What better thing is there to do during acceptance speeches and awards for sound editing than play poker on your laptop in front of the boob tube? For many, the answer is, "not much" (or, maybe, "change the channel").
In general, the broadcast of the Academy Awards, which aired last night, did little to stop the thousands of players who entered into Sunday's biggest tournaments. PokerStars, Full Tilt, and UltimateBet were par for the course compared to recent entry numbers (although entries in the Bodog $100,000 guarantee were uncharacteristically low). It seems the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Science doesn't quite hold the power of the National Football League when it comes to affecting online poker.
PokerStars Sunday Million
Last night was PokerStars' time of the month (no, not like that). The site held its monthly $500-buy-in version of its Sunday Million tournament. The event attracted 2,801 entrants and generated a prize pool of $1,400,500.
Ravanelli was the chip leader entering the final table, with $5.1 million, compared to Prevaricator in second with $4.7 million. PokiAnn was the short stack with just $1 million in chips when the big blind was at $80,000, but he hung on to avoid becoming the first player eliminated. Eight minutes into the final table action, Kongsgaard raised to $300,000, with the big blind now at $100,000, and both chrisrokx and Randers called. The flop came 6
4
2
and both Randers and Kongsgaard checked. Chrisrokx bet $1 million and Randers check-raised all in for $1.4 million, folding Kongsgaard. Chrisrokx called and showed pocket jacks and Randers revealed 6
5 for top pair and a gutshot-straight draw, and was behind. The turn was the 4 and the river the K and Randers was eliminated in ninth place ($11,204).
PokiAnn's struggle finally came to an end when he pushed all in preflop from under the gun for $1.6 million and was reraised by chrisrokx in mid-position. Chrisrokx's reraise folded the other players and chrisrokx turned over pocket queens. PokiAnn flipped up A K for a coin-flip situation. The flop came Q 5 4, giving chrisrokx a set of queens, and PokiAnn needed running cards to survive. The 5 came on the turn, completing a full house for chrisrokx, and PokiAnn was drawing dead. He made $19,327 for his eighth-place finish.
In the next elimination hand, GrinderMJ raised to $340,000 preflop, with the big blind now at $120,000, and Reno_Jones pushed all in for his remaining $2.2 million. GrinderMJ called and showed pocket jacks versus Reno_Jones's A 9. The board ran out K Q 9 4 3 and Reno_Jones only managed to pair his nine, not enough to stay alive. He collected $30,531 for seventh place.
Chrisrokx was lucky enough to have had his big hands hold up in preflop all-in situations, but his luck wasn't to last. ZIGENAAREN raised to $360,000 preflop and chrisrokx reraised up to $960,000. ZIGENAAREN pushed all in over the top, having chrisrokx covered, and chrisrokx called all in for $4.8 million and showed A K. He found that he was dominating ZIGENAAREN's A Q and was in good shape. Good shape, that is, until the flop came Q 10 9 to give ZIGENAAREN top pair for reverse domination. The turn was the A, no real help for chrisrokx, and the river was the 9. Chrisrokx was knocked out in sixth place ($43,416) as a result of the hand.
GrinderMJ was the next to go when he pushed all in preflop for $1.8 million from the small blind and was called by Prevaricator in the big blind. Prevaricator showed A 8 and GrinderMJ revealed Q 9 and was behind. The board ran out 8 6 4 2 4, needlessly pairing Prevaricator's 8 for him to win the hand and eliminate GrinderMJ in fifth ($57,421).
It was now a relatively tight race for first place with ZIGENAAREN in first with $10.6 million, Pervaricator in second with $8.2 million, and Ravanelli in third with $7.4 million. Kongsgaard was pretty far back in fourth place with $1.9 million and, correspondingly, he was the next player eliminated eight minutes later. ZIGENAAREN min-raised to $320,000 preflop, and Kongsgaard pushed all in over the top for his $2.3 million. ZIGENAAREN called and showed Q J and was dominating Kongsgaard's Q 9. The flop came A K 10, giving ZIGENAAREN a Broadway straight and a flush draw and leaving Kongsgaard drawing dead to a jack (to tie). The turn was the 2 and the river the 8 and Kongsgaard was eliminated in fourth, for $71,426.
The hand furthered ZIGENAAREN's lead to $14.7 million compared to Prevaricator in second with $9.1 million. Ravanelli was bringing up the rear with $4.2 million. Over 10 minutes later, ZIGENAAREN's stack had grown to $18.6 million at the expense of both of his opponents. ZIGENAAREN raised to $480,000 preflop, with the big blind at $160,000, and Ravanelli pushed all in over the top for $3.1 million. ZIGENAAREN called and showed K J and was up against Ravanelli's A 9. The board ran out 10 8 2 K 3, spiking a king for ZIGENAAREN on the turn to give him the hand. Ravanelli made $86,691 for third place.
