Every Sunday on PokerStars is a big day. There's a reason the big tournaments that play out on Sundays are called "the majors." Big guarantees and even bigger prize pools award millions of dollars to players who compete and make it into that money. January 29 was no different - maybe even a little better than usual.

That is attributed to TCOOP, the inaugural Turbo Championship of Online Poker, which wrapped up its 11-day, 50-event series tonight. The last day of action offered six tournaments, with the Main Event boasting of a $1.5 million guarantee and coming up with an actual prize pool of $2,438,555. The other finale events found similarly positive outcomes, making for a busy Sunday of poker action.

Players were pleased to find that the Sunday Million was also in the lineup, along with some of their other favorite Sunday tournaments, and they showed up in force. Here were tonight's Sunday Million numbers:

Players: 7,302
Prize pool: $1,460,400.00
Paid players: 1,080

The first Team PokerStars Pro to cash in tonight's tournament was Martin Staszko of the Czech Republic, finishing in 1030th place for $306.66 just after the money bubble burst. Fellow Team Pro Angel Guillen of Mexico exited in 550th place, followed a bit later by Nuno Coelho in 126th and Jose "nachobarbero" Barbero in 104th. That left Andre "aakkari" Akkari of Brazil waving the PokerStars flag well into the deeper levels of the event.

Akkari made a run at the final table but unfortunately exited in 25th place with $3,402.73.

As the 10-hour mark passed, only two tables remained, and 20 minutes later, hand-for-hand play ensued after the 11th place finish of gforrai83. That led to the all-in move by yoohoo79 with [Qd][Qc] against the [Ac][Jc] of hownorez, and the board of [8c][Ad][5d][8h][2d] gave hownorez the best two pair. Yoohoo79 exited in tenth place with $8,032.20.

Curiplop leads final table action

The final table was set in Level 37, with blinds of 125,000/250,000 and a 25,000 ante. Players' starting stacks were listed as follows:

Seat 1: CharlesTY. (12,454,649 in chips)
Seat 2: Meewams (1,968,672 in chips)
Seat 3: hownorez (14,354,996 in chips)
Seat 4: bas0r (7,129,652 in chips)
Seat 5: rasputoon (2,972,269 in chips)
Seat 6: curiplop (17,658,012 in chips)
Seat 7: Joroy70 (2,919,884 in chips)
Seat 8: Chikakaa (7,103,988 in chips)
Seat 9: K0VAK (6,457,878 in chips)

After the 10.5-hour break, Meewams made a move and doubled through curiplop to get things going.

Rasputoon then made a move, all-in from the button for little more than 2.1 million chips with [Th][Ts]. Original UTG raiser Chikakaa called with [9h][9d] and immediately hit the flop of [9c][2h][8c]. The [7s] on the turn and [7c] on the river then gave Chikakaa a full house and eliminated rasputoon in ninth place with $11,318.10.

Joroy70 was the next player to move. After a raise from curiplop, Joroy70 pushed all-in with [Ac][8s], and curiplop called with [Ks][Th]. The very first card on the flop was [Kc] to give curiplop the advantage, and the other cards that followed on the board were [7s][Qc][4d][2s]. Joroy70 did not improve and finished in eighth place with $17,524.80.

K0VAK doubled through curiplop, and Meewams scored another double through hownorez.

Meewams still had trouble, though, and moved yet another time. The hand started with an UTG raise from Chikakaa, and Meewams responded by moving all-in for nearly 3.5 million chips with [Ac][Kc]. It just so happened that Chikakaa was able to call with [Kh][Ks], and nothing could save Meewams on the [8s][2d][2c][7d][4h] board. Meewams finished in seventh place with $31,398.60.

Then it was Chikakaa's turn. When curiplop made a preflop raise from the button, Chikakaa called all-in for just under 10 million chips with [Ac][As]. Curiplop showed [8d][3h] but flopped an amazing [Jh][8h][3d] two pair. The [5h] on the turn and [2c] on the river gave the pot to curiplop, and Chikakaa departed in sixth place with $45,272.40.

CharlesTY. doubled through bas0r in a huge pot shown here:

RSS readers click through to see replay

K0VAK got involved in a raising war preflop with curiplop, and the two were dealt a [4s][6c][Kc] to start the board. K0VAK moved all-in for 1.8 million, and curiplop check-called with [Qs][9h]. K0VAK was ahead with [Ac][Kd] and top pair, but the [Td] turn and [Js] river gave curiplop the straight. K0VAK exited in fifth place with $59,876.40.

Bas0r doubled once through hownorez but had to move again soon and did it with [Ad][Ks]. Hownorez was in the hand holding [Kc][9c] and hit the nine on the [4d][8h][9d][5c][4s] board. Bas0r had to leave in fourth place with $77,401.20.

Three to a deal

The final three players paused the tournament in order to discuss a deal, and with a few adjustments to chip-chop numbers, they found harmony. With $20,000 set aside for the winner, these were the payouts agreed to by the players:

Seat 1: CharlesTY. (18,000,298 in chips) = $148,000.00
Seat 3: hownorez (16,106,977 in chips) = $148,000.00
Seat 6: curiplop (38,912,725 in chips) = $181,080.74

Big pots and action ensued, and hownorez finally moved all-in with [Ad][3c]. Curiplop reraised, which prompted original raiser CharlesTY. to fold. Curiplop showed a dominating [As][Ks], which only improved on the [2d][8h][Td][Qc][Js] board to a straight. Hownorez left in third place with $148,000.00.

South American heads-up battle

The final two players - CharlesTY. from Brazil and curiplop from Chile - started their match with these counts:

Seat 1: CharlesTY. (16,879,298 in chips)
Seat 6: curiplop (56,140,702 in chips)

On the second hand, CharlesTY. doubled through curiplop with pocket jacks over 3-2, and the former was able to keep the stacks close to even for more than a few rounds, even taking the lead toward the end.

The two then got involved in a raised and reraised pot to see a flop of [4c][Qh][Kh]. CharlesTY. bet, and curiplop raised to 12.8 million. CharlesTY. reraised all-in, and curiplop called all-in with [Qs][Js]. But CharlesTY. showed [Kc][Jh] for top pair, and those kings faded the [Ah] turn and [2d] river to eliminate curiplop in second place with $181,080.74.

CharlesTY. of Brazil won the Sunday Million and $168,000.00 to go with the title. Congrats!

Sunday Million Results for 01/29/12 (reflects deal):

1st place: CharlesTY. ($168,000.00)*
2nd place: curiplop ($181,080.74)*
3rd place: hownorez ($148,000.00)*
4th place: bas0r ($77,401.20)
5th place: K0VAK ($59,876.40)
6th place: Chikakaa ($45,272.40)
7th place: Meewams ($31,398.60)
8th place: Joroy70 ($17,524.80)
9th place: rasputoon ($11,318.10)

*Numbers based on a three-way chop with $20K added to winner's money

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

After 19 events of high-speed TCOOP madness, it was a relief to sink back into the old routine of the Sunday Million. Big stacks. Long time banks. Comfy fifteen-minute levels. 7,125 Sunday grinders agreed, buying in for $215 apiece to create a $1,425,000 prize pool. 1,080 places were paid with first place set to earn $213,750.

The Red Spade Army was out in force today, with nearly three dozen members of Team Pro and Team Online in the field. Three came away with a cash finish-- Greg DeBora (549th), Toni Judet (431st), and Bryan Huang, who made the deepest run on the team, finishing in 273rd place.

Sweden's Faalk was riding the short stack with ten players remaining and decided to make his move with [Ad][Tc], three-bet shoving for 1.63 million behind Gambler4444's 500,000 min-raise. Gambler4444 quickly called with [Ac][Qs], having Faalk well-covered. The ace-queen held and Gambler4444 raked in the 3.5 million pot while Faalk hit the rail on the final table bubble.

Final table chip counts:

Seat 1: Asprin1 (9,632,687 in chips)
Seat 2: Gambler4444 (6,808,092 in chips)
Seat 3: philipoo (4,921,827 in chips)
Seat 4: tyxerakias (6,657,053 in chips)
Seat 5: shibinha (4,302,114 in chips)
Seat 6: pnp23 (14,851,131 in chips)
Seat 7: Ansgar2000 (12,920,872 in chips)
Seat 8: Milana Jones (7,186,586 in chips)
Seat 9: sigopi (3,969,638 in chips)

Early eliminations

Team Online's Kevin "WizardOfAhhs" Thurman was on hand to host the final table and quickly pointed out its international diversity. Seven countries were represented this week-- Denmark, Greece, Russia, the United Kingdom, Romania, Brazil and Germany. Pnp23 held the chip lead at the outset and widened it even further after scoring the final table's first knockout. With the blinds up to 125,000/250,000, philipoo open-shoved for his last 3.8 million holding [Kd][Tc] and pnp23 called on the button with [As][Ks]. An ace on the flop and another on the turn sealed the deal for pnp23, and sent philipoo to the rail in ninth place, an $11,043.75 consolation prize awaiting him.

Sigopi was left as the table short stack with 3.3 million before he picked up [As][Ad] and doubled through tyxerakias, who called his shove with [Ah][Ks]. Left with 2.1 million after the hand, tyxerakias never recovered, blinding down to 672,000 before picking up pocket jacks. The rest of his chips went in before the flop against Asprin1 and Ansgar2000, who both checked the [Ad][Kc][9d] flop. When the [As] hit the turn, Asprin1 check-folded to Ansgar2000, who bet 488,500 with [Kh][Qs]. The river was the [9h] and tyxerakias was out in eighth place, earning $17,100 for his finish.

A 20 million-chip misclick

Small-pot poker took over for the next level or so, before a misclick led to the most significant hand of the final table. Intending to raise to 800,855, Asprin1 instead typed 8,000,885 into the window-- all but 1.53 million of his remaining stack. With 17.1 million behind, pnp23 looked down at [Qs][Qh] and made the call. Asprin1 moved the remainder of his chips into the pot on the [Kc][Th][7s] flop and pnp23 called, only to watch Asprin1 rollw over [Kd][Tc] for top two pair. Black nines fell on the turn and river, giving Asprin1 a massive double-up to 20 million in chips.

"Oops?" Asprin1 wrote, by way of explanation.

Live by aces, die by aces

Pnp23 was left with 7.53 million after the hand, but recovered quickly, picking up [Ad][As] against shibinha's [Ac][Kd]. All the money went in before the flop, pnp23 three-betting to 2,000,000, then calling shibinha's 6 million-chip shove. Shibinha couldn't catch pnp23, the board running out [9d][3h][2d][Js][Kc] to send him home in seventh place.

