The world's record books were revised by PokerStars once again this week when the site's
Sunday Hundred Grand tournament's player-cap was upped to 20,000 entrants and the event lured the maximum players allowed. That attendance made it the biggest real-money tournament (by number of entrants) in history. The tournament beat out its own record of 17,501 entrants that it set just a few weeks ago. The ultimate winner of the tournament, Lynna1, earned $20,000 for besting the monstrous field. That's 1,818 times her $11 buy-in for the tournament.
Plasticard rivers a flush to crack funmyaudi's aces and eliminate him from the tournament.
PokerStars Sunday Million
Last night's
Sunday Million at PokerStars was the monthly $500 buy-in version of the event. The tournament lured 3,021 entrants, which built a prize pool of $1,510,500 and offered a first-place prize of almost $264,000 (if no deal was made at the final table).
Final-table host Lee Jones speculated that the prize pool was the largest ever for the event. While this may be true of the $500 buy-in version of the tournament, the
Sunday Million's prize pool has surpassed this number four times previously: once when the buy-in was $1,000 ($1.712 million prize pool) and three times with its traditional $200 buy-in. The largest-ever prize pool for a
Sunday Million was on May 20 of this year, when PokerStars celebrated its 10 billionth hand dealt by providing a $250,000 overlay for the event. The tournament had 10,894 entrants (which broke the world record for most entrants in a real money tournament at the time), which generated a prize pool of $2,428,800.
Former
World Series of Poker champion Greg "FossilMan" Raymer made it deep in the event this Sunday before eventually going out in 42nd place in a hand that stirred the railbirds into heated debate. VuaXi`Tô' (a short stack) raised to $63,000 preflop, with the big blind at $25,000, and sacker pushed all in for more than $1 million. FossilMan requested time on the button before calling all in for his last $700,000. VuaXi`Tô' folded and sacker showed A-K suited. Fossilman was in the lead with pocket tens until the river brought a king. FossilMan won $4,532 for his finish.
The final table of the event featured notable Internet players fundmyaudi and Pehtoori. Both players had medium-sized stacks in the $2 million range when the big blind was $100,000. Plasticard came to the table as the chip leader with $8.4 million in chips compared to asdf2000 in second place with $5.1 million. Nazeehah66 was the short stack with just $906,000 and was, correspondingly, the first player to be eliminated.
Nazeehah66 open-pushed all in preflop and Pehtoori called and showed pocket aces. Nazeehah66 was way behind with pocket fives, and the board ran out 8
2
9
3
J
. The aces held up and nazeehah66 was out in ninth place ($11,782).
Fundmyaudi was out in the very next hand when he pushed his newly short stack all in preflop against a raise from plasticard. Plasticard called and turned over Q
7
and was in bad shape versus fundmyaudi's pocket aces. The flop came 9
4
4
, no real help for plasticard, but the turn was the J
and the river the 10
and plasticard completed a queen-high flush. Fundmyaudi's aces were cracked and he was sent packing in eighth place with $19,939.
Asdf2000 then lost ground and he was the next player to go 15 minutes later. GARBANZITO raised to $500,000 preflop and asdf2000 reraised all in for $2 million. GARBANZITO called and revealed Q
J
and was trailing against asdf2000's A
K
. Trailing, that is, until the flop came Q
4
3
, giving GARBANZITO a pair of queens for the lead. The turn and river were blanks, the 8
and 2
, and asdf2000 was left with just ace high and was eliminated in seventh place ($31,721).
It was over half an hour before the next elimination hand took place. Xaston's stack had shrunk to barely more than 10 times the big blind and he decided to open-push all in for $1.7 million. Pehtoori called and showed A
10
and was dominating Xaston's A
8
. The flop was more bad news for Xaston when it came 10
7
3
. He bid the table "good game" as the turn and river bricked out and he collected his $43,805 payday for sixth place.
