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Archive for December, 2009


Battle of the Planets: Godfatti and ruipinto74 chop it up to close out 2009

Sunday, December 27th, 2009

BOP_thumbnail.jpgAs 600 SnG champs cashed in their tickets earned throughout the month for 2009's final $50,000 Battle of the Planets Triple Shootout freeroll, we had some well-known players make their runs at the $12,000.00 first prize sitting at the end of these three SnGs.

New minted Team PokerStars Online Pro Thomas "Boku87" Boekhoff's attempt to gain in his $5 into $100,000 bankroll challenge fell short while heads-up in the first round against VIP GoldStar shaunnn as Boku87 would gets his chips in good pre-flop at the 100/200 blind level holding pocket jacks [Jd][Js] against the pocket sevens of shaunnn. But, the other two sevens in the deck showed up on the [3c] [Ad] [7s] [Ks] [7c] board eliminating Boku87 in 115th place.

Team PokerStars Pro Portugal Henrique Pinho, found himself heads-up at the end of the first round against Jorgo V. Shortstacked with blinds at 125/250 ante 25 Pinho would call the button push from Jorgo and find his [Kd][7s] slightly ahead of Jorgo V's [8d][Qc]. However the [2h] [Ts] [Qs] [8c] [9h] board would churn out two pair for Jorgo V and end the Portuguese pro's day short of the money in 100th place.

Another Team PokerStars Pro online, Andrew "Kid Nebraska" Goetsch, did advance to the second round to assure a $195.00 payday along with the other 81 players who won their first round matches.

Alcymar, Method999, and Math130985 all locked up their seats early as there remained six seats to play for the $12,000.00 first prize sitting at the final table. Team PokerStars Online Pro "Kid Nebraska" would last until the 100/200 blind level with three players left at his table. Pocket nines were the choice of weapon against the chip leader Gambit_44s blind steal holding [8d][7c]. Goetsch was looking good for a double up with the 4,410 chip pot even after Gambit_44s paired the seven on the [Kh] [7d] [Qc] flop. But the turned [7h] the turn left the new pro needing a two outer on the river. This time the pretty [As] did not help and Kid Nebraska would leave in 25th place ($195.00).

cristina30 would outlast jenssa heads up for the second to last seat which left Table 7's m8675309a and Runnunit left for the final seat. They would battle into the 200/400 ante 50 blind level with m8675309a holding a sizable 4 to 1 lead throughout the heads-up play as Runnunit tried chipping away at the lead winning several hands preflop. A big break came when Runnunit's pocket fours [4c][4d] held up against m8675309a's [Kc][6c] all in preflop for a game tying pot. Three hands later Runnunit would find pocket nines [9s][9d] and chose to limp in to trap. It worked as m8675309a would shove with [3s][Ad]. Runnunit would make the call and was all-in, but the flop came a disappointing [4c] [3d] [Ac] for Runnunit. The flopped two pair would hold up on the [8d] turn and [5s] river to set up the final nine below:

BattlePlanets122709.jpg

(click image for larger picture)

Seat 1: cristina30 (1500 in chips)
Seat 2: Jorgo V (1500 in chips)
Seat 3: Method999 (1500 in chips)
Seat 4: Godfatti (1500 in chips)
Seat 5: Math130985 (1500 in chips)
Seat 6: Michalsky 1 (1500 in chips)
Seat 7: m8675309a (1500 in chips)
Seat 8: ruipinto74 (1500 in chips)
Seat 9: Alcymar (1500 in chips)

All the players today would be trying to add their name to this list of 2009 Battle of the Planets titleholders:

November - Makkie (for recap click here)
October - xx23xx (for recap click here)
September - so awful (for recap click here)
August - patsaiyan (for recap click here)
July - GABO2584 (for recap click here)
June - DaveDiscount (for recap click here)
May - solody (for recap click here)
April - PrettayGood (for recap click here)
March - Acesupper (for recap click here)
February - Kirua (for recap click here)
January - ISANI (for recap click here)

Normally we need to wait for a few levels of play before there was someone all-in especially with the small 10/20 blinds and 1,500 chip starting stacks. In the final table's second hand the person who claimed the last seat to this final table, m8675309a, shoved on the turn with the board showing [8s] [6h] [Th] [Qc] against Godfatti. After some deliberations, Godfatti decided to save the other 950 chips and folded as m8675309a took the 1,100 chip pot and the early chip lead.

In the 15/30 level there would be a big shift of power as Alcymar slowly played pocket aces [Ac][As] after raising preflop and checking the flopped full house against m8675309a who called from the small blind. On turn m8675309a check-raised all-in holding big slick [Kc][Ah] with the board showing [8s] [Ad] [8c] [9c], not fearing quad eights Alcymar made the quick call making the [6d] river moot and shipping 3,180 chips to the Donald Duck icon. m8675309a was however knocked down to 485 chips.

Eight hands into the 25/50 blind level we would have our first elimination. The first chip leader became the first out. With 585 chips left and facing a 165 chip raise from Math130985, m8675309a would shove over the top with [Ac][Qc] from the button. Math130985 made the call with pocket sevens [7c][7h] to set up the 1,245 chip coin flip. The board came up [4d] [6d] [8h] [Jc] [8c] and m8675309a will have time to call Jenny now after getting LIFO'd (that's "last-in first-out" for you non-accountants out there) in ninth place ($775.00).

