Legato catches a queen on the turn to eliminate Luigi da BP.
PokerStars Sunday Million
The
PokerStars Sunday Million tournament continued its recent success with last night's tournament. The tournament was the monthly $500 buy-in version of the event, and it lured 2,919 entrants to build a prize pool of $1,459,500. As a refresher, last week's
Sunday Million had a record-setting 10,894 entrants (the biggest attendance for a real money tournament ever) and a prize pool of $2.4 million (bolstered by the $250,000 added by PokerStars in celebration of it's 10 billionth hand dealt).
Last night's
Sunday Million final table was loaded with notable players, including
Mario "Pwnasaurus" Silvestri,
Jovial Gent, and
Bo "Legato" Sehlstedt. Both Jovial Gent and Legato are previous champions of
Sunday Million events. Jovial Gent took down the
Sunday Million in November 2006, earning $250,000, and Legato also won in November 2006, for $132,000.
RikkiTikki was the chip leader as the final table began, with $9.8 million in chips. His next-closest opponent was Pwnasaurus, who had $4.3 million. JJJanet was the short stack at the table with just $1.3 million when the big blind was at $80,000. Suck My Ace was the first player to be eliminated from the table when he open-pushed all in on the button for $1.1 million (with the big blind at $100,000). Bigbrain2005 called in the big blind and revealed A
Q
and was dominating Suck My Ace's A
2
. The board bricked out and bigbrain2005's queen kicker played to take out Suck My Ace in ninth place ($11,676).
JJJanet was still low on chips, but it was timkrank who was the next to go. He pushed all in for $1.6 million under the gun and Luigi da BP reraised all in for $3.3 million, folding the remaining players. Luigi da BP flipped up pocket aces for a dominating lead over timkrank's A
Q
. The board paired but otherwise missed both players and timkrank collected $20,141 for his eighth-place finish.
JJJanet finally hit the rail in the next elimination hand. She (he?) raised to $300,000 preflop from the button and bigbrain2005 reraised to $1.4 million in the big blind, enough to put JJJanet all in. JJJanet called all in and showed A
3
and, for the third elimination hand in a row, found that her hand was dominated by her opponent, who held A
K
. The board ran out K
9
6
J
3
, pairing both players' kickers but leaving bigbrain2005 in the lead to take JJJanet out in seventh place ($31,817).
It was almost 40 minutes before another player was eliminated. RikkiTikki raised to $400,000 preflop, with the big blind at $160,000, and Pwnasaurus pushed all in over the top for $3 million. RikkiTikki called and showed pocket jacks and was well ahead of Pwnasaurus' pocket sixes. The flop came K
J
4
, giving RikkiTikki a set a jacks and leaving Pwnasaurus needing an unlikely running sixes (for quads) to stay alive (just a
0.1 percent chance). Pwnasaurus was drawing dead when the turn brought the 10
and he cashed out for $45,245 in sixth place.
Jovial Gent's stack had been dragging for some time, and he finally snagged a hand that he felt was worth committing to. He raised to $400,000 preflop from under the gun and Luigi da BP reraised to $1.28 million. Jovial Gent reraised all in for $2.6 million and Luigi da BP called and showed Q
J
. Jovial Gent revealed that he was right to have committed to the hand when he turned up A
K
for a good lead. The board ran out 5
3
2
6
Q
, spiking a queen on the river for Luigi da BP and leaving Jovial Gent with just ace high. Jovial Gent was sent to the virtual rail in fifth place with $59,840.
Bigbrain2005 was the next to go when he raised to $1.2 million preflop, with the big blind now at $200,000. RikkiTikki reraised all in, having bigbrain2005 well covered, and bigbrain2005 called all in and showed K
10
. Bigbrain2005 was severely dominated by RikkiTikki's pocket kings. The board paired but otherwise improved neither player's hand and bigbrain2005 was sent packing in fourth place, $74,435 richer.
RikkiTikki was the chip leader with three players remaining. He had $16.4 million in his stack while Legato had $7.2 million and Luigi da BP had $5.6 million. Not too long into three-way play, the remaining players decided to pause the tournament to discuss a possible chop. After some debate, the three opted for a straight by-the-chips chop with $30,000 remaining for the eventual winner, per the PokerStars chopping rules. RikkiTikki guaranteed himself the biggest share with $196,142 while Legato guaranteed himself $135,431 and Luidi da BP guaranteed himself $133,634.
Luigi da BP was down to the felt less than 10 minutes after the deal was struck. Legato raised to $600,000 preflop and Luigi da BP pushed all in for $3.1 million. Legato called and flipped up K
Q
and was behind against Luigi da BP's A
10
. The flop came 4
4
3
, no real help to either player. The turn, however, was the Q
, giving Legato a pair to take the lead in the hand. The river was the 7
and Luigi da BP was out in third place.
