Online Poker Weekend: Carter King Wins PokerStars Sunday Million

Mickey Doft Live Reporter

Mar 23, 2009 7 min read Last updated Oct 08, 2017

Nearly eight thousand players were on hand for the latest edition of the PokerStars Sunday Million, and of the biggest names in the online world emerged with the win. Carter "ckingusc" King, winner of Stars' 2008 World Championship of Online Poker (WCOOP) Main Event, arrived at the final table second in chips. King would take the lead late in the final before falling behind, but a fortunate break gave him the victory. Highlights of the action:

PokerStars Sunday Million

The PokerStars Sunday Million attracted 7,906 participants for a total prize pool of $1,599,800 and a first-place prize of $193,697. 1,170 players cashed, and notable finishers outside the final table included Gavin "gavonater" O'Rourke in 11th place ($7,906), Shannon "T-bull" Tabbert in 14th ($5,534.20), Michael "bigcoop23" Cooper in 23rd ($3,162.40), Adam "simmsux" Geyer in 35th ($2,846.16) and Carl "olson10" Olson in 51st ($2,529.92). Making the final table was Carter "ckingusc" King, the reigning WCOOP Main Event Champion, here looking to add a Sunday Million victory to his resume. The chip counts at the start of the final table were these:

bbs99 — 16,753,871

Carter "ckingusc" King — 14,669,864

*xen — 10,831,038

reef2287 — 7,994,226

bigsexyKN — 7,027,968

Craig "1GENERAL_TAO" Bergeron — 6,775,126

Liqqa — 6,120,206

Rabbiej — 4,577,660

Terris "tpreston" Preston — 4,310,041

Short-stacked Terris "tpreston" Preston was the first to be eliminated, during the 200,000/400,000/40,000 level. In middle position, reef2287 made it 900,000 to go and Preston went all in from the big blind for 5,510,041, with A♦K♣. A quick call from reef2287 revealed K♠K♥. The board ran out J♣10♦7♦3♣9♥ and Preston was out in ninth place for $11,068.40. Rabbiej fell several hands later. *xen opened to 950,000 in early position and, next to act, Rabbiej shoved for 8,275,320 with A♠J♣. *xen called with K♦K♥ and won the hand as the board came 3♣7♠8♥2♥K♠. Rabbiej took home $18,183.80 for eighth place. Out next was bigsexyKN, after making it 1,200,000 to play from the hijack. Carter "ckingusc" King re-raised to 3,055,050 in the small blind and bigsexyKN responded with an all-in shove for 9,058,276. King called with A♥J♦, but trailed bigsexyKN's A♦K♣. However, the board rolled out J♣Q♠3♥6♦8♥ and bigsexyKN was felted in seventh place for $27,671.

Craig "1GENERAL_TAO" Bergeron fell at 250,000/500,000/50,000. *xen shoved from the cutoff with a bigger stack than the button and the blinds. Bergeron found J♥J♠ on the button and called all in for 8,925,126. *xen tabled K♣Q♦ and managed to pair up when the board ran out 10♦10♠Q♥4♥3♣. Bergeron pocketed $40,320.60 for his performance. Liqqa met the felt shortly thereafter. From the small blind Liqqa shipped it in for 2,830,206 with J♥8♣ and was called by reef2287 in the big blind, who held A♦8♥. The community cards fell Q♦K♣8♦A♠6♣ and Liqqa was out in fifth place for $56,132.60.

At 300,000/600,000/60,000 reef2287 was eliminated by Carter "ckingusc" King. In the small blind reef2287 raised 1,800,000 and King re-raised enough to f reef2287 to an all-in choice. With 2,945,473 left, reef2287 called with 9♣2♠ and needed help against King's 8♣8♦. The board delivered none, falling J♠4♦3♦7♠A♠, and reef2287 took fourth place for $71,944.60. King wasn't finished, sending bbs99 to the rail at 400,000/800,000/80,000 soon after. King opened to 1,985,500 on the button and bbs99 min-raised, leaving 451,453 behind. King raised a little bit more and bbs99 called all in with 2♦2♥, which was racing against King's J♠8♠. The board came 9♦3♦J♣K♠4♠ as bbs99 departed in third with $88,457.20. These were the chip counts as heads-up play began:

