While there was quite a bit of big news last night in the online poker world - including a huge prize pool at PokerStars and prominent Internet pros at many of the final tables - the biggest news will undoubtedly be the almost lonely, last-second announcement by PokerStars Poker Room Manager Lee Jones.
"And all four people still reading this," he said, just moments before the
Sunday Million final table closed down at the end of the tournament, "will be the first to learn that this is my last
Sunday Million final table as poker room manager at PokerStars. I'm moving to a role at the
EPT (
European Poker Tour). Details on a forum near you, shortly."
Jones, who is also a contributor to
Card Player magazine, was known for the quirky witticisms he used to send players off with after their eliminations and his high degree of professionalism. Whenever Jones had a Sunday off (or simply couldn't make it in time), it was guaranteed that at least one player at the
Sunday Million final table would bemoan his absence. He will surely be missed on PokerStars.
Keep checking
CardPlayer.com for an update as to the reasons for his departure.
Mman_status flops an unfortunate set of queens against hankat's flopped flush.
PokerStars Sunday Million
"Big numbers" is the best way to describe this weekend's
Sunday Million tournament at
PokerStars.
For starters, the buy-in was a massive $1,000. Despite the rather large buy-in, players continuously registered until the field was 1,712 strong, an almost unprecedented attendance for a $1,000 online tournament. With a prize pool of $1,712,000, four players stood to leave the tournament with six-figure paydays.
Hankat came into the final table with a rather hefty lead. In the first full hand of the table, he had $6.4 million in chips compared to Mr_BigQueso and mman_status in second and third, respectively, with almost $3.8 million each. Troy1979 and pbdrunks were the short stacks at the table with $856,000 and $772,000, respectively, when the big blind was $60,000.
Despite having a slightly larger stack, Troy1979 went down to the felt before pbdrunks in the first elimination hand, less than a minute into the final-table action. After the action folded to him preflop, troy1979 raised to $180,000 from the small blind. Mman_status called and the flop came K
4
4
. Troy1979 pushed all in for his remaining $610,000 and mman_status called and showed K
9
for two pair, kings up. Troy1979 revealed A
Q
and needed quite a bit of help. The turn and river were blanks, however, and he was eliminated in ninth place ($15,408).
Pbdrunks recognized this final table pretty well. As well he should; he'd been sitting at it just two weeks previous. He finished in ninth place ($12,189) in the March 11
Sunday Million tournament, the biggest poker tournament in history (by number of entrants). While that is a significant accomplishment by most standards, he would end up leaving
this final table relatively early, as well.
Pbdrunks pushed all in preflop and was called by mman_status (who seemed to have a penchant for eliminating short-stacked players). Mman_status turned over A
K
while pbdrunks held Q
J
and was in bad, but by no means horrible, shape. The board paired, but otherwise missed both players, and pbdrunks left the table in eighth place, for $26,194. His total winnings for his two
Sunday Million final tables exceed $38,000.
Ten minutes later, fouruhaters raised to $240,000 preflop (with the big blind now at $80,000) and Econ Adager reraised all in for $520,000. Fouruhaters called and showed A
Q
and was a bit behind in his race against Econ Adager's pocket tens. The flop spiked a queen for fouruhaters to take the lead and the turn and river bricked out. Econ Adager's pocket tens had been cracked and he left the table with a $42,458 seventh-place payday.
Just a minute later, jordankickz open-pushed all in preflop for his last $756,000. Mman_status called, again preying on the short stacks, and turned over another big slick with A
K
. Jordankickz's K
9
was dominated as the flop came A
Q
6
, spiking an unneeded ace for mman_status and leaving jordankickz with just a 0.3 percent chance of winning the hand. With the 5
on the turn he was drawing dead and was out in sixth place. He earned $59,920 for his finish.