RikkiTikki and Legato were now almost even in chips. RikkiTikki had $14.9 million and Legato had $14.3 million. The heads-up match between the two lasted for over 30 minutes, over which time both players held the chip lead a few times. RikkiTikki finally held the chip lead long enough to enter the final hand. RikkiTikki raised to $755,000 preflop, with the big blind at $300,000, and Legato called. The flop came Q
9
3
and Legato bet $900,000. RikkiTikki raised to $2.9 million and Legato pushed all in for his remaining $10.2 million. RikkiTikki called and showed Q
8
for top pair versus Legato's 10
9
for mid-pair. The turn was the 8
, giving RikkiTikki two pair, and the river was the A
. RikkiTikki raked in the final pot to eliminate Legato in second place and collect the extra $30,000. RikkiTikki's total winnings for the tournament came to $226,142.
The final results were:
*1) RikkiTikki - $226,142
*2) Bo "Legato" Sehlstedt - $135,431
*3) Luigi da BP - $133,634
4) bigbrain2005 - $74,434.50
5) Jovial Gent - $59,839.50
6) Mario "Pwnasaurus" Silvestri - $45,244.50
7) JJJanet - $31,817.10
8) timkrank - $20,141.10
9) Suck My Ace - $11,676
* Payout reflects a three-way by-the-chips chop with $30,000 remaining for the eventual winner, per the PokerStars chopping rules.
Full Tilt $400,000 Guarantee
The
Full Tilt $400,000-guaranteed tournament had 2,597 entrants to generate a total prize pool of $519,400. This is an impressive follow through for Full Tilt on the heels of its successful
Full Tilt Online Poker Series IV that concluded last week with a $1.9 million main event.
Along with the huge prize pool, the tournament also featured a huge name at its final table. Poker superstar
Cliff "JohnnyBax" Josephy came to the table with $1.4 million in chips, second only to
vegan213, in first with $2.6 million. Vegan213 is notable for having won the monthly $750,000-guaranteed tournament on Full Tilt in January.
Vegan213 fell short of making a repeat win in the major Sunday event on Full Tilt when he went down to the felt with four players remaining. Thescarecrow13 raised to $180,000 preflop, with the big blind at $60,000, and vegan213 pushed all in over the top for $709,000. Thescarecrow13 called and showed pocket queens and had a good lead versus vegan213's A
4
. The board paired, but otherwise missed both players, and vegan213 was out in fourth place, earning $30,541.
Now down to three-way play, magikstick8 (best known as either four6suited on Absolute Poker and UltimateBet or bdbeatslayer on PokerStars) held the chip lead with $4.2 million versus thescarecrow13 in second with $2.5 million and JohnnyBax in third with $1.1 million. Over the next 15 minutes, JohnnyBax mounted a huge comeback to bring his stack up to $2.8 million, which put him in second place and less than $200,000 behind the chip leader. Magikstick8 widened that gap again with the next elimination hand.
Thescarecrow13 raised to $270,000 preflop from the small blind, with the big blind at $80,000, and magikstick8 called in the big blind. The flop came Q
Q
5
and thescarecrow13 bet $570,000. Magikstick8 raised all in over the top for $2.7 million and thescarecrow13 called all in for his remaining $1.1 million. Magikstick8 turned over K
3
for just king high with the board pair and was well behind thescarecrow13's pocket threes for two pair (thescarecrow13 had a
67 percent chance to win the hand). The turn, however, was the 5
, putting two pair on the board and counterfeiting thescarecrow13's pocket threes. The river was a blank and magikstick8's king kicker played to eliminate thescarecrow13 in third place ($38,280).
Magikstick8 had bolstered her chip lead in time for heads-up play. She had $5 million in chips compared to JohnnyBax's $2.8 million. The heads-up match between the two lasted just two minutes before the final hand. Magikstick8 raised to $320,000 preflop, with the big blind at $100,000, and JohnnyBax reraised all in over the top for $2.5 million. Magikstick8 called, prompting JohnnyBax to type, "Uh oh." He was right to be disheartened, as his A
8
was dominated by magikstick8's A
Q
. The board ran out A
10
3
6
6
, giving both players two pair but leaving magikstick8's queen kicker to play to take down the pot and eliminate JohnnyBax in second place. JohnnyBax earned $58,484 for second place while magikstick8 pocketed $95,284 for her first-place finish.
The final results were:
1) magikstick8 - $95,283.93
2) Cliff "JohnnyBax" Josephy - $58,484.44
3) thescarecrow13 - $38,279.78
4) vegan213 - $30,540.72
5) russbuster - $23,113.30
6) unknown4noww - $16,620.80
7) Tutnik - $12,205.90
8) cane3418 - $9,556.96
*9) Sh00terTSN - $7,271.60
* Player never technically sat at the final table due to a double-elimination hand on the final-table bubble.
UltimateBet $200,000 Guarantee
Eight hundred and sixty-seven entrants bucked up the $200 buy-in for last night's $200,000 guarantee at
UltimateBet. The site was left to come out of pocket for $26,600 to match the posted guarantee. This was a disappointing attendance to follow up last weekend's record-breaking attendance of 1,010.