Carter "ckingusc" King — 48,778,949

*xen — 30,281,051

The tables turned when *xen doubled up with A♥K♦ against King's 4♥4♠. An ace hit the flop and gave *xen the chip lead. Then, at 500,000/1,000,000/100,000, the tournament looked over. With just over a 2:1 chip lead,*xen four-bet all in with K♠10♥ and Carter King called for his tournament life with 8♦8♣. The flop and turn came 6♠10♠Q♦K♥, but the 8♠ fell on the river. King was back on top and was there to stay. The match ended a few hands later when *xen raised to 2,300,000. King shoved with the big stack and *xen called all in for 23,181,026 with 9♣9♥. King tabled J♥J♦ and took it down when the board ran out 2♣7♥K♠8♠J♣. *xen pocketed $130,607.12 for the runner-up finish, while Carter"ckingusc" King's victory in the PokerStars Sunday Million was worth $193,697.

Final Results:

1. Carter "ckingusc" King — $193,697

2. *xen — $130,607.12

3. bbs99 — $88,457.20

4. reef2287 — $71,944.60

5. Liqqa — $56,132.60

6. Craig "1GENERAL_TAO" Bergeron — $40,320.60

7. bigsexyKN — $27,671

8. Rabbiej — $18,183.80

9. Terris "tpreston" Preston — $11,068.40

Online Poker Weekend: Carter King Wins PokerStars Sunday Million 101

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Full Tilt $750,000 Guarantee

The Full Tilt $750,000 Guarantee attracted 3,926 hopefuls, one of whom would emerge with the winner's payday of $139,019.66. Among the top finishes short of the final were those of Jeremy "ChipSteela" Menard in 10th place ($7,537.92), Josh "DahJinerat" Mancuso in 14th ($5,574.92), Alex "TheAssassinato" Fitzgerald in 28th ($2,355.60), Johan "busto_soon" Van Til in 35th ($2,355.60), Josh "professor plum" Prager in 48th ($1,452.60), Carter "ckingusc" King (50th, $1,452.62), Matt "Claw1980" Holtzclaw (58th, $1,452.62) and Cliff "JohnnyBax" Josephy (92nd, $942.24). The chip counts to begin the final table were as follows:

PureLuck132 — 2,010,923

notre_damer — 1,823,072

ep1 — 1,783,150

AsMetzmagnyAs — 1,568,538

Jacob "quadducks" Spelman — 1,508,484

chinxu — 1,473,671

dahotshot — 762,022

SCNoodle — 457,000

spence — 391,140

The first exit the final table was Spence, during the 17,000/34,000/4,000 level. Action folded around to notre_damer on the button, who raised to 102,000. In the big blind, spence shipped it in for 332,140 and notre_damer called with K♦7♠. Spence was in good shape to double up with Q♥Q♣, but the board ran out K♥6♣10♠6♦9♣. For the ninth-place showing, spence took home $10,521.68. SCNoodle departed at 20,000/40,000/5,000. Under the gun, chinxu raised to 80,000 and SCNoodle shoved from the button for 663,000 with A♦Q♦, and saw chinxu call instantly with K♣K♥. The community cards fell 8♣5♣3♦10♦5♥ and SCNoodle was out in eighth place for $14,133.60. A few hands later dahotshot was sent packing after running K♦J♦ into Jacob "quadducks" Spelman's K♣K♥. The board fell A♦J♥4♣10♣7♥ as dahotshot collected $18,059.60 for seventh.

Jacob "quadducks" Spelman was sent to the rail during the 25,000/50,000/6,000 level. He opened his bustout hand to 130,000 under the gun and notre_damer called out of the big blind, leading to a flop of 9♥8♦6♠. Notre_damer check-called a Spelman bet of 250,000 and the 10♦ then fell on fourth street. This time notre_damer check-raised Spelman all in. Quadducks called with J♦J♣, but was in bad shape against notre_damer's Q♠7♠. Fifth street was the 9♦ and Spelman's tournament was over in sixth place for $24,105.64. Three hands later ep1 busted to notre_damer as well. The chip were all in by the turn, with the board reading K♠6♦J♠A♣. notre_damer's A♦6♠ led against ep1's A♠10♥. The 2♥ fell on the river and ep1 finished the tournament in fifth place for $32,507.28.