At the pre-determined break at the top of the hour here's how the chips stacked up with eight players remaining and Alcymar retaining the chip lead and the players returning to 50/100 blinds:

Seat 1: cristina30 (650 in chips)
Seat 2: Jorgo V (1550 in chips)
Seat 3: Method999 (1440 in chips)
Seat 4: Godfatti (2310 in chips)
Seat 5: Math130985 (1715 in chips)
Seat 6: Michalsky 1 (1125 in chips)
Seat 8: ruipinto74 (1245 in chips)
Seat 9: Alcymar (3465 in chips)

With the blinds squeezing the short stacks, Method999 holding just 815 took a shot after play folded to the small blind and shoved holding [4s][3h]. Godfatti however was holding a small ace [Ah][5d] and held enough chips to cover the bet and make the call. The ace would hold up on the [6c] [8s] [8d] [9d] [Jd] board to win the 1,630 chip pot and eliminate Method999 in eighth place ($1,200.00). That pot helped Godfatti nearly catch Alcymar for the chip lead as the rest of the table needed to mind the rising blinds.

A little over a dozen hands later with the blinds still at 50/100, Michaelsky 1 with 825 chips tried to claim the blinds from UTG + 2 after shoving with [Qh][Jh]. But, ruipinto74 was sitting on the immediate left with pocket tens [Tc][Th] and also shoved for 1,595. The rest of the table went silent as the [2d] [Ah] [Kd] [2s] [4c] board ran dry of hearts and sent Michaelsky 1 to the poker heavens with seventh place cash ($1,700.00).

Six hands later and the blinds unchanged Godfatti made a sneaky min-raise UTG as Math130985 on Godfatti's direct left would throw in a three bet to 450. Folded around to Godfatti with plenty of chips to spare four-bet all-in as Math130985 calculated a call holding [Ac][6c]. The pocket nines [9s][9c] were firmly in the lead for Godfatti and would remain that way on the [Ts] [Kd] [4h] [8h] [Jh] board. As the math dictates, when your tournament chip total reaches zero you are eliminated, just as Math130985 was in sixth place ($2,200.00).

Godfatti would remain on fire in the 75/150 level. Alcymar would open the pot for 600 from UTG as two seats later Jorgo V decided to shove for 1,150 chips. But, the betting wasn't done as Godfatti over-shoved covering both players. Alcymar would fold later claiming "TT" in the chat box as Godfatti flipped up pocket kings [Kc][Kh]. The [Jd][Ac] of Jorgo V was behind and would remain that way on the [5c] [4h] [2s] [9h] [7s] board to claim another 3,050 chips and send Jorgo V home in 5th place ($2,735.00).

To show you don't stop a player who is running well, another Godfatti elimination was just around the corner. The blinds still at 75/150 a shortstacked cristina30 would shove from the small blind for 1,150 chips into the chip leading Godfatti. With nearly seven times that amount in the stack, Godfatti made the quick call holding [5s][As] against the suited big slick [Kh][Ah] of cristina30. But, the flopped two pair held on the [Ad] [Qd] [5c] [Jh] [9s] board for Godfatti and cristina30 was gunned down in fourth place ($3,350.00).

Previous chip royalty Alcymar found some bad luck in the latter stages of the final table. After limping in from the button with pocket sixes [6d][6h], Godfatti sat back to admire the huge chip lead in the small blind and folded as ruipinto74 in the big blind shoved for just a few chips less than Alcymar had while holding [Ad][Qh]. ruipinto74 would make bookended pairs on the [Qd] [Kd] [8d] [Kc] [Ah] board and win the 3,615 chip pot as Alcymar exited in third place in the very next hand ($4,500.00).

Heads-up play would start with Godfatti sitting on an over 3:1 chip lead as shown below:

Seat 4: Godfatti (10255 in chips)
Seat 8: ruipinto74 (3245 in chips)

But, seven hands into the final two ruipinto74 would take a chunk of Godfatti's seemingly invincible chip armor on this hand. The blinds moved up to 100/200 as ruipinto74 led out from the button with a raise to 450. Godfatti used the big stack to its full weight and shoved holding [Ad][7d] and ruipinto74 snap called with big slick [Kc][As]. This time the lesser ace did not produce a suckout as the [Kh] [6s] [8h] [8c] [Qc] board ran out in favor of ruipinto74 for a 6,490 chip pot which knotted up the contest as a near dead heat. With the chips tied up both immediately went to chop negotiations which took a "50/50?" and a "sure" to finish up.

After passing the blinds while sitting out the PokerStars Mod divvied up the remaining prize pool like so:

Godfatti: $9,750.00
ruipinto: $9,750.00

The tournament was then turned back on for conclusion reasons as both players shoved and Godfatti's [3h][7s] would make two pair by the turn of the [Kc] [2s] [7c] [3s] [Kd] board to beat out ruipinto74's [6d][Ac] to claim the last official Battle of the Planets $50,000 Triple Shootout title of 2009!

BattlePlanets122709s.jpg

Godfatti is your winner

$50,000 Battle of the Planets Triple Shootout Results (12-27-09)
(* denotes part of two-way chop)
1. Godfatti (Breda) *$9,750.00
2. ruipinto74 (Vilar do Pinheiro) *$9,750.00
3. Alcymar (pirapetinga) $4,500.00
4. cristina30 (sibiu) $3,350.00
5. Jorgo V (Genk) $2,735.00
6. Math130985 (salvetat st gilles) $2,200.00
7. Michalsky 1 (Noisy le Roi) $1,700.00
8. Method999 (Weiden) $1,200.00
9. m8675309a (Providenciales) $775.00


Million Dollar Challenge spoiler: The $1 million winner

Thursday, December 24th, 2009

ps_news_thn.jpgThere are no secrets anymore. You probably knew that.