The five remaining players then paused the tournament two separate times to try to negotiate a possible chop, but those deals were nixed by plasticard and Zutzman, respectively. Plasticard had been the chip leader when the first deal was being discussed, but he was the short stack by the time the tournament was paused for the second deal. Plasticard was then sent railward before the players could reach an amicable agreement.
Plasticard ($3.7 million) raised to $600,000 preflop, with the big blind at $200,000, and lb6121 ($6.9 million) reraised to $1.6 million. Plasticard called and the flop came 10
7
3
. Lb6121 pushed all in and plasticard called all in, after some thought, and flipped up K
9
for just king high. Lb6121 revealed pocket aces for a big lead as the turn and river brought the 6
and 2
, respectively. Plasticard was out in fifth place, for $59,212 (the initial chip chop had offered him almost $150,000).
The four players then paused the tournament again to try to come to a chop agreement. The players eventually agreed to a straight by-the-chips chop. Lb6121, the chip leader at the time, was guaranteed $157,964, Pehtoori was guaranteed $134,484, GARBANZITO was guaranteed $122,811, and Zutzman, the shortstack, was guaranteed $122,538. The players were still playing for the $30,000 that was left on the line, per the PokerStars chopping rules.
In the next elimination hand, GARBANZITO raised to $1.6 million preflop, with the big blind still at $200,000, and Pehtoori reraised all in. GARBANZITO called all in for $6.3 million total and showed pocket sevens. He found that he was dominated when Pehtoori turned over pocket tens for a huge lead. The board ran out 5
3
2
6
J
and GARBANZITO was out in fourth place.
Pehtoori now had the chip lead with $15.5 million compared to lb6121 in second with $8.7 million and Zutzman in third place with $6 million. Zutzman vacuumed up chips over the next 25 minutes and became the chip leader. Meanwhile, Pehtoori and lb6121 clashed in a big hand.
Lb6121 ($9 million) raised to $750,000 preflop, with the big blind at $250,000, and Pehtoori ($6 million) reraised to $2.5 million. Lb6121 pushed all in and Pehtoori called and showed A
Q
. Lb6121 held pocket sevens for a slight lead in the coin-flip situation. The flop turned the tables when it came A
Q
J
, giving Pehtoori top two pair. The turn was the 2
and the river the J
and lb6121 was left with just $3 million.
Lb6121 got his stack back up to $5.4 million before his final hand. Pehtoori raised to $900,000 preflop, with the big blind now at $300,000, and lb6121 pushed all in. Pehtoori called and showed Q
10
. Lb6121 held A
2
and a slight lead. The flop came A
J
4
, giving lb6121 a pair of aces but leaving Pehtoori with a monster draw, any king or spade would win him the hand (
48 percent to win). The turn was the 5
and lb6121 was drawing dead and out in third place.
Pehtoori was the chip leader before the hand, and he now had $18.7 million compared to Zutzman's $11.5 million. A big hand occurred just one minute into heads-up play. Zutzman raised to $800,000 preflop and Pehtoori reraised to $4.2 million. Zutzman pushed all in and Pehtoori called and showed A
J
. Zutzman held pocket nines for the lead and it was a race. Zutzman won the race when his nines held up and he vaulted himself up to $22.3 million in chips.
One more minute brought the final hand. Zutzman raised to $800,000 preflop and Pehtoori reraised to $3 million. Zutzman pushed all in and Pehtoori called all in for $7.7 million total and showed A
8
. Zutzman was in a good lead with pocket kings (
68 percent to win) as the board ran out 5
5
2
6
7
. Zutzman scooped in the pot to win the tournament and the extra $30,000. His total winnings came to $152,538. Lb6121 was actually the leading money-winner of the tournament with $157,964 as his share of the deal.
