotKuk called and showed pocket tens. Schmeek flipped over A
K for a coin-flip situation and the board ran out J
8
3
9 3, further improving neither, aside from the board pair, and giving the hand to SwedisRotKuk. Schmeek, the previous chip leader, finished in ninth ($9,006).
Iamhiv was the next to go when he pushed all in preflop and was called by THE SHERIFFZ. Iamhiv showed K 10 and was in the lead against THE SHERIFFZ's K 9. That all changed when the flop came 9 4 3, pairing THE SHERIFFZ's 9 and putting him in the lead. The turn was the 3 and the river brought the 5 and THE SHERIFFZ raked in the pot to eliminate iamhiv in eighth ($13,738).
Eskil had been short-stacked for quite some time and finally saw his end when he called all in preflop from the small blind for barely less than the $600,000 big blind. He was up against THE SHERIFFZ, who had limped preflop, and SwedisRotKuk, who checked his option in the big blind. The flop came A 10 5 and both active players checked. The turn was the 2 and both players again checked. The river brought the 8 and SwedisRotKuk checked. THE SHERIFFZ bet $2 million and SwedisRotKuk folded. THE SHERIFFZ showed K Q for the nuts and Eskil revealed A 10 for two pair before he was sent to the rail in seventh. Eskil earned $23,659 for his finish.
Seven minutes later, 20princemild pushed all in preflop for his last $6.4 million and THE SHERIFFZ pushed all in over the top for $25 million, folding the remaining players. THE SHERIFFZ showed A K and 20princemild flipped over A 9 and was well behind. The board completely missed both players and THE SHERIFFZ took down the pot with his king kicker. 20princemild took home $33,581 for sixth place.
THE SHERIFFZ now had a huge stack of $32.5 million to put him in a relatively secure chip lead, with SwedisRotKuk in second with $22.2 million. Apparently the lead wasn't secure enough, as THE SHERIFFZ stack went down to $9.5 million in one big pot against SwedisRotKuk just six minutes later. Aggressive preflop betting ended with SwedisRotKuk pushing all in for $16 million and THE SHERIFFZ calling and showing A 5. SwedisRotKuk showed that he was dominating THE SHERIFFZ with A 8. An ace came on the flop, but no further help came to either player. Two hands later THE SHERIFFZ was down to $1.4 million after miamihans won a preflop all-in with A-Q versus THE SHERIFFZ's A-J.
Severely short-stacked, THE SHERIFFZ pushed all in preflop for $1.9 million and was called by both D brickwall and SwedisRotKuk. The two active players checked it to the river and the board read 7 5 4 5 9. SwedisRotKuk bet $2.4 million on the river and D brickwall folded. THE SHERIFFZ revealed A 7 for two pair, sevens up, and SwedisRotKuk showed 8 6 for a flopped straight and won the hand. THE SHERIFFZ pocketed $45,792 for fifth place.
Shepstar was next on the chopping block when he pushed all in for $5.6 million preflop and was called by SwedisRotKuk. Shepstar held K J and SwedisRotKuk had the lead with K Q. The board ran out K Q 9 4 9, giving both players two pair, but SwedisRotKuk a better two pair with kings and queens. Shepstar was sent to the rail in fourth ($61,056).
SwedisRotKuk had a massive chip lead with three players left. He had $52.5 million while miamihans had just $14.4 million in second and D brickwall had $9.4 million in third. Miamihans siphoned chips off both players before D brickwall's final hand. SwedisRotKuk pushed all in preflop in the small blind and D brickwall called with his last $5.7 million in the big blind and showed A 3. SwedisRotKuk was behind with 9 7 until the flop came 8 7 2, giving him a pair of sevens for the lead. The turn and river were the 6 and the 9, further improving SwedisRotKuk to two pair, nines up, to eliminate D brickwall. D brickwall got a $76,320 payday for third place.
It was now heads up and SwedisRotKuk still held the lead with $52.9 million versus miamihans' $23.4 million. The two paused the tournament to discuss a possible deal. A by-the-chips chop was agreed upon (with $30,000 left in the middle to play for, per the PokerStars rules). SwedisRotKuk was guaranteed $157,504 and miamihans was assured $136,093. Miamihans put up a good fight, but after less than 20 minutes of heads-up play he would see his final hand.
