3: Barrels of a PokerStars flavour with an update from the Millionaire Promotion as well as a round-up of results from the PokerStars Festival Chile and PokerStars Championship Sochi.
When it comes to the gangsters of the online poker world, PokerStars are Al Pacino, and Robert De Niro rolled into one no better demonstrated than their recent PokerStars Makes Millionaires promotion.
In the eight weeks since the largest online poker room, this side of Chichester started the promotion they have dished out $12.5m in prize money to a combination of the lucky and skilful.
“Once again we have confirmed our position as the only poker operator that has the ability to give players so many huge winning moments via so many great promotions, exciting live events and online series,” said Director of Poker Marketing Vadim Soloveychik.
He’s not wrong.
Wrap your laughing gear around this:
Millionaire #1
Back in April, ‘Xavi666’ from Panama spent 16-hours, beating 44,017 entrants, to take the first prize of $1,093,204.63 in the Sunday Million 11th Anniversary.
Millionaire #2
Russian player ‘Nick2101983’ managed to row his canoe through the turbulent waters of the Millionaire Challenge, to win $1m in a freeroll with the runner-up receiving $30,000 in a competition that only paid out two spots.
Millionaires #3 & #4
Global Poker Index (GPI) Player of the Year leader, Bryn Kenney, defeated a field of 61 entrants in the €100,000 buy-in Super High Roller at the PokerStars Championship Monte Carlo for $1,946,911. Viacheslav Buldygin banked $1,406,343.48 for his runner-up spot.
Millionaire #5
The German pro-Julian Stuer also became a millionaire when he topped a field of 187 entrants in the €25,750 buy-in High Roller in the same competition, earning $1,107,522.
Millionaires #6 & #7
The $1m Spin & Go jackpot went ding-dong twice in early May with ‘Check^On123’ winning a million bucks from a $100 stake, and ‘meks2410’ doing likewise but for only $10.
Millionaires #8 & #9
The high-stakes phenom, Charlie ‘Epiphany777′ Carrel, earned $1,200,899.97 when he overcame a dodgy Mexican Internet connection and 693 entrants to win the Spring Championship of Online Poker (SCOOP) Main Event. Harrison ‘gibler321′ Gimbel also joined the exclusive seven-figure club taking $1.1m after a heads-up ICM chop.
Millionaires #10 & #11
I will leave these two for the dubious goals panel.
Adrian Mateos became a millionaire, spread over two events. The Spaniard won the €50,000 buy-in Super High Roller at the PokerStars Championship Monte Carlo for $990,773.07, before winning $234,030 in an (H) event during SCOOP.
And finally, PokerStars guaranteed $1m for the winner of Event #1 of SCOOP, but the final five players cut a deal. Gordon Vayo took the title and largest slice with $692,460.93, but PokerStars believe the collective haul of the five players – who split $2,782,385.87 – qualifies as part of the promotion.
That takes the total number of PokerStars millionaires to 208.
PokerStars Chile News
Christopher Franco has won the first-ever PokerStars Festival Chile Main Event. The homegrown talent showed real mountaineering grit, as he climbed over the heads of 328 people to take home the $97,360 first prize. It was his first major title. His previous best score was $11,517, earned when he beat 127 entrants in a Venetian Deep Stack side event back in July 2016.
Final Table Results
1. Christopher Franco – $97,360
2. Juan Giraldo – $61,900
3. Sergio Tello – $46,400
4. Andres Vega – $37,560
5. Amos Ben Haim – $29,600
6. Rodrigo Zambra – $22,600
7. Oscar Tolosa – $16,600
8. Diego Lizana – $12,200
In the other big buy-in event, Leo Fernandez topped a paltry field of 15 entrants to win the $20,950 first prize in the $3,300 High Roller.
PokerStars Sochi News
It seems online poker rooms are like buses in Sochi, Russia. You spend an eternity waiting for one to turn up and then two arrive in quick succession.
With the success of the partypoker Million Sochi still smelling like fresh clothes drying in the breeze, PokerStars have marched into town promising to take things up a notch.
The first event was the PokerStars National Championship, and Georgy Philippovich beat 756 entrants to take the $110,324 first prize. Partypoker Million Sochi winner, Dmitry Chop, finished 6th, former PokerStars Team Pro, Jose Barbero finished 9th, and Russian star Alexander Denisov finished 12th.
Final Table Results
1. Georgy Philippovich – $110,324
2. Vitali Avanesian – $96,021
3. Viktor Kudinov – $90,019
4. Andrey Solovyev – $47,355
5. Sergey Em – $37,570
6. Dmitry Chop – $28,396
7. Van Vu – $20,379
8. Rudolf Babayan – $13,945
The other big event assigned to the record books is the PokerStars National High Roller, and Maxim Panyak went wire-to-wire to win the $60,141 first prize after smashing the 116 entrant field.
Final Table Results
1. Maxim Panyak – $60,141
2. Ivan Safarov – $40,595
3. Vladimir Troyanovskiy – $26,391
4. Dmitry Ponomarev – $21,863
5. Asker Aloev – $17,600
6. Igor Yaroshevskyy – $13,892
7. Aleksandr Prigarnyi – $10,613
8. Jason Wheeler – $7,995
Maksim Kolosov finished 9th, and Felipe Ramos was 13th.
The PokerStars Championship Sochi is currently underway with 47 players remaining from a field of 387. Luminaries such as Jason Wheeler, Bertrand ‘ElkY’ Grospellier, and Vladimir Troyanovskiy are all in contention for the 29,100,000 (Rub) first prize.