On the next deal, pnp23 looked down at a familiar hand... pocket aces, again. This time, Milana Jones was the initial raiser, making it 800,008 to go. Pnp23 three-bet to 1.6 million from the big blind and Milana Jones called, taking them heads-up to a [5c][3d][2c] flop. Pnp23 bet another 1.6 million and Milana Jones snap-called all-in for his last 1.45 million, having flopped a wheel with [Ac][4h]. The turn and river fell the [Jh] and the [Td], doubling Milana Jones to 6.55 million. Three hands later, Milana Jones' chips were back in the middle preflop, his [Ac][2h] up against, you guessed it, pocket aces. They managed to hold up for sigopi, the board falling [7c][5s][2s][4c][Qd] to send Milana Jones to the rail in sixth place.

"He rivers a 2 and I'd start breaking stuff for you guys," quipped Thurman.

Five-handed play went on for about ten minutes before Asprin1 opened for a raise to 1,000,585 from UTG and Sigopi called with [Kh][Qd] from the big blind. Hitting top pair on the [Ks][Jd][8d] flop, sigopi check-raised all-in for 12.9 million and Asprin1 called, turning over, you guessed it, [As][Ah]. Sigopi got no help on the turn and river, the [2h] and [Th] falling to give the 28.4 million pot to Asprin1. Brazil's last hope in the Sunday Million was out in fifth, collecting $58,425 for his efforts.

Ansgar2000 ambushes Gambler4444, Akenhead cops to secret identity

With the blinds up to 300,000/600,000, Gambler4444 was on the short stack with 6.44 million, Ansgar2000 had 11.4 million, pnp23 held 17.8 million and Asprin1 was in pole position with 35.5 million. Looking down at [As][6h] in the cutoff, Gambler4444 decided to pull the trigger for his last 10.5 big blinds, moving all-in for 6.3 million. Unfortunately for Gambler4444, Ansgar2000 was lying in the weeds with [Qd][Qh] and re-shoved from the small blind to isolate. Gambler4444 could not find an ace, the board running out [9h][7s][6c][Kd][4h] to end his run in fourth place.

With the final table down to three, Asprin1, pnp23 and Ansgar2000 all agreed to pause the action and discuss a deal. However, once the chip count chop numbers rolled in, both Asprin1 and pnp23 decided they were looking for bigger paydays. Negotiations quickly fell apart, but not before Ansgar2000 blew the lid off Asprin1's "secret identity."

Ansgar2000: you are james akenhead?
Asprin1: ya
Asprin1: you?
Ansgar2000: serious?
Ansgar2000: sick
Ansgar2000: you dont play online normally?
Asprin1: no dont play too much

A quick chat with Mr. Google confirmed that the man behind the headache tablet avatar was indeed Akenhead, the 28 year-old Londoner who made the final table of both the WSOP and WSOP-Europe Main Events back in 2009.

Ansgar2000 exits in third

A few hands after action resumed, Ansgar2000 picket up pocket fours and moved in for 13.8 million on the button. Aspirin1 made it 40.8 million to go with [As][9c] and pnp23 ducked out of the way. An ace hit the flop and Ansgar2000 hit the rail, earning $114,000 for third place.

Heads-up chip counts:

Seat 1: Asprin1 (56,844,921 in chips)
Seat 6: pnp23 (14,405,079 in chips)

Asprin1 may have brought a 4 to 1 chip lead into heads-up play, but pnp23 quickly closed the gap, doubling up with [As][Kh] against [Ah][9s] on the second hand. Both players decided to pause the action and look at new chip count chop numbers, but once again, Asprin1 was looking for a bit more than his opponent was willing to offer. Cards went back in the air and Asprin1 immediately picked up a huge pot when pnp23 gave up his hand on the river:

Four hands later, it was all over. With the chip counts back to more or less where they started heads-up, pnp23 opened for a min-raise to 1.6 million. Asprin1 set him all-in and pnp23 called, turning up pocket eights to Asprin1's [Kc][Jh]. The flop was a great fit for pnp23, falling [7s][6c][5c] to give him an overpair and an open-ended straight draw. The [Tc] on the turn brought more outs for Asprin1 with a flush draw-- a king, a jack, or a club on the river would end it. And indeed it was the [Ks] that fell, making Asprin1 a winning pair of kings.

Patience, guts, aggression, and one lucky ending to a misclicked hand was the winning formula tonight for James "Asprin1" Akenhead, who added $213,750.00 to his $3 million in career earnings. For his runner-up finish, pnp23 took home $157.277.25.

PokerStars Sunday Million results for January 22, 2012

1. James "Asprin1" Akenhead (United Kingdom) $213,750.00
2. pnp23 (Romania) $157,277.25
3. Ansgar2000 (Germany) $114,000.00
4. Gambler4444 (Germany) $75,525.00
5. sigopi (Brazil) $58,425.00
6. Milana Jones (Russia) $44,175.00
7. shibinha (Brazil) $30,637.50
8. tyxerakias (Greece) $17,100.00
9. philipoo (Denmark) $11,043.75

Isn't it about time you got in on the Sunday Million action? Head over to the Sunday Million page for more information.

The Sunday Million is a big deal. In the online poker business, it's the largest weekly tournament, and its $1 million prize pool guarantee is nothing to sneeze at. Each Sunday, it's one of the most watched and discussed events in poker.

This week, however, there were more than a few people coming down from a PCA high. After nearly two weeks of nonstop poker tournaments in the Bahamas, the PokerStars Caribbean Adventure ended yesterday. If you kept up with the PokerStars blog, Twitter, Facebook, or any of the masses of players talking about it, you might be one of those who is simply pokered out. On the other hand, you might be like the majority of poker players and fans, energized by the millions upon millions of dollars awarded at the PCA and looking to claim your own poker fame.

Thus, we had a big crowd for this week's Sunday Million:

Players: 7,379
Prize pool: $1,475,800.00
Paid players: 1,080

With most members of Team PokerStars Pro and Team Online heading home from the PCA and unable to play the Sunday majors, there were only two who made it into the money this week. Team Pro Bryan Huang cashed out in 831st place, and Martin "AABenjaminAA" Hruby ended his run in 436th place.

That left it to the remaining 435 players, though that number obviously decreased into the eighth and ninth hours. As the 10-hour mark passed, only two tables remained, with the best known player - Jonathan "MONSTER_DONG" Karamalikis - exiting in 14th place. No stranger to final tables and a WCOOP champion, he just missed out on another Sunday Million final.

After 2.0ezx departed in 13th place, play slowed until kras2009 was eliminated in 12th, and it was past the 10.5 hour mark when pancareto took 11th place. Hand-for-hand play then led to the quick elimination of GreenChe. It happened when GreenChe pushed with [Ac][7s] but ran into the [As][Ad] of nordlending. The board of [Th][Td][5s][Kc][6d] only gave nordlending two pair and eliminated GreenChe in tenth place with $8,116.90.

Stunts25 secures chip lead for final table

In the middle of Level 38, action began with the blinds at 150,000/300,000 and a 30,000 ante, along with player stacks as follows:

Seat 1: Stunts25 (16,067,679 in chips)
Seat 2: GM_VALTER (2,446,861 in chips)
Seat 3: nordlending (12,478,785 in chips)
Seat 4: roosi88 (3,767,478 in chips)
Seat 5: UH Big Tex (11,315,616 in chips)
Seat 6: Ticiz (10,709,344 in chips)
Seat 7: Freund Nase (6,921,422 in chips)
Seat 8: BlackMisi (3,976,327 in chips)
Seat 9: insanocut (6,106,488 in chips)

On the fourth hand of the table, short-stacked GM_VALTER called all-in from the big blind after an all-in raise from Stunts25 in the small blind. GM_VALTER's tournament life was at risk with [Ah][Kc], and Stunts25 only had [Td][6d]. But as can happen, the board of [9s][8h][Ad][7s][9c] produced a straight for Stunts25, and GM_VALTER exited in ninth place with $11,437.45.

Then the double-ups began. Roosi88 doubled through nordlending, insanocut did it through Freund Nase, and the latter doubled through UH Big Tex.

But Freund Nase was still quite short and moved all-in again on the next hand for little less than 1.3 million with [Kc][Js]. Original raiser Stunts25 made the call with [Ad][9d]. Both players improved on the [Jc][3h][7s][Ac][6s], but the aces obviously beat jacks to eliminate Freund Nase in eighth place for $17,709.60.

The Ticiz takeover

BlackMisi was the next to move, pushing preflop with [Th][Tc]. Original raiser Ticiz called with [Kc][Qd], and the race got interesting when the [5d][Qc][4c] put Ticiz in the lead. The [Qh] on the turn made trip queens, and the [Jh] ended the agony for BlackMisi, who left in seventh place with $31,729.70.

Ticiz raised preflop again, and when insanocut pushed all-in for nearly 10 million chips, Ticiz called with [As][Ac]. Insanocut needed improvement for the [5d][5c], but it didn't happen on the [3s][2s][6h][7c][6c] board. Insanocut was cut in sixth place, which was worth $45,749.80.

When UH Big Tex wanted to move all-in, who was there? Ticiz, of course, with [Ts][Tc]. UH Big Tex showed [Ah][Qh] but couldn't win the race when the dealer provided [5d][Jc][5c][Th][4s]. That full house was more than enough to eliminate UH Big Tex in fifth place with $60,507.80.

Nordlending doubled through Ticiz, though that didn't cut into the latter's lead by much. The four players did pause the tournament to discuss a possible chip chop, but there was no agreement to be had. They played on.

Rise of roosi88

Roosi88 got aggressive and moved from the bottom of the counts into second place with a series of small pots. And nordlending lost momentum, except to double through roosi88 to stay in contention. Ticiz also lost ground, as roosi88 won a pot worth 18 million chips and nordlending doubled through Ticiz, though the latter doubled back through the former.

The biggest hand of the tournament developed when Stunts25 moved all-in with [Th][2h], nordlending reraised, and roosi88 came over the top all-in with [Qh][Qs]. Nordlending called with [Ac][9d]. The board came [6c][5s][5h][Kd][4h], and roosi88's two pair won the main and side pot. That left Stunts25 out in fourth place with $78,217.40.