SwedisRotKuk raised to $3 million preflop with the big blind at $1 million and miamihans called. The flop came 9 4 3 and miamihans checked. SwedisRotKuk bet another $3 million and miamihans pushed all in for $15.9 million. SwedisRotKuk called and showed Q 9 for a pair of nines and was in the lead against miamihans' 10 9 for a pair of nines with a worse kicker. The turn and river were the 2 and the 7 and miamihans was eliminated in second. SwedisRotKuk collected the extra $30,000 for winning the tournament to put his total winnings at $187,504.
The final standings were:
*1) SwedisRotKuk – $187,504
*2) miamihans – $136,092
3) D brickwall – $76,320
4) Shepstar – $61,056
5) THE SHERIFFZ – $45,792
6) 20princemild – $33,580.80
7) Eskil – $23,659.20
8) iamhiv – $13,737.60
9) schmeek – $9,005.76
* Payout reflects a by-the-chips chop deal, per the PokerStars rules, made at the final table.
Full Tilt Poker $400,000 Guarantee
The Full Tilt $400,000-guaranteed tournament fell short of breaking its own record on Sunday, with 2,473 entrants compared to last weekend's 2,576. While the tournament's prize pool came to a hefty $494,600, $94,600 beyond the posted guarantee, the non-record-breaking attendance made it one of the few major sites to not break entry records this weekend.
Imgrinding had a massive chip lead entering the final table, with $2.7 million in chips compared to jrbrown2bsu in second with $845,000. Despite losing the lead a few times throughout the final table action, imgrinding navigated the field and managed to find himself playing heads up with the chip lead against im_the_dirt. Imgrinding had $3.9 million compared to im_the_dirt's $3.5 million and it was still anyone's game.
A big hand 10 minutes into heads-up play would signify the beginning of the end for one of the players. Im_the_dirt ($4 million) raised to $390,000, with the big blind at $120,000, and imgrinding ($3.4 million) called. The flop came K Q 5 and both players checked. The turn was the A and both players again checked. The river brought the 10 and imgrinding pushed all in for close to $3 million. Im_the_dirt called and imgrinding revealed 8 7 for a flush. Im_the_dirt mucked his hand and was left with less than $650,000. Im_the_dirt managed to double up once before the final hand.
Im_the_dirt pushed all in for $1.3 million and imgrinding called and showed pocket threes. Im_the_dirt flipped up pocket twos and was well behind. The flop was great news for im_the_dirt when it came 9 7 2, spiking him a set of twos. The flop, however, turned out to be false hope when the turn brought the 3 to give imgrinding a better set to retake the lead. The river was a blank, the Q, and imgrinding took down the pot to win the tournament. Imgrinding earned $90,734 for first place.
The final standings were:
1) imgrinding – $90,734.37
2) im_the_dirt – $55,691.96
3) ESPIGA – $36,452.02
4) lackingaces – $29,082.48
5) jrbick – $22,009.70
6) superaids – $15,827.20
7) vinson135 – $11,623.10
8) jrbrown2bsu – $9,100.64
9) Kush789 – $6,924.40
UltimateBet $200,000 Guarantee
The UltimateBet $200,000-guaranteed tournament had 1,006 entrants this Sunday, which meant that the tournament finally went beyond the posted guarantee for the first time in recent memory (possibly for the first time ever, although this fact could not be confirmed). The six entrants beyond the 1,000 needed to match the guarantee made for a small, but significant, $1,200 surplus to the prize pool.
Internet pro Jared "TheWacoKidd" Hamby was present at the final table of the highly symbolic event and entered the table in second with $333,000 in chips. Kasedowgy was in first with $651,000. ComeOnPhish_, the short stack at the final table's start, was also the first player eliminated, in 10th ($2,012). ComeOnPhish_ came very close to making two final tables on Sunday when he finished in 12th in the PokerStars Sunday Million tournament, earning $6,411. Kasedowgy and TheWacoKidd carried their first- and second-place stacks until they were the last two players standing after just over an hour of play. Kasedowgy had $1.8 million when heads-up play started versus TheWacoKidd's $747,000. TheWacoKidd's stack dipped just a bit in the eight minutes before the final hand.
