A double-edged sword, some might call it. The large number of players in the tournament removes any chance for an overlay in the $1.5 million guaranteed event. But that high number also means that the prize pool soars well beyond that already impressive dollar amount. And PokerStars can call it another Sunday success.
There were 8,342 players in the last Sunday Million in July, and that catapulted the prize pool to a whopping $1,668,400. While only 1,260 players would receive any payout, those who made it to the final three would be eligible for six-figure payouts with the ultimate winner receiving $245,421.65. Is there anyone who wouldn't call that a successful Sunday?
Speaking of payouts, several hours into the tournament, it was ILimpSoWhat who was eliminated in 1261st place on the money bubble to give the remainder of the players the opportunity to cash out. CoachMarshal was the first to do so, taking home $300.31 for the 1260th place finish. The rest of the field then took their shots at the final table. At the point that there were ten players remaining late in Level 35, hand-for-hand play began and lasted for only several minutes, when Skammes took on Titan Tilts, the latter of whom was eliminated in tenth place ($8,842.53) on the following hand:
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And then there were nine, along with Team PokerStars Pros Humberto Brenes and Steve Paul-Ambrose in the chat box to welcome the players. The final table of the PokerStars Sunday Million began as follows:
Seat 1: KingGorn (7,320,978 in chips)
Seat 2: BREAKURFACE (9,112,220 in chips)
Seat 3: FreeLancerZZ (6,546,888 in chips)
Seat 4: Skämmes (18,407,722 in chips)
Seat 5: asbo22 (13,017,771 in chips)
Seat 6: buttonsAAAA (4,997,590 in chips)
Seat 7: Danneville (12,275,378 in chips)
Seat 8: ThePokerBody (6,394,602 in chips)
Seat 9: domino16 (5,346,851 in chips)
Play started cautiously, as it sometimes does with such drastic differences in payouts at the final table. More than $230,000 separated a ninth place finish from a win, and none of the players were particularly desperate to move quickly. That was until ThePokerBody doubled through buttonsAAA, leaving the latter as the shortest stack of the group.
buttonsAAA came back to double through asbo22 but stayed in last place on the leaderboard, prompting another move. With [As] [Jc], buttonsAAA pushed all-in preflop for just under 4 million chips and was called by initial raiser KingGorn with pocket kings. The board came [9s] [6h] [3d] [4h] [8h], and the kings held up to send buttonsAAA out in ninth place with $12,930.11.
Action sped up noticeably, and FreeLancerZZ soon decided to get involved preflop, making the all-in move from the big blind with [Kd] [Jc]. But BREAKURFACE was there to call with [Ac] [Qs] and the lead in the hand. The virtual dealer gave them [2c] [2d] [9h] [Ad] [2h] on the board, and BREAKURFACE had no less than a full house. FreeLancerZZ was ousted in eighth place with a $18,352.41 consolation prize.
Within only a few hands, asbo22 decided to make his move from the small blind after a raise from Skammes, who had been dominating the tournament for level after level. asbo22 pushed all-in for more than 7.5 million with [Kh] [8s], but Skammes called with [Ah] [Jc] and the better hand. The board ran out [7c] [As] [Jh] [2d] [Qs], and asbo22 was gone in seventh place with $33,368.01 to soothe the pain.
After a bit of a lull in the action, Skammes was at it again. Already more than a 2-to-1 chip leader, he seemed unwilling to back down from any challenge. When BREAKURFACE raised preflop, Skammes came in with a reraise, which prompted an all-in move for a whopping 17.4 million chips with [As] [Kd]. Skammes called with pocket tens, and the board came [3c] [2s] [3d] [Qh] [6h]. BREAKURFACE was suddenly eliminated in sixth place with $50,052.01.
Play then sped up to an exciting pace. KingGorn moved all-in preflop from first position for his last 6.2 million chips with [Ah] [8c], and domino16 called from the big blind with pocket sixes. The board brought a clincher on the flop with [6d] [Qc] [8d], and it was followed by a [Kc] on the turn and [Ts] on the river to solidify the outcome. KingGorn was out of the tournament in fifth place, which was worth $66,736.01 in prize money.
Four players remained, and Danneville was quick to push all-in from the small blind for more than 15.5 million with [Qh] [Jh], which was a good-looking hand but didn't compare to the [Ac] [Kd] of ThePokerBody, who called all-in from the big blind. The rest of the cards came [Th] [Js] [7c] [Tc] [2d], giving Danneville the two pair, and that was all she wrote for ThePokerBody, who finished in fourth place with $83,420.01.
The final three wasted no time in pushing forward. It was domino16 who made the initial raise, and when Skammes reraised, domino16 pushed all-in for more than 17 million chips with [Ah] [Jd]. Skammes called with pocket nines, and they only improved to a full house on the [Kc] [Ts] [3h] [Ks] [Kd] board. That left domino16 with a third place finish and substantial payout of $125,130.01 for the effort.
Heads-up action promptly began with the following chip counts:
Seat 4: Skämmes (63,974,726 in chips)
Seat 7: Danneville (19,445,274 in chips)
After a number of hands and Danneville beginning to close the gap, the two agreed to look at chip-chop numbers and a potential deal. The players eventually agreed to the numbers given by the host, which were as follows with $30,000 left aside for the eventual winner:
Seat 4: Skämmes (53,005,837 in chips) = $202,271.36
Seat 7: Danneville (30,414,163 in chips) = $192,503.30
Play continued, and Danneville kept chipping away at Skammes and soon took over the lead with an all-in move that Skammes didn't feel able to call. The aggression by Danneville worked and pushed Skammes to move soon after he trailed in the chip counts, and the tournament came down to the following hand:
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The pocket sixes of Skammes lost the race with Danneville's [As] [Qs] when the latter caught a flush on the river to end the tournament. Skammes took the agreed-upon amount of $202,271.36 for second place.
Congratulations to Danneville, who used patience and well-timed aggression to overcome the tournament's dominating chip leader in the last few rounds of the event. The victory was worth $222,503.30 for the win, along with the priceless title of Sunday Million champion.
Sunday Million Results for 07/26/09:
1st place: Danneville ($222,503.30)*
2nd place: Skammes ($202,271.36)*
3rd place: domino16 ($125,130.01)
4th place: ThePokerbody ($83,420.01)
5th place: KingGorn ($66,736.01)
6th place: BREAKURFACE ($50,052.01)
7th place: asbo22 ($33,368.01)
8th place: FreeLancerZZ ($18,352.41)
9th place: buttonsAAA ($12,930.11)
*results of a chip-chop agreement
For more information on ways to register and qualify for upcoming Sunday Million tournaments, visit the Sunday Million page.
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Back in the days before television, people competed on an American radio program titled, "The $64 Question." When TV became the new American source of entertainment, the price tag for the show producers went up. Now the show was called "The $64,000 Question." It seemed people just loved watching other people winning money, and lots of it.