Nordlending was very short and doubled through Ticiz to stay alive. The two tangled again on the very next hand, and nordlending's [Qs][8c] went up against the [AD][Qc] of Ticiz. the board of [2c][Qd][Ts][6c][Ks] allowed the ace to play as a kicker, and nordlending departed in third place with $118,064.00.

Roosi88 leads in final duel with Ticiz

The last two players standing started their battle with these counts:

Seat 4: roosi88 (48,435,659 in chips)
Seat 6: Ticiz (25,354,341 in chips)

Ticiz came on strong and climbed to nearly even the chip stacks. The two then asked to pause the tournament to discuss a chop. And they agreed on the numbers given. Roosi88 was guaranteed $183,298.27, and Ticiz was to receive $180,960.69. The two played on for an additional $20,000 and the title.

Ticiz came on strong after the deal, taking consecutive pots worth 10K, 14K, and 18K. Roosi88 was then the short stack and had to double through Ticiz to stay in the game. Finally, roosi88 risked it all again, this time with [Ad][9h] against the [5d][5c] of Ticiz. The board came [8h][2s][3d][Js][2h], with nothing to save roosi88 from finishing in second place for $183,298.27.

Ticiz of the Netherlands won the Sunday Million and will find $200,960.69 extra in that PokerStars account because of it.

Sunday Million Results for 01/15/12 (reflects deal):

1st place: Ticiz ($200,960.69)*
2nd place: roosi88 ($183,298.27)*
3rd place: nordlending ($118,064.00)
4th place: Stunts25 ($78,217.40)
5th place: UH Big Tex ($60,507.80)
6th place: insanocut ($45,749.80)
7th place: BlackMisi ($31,729.70)
8th place: Freund Nase ($17,709.60)
9th place: GM_VALTER ($11,437.45)

*Numbers based on a two-way chop agreement

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

There's a bar on the ground floor of the Atlantis' Coral Tower. As hotel bars go, it's nothing out of the ordinary. The overstuffed chairs are sufficiently comfortable, the cocktails priced a bit higher than one would like, and the internet is as consistent as you'll get on Paradise Island. Every January, it transforms into poker's version of Cheers. Everybody knows your name at the Coral Bar and if you're any sort of serious online player, chances are you've spent your Sunday grind in its confines at least once. With the PokerStars Caribbean Adventure in full swing, the Coral Bar comes alive with the whir of mouse clicks and the incessant beepbeepbeeps of hands nearing timeout. Today was no different, with seats in the lounge at a premium as grinders eschewed the Bahamian sun and set up for an afternoon on the virtual felt. Even the PCA can't keep them away from a shot at six figures.

2012's second Sunday Million saw a better than 5% uptick in entries this week over last, with 7,710 players in the fray. 1,170 of them earned a chunk of the $1,542,000 prize pool with first place set to earn $231,300. Although most of the Red Spade Army was busy with PCA events, a dozen of them found time on their calendars for the Million including Victor Ramdin, Angel Guillen, Chad Brown, Theo Jorgensen and Team Online's Shane "shaniac" Schleger, who tweeted this photo of his enviable Sunday setup.

Regular Sunday Million denizens will tell you that this tournament typically reaches the final table around Level 37, when the blinds are at 125,000/250,000 and the average stack around 30 big blinds. Tonight was a different story, with the blinds climbing all the way up to 200,000/400,000 before the final table bubble burst. At this point akzack was hanging on with 945,000 in chips and decided to throw his lot in with [Ac][7c], moving all-in behind TheFish9999's 888,000 opening raise. TheFish9999 called the small balance and turned up [Kh][8h]. Although akzack kept the lead on the [Qh][Ts][3c] flop, a king on the turn dashed his hopes for a double-up. The [9h] on the river sealed the deal and akzack ended his run in tenth place, at long last leaving us with our final nine.

Final table chip counts:

Seat 1: dave798111 (4,001,353 in chips)
Seat 2: A.A.KATALO (9,947,916 in chips)
Seat 3: Mackkapackka (9,131,402 in chips)
Seat 4: blablonae (18,056,844 in chips)
Seat 5: shamandez (9,797,510 in chips)
Seat 6: @RXIDI@ (3,021,308 in chips)
Seat 7: 26071985 (5,053,692 in chips)
Seat 8: hoefi73 (11,106,359 in chips)
Seat 9: TheFish9999 (6,983,616 in chips)

Short stacks survive, TheFish9999 and 26071985 fall

The blinds moved up to 250,000/500,000 after only a few more hands, reducing the average stack to 17 big blinds. The two shortest stacks didn't waste any time getting their chips in the middle and both saw favorable results. First, dave798111's [6s][8s] turned two pair against blablonae's [Ks][5c] to take him up to more than 8 million in chips. Only a few hands later, TheFish9999 open-shoved for 4.58 million with [9d][Td] only to run straight into @RXIDI@'s pocket queens in the big blind. The ladies held, leaving TheFish9999 with only 732,000 while @RXIDI@ enjoyed a crucial double-up.

The last of TheFish9999's chips went in the middle on the next deal. TheFish9999 had to be delighted to pick up [Ad][9s] in a must-shove situation, but A.A.KATALO was lying in wait with a dominating [Ac][Qs]. TheFish9999 did not improve and exited in ninth place, earning $11,950.50.

One orbit later it was moving day for 26071985, who three-bet shoved for his remaining 3.4 million with pocket deuces in the small blind. Original raiser blabonae called with [Kc][Qs] and they were off to the races for our numerically named friend's tournament life. This one was a sweat to the end, the deuces holding through the turn on the [As][9s][6h][8s] board. The [Qd] on the river, however, sent him to the rail with an eighth-place finish and $17,733 in earnings.

Shallow-stacked shenanigans

With 16.7 million in chips and the blinds up to 400,000/800,000 blablonae had only a bit more than 20 big blinds, but it was still good for the chip lead. He switched gears and started pounding the short stacks, who seemed more concerned with moving up the pay ladder than acquiring more chips. After A.A.KATALO opened for 1.65 million and Mackkapackka three-bet to 3.2 million, blablonae cold four-bet all-in, eliciting folds from both his opponents. We won't know his cards until the replay, but the move earned him a 9.8 million pot, one of the largest thus far at the final table.

Unfortunately, blablonae's aggression got the best of him in a hand against @RXIDI@. With the action folded to him on the button, blablonae open-shoved for 21.4 million holding [Kd][5d] and @RXIDI@ called all-in for 3.8 million from the big blind with [Ah][Kh]. Blablonae caught lucky on the flop, pairing his kicker as it came down [Qh][Th][5c], but @RXIDI@ spiked the [Jc] on the turn to make Broadway and double to 10.2 million.

Play was still seven-handed when the blinds rose to 500,000/1,000,000 and the average stack fell to 11 BB. With only 4 million left, shamandez open-shoved from under-the-gun, hoefi73 called all-in for 2.6 million and A.A.KATALO re-shoved for 9.5 million on the button. Both blinds folded and the cards went on their backs:

shamandez [As][Js]
A.A.KATALO [Ac][Kh]
hoefi73 [9d][9h]

Hoefi73 was in deep trouble when the flop came down [Qs][Jd][2h], pairing shamandez's jack. The [2c] on the turn was no help and the [5d] on the river sealed his seventh-place elimination. Hoefi73 collected $30,840 for his efforts while shamandez found new life, moving up to 13 million in chips. A.A.KATALO was left with 5.4 million and moved in a few hands later with [Qs][9d]. Dave798111 called with [Ac][Jc], the board running out [6d][4c][3h][Ts][5d] to send A.A.KATALO to the rail in sixth place ($46,260).

Blablonae coolered, @RXIDI@ rivered

Two minutes later, Mackkapackka opened for 3 million from the small blind and blablonae found pocket sevens in the big. Naturally, blablonae shoved for his last 11.8 million but to his horror, Mackkapackka called and turned over two eights, a nasty cooler if there ever was one. Blablonae couldn't find a miracle set on the [Qs][2s][2h][Td][9c] board and departed in fifth place, $61,680 richer.

@RXIDI@ was next to put his tournament life on the line, three-bet shoving for 8.7 million with [Ah][Kc] and earning a call from Mackkapackka with [Ad][7h]. But as we all know too well, getting it in good doesn't guarantee anything. Check it out:

Done deal

With only 77 big blinds were left in play, the final three agreed to look at chip count chop numbers. When the action was paused, Mackkapackka held 32.2 million, dave798111 had 23 million and shamandez had 21.9 million. Although dave798111 balked at the numbers at first, they quickly came to terms and struck a deal, leaving $20,000 on the table for the champion.

Shamandez picked up pocket queens at the perfect time and doubled through dave798111, who three-bet shoved for 29.5 million with [Ac][Td]. Shamandez rocketed up to 45 million while dave798111 was left with 7.2 million. Six hands later, dave798111 went for it again, three-bet shoving with [Ah][3d]. This time, shamandez called with pocket sevens and hit top set when the flop fell [7d][5h][2h]. The [3h] on the turn gave dave798111 more outs with a flush draw, but the river safely fell the [Ts]. Shamandez moved into the chip lead while dave798111 bowed out in third, collecting $160,298.47.

Heads-up chip counts

Seat 3: Mackkapackka (23,495,558 in chips)
Seat 5: shamandez (53,604,442 in chips)

Heads-up play lasted all of two hands. Mackkapackka stole the blinds on the first one and on the second, shamandez opened for a min-raise to 2.4 million holding [Ac][4s]. Mackkapackka three-bet to 6 million with [Ah][Tc] and shamandez called. Both players hit top pair when the flop fell [As][8h][7h]. The money was going in, it was just a matter of how. Mackkapackka led out for 2.4 million, shamandez raised to 19.4 million and Mackkapackka made the call. The [Kd] on the turn brought Mackkapackka one step closer to a crucial double-up; all he needed to fade was a four on the river.

And the river was... the [4d]. After being down to only four big blinds, shamandez had all the chips in front of him and earned his first Sunday Million title along with $178,192.36. For his runner-up finish, Mackkapackka took home $178,079.17-- only $113.19 less.

Sunday Million results for January 8, 2012

1. shamandez (Russia) $178,192.36*
2. Mackkapackka (Australia) $178,079.17*
3. dave798111 (Australia) $160,298.47*
4. @RXIDI@ (Greece) $77,716.80
5. blablonae (Spain) $61,680.00
6. A.A.KATALO (Russia) $46,260.00
7. hoefi73 (Switzerland) $30,840.00
8. 26071985 (United Kingdom) $17,733.00
9. TheFish9999 (Netherlands) $11,950.50

*= reflects the results of a three-way deal that left an additional $20,000 to the winner

Are you ready to take a shot at six figures? Head over to the Sunday Million page for more information.