Between the internet, the paparazzi, and that neighbor who just won't be quiet about what you looked like when you went out to get the mail in your underwear, there's no keeping anything quiet these days.

So, it should come as no surprise that most of the poker world is already talking about who won a million bucks in the PokerStars Million Dollar Challenge. True, it hasn't been on TV yet. True, it won't be on TV until Sunday afternoon. True, there are those among you who like to go in fresh.

But, being that we're news guys and the cat is out of the bag, we can't just sit here and not talk about it, too.

So, this is your fair warning. If you read much further, you're going to know just about everything there is to know about the man who turned a freeroll entry into life-changing money.

Oh, one other thing...you still have a chance to win a bunch of money yourself, so it's best not to tune out now.

Ready?

Sure?

Alright then, here we go.

The Mike Kosowski story

No one should have to see what Detective Sergeant Mike Kosowski has seen. No one should have to endure what he's endured. It was, as he put it later, misery.

We could spend a thousand words describing what this tough guy from New York has seen. Instead, listen to Kosowski in his own words.


Watch Million Dollar Challenge: Mike Kosowski Profile on PokerStars.tv


Kosowski's experience on 9/11 left him injured and afflicted with asthma. He eventually had to retire in 2004. With spare time on his hands, the one-time cop started playing poker.

In 2007, Kosowski and his wife were watching the World Series of Poker and first saw Daniel Negreanu play. Koskowski turned to his wife and said, "I'm going to play him some day and I'm going to beat him."

It seemed a ridiculous conceit and it was made even more so by the fact Kosowski dreamed two weeks later about beating Kid Poker heads-up.

Just a couple of months ago, though, Kosowski saw a commercial advertising the the PokerStars Million Dollar Challenge. He played, beat out 16,000 players online, and had a chance to go to L.A. for a taping of the show--as an alternate.

Through a twist of fate, Kosowski managed to get his chance to play on TV. From there, he took over and made it all the way to a heads-up match with Daniel Negreanu.

You probably don't have to guess what happened next.

Mike-Kosowski-poker.jpg

To see how it happened, you'll just have to watch. The show airs Sunday on FOX (check your local listings for the exact time it will be on). If you tune in, you'll also get the password to the $20,000 freeroll on PokerStars.

That's about all we'll offer for now...except our sincere congratulations to Mike Kosowski. Well played, sir. Well, played.


PokerStars VIP Club adds Stellar Rewards

Wednesday, December 23rd, 2009

VIP-Club.jpgPokerStars is ready to give you $1,000 just for playing. We'd tell you more, but it's time for...

Lightning round trivia!

Do you know who is on the American $1,000 bill?

If you answered, "There is no such thing as a $1,000 bill," you responded exactly as we did when we conceived this trivia question. As it turns, out however, the United States actually did issue a bunch of $1,000 bills back in 1929. While a Richard Nixon order officially took the bills out of circulation years later, there are still thousands of them out there among bill collectors.

The real answer, by the way, is Grover Cleveland.

$1000-bill.jpg

But, wait! There is still that matter of PokerStars wanting to give you $1,000!

PokerStars has just announced a brand new program for 2010. VIP Stellar Rewards is a way you can use one (yes, ONE) FPP point to cash in on your frequent play.

Here's how it works.

After you earn your first 750 VIP Player Points in 2010, you go to the VIP Store and pay one FPP. PokerStars will give you $10. Simple as that.

But, wait! There's more!

Eighteen more times throughout the year, depending on how much you play, you can go back to the store as cash in for various amounts. Over the course of the year, you can earn $10, $50, or $100 multiple times. If you make it to Supernova, you will have picked up an extra $1,000 in Stellar Reward money. That's all in addition to the regular (and, frankly, quite awesome) benefits you get from being part of the PokerStars VIP Club.

So, now you know both who is on the U.S. $1,000 bill and how you can get an extra grand in 2010.

For more information, check out the VIP Stellar Rewards page.


EPT announces new stop in Berlin

Wednesday, December 23rd, 2009

ept-thumb-promo.jpgThere was never any secret about whether the EPT would return to Germany. There was hardly a person on tour who didn't like Deutschland. The only question when the Season 6 EPT schedule came out was where in Germany the EPT would end up.

That answer came this week when the EPT announced it will be traveling for the first time ever to the historic city of Berlin.

Indeed, Germany's biggest city will play host to what is expected to be the biggest poker tournament ever held in the country. March 2-7, the EPT will host up to 1,000 players in a brand new facility.

Right in the middle of Berlin, on the prestigious Marlene-Dietrich-Platz at Potsdamer Platz, crews will build a two story glass palace especially for the EPT Berlin event.

ept-berlin.jpg

Beyond being in a new city and new building, the event will host the glitterati of German poker. Scheduled to appear: tennis legend and Team PokerStars SportStar Boris Becker, the whole of of Team PokerStars Germany, and all the other guests from Germany's top televised poker show "TV Total PokerStars.de Nacht."

As if that's not enough, PokerStars is making a promise (and it's a big one):

The winner of EPT Berlin will win at least one million euros.

That, folks, is quite a guarantee.

In the meantime, the EPT has several more fantastic stops.

We're all headed to the Bahamas in a couple of weeks for the PokerStars Caribbean Adventure held from Jan 4 - 14. It's then onto Deauville January 20 - 25, then Copenhagen February 16-21.

