Having the
UltimateBet Online Championships (UBOC) main event running alongside them didn't affect attendance at the other three major poker sites' weekly tournaments. (Read more on the
UBOC by
clicking here.) Entries at
PokerStars and
FullTilt were barely lower than last week and
Bodog's tournament actually had
more participants. FullTilt's $350,000 guarantee also had star power at its final table with Internet pro Gary "GB2005" Bogdanski, who recently won best all-around player at the
FullTilt Online Poker Series (FTOPS) in November.
PokerStars Sunday Million
The
PokerStars Sunday Million tournament easily surpassed its guarantee once again when it gathered 6,680 players to vie for a $1,336,000 prize pool. Mrrain entered the final table as the chip leader with $14 million while second place was tightly contested between three players hovering in the $8 millions: wds2004, Nordberg, and gregghmsr. Capper77 was in the short stack with just $3.2 million.
Capper77 didn't hold on to his short stack for long, as he was the first to go just four minutes in. He reraised all in preflop against wds2004, who called and showed A
Q
while Capper77 revealed he was dominated with A
6
. The flop furthered wds2005's lead with a queen and the turn and river were blanks to send Capper77 to the rail in ninth ($10,955).
Within 10 minutes, TAA212's stack had diminished until he was the table's short stack. He reraised all of his chips preflop against gregghmsr, who called and showed A
J
. TAA212 showed K
Q
and needed to improve. He did just that when the flop came Q
J
2
, spiking him a queen while also pairing gregghmsr's jack. The turn was the 6
and he was still in the lead, but the river brought the A
to give gregghmsr two pair to retake the lead. TAA212 was eliminated in eighth and earned $16,834.
After starting the table with over $8 million, Nordberg's stack had been reduced to just $1.3 million. Kiaser pushed all in preflop and Nordberg called all in for less and showed A
2
. Kiaser was in the lead when he turned over pocket fives. Neither player further improved, aside from the board pairing, and kiaser's fives held up to take down the pot and bust Nordberg in seventh ($22,712).
Kiaser had less than five minutes to enjoy his winnings as he was the next player sent to the rail. He pushed all in preflop and mrrain called. Kiaser showed pocket eights while mrrain had him hurting with pocket jacks. The board ran out and mrrain's jacks held up. Kiaser took home $28,858 for sixth place.
Kiaser's elimination left OddB in the short stack. OddB decided to follow the bustout trend and stack off preflop. Wds2004 called his all-in and showed K
Q
. OddB turned over pocket eights for the lead as the flop came A
5
5
. The turn was the J
, leaving OddB in the lead but giving wds2004 more outs with any 10 for a straight. Indeed, the 10
came on the river to complete wds2004's straight and bust OddB in fifth for $35,805.
The remaining four players decided to pause the tournament to discuss a possible deal. It was decided relatively quickly that a by-the-chips chop was fair with both wds2004 and mrrain receiving relatively equivalent amounts around $106,000 and both gregghmsr and Tulkaz each getting close to $70,000. Per PokerStars rules, $30,000 was left in the middle for the eventual winner.
Gregghmsr, the shortest stack going into the deal, was also the next to go. His became the sixth-straight preflop all-in elimination hand when he pushed and was called by wds2004. Wds2004 showed A
5
and he wasn't very well off against gregghmsr's pocket fives. The flop came K
Q
Q
, not much help for wds2004. The turn was the 8
, giving wds2004 a flush draw but leaving gregghmsr in the lead. The river brought the K
to put two pair on the board, counterfeiting gregghmsr's hand and giving wds2004 the best hand with his ace kicker. Gregghmsr got a $69,606 payday for fourth per the chop deal.
Wds2004 led the way into three-way play with $27.6 million compared to mrrain in second with $26.2 million and Tulkaz in the short stack with $13 million. Within four minutes both mrrain and Tulkaz had managed to chip away at wds2004's stack until his lead had diminished to a third-place $8.2 million. Wds2004 raised to $1.8 million preflop with the big blind at $600,000 and Tulkaz called. The flop came Q
7
5
and Tulkaz checked. Wds2004 bet $3 million and Tulkaz raised to $6.6 million, enough to put wds2004 all in. Wds2004 called and showed A
3
while Tulkaz flipped up 9
7
for a pair of sevens. The turn and river were the 3
and the 9
, leaving Tulkaz with two pair and wds2004 with just a pair of threes. Wds2004 was eliminated from the tournament in third ($106,541 with the deal).
