PokerStars Sunday Million
PokerStars had a big weekend with its first Sunday Million tournament since the departure of Lee Jones. The event broke the 7,000-entrant barrier for the first time since the NETELLER pullout from the U.S. market. With 7,034 entrants, the prize pool came to $1,406,800; still a ways off from the record ($1,526,400; set Jan. 14, 2007), but respectable, nonetheless.
DnCarlos was the chip leader as the final table action began with $15.5 million in chips, but Manager1st wasn't terribly far behind with $13.2 million in second place. Blotzilla was clinging to the last of his chips in last place with $2.1 million when the big blind was at $250,000.
In the first elimination hand, seven minutes in, Maroonlime ($7.3 million) raised to $750,000 preflop (with the big blind now at $300,000). Manager1st reraised to $3 million and Maroonlime pushed all in over the top. Manager1st called and showed pocket jacks and had a healthy lead over Maroonlime's pocket nines. The board missed both players and Maroonlime was sent to the rail in ninth place, for $8,300.
Mid-stacked players continued to make early exits. Diabolo63 ($7.5 million) raised to $1.2 million preflop from under the gun, with the big blind now at $400,000. Manager1st ($28.1 million) reraised to $6 million and Diabolo63 pushed all in over the top for $1.5 million more. Manager1st called and showed pocket aces and was in a huge lead versus Diabolo63's A
K. The board bricked out and manager1st's aces held up to take down the pot and eliminate Diabolo63 in eighth place ($12,661).
Delta was the next to go just four minutes later. He pushed all in from under the gun for his last $1.5 million and was called by both manager1st and Acey-Deucey. The two players with chips left checked it down to the river until the board read 8
5
4 7 9. Manager1st showed K
10 (king high), Acey-Deucey turned over pocket tens, and delta mucked and was out in seventh place, earning $21,805.
Blotzilla had made a very decent comeback. He'd turned the $2.1 million he started the final table with into $8.2 million at on point. However, after just six minutes, he'd lost $7 million of that stack – most of it in a hand in which his A-Q was drawn out on by K-Q when the flop came J-10-9 – and he was back down to the felt. He called all in in the big blind preflop against a raise from Acey-Deucey in the small blind and showed A 9. He was dominating Acey-Deucey, who held A 8. The flop came Q 10 5, even better news for Blotzilla, as it meant that any spade would seal the deal and double him up. He was now a 72 percent favorite to win the hand. The turn was another great card for Blotzilla when it brought the 9, to give him a pair and further his lead. The river, however, was the J, completing a gutshot-straight draw for Acey-Deucey to eliminate Blotzilla in sixth place ($30,949).
Barely a minute later, Naf70 was railward-bound. DnCarlos raised to $2 million preflop, with the big blind at $500,000, and Naf70 called all in for his last $1.9 million. DnCarlos showed pocket fives and was in a race against Naf70's K Q. The board ran out J 10 6 10 3, pairing but otherwise missing both players, and Naf70 lost his coin flip and went out in fifth place, for a $42,204 payday.
Manager1st was leading the pack after the hand, as he had been for much of the final table, with $35.7 million. He was leaps and bounds ahead of DnCarlos, who had close to $16 million in second place.
Acey-Deucey was now the short stack and he found himself calling all in preflop in the big blind against a raise from manager1st in the small blind. Acey-Deucey turned over Q 10 and found that he'd made a good call against manager1st's 6 4. The flop changed all of that when it came 7 5 4, giving manager1st a pair and an open-end straight draw. The turn completed that draw with the 8 and it was all over for Acey-Deucey. He took home $56,272 for fourth place.
Manager1st retook the lead with that elimination hand (Kid_Poker47 having slightly edged him out recently) with $28 million versus Kid_Poker47 in second with $24.9 million and DnCarlos in third with $17.5 million. With the big blind at $600,000 and the chip stacks relatively close, there was still plenty of room to maneuver and it was anyone's game. Two minutes later, winning was no longer an option for one of those three players.
DnCarlos raised to $2.4 million preflop and manager1st reraised to $7.2 million. DnCarlos called and the flop came A 6 2. Manager1st checked and DnCarlos bet $4.8 million. Manager1st check-raised to $13.8 million, enough to put DnCarlos all in, and DnCarlos called and showed A 10 for top pair. Manager1st one-upped him with the A 6 for a flopped two pair. The turn all but ended DnCarlos' tournament life when it brought the 6, giving manager1st a full house. When the river didn't bring the case ace DnCarlos needed to tie for the pot, he was eliminated in third place ($70,340).
Kid_Poker47 had been trying to arrange chop discussions for the last half of the final table action, but manager1st never spoke up and the poker room manager told Kid_Poker47 to quit asking. Now that it was heads up between the two, Kid_Poker47 didn't even try to start negotiations, knowing it would be a futile request of the unresponsive manager1st.