For more information on all EPT Season 6 tournaments, head on over to the EPT tournaments web page.


PokerStars announces Team PokerStars Online

Wednesday, December 23rd, 2009

ps_news_thn.jpgTwo thousand people applied. Only 1% ended up with a spot. That 1% makes up the inaugural lineup for the brand new Team PokerStars Online.

The online Team PokerStars Pro group joins the dozens of live pros who have made up the team for years. Now 23 online pros have joined the PokerStars ranks. The world's biggest online poker site chose 20 men and three women from a wide range of games, stakes, and countries to fill out the new spot under the PokerStars flag.

The names are going to be familiar. If you have played on PokerStars for any length of time, you already know Anders "Donald" Berg. The Norwegian has been around the PokerStars scene for years, served on his country's World Cup of Poker team, and has been a familiar face on the EPT. Now, he is a founding member of the newest version of Team PokerStars.

anders-berg.jpg

Berg is not the only man who has risen to fame online. Germany's Thomas "Boku87" Boekhoff turned $100 into $10,000 just to win a prop bet and is now working to turn a similarly small amount into $100,000.

Steve "stevesbets" Jacobs is a name everyone should know by now. Not only has he been around the online scene for a long time, he beat ElkY for the championship in the 2008 WCOOP $25,000 heads-up event.

And then there is Boumaaza "Chiren80" Bachir, one of the fan favorites and an internet TV star in his own right. He's been broadcasting his attempts to get PokerStars' attention for the past several weeks. Today, when the Team PokerStars Online announcement hit the web, he and his friends threw a party to celebrate.

chiren80.jpg

Here's the full list of the new Team PokerStars Online:

1. Andres Alisievicz --- lobojiji
2. Jorge Arias --- JorgeArias
3. Boumaaza Bachir --- Chiren80
4. Anders Berg --- Donald
5. Alvaro Blanco --- VARICO
6. Thomas Boekhoff --- Boku87
7. Diego Brunelli --- vgreen22
8. André Coimbra --- acoimbra
9. Mathew Didlick --- chipstar1
10. Ta-Chih Geeng --- socutiesf
11. Andrew Goetsch --- Kid Nebraska
12. Martha Gonzalez --- marene
13. Keiran Harris --- K_Man2307
14. Steve Jacobs --- stevesbets
15. Randy Lew --- nanonoko
16. Karlo Lopez --- elmagopr
17. Alexey Makarov --- LuckyGump
18. Kristian Martin --- CharismA3
19. Grzegorz Mikielewicz --- DaWarsaw
20. Nichoel Peppe --- NicP
21. Grayson Physioc --- spacegravy
22. Sebastien Sabic --- Seb86
23. Amanda Thomas --- ROXY24

The folks behind the team tell us this is just the beginning, and more players will be get a spot during 2010.

Congratulations to the new team members. We'll see you online!


Weekly Dose: Million Dollar woman?

Tuesday, December 22nd, 2009

Client-News-Thumbnail-dottv.jpgThis is a really important week for the PokerStars Million Dollar Challenge. You may or may not have heard, somebody is going to win a million bucks this weekend on FOX. We'll have more on that later this week.

However, today is the day for the Weekly Dose, our time to take a look at the best videos on the internet. Because this is such an exciting week for the Million Dollar Challenge, we were going to feature a whole bunch of videos from the audition files.

Then we happened across a name that sounded familiar.

Nicole Rowe.

If you're not from around these parts, you might not know her name, but you might have heard the story. Rowe is battling breast cancer. A few months back, she simply needed something good to take her mind off the torture of chemo, surgery, and everything else horrible that goes with the disease.

So, she entered a ladies only tournament at the Borgata and beat every other woman in the field.

Yes, every other woman...because some guy thought it would be really cute to enter the event, make the final table, and then fight hard for the win against Rowe heads-up.

Yeah.

Since Rowe has put that behind her, we will too (although the dude would probably do well to not find himself in any dark AC alleys). Now, it's on to better things.

nicole-rowe2.jpg

Rowe recently went to a taping of the Million Dollar Challenge. After seeing what can happen there, she made a decision.

"After I got home from LA I decided I wanted to be on the show," she said. "So I entered an online tournament with 10,000 people at PokerStars and I won the thing amazingly enough."

We're not one to pick favorites here at the PokerStars Blog, but without even having met Rowe, her spirit has infected us a bit.

After winning her qualifier a few days back, she submitted this audition video for the show.



Normally this is the point we would show you a bunch of other videos from the week, but today we think we'll leave it with that. That's enough of a Dose for one week.

If you'd like to read more about Nicole, you can check out her blog. [Warning: She has a Million Dollar Challenge spoiler in there].


RPT goes to Africa, and underwater

Monday, December 21st, 2009

ps_news_thn.jpgTo live in the poker world, you have to be able to handle a little cognitive dissonance from time to time. For instance, you have to be able to accept that the Russian Poker Tour just finished up an event in Egypt. Yes, Egypt.

The most recent event in drew such famous names as Ivan Demidov, Alex Kravchenko, Maxim Lykov, and Alexander Dovzhenko (EPT Kyiv runner-up).

Of all the entrants, Nadezhda Gundorina was one and only woman who signed up. She managed to make it all the way to heads-up play where her pocket sixes eventually lost to Iost Beskrovny's pocket eights.

