Mlagoo catches pocket aces against thenut21's pocket kings in
an unfortunate heads-up scenario to determine the tournament.
PokerStars Sunday Million
The
PokerStars Sunday Million took a vacation of sorts
last weekend when the tournament was replaced by a 150-seat-guaranteed
World Series of Poker main event qualifier. The tournament came back kicking this weekend with its quarterly $1,000 buy-in event, which attracted 1,482 entrants and offered a prize pool of $1,482,000. The first-place finisher stood to earn $315,518 if no deal was made.
The final table of this tournament was truly stacked. Some notable players at the table included
Thayer "THAY3R" Rasmussen,
Steven "SvZff" van Zadelhoff (who has already won a
Sunday Million event on April 22 of this year, earning $164,000),
Jeff "jeffbeesdat" Gray,
Jeff "mrrain" Banghart,
Matt "mlagoo" LaGarde, and
thenut21 (a player who is high in the standings on many Internet poker ranking sites). Loooser17 was the chip leader when the final nine players gathered. He had $3 million in chips compared to Spinvis in second place with $2.2 million. Faithless was hurting as the short stack with just $710,000, but the big blind was still a relatively low $40,000, so he had some breathing room.
Faithless lasted 25 minutes before becoming the final table's first casualty. He open-pushed all in in mid-position for $442,000, when the big blind was at $60,000, and was called by loooser17 in the small blind. Loooser17 showed A
J
and was dominating faithless' A
10
. The board paired, but otherwise bricked out, and faithless was out in ninth place ($14,079).
SvZff then got involved in a big hand in which he pushed all in preflop for $1.2 million against a raise to $180,000 from Spinvis and thenut21 called all in from the small blind for $697,000. Spinvis folded and thenut21 turned up A
J
and was in horrible shape versus SvZff's A
Q
. Horrible, that is, until the flop came J
J
10
, giving him trip jacks for the lead. The turn was a blank and the river was a rather irrelevant ace to assure thenut21 the pot, double him up, and cripple SvZff.
SvZff hung on for six more minutes before pushing all in preflop for $438,000, with the big blind now at $80,000. He was called by thenut21 and jeffbeesdat then reraised all in over the top, having thenut21 covered. Thenut21 called all in and showed pocket queens and was dominating jeffbeesdat's pocket jacks and was in a good lead versus SvZff's A
10
. The flop was mean to SvZff when it came A
Q
7
, giving him the ace he wanted, but furthering thenut21's lead with a dominating set of queens and making thenut21 a
96 percent favorite to win the hand. The turn and river were blanks and SvZff was sent packing in eighth place, for $22,971.
Spinvis was the next to go when he open-raised all in preflop for $507,000 and went up against loooser17. Loooser17 was an underdog with his A
8
versus Spinvis' pocket nines and loooser17 apologized to Spinvis when he made a straight on a board of J
10
9
5
Q
to eliminate Spinvis in seventh place ($37,050).
The next elimination hand was almost a half hour later. Jeffbeesdat ($1.9 million) raised to $250,000 preflop, with the big blind at $100,000, and mrrain ($2.2 million) called in the big blind. The flop came 8
7
7
and both players checked. The turn was the 2
and mrrain again checked. Jeffbeesdat bet $400,000 and mrrain check-raised to $800,000. Jeffbeesdat pushed all in over the top for his remaining $1.6 million and mrrain called and showed 8
7
for a flopped full house. Jeffbeesdat showed that he was coolered with his 7
5
and was drawing dead. He finished in sixth place, earning $52,611.
That hand put mrrain in the chip lead. Meanwhile, loooser17's stack had plummeted to just $969,000, and he needed to pick a spot soon. He finally took a stand just a minute later when he raised to $745,000 preflop, leaving himself with just $84,000 behind. Thenut21 min-raised and loooser17 called all in and showed K
8
and was one-upped by thenut21's K
9
. The board completely missed both players, but thenut21's kicker played and loooser17 was headed for the door in fifth place, despite being the initial chip leader. He pocketed $69,654 for his finish.
Next, THAY3R's stack was running critically low at just $1.3 million, when the big blind was at $130,000. He limped preflop in the small blind and mrrain checked his option. The flop came 4
3
2
and THAY3R bet the minimum, $130,000. Mrrain raised all in, having THAY3R covered, and THAY3R called and showed A
A
. Mrrain revealed K
5
for an open-end straight draw and a flush draw. The turn was the 2
and the river the 6
, completing both a straight and a flush for mrrain (the flush played, of course) and THAY3R's cracked aces sent him to the virtual rail in fourth place ($88,179).