New Year's Day brings its own excitement. It's more than a holiday for many people, as the start of a new calendar year also signifies new beginnings for poker players with goals to be met, bankrolls to be built, and old bad beats to be wiped from recent memory.

Of course, January also brings the PokerStars Caribbean Adventure, a chance to compete with some of the best poker players in the world and win millions of dollars. Most would agree that the PCA is kinda a big deal. But with a day or so to spare before competitors and fans board their flights to the Bahamas, the Sunday majors beckoned on January 1, the first Sunday of the year.

The Sunday Million, as usual, drew an impressive crowd, especially considering that some were still nursing a New Year's Eve hangover and/or relaxing on the holiday. The final numbers at the end of registration showed:

Players: 7,296
Prize pool: $1,459,200.00
Paid players: 1,080

The tournament played forward through the money bubble and on to the last few tables. After the nine-hour mark, three tables remained with PokerStars Team Online's Shane "shaniac" Schleger at the top of the leaderboard. He remained there as three tables became two, and as the final table bubble came into view.

At 15 minutes past the 10-hour mark, hand-for-hand play saw 10 players battling for the nine spots at the final table. Then a battle of the blinds ensued between the blinds at one table, and that resulted in Robertus2309 all-in with [Ks][5s] against the [4h][4d] of Pokerassss01. The board came [8h][2h][6s][Ts][6c], and Robertus2309 had to exit in tenth place with $8,025.00.

Outeiri and Team Online's shaniac fight for chip lead

The final table was set with only minutes to go in Level 37, with blinds at 125,000/250,000 and a 25,000 ante. Starting stacks were as follows:

Seat 1: Pokerassss01 (10,654,062 in chips)
Seat 2: tomdblade (4,600,000 in chips)
Seat 3: Ifold2ndnuts (7,675,960 in chips)
Seat 4: Tellef (5,158,236 in chips)
Seat 5: shaniac (11,013,037 in chips)
Seat 6: FMorbiducci (10,121,987 in chips)
Seat 7: NUMBJkE (4,854,470 in chips)
Seat 8: Outeiri (11,377,855 in chips)
Seat 9: VEENSTRA.R (7,504,393 in chips)

Outeiri had just taken the chip lead before the final table, and that lead continued to extend in the first few rounds of play. With several big pots, one worth nearly 10 million chips, Outeiri soon climbed over 20 million and began to run away from the pack. Tomdblade did double through Outeiri, though, to push the latter back down a notch.

NUMBJkE then moved all-in from middle position with [7c][7h], and VEENSTRA.R reraised all-in from the small blind to isolate, which worked. VEENSTRA.R showed [As][Ks] and flopped a straight on the [Jh][Td][Qd][Qs][Ad] board. That left NUMBJkE a little numb and out in ninth place with $11,308.80.

Tomdblade doubled again through Outeiri, cutting further into the latter's lead and taking the former out of the danger zone.

Pokerassss01 was nearing the 4 million point and moved all-in with [Ac][Kc], but FMorbiducci looked down at [Kh][Kd] in the big blind and called. The flop of [Qh][Jd][8h] provided straight outs for Pokerassss01, but the [9d] and [3d] cards failed to deliver, leaving Pokerassss01 out in eighth place with $17,510.40.

FMobiducci was on a roll and took a pot worth nearly 10 million chips from Outeiri to climb into the lead, while Outeiri was relegated to the middle of the chip counts.

Seven-way deal

Play remained seven-handed for awhile, and in the middle of Level 40, they paused to look at chip-chop numbers. On most occasions, it is difficult to reach deals with fewer players, but nearly 30 minutes of discussion led to a deal for the final seven! With $20,000 set aside for the winner, the deal was as follows:

Seat 2: tomdblade (6,550,000 in chips) = $78,642.14
Seat 3: Ifold2ndnuts (9,255,960 in chips) = $96,104.61
Seat 4: Tellef (5,323,236 in chips) = $70,093.80
Seat 5: shaniac (6,662,537 in chips) = $84,000.00
Seat 6: FMorbiducci (21,264,881 in chips) = $147,602.19
Seat 8: Outeiri (13,489,524 in chips) = $110,425.21
Seat 9: VEENSTRA.R (10,413,862 in chips) = $103,576.93

It only took a few hands for short-stacked Tellef to push all-in, and the double-up was successful through tomdblade. Then, tomdblade doubled through shaniac.

A big hand soon developed in which tomdblade raised preflop from early position and Ifold2ndnuts reraised all-in. Shaniac called all-in with [Kc][Kd], tomdblade folded, and Ifold2ndnuts showed [Qh][Qc]. The flop and turn were innocent enough with [Ac][7s][9h][4h], but the [Qd] hit hard on the river to eliminate Team Online's Shane "shaniac" Schleger in seventh place with $84,000.

Two hands later, tomdblade moved all-in preflop from the small blind, and original raiser Outeiri called with [Ac][Ah], dominating the [Ad][9d] of tomdblade. The board of [3s][Th][Js][Qs][7d] changed nothing, and tomdblade was gone in sixth place with $78,642.14.

On the very next hand, Ifold2ndnuts raised from the button, and Tellef reraised all-in from the small blind. Ifold2ndnuts called with [Ah][Qs], and Tellef showed [7h][7d]. The board came [Th][Td][9d][4d][Qh], and Ifold2ndnuts rivered the best two pair to eliminate Tellef in fifth place with $70,093.80.

VEENSTRA.R doubled twice through Outeiri, leaving the latter with a short stack of less than 10 million. Outeiri then moved all-in on the next hand with [Kh][2c], and FMorbiducci called with [Qs][9d]. The river of [5c][9h][7s] gave FMorbiducci the pair of nines, and the [5d] on the turn made that two pair. The [4h] on the river officially ousted Outeiri in fourth place with $110,425.21.

Soon after, VEENSTRA.R and Ifold2ndnuts went into battle with a raise and reraise preflop. The [Jh][Tc][5c] prompted a bet from Ifold2ndnuts and all-in raise from VEENSTRA.R. Ifold2ndnuts called with [Qc][Ts] for middle pair, and VEENSTRA.R showed [Kd][Qs] for the straight draw. The [2s] and [2c] failed to make that straight, though, leaving VEENSTRA.R out in third place with $103,576.93.

Ifold2ndnuts vs. FMorbiducci

The final two competitors began their battle with these stacks:

Seat 3: Ifold2ndnuts (44,423,649 in chips)
Seat 6: FMorbiducci (28,536,351 in chips)

Play was contentious well past the 12-hour mark of the game, and FMorbiducci finally closed in on Ifold2ndnuts. With the subsequent winning of a 23-million chip pot, FMorbiducci took a lead in the match.

This hand, however, put Ifold2ndnuts firmly back in the chip lead:

RSS readers click through to see replay

FMorbiducci hung on for awhile but finally pushed all-in with [Td][9d], and Ifold2ndnuts called with [Ad][5s]. The board came [9c][4c][Qs][4s][Ah], and FMorbiducci had to accept second place and the $147,602.19.

IFold2ndnuts grabbed the first Sunday Million title of 2012 and $116,104.61 in prize money. Congrats!

Sunday Million Results for 01/01/12 (reflects deal):

1st place: Ifold2ndnuts ($116,104.61)*
2nd place: FMorbiducci ($147,602.19)*
3rd place: VEENSTRA.R ($103,576.93)*
4th place: Outeiri ($110,425.21)*
5th place: Tellef ($70,093.80)*
6th place: tomdblade ($78,642.14)*
7th place: Team Online's Shane "shaniac" Schleger ($84,000.00)*
8th place: Pokerassss01 ($17,510.40)
9th place: NUMBJkE ($11,308.80)

*Numbers based on a seven-way chop agreement

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

Is tonight's Sunday Million going to come close to last week's? No. We may need to wait until next year's World Championship of Online Poker (WCOOP) or another surprise Sunday Million with $10 million guaranteed like last week before seeing the poker crowds flock to these tables and create the largest PokerStars prize pool ever at $12,423,200 This final $1 million guaranteed Sunday Million of 2011 more about the ease into 2012. Most players celebrating time off with their families for the holidays, but enough wanted to earn another present for their niece and nephews, 6,982 runners to be exact, to gather a $1,396,400.00 prize pool with $209,464.40 slated for first.

For Team PokerStars Pro, only Martin "AABenjaminAA" Hruby 731st place ($363.06) managed to shake off an egg nog coma and become one of the 1,080 players to cash tonight.

And while there will not be eight different players receiving six figures at tonight's final table like last week, three of them will turn their $215 buy-in into some holiday gifts like Skydiving with Anthony Bourdain (I think Team Blog's own Brad Willis wouldn't mind if you took him along). Or, the winner tonight could rock a Water-powered jetpack for a mere $179,400. Whatever our players choose to lavish themselves with, it will be a hard-earned win of over 12 hours of high-stakes poker being played on a day normal folks are kicking back to an open fire laying on a couch with five pounds of mom's secret recipe snickerdoodles stuffed inside.
While the players at the final two tables may be on the couch, watching the Yule log on TV was not an option with a chance to get to the black for the year in the last Sunday Million of 2011, all eyes were on their monitors as the difference between 18th ($3,909.92 claimed by tlegolas) and 1st (a potential $209,464.40 claimed by... you have to read on) could be career changer.

The tenth hour of play brought some very quick eliminations going from 18 to 11 in short order. The big stacks were not afraid to tangle this deep into the tournament as chur157 pulled a huge 10 million chip pot off sebstop on Table 215 while JackobFish relived Vadym1 of an 8.4 million chip pot showing [Ks][Qc] on a [9c] [2c] [Jd] [4d] [Qs] board with heavy betting going all the way to the river.

Just before the 11th hourly break LFmagic open shoved from the small blind as former chip leader sebstop trying to recover from chur157 poaching his chips called all-in from the big blind holding [Qh][Kc]. sebstop was sitting pretty, dominating LFmagic's [Ks][6c] a watching a clean [Tc][2s][5s] flop fall. But, the turn [6c] reversed the lead as the [Kh] river could not flip it back, as sebstop's last Sunday Million for 2011 ended with a bad beat in 11th place ($7,680.20).