KAZAG came to the final table as the chip leader with $407,000. The majority of the remaining players were clustered together with stacks in the $200,000s, including winnAA in second place with $259,000. KAZAG failed to increase his stack much throughout the final table and was eventually eliminated when his A-J ran into ReedMEMunE's A-K. He came in forth place, for $13,000.
FeedMEMunE had a very decent chip lead going into threehanded play. He had $1.2 million versus winnAA in second with $637,000 and raaazib in third with $332,000. Raaazib gained some momentum and more than doubled up within five minutes, mainly at the expense of winnAA. WinnAA then open-pushed all in for $324,000, when the big blind was at $20,000, and raaazib instantly called and showed pocket queens. WinnAA was well behind with pocket threes. The board ran out 9
8
4
6
3
, which actually gave both players a club flush, but raaazib's queen-high flush was enough to eliminate winnAA in third place ($18,500).
It was now heads up, and the two remaining players were almost exactly even in chips with FeedMEMunE holding the chip lead at $1,083,910 and raaazib barely trailing at $1,083,590. FeedMEMunE then had the unfortunate luck of losing his Internet connection for long stretches at a time, the fact of which raaazib took advantage of by raising every pot to rake in FeedMEMunE's uncontested blinds as quickly as possible. Raaazib's tactic, which FeedMEMunE said showed that he had "no class," was a huge help in dropping FeedMEMunE's stack below $400,000. FeedMEMunE equated raaazib's tactic to "stealing $15,000" from him (the difference in the first- and second-place paydays, which was actually $18,000, not $15,000).
FeedMEMunE had just $290,000 for the final hand. He pushed all in preflop and raaazib called and showed K
J
. FeedMEMunE was in the lead with A
6
until the flop came K
Q
3
, giving raaazib a pair of kings for the lead. The turn was the 10
and the river the 2
and FeedMEMunE was out in second place ($27,000). Raaazib cashed out for $45,000 for his first-place finish in the tournament.
The final results were:
1) raaazib - $45,000
2) FeedMEMunE - $27,000
3) winnAA - $18,500
4) KAZAG - $13,000
5) ParManN - $11,000
6) EL DEDO - $9,000
7) giboman - $7,000
8) AudiA3 - $5,000
9) Phil X - $3,500
10) clcktower - $2,000
Bodog $100,000 Guarantee
The
Bodog $100,000-guaranteed tournament had 751 entrants this Memorial Day weekend. The event required an overlay of $24,900 because of the low attendance. This attendance number was down from last week, when the tournament had 833 entrants.
Head2782 was the chip leader for the first full hand of the final table (which began eighthanded, because CardXFactor was eliminated while some players were sitting out due to being moved to the final table out of position). Head2782 had $639,000 versus amak316 in second with $255,000. However, the race for second place was tight, as clmtgrinder had $243,000 in third place and Johnny Mojo had $231,000 in fourth place. Head2782 employed a rather controversial (based on the chat box chatter, at least) playing-style on his way to the final table and the chip lead - he had been pushing all in in every hand, regardless of his holdings or stack size. He eliminated more than a few opponents this way with hands like 10-4.
Amak316 made his exit in fifth place when he called all in preflop with A-9 versus head2782. Head2782 held pocket sevens for the lead and amak316 never managed to catch up. Amak316 left the table with $5,500.
Clmtgrinder then lost a huge hand where his pocket kings were cracked by Johnny Mojo's A-8 when an ace came on the river. When it got down to three-way play, clmtgrinder had just $174,000 in chips left versus head2782 in first with $1.3 million and Johnny Mojo in second with $447,000. He pushed all in preflop not too long later for $106,000 (when the big blind was at $20,000) and head2782 instantly called in the big blind with 8
3
. Clmtgrinder had K
7
for a slight lead. The flop came 7
6
5
, furthering his lead with a pair of sevens. The turn, however, was the 8
, giving head2782 a higher pair to take the lead in the hand. The turn bricked out and clmtgrinder was out in third place ($9,200).
Head2782 had a more than 4-1 chip advantage over Johnny Mojo going into heads-up play with $1.5 million compared to Johnny Mojo's $349,000. The match lasted just five minutes before the final hand. Johnny Mojo ($500,000) limped preflop for $30,000 total and head2782 ($1.4 million) raised to $120,000 in the big blind. Johnny Mojo called and the flop came K
10
6
. Head2782 led out with a bet of $60,000 and Johnny Mojo pushed all in over the top for $380,000. Head2782 quickly called and showed A
K
for top pair versus Johnny Mojo's 6
5
for bottom pair. The turn was the 4
and the river the 2
and Johnny Mojo was out in second place, earning $14,300. Head2782 collected $25,000 for his first-place finish.
The final results were:
1) head2782 - $25,000
2) Johnny Mojo - $14,300
3) clmtgrinder - $9,200
4) quietwinner - $6,900
5) amak316 - $5,500
6) MICADOO - $4,500
7) TheComeback2120 - $3,500
8) Doc Nol - $2,500
9) CardXFactor - $1,600
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