Sunday is fun day on PokerStars, with the $215 buy-in no-limit hold’em tourney known as the Sunday Million highlighting the good times. There were 6,669 players who decided it would be fun this Sunday to participate in online poker’s most popular weekly tournament, and after almost 12 hours ~The$amurai~ of the United Kingdom had enjoyed the day most of all after claiming this week’s title and a $186,906.21 first prize.
That huge field meant a prize pool of $1,333,800, well over the $1 million guarantee. It would take almost five hours for those 6,669 to be reduced to 990 players and the money, with kar1e007, oceanmm, and Batozmaj leading the way at that point.
Not long after Team PokerStars Pro Marcel Luske was among the early cashers, finishing 813th for a $333.45 payday. Later on it was Luske’s teammate Victor Ramdin lasting a while longer before going out in 290th to earn $560.19.
As the tourney pushed on toward the eight-hour mark the field shrunk below 100 players, with Henrique “Henrique.P” Pinho the last Team PokerStars Pro standing, having just pushed over the 1 million-chip mark to nudge close to the top 20. Meanwhile, Roflmaoinmys was on top with more than 2.2 million, with MrStetson1 and yali1961 occupying the next two spots in the counts.
Pinho slipped under 800,000, then found himself all in with Aâ™ J♣ versus Lary18th’s A♥ K♦ . Things looked dire for Pinho after the 5â™ 5♥ 7â™ flop and Q♥ turn, but the Jâ™ fell on the river to preserve the Portuguese player’s tourney life.
They played on to the tourney’s nine-hour mark, with Pinho continuing to last into the final 30 albeit with a short stack. Finally he committed his last chips with Kâ™ J♦ versus vadermike777’s 6♥ 6♦ , and when the board ran out ten-high Pinho was out in 29th, cashing for $2,787.64.
That hand pushed vadermike777 near the 7 million-chip mark and into first place as the tourney shrunk down to the last three tables, and vadermike777 still held the lead a while later with just 18 left.
Nine more fell, with both Frenzuh and ~The$amurai~ moving into the top positions with more than 13 million while vadermike777 slipped back to the middle of the pack. That stretch saw Onatole (18th), yali1961 (17th), and ISultanchikl (16th) each earning $3,734.64; Meyer14 (15th), greatgoudini (14th), and dynoalot (13th) take away $5,601.96 apiece; and minko23 (12th), Meri Gold113 (11th), and josephxvx (10th) claim $7,469.28.
The final table was set.
Seat 1: Frenzuh (Canada) — 13,284,232
Seat 2: ~The$amurai~ (United Kingdom) — 13,171,227
Seat 3: chardychard (Germany) — 5,862,188
Seat 4: thunder_farm (Austria) — 8,190,026
Seat 5: ZanOcu v Dom (Russia) — 3,206,698
Seat 6: michael07049 (Germany) — 8,806,885
Seat 7: vadermike777 (Canada) — 6,155,726
Seat 8: catostar (Denmark) — 3,001,043
Seat 9: mysticblu735 (Finland) — 5,011,975
catostar would be the first final tablist to hit the rail. With the blinds up to 125,000/250,000, ZanOcu v Dom open-raised all in for 2,706,698 from the cutoff seat, and when it folded to the big blind catostar called all in for 2,141,043.
ZanOcu v Dom had K♣ Q♣ and catostar 8♣ 8♠. catostar was okay through the 7♠2♣ J♥ flop and 10♥ turn, but the river brought the 9♣ to fill a backdoor straight for ZanOcu v Dom, and catostar was out in ninth.
The blinds increased to 150,000/300,000, then ~The$amurai~ opened for 600,000 from early position. It folded around to vadermike777 in the small blind who pushed all in for 3,050,726, and after mysticblu735 folded in the big blind ~The$amurai~ made the call.
It was 10♦ 9♣ for vadermike777 and A♠Q♥ for ~The$amurai~, and after the board rolled out A♥ 7♥ 2♦ 6♦ 4♦ , vadermike777 was eliminated in eighth.
On the very next hand, mysticblu735 open-pushed for 3,156,975 from the button with 4♣ 3♣ and got a caller in Frenzuh from the small blind with A♣ Q♥ . The flop came 9♣ 3♥ J♦ , giving mysticblu735 a pair of treys, but the Q♠fell on the turn to give Frenzuh the better pair of queens. The river was the 9♥ , and mysticblu735 was knocked out in seventh.