The final results were:
*1) Zutzman - $152,538
*2) Pehtoori - $134,484
*3) lb6121 - $157,964
*4) GARBANZITO - $122,811
5) plasticard - $59,211.60
6) Xaston - $43,804.50
7) asdf2000 - $31,720.50
8) fundmyaudi - $19,938.60
9) nazeehah66 - $11,781.90
* Payout reflects a four-way by-the-chips chop with $30,000 remaining on the line for the eventual winner, per the PokerStars chopping rules.
Full Tilt $500,000 Guarantee
The
Full Tilt $500,000-guaranteed tournament had 3,378 entrants on Sunday, down from last weekend's 3,446. The tournament had a prize pool of $675,600, which meant the first-place finisher stood to earn almost $121,000.
The final table featured some all-star players with
Jordan "iMsoLucky0" Morgan,
Josh "professor plum" Prager, and
bokpower (a player who made the final table of the
Full Tilt Online Poker Series III main event, eventually finishing in ninth, for $21,554). MyagiDojo came in as the table's chip leader with $2.97 million, but iMsoLucky0 was not far behind with $2.71 million. Professor plum started with $541,000 and bokpower was the second-shortest stack at $382,000, when the big blind was at $34,000.
Bokpower was the first player eliminated five minutes into the final table action. He open-pushed all in preflop and Skinken reraised all in over the top, folding the remaining players. Skinken held pocket tens and was in good shape versus bokpower's A-7. The board bricked out and bokpower was out in ninth place ($9,053).
Professor plum battled with a short stack for some time before finally having to take a stand with an ultra-short stack. He pushed almost all in for $153,574, leaving himself with $2 behind, when the big blind was at $50,000. Both MyagiDojo and Skinken called and the flop came K
Q
9
. Skinken and professor plum checked and MyagiDojo went all in for $3.1 million. Skinken called all in for $365,000 and professor plum put in his last $2 and was all in, as well. Skinken showed J
10
for a flopped straight, MyagiDojo turned over K
9
for two pair, and professor plum revealed A
10
and needed to improve to stay alive. The turn was the Q
and the river the A
and Skinken scooped the pot to eliminate professor plum in fifth place. Professor plum earned $28,037 for his finish.
Skinken lasted only five more minutes before he called all in against iMsoLucky0 on a flop of K
2
2
and showed A
8
. iMsoLucky0 held Q
10
and was behind. The turn brought the Q
, however, putting iMsoLucky0 in the lead. The river bricked out and Skinken was out in fourth place ($37,496).
It was now down to three players and iMsoLucky0 was in the lead with $5.8 million compared to MyagiDojo's $2.8 million in second place and carabello's $1.6 million in third place. Just over 10 minutes later, carabello had siphoned chips from both of his opponents and was the new chip leader at $5.2 million.
MyagiDojo raised to $180,000 preflop, with the big blind at $60,000, and iMsoLucky0 reraised to $563,000. MyagiDojo pushed all in over the top for $2.4 million and iMsoLucky0 called (having him covered) and showed A
10
. MyagiDojo held K
Q
and needed to improve. The board ran out J
3
2
4
6
, completely missing both players, and iMsoLucky0's ace high was enough to send MyagiDojo to the ropes in third place ($47,968).
IMsoLucky0 now had $4.9 million and was still trailing carabello, who had $5.2 million. The tournament lasted just four more minutes. In that time, iMsoLucky0 quickly accumulated chips and then took a huge pot from carabello. In that hand, carabello ($3.8 million) raised to $160,000 preflop, with the big blind at $80,000, and iMsoLucky0 ($6.3 million) called. The flop came 8
6
4
and both players checked. The turn was the 10
and iMsoLucky0 bet $100,000. Carabello raised to $640,000 and iMsoLucky0 called. The turn was the 5
and iMsoLucky0 again checked. Carabello bet $1.6 million and iMsoLucky0 called and showed 10
7
for a rivered straight. Carabello showed pocket fours for a flopped set before mucking. He was down to $1.4 million after the hand while iMsoLucky0 had $8.7 million.
