Listen, when you’re running well, you’re running well and a trio of familiar faces proved that in spades by landing on the final table of this week’s Sunday Million. Chaz D 87 won a Sunday Major only a month ago, taking down the Sunday Warm-Up for nearly $89,000. Casey “bigdogpckt5s” Jarzabeck won the Super Tuesday just this week, banking over $78k. And two-time WSOP bracelet winner Thor “osten” Hansen, no doubt the most recognizable and decorated of the three, won a WCOOP event this fall and finished in the top 10 for Player of the Series. However, all three would fall to a player who made by far his best career score tonight, the Netherlands’ nietbangzijn, who brought the chip lead to the final table and went wire-to-wire to win the Sunday Million.
7,419 players came out for this week’s Million, creating a $1,483,800 prize pool. 1,080 spots were paid, with first place set to earn $222,574.92. A dozen Red Spades joined the field, including Andre Akkari, Angel Guillen, Victor Ramdin, and newly minted Team Pro Jake Cody, but only one finished in the money– the Czech Republic’s Martin Hruby, who busted out in 650th place.
Short-stacked with ten players remaining, leopleuca open-shoved for his last eight big blinds from the cutoff. Spyver reshoved for 7.63 million on the button and bigdogpckt5s called all-in for 5.25 million from the small blind.
bigdogpckt5s 9♠9♣
Spyver Aâ™ 6â™
leopeluca 6♦ 8♥
Bigdogpckt5s hit a set on the flop, the board running out K♣ J♠9♦ 5♥ 10♦ . Spyver was left with only 2.2 million while leopeluca bubbled the final table.
Final table chip counts
Seat 1: bigdogpckt5s (13,623,256 in chips)
Seat 2: Spyver (2,230,523 in chips)
Seat 3: nietbangzijn (24,126,759 in chips)
Seat 4: proFISHnal (5,674,436 in chips)
Seat 5: UKKage (2,888,493 in chips)
Seat 6: osten (3,521,567 in chips)
Seat 7: MazR1m (2,908,058 in chips)
Seat 8: TTimallin (10,874,982 in chips)
Seat 9: Chaz D 87 (8,341,926 in chips)
Early exits
The final table lost its first player on the fourth hand. After nietbangzijn opened for a min-raise to 600,000, MazR1m three-bet shoved for 2.48 million from the small blind. TTimallin cold-called from the big blind and nietbangzijn gave up his hand. MazR1m’s A♦ 7♦ couldn’t catch TTimallin’s K♣ K♦ , which flopped a set and turned kings full to send MazR1m home in ninth place.
Five hands later, Spyver open-shoved for his last 2.2 million and UKKAge called from the big blind. Spyver’s Aâ™ 7â™ didn’t improve against UKKage’s pocket nines and he exited in eighth place.
Osten ousted, proFISHnal picked off
Godfather of Scandinavian Poker Thor “osten” Hansen caught a lucky break after getting the last of his chips in with A♦ 9♥ against proFISHnal’s Aâ™ J♥ ; the board paired kings and threes to end the hand in a chop. While osten hung on with nine big blinds, nietbangzijn open-shoved for over 26 million with K♣ 7♦ and UKKage called with Aâ™ 8♦ in the big blind. UKKage’s hand looked good on the Q♦ 6♣ 6♦ flop, but nietbangzijn turned the K♦ to make two pair. The river 6♥ improved him to a boat and UKKage had to settle for seventh place.
On the next deal, bigdogpckt5s opened for 805,855 and osten three-bet shoved for 3.47 million with 9♥ 9♣ . Unfortunately for him, he ran straight into bigdogpckt5s’ J♥ Jâ™ . Osten got no help from the board and went out in sixth place, earning $45,997.80.
One hand after osten’s elimination, proFISHnal three-bet shoved for 3.34 million with pocket sixes and nietbangzijn called with K♦ Q♦ . Two queens hit the flop and a king came on the turn, sending proFISHnal to the rail in fifth. He picked up $60,835.80 for his efforts.
ICM is A-OK
Shortly after proFISHnal’s elimination, the final four agreed to pause the action and discuss a potential deal. Here’s a look at their chip counts when negotiations began:
nietbangzijn 32,370,955
TTimallin 19,190,851
bigdogpckt5s 15,006,268
Chaz D 87 7,621,926
Final table host Grayson “spacegravy” Physioc first presented the foursome with chip count chop numbers, but bigdogpckt5s wasn’t happy with the payouts. He requested ICM numbers and along with TTimallin and Chaz D 87, quickly agreed to the new figures. Nietbangzijn was a bit less enthusiastic, but ultimately agreed to the deal, which left $20,000 in play for the winner.
Action resumed and on the third hand back, bigdogpckt5s four-bet shoved for 14.35 million with 9♥ 9♦ . Nietbangzijn called with A♦ Q♥ and turned an ace to end bigdogpckt5s’ run in fourth place. Bigdogpckt5s took home $137,488.43 for his performance, bringing his earnings for the week (yes, the week) up to more than $216,000.
Chaz D 87 scored a crucial double-up when his A♦ 6♥ made aces up against TTimallin’s pocket queens, and a few orbits later, TTimallin three-bet shoved preflop holding only Kâ™ 2♥ . Chaz D 87 called with A♦ K♦ . TTimallin did not improve and departed in third place, his share of the deal totaling $147,155.23.
Heads-up chip counts
Seat 3: nietbangzijn (48,598,929 in chips)
Seat 9: Chaz D 87 (25,591,071 in chips)
This tournament was decided on the second hand of heads-up play, as Chaz D 87 called all-in on the river with an unimproved A♦ K♠, only to watch nietbangzijn roll over a full house:
Congratulations to nietbangzijn on winning his first Sunday Million title! He picked up $186,792.27 for the win while runner-up Chaz D 87 banked $112,251.39.
PokerStars Sunday Million results for 1/13/2013
Players: 7,419
Prizepool: $1,483,800
Places paid: 1,080
1. nietbangzijn (Netherlands) $186,792.27*
2. Chaz D 87 (United Kingdom) $112,251.39*
3. TTimallin (Ireland) $147,155.23*
4. Casey “bigdogpckt5s” Jarzabeck (Canada) $137,488.43*
5. proFISHnal (India) $60,835.80
6. Thor “osten” Hansen (Norway) $45,997.80
7. UKKage (United Kingdom) $31,901.70
8. Spyver (United Kingdom) $17,805.60
9. MazR1m (Russia) $11,499.45
* Reflects the results of a four-way deal that left $20,000 in play for the winner
Kristin Bihr is a freelance contributor to the PokerStars Blog.
Back to Top