Chinxu fell victim to notre_damer at 30,000/60,000/7,500. On the button, notre_damer raised to 180,000 and chinxu shoved from the big blind for 1,058,671. Notre_damer called and tabled A♣Q♦ to chinxu's A♠10♠. The board ran out 2♥6♠K♦5♥5♦ as chinxu collected $43,343.04 for fourth place. FTOPS jersey avatar holder AsMetzmagnyAs came up just shy of heads-up play and finished in third. Again notre_damer raised to 180,000 on the button, and AsMetzmagnyAs went all in for 1,068,132 with A♦4♣. Notre_damer called with 9♦9♣ and took down the pot when the board fell 8♥7♦6♣6♠3♦. AsMetzmagnyAs won $54,964 for the third-place finish.

Despite busting much of the final table, notre_damer still began heads-up play at nearly a 2:1 chip disadvantage to PureLuck132. The duel did not last very long. Notre_damer opened to 195,000 and PureLuck132 went all in with the bigger stack. Notre_damer called all in for 3,489,840 with K♠J♦ and was racing against PureLuck132's 9♥9♦. The first three community cards came J♣8♦9♣ as both players hit the flop, with PureLuck132's middle set well ahead. The turn and river came A♠10♠ as notre_damer took second place for $84,016.40. Winning $139,019.66 for capturing the Full Tilt $750,000 Guarantee was PureLuck132.

Final Results:

1. PureLuck132 — $139,019.66

2. notre_damer — $94,016.40

3. AsMetzmagnyAs — $54,964

4. chinxu — $43,343.04

5. ep1 — $32,507.28

6. Jacob "quadducks" Spelman — $24,105.64

7. dahotshot — $18,059.60

8. SCNoodle — $14,133.60

9. spence — $10,521.68

Other Sunday Results:

Full Tilt Sunday Brawl

1. janthej6 — $86,822.70

2. Amktopo5676 — $56,232

3. Stuart Paterson — $41,748

4. toilet22 — $31,254

5. PokerGPScom — $22,152

6. REloader1 — $14,484

7. KP-Angelo — $9,798

8. Bernie Kosar — $6,816

9. KILLFISH22 — $5,112

Buy-in: $240+16

Prize Pool: $426,000

Entrants: 2,130

Other Notables: Danny "THE_D_RY" Ryan (13th, $2,130), Brent "Bhanks11" Hanks (17th, $1,576.20), Jonas "Klausen" Klausen (23rd, $1,278), Randy "Randers" Haddox (28th, $1,107.60), Wade "soggy dogg" Woelfel (53rd, $852), Benjamin "TheStein" Zamani (62nd, $766.80), Brandon Adams (98th, $575.10)

Full Tilt Sunday Mulligan

1. bokpower — $57,244

2. Brandon "AreTheseUtz" Hall — $36,428

3. Boxy Brown 1 — $26,670.50

4. da1959 — $21,141.25

5. Alex "princetendee" Smith — $16,262.50

6. Liina Love — $11,709

7. The2Kid2 — $7,545.80

8. BigJesus2 — $5,464.20

9. DOOLfan — $4,007.08

Buy-in: $200+16

Prize Pool: $260,200

Entrants: 1,301

Other Notables: Stephen "MrTimCaum" O'Dwyer (14th, $1,665.28), Johan "busto_soon" Van Til (17th, $1,170.90), Jeremy "ChipSteela" Menard (18th, $1,170.90), Christian Kruel (30th, $806.62), S Gromenkova (37th, $702.54)

PokerStars Sunday Warmup ($750,000 guaranteed)

1. Buton77 — $112,307.40

2. James "mig.com" Mackey — $78,354

3. Quagmire — $52,236

4. dj_ponytale — $45,530

5. grebnrets86 — $34,824

6. DeacNutt — $26,118

7. Ar Schaflme — $17,412

8. p5an — $10,882.50

9. don_beppe — $7,051.86

Buy-in: $200+15

Prize Pool: $870,600