Jon "PearlJammed" Turner was most likely watching the final table (or he should have been), as his romantic interest, XTraCey, had made it quite deep in the event. After nursing a short stack for some time, she finally decided to put it all on the line preflop. Her lone caller was (who else?) mman_status, who flipped up K
J
versus XTraCey's A
4
. The flop came Q
3
2
, keeping XTraCey in the lead, but the turn brought the J
, giving mman_status a pair. The river was a blank and mman_status raked in the pot to eliminate PearlJammed's lady in fifth place ($78,752).
Despite cleaning up the short stacks, mman_status never managed to pull into the chip lead versus hankat, although he'd fairly well secured his second-place standing. A big hand would change all of that. Hankat raised to $300,000 preflop, with the big blind at $100,000, and mman_status reraised to $1.1 million. Hankat called and the flop came A
Q
7
. Hankat checked and mman_status bet $1.4 million. Hankat check-raised to $2.8 million and mman_status pushed all in for $4.1 million. Hankat called and showed J
9
for a flopped flush while mman_status revealed an unfortunate pocket queens (with no club) for a flopped set. Regardless, mman_status had a 34 percent chance to win the hand with the case queen or any board-pairing card (for a full house). The turn was the 8
and the river the 2
, however, and mman_status was out in fourth place. He made $100,666 for his finish in the tournament.
Mr_BigQueso was the next player to hit the rail just two minutes later. He limped preflop in the small blind and hankat raised to $500,000. Mr_BigQueso called and the flop came 9
9
3
. Mr_BigQueso checked and hankat bet $1.2 million. Mr_BigQueso check-raised all in for $3.1 million and hankat called and turned over A
Q
for ace high. Remarkably, Mr_BigQueso revealed A
6
for a worse ace high and needed a lot of help. Unfortunately for him, the turn and river were blanks and his poor kicker was his undoing. He collected $125,318 for third place.
Hankat now had an almost 4-to-1 chip advantage going into heads-up play versus fouruhaters. Fouruhaters narrowed the chip-gap to 3-to-1 before doubling up with a preflop all in with A-10 versus hankat's A-6. He snagged an unneeded flush to take down the pot and the two players were left with virtually even chip stacks. Both players agreed to pause the tournament to discuss a deal and it was quickly decided to chop the prizes evenly with $50,000 remaining to play for, per the PokerStars chopping rules. Both players were now guaranteed at least $241,473.
Whether as a consequence of the deal or not, the tournament lasted just two more hands. In the first, fouruhaters limped preflop. Hankat raised to $500,000 and fouruhaters reraised to $2.1 million. Hankat pushed all in over the top, having fouruhaters barely covered, and fouruhaters called and showed pocket jacks. Hankat was behind with A
10
as the flop came J
9
9
. Hankat was now drawing nearly dead, with just a 0.4 percent chance to win the hand and avoid being severely crippled. However, he
was drawing dead when the turn brought the 7
and he was left with just $174,000.
Hankat pushed all in preflop from the small blind in the very next hand and fouruhaters called and showed A
Q
. Hankat held K
5
and needed help. The board ran out J
9
6
Q
7
, completely missing hankat and eliminating him in second place. Fouruhaters took down the pot and collected the extra $50,000 to put his total winnings at $291,473.
The final results were:
*1) fouruhaters - $291,472.80
*2) hankat - $241,472.80
3) Mr_BigQueso - $125,318.40
4) mman-status - $100,665.60
5) XTraCey - $78,752
6) jordankickz - $59,920
7) Econ Adager - $42,457.60
8) pbdrunks - $26,193.60
9) troy1979 - $15,408
* Payout reflects a two-way even chop with $50,000 remaining for the eventual winner, per the PokerStars rules.
Btmorita makes a royal flush at the Full Tilt $400,000 guarantee.
Full Tilt $400,000 Guarantee
The
Full Tilt $400,000-guaranteed tournament lured 2,185 entrants last night to build a prize pool of $437,000. Internet poker notables Jordan "iMsoLucky0" Morgan and Gary "GB2005" Bogdanski both came close to making the final table, but eventually busted out in 13th and 15th place ($3,278), respectively.