Play was now threehanded, and the remaining players spoke their first words regarding a possible chop. Mlagoo and mrrain proposed a straight three-way chop, as all three stacks were basically identical at close to $5 million. Thenut21 was a slight chip leader at the time and wanted to see the by-the-chips chop numbers. The by-the-chips deal would guarantee thenut21 $181,210, mrrain $178,263, and mlagoo $175,767, with $50,000 remaining on the line to play for. Thenut21 again tried to renegotiate by asking for $188,000, when he was only a chip leader by less than two big blinds-worth of chips. The others players started to argue and thenut21 immediately said, "No deal, then. Let's play."
Mrrain then took a hit when he went all in preflop against a raise from mlagoo and mlagoo called all in and showed K-Q offsuit. Mrrain held jacks, but the flop paired mlagoo's king and mrrain was down to just under $2 million. Mrrain took yet another hit when his turn and river bluffs on a board of A
Q
J
6
6
were called by mlagoo, who held Q
9
. That hand put mrrain under $1 million.
Mrrain finally pushed all in preflop two minutes later and was called by his now-nemesis, mlagoo, who showed K
J
. Mrrain held J
8
and was dominated. The board ran out 4
4
3
K
9
and mlagoo spiked an unneeded king to take mrrain out in third place ($111,150).
The two remaining players then again paused the tournament to discuss a chop. Mlagoo had $8.8 million in the chip lead at the time and thenut21 had $6 million. The by-the-chips chop numbers had mlagoo guaranteed $221,626 and thenut21 guaranteed $202,465, with $50,000 to play for. Thenut21 now countered that he wanted a straight even chop or he would not agree. Mlagoo called the proposal ridiculous (most likely considering the fact that thenut21 rejected an even chop earlier, when the stacks were almost identical) and thenut21 asked for the tournament to continue.
The heads-up match lasted just under 15 minutes. In the final hand, mlagoo ($9.7 million) raised to $400,000 preflop, with the big blind at $160,000, and thenut21 ($5.2 million) reraised to $640,000. Mlagoo reraised again to $1.5 million and thenut21 pushed all in. Mlagoo quickly called and showed pocket aces and thenut21 was in bad shape with pocket kings in an unlucky heads-up scenario. The board came J
7
5
J
8
and mlagoo's aces held up to take down the final pot of the tournament. Thenut21 made $158,574 for second place while mlagoo earned an unprecedented $315,518 for his first-place prize. The PokerStars support member moderating the final table said that mlagoo walked away with "one of the biggest cashes we've ever paid to one player."
The final results were:
1) Matt "mlagoo" LaGarde - $315,517.80
2) thenut21 - $158,574
3) Jeff "mrrain" Banghart - $111,150
4) Thayer "THAY3R" Rasmussen - $88,179
5) loooser17 - $69,654
6) Jeff "jeffbeesdat" Gray - $52,611
7) Spinvis - $37,050
8) Steven "SvZff" van Zadelhoff - $22,971
9) faithless - $14,079
Full Tilt $500,000 Guarantee
The
Full Tilt major Sunday tournament came back in full force after a one-week hiatus due to a massive, 100-seat-guaranteed
World Series of Poker main event qualifier held
last Sunday. Full Tilt's tournament sported a newly-upped $500,000 guarantee, and it didn't disappoint. The tournament found 3,168 entrants to generate a prize pool of $633,600. Not bad for its inaugural run.
TheLizard held the chip lead as the final table began, with almost $2 million in chips, but he was in close company with five of the other final-table participants, who each had in the millions of chips, as well. Internet notable
Sasha Rosewood was also at the final table, playing under his eponymous screen name. He sat with $1.4 million in chips.
TheLizard made an early exit from the table in fourth place ($35,165) when he got severely shortstacked and was on the verge of being blinded off. He finally pushed all in preflop with K-5 and was taken out by Snake413's A-2 when Snake413 unnecessarily paired his ace on the river.