ZIGENAAREN now sat with $21.7 million and Prevaricator had $6.3 million. Despite some ups and downs, the stacks were relatively the same for the final hand, 10 minutes into the heads-up match. ZIGENAAREN raised to $600,000 preflop, with the big blind at $200,000, and Prevaricator called. The flop came K 8 2 and Prevaricator checked. ZIGENAAREN bet $800,000 and Prevaricator check-raised all in for $6.6 million. ZIGENAAREN called and showed K Q and found that he was ahead against Prevaricator's dominated K 10. The turn was the Q, giving ZIGENAAREN top two pair, and Prevaricator was drawing dead. Prevaricator earned $130,947 for second place. ZIDENAAREN raked in a huge $247,552 payday for his first-place finish in the event.
The final results were:
1) ZIGENAAREN – $257,551.95
2) Prevaricator – $130,946.75
3) Ravanelli – $86,690.95
4) Kongsgaard – $71,425.50
5) GrinderMJ – $57,420.50
6) chrisrokx – $43,415.50
7) Reno_Jones – $30,530.90
8) PokiAnn – $19,326.90
9) Randers – $11,204.00
Full Tilt $400,000 Guarantee
The Full Tilt $400,000-guaranteed tournament had 2,302 entrants last night to build a prize pool of $460,400. These numbers made for a strong continuation to last week's highly successful Full Tilt Online Poker Series III (FTOPS III).
When it was down to the final table, CaptRunDown had a hefty lead with $2.8 million compared to letters2006 in second place with just $911,000. Despite the massive lead, it wasn't long before donkeylounge took over the chip lead with eight players still remaining. Donkeylounge and CaptRunDown ran neck-and-neck in first and second place, respectively, for a good while.
By the time there were five players remaining, a new chip leader had emerged, GROOTEGOED with $3.5 million compared to CaptRunDown in second with $1.2 million. Donkeylounge had deflated and now sat with just $444,000. He eventually busted out in fifth place ($20,488) when he pushed all in with K-9 and was called by eazymoney05 with A-K. One minute later, Eazymoney05's pocket sixes rivered a set to best Nate Jizzle's pocket queens and eliminate him in fourth ($27,072).
At the beginning of three-way play, GROOTEGOED held the chip lead with $3.5 million versus eazymoney05 in second with $2.2 million and CaptRunDown in third with $1.2 million. After almost 25 minutes of play, CaptRunDown had retaken the chip lead at the expense of both of his opponents. He now had almost $4 million and GROOTEGOED's stack was down to less than $1 million.
In GROOTEGOED's final hand he raised to $300,000 preflop, with the big blind at $100,000, and CaptRunDown raised to $980,000, enough to put GROOTEGOED all in. GROOTEGOED called and showed pocket aces and was well ahead against CaptRunDown's A 6 (GROOTEGOED was a 93 percent favorite to win the hand). The flop came 10 7 4, not much danger for GROOTEGOED. The turn was the 8, giving CaptRunDown a double gutshot-straight draw (with a 5 or 9) and an 18 percent chance to eliminate GROOTEGOED. The river was the 9 to complete CaptRunDown's straight and GROOTEGOED was out in third place ($33,931).
CaptRunDown held $5 million in chips versus eazymoney05's $1.9 million at the start of heads-up play. Within a minute, eazymoney05 had doubled up when his A-9 went up against CaptRunDown's pocket fours and eazymoney05 paired both of his holecards to take the hand. The aftermath of the hand left the players virtually tied with $3.5 million for eazymoney05 and $3.4 million for CaptRunDown. CaptRunDown regained a small lead before pushing all in on a board of 6 4 3 9. Eazymoney05 called and showed J 9 for top pair and CaptRunDown revealed A J for a bluff. He had just $214,000 after the hand and was severely crippled.
Miraculously, he rebuilt his stack and actually retook the chip lead in the 15 minutes before the final hand. In the final hand, eazymoney05 (now with $2.8 million) called the $120,000 big blind preflop and CaptRunDown ($4.1 million) raised to $390,000. Eazymoney05 called and the flop came Q 4 2. CaptRunDown bet $240,000 and eazymoney05 pushed all in for $2.4 million. CaptRunDown called and showed pocket queens for a flopped set and eazymoney05 revealed K 9 for a flush draw. The turn was the 9 and the river the 10 and eazymoney05 was eliminated in second place ($51,841). CaptRunDown earned $84,460 for his incredible comeback and win in the event.
The final results were:
1) CaptRunDown – $84,460.38
2) eazymoney05 – $51,841.04
3) GROOTEGOED – $33,931.48
4) Nate Jizzle – $27,071.52
5) donkeylounge – $20,487.80
6) letters2006 – $14,732.80
7) Jonutenh – $10,819.40
8) sonofchufty – $8,471.36
9) bballer88 – $6,445.60
UltimateBet $200,000 Guarantee
Attendance at the UltimateBet $200,000-guaranteed tournament was down only slightly last night, possibly as a result of the Academy Awards. The tournament had 897 entrants compared to the 924 it had last weekend. UltimateBet put up a $20,600 overlay for the event.