When it was finally down to the last nine players, YourTimeIsUp held the chip lead with $1.9 million in chips. His next closest opponent, JBT449, had $1.1 million. YourTimeIsUp and JBT449 carried their stacks into three-way play with an unlikely opponent - Zonnywhoop, who had started the final table with a low eighth-place-worthy stack.
Zonnywhoop had managed to continuously build up his stack until just three players remained. He now had a respectable $1.6 million in third place compared to JBT449 in second with $2.3 million and YourTimeIsUp in first with $2.6 million. Three-way play lasted an extremely long (for online play, especially) 40 minutes before the next elimination hand. Zonnywhoop continued his death-defying final table performance by avoiding being the next player sent to the rail.
Zonnywhoop ($1.7 million) called $120,000 on the button preflop and JBT449 pushed all in for his stack of what was now $1.7 million (just a hair less than Zonnywhoop's stack, putting him in third place). YourTimeIsUp reraised all in over the top for $3.2 million, folding Zonnywhoop. YourTimeIsUp showed pocket tens and was in a coin-flip situation against JBT449's A
J
. The board paired, but otherwise improved neither player, and JBT449 was sent home in third place, earning $32,338.
YourTimeIsUp now had $5 million in chips versus Zonnywhoop's $1.6 million. The final hand was just two minutes later. Zonnywhoop called in the small blind and YourTimeIsUp checked his option. The flop came 6
6
2
and YourTimeIsUp bet $165,000. Zonnywhoop raised all in for $1.1 million and YourTimeIsUp called and showed 6
3
for trip sixes. Zonnywhoop held Q
2
for two pair and was well behind. YourTimeIsUp reiterated his own name to Zonnywhoop in the chat box as the turn and river came the 3
and the 9
, giving YourTimeIsUp an unneeded full house to win the tournament. Zonnywhoop cashed out for $49,381 in second place while YourTimeIsUp pocketed $80,408 for his first-place finish in the event.
The final results were:
1) YourTimeIsUp - $80,408
2) Zonnywhoop - $49,381
3) JBT449 - $32,338
4) btmorita - $25,783
5) RenoKid2 - $19,665
6) TheTbone - $14,071.40
7) DaPoKeRcHiCk69 - $10,269.50
8) solohomer - $8,084.50
9) FoldNowOrDie - $6,118
UltimateBet $200,000 Guarantee
The
UltimateBet $200,000-guarantee rollercoaster continued last night when just 849 entrants bucked up the $200 buy-in for the tournament (down from 952 last weekend, which was up from 879 the weekend before, which was down from 1,001 … etc.). The entry numbers meant the tournament required a $30,200 overlay on UltimateBet's part.
Andy "BKiCe" Seth, a high-ranking Internet player, came to the final table in third place with $238,000. Ahead of him were Laptopsmasher in second place with $290,000 and rppkoz in first place with $510,000. Those three players would also be the final three players standing in the tournament.
By the time it was down to three, BKiCe had edged ahead of Laptopsmasher for second place. He now had $621,000 versus Laptopsmasher's $594,000. Rppkoz had retained the chip lead throughout all but a few hands of the final table up to this point, and now sat with $907,000. Laptopsmasher took hold of the final table and asserted his dominance in the 30 minutes of three-way play until he had amassed $1.4 million, almost two-thirds of the chips in play.
Laptopsmasher continued his aggression by raising to $90,000 preflop, with the big blind at $24,000. BKiCe reraised all in for $305,000 and Laptopsmasher called and showed A
10
. He was dominating BKiCe's A
3
as the board ran out K
10
5
9
8
. With an unneeded pair of tens, Laptopsmasher eliminated BKiCe in third place ($18,500) and furthered his chip lead.