Snake413 had $5.3 million as three-way play began, which put him squarely in the chip lead. Sasha Rosewood was in second place with $3.3 million and cane3418 was in third place with $898,000, when the big blind was at $100,000. Cane3418 lasted just one more minute before his final hand. Snake413 raised to $290,000 preflop and cane3418 reraised all in for $708,000. Snake413 called and showed Q
9
versus cane3418's A
2
. The flop was incredibly unlucky for cane3418 when it came J
10
8
, giving Sname413 the nuts and leaving cane3418 with just a
2 percent chance to survive the hand. The turn was the K
, giving cane3418 a small amount of hope, but the river was the 6
and he was out in third place, earning $44,986.
It was now heads up between Snake413, with $6.3 million, and Sasha Rosewood, with $3.2 million. The very first hand of the match was huge. Sasha Rosewood raised to $300,000 and Snake413 reraised to $1 million. Sasha Rosewood thought before finally reraising again to $2.2 million. Snake413 requested time, but then finally called the bet to see the flop of Q
5
2
. Snake413 instantly pushed all in for $4.1 million and Sasha Rosewood called all in just as quickly for his last $1 million and showed pocket fours. Snake413 held just A
10
and was behind. The turn and river bricked out and Sasha Rosewood doubled up to $6.5 million to take over the chip lead.
Snake413's stack got down close to $1 million before he began to regain momentum and rebuilt his stack. It took a while, but he eventually managed to pull back into a slight chip lead over Sasha Rosewood before this next hand.
Sasha Rosewood raised to $300,000 preflop, with the big blind now at $120,000, and Snake413 called. The flop came 10
8
5
and Snake413 bet $444,000. Sasha Rosewood raised to $2.2 million and Snake413 reraised all in for $4.6 million. Sasha Rosewood called all in for $400,000 less and showed 10
9
for top pair. Snake413 turned over A
10
(the hand that got him into so much trouble on the flop of the first hand of heads-up play) for top pair with top kicker and the lead. The turn was the J
and the river the 4
and Sasha Rosewood was out in second place ($69,062). Snake413's heads-up battle was bookended by A
10
and he took home the $113,446 top prize in the tournament with it.
The final results were:
1) Snake413 - $113,446.08
2) Sasha "Sasha Rosewood" Rosewood - $69,062.40
3) cane3418 - $44,985.60
4) TheLizard - $35,164.80
5) Crisp86 - $26,294.40
6) B1317 - $19,451.52
7) muckmehard - $14,572.80
8) danno420 - $11,404.80
9) kazoo15 - $8,490.24
UltimateBet $200,000 Guarantee
The
UltimateBet $200,000 guaranteed tournament was very much back on track this weekend when 978 entrants ponied up the $200 buy-in to the tournament. The site had to provide an overlay of only $4,400, well below the $43,400 overlay the tournament had just
last weekend (on Father's Day), when it had 783 entrants. Internet poker pro
Nick "gbmantis" Niergarth bubbled the final table of the event for the second time in two weeks.
Donkey5layer held the chip lead when it got down to the final 10 players, with $437,000 in chips. Notable Internet player
Brian "DUSoonerKid" Hansen wasn't too terribly far behind in second place, with $389,000. Both players made it to fourhanded play, but while DUSoonerKid had almost tripled his starting stack and sat in the chip lead with $1.1 million, Donkey5layer's stack had plummeted to just $136,000, when the big blind was at $16,000. Donkey5layer's open-pushed all in preflop and was called by jimmie23, who showed A
J
. Donkey5layer turned over 8
7
and was playing catch-up. The flop was scary for jimmie23 when it came 10
10
9
, giving Donkey5layer an open-end straight draw, but the turn and river were the A
and the 3
and jimmie23 hit an unneeded pair of aces to eliminate Donkey5layer in fourth place ($13,100).
Jimmie23 improved his second-place standing with the hand, and now sat with $787,000 at the start of three-way play, while makbelieve was in third place with $564,000. Makbelieve was sent to the virtual rail just six minutes later when DUSoonerKid raised to $46,000 preflop from the button and he reraised to $141,000 from the big blind. DUSoonerKid reraised enough to put makbelieve all in and makbelieve called and showed A
6
. Makbelieve's hand was dominated by DUSoonerKid's A
9
as the board ran out 8
5
4
3
4
, pairing itself, but otherwise improving neither player. Makbelieve's kicker problems sent him packing in third place, for $18,000.
