The Poker Stars Sunday Million is always a fun tournament due to the large amount of money up for grabs, and last Sunday’s tournament was no different. The eventual winner, twirlpro, would go on a tear, eliminating five consecutive players en route to a big payday.
Here are the chip stacks at the start of final table play:
svansa – 19,352,418
fratzl – 17,516,137
twirlpro – 12,725,996
PureProfitFo – 11,800,471
1bobbyL – 6,220,333
ankolo – 4,635,660
NewsKoool = 3,712,744
Terkel1 – 2,165,369
omba – 1,880,872
The short stack, omba, would be the first to go, throwing it what remained of their stack with [As][Js]. NewsKoool called and showed a dominating [Ah][Qs], leaving omba needing a lot of help. That help would not come on the board, which rolled out [Kh][9h][5s][10h][5d] to give the pot to NewsKoool. Omba’s ninth place finish would be rewarded with $11,201.40.
PureProfitFo made a mistake in clashing with the chip leader, as that mistake would cast him out of the tournament. After seeing svansa go over the top of his raise, PureProfitFo moved all-in with pocket jacks. Svansa made the call and showed [As][Kh] for a classic coin-flip situation. Svansa immediately found help as the flop came down [Kd][2h][2c], giving svansa kings and twos to overcome PureProfitFo’s jacks and twos. PureProfitFo now had two outs left, but would not get either of them as the turn fell [9d] and the river fell [9s]. PureProfitFo exited in eighth place for a payday of $18,402.30.
Ankolo would fall in seventh place after moving all-in with pocket jacks. Fratzl was holding [Ks][Qs] and made the call to again create a coin-flip situation. Once again the overcards would win as this time the turn delivered the killing blow, a queen that gave fratzl the better pair to eliminated Ankolo. Ankolo’s final table performance would be worth $28,003.50.
1bobbyL got caught red-handed when he moved all-in with [10h][5h] from the big blind in a daring steal attempt. However, Twirlpro made the call with his [Ac][Qh]. The flop of [Qc][6c][5c] was good for twirlpro, as it kept him in the lead with a pair of queens while also giving him the nut flush draw. The [7c] on the turn would complete the flush for twirlpro, leaving 1bobbyL drawing dead. 1bobbyL collected $40,805.10 for finishing in sixth place.
Terkel1 reraised twirlpro all-in while holding [Ad][6d] and twirlpro decided to make the call with [Kc][7s]. Twirlpro greatly enjoyed the flop of [Kd][7h][4s], as it delivered two pair for a big advantage. Terkel1 was in trouble, but would not receive any help on a turn card of [2c] or a river card of [3c]. Terkel1’s fifth place finish was good for a prize of $56,807.10.
Twirlpro’s would continue his domination by eliminating svansa, who had held the chip lead at the start of the final table. Holding [8s][7s] on a flop of [Ah][9s][7d], twirlpro fired out a large bet and svansa quickly called all-in with [Ad][6c]. Twirlpro was behind but would hit a runner-runner flush with the [10s] turn and the [5s] river. Svansa was gone in fourth place for a payday of $72,809.10.
NewsKoool was holding [Ah][5h] when they called all-in after a twirlpro raise. Twirlpro showed [Kc][6c] and the two went to the board. The flop came down [Jd][8d][4c], but twirlpro would once again hit a runner-runner flush as the turn came down [Qc] and the river came down [9c]. NewsKoool exited in third place, richer by $89,611.20.
Fratzl and twirlpro would duke it out in heads-up play, which began with nearly even stacks as fratzl was holding onto 42 million chips and twirlpro holding onto 38 million. The tournament would end when fratzl moved all-in with [Ac][Qd] and had to face the pocket kings of twirlpro. Fratzl needed an ace but would not see one as the board rolled out [Qh][Jc][2c][5c][Kh].
Fratzl earned $132,176.52 for finishing in second place and twirlpro’s victory was rewarded with $196,024.50.