Online Poker Weekend: Three-way Chop in Sunday Million

Mickey Doft Live Reporter

Dec 15, 2008 6 min read

Online Poker Weekend: Three-way Chop in Sunday Million 0001

A busy winter Sunday found plenty of action in the major tournaments across the major online sites, including PokerStars, where an unusual three-way chop for even money occurred. Stars' event rules dictate that a share is reserved for the actual winner and that the tournament be played to its conclusion, and "opis/sp" went on to collect the title and the extra $30,000 that went with it. Over at Full Tilt, "dudetronic" captured the weekly $750,000 Guarantee, collecting well over $132,000. Here's how the action played out:

PokerStars Sunday Million

The PokerStars Sunday Million's 7,549 entrants created a total prize pool of $1,509,800, with 1,080 players cashing and $185,705.40 initially on the line for first. Notable showings included Martin "AABenjaminAA" Hruby in 27th place ($3,019.60), TJ "WhatArunAA" Slifka in 34th ($2,718), BadcardsAA in 40th ($2,567), johnnyv5000 in 46th ($2,416), Steven "PiKappRaider" Burkholder in 56th ($2,265), Taylor "ElMastermind" McFarland in 68th ($2,264.70), horryclutch in 78th ($2,113.72), and Josh Prager in 84th ($2,113.72). The chip counts starting the final table were as follows:

TommyE79 - 14,622,073

opis/sp - 12,767,804

CHI01 - 10,390,449

Eeedz - 10,212,455

jdballer40 - 8,197,282

drpossjr25 - 6,631,726

AvelonSalheb - 5,001,841

5fish - 4,125,097

Mighty Horse - 3,541,273

AvelonSalheb departed first from the final table at the 200,000/400,000/40,000 level. Mike "CHI01" Chiappetta opened to 1,200,000 from the cutoff and AvelonSalheb shoved from the big blind for 5,461,281 with A♦J♦. Chiappetta called with K♥Q♦ and was victorious after the board ran out 10♦J♠8♣9♥6♦ for the nut straight. AvelonSalheb finished in ninth place for $10,568.80. Mighty Horse was knocked off the high horse next, after moving all in for 1,841,273 from middle position with 9♠8♣ and receiving action from TommyE79, who in the small blind called with A♥8♥. The board improved neither player's hand and Mighty Horse was eliminated in eighth place for $17,362.70. With the blinds and antes up to 250,000/500,000/50,000, 5fish shoved from the small blind for 1,475,205 with K♠Q♠ and was called by opis/sp in the big blind with 10♠2♣. The hand made famous by Doyle Brunson came through for opis/sp as the board ran out J♣8♠10♣6♠8♥. The seventh-place finish paid 5fish $26,421.50.

The next two bustouts came at 300,000/600,000/60,000. TommyE79 shoved under the gun for 4,072,829 with A♠2♥ and Mike "CHI01" Chiappetta called out of the small blind with Q♠10♥. The board came K♠K♣9♣8♠J♥ as the river gave Chiappetta the winning straight. TommyE79 won $39,254.80 for sixth place. Eeedz hit the road as well after moving all in for 3,474,932 under the gun with A♦5♥ and running into Thomas "drpossjr25" Poss' K♣K♥. No ace found the table and Eeedz finished in fifth place for $54,352.80. Poss, though, would be the next player eliminated in the following level. An open raise to 2,400,000 by jdballer60 was met with a reraise to 8,800,000 by Poss. The blinds folded and jdballer40 reraised all in with the bigger stack, and Poss called all in with K♣K♦. This time Poss' kings ran into jdballer40's A♣A♥. The board came J♥A♦6♠4♠3♦ and Thomas "drpossjr25" Poss was the fourth-place finisher for $69,450.80.

The remaining three players talked about a deal, did not agree, then spoke again after a short-stack double up and agreed to an even three-way chop leaving $30,000 for the winner. Each was guaranteed $122,006.84.

At 500,000/1,000,000/100,000, the tournament ended. First, with the board reading 9♣4♣A♣ and nearly 20,000,000 in the pot, jdballer40 shoved for 9,010,321 with K♣Q♦ and opis/sp called with A♥8♣. No straight or flush cards came for jdballer40, who finished in third place for $122,006.84. With over a 3:1 chip lead, opis/sp soon took it down. A series of pre-flop raises brought out a J♥K♦6♠ flop, and a check from opis/sp led to an all-in shove from Mike "CHI01" Chiappetta. Opis/sp eventually called and revealed Q♣J♣ for middle pair, as Chiappetta was caught bluffing with 5♦3♦. The turn and river came the 6♣ and 7♠, ending the tournament. Mike "CHI01" Chiappetta finished as the runner-up, taking home $122,006.84, while opis/sp collected $152,006.84 for winning the PokerStars Sunday Million was.