Dan Alcazar would single-handedly make the bubble a long lasting affair. Down to between three and less than one big blind for more than 15 minutes on a five-handed table, Dan would survive loop after loop until the blinds moved up to 150K/300K ante 30K. With Dan Alcazar sitting on the button, he would open for less than a full bet as LFmagic completed in the small blind and BouleEtBill checked the option. Both active player checked down the [4h] [Qd] [Ah] [5s] [7s] board as LFmagic turned up [9d][Qc] good enough to take down both the small side pot and leave Dan Alcazar mucking on the bubble in tenth place ($7,680.20).

Seat 1: JackobFish (18536494 in chips)
Seat 2: LFmagic (12654038 in chips)
Seat 3: thelegend67 (2912126 in chips)
Seat 4: VitStarS MaN (5464974 in chips)
Seat 5: BouleEtBill (3398215 in chips)
Seat 6: Vadym1 (5858516 in chips)
Seat 7: AVAN77 (4189943 in chips)
Seat 8: chur157 (10914252 in chips)
Seat 9: ||Burkeeee! (5891442 in chips)

Straight away win

AVAN77 looked to take down the significant blinds without a fight, shoving for 3.5 million from the small blind with 200K/400K ante 40K blinds. But, chur157 found some courage to make the call for half his chips with [Ac][3d]. It was the right one as AVAN77 showed [Kh][Th]. No hearts, no kings, no tens as chur157 booked a winning hand with a straight [Qd] [7s] [6d] [5s] [4c] by the river ending AVAN77's night in ninth place ($10,822.10).

Resilient final table

Nearly 25 minutes would go by before our next elimination. Then they happen back-to-back of course. First, a short stacked chur157 who came into the final table as one of the chip leader ended up a shortstacked with the blinds at 250K/500K ante 50K shoving 2.8 million over the top of Vadym1's min raise. Vadym1 made the easy call with pocket queens [Qd][Qc] hoping to hold over chur157's [Ac][Jh]. Hold they did as the [Kc] [3h] [2h] [Kd] [Ts] board handed 6.8 million chip to Vadym1 and $16,756.80 to chur157 in eighth place.

Immediately after LFmagic would open shove for over 12 million chips from the cutoff finding a caller in BouleEtBill with just 1.4 million left in the big blind. Two live cards [Jd][7h] they could not out run LFmagic's [Qd][Kd] on the [5c] [5d] [Td] [2h] [8d] board and BouleEtBill was sunk in seventh place ($30,022.60).

Furthering this resiliency, the hand immediately after another break extreme shortstack VitStarS MaN managed to get it in with the worst hand [Ad][Qh] and pull out a 6.5 million side pot again JackobFish's [As][Kh] and thelegend67's [Ac][Ah] on the [2c] [Jd] [6d] [8d] [2d] board as play moved on to 300K/600K ante 60K blinds.

Oh, OH!

Ever read a board and think you got lucky actually did not? Watch the hand below for our sixth place finisher:

thelegend67 hung on for the later parts of the final table with just a few big blinds and got it in with [Ad][5c] versus VitStarS MaN's big slick [As][Kd]. Two pair on the flop [Ac] [5h] [Qc] WHOO WHOO! Clean turn [3d] YES! Counterfeiting river [Qd] Bleh! 7.8 million chips to VitStarS MaN as thelegend67 retired to the bench in sixth place ($43,288.40).

Not a good night for aces

First the legend67 gets aces cracked and could not recover, then with the blinds moving up to 400K/800K ante 80K VitStarS MaN min raised from UTG as LFmagic called out of the big blind to see a coordinated [8c] [Jh] [7d] flop. LFmagic led out for 1.2 million as VitStarS MaN slowed down and called. [6c] turn and 2.1 million from LFmagic is called again. A pairing [6c] on the river gets LFmagic to bet just a little less than VitStarS MaN's 5.3 million chip stack. Raise all-in by VitStarS MaN's [As][Ac] is snap-called by LFmagic's flopped straight [Th][9h] and VitStarS MaN took a long holiday walk in fifth place ($57,252.40).

Our remaining four immediately would try to wrap up the big money with $20,000 left aside for first, but two balks meant no deal and play continued.

Do you believe in magic?

Vadym1 probably does not want to believe in the mystical arts after watching his chips slide over to LFmagic. With the blinds at 500K/1MM ante 100K Vadym1 would shove from the cutoff for 9.4 million chips as LFmagic called from the big blind holding on to a middle ace [8h][As]. The ace was good preflop against Vadym1's [Kd][Tc], and more so after another one flopped [2h] [Jh] [Ad] [Ks] [5h] to give LFmagic the 19.7 million chip pot, conjuring Vadym1 from the table in fourth place ($74,009.20).

Out of tricks

LFmagic would give up the majority of those new found coins on the very next hand in cooler against JackobFish's [Ah][Ac] versus his pocket jacks [Jd][Js]. Then, two hands later LFmagic got antsy to reclaim those chips against ||Burkeeee! forced to call-in after trying to three-bet preflop. [7d][9d] for LFmagic needed diamonds quickly against ||Burkeeee!'s pocket jacks [Jd][Js]. Instead of mid-range cards, LFmagic was forced to watch broadway spill out on the [As] [Qs] [Tc] [Ad] [Kc] board ending the night in third place ($111,712.00).

Quickly (after a nap) our final two made the chip chop deal below leaving $20K to the winner:

JackobFish $167,071.74
||Burkeeee! $176,513.32

Burke fades for the win

Nearly 45 minutes long, neither one of these players wanted to give up the extra $20,000 as they would battle into the 700K/1.4MM ante 140K level. ||Burkeeee! would start with a 44.2 million to 25.5 million chip lead, and end with the lead as well. As either fatigue set in or some 12th level thinking as both players got it in preflop, check out the video below:

||Burkeeee! made a gut check call with [7s][As] after JackobFish's shove for 24.1 million. The call was correct as JackobFish held just [Ts][Qs]. Spades on the flop [Jh] [5s] [Js] only worried JackobFish with the lower draw. The rest of the board would stay spade-free as both players missed on the [4c] turn and [2c] river giving ||Burkeeee! the final Sunday Million title of 2011!

$1,000,000 guarantee Sunday Million results (12-25-11):
(* denotes part of two-way deal)
1. ||Burkeeee! (Turkey) *$196,513.32
2. JackobFish (Czech Republic) *$167,071.74
3. LFmagic (United Kingdom) $111,712.00
4. Vadym1 (Ukraine) $74,009.20
5. VitStarS MaN (Russia) $57,252.40
6. thelegend67 (Canada) $43,288.40
7. BouleEtBill (Belgium) $30,022.60
8. chur157 (Switzerland) $16,756.80
9. AVAN77 (Russia) $10,822.10

After playing host to a decade's worth of life-changing moments on the felt, it was only fitting that PokerStars celebrated their tenth anniversary by dealing out an embarrassment of riches to its players. First, there was the world record shattering tournament that drew 200,000 players and made one man $40,000 off his $1 investment. A week later, the 72 billionth hand netted a micro-stakes grinder a $95,000 payday and the rest of his tablemates five figures apiece. Then the $1 million guaranteed Sunday Storm rolled in, the top six finishers all earning over $53,000 on their $11 buyin. The energy was palpable. Some of the largest fields in online poker history gathered. Lives were changed with the turn of a card. But that wasn't nearly the end of it. Not by a long shot.

If PokerStars' 10th Anniversary Celebration was a fireworks display, tonight marked its thunderous finale, every last lick of flame left in the chamber taking to the sky in a deafening, exhaustive release. Anyone with $215, an internet connection, and a working knowledge of what beats what would have been wise to play today's $10 Million Guaranteed Sunday Million, a tournament that ended up posting the largest-ever prize pool in PokerStars' history.

Until today, the high-water mark for Sunday Million participants was 59,128 players-- a record set this past March on the Million's fifth birthday. Today, that number topped out at 62,116, creating a prize pool of $12,423,200. Previously, the 2010 WCOOP Main Event held the top spot when it came to PokerStars prize pools, ($12,215,000) and that event carried a $5,200 buyin. And while today's first-place finisher wouldn't top POTTERPOKER's $2,278,097.50 haul in that event, there was a $2 million guarantee on the #1 spot.

Five hours and fifty minutes into play, the money bubble burst, guaranteeing the remaining 7,682 players at least two and a half times their $215 buyin. Four minutes later, 1,000 players had busted and in the seven minutes that followed, another 1,000 joined them on the rail. The Red Spade Army was out in force with dozens of members of Team Pro, Team Online, and Team Sports Stars all vying for a seat at the final table. Ten of them finished in the money including Sigge "ClarkKent89" Reichard (7,166th), Gualter Salles (5,916th), Pius Heinz (4,338th), Johnny Lodden (4,202nd), Rino Mathis (4,081st), Matthias De Muelder (3,149th), Mickey "mement_mori" Petersen (2,377th), George Danzer (1,654th), and Andre Akkari (798th). However, it was everyone's favorite Flying Dutchman, Marcel Luske, who claimed Team Pro last-longer honors with his 129th-place finish.

Luske didn't have a chip or a chair left after 3-7 straightened out against his A-7

One hundred players remained as the touranament moved into its eleventh hour and by the middle of the thirteenth, we sat on the final table bubble with blinds of 1,000,000/2,000,000/200,000. As the long grind of ten-handed play wore on, the stack sizes polarized into two distinct groups-- those with 90 million or more, and those with 30 million or less. People g was in the latter group, surrounded by big stacks at his table. When he picked up [Ah][Jc] he decided to committ his last 13 big blinds, moving all-in from UTG for 26.1 million. Unfortunately, he ran into a dominating hand when fellow short stack tunafish919 called with [Ac][Qs], having him covered by only a little more than a million. People g did not improve and exited in tenth place while the other nine punched their tickets to the final table.

Final table chip counts:

Seat 1: Unstoffable (88,211,413 in chips)
Seat 2: tunafish919 (56,325,060 in chips)
Seat 3: BLAABAR (92,750,827 in chips)
Seat 4: SkunkDen (99,077,631 in chips)
Seat 5: fireballdio (24,420,395 in chips)
Seat 6: Dimedroll (95,849,710 in chips)
Seat 7: kaalen (30,046,742 in chips)
Seat 8: yokouno1980 (21,488,856 in chips)
Seat 9: First-Eagle (112,989,366 in chips)

If you took the UNDER on three minutes before a deal was discussed, you have a collection to make. Unstoffable was the first player to broach the subject, but was greeted with little more than the sound of crickets. Blood would have to be shed before any prize money was divvied up. However, while the rest of the field was no doubt fixated on the giant pay jumps that were coming into play, one player simply couldn't hide his excitement. Australia's tunafish919 was so delighted to be at the final table, he turned up his stereo and began typing song lyrics in the chat box.