The final hand was less than two minutes later. Carabello limped in the small blind and iMsoLucky0 raised to $260,000. Carabello reraised to $440,000 and iMsoLucky0 pushed all in. Carabello called and showed A
Q
. IMsoLucky0 turned over pocket tens for the lead. The flop came Q
10
7
, giving carabello a pair but improving iMsoLucky0 to a set of tens. The turn was the A
, giving carabello two pair, but the river was the 8
and carabello was out in second place ($73,640). IMsoLucky0 earned $120,966 for raking in the final pot to win the tournament.
The final results were:
1) Jordan "iMsoLucky0" Morgan - $120,966.18
2) carabello - $73,640.40
3) MyagiDojo - $47,967.60
4) Skinken - $37,495.80
5) Josh "professor plum" Prager - $28,037.40
6) ronniehood - $20,740.92
7) somporn - $15,538.80
8) USCphildo - $12,160.80
9) bokpower - $9,053.04
UltimateBet $200,000 Guarantee
T
he
UltimateBet $200,000-guaranteed tournament broke its own record for most entrants last night when 1,048 players bought in to the tournament. The previous record, set on May 20, 2007, was for 1,010 entrants. Last night's tournament had a prize pool of $209,600, the highest the weekly tournament has ever had.
A few notable Internet players were still in the running when it got down to the final table. Among the final table participants were
Aaron "MTTwelfare" Been and
A_theKevlar_2 (who has made this final table once before, made the final table of the Bodog $100,000 guarantee twice, and made the final table of the
UltimateBet Online Championship main event). The chip leader when the final table began was allinjompa, with $548,000 in chips. A_theKevlar_2 was in second with $449,000 and MTTwelfare was in third with $380,000.
A_theKevlar_2 lost a tidy sum of chips when he called Faralone's all-in push preflop and showed pocket nines. Faralone held A-6 and was behind. The board ran out 4-4-2-Q-A and Faralone spiked an ace on the river to severely cripple A_theKevlar_2, who had barely had him covered. A_theKevlar_2 went all in two hands later for less than two times the big blind. He was called by MTTwelfare, who showed A-5. A_theKevlar_2 held J-10 suited but failed to improve and was out in fifth place. He earned $11,004.
MTTwelfare had $565,000 after the hand, which put him just barely in second place. Allinjompa was decently ahead with $1.1 million. MTTwelfare slowly increased his stack until he took over the chip lead from allinjompa, but his chip count slipped again, and he was back in second place. He was easily the most aggressive player once four-way play began.
In one hand, MTTwelfare ($732,000) raised to $100,000 preflop, with the big blind at $40,000, and allinjompa reraised all in in the small blind for $1.1 million. MTTwelfare called and showed pocket eights and was leading versus allinjompa's A
10
and stood to become a huge chip leader if his hand held up. The flop came J
7
5
, posing no real threat to MTTwelfare, but the turn was the 10
, pairing allinjompa's 10 and pulling him into the lead. The turn was a blank, and just like that, MTTwelfare was out of the tournament in fourth place ($13,624).
Allinjompa now had $1.9 million and a commanding lead over Faralone in second with $480,000 and ParDoctor in third with $271,000 (when the big blind was at $40,000). Faralone made up some ground when he eliminated ParDoctor shortly into threehanded play. Faralone pushed all in on the button for $408,000 and ParDoctor called all in and showed K
10
. Faralone held A
3
and was in the lead. The board ran out Q
7
6
4
3
, completely missing ParDoctor and giving Faralone a pair of treys, and ParDoctor was out in third place, for $18,654.
Faralone now had $751,000 to combat allinjompa's $1.9 million stack as heads-up play began. The two traded chips back and forth for some time, all the while Faralone slowly increasing his stack. Faralone's stack finally surpassed allinjompa's just before the final hand.