He found himself behind manager1st as heads-up play began, sitting with $27 million versus manager1st's $43.3 million. Kid_Poker47 won a big hand just two hands in when he slowplayed a flopped trip aces. Manager1st had bet aggressively throughout with K-10 until the board read A-A-10-3. When he bet on the turn, Kid_Poker47 check-raised all in for less than a standard raise and manager1st called. The river was a blank and Kid_Poker47 doubled up. The hand upped Kid_Poker47's stack to $53.3 million compared to manager1st's $17 million. It wasn't too much longer until the final hand.
Manager1st (now with $11.6 million) raised to $2.4 million preflop and Kid_Poker47 reraised enough to put manager1st all in. Manager1st called and showed Q 8 versus Kid_Poker47's A 10. The board ran out K 6 2 J K, to pair but otherwise miss both players, and Kid_Poker47 scooped in the final pot of the tournament. Manager1st cashed out for $99,883 for second place while Kid_Poker47 made $198,359 for his first-place finish. It was a good thing for Kid_Poker47 that the deal-making discussions never took place.
The final results were:
1) Kid_Poker47 – $198,358.80
2) manager1st – $99,882.80
3) DnCarlos – $70,340
4) Acey-Deucey – $56,272
5) Naf70 – $42,204
6) Blotzilla – $30,949.30
7) delta – $21,805.40
8) Diabolo63 – $12,661.20
9) Maroonlime – $8,300.12
Full Tilt $400,000 Guarantee
The Full Tilt $400,000-guaranteed tournament continued its success this weekend when it attracted 2,211 entrants, up slightly from last weekend's 2,185. The prize pool came to $442,200, with a first-place prize of more than $81,000.
When the final table began, poxyist was the chip leader with $1.2 million, compared to SamH133 in second with $933,000. SamH133 took over the chip lead early on and was the first player to break the $2 million mark. Meanwhile, thorro was steadily raking in chips and catching up. Thorro finally vaulted into first place with six players remaining, while poxyist had fallen among the short stacks.
Poxyist eventually busted out when he called all in preflop against SamH133 and showed A 3. SamH133 held a dominating A 9 as the board bricked out. SamH133's 9 kicker played and poxyist was eliminated in fourth place ($26,001).
Now, with three players remaining, thorro was in the lead with $4.3 million compared to SamH133 in second with $1.5 million and tkilpatrick1 in third with $865,000. In a relatively long 20 minutes of three-way play, tkilpatrick1 acted as a vacuum for his opponents' chips. He eventually found himself sitting as the chip leader with $3.3 million.
At this point, thorro raised to $350,000 preflop (with the big blind at $100,000) and SamH133 pushed all in over the top for $1 million. Thorro called and showed A 10 and was dominating SamH133's K 10. The board improved neither player's hand and thorro's ace high was enough to eliminate SamH133 in third place, for $32,590.
It was now nearly dead even as both players sat with $3.3 million. Tkilpatrick1 continued to siphon off chips from thorro until the final hand, less than 10 minutes into the heads-up match.
Tkilpatrick1 ($4.2 million) raised to $300,000 preflop and thorro ($2.4 million) reraised to $1 million. Tkilpatrick1 pushed all in over the top and thorro called all in and revealed pocket fives. Thorro was in bad shape against tkilpatrick1's pocket queens as the board ran out K 7 2 6 J. Tkilpatrick1's queens held up to eliminate thorro in second place ($49,792) and earn him the $81,122 first-place prize.
The final results were:
1) tkilpatrick1 – $81,121.59
2) thorro – $49,791.72
3) SamH133 – $32,590.14
4) poxyist – $26,001.36
5) Willibal – $19,677.90
6) supergirl72 – $14,450.40
7) Wake all in – $10,391.70
8) bigbobm11 – $8,136.48
9) Zuludogg – $6,190.80
UltimateBet $200,000 Guarantee
Entry numbers for the UltimateBet $200,000-guaranteed tournament held steady last night when 864 entrants bought in (down slightly from last week's 879). UltimateBet went out of pocket for a $27,200 overlay to match the posted guarantee.
Pokerich93 came to the final table as the chip leader with $559,000 in chips. Bo "Legato" Sehlstedt was in second place with $332,000. Legato stepped into the online poker limelight when he won the PokerStars Sunday Million tournament in November of 2006, earning $132,000 (after a deal at the final table). Also at the table was Ira "Big Jew" Mazie, who had taken fourth place in this tournament less than a month ago (March 11) for $13,000.
Legato teetered between $300,000 and $400,000 for most of the final table. In what would be his final hand, he pushed all in for his last $304,000 against a preflop raise and one limper. The preflop raiser folded, but the limper, Big Jew, called and showed a slow-played pocket aces. Legato had K-Q and the board proceeded to brick out and leave him with just king high. He left the final table with $11,000 in fifth place.