"Tunafish is so happy he can hardly contain himself. :)" wrote Team Online's Kevin "WizardOfAhhs" Thurman.

Chip leaders clash, short stacks succumb

The first monsterpotten of note at this final table was settled without a flop. Chip leader First-Eagle was the initial raiser, opening for 5 million from early position. The action folded around to Dimedroll, who three-bet to 13.1 million from the small blind. Kaalen folded his big blind and First-Eagle settled on a four-bet to 28.5 million. Dimedroll shoved for 115.3 million and First-Eagle gave it up, the 61.8 million pot moving Dimedroll into the top spot.

Meanwhile, the short stacks were fighting for traction. Yokouno1980 in particular couldn't seem to find a toehold, blinding down to 3.78 million before putting the rest of his chips in the middle preflop against tunafish919 and First-Eagle. The flop fell [6c][6d][2h] and First-Eagle check-folded to tunafish919's 5 million bet, leaving him heads-up with yokouno1980. Yokouno1980 turned over [Ah][4h], but tunafish919 had him with [Th][Td]. Tunafish919's overpair turned into the nut boat when the [Ts] hit the turn and yokouno1980 departed in ninth place as the final table's first casualty. He earned $86,512.56 for his finish.

Two hands later, kaalen moved in for his last 12.8 million from middle position and First-Eagle looked him up from the cutoff. Although both players made trip queens on the [Qd][9d][3d][Qc][Jh] board, it ended up being a battle of the kickers, First-Eagle's [Kc][Qh] holding against kaalen's [Qs][8d] to send him home in eighth place.

Less than an orbit passed before the last remaining short stack moved in. Fireballdio committed his last six big blinds with [Jc][Td], but could not outrun First-Eagle's [Ah][Qh]. For seventh place, he collected $182,406-- a typical first-place Sunday Million prize on a "normal" night.

Deal or no deal?

Seconds after fireballdio's bust, Dimedroll broached the subject of a six-way deal. Everyone was amenable to looking at numbers and the action was paused. Dimedroll held the chip lead at the time, closely trailed by First-Eagle, while tunafish919 was the short stack. Still giddy over his good fortune to make it this far, tunafish919 entertained his opponents and the rail in the chat box, discussing everything from the instant rice his mate had just fixed for him to the virtues of his local curry house. However, as the initial numbers rolled off, tunafish919 turned savvy negotiator. The only one of the six willing to walk away from a deal that would give everyone better than fourth-place money, tunafish919 told everyone he wanted to gamble.

tunafish919: i know i just wanna let it ride sorta guys
tunafish919: im only doub up from super dooper spot
tunafish919: 500k to 2million 3-1
tunafish919: giddy up

In order to prevent the deal from falling apart right then and there, First-Eagle and Dimedroll agreed to give tunafish919 an additional $30,000 apiece from their shares. Still flying high from the apparent magic of Australian instant rice, tunafish919 needed a bit more coaxing before finally agreeing to a six-way chop. After more than 35 minutes of negotiations, cards went back on the screen with $200,000 still at stake for the eventual winner.

Double, double, toil and trouble

Almost immediately, tunafish919 picked up pocket aces, doubling through SkunkDen who called with [Ad][Kc]. Tunafish moved up to 130 million while SkunkDen fell below 40 million. A key coinflip, however, brought SkunkDen back up to 84 million when his pocket sixes held up against BLAABAR's [Ac][Kd]. BLAABAR recovered those lost chips only a few hands later when he open-shoved for 54.6 million with [6h][7h] and SkunkDen called with [Ac][4s]. Although SkunkDen flopped a four, a six hit the turn and another came on the river to take BLAABAR up to 111 million. Left with 53.7 million, SkunkDen three-bet shoved over tunafish919's opening raise holding [Qc][8h], but Dimedroll woke up with [As][Ad] in the small blind and snap-called. Tunafish919 got out of the way and let the board run out [Ks][3d][7h][9c][Qd], Dimedroll's aces holding up to eliminate SkunkDen in sixth place. The deal earned him a $758,986.42 payday.

With five players remaining, Dimedroll held the chip lead with 175 million and put himself in a great position to take out tunafish919. After opening for 8 million with [Ad][Qh] and being three-bet to 20 million by tunafish919, Dimedroll pulled the trigger and four-bet shoved, having tunafish919 covered by more than 70 million. Tunafish919 tanked for more than a minute before calling for his tournament life with [Ah][Td]. The flop, however, fell, [Th][9c][3d], pairing tunafish919's kicker. Dimedroll could not manage the re-suck and fell to 50.3 million (12.5 big blinds) while tunafish919 took a commanding chip lead with 254.7 million.

Dimedroll immediately went to work trying to recover his lost stack, shoving from the button with [Jd][7c] in the hopes of picking up the blinds and antes. Unfortunately, he ran straight into First-Eagle's [Ad][Ah] and could not pull off a miracle, the board running out [6d][6c][8c][Kh][Jh] to send Dimedroll to the rail in fifth place. He earned just shy of a million dollars--$995,996.85 to be exact-- for a tremendous effort.

Final four

With the blinds up to 2M/4M, tunafish919 led the way with 253 million, First-Eagle was in second with 180 million, and BLAABAR and Unstoffable brought up the rear with 102 and 85 million respectively. Tunafish919 was in a position to control the table from here on out, but a preflop raising war ended with him five-bet shoving his pocket tens right into First-Eagle's pocket queens. This time, there was no ten on the flop for tunafish919 and First-Eagle scored a game-changing double-up. With 364 million in his stack, First-Eagle held 58% of the chips in play.

Tunafish919 enjoyed a temporary reprieve, doubling through BLAABAR with [Qc][Qd] vs. [2d][2h]. However, his hopes for a comeback were dashed when First-Eagle picked up another big pocket pair at a most opportune time. Holding [Ks][Kh], First-Eagle opened for 10 million and snap-called when tunafish919 shoved for 76.5 million with [Ah][7h]. The cowboys held on the jack-high board and after a hard-fought battle, tunafish919 departed in fourth place, earning $627,317.26. That's a helluva lot of instant rice.

Four hands later, First-Eagle had BLAABAR in his crosshairs, his pocket fours up against [Ah][Td]. First-Eagle's heater continued, the flop falling [8h][4c][2d] to make him middle set. BLAABAR was drawing dead on the turn and First-Eagle notched another KO. BLAABAR's third-place finish earned him $709,896.78.

The Eagle has landed

First-Eagle held an 8 to 1 chip lead over Unstoffable as heads-up play commenced:

Seat 1: Unstoffable (69,361,413 in chips)
Seat 9: First-Eagle (551,798,587 in chips)

Although by this point Unstoffable may have been kicking himself for accepting the smallest share of the six-way deal, he still had the opportunity to add another $200,000 to that number. And after the first hand of heads-up play earned him a double-up to 139 million, that possibility looked far less remote. However, it was all over two hands later. All the marbles went in on a [Ts][8s][5d] flop, Unstoffable check-shoving with a flush draw and First-Eagle making the call with [As][3s]... the nut flush draw.

Neither player improved, First-Eagle's ace-high holding up to earn him the title, the extra $200k, and over $1.14 million in total prize money. For his runner-up finish, Unstoffable banked $580,724.34.

PokerStars Sunday Million 10th Anniversary $10M Guaranteed Results

1. First-Eagle (Canada) $1,146,574.65*
2. Unstoffable (Spain) $580,724.34*
3. BLAABAR (Sweden) $709,896.78*
4. tunafish919 (Australia) $627,317.26*
5. Dimedroll (Russia) $995,996.85*
6. SkunkDen (Australia) $758,986.42*
7. fireballdia (Portugal) $182,406.00
8. kaalen (Sweden) $119,866.80
9. yokouno1980 (Israel) $86,512.56

*= reflects a six-way deal that left an additional $200,000 for the winner

Next Sunday is Christmas and the Million is back, albeit at its regular guarantee. Give yourself a little something and stop by the Sunday Million page for more information on how you can win your way in.

As days go, it was a good one to be Czech.

Only hours after Kozlicek_x pocketed $24,300 for winning PokerStars' 72 billionth hand, his countryman emaestrodobi finished fifth out of 116,400 players in the Sunday Storm 10th Anniversary Special, earning $32,650 off his $11 investment. And by the time dawn broke over Europe a third Czech player was looking at an explosive ROI, as JJ@mess took down the Sunday Million for a $176,132 score.

This week's field was tantalizingly close to cracking the 7,000-player mark, 6,983 hopefuls buying in at $215 apiece. 1,080 of them would earn a share of the $1,396,000 prize pool with first place set to earn $209,494.70. More than three dozen members of Team Online and Team PokerStars Pro were in the mix with eleven finishing in the money-- Jude Ainsworth (998th), Toni Judet (514th), George Danzer (485th), Nacho Barbero (478th), Ana Marquez (427th), Alexis "J0hnny_Dr@m@" Zervos (217th), Bryan Huang (188th), Christophe DeMuelder (158th), mement_mori (115th), and Andre Akkari (68th place). Going the deepest among the Team Pros was, naturally, a Czech player. 2011 WSOP Main Event runner-up Martin Staszko made it all the way to 29th place, ultimately getting his money in with aces up when his opponent flopped nines full of tens. Staszko pocketed $2,904.92 for his finish.

Team Pro Czech Republic Martin Staszko

With ten players remaining, JJ@mess hit a lucky flop to burst the final table bubble. Holding [As][Ks], DestackerUK three-bet shoved for his last 13.5 big blinds on the button and initial raiser JJ@mess made the call with [Ah][Js]. The [Jd][7d][3s] flop gave JJ@mess top pair and DestackerUK could not catch up, the turn and river falling the [8h] and the [Qs] to send him to the rail and set the final table.