Here's how the the final table payouts looked:

PokerStars Russian Poker Tour Egypt ME results (EUR):

1. Iosif Beskrovny - 28,435
2. Nadezhda Gundorina - 19,800
3. Ruslan Pridrik - 12,800
4. Andrey Dorozhkin - 9,400
5. Igor Dubinsky - 6,900
6. Mihail Lahitov - 5,200
7. Mihail Shahnovich (PokerStars player, Sunday Million winner) - 3,500
8. Alexander Kravchenko (PokerStars Team Pro)

Kravchenko may have finished just short of the money there, but he managed to do something few people have done.

He won a poker tournament underwater.

In the time away from the main event in Egypt, Alex Kravchenko, Ivan Demidov, EPT Kyiv winner Maxim Lykov, RPT St. Petersburg finalist Evgeny Zaytsev and RPT Series organizationer Eric Shahbazyan sat down for a game under the sea. Metal cards, metal dealer button, and a bow-tied dealer took the chips and oxygen underwater for a tournament unlike many other you'll see.

underwater.jpg

When the event was all said and done, WSOP bracelet holder and Team PokerStars Pro Alexander Kravchenko managed to win the undersea adventure.

The win may not have won him much in the way of money, but when he made it back to the beach, he picked himself up a pretty nice trophy.

underwater-poker.jpg

Congratulations to Iosif Beskrovny and Kkranchenko for their...unique victories.


PokerStars Sunday tournament results (12-20-09)

Monday, December 21st, 2009

ps_news_thn.jpgIt's around this time of year that the PokerStars Blog usually gets a frantic phone call in the middle of the night. Over the past few years, the transcript of the call has read something like:





Caller: "Dude, are you awake?"

PokerStars Blog: "I haven't been awake in 12 hours...eggnog."

Caller: "Dude, get out of bed! Santa Claus is playing on PokerStars right now."

PokerStars Blog: "Stop calling me 'dude,' man."

Caller: "He's not just playing, man. He's giving away money, dude!"

PokerStars Blog: "Egg nog, man. Egg nog."

Caller: "You gotta get up, brother. This is just crazy. Santa Claus, dude!"

PokerStars Blog:"Where did you get this number?"

Indeed, the holiday season is upon us, and that means that sometime in the next week or so, we are going to see ol' St. Nick himself bellying up to the PokerStars tables. If he sticks to form, he will be throwing a party at just about every table he visits.

For now, though, folks are having to earn their own way.

Sunday saw hassan77 take down the Sunday Million for an early gift of nearly $200,000. Jen Newell has the story over at: Holidays brighter for hassan77.

12-20-million.jpg


A bit earlier, David Aydt told us the story of jdawg217 chopping up his present four ways (talk about the holiday spirit!) and cashing in the Sunday Warm-Up for more than $116,000. Check out that Christmas carol over at jdawg271 wins one for the crew.

If you'd like to see Santa's early nice-list, we have a full rundown over at the 12-20-09 PokerStars Sunday tournament results page.

Now, keep your eyes on PokerStars. Santa is coming, no matter how much egg nog we drink.


Holidays Brighter for hassan77 with 12/20 Sunday Million Victory

Monday, December 21st, 2009

Sunday Million logo.jpgDecember 20 was upon us. Less than two weeks away was a new year - 2010. (Grasp that if you can.) And another Sunday Million came upon the poker world with the regularity that many craved as the holiday season whipped most everyone into a frenzy. In the midst of shopping and family gatherings and travel, not to mention the onset of winter kicking some parts of the world directly in the pants, there was the Sunday Million, right on time, with its soothing $1.5 million guarantee and the promise of a warm six-figure payout to the winner.

Ahhh.

As most have come to expect, registration for the Sunday Million was above expectations, and the 8,540-player field brought the prize pool up to $1,708,000. Those funds were distributed amongst the last 1,260 players in the tournament, with payouts ranging from $307.44 for 1260th place to $251,246.80 promised to the ultimate champion.

It was just into the ninth hour of the tournament that the final two tables were set, and as has been the case for several hours, Moorman1 and BigFlopper01 held down the top two positions on the leaderboard. But throughout the course of the next hour, BigFlopper01 lost the lead and settled into the middle of the pack while Moorman1 struggled but stayed near the top. Finally, with the elimination of wardough20 in 11th place, hand-for-hand play ensued until Scary_Tiger pushed all-in with pocket nines, only to be called by traneren with pocket kings. The board produced [Qc] [As] [3c] [7c] [5d], which allowed the kings to hold and eliminate Scary_Tiger in tenth place, which was worth a payout of $9,052.40.

With that, in the midst of Level 36 and just past the ten-hour mark of the tournament, the players headed into final table action with blinds at 200,000/400,000 and a 40,000 ante. Chip counts were as follows:

Seat 1: dapalma150 (9,731,234 in chips)
Seat 2: moorzer (10,358,040 in chips)
Seat 3: munson1049 (13,851,280 in chips)
Seat 4: YaaGy (3,639,487 in chips)
Seat 5: traneren (8,882,367 in chips)
Seat 6: BigFlopper01 (5,401,002 in chips)
Seat 7: Moorman1 (17,113,695 in chips)
Seat 8: hassan77 (12,651,199 in chips)
Seat 9: indio1 (3,771,696 in chips)

2009 Sunday Million final table 12.20.09.PNG

It took a few hands for the players to get comfortable with their new seats and tablemates, but short-stacked indio1 soon found a double-up opportunity with pocket jacks, which held up against the T-7 of Moorman1. Three hands later, YaaGy doubled through munson1049 with K-7 over 8-6. Then it was BigFlopper01 who went on a roll by doubling, courtesy of hassan77, then taking a sizable pot from moorzer to jump into the chip lead once again. Moorzer then came back to double through indio1 when pocket aces held against K-J.