When it got down to three-way play, teecue held the chip lead with $851,000 versus Big Jew in second with $717,000 and pokerich93 in third with $592,000. Pokerich93 made a run for the money, at one point sitting in first place, before tumbling back down into third place with just $187,000 (when the big blind was at $30,000). He pushed all in preflop and was called by teecue, who showed A Q. Pokerich93 had a dominated Q 5 and needed a lot of help. The flop came 7 6 4, giving pokerich93 plenty of outs with any 8 or 3 for a straight (or straight flush, if they come diamonds) or a 5 for a pair (a 35 percent chance for survival). The turn and river, however, were the 2 and A, respectively, and pokerich93 was out in third place ($18,500).
Big Jew had the chip lead as heads-up play began, with $1.3 million compared to teecue's $866,000. The final hand was just four minutes later. Big Jew limped preflop and teecue checked. The flop came A 8 7 and both players checked. The turn was the 7 and teecue bet $66,000. Big Jew called to see the river of 2. Teecue again led out, this time for $198,000, and Big Jew raised to $875,000, enough to put teecue all in. Teecue called all in for $324,000 and showed pocket queens for two pair. Big Jew revealed A 7 for a slowplayed flopped two pair turned full house to win the hand. Teecue made $27,000 for second place and Big Jew pocketed $45,000 for his win in the event.
The final results were:
1) Ira "Big Jew" Mazie – $45,000
2) teecue – $27,000
3) pokerich93 – $18,500
4) myran2 – $13,000
5) Bo "Legato" Sehlstedt – $11,000
6) Chubbbs – $9,000
7) jimmie23 – $7,000
8) _theirbman_ – $5,000
9) Chuck_A_Luck – $3,500
10) 21maddog – $2,000
Bodog $100,000 Guarantee
Numbers were up again this week in the Bodog $100,000-guaranteed tournament when 864 entrants put up the $100 buy-in to vie for the $25,000 first-place prize (coincidentally, the exact same number of entrants as UltimateBet's $200,000 guarantee). While entries were still relatively low compared to what the tournament was averaging at the beginning of the year, last night's attendance was the highest the tournament had seen in its past four runs. The tournament required a $13,600 overlay.
Well-recognized Internet pro Jon "PearlJammer" Turner bested 855 other players to claim a seat at the final table. He came to the table in second place with $315,000 in chips, behind only jraye87, who had $615,000 in first place.
In the first 23 minutes, three players had been eliminated, i12play had pulled into the lead with $798,000, and PearlJammer's stack was down to $199,000 (with the big blind at $30,000). The action folded to PearlJammer in the small blind and he pushed all in. Papa Bull XL called all in in the big blind (with $169,000) and showed A-6. He found that he was dominating PearlJammer's 7-6 suited. Papa Bull XL paired both of his hole cards (and PearlJammer obviously paired his 6, but that wasn't enough) to take down the pot and leave PearlJammer with just one big blind's worth of chips.
PearlJammer managed to triple up in the very next hand with just ace high on a paired board, and his new $100,000 stack lasted him through two more eliminations. He got down to $91,000 and was in the big blind. Action folded to goin_blind in the small blind, who pushed all in. PearlJammer called all in and showed A 5 and was dominated by goin_blind's A J. The flop came J 6 4, furthering goin_blind's lead and leaving PearlJammer with just a 9 percent chance to survive. The turn brought the 8, which increased PearlJammer's chances to 27 percent with both a flush draw and a gutshot-straight draw. The river, however, was the J to end PearlJammer's tournament life in fourth place ($6,500).
Less than a minute later, it was down to just two players: i12play ($1.2 million) and jraye87 ($915,000). The final table had been running for only 27 minutes up to this point, relatively early for a heads-up match. The first big hand occurred three minutes later. I12play (now with $1.4 million) min-raised to $60,000 preflop and jraye87 ($749,000) called. The flop came 6 4 2 and jraye87 checked. I12play bet $126,000 and jraye87 check-raised all in. I12play quickly called and showed K 6 for top pair versus jraye97's 4 3 for mid-pair and a gutshot-straight draw. The turn was the 4, giving jraye87 trip fours to take the lead in the hand. When the river brought a blank, jraye87 took down the pot to double up and take the chip lead with $1.5 million.
I12play made only a little headway before the final hand, three minutes later. Jraye87 raised to $90,000 preflop and i12play called. The flop came J 8 7 and both players checked. The turn was the A, and this time i12play led out with a bet of $186,000, which jraye87 called. The river brought the 10 and i12play pushed all in for his last $616,000. jraye87 called immediately and showed 9 7 for a rivered straight. I12play revealed K 4 for king high with a missed flush draw and was eliminated in second place ($14,000). Jraye87 raked in the pot and collected the $25,000 first-place prize money. The entire final table lasted just 36 minutes, a very short amount of time compared to this tournament's normal final tables (or any online final table, for that matter).
The final results were:
1) jraye87 – $25,000
2) i12play – $14,000
3) goin_blind – $9,000
4) Jon "PearlJammer" Turner – $6,500
5) Wayupinya – $5,400
6) Papa Bull XL – $4,400
7) Rugbything – $3,400
8) Huskers20 – $2,400
9) sheila12 – $1,550
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