As the second half of December takes over the calendar, the end of 2012 is in sight. For poker players, it means there are only a few weeks remaining to capture a major Sunday online poker title. And there is no tournament more major than the Sunday Million.
A sizeable crowd turned out for the December 16th Sunday Million with its standard $1 million guarantee. Players were done with the recent EPT Prague events and ready for some online events, and the desire to hit it big in the Sunday Million brought others to the virtual tables. And then there were those who simply enjoyed the warmth of the computer on a cold winter night. (And the warmth that a six-figure win can bring didn’t hurt the numbers, either.)
Tonight’s registration numbers were as follows:
Players: 7,449
Guarantee: $1,000,000
Prize pool: $1,489,800
Paid players: 1,080
When the money bubble burst to allow the payouts to begin, Norvack was the first in line to collect the $312.85.
Team PokerStars Online’s Mickey “mement_mori” Petersen had a solid night. While making the final table of the Sunday Warm-Up, he also made it deep into the money of the Sunday Million and finished 279th for $625.71. A bit later, Team PokerStars Pro Victor Ramdin ran deeper and ended up finishing in 91st place.
Later, as the tournament passed the 10-hour mark, only two tables remained, and it took nearly an hour to see joiso eliminated in 11th place to start hand-for-hand play. Several hands later, millionboy87 pushed a short stack of less than 2 million chips with A♥ Q♣ on the button, and Peanut172 called from the big blind with Q♦ 10♣ . But the board came 10♠3♠5♣ 7♣ Q♥ for tens and queens, enough to eliminate millionboy87 in tenth place with $8,193.90.
Fish2013 leads, Peanut172 close behind
The final table was set in the middle of Level 39, with blinds of 250,000/500,000 and a 50,000 ante, along with these starting stacks:
Seat 1: fish2013 (20,630,835 in chips)
Seat 2: arra85 (4,686,723 in chips)
Seat 3: Seppula18 (4,965,101 in chips)
Seat 4: KOLOKOS (9,629,309 in chips)
Seat 5: karelli (5,931,757 in chips)
Seat 6: NatWork (4,100,314 in chips)
Seat 7: SYATR (2,621,223 in chips)
Seat 8: Peanut172 (18,249,260 in chips)
Seat 9: t_cam21 (3,675,478 in chips)
The second hand saw fish2013 raise from middle position, and karelli responded with an all-in reraised from the small blind. Fish2013 called with J♠J♥ , which dominated the 9♥ 9♦ of karelli. The board came 2♥ J♣ 5♠3♥ A♠, and the set of jacks was more than enough to eliminate karelli in ninth place with $11,545.95.
Peanut172 had been making some moves, and when arra85 moved all-in from the small blind, original raiser Peanut172 called with K♠10♠. Arra85 showed A♠Q♠, and the flop of 7♠6♥ 9♦ looked good for the double-up. But the K♥ on the turn gave Peanut172 top pair, and the 9♠on the river only made two pair. Arra85 departed in eighth place with $17,877.60.
NatWork doubled through fish2013, and SYATR did the same through Peanut172. Then t_cam21 doubled through fish2013.
SYATR then got involved in a reraised hand with KOLOKOS to see a 7♥ 3♦ Q♦ flop. SYATR bet all-in for 42,446 chips, and KOLOKOS called with 8♠8♥ . SYATR showed K♦ 10♥ and never improved as the turn came 7♦ and river 4♣ . SYATR was out in seventh place with $32,030.70.
NatWork was the next to risk it all, moving all-in from the small blind with A♠7♠. Peanut172 called from the big blind with K♣ Q♣ and immediately caught help on the 5♦ 9♥ Q♠flop. The 5♠on the turn made that into two pair, and the 8♥ officially sent NatWork out in sixth place with $46,183.80.
Fish2013 and Peanut172 continue to dominate
Not long after the 11.5-hour break, t_cam21 decided to play all or nothing. After Peanut172 raised in the small blind, t_cam21 called all-in from the big blind with 4♠4♣ . Peanut172 showed 9♣ 8♣ but made the flush on the A♣ 3♣ J♠10♣ 6♠board. T_cam21 was eliminated in fifth place with $61,081.80.
Seppula18 was short-stacked but doubled through fish2013 to stay in action. But a bit later, Seppula18 got involved with KOLOKOS to see a raised flop of 8♣ Q♠6♣ . Seppula18 bet all-in with 8♠7♠for middle pair, but KOLOKOS showed K♣ Q♥ for top pair. The Q♦ then came on the turn for trip queens, and the 4♦ finished the tournament for Seppula18, who took home $78,959.40 for fourth place.
Fish2013 then took a pot worth 6.8 million chips from Peanut172 to climb above the 40 million chip mark and solidify a massive lead over the other two players. But KOLOKOS had other plans, first doubling through fish2013 twice in two hands. The third time put KOLOKOS firmly in second place:
KOLOKOS lost ground but doubled through Peanut172 to leave the latter with little more than 3 million chips. Fish2013 took a 19 million chip pot from KOLOKOS as the three exchanged chips.
Peanut172 did double through fish2013 but moved all-in again on the next hand. KOLOKOS was the caller with A♦ K♠, which dominated the Q♥ 7♦ of Peanut172. The board came A♥ 5♦ K♥ 6♠5♣ for top two pair, which left Peanut172 out in third place with $119,184.00.
Fish2013 and KOLOKOS face off
The last two players began their match with these chip counts:
Seat 1: fish2013 (42,328,171 in chips)
Seat 4: KOLOKOS (32,161,829 in chips)
The two quickly decided to pause the tournament to consider a deal, but not before KOLOKOS took a pot worth 26.2 million chips and jumped into the lead. Talks quickly fell apart, though, and play resumed.
Fish2013 regained the lead, but the two were nearly even for more than a few rounds. But KOLOKOS jumped ahead through a series of hands, and fish2013 couldn’t seem to overcome it. Finally, after 30 minutes of play, fish2013 was reduced to less than 10 million chips and raised only to see KOLOKOS reraise all-in. Fish2013 called all-in with 10♣ 7♣ , but KOLOKOS showed A♣ 10♦ . The board of 5♥ 5♣ 8♥ 6â™ 2♥ allowed the ace kicker to play, and fish2013 had to accept second place and $164,429.22.
KOLOKOS of Cyprus won the Sunday Million for $223,474.92. Congrats!
Sunday Million Results for 12/16/12:
Players: 7,449
Paid players: 1,080
1st place: KOLOKOS (Cyprus) – $223,474.92
2nd place: fish2013 (Belarus) – $164,429.22
3rd place: Peanut172 (UK) – $119,184.00)
4th place: Seppula18 (Switzerland) – $78,959.40
5th place: t_cam21 (Brazil) – $61,081.80
6th place: NatWork (Belgium) – $46,183.80
7th place: SYATR (Canada) – $32,030.70
8th place: arra85 (Norway) – $17,877.60
9th place: karelli (Poland) – $11,545.95
For more information on ways to register and qualify for upcoming Sunday Million tournaments, visit the Sunday Million page.
Jennifer Newell is a PokerStars freelance contributor.
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