It was now down to two, and both players were comparably stacked. Mrrain had the lead with $34.7 million and Tulkaz was close behind at $32.1 million. Tulkaz seesawed briefly into the chip lead and then back down to second again before the final hand. Tulkaz min-raised to $1.6 million preflop and mrrain reraised up to $4 million. Tulkaz called and the flop came A
J
9
. Mrrain bet $4.8 million and Tulkaz pushed all in over the top for $21.3 million. Mrrain called and showed J
9
for two pair while Tulkaz held J
3
for just a pair of jacks. The turn and river were blanks and mrrain scooped in the pot to eliminate Tulkaz in second ($71,477 with the deal). Mrrain won the extra $30,000 to put his total winnings at $135,942.
The final standings were:
*1) mrrain - $135,942
*2) Tulkaz - $71,477
*3) wds2004 - $106,541
*4) gregghmsr - $69,606
5) OddB - $35,804.80
6) kaiser - $28,857.60
7) Nordberg - $22,712
8) TAA212 - $16,833.60
9) Capper77 - $10,955.20
* Payouts reflect a four-way by-the-chips chop with $30,000 for the winner, per PokerStars rules.
FullTilt $350,000 Guarantee
It's safe to say that Internet pro Gary "GB2005" Bogdanski is having a lot of fun at
FullTilt lately. Just three weeks ago, he accumulated the most points on the
FTOPS leader board to win a customized FullTilt avatar as the best all-around player. While not sporting the new avatar yet, Bogdanski went on to take down FullTilt's $350,000 guaranteed tournament last night. The tournament sported a hefty $428,200 prize pool with its 2,141 players and Bogdanski cashed in $78,789 for his win in the event.
Bogdanski entered the table in third with around $1 million in chips, whereas chip leader BrkBB held $1.7. Bogdanski's stack remained relatively close to the $1 million mark through the first four eliminations of the table and he remained in third.
Bogdanski started to gain momentum with five players remaining, and by the time it was down to three, he'd doubled his stack to $2 million. He still sat in third, but the stacks were very close between all three players with BrkBB at $2.3 million and dawgnutz at $2.1 million. Bogdanski made his way to three-way play having folded preflop in every elimination hand at the table. He decided to break that trend by siphoning chips from both players' stacks and then proceeding to bust previous chip leader BrkBB.
Bogdanski now sat with a considerable chip lead with $4.8 million compared to dawgnutz's $1.6 million. Dawgnutz managed to double up once, and then lose it all back, plus some more, before Bodganski put the final nail in his coffin. Dawgnutz called from the small blind and Bogdanski raised enough to put him all in. Dawgnutz called and showed K
8
and was dominated when he saw Bogdanski's K
10
. The flop came Q
8
6
to give dawgnutz a pair of eights for the lead but also giving Bogdanski a flush draw. The turn was the 2
to complete Bogdanski's flush and take the lead from dawgnutz. The river brought the 10
and dawgnutz was knocked out in second ($48,387). Bogdanski pocketed $78,789 for first place.
The final standings were:
1) Gary "GB2005" Bogdanski - $78,788.80
2) dawgnutz - $48,386.60
3) BrkBB - $31,686.80
4) scotchnlobster - $25,263.80
5) doleman19 - $19,269
6) Servaaaaas - $13,788.04
7) MattSuspect - $10,062.70
8) Hummer141 - $7,921.70
9) blizair - $5,944.80
Bodog $100,000 Guarantee
Bodog's $100,000 guaranteed tournament did very well this weekend, considering what it was up against. With almost $2.5 million in guaranteed prize pools from its three biggest opponents, including the
UltimateBet Online Championship $1 million guaranteed main event, Bodog still found 981 players. That number of players made for one of Bodog's smallest overlays in recent months, at just $1,900.
CrazyMarco and TwoGunC held the top two spots entering the final table, with $538,000 and $512,000, respectively. While TwoGunC swapped second- and third-place stacks with schem11 numerous times over the course of the table, he never slipped below third place. TwoGunC eventually went up against CrazyMarco in heads-up play. CrazyMarco had never once slipped below the chip lead throughout the table and started the heads-up match with $1.7 million compared to TwoGunC's $727,000. CrazyMarco continued his streak by carrying his stack to the final hand.
TwoGunC raised to $50,000 preflop, with the big blind at $20,000, and CrazyMarco called to see a flop of A
K
2
. CrazyMarco bet $50,000 and TwoGunC raised it to $130,000. CrazyMarco pushed all in relatively quickly and TwoGunC called all in instantly and showed A
5
. CrazyMarco flipped up J
5
for a flush draw and was behind. The turn was the 10
to give CrazyMarco the flush and secure his win in the event. TwoGunC took home $14,000 for second place while CrazyMarco cashed in $25,000 for his victory.
The final standings were:
1) CrazyMarco - $25,000
2) TwoGunC - $14,000
3) bonafachi - $9,000
4) halincandenza - $6,500
5) schem11 - $5,400
6) Max Buyin - $4,400
7) SmooveSteely - $3,400
8) Mayja Playa - $2,400
9) jchasek - $1,550
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