YaaGy sought another double and moved all-in with [As] [Qs] preflop. From the big blind, dapalma150 called with pocket tens, and the race was on until the board showed [2h] [3s] [3c] [5s] [Jc], which brought no help for the short-stack. YaaGy was eliminated from the table in ninth place with $13,237.00.

After the first official break in the action, the most well-known player at the table decided to push it in the hopes of regaining a solid position in the game. Moorman1 pushed all-in when the action folded around to him, and his 8,121,999 went into the pot with [Qs] [Jd]. It was hassan77 in the big blind who made the call with [As] [7c], and the players watched as the virtual dealer gave them a [8h] [8d] [4c] flop, a [6s] on the turn, and the [Ad] on the river to give hassan77 the two pair. Moorman1 exited the tournament in eighth place with $18,788.00 for the effort.

Only a few hands later, it was indio1 who looked down at the very short stack and pushed from early position with pocket sevens. From the small blind, traneren called with [Ac] [Jd]. While the flop looked good for traneren when it came [Qs] [Tc] [8c], the [Js] looked even better. And the [Jh] on the river made trips, which was more than enough to eliminate indio1 in seventh place with $34,160.00.

Another round led to more action, and it started with dapalma150 raising preflop and traneren reraising all-in for 7,182,719. dapalma150 called with pocket aces, and traneren showed the dominated pocket kings. The board came [5s] [5d] [Ts] [Td] [Jh], and traneren was gone in sixth place with $51,240.00 for those holiday spending bills.

As hassan77 looked to be running away with the chip lead, moorzer decided to challenge that and take some of those chips. And the perfect hand to do it came here:

RSS readers click through to see replay

On the next hand, another two players tangled. dapalma150 raised preflop, and when munson1049 reraised all-in for little less than 10 million chips, dapalma150 called and showed pocket aces, which dominated the [Kd] [Qh] of munson1049. The board brought little cards with [2h] [4s] [3c] [4d] [3h], and that was all it took to eliminate munson1049 in fifth place, which was worth a payout of $68,320.00.

No rest for the railbirds (and writer), as the very next hand led to more exciting action. After moorzer tried to limp in, BigFlopper01 raised all-in for 7,316,449 with [Kh] [Jd]. And moorzer called quickly with pocket kings, which held up on the [6c] [Jc] [2h] [Qs] [7h] board. With that, BigFlopper01 was eliminated in fourth place with $85,400.00.

The three remaining players soon decided to pause the tournament to discuss a possible financial arrangement, and they were given chip-chop numbers by the tournament officials. With a rather quick acceptance of the numbers, along with the understanding that $30,000 of the prize money would be set aside for the winner, the game resumed with the following agreement in place:

Seat 1: dapalma150 (45,046,387 in chips) = $206,512.78
Seat 2: moorzer (18,775,275 in chips) = $160,782.35
Seat 8: hassan77 (21,578,338 in chips) = $165,661.67

During three-handed play, hassan77 lost ground consistently until doubling through dapalma150 with A-Q over A-4. But it was moorzer who was unable to gain any ground whatsoever.

That brought moorzer to a duel with dapalma150 that started with a [Qh] [Tc] [9s] flop. A bet from dapalma150 and check-call from moorzer brought them the [3s] turn card, at which point moorzer pushed all-in. dapalma150 called with [Qs] [Jd] and top pair. moorzer showed [Jc] [Td] for middle pair, and the [3d] on the river changed nothing. moorzer was eliminated in third place with $160,782.35.

Heads-up play then began as follows:

Seat 1: dapalma150 (45603324 in chips)
Seat 8: hassan77 (39796676 in chips)

It only took four hands for dapalma150 to decide to risk it all, and hassan77 capitalized on that opportunity to take a massive lead when the hand played out:

RSS readers click through to see replay

The action-packed match saw dapalma150 double up twice to stay alive and subsequently take the lead, but hassan77 took it back soon after with a massive pot worth close to 79 million chips. The two had no problem putting all of their chips at risk, and the all-ins were aplenty.

Finally, dapalma150 pushed all-in once again, this time with [Qd] [5h], and hassan77 called with [Kd] [Tc]. The flop came directly in favor of hassan77 with [8c] [8s] [Ks], and the [7h] turn and [As] river ended the battle. dapalma150 was forced to accept second place and $206,512.78.

The Sunday Million title was awarded to hassan77, who was given $195,661.67 for the accomplishment.

Sunday Million Results for 12/20/09:

1st place: hassan77 ($195,661.67)*
2nd place: dapalma150 ($206,512.78)*
3rd place: moorzer ($160,782.35)*
4th place: BigFlopper01 ($85,400.00)
5th place: munson1049 ($68,320.00)
6th place: traneren ($51,240.00)
7th place: indio1 ($34,160.00)
8th place: Moorman1 ($18,788.00)
9th place: YaaGy ($13,237.00)

*Figures reflect a three-way chip-chop deal.

For more information on ways to register and qualify for upcoming Sunday Million tournaments, visit the Sunday Million page.


