PokerStars celebrated ten years of the Sunday Million by dishing out a $970,000 first prize, and their official New Jersey launch goes off without too many hitches.
The PokerStars Sunday Million is 10-years old, and 45,353 people attended the birthday party.
There wasn’t cake. There weren’t any candles. But there was $11,011,800 to distribute among the 8,208 people fortunate enough to fall on the right side of the money bubble.
In a bid to make sure the $10m guarantee was met, PokerStars introduced a re-entry clause as a one off. 9,706 people re-entered creating a combined number of 55,059 entrants. It was the fourth richest online poker tournament in PokerStars history.
The event lasted close to 16 hours. The winner a.urli hailed from Canada. The first prize payout was $970,000 after a four-way deal. Here was the agreed deal with $100,000 left to play for. A.urli beat mladenova62 in heads-up action.
The Deal
◦ a.urli: $870,000.00
◦ prophetdream: $678,517.78
◦ mladenova62: $650,000.00
◦ canario508: $560,000.00
Before this monumental victory a.urli’s biggest win was a $40,184 score after finishing runner-up in a 2014 WCOOP event. The first prize payout was the 18th largest in PokerStars online tournament history.
Final Table Results
1. a.urli (Canada) $970,000*
2. mladenova62 (Bulgaria) $650,000*
3. prophetdream (South Korea) $678,517.78*
4. canario508 (Argentina) $560,000*
5. ThreeBetting (UK) $318,415
6. Superfizzy (Germany) $235,653.62
7. AttiIa88 (Russia) $174,402.68
8. TottiLitti (Finland) $129,071.51
9. Torsvik (Norway) $95,522.96
*indicates a four-way deal, which left $100,000 for the winner
The Three That Beat it
1. PokerStars 10th Anniversary Special Sunday Million
The event attracted 62,116 entrants, creating a prizepool of $12,423,200, and handing $1,146,574.65 to First-Eagle.
2. 2010 World Championships of Online Poker (WCOOP) Main Event
The event attracted 2,443 entrants, creating a prizepool of $12,215,000 and Tyson “POTTERPOKER” Marks won the first prize of $2,278,097
3. Sunday Million 5th Anniversary
The event attracted 59,128 entrants, creating a prizepool of $11,825,600, and handing $844,209.87 to Bdbeatslayer.
PokerStars New Jersey Launch Goes Off Smoothly
It’s going to be a long wait before an American based player gets their mitts on a score that big, but the wheels are in motion for that to happen after PokerStars opened their doors and welcomed anyone located within the borders of New Jersey.
It’s five years since Black Friday. All I can think of is gratitude. While the online poker community gets ready to trounce PokerStars for increasing rake in their shared markets, players in New Jersey were chomping at the bit to get the opportunity to play on a site they have missed so much.
“We could not be more proud to bring PokerStars to New Jersey,” said David Baazov, Chairman and CEO of Amaya Gaming.
PokerStars can bring their product to the state thanks to their partnership with the Resorts Casino Hotel.
“This is a great day for online gaming,” said Morris Bailey, owner of Resorts Casino Hotel.
PokerStars also launched their online casino product at the same time. According to the press reports, the launch went as smooth as a baby’s bum.