The remaining six battled on, with Frenzuh pushing well out in front with more than 28 million, more than twice the stack of chardychard in second position. Then with the blinds at 200,000/400,000, Frenzuh made a 2x raise to 800,000 from middle position, and when it folded to the small blind thunder_farm pushed all in for 3,234,650. ZanOcu v Dom then reraised over the top for nearly 7.1 million, forcing a fold from Frenzuh.
thunder_farm: A♣ J♦
ZanOcu v Dom: A♦ K♥
The flop came Kâ™ 5♣ 7â™ , pairing ZanOcu v Dom’s king, and after the 2♦ turn the 9♥ river was no matter and thunder_farm’s run had ended in sixth.
The blinds moved up to 250,000/500,000, and soon Frenzuh was raising to 1 million from UTG, then michael07049 reraised all in for 2,968,697 from the big blind and Frenzuh called. michael07049 had A♣ 4♦ and was looking for improvement to beat Frenzuh’s 10â™ 10♥ , but the board came K♥ 8â™ 9♣ 7♥ 8♥ , and they were down to four.
The action continued at a rapid pace, and soon ZanOcu v Dom was opening for 1.35 million from the small blind. Frenzuh responded by making to 2.7 million to go from a seat over, then ZanOcu v Dom pushed all in for 8,892,391 and Frenzuh called.
ZanOcu v Dom had A♣ Jâ™ while Frenzuh had picked up 10â™ 10♣ yet again. The board came eight-high — 2â™ 2♦ 5♦ 5â™ 8♣ — and ZanOcu v Dom was out in fourth.
The final trio played on, with Frenzuh leading with more than 31 million, ~The$amurai~ next with about 19.6 million, and chardychard third with just under 16 million.
Then a big hand developed between Frenzuh and ~The$amurai~ that saw all of the latter’s chips go in on the turn with the board showing A♣ 3♦ 6♣ 4♣ . Frenzuh had made a flush with J♣ 5♣ while ~The$amurai~ was drawing with K♣ 10â™ , then the Q♣ fell on the river to give ~The$amurai~ the better flush and the chip lead.
Shortly after that hand Frenzuh was all in and at risk with K♥ 6♥ versus chardychard’s A♦ 10♣ , but the flop came a convenient 2♥ 3♥ J♥ to give Frenzuh a heart flush, and suddenly chardychard was the short stack again.
Then a hand arose in which ~The$amurai~ min-raised to 1.2 million from the button, then chardychard went all in for 8,129,316. Frenzuh stepped aside, and ~The$amurai~ quickly called, turning over A♥ K♥ to chardychard’s Aâ™ 5♣ . The next five came 10♦ Qâ™ 9♦ , then 6♥ , then 10♥ , and chardychard was out in third.
Heads-up play began with ~The$amurai~ way in front with 49,527,128 to Frenzuh’s 17,162,872. They talked briefly about chopping initially, but mutually decided to play on instead.
After a while the tourney was nearing the 12-hour mark and the players’ stacks had grown close to even, with ~The$amurai~ still a little in front with just over 34.2 million to Frenzuh’s almost 32.5 million. They paused proccedings once more and this time did agree to a deal that guaranteed each nearly the same payday of about $166K, with $20,000 still on the table for which to play.
It would only take four more hands after that to find a winner.
The last hand began with a min-raise to 1.6 million by ~The$amurai~, with Frenzuh responding with a reraise to 3.6 million. ~The$amurai~ four-bet to 6.2 million, Frenzuh pushed all in for 29,485,744, and ~The$amurai~ called.
Frenzuh: A♦ 10♥
~The$amurai~: A♥ K♦
Both players had picked up aces, but Frenzuh needed help to survive. The board came 7♥ J♦ 2♥ , then 3♠, then 7♣ , and it was all over. ~The$amurai~ had won!
Congratulations to ~The$amurai~ for topping a huge Sunday Million field to win the title and a handsome $186K-plus payday, and kudos as well to Frenzuh for making it to heads-up and the deal to secure a nice return on the $215 buy-in as well.
6/9/13 Sunday Million ($215 No-Limit Hold’em) results (*reflects two-way deal)
Players: 6,669
Total prize pool: $1,333,800.00
Places paid: 990
1. ~The$amurai~ (United Kingdom) $186,906.21*
2. Frenzuh (Canada) $166,021.05*
3. chardychard (Germany) $106,704.00
4. ZanOcu v Dom (Russia) $73,359.00
5. michael07049 (Germany) $56,019.60
6. thunder_farm (Austria) $42,681.60
7. mysticblu735 (Finland) $29,343.60
8. vadermike777 (Canada) $16,005.60
9. catostar (Denmark) $10,336.95
That 100 Billionth hand is drawing ever closer. Click here to read all about the “Road to 100 Billion” and the $5 million in prize money being awarded along the way.
Martin Harris is Freelance Contributor to the PokerStars Blog.
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