Sunday Warm-up: jdawg271 wins one for the crew

Monday, December 21st, 2009

sunday-warmup-thumb.jpgLast call for holiday cash on PokerStars as next week people will be making their plans for New Year's parties and resolutions (my own will include an attempt to take a seat at the 2010 WSOP and eat more vegetables). While we did not quite reach the 5,000 players necessary to turn the $750,000 Guarantee Sunday Warm-up into a one million dollar tournament, 4,621 players did sign up for a slice of the $924,200.00 prize pool.

675 players took away from money from that prize pool, one of them was Team PokerStars Pro Johnny Lodden who was cruising towards the final table this evening but two cruel hands started the downfall. First, Lodden locked up in a 3.3 million chip pot against danny04 after a flop of [Td] [Jc] [8s] hit the felt. The two would trade bets until all the chips were in the middle as Lodden turned up [Th][Jh] for the flopped top two pair, while danny04 nailed the nut straight [Qd][9s]. Lodden would not fill up on the [9c] turn and [5h] river and was knocked down to a little over one million chips with 30K/60K ante 6K blinds.

Johnny Lodden.jpg

Team PokerStars Pro Johnny Lodden

A couple more orbits and Lodden attempted a blind steal after the play folded around to his small blind with [Qc][Js]. However his push was snap called by pastika holding [Qd][Ad]. The [6c] [4c] [6d] [7s] [Ah] board did nothing to help, and Lodden was left with less than three big blinds as the blinds rose to 40K/80K ante 8K. The scrapes went in two hands later when Johnny couldn't slide pocket fours past the JTo of taugonut and the Team PokerStars Pro earned $2,301.25 for his 21st place finish.

The long lasting bubble pushed the start of the final table to the nine hour mark and it assured some hefty blinds would await our final nine tonight as the average stack dipped below 20 big blinds causing players to go strong pre-flop with shoves that went uncalled as the blinds bumped up to 100K/200K ante 20K. jdawg217 finally broke the silence by knocking out Tuttule with pocket tens [Tc][Ts] holding up for the win over the pocket sixes [6h][6d] of Tuttule on the paint-less [5c] [4d] [9s] [2c] [9h] board. After Tuttule's exit in 12th place ($5,545.20) the final eleven players took a five minute break to settle in for the long night with the possibility of scoring that $144,990.71 sitting at the final table for tonight's champion.

pastika failed to sneak pocket sixes [6h][6s], after shoving on the button, past the suited [Ah][Jh] of LastChance11 in the small blind. The flopped top two pair on the [Ad] [Js] [4c] [Qs] [Ts] board was more than enough to send pastika out in eleventh ($5,545.20). Shortly afterwards on the adjacent Table 160, danny04 would set up our final nine tonight. After raising UTG and getting three-bet by spanners on the immediate left, both players would shove preflop to create a 10.1 million chip pot. [Qd][As] for danny04 and pocket jacks [Jd][Js] for spanners. With spanners' tournament life on the line all was looking good for a double up as the board read [2h] [3s] [Ks] [4d] by the turn. The dirty [5h] on the river changed that, giving danny04 a wheel, the 10.1 million chip pot, and a seat at the final table. spanners was given $5,545.20 and some aspirin for that knock out on the river as tonight's bubble boy.

SunWarmUp122009.jpg

Click image for larger picture


Seat 1: LastChance11 (6329129 in chips)
Seat 2: BrainBug75 (3542739 in chips)
Seat 3: jdawg217 (6493031 in chips)
Seat 4: Nontoxx (3166646 in chips)
Seat 5: Frassefisk (2314952 in chips)
Seat 6: danny04 (14624408 in chips)
Seat 7: G A W (3229805 in chips)
Seat 8: taugonut (1989529 in chips)
Seat 9: OSHREK (4519761 in chips)

Wow! The seats at the final table hardly had a chance to be properly broken in and greeted by Team PokerStars Pro Tony Hachem before our first elimination. On the very first hand of the final table with blinds at 100K/200K ante 20K, G A W would find the table folding around to the small blind while holding pocket threes [3c][3h] and pushed into the short stacked taugonut. taugonut holding a better than average [Kc][Qd] and less than ten big blinds made the call for the race. A flopped set would reward G A W's pocket pair and hold on the [5h] [Ad] [3d] [6c] [Js] for the win eliminating taugonut in ninth place ($7,393.60).

As stated the prolonged bubble caused the blinds to swell to 125K/250K ante 25K with eight remaining in the hunt for this week's Sunday Warm-Up title. Due to those bloated blinds we would lose another player in short order. BrainBug sitting in the big blind with just 902,739 chips after paying the preflop fees was facing a button push from OSHREK while holding [Jd][Qc]. The two face cards were good enough to make the call but OSHREK wasn't playing the bully and flipped up the dominating [Ad][Qh]. Both players would hit their kickers on the [4h] [Jc] [Ah] flop, but BrainBug couldn't squeeze out another jack on the [3c] turn or [7d] river and the 2.6 million chip pot slid to OSHREK. BrainBug couldn't make the mid-sized starting stack work tonight and finished in eighth place ($11,552.50).

The action continued to come at blazing speeds as Nontoxx would notch a double up four hands later, and add another three million chip pot on the very next hand after danny04 wanted nothing to do with Nontoxx's four-bet shove preflop. Three hands later with the blinds still at 125K/250K ante 25K, jdawg217 would find [Ah][Ts] sitting in the big blind facing an early position shove from short-stacked Frassefisk. Watch the hand play out below:



RSS readers click through to see replay

Frassefisk would find [Qs][Ac] in very good shape, but the suckout didn't wait for the river here as jdawg217 would flop a pair of tens and have it hold up on the [Th] [4s] [8s] [7s] [Jc] board after fading the additional flush outs on the river. Unlucky beat, but Frassefisk would be taking home a comforting $20,794.00 in seventh place.