DUSoonerKid now had a decent chip lead going into the heads-up match. He had $1.8 million compared to jimmie23's $681,000. The first big hand of heads-up play occurred five minutes into the match. DUSoonerKid raised to $46,000 preflop and jimmie23 called in the big blind. The flop was 10
8
3
and jimmie23 checked. DUSoonerKid bet $55,000 and jimmie23 check-raised to $155,000. DUSoonerKid called and the turn was the 7
. Jimmie23 pushed all in for $481,000 and DUSoonerKid called and showed 9
7
for a pair of sevens and an open-end straight draw. Jimmie23 held pocket queens for the lead as the turn bricked out with the 4
. Jimmie23 doubled up with the hand and now sat with $1.4 million while DUSoonerKid's stack had dropped to $1.1 million.
The final hand of the tournament was just one minute later. DUSookerKid raised to $46,000 preflop and jimmie23 called. The flop was A
J
4
and jimmie23 checked. DUSoonerKid bet $55,000 and jimmie23 check-raised to $160,000. DUSoonerKid called and the turn was the 9
(does all of this look oddly familiar so far, betting-wise?). Both players checked the turn and the river was the 10
. Jimmie23 bet $350,000 and DUSoonerKid reraised all in for $889,000. Jimmie23 called and showed 8
7
for a rivered jack-high straight and DUSoonerKid mucked his pair of aces with A
6
. DUSoonerKid left the table in second place, earning $26,500 while jimmie23 pocketed $45,000 for his heads-up surge.
The final results were:
1) jimmie23 - $45,000
2) Brian "DUSoonerKid" Hansen - $26,500
3) makbelieve - $18,000
4) Donkey5layer - $13,100
5) ShipItThisWay - $10,500
6) BAGGY - $8,500
7) rollemm - $6,500
8) POPMONSTER - $4,500
9) Xuan "x2then" Nguyen - $3,400
10) quanberg - $2,000
Bodog $100,000 Guarantee
The
Bodog $100,000-guaranteed tournament didn't enjoy the same massive upwards attendance spike that the UltimateBet $200,000 guarantee had last night, but the tournament nevertheless saw an increase in attendance over
last weekend. The event lured 810 entrants, up 72 entrants from last week. The tournament required a $19,000 overlay to match the guarantee.
Notable Internet pro
Marco "CrazyMarco" Johnson (who also plays under the name NoraFlum on PokerStars and UltimateBet) made the final table of the event. He entered the first full hand of the final table in second place, with $368,000 in chips. RunScreamin was the massive chip leader at the table with $720,000 in his stack.
Both players were still alive when it got down to four-way play and had stacks in the $500,000s. Scythe27 was the chip leader at the time with $727,000 and Cory "Ozone23" Albertson was the short stack with just $232,000 when the big blind was at $20,000. Ozone23, however, managed to chip up and survive through the next elimination hand.
RunScreamin open-pushed all in for $389,000 and CrazyMarco ($438,000) called in the big blind (which was now $40,000) and showed A
10
. RunScreamin held K
7
and was in bad shape. The board ran out J
8
2
J
9
and failed to significantly improve RunScreamin's hand. He left the table in fourth place, with $6,500.
CrazyMarco had now slightly edged out Scythe27 for the chip lead. He had $862,000 versus Scythe27's $811,000 and Ozone23's $352,000 as threehanded play began. Scythe27's stack was slowly eaten away at until he had just $387,000 left. CrazyMarco raised to $100,000 on the button and Scythe27 reraised all in, folding Ozone23. CrazyMarco called and showed pocket aces, which were severely dominating Scythe27's A
7
. The board completely missed both players and Scythe27 went out in third place ($9,000).
CrazyMarco had a relatively commanding lead of more than 3-1 going into heads-up play. The heads-up match lasted just three hands. Ozone23 pushed all in preflop for $492,000 and CrazyMarco called and revealed A
9
. Ozone23 turned over Q
8
and had just a
35 percent chance to survive the hand and double up. The board came J
5
4
4
7
and CrazyMarco's unpaired holecards were enough to eliminate Ozone23 in second place ($14,000). CrazyMarco collected $25,000 for his first-place finish in the tournament.
The final results were:
1) Marco "CrazyMarco" Johnson - $25,000
2) Cory "Ozone23" Albertson - $14,000
3) Scythe27 - $9,000
4) RunScreamin - $6,500
5) Peter_DK - $5,400
6) alonso8 - $4,400
7) pokerfanx789 - $3,400
8) spiker123 - $2,400
9) The Poacher - $1,550
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