It’s one of those things you’ve just come to expect in life. Birds gonna fly, fish gonna swim, dogs gonna bark, and PokerStars gonna beat the guarantee in the Sunday Million. With a symmetrical 7,557 players in the field, the prize pool for the biggest weekly tournament in poker was an incredible $1,511,400.00. The top 1,080 players got a piece of the pie, but nobody’s slice was bigger than NFrost_10, who took down $170,900.91 for first place after a deal that left $30,000 to play for when the field thinned from thousands down to just two. With just a couple of weeks before the WCOOP, PokerStars unveiled the new live blogging feature for this week’s Sunday Million.
If one person in a poker tournament is ecstatic, 7,556 are less so. One of the less happy was final table bubble boy Roolender, who put on a display of ruthless aggression on the final table bubble that was impressive to watch. His chip stack went up and down like a roller coaster, but he finally found himself all in with Kc-Qc to Duffs#1fan’s Ad-10d. Duffs#1fan hit an ace on the 4d-5h-Ah flop, and Roolender was drawing thin. No help on the turn or river, and Roolender finished in 10th place for $7,557.00. That hand gave Duffs#1fan the chip lead going into the final table, but es_dame and NFrost_10 were close behind.
Afiopeneyes2 started the final table on the shortest of short stacks, and wasted no time moving all in preflop with Kd-Qc. NFrost_10 made the call with Ad-3d, and sent afiopeneyes2 to the rail when the board ran out 4s-6d-5s-6h-5d. Afiopeneyes2 picked up $10,579.80 for 9th place. That hand put NFrost_10 solidly in third place on the leader board, within striking distance of the chip leaders.
Shortly after kidkanada99 was crippled, SonnyInMtl moved all in preflop with Ah-Kh. Hidden1s called with Ac-Js, and several bigger stacks went into the tank weighing the option of busting two players. Finally the big stacks got out of the way, and it was heads-up to the 9c-7h-5c flop. No help on the Ad turn or the 6d river for hidden1s, and SonnyInMtl dragged the pot as hidden1s picked up $17,381.10 for 8th place.
The micro-stacked kidkanada99 was all in after calling the big blind on the very next hand, and found two opponents as es_dame completed the small blind and Duffs#1fan checked the big blind. The two chip leaders checked it down to the river as the board ran out 10d-3c-4s-10h-2s. Es_dame showed Kd-Jc, and both opponents mucked as kidkanada99 was eliminated in 7th place for $26,449.50.
Lecharentais held on for a few minutes after kidkanada99 busted, but eventually headed to the rail in 6th place ($39,296.40). After moving in several times preflop and picking up the blinds and antes, lecharentais found a caller in karelli, who picked up Kc-10c in late position and made the call. Lecharentais tabled 8h-6h, and karelli’s king kicker was good on the board of Qs-3s-7d-5c-5d.
Es_dame reclaimed the chip lead with the next bustout, sending SonnyInMtl to the rail in 5th place. On a board of 10s-10h-6c, SonnyInMtl moved all in with Kh-Qc. Es_dame quickly called with Ks-6s for two pair, and SonnyInMtl was left looking for a king or a queen. None came as the final board read 10s-10h-6c-5s-7h, and SonnyInMtl picked up $54,410,40 for 5th place.
With chip lead in hand, es_dame next took out Duffs#1fan, who went to the rail in 4th place. On a flop of Js-3h-8s, Duffs#1fan led out. Es_dame raised with pocket threes for bottom set, and quickly called when Duffs#1fan moved all in over the top. Duffs#1fan tabled As-9s for the nut flush draw, but no spade came on the turn or river, and es_dame busted Duffs#1fan in 4th place for $69,524.40.
The final break saw es_dame in the chip lead, with karelli on a short stack –
es_dame – 39,207,518
NFrost_10 – 25,311,860
karelli – 11,050,622
It only took a few minutes after players returned from break for everything to sort out, as NFrost_10 quickly took karelli out in 3rd place. NFrost_10 raised preflop, and karelli moved all in with Ac-7s. NFrost_10 called with As-Jh. Nothing out of the ordinary happened as the board ran out 9s-5c-Jd-7h-10d, and karelli picked up $84,638.40 for 3rd place.
The players paused briefly once heads-up play began to discuss a deal, and quickly agreed on an even chop of the remaining money. Karelli’s elimination had moved NFrost_10 almost dead even with es_dame in chips, so each player took home $140,900.91, with $30,000 left to play for.
Heads-up play only took a few hands, as NFrost_10 wasted no time taking a small chip lead and exploiting it. With the tournament nearing clock nearing 3AM, all the chips went in the middle on a flop of Js-9s-7s. Es_dame showed Jc-4s for top pair with a flush redraw, while NFrost_10 tabled 9d-8s for middle pair with a better redraw. The 2s on the turn sealed the deal for NFrost_10, and the 6h on the river was irrelevant as NFrost_10 picked up a total of $170,900.91 for his Sunday Million Victory.
Congratulations to NFrost_10 and all the players who cashed in this week’s Sunday Million!
The Final Table finishers and payouts looked like this after a deal between the final two players –
1) NFrost_10 – $170,900.91
2) es_dame – $140,900.91
3) karelli – $84,638.40
4) Duffs#1fan – $69,524.40
5) SonnyInMtl – $54,410.40
6) lecharentais – $39,296.40
7) kidkanada99 – $26,449.50
8) hidden1s – $17,381.10
9) afiopeneyes2 – $10,579.80