Final table chip counts:

Seat 1: PAROOVKA (3,350,564 in chips)
Seat 2: totaloser (5,700,176 in chips)
Seat 3: LuckyKid824 (4,552,231 in chips)
Seat 4: cafe162 (5,373,336 in chips)
Seat 5: JJ@mess (19,763,442 in chips)
Seat 6: BaLaGaNoFf (6,434,208 in chips)
Seat 7: cligori (4,049,040 in chips)
Seat 8: sara022 (5,717,745 in chips)
Seat 9: janfryed (14,889,258 in chips)

Eleven hands, two eliminations

Less than an orbit passed before the final table lost its first player. On Hand #8, sara022 opened for a min-raise to 800,000 and PAROOVKA moved all-in for 3.37 million from the cutoff with pocket nines. Sara022 called instantly with pocket kings, the overpair holding up to end PAROOVKA's run in ninth place ($10,823.65). Three hands later, cligori shoved for his last eight big blinds from under-the-gun with pocket fives, only to get a quick call from janfryed with pocket jacks. Janfryed turned a straight on the [Ks][Td][Qc][Ad][9c] board, leaving cligori to collect eighth-place money ($16,759.20).

janfryed and JJ@mess KO two apiece

With only seven big blinds remaining in his stack, LuckyKid824 couldn't afford to wait for a hand anymore. [Ks][6s] was good enough for him to get his money in preflop against JJ@mess, who looked him up with [Ah][9d]. Although both players paired up on the [Ad][Kh][8d] flop, LuckyKid824 did not improve any further and exited in seventh place, earning $30,026.90. Less than two orbits went by before JJ@mess opened for 800,000 and BaLaGaNoFf three-bet shoved for 5.8 million. Janfryed cold-called the shove from the small blind and JJ@mess got out of the way. BaLaGaNoFf turned up [Td][Th] only to watch janfryed roll over [Jh][Jc]. No help on the board and BaLaGaNoFf was out in sixth ($43,294.60).

With five players remaining, JJ@mess (27.2 million) and janfryed (24 million) controlled nearly 75% of the chips in play between them. Totaloser had the shortest stack left in play and when the action folded to him on the button, he decided to pull the trigger for his last 9.5 big blinds, moving all-in with [Kd][9h]. Unfortunately for him, JJ@mess called from the big blind, his [Ac][Td] holding up on the [Qh][6s][3s][2c][Jc] board to bounce totaloser from the final table in fifth place ($57,260.60).

Of the two remaining short stacks, cafe162 was the first David to take a shot at Goliath. Cafe162 shoved from the small blind for 5.5 million with pocket eights and JJ@mess called from the big with [Ac][Ts]. The pair held up on the seven-high board and cafe162 doubled to 11.2 million. Six hands later, however, he was on the rail, his [Ad][Td] failing to improve against JJ@mess' pocket queens. For fourth place, cafe162 pocketed $74,019.80.

sara022 wins a key coinflip, chip counts even out

With 44 million in chips to janfryed's 16.6 million and sara022's 9.1 million, it looked like JJ@mess could run away with this thing. Sara022 wasn't going down without a fight, though, and when JJ@mess open-shoved from the small-blind, sara022 made a call for her tournament life with [Ad][7d] from the big. JJ@mess' pocket deuces held up through the turn on the [3h][4d][6s][6d] board, but the [7c] fell from the heavens on the river, giving sara022 top pair and a double-up to 18.3 million.

Over the next few minutes, sara022 and janfryed both chipped away at JJ@mess. Janfryed did the most damage in this hand, where he doubled up to 21.7 million:

That pot left the chip counts nearly even. With the blinds up to 300,000/600,000 JJ@mess held 25.8 million, sara022 22.7 million and janfryed 21.3 million. The trio agreed to a pause to run chip count chop numbers and quickly made a deal that left $20,000 on the table for the eventual winner.

sara022 eliminated in third place

With the vast majority of the prize pool divvied up, it didn't take too long to find our third-place finisher. Holding [Qc][Tc], sara022 opened for 1.2 million and JJ@mess called from the big blind with [6h][9h]. The [8d][7c][2c] flop hit both players, JJ@mess flopping a straight draw while sara022 picked up a flush draw. JJ@mess check-called sara022's 1,999,999 bet. The [Ts] on the turn set off a flurry of betting as sara022 made top pair and JJ@mess filled his straight. JJ@mess checked, sara022 bet another 1,999,999, JJ@mess raised to 4.59 million, sara022 shoved for 18.4 million and JJ@mess made the call, needing to fade a club on the river. It was the [8s], and sara022 was eliminated, earning the second-largest chunk of the prize pool ($150,771.04) for her third-place finish thanks to the three-way deal.

Heads-up chip counts

Seat 5: JJ@mess (47,406,096 in chips)
Seat 9: janfryed (22,423,904 in chips)

The first hand of heads-up play was a doozy, janfryed reducing JJ@mess' 2 to 1 chip lead to a 1.25 to 1 lead.

JJ@mess wasn't going down easily, though and pulled back out to 44 million when he rivered kings full for a 15.7 million pot. From there, JJ@mess kept the pressure on and
whittled jandfryed's stack down from 25 million to 11.1 million.

In the end, it was settled on a coinflip, janfryed moving in for 11 million with [Ks][9s] and JJ@mess making the call with pocket fours. JJ@mess flopped a straight draw when the first three came down [7h][6s][5d] and filled it on the turn when the [3s] landed. Janfryed was drawing dead and once again, a Czech player was in the winner's circle as JJ@mess closed out the Sunday Million. He took home $176,132.32 for the win. For his runner-up finish, janfryed earned $148,462.08.

Sunday Million Results, 12-11-2011

1. JJ@mess (Czech Republic) $176,123.32*
2. janfryed (Spain) $148,462.08*
3. sara022 (Poland) $150,771.04*
4. cafe162 (New Zealand) $74,019,80
5. totaloser (Finland) $57,260,60
6. BaLaGaNoFf (Ukraine) $43,294.60
7. LuckyKid824 (Australia) $30,026.90
8. cligori (Brazil) $16,759.20
9. PAROOVKA (Ireland) $10,823.65

*= reflects the results of a three-way deal that left an additional $20,000 for first

The 10th Anniversary, $10 million guaranteed Sunday Million is only a week away! If you haven't won your seat yet, what are you waiting for? Satellites are running around the clock at buyins for every bankroll. Head over to the $10M Sunday Million page for more details.

Every now and then, the Sunday Million tops itself. Sure, it's already the biggest weekly online poker tournament with its $1 million guarantee, so no improvements are really needed. But as a bonus for PokerStars players, it occasionally does something that wows the poker world even more than usual.

December 18 will be that instance. In celebration of PokerStars' 10th Anniversary, that particular Sunday will host a $10 million Sunday Million. You read that correctly: the prize pool is guaranteed to be $10 million. What's more, the entry of $215 stays the same, but $2 million is guaranteed for the first place finisher. And players can qualify to play for as little as $1. Seriously! Check out the details here.

Tonight, we had the regular - if "regular" really applies to a $1 million guaranteed prize pool - Sunday Million. And the numbers were stellar, as always:

Players: 6,899
Prize pool: $1,379,800.00
Paid players: 990

The action played down for several hours before hitting the money bubble, at which point the last 990 players were guaranteed a minimum payout of $317.35. The first to cash was chekreis, and many followed rather quickly for a time.

As for the players with the red spade in front of their names, some of the members of Team PokerStars made it into the money as well. Team Online's Mickey "mement_mori" Petersen was the first of them to cash out in 841st place, and Team Pro Alex "J0hnny_Dr@m@" Zervos followed in 660th. Team PokerStars Pro Ana Marquez cashed in 628th, Johnny Lodden in 588th, Joao Nunes in 438th, Toni Judet in 343rd, and Angel Guillen in 130th.

Still standing after the hours of madness was Argentinean Team Pro Jose "nachobarbero" Barbero. After finishing in 14th place in the Sunday Warm-Up, he was still going strong as the field thinned in the Sunday Million until he finally exited in 23rd place for $3,228.73. Solid runs in both tournaments deserves a mention, Mr. Barbero.

Three tables were reduced to two just before the 10-hour mark, but it was about 45 minutes later that hand-for-hand play was to determine the final nine players. Five minutes later, short-stacked jk1234fj1234 moved all-in from the big blind with [Ah][2d], and original raiser needcashquik called with [As][6s]. The better hand only improved on the [3h][Qs][9c][8d][6d] board, and jk1234jk1234 was gone in tenth place with $7,726.88.

Traxxart makes tracks with final table lead

The final table was set in the last moments of Level 38, with blinds still at 150,000/300,000 and a 30,000 ante. The players' starting stacks were:

Seat 1: nomosoup4u (6,381,934 in chips)
Seat 2: Kihlström (9,020,949 in chips)
Seat 3: MARCIN123 (10,134,810 in chips)
Seat 4: hyroman (6,226,028 in chips)
Seat 5: traxxart (13,240,483 in chips)
Seat 6: Norrmaniano (6,320,564 in chips)
Seat 7: needcashquik (8,238,182 in chips)
Seat 8: gabriel171 (6,582,160 in chips)
Seat 9: djibh (2,844,890 in chips)

To say that play was slow to start at the final table would be somewhat of an understatement. There were several big pots, such as when djibh doubled through gabriel171 and when MARCIN123 took big pots from nomosoup4u and Kihlstrom. But it was another 30 minutes before the next double-up, when nomosoup4u doubled through Norrmaniano.

That put Norrmaniano on the short stack, and the all-in push came soon after with [Ac][Kc]. Nomosoup4u called from the button with [Ah][9h], and what looked like another double-up turned around when the flop and turn came [5h][Th][Js][2h]. That gave nomosoup4u the flush, and the [Jc] on the river sealed the deal, eliminating Norrmaniano in ninth place with $10,693.45.

After the 11.5-hour break, gabriel171 doubled through needcashquik to stay in the game.

Kihlstrom looked to do the same a few hands later. After an initial raise from traxxart, Kihlstrom pushed all-in with [8d][8c], and traxxart made the call with [As][Kd]. The flop of [3d][Ks][Kh] immediately gave traxxart the lead with trip kings, and the [6h] turn and [9c] river ended the hand with Kihlstrom out in eighth place, which was worth a $16,557.60 payday.

Djibh was the next short stack at risk, and the move came preflop with [Qh][9h]. Traxxart called from the big blind with [Qc][2s], and the flop of [3h][4s][5c] only provided more outs toward an elimination. The [2h] on the turn gave traxxart a pair, and the [Ts] officially sent djibh out in seventh place with $30,355.60.