The very next hand danny04 would score a huge 10 million chip pot. After raising to 580K from UTG, danny04 would face a three-bet from LastChance11 to 1.1 million. A massive chip eight figure chip stack sitting behind a suited big slick [Ac][Kc], danny04 would shove and put LastChance11 to the test. The [As][Qd] in LastChance11's hand looked good enough to call as they formed the second eight figure pot of the evening. The board ran out a dry [Jh] [2d] [5d] [9d] [4c] as LastChance11's last river chance for a diamond or queen came up empty but filled the bankroll with sixth place money ($30,036.50). This was the second big cash for LastChance11 this year, also finishing seventh at the Sunday Million in January for $29,750.00 (read recap here)

The action would cool a bit five handed as the blinds moved up to 150K/300K ante 30K as a few orbits would clear without any blood until jdawg217 was faced with a shove into his big blind from G A W holding pocket jacks [Jh][Jd]. A quick call was made as G A W's tourney life was on the line holding the dominated [Ks][Jc]. No king would appear on the [4h] [2s] [9d] [9s] [Qc] board as G A W would take leave in fifth place ($39,278.50) and sniffs of chop talks would appear.

After the top places shaved some cash for OSHREK we had the four-player deal shown below:

danny04 $109,460.95
jdawg217 $106,916.77
Nontoxx $79,698.03
OSHREK $75,048.06

We would resume play for one whole hand and immediately go to the five minute break with the chips lined up like so and blinds going up to 200K/400K ante 40K soon:

danny04 (billerica) 16,842,549
jdawg217 (North Olmsted) 16,537,970
Nontoxx (Frankenberg) 7,781,292
OSHREK (BEAUCHAMP) 5,048,189

jdawg217 and danny04 did everything but stay out of each other's way. Getting into two all-ins against each other for massive 20 million chip pots. The first saw danny04's dominate [Qc][Ad] beat out the [Jd][As] of jdawg217, but seven hands later jdawg217 would lay a beat on danny04's pocket eights [8s][8d]. Holding just [4d][6d], jdawg217 push into danny04's raise and watch the result below:


RSS readers click through to see replay

The flopped straight flush draw didn't get there, but the two pair did on the [Qc] [2d] [5d] [6c] [4c] board and jdawg217 assumed the chip lead once again as danny04 slipped to 10 million chips.

With only five million chips and blinds holding at 200K/400K ante 40K OSHREK would get those chips in the middle holding [Td][Ac] after pushing from the cutoff. jdawg217 on the button and plenty of shells to use made the call with [As][8s]. jdawg217's luck with suited cards would continue as the [3s] [5h] [2s] [6s] [4c] board gave both players a straight, but the turned nut flush for jdawg217 sent OSHREK home with fourth place chopped cash ($75,048.06).

High blinds dictated some gambOOOOOl moments as the players started shoving seemingly at will with the blinds going up to 250K/500K ante 50K. The chips seemed to take on a spinning top movement across the felt as jdawg217 would double through danny04, then Nontoxx would steal a few chips, and danny04 feeling left out would take those chips lost to jdawg217 back into his stack as the marathon tournament played on thru the ten hour thirty minute mark and even higher blinds of 300K/600K ante 60K coming up. Finally Nontoxx succumbed to the aggressiveness of jdawg217. Sitting on only 6.7 million chips, Nontoxx would shove preflop holding [Kd][Jc] and get a call from jdawg217 with a small ace [2s][Ah]. The high card was enough to rake in the 14.1 million chip pot on the [9c] [6c] [Qd] [3h] [9s] board and Nontoxx would not be receiving the extra $10,000 on the table but took in the chopped $79,698.03 for third place.

jdawg217 would take a commanding 3:1 chip lead into heads-up play against danny04 as shown below:

Seat 3: jdawg217 (34351328 in chips)
Seat 6: danny04 (11858672 in chips)

Unlike their battles during four-handed play, they would trade the blinds and even see a few cheap flops. But, in the end it would be jdawg217's day, check out the video of the final hand below:


RSS readers click through to see replay

With the turned straight holding [8c][Jc], jdawg217 locked up this week's Sunday Warm-up title after overcoming the flopped pair of aces of danny04 [Ad][3h] on the [9d] [7s] [As] [Th] [7h] board. The aggression paid off in the end for jdawg217 as the extra $10,000 put the total winnings for our champion to $116,916.77! danny04 got ran down at the wrong time but will enjoy the biggest slice of the chop ($109,460.95) as tonight's runner-up.

Be sure to check in later this week for the Sunday Warm-up and Sunday Million rebroadcast with hole cards exposed and commentary on Pokerstars.tv!

$750,000 Guarantee Sunday Warm-up Results (12-20-09)
(* denotes part of four-way chop)
1. jdawg217 (North Olmsted) *$116,916.77
2. danny04 (billerica) *$109,460.95
3. Nontoxx (Frankenberg) *$79,698.03
4. OSHREK (BEAUCHAMP) *$75,048.06
5. G A W (bucuresti) $39,278.50
6. LastChance11 (Paris) $30,036.50
7. Frassefisk (FALUN) $20,794.50
8. BrainBug75 (Bergrheinfeld) $11,552.50
9. taugonut (venlo) $7,393.60