Classyploppy had a good-sized lead when it came down to the final nine players. He sat with $688,000, compared to zestfulyclean in second with $386,000. Each of the other players had less than $300,000 in their stacks, with the average being less than $200,000.
By the time there were only four players remaining, classyploppy was still in the chip lead and zestfulyclean had dropped down to third place behind ml7651. Zestfulyclean dropped out of the running completely 13 minutes later when he pushed all in preflop (with a now fourth-place stack) with A 10 and was up against tutnik11's pocket queens. The queens held up and zestfulyclean was sent to the rail in fourth ($13,000).
With three players left, tutnik11 and ml7651 chipped away at classyploppy's big stack until classyploppy had just $272,000 in third place (compared to the $1.1 million he'd had when three-way play began). Classyploppy was eventually eliminated when he pushed all in preflop against a raise from tutnik11 and tutnik11 called and showed A 9. Classyploppy was dominating tutnik11 with his A K, but the flop came 10 9 4 to give tutnik11 the 9 he needed to dominate classyploppy. The turn and river were blanks and classyploppy, the chip leader throughout most of the final table, ended the tournament in third place ($18,500).
Tutnik11 had an almost 2-1 chip lead over ml7651 going into heads-up play with $1.5 million versus $762,000. Tutnik11 hacked away at ml7651's stack for four minutes before the final hand. Ml7651, now with just $164,000 in chips, pushed all in preflop and was called by tutnik11. Tutnik11 showed K Q and was dominating ml7651's K 6. The board ran out 9 2 4 5 3, completing a hand for both players on the river. Ml7651 made a 6-high straight, but tutnik11 completed a flush to take down the pot and eliminate ml7651 in second place. Ml7651 made $27,000 for his finish while tutnik11 pocketed $45,000 for first place in the tournament.
The final results were:
1) tutnik11 – $45,000
2) ml7651 – $27,000
3) classyploppy – $18,500
4) zestfulyclean – $13,000
5) DonT77 – $11,000
6) KRISPJAK – $9,000
7) Luie Sojo – $7,000
8) Fingerpost – $5,000
9) hemp – $3,500
10) KelseyLou – $2,000
Bodog $100,000 Guarantee
The Bodog $100,000 guarantee had just 828 entrants yesterday, an abnormally low number for the tournament. Entry numbers have been lower than that just two previous times this year, and on both of those days the other Sunday tournaments saw equally severe dips in attendance, as well, which was not the case yesterday. Bodog came out of pocket for $17,200 to match the posted guarantee in last night's tournament.
Drexxel7 had the chip lead ($576,000) when the final table began. His next closest opponents were JoeBobSD, in second with $281,000, and yunghizzles, in third with $276,000. Those three players made it down to four-way play along with capsocool. Capsocool had seen this final table before – quite recently, in fact. He took third place in this tournament just last weekend, for $9,000.
Capsocool was in third place as four-way play began, but it was a tight race between him, yunghizzles in second, and drexxel7 in fourth, as each's stack was in the mid-$400,000s. JoeBobSD had $732,000 and was leading the pack. Drexxel7 was the first to fall when his pocket fours ran into capsocool's pocket queens. The queens held up and drexxel7 was eliminated in fourth ($6,500). At this point, capsocool had amassed over $1 million in chips and was in prime position to beat out his previous finish with his first-place stack.
Capsocool proceeded to take out JoeBobSD six minutes later, when his A 8 outdrew JoeBobSD's pocket queens after a preflop all-in and call. Capsocool now had a more than 3-1 chip advantage over yunghizzles as the heads-up match began. He sat with $1.6 million versus yunghizzles' $489,000. It was less than three minutes before the final hand.
Capsocool (now with $1.3 million) min-raised preflop to $60,000 and yunghizzles pushed all in for almost $800,000. Capsocool called instantly and showed A 10 and was up against yunghizzles' two live cards, K 8. The flop was mixed news for yunghizzles when it came 8 7 3, giving him top pair, but also giving capsocool a flush draw to go with his overcards. Capsocool was actually a favorite to win on the flop, with a 55 percent chance to overtake yunghizzles' eights. The turn ended the tournament when it brought the 2, completing capsocool's flush to take down the pot and win the hand. Yunghizzles made $14,000 for second place while capsocool collected $25,000 for his first-place finish. Along with his third-place finish last week, capsocool's total winnings came to $34,000.
The final results were:
1) capsocool – $25,000
2) yunghizzles – $14,000
3) JoeBobSD – $9,000
4) drexxel7 – $6,500
5) tallynole – $5,400
6) The__Whale – $4,400
7) Hazee Jr – $3,400
8) czarcaesarxx – $2,400
9) thenoona – $1,550
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