Kasedowgy called the $30,000 big blind preflop and TheWacoKidd checked his option. The flop came Q J 4 and TheWacoKidd checked. Kasedowgy bet $40,000 and TheWacoKidd pushed all in for $543,000. Kasedowgy called and showed Q 8 for a pair of queens versus TheWacoKidd's J 10 for a pair of jacks. The turn was the 5 and the river the 4 and TheWacoKidd was eliminated in second ($25,915). Kasedowgy bested the Internet pro and raked in a $44,264 payday for first place.
The final standings were:
1) kasedowgy – $44,264
2) TheWacoKidd – $25,914.56
3) CASINOICE – $17,906.80
4) Traumatize – $13,078
5) jenny5146 – $10,563
6) Eric-Stoner – $8,450.40
7) jcman – $6,438.40
8) Habibi1 – $4,527
9) thefishleader – $3,420.40
10) ComeOnPhish_ – $2,012
Bodog $100,000 Guarantee
The Bodog $100,000-guaranteed tournament surpassed its guarantee for the first time ever on Sunday, after having made a tradition of falling short on entrants and requiring overlays. The tournament brought in 1,034 players, just 34 over the 1,000 required to go beyond the posted guarantee. Those entry numbers brought the prize pool to $103,400; a significant number, considering it's the first time the prize pool has been over $100,000. The tournament's previous record was 999 entrants (set on Nov. 12, 2006).
The Bodog tournament was significant in another way, as well. Two successful Internet pros sat at the final table: Eric "basebaldy" Baldwin and Adam "Roothlus" Levy. Roothlus entered the final table in second place with around $350,000 in chips compared to chip leader Da Lourd's stack of more than $500,000. Basebaldy wasn't too far behind Roothlus with close to $300,000. Da Lourd lost his chip lead early on when he called when the table's two short stacks went all in preflop. Neither short stack busted and Da Lourd's stack was down to $234,000.
Basebaldy and Roothlus got in a big hand with each other when kagle min-raised to $40,000 on the button and Roothlus pushed all in for $238,000 from the small blind. Basebaldy instantly called all in for $180,000 and kagel folded. Roothlus had 8 6 and basebaldy held pocket aces. The board completely missed Roothlus and basebaldy snagged an unnecessary set of aces on the river to take the pot, put his stack up to $414,000, and leave Roothlus with only $55,000.
Roothlus ended up being the second player to bust from the table when he called all in against kagle's preflop raise and showed A K. Kagle showed pocket eights and made a set of eights on a spade-less flop, leaving Roothlus drawing dead. Roothlus made $2,378 for his eighth-place finish.
Basebaldy became severely short stacked when he went all in preflop and his pocket sevens were cracked by the A-8 of lawdork1980 when an ace came on the flop. Two hands later, with the big blind at $40,000, he pushed all in preflop for $112,000 in the big blind against kagle's preflop raise to $97,000 in the small blind. Kagle called and showed Q 2 versus basebaldy's 10 3. Basebaldy completely missed the board and kagle ended up pairing both of his hole cards to eliminate basebaldy in sixth ($4,446).
The remaining stacks were all relatively close with kagle in the lead at $629,000 and the other four players' stacks between $410,000 and $596,000. It would eventually be kagle and lawdork1980 facing off heads up. Kagle entered the heads-up match with $1 million versus lawdork1980's $1.6 million.
The lengthy heads-up match between the two lasted 40 minutes and involved about 10 swaps of the chip lead. In the final hand, with the big blind at $120,000, lawdork1980 pushed all in from the small blind for $1.8 million and kagle called all in for $776,000. Lawdork1980 showed Q J and kagle flipped up pocket tens for the lead. The board ran out Q 7 4 2 8and lawdork1980 took down the pot to eliminate kagle in second ($14,476). Lawdork1980 earned $25,850 for his finish in the record-breaking event.
The final standings were:
1) lawdork1980 – $25,850
2) kagle – $14,476
3) 1148997 – $9,306
4) ODDSareEYEwin – $6,721
5) Da Lourd – $5,480.20
6) basebaldy – $4,446.20
7) TheRealFastRay – $3,412.20
8) Roothlus – $2,378.20
9) RTRSHARK – $1,551
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