Final Results:

*1. opis/sp - $152,006.84

*2. Mike "CHI01" Chiappetta - $122,006.84

*3. jdballer40 - $122,006.84

4. Thomas "drpossjr25" Poss - $69,450.80

5. Eeedz - $54,352.80

6. TommyE79 - $39,254.80

7. 5fish - $26,421.50

8. Mighty Horse - $17,362.70

9. AvelonSalheb - $10,568.60

* three-way deal for remaining prize money; $30,000 to eventual winner

Online Poker Weekend: Three-way Chop in Sunday Million 101

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Full Tilt $750,000 Guarantee

The Full Tilt $750,000 Guarantee drew 3,485 entrants, falling a bit short of its guarantee and offering over $50,000 in overlay. Notable finishers outside the final table included TJ "LivesWithMommy" Slifka in 18th place ($3,750) and Gary "GB2005" Bogdanski in 53rd ($1,388). Eliminated first from the final table was Bbuddy4brkfst at the 25,000/50,000/6,000 level. Short-stacked and all in against shAAAArk's Q♠10♠, the board came 2♥K♥9♣J♦A♣ as Broadway did in Bbuddy4brkfst for a ninth-place finish worth $10,050. The chip counts after the first elimination were approximately as follows:

oldist - 3,508,702

rusostreet - 1,913,430

shAAAArk - 1,249,526

dudetronic - 865,373

skullkicker - 850,976

czares - 779,777

smfit29 - 750,528

David "The Yid" Chicotsky - 545,688

David "The Yid" Chicotsky and smfit29 were sent to the rail in the 30,000/60,000/7,500 level. Both players were eliminated when, after a flop of 9♦10♠8♣, Chicotsky's A♦8♥ and smfit29's A♥K♥ were in dire straits against oldist's Q♥J♥ for the flopped nut straight. The turn and river changed nothing and Chicotsky was out in eighth for $13,500, while smfit29 took seventh place for $17,250. Later in the level shAAAArk's tournament ended as well. On a short stack of 160,000, shAAAArk shoved with Q♦7♣ and found action from dudetronic in the big blind, priced in to a call with J♠5♠. The board came 2♥5♥4♠2♣4♥ and shAAAArk was out in sixth place for $23,025. The 40,000/80,000/10,000 round of play was when the event ended for czares. Under the gun, skullkicker shipped it in for nearly 960,000 with A♠Q♣ and czares called all in from the big blind for 208,000 with 3♦2♦. The board rolled out K♠Q♥8♦7♠Q♠ and czares was sent packing in fifth place for $31,040.

Rusostreet was the sole victim during the 50,000/100,000/10,000 level of play. With the board reading Q♠4♥9♣, rusostreet got it all in good with K♦K♥ against oldist's Q♣J♣. However, the turn and river came 8♣ and 10♥ to make a straight for oldist. The fourth-place finish paid rusostreet $41,400. When the 60,000/120,000/15,000 level came around, dudetronic had moved into the lead and proceeded to bust oldist. After dudetronic three-bet preflop, oldist pushed with 10♠10♣. A call from dudetronic revealed K♠J♠ and when the board ran out K♥J♥9♦2♥3♣, oldist was out in third place for $52,500.

Heads-up play began with dudetronic holding a 4:1 edge in chips and the tourney ended at 80,000/160,000/20,000. On a queen-high flop, skullkicker was the one all in with top pair while dudetronic held the nut flush draw. A diamond on the turn sealed the deal and skullkicker finished as runner-up for $80,250. The winner of the Full Tilt $750,000 Guarantee was dudetronic for $132,787.50.

Final Results:

1. dudetronic - $132,787.50

2. skullkicker - $80,250

3. oldist - $52,500

4. rusostreet - $41,400

5. czares - $31,040

6. shAAAArk - $23,025

7. smfit29 - $17,250

8. David "The Yid" Chicotsky - $13,500

9. Bbuddy4brkfst - $10,050

Other Sunday Results

Full Tilt Sunday Brawl

1. Tojabei - $80,092.80

2. Sumpas - $52,876.80

3. ChokerFold - $39,268.80

4. f1rebetman - $30,175.20

5. KingFish83 - $22,939.20

6. Scary_Tiger - $15,940.80

7. oh i win yay - $9,720

8. The Lab Rat - $6,609.60

9. stockbrokerr - $4,665.60

Buy-in: $240+16

Prize Pool: $383,880

Entrants: 1,944

Other Notables: Halfrek (24th, $1,244.16), PureCash25 (26th, $1,244.16), Isaac Baron (64th, $660.96), Breeth (97th, $544.32)

Full Tilt Sunday Mulligan

1. H n F R Mangos - $48,780

2. cwm1981 - $31,436

3. jAbAthenuts - $23,306

4. cuzitsdelicious - $17,866

5. rsxpunk - $13,550

6. IBetANickel - $9,756

7. Margin of Error - $6,540

8. cmdnst - $4,878

9. pojai - $3,468.80

Buy-in: $200+16

Prize Pool: $216,800

Entrants: 1,084

Other Notables: Matt "MattSuspect" Molinari (24th, $823.84), Frank "gator93" Hernandez (31st, $715.44), Matt "ma44th3gr34t" Page (32nd, $715.44), Stian "JohnnyBelow" Stable (35th, $714.44), horryclutch (50th, $563.68), Matt "Claw1980" Holtzclaw (51st, $563.68)

PokerStars Sunday Warmup ($750,000 guaranteed)

1. mmmbillski - $101,374

2. suckedoutagn - $70,182

3. D1rtyR1v3r - $46,788

4. riddup - $38,990

5. Milla.TiMe - $31,192

6. mortens22 - $23,394

7. yokerface - $15,596

8. DenyoDeluxXe - $9,747.50

9. hidalgo18 - $6,706.28

Buy-in: $200+15

Prize Pool: $779,800