Allinjompa raised to $120,000 preflop and Faralone reraised all in over the top for $1.4 million. Allinjompa called all in for about $1.2 million and showed pocket jacks. He was well ahead of Faralone's pocket fives (
80 percent to win, preflop). The board ran out A
K
8
6
and allinjompa was a 95 percent favorite to win the hand and severely cripple Faralone. The river, however, was the 5
, giving Faralone a set to take down the pot and win the tournament. Allinjompa earned $26,996 for second place and Faralone pocketed a $46,112 payday for his first-place finish.
The final results were:
1) Faralone - $46,112
2) allinjompa - $26,996
3) ParDoctor - $18,654
4) MTTwelfare - $13,624
5) A_theKevlar_2 - $11,004
6) KATHU79 - $8,803.20
7) mark1106 - $6,707.20
8) Time To Dance - $4,716
9) DRTHPelagius - $3,563
10) thanks - $2,096
Bodog $100,000 Guarantee
The
Bodog $100,000-guaranteed tournament had 912 entrants on Sunday. This number was up from both last weekend and the weekend before, when it had 887 and 903 entrants, respectively. The tournament required an $8,800 overlay to match the posted guarantee.
Jon "PearlJammer" Turner almost made the final table again this weekend, after having won the tournament just last weekend, when he finished in 11th place. Another notable Internet player,
Scott "SCTrojans08" Freeman was the eventual final-table bubble boy in the tournament, earning $1,000 for 10th place.
KillerKenny was the chip leader at the final table, as of the first full hand, with $411,000 in chips. He was followed by Whitey03 in second place with $395,000. Whitey03 made an early exit from the table when he lost some key hands and became shortstacked. He called all in in the big blind versus ShaneOZOZO, who had put him all in from the small blind. ShaneOZOZO held 9-8 and Whitey03 was in the lead with A-10. The board ran out K-Q-9-9-6 and ShaneOZOZO took out Whitey03 with trip nines. Whitey03 finished in seventh place ($3,400).
When it got down to threehanded play, Aaron "Tse Tse Fly" Kosdrosky held a slight chip lead over KillerKenny, with $949,000 compared to KillerKenny's $935,000. ShaneOZOZO was also still in the running in third place with $396,000. KillerKenny had regained the chip lead once again before the first elimination hand of three-way play.
KillerKenny raised to $110,000 on the button, with the big blind at $40,000, and ShaneOZOZO reraised to $180,000 from the big blind, all but putting himself all in. KillerKenny raised him the rest of the way and ShaneOZOZO called all in for his last $16,000 and showed K
4
. KillerKenny had a healthy lead with pocket tens (a
72 percent favorite to win, preflop) as the board ran out J
5
2
J
7
. ShaneOZOZO was out in third place ($9,000) and it was down to heads up.
KillerKenny now had $1.5 million versus Tse Tse Fly's $770,000. Once Tse Tse Fly got down to about 13 big blinds worth of chips, the match became an open-push-all-in-preflop fest between the players until the final hand just minutes later.
Tse Tse Fly pushed all in in the small blind for $500,000 and KillerKenny called instantly and showed A
Q
. Tse Tse Fly was in a bit of trouble with 7
6
as the flop came Q
5
4
. KillerKenny was now even further in the lead with a pair of queens, but Tse Tse Fly had picked up an open-end straight draw. Tse Tse Fly had a
34 percent chance to catch one of his outs and win the hand. The turn was the 5
and the river the 2
, missing Tse Tse Fly, and he was out in second place, earning $14,000. KillerKenny made $25,000 for taking down the tournament.
The final results were:
1) KillerKenny - $25,000
2) Aaron "Tse Tse Fly" Kosdrosky - $14,000
3) ShaneOZOZO - $9,000
4) L T - $6,500
5) 011jp - $5,400
6) Joe McGuire - $4,400
7) Whitey03 - $3,400
8) mlfoust - $2,400
9) Chuck a Luck - $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.
.jpg)