Gabriel171 was on the wrong side of several hands, and that allowed double-ups for nomosoup4u and hyroman.

When needcashquik moved all-in, nomosoup4u wanted to challenge and called all-in with [Ac][Qd] and needcashquik showed [As][9c]. The board came [6d][2d][7d][9h][7c], and needcashquik made two pair to send nomosoup4u out in sixth place with $44,153.60.

A few hands later, hyroman made his push with [7s][7d], and gabriel171 called from the big blind with [Ad][Qd]. The board of [Th][Ac][8d][Qs][3s] gave gabriel171 top two pair, and hyroman had to accept fifth place and the $57,951.60 that went with it.

Fast deal for final four

The last four players decided to look at chip-chop numbers, so the tournament was paused to do so. While there was an issue with the original numbers, they all finally agreed to the following, as well as $20,000 set aside for the eventual winner:

Seat 3: MARCIN123 (15,904,255 in chips) = $128,407.36
Seat 5: traxxart (14,468,435 in chips) = $123,666.05
Seat 7: needcashquik (16,326,546 in chips) = $129,801.83
Seat 8: gabriel171 (22,290,764 in chips) = $149,496.62

Upon the return to play, traxxart made a big move that resulted in a double-up into the chip lead:

RSS readers click through to see replay

Two hands later, needcashquik tangled with gabriel171 to see a [8d][Kd][Kh] flop, at which point a raising war led to needcashquik moving all-in. Gabriel171 called with [Th][8s] for two pair, and needcashquik showed [Ah][Js] for the straight draw. The [6d] and [9d] completed the board and eliminated needcashquik in fourth place with $129,801.83.

On the very next hand, the crippled MARCIN123 moved all-in with [8s][4c], and traxxart called with [Ac][Ks]. The board blanked with [Tc][3c][6s][6h][Jh], and MARCIN123 exited in third place with $128,407.36.

Tough battle ahead

The final two players started their match with these counts:

Seat 5: traxxart (29,772,690 in chips)
Seat 8: gabriel171 (39,217,310 in chips)

But traxxart soon doubled up with T-9 over A-8 by making a straight, and gabriel171 was nearly crippled. Gabriel171 did double up with pocket sevens that held up to K-J, and the aggression continued in an attempt to regain some momentum.

Gabriel171 moved all-in with [Kd][9d], and traxxart called with [7h][7s]. The flop of [7d][3d][5s] immediately gave traxxart the set of sevens, and the [5c] on the turn made that a full house. And the possibility of a chop was gone when the [9h] hit on the river, eliminating gabriel171 in second place, after also finishing in second place in the Sunday 500 tonight.

Traxxart of Russia came from behind and took down the first Sunday Million tournament of December, along with $143,666.05 in cash. Congrats!

Sunday Million Results for 12/04/11 (reflects deal):

1st place: traxxart ($143,666.05)*
2nd place: gabriel171 ($149,496.62)*
3rd place: MARCIN123 ($128,407.36)*
4th place: needcashquik ($129,801.83)*
5th place: hyroman ($57,951.60)
6th place: nomosoup4u ($44,153.60)
7th place: djibh ($30,355.60)
8th place: Kihlstrom ($16,557.60)
9th place: Norrmaniano ($10,693.45)

*Numbers based on a four-way chop agreement

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

They hailed from Vancouver to Venezuela, the U.K. to Uzbekistan. 6,609 strong, each with $215 and the same long-odds dream-- spinning those bills into an avalanche of cash. Over $10,000 for making the final table. More than $200,000 for first. Every week someone wins this thing. Why can't it be me? Robert Chiro probably had those very thoughts running through his head as he sat down at the computer this afternoon. Less than twelve hours later, he'd turned them into reality after earning his first Sunday Million title.

More than two dozen members of Team PokerStars Pro and Team Online spent their Sunday on the virtual felt including Liv Boeree, Lex Veldhuis, Humberto Brenes, Victor Ramdin, and Vicky Coren. Three of them were among the 990 players who earned a share of the $1,321,800 prize pool--John Duthie (677th), Johnny Lodden (379th) and Matthias De Muelder, who made it all the way to 42nd place.

As the final table bubble loomed, the blinds rose to 125,000/250,000, placing several of the remaining players in the danger zone. With only 1.15 million remaining, TeneriaVrb couldn't afford to wait much longer, and moved in with [Ks][7s] on the button. Andethegreat looked him up with [Ad][9s] in the small blind and hit top pair when the flop fell [Ac][6c][2d]. TeneriaVrb was drawing dead when the [Qd] hit the turn and departed in tenth place as the final table was set.

Final table chip counts:

Seat 1: KumoZing (7,772,916 in chips)
Seat 2: chrisf44 (4,224,660 in chips)
Seat 3: Frqen (2,433,936 in chips)
Seat 4: andethegreat (7,144,030 in chips)
Seat 5: Pasiu (2,536,316 in chips)
Seat 6: Phantomes124 (19,813,943 in chips)
Seat 7: PUSHTHELIMP (6,140,411 in chips)
Seat 8: Robert Chiro (10,970,632 in chips)
Seat 9: S0me1Call911 (5,053,156 in chips)

Frqen got off to an excellent start, doubling up in quick fashion when he flopped a full house against PUSHTHELIMP. Up to 5 million in chips, he picked up [Ac][Ad] three hands later and got his chips in the middle preflop against Robert Chiro's [Qs][Qc]. However, instead of zooming up to second in chips, Frqen was bounced from the final table when a queen hit the flop to make Robert Chiro a set. Robert Chiro moved up to 16.4 million in chips while Frqen collected $10,243.95 for ninth place.

PUSHTHELIMP was the next player to hit the rail, With only 1.16 million remaining, PUSHTHELIMP decided to run with his [Qh][9d], but ran into chrisf44's [Ac][Qd] in the small blind. A king-high board sent PUSHTHELIMP packing in eighth place ($15,861.60) while chrisf44 picked up some much-needed ammo, his stack moving up to 5.5 million.

PUSHTHELIMP's elimination set off a flurry of action that wouldn't slow down until this final table was four-handed. On the very next deal, S0me1Call911 shoved his last 2.05 million with the (very popular) [Qd][9s] and Pasiu called with [Ks][Jc] from the big blind. Both players made flushes on the [As][6h][4s][8s][6s] board, Pasiu's the higher, and S0me1Call911's run came to an end with a seventh-place finish and a $29,079.60 score. Five hands after that elimination, Robert Chiro opened for 840,000 from the cutoff and KumoZing responded with a three-bet shove for 5.13 million with his [Ah][Qd]. Robert Chiro called in a shot and tabled [Ac][Ad], the rockets holding up to send KumoZing packing in sixth place with a $42,297.60 consolation prize.

But wait, there's more!

Before anyone could catch their breath, the action folded around to andethegreat, who looked down at [8s][9d] in the small blind. Hoping to elicit a fold from Pasiu, he decided to open-shove for his last 18 big blinds, but instead fell victim to poor timing. Pasiu quickly called with pocket sevens and the pair held up, felling andethegreat in fifth place. He earned $55,515.60 for his finish.

With four players remaining, Phantomes124 retained the chip lead with 23.4 million. Pasiu held 19.25 million, Robert Chiro was close behind with 17.8 million, and chrisf44 was the short stack with 5.5 million. With the blinds up to 250,000/500,000, chrisf44 needed to make a move. With the action folded to him in the small blind, he decided to go with his [Qs][Ts], but Pasiu called with [As][4h] in the big blind. The [Ah][Qc][Th] flop, however gave chrisf44 a reprieve, his two pair moving him up to 7.45 million. Minutes later, chrisf44 scored another double-up at Pasiu's expense, his [Ah][Qd] prevailing over [9c][Tc]. Now Pasiu was the one fighting on the short stack. Pasiu picked up [Kd][8d] and shoved from the button, but could not improve against Phantomes124's pocket sevens. For his fourth-place finish, Pasiu earned $72,699.

Chrisf44 continued to charge, doubling through Phantomes124 when his [As][7s] caught a [9s][7d][6s] flop against [Ac][Qd]. Suddenly this tournament was a true horse race, with all three players sporting stacks around 22 million apiece. Chrisf44 went to work, steadily chipping away at both his opponents, but it was Robert Chiro who landed a haymaker against Phantomes124 and changed the entire dynamic. Check out the hand below:

The tournament went on a standard 55-past-the-hour break after that hand, and on the first hand after action resumed, Phantomes124 pulled the trigger, shoving for 9.8 million with [Ac][7h]. Robert Chiro tanked for a bit before calling with pocket nines. Although Phantomes124 paired up on the [Kc][8c][7s] flop, he could not improve any further and departed in third place, his $105,744 payday not the largest of the day, but still the stuff online poker dreams are made of.

Robert Chiro had a slight chip advantage over chrisf44 as heads-up play commenced:

Seat 2: chrisf44 (28,723,080 in chips)
Seat 8: Robert Chiro (37,366,920 in chips)

This was as swift of a heads-up battle as you'll see in a Sunday Million that did not end in a deal. After taking down an 11.7 million pot on the first hand with a rivered pair of jacks, Robert Chiro finished off chrisf44 on hand number three. All the marbles went in before the flop, chrisf44 five-bet shoving for 22.4 million with [Ac][Qc] and Robert Chiro making the call with pocket eights. More than $50,000 in prize money would literally be decided on the flip of a coin.

The [Td][Ts][9d] flop missed chrisf44 completely, leaving him two shots at an ace or a queen. The [3s] on the turn was no help either. And while the river brought paint, it was the wrong kind the [Kh] falling to seal Robert Chrio's Sunday Million victory. $201,049.56 was headed to Brazil, while chrisf44 collected $148,702.50 for his runner-up finish.

Sunday Million results for 11-27-11

1. Robert Chiro (Brazil) $201,049.56
2. chrisf44 (Canada) $148,702.50
3. Phantomes124 (Austria) $105,744.00
4. Pasiu (Poland) $72,699.00
5. andethegreat (United Kingdom) $55,515.60
6. KumoZing (Ireland) $42,297.60
7. S0me1Call911 (Romania) $29,079.60
8. PUSHTHELIMP (Spain) $15,861.60
9. Frqen (Denmark) $10,243.95

The 10th anniversary $10 million guaranteed Sunday Million is only three weeks away! Over $2 million is guaranteed for first place and satellites are running around the clock. Don't miss out-- head over to the 10th Anniversary Sunday Million page for more information.