Laptopsmasher now had $1.7 million versus rppkoz's $380,000. Rppkoz made little headway in the 10 minutes before the final hand. Rppkoz raised to $60,000 preflop and Laptopsmasher reraised to $184,000. Rppkoz pushed all in over the top for $456,000 and Laptopsmasher called and showed A
K
. He was again holding a dominating ace, this time against rppkoz's A
10
. The flop was cruel for rppkoz when it came A
K
10
, giving both players two pair. The turn and river were blanks and rppkoz was knocked out in second place ($27,000). Laptopsmasher earned $45,000 for his dominating three-way play and victory in the tournament.
The final results were:
1) Laptopsmasher - $45,000
2) rppkoz - $27,000
3) Andy "BKiCe" Seth - $18,500
4) clcktower - $13,000
5) utcarson419 - $11,000
6) IcYRaVeNHawK - $9,000
7) siphon3511 - $7,000
8) G0 F1SH - $5,000
9) donnysack1 - $3,500
10) Adam004 - $2,000
Bodog $100,000 Guarantee
The
Bodog $100,000-guaranteed tournament finally saw a slight jump in attendance last night when 839 entrants bought in to vie for the top prize. The tournament had just 756 entrants on both of the last two Sundays the tournament has been held. Bodog came out of pocket for $16,100 to match the posted guarantee of the tournament.
Two noteworthy online poker players managed to hack through the field to make it to the final table: Nick "gbmantis" Niergarth and Joe "Dyzalot" Morneau. Before the first full hand of the final table, the two notables held claim on the top two spots; gbmantis had a first-place stack of $401,000 and Dyzalot was in second with $366,000.
Both players lost ground early on (Dyzalot actually fell into last place at one point), but gbmantis quickly regained his momentum and began to amass a huge stack. He had almost 50 percent of the chips in play, $1.1 million, with six players remaining. At the same point, Dyzalot had pulled back into a slimly held second place with $234,000.
Gbmantis's dominance took a sharp turn for the worst with four players remaining when he pushed all in in the cutoff seat with A
5
and was called all in by both blinds. One of those opponents, Touchdown4me, had pocket aces and took down the pot to more than double up and take a $370,000 chunk out of gbmantis' stack.
In another ill-timed bet, gbmantis pushed all in from the button with K-8 and was called by the short stack, WiCane, who held a dominating A-8. The hand transferred the short-stack status to gbmantis. He called all in shortly thereafter with A-8 against Dyzalot's J-5. However, the A-8 didn't work for gbmantis when the flop paired both of Dyzalot's hole cards. After a huge swing, gbmantis finished the tournament in fourth place ($6,500).
Once Touchdown4me had eliminated WiCane in third place ($9,000), it was down to heads-up play. Touchdown4me had the chip lead with $1.6 million compared to Dyzalot's $495,000. After over 10 minutes of play, the stacks hadn't changed much. Touchdown4me limped preflop and Dyzalot checked his option to see a flop of Q
10
4
. Both players checked and the turn brought the 7
. Dyzalot now bet $40,000 and Touchdown4me raised to $140,000. Dyzalot pushed all in over the top for $498,000 and Touchdown4me called and showed pocket kings. Dyzalot revealed that he was in the lead with 10
7
for a turned two pair and was an 82 percent favorite to win the hand. The river, however, was the 4
, giving Touchdown4me a better two pair to win the hand and eliminate Dyzalot in second place ($14,000). Touchdown4me raked in $25,000 for his first-place finish.
The final results were:
1) Touchdown4me - $25,000
2) Joe "Dyzalot" Morneau - $14,000
3) WiCane - $9,000
4) Nick "gbmantis" Niergarth - $6,500
5) Upgrade23 - $5,400
6) Ulven - $4,400
7) ndrudy46 - $3,400
8) justmissed - $2,400
9) madogwtf69 - $1,550
Card Player is working with several sites that continue to serve U.S. players to provide deposit bonuses to our readers. Click on the following names to receive bonuses: UltimateBet, Bodog, Absolute, and Full Tilt Poker.
