Pokerstars Millions Event 3rd December 2006

PokerStars had a fantastic Sunday Million event this week, right down to the final hand. 6,687 players sidled up to the tables and played. That put the prize pool at an impressive, if not record-shattering, $1,337,400.00. 975 players were lucky enough to make it to the money. As the final table began, br1an2k5 was the chip leader with 16.7 mil. Dgizzard was right behind him and Mr_BigCheese brought up the rear with about 2.5 mil.

However, Mr_BigCheese wasn't the first one to go all-in at the final table. Nor was he the first player busted either. freeradical2 called an all-in bet preflop by zio_slim. freeradical2's big slick was good, but not good enough to beat zio's pocket tens. The board brought him nada so he left in ninth place only a few minutes into the final table action.

br1an2k5 sent Phwap packing when his pocket pair (of eights) held up over Phwap's K-J. Axababa would get knocked out next. Seventh place seems to be his standard finish. In fact, Axababa's has ended up in seventh place twice before in the Sunday Million this year alone. This time, his A,6 was dominated by PhilEatsPoo's A,K. Axa pocketed almost 23k this time. We're sure to see him at the final table again before long. Hopefully, he can make it further up the latter next time.

Soon after, PhilEatsPoo struck again and ended Dgizzard's event. Dgiz's A-8, aka the "Dead Man's Hand", was no match for the pocket ladies of the Poo Eater. Unfortunately for Phil, he was the next one ousted. br1an2k5 brought the hammer down on him when his K,J was found to be in a dominating position over Phil's J-9. To be fair to Phil, he'd seen his stack dwindle from a healthy 16 mil to a paltry 5 mil in the fifteen minutes between his knockout of Dgizzard and his own ouster from the tournament.

Gurre, the eventual winner of the event, was pretty quiet throughout most of the final table until this point. This is when the sassy Swede began to make some moves. He got a big windfall, courtesy of Mr_BigCheese when he flopped two-pair with his K-Q, crushing the Cheese's pocket rockets. Ouch!

Gurre held 32 mil in chips after that. Mr_BigCheese barely had enough chips to cover the blinds. He pushed all-in with his A,5 and got called by Gurre who had the correct pot odds to do so with his J,4. Gurre got lucky again when the board brought him a pair of jacks on the flop. Adieu, Mr_BigCheese.

As three-handed play began, the table was pretty even. br1an2k5 was the chip leader with 25 mil, Gurre was in second with 22 mil and zio_slim had a competitive 19.5 mil left. However, zio_slim wouldn't last long. br1an2k5 raised his pockets tens pre-flop and zio_slim re-raised it up ten times more with his pocket eights. A third eight didn't come to his aid and he was eliminated in third with $58,177 to console him.

At this point, br1an2k5 had a decent chip lead with 42 mil to Gurre's 25 mil. The final two discussed a chop but couldn't agree on the terms. Heads-up play lasted about 20 minutes or so, during which time the chip lead went back and forth quite a bit.

Going into the final hand, Gurre had the chip advantage. He raised to 1.6 mil preflop. It was a small enough raise for br1an2k5 to call. The flop was 8,4,3. Both players checked. The turn brought a ten. br1an2k5 checked. Gurre bet 1.6 mil. br1an2k5 called. The river brought another 3. br1an2k5 checked so Gurre raised to 4.8 mil. For some reason br1an2k5 check-raised to 9.6 million, leaving himself with only 11.6 left. Gurre re-raised to put br1an2k5 all-in, which he called since he was pot committed.

Br1an2k5 had eights and threes, which he obviously thought were good. Unfortunately, Gurre made quads at a crucial point. Yes, he held threes in the pocket! Gurre won $187,236 for first place, leaving br1an2k5 with $93,216 and the runner-up spot. What a fantastic finish!

Here are the tournament results:

1. Gurre (Sweden) $187,236.00
2. br1an2k5 (United States) $93,216.78
3. zio_slim (Italy) $58,176.90
4. Mr_BigCheese (United States) $45,337.86
5. PhilEatsPoo (United States) $35,842.32
6. Dgizzard (United States) $28,887.84
7. Axabaxa (Norway) $22,735.80
8. Phwap (United States) $16,851.24
9. freeradical2 (United States) $10,966.68

We bet that $187,236 could buy a lot of holiday goodies. So, why not enter to play in the Poker Stars' Sunday Million Tournament? If you can't afford the $215 to enter the Main Event (Remember: Once a month the tourney costs $530 to enter and four times a year it's $1,050. See Pokerstars for scheduling info), why not satellite your way in for as little as $3.00? Satellites are going on now!