The Sunday Briefing: Jonathan Karamalikis and Dani Stern Among Sunday's Winners
Another online-poker Sunday is in the books at PokerStars. With the 2011 PokerStars World Championship of Online Poker in full swing, the most prestigious of the Sunday Majors are still on hiatus. Still, several remain up and running. "th'Kick" earned the biggest prize this week for an outright win in the $109 Sunday Rebuy. As a whole, the numbers were slightly down from last week, but thanks to the WCOOP, the numbers have been well above the norm. Steve "Illini213" Barshak also notched a victory in one of the Sunday Majors.
In addition to the Sunday Majors, there were WCOOP 2nd Chance tournaments. Dani "supernova9" Stern and Jonathan "MONSTER_DONG" Karamalikis earned first-place finishes, defeating formidable competition doing so.
PokerStars WCOOP 2nd Chance 41: $1,000 NL Hold'em Heads-Up
| Buy-in | Entrants | Prize Pool |
|---|---|---|
| $1,000+$50 | 157 | $157,000 |
| Place | Player | Prize |
|---|---|---|
| *1 | Dani "supernova9" Stern | $40,180 |
| *2 | JC "PrtyPsux" Alvarado | $35,180 |
| 3 | Christian "C.K." Kruel | $15,700 |
| 4 | Jon "apestyles" Van Fleet | $15,700 |
| 5 | rompsa | $6,280 |
| 6 | Aaron "aejones" Jones | $6,280 |
| 7 | zugzwang16 | $6,280 |
| 8 | sergito80 | $6,280 |
*denotes deal made during final match
Notable Finishes: Jim "Mr_BigQueso" Collopy (10th - $3,140), Nick "caecilius" Petrangelo (11th - $3,140)
PokerStars WCOOP 2nd Chance 42: $500 NL Hold'em
| Buy-in | Entrants | Prize Pool |
|---|---|---|
| $500+$30 | 582 | $291,000 |
| Place | Player | Prize |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Jonathan "MONSTER_DONG" Karamalikis | $54,708 |
| 2 | Jan "UpmaxH" Skampa | $39,867 |
| 3 | Feliple "Improved" Montenegro | $29,391 |
| 4 | AJacejackAJ | $22,116 |
| 5 | TJ "1BigAceHole" Ulmer | $15,539.40 |
| 6 | zyxel888 | $12,367.50 |
| 7 | salfshb | $9,457.50 |
| 8 | andredos | $6,547.50 |
| 9 | Ryan "ryanghall" Hall | $4,365 |
Notable Finishes: Chris "Big Huni" Hunichen (13th - $2,764.50), Mario "Pokerccini" Puccini (14th - $2,764.50)
PokerStars $109 Sunday Rebuy ($200K Guaranteed)
| Buy-in | Entrants | Prize Pool |
|---|---|---|
| $100+$9 | 1,265 | $429,700 |
Once again, the $109 Sunday Rebuy crushed its guarantee, more than doubling it, as 1,265 participants created a prize pool totaling $429,700. Athanasios "Athanasios 9" Polychronopoulous missed out on the final table of this event, finishing in 14th place, good for $3,437. The first-place prize of $78,240.25 went to "th'Kick" who won the tournament outright.
| Place | Player | Prize |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | th'Kick | $78,240.25 |
| 2 | Shaddy Boy | $57,107.13 |
| 3 | Elia001 | $42,970 |
| 4 | Stefan "Mattssons" Mattsson | $32,227.50 |
| 5 | dopehead4 | $22,559.25 |
| 6 | jambeyang | $18,262.25 |
| 7 | Mc.Pokerist | $13,965.25 |
| 8 | Renato "leguito" Almeida | $9,668.25 |
| 9 | andyhin22 | $6,015.80 |
Notable Finishes: Steve "BetrThanPhil" Tripp (12th - $4,297), Athanasios "Athanasios 9" Polychronopoulos (14th - $3,437.60), Steve "Stev0L_" Leonard (20th - $1,847.71)
PokerStars Bigger $109 ($100K Guaranteed)
| Buy-in | Entrants | Prize Pool |
|---|---|---|
| $100+$9 | 3,377 | $337,700 |
Although there were 29 less entrants in the Bigger $109 this week, the $100,000 guarantee was still smashed as the 3,377 entrants created a prize pool of $337,700. A deal was made at the final table and "antroff" emerged victorious, taking home the top prize of $48,503.60.
| Place | Player | Prize |
|---|---|---|
| *1 | antroff | $48,503.60 |
| *2 | jickgh_ty | $42,000 |
| 3 | Marcotjow | $27,184.85 |
| 4 | Handicaper26 | $18,573.50 |
| 5 | Stjerneskud | $15,196.50 |
| 6 | shipopatamus | $11,819.50 |
| 7 | handygame | $8,442.50 |
| 8 | shumeilove | $5,572.05 |
| 9 | LFFF22 | $3,579.62 |
*denotes heads-up deal
Notable Finishes: Philipp “philbort” Gruissem (15th - $1,857.35)
PokerStars Bigger $162 ($100K Guaranteed)
| Buy-in | Entrants | Prize Pool |
|---|---|---|
| $150+$12 | 1,806 | $270,900 |
The Bigger $162 was also down in attendance this week, by 55 players, but the guarantee was well-covered with the 1,806 entrants creating a prize pool of $270,900. Will "Altrum Altus" Reynolds bubbled the final table, finishing in 10th place, pocketing $2,302. "Pimmie" and "OMGitshunt" made a deal during heads-up play and in the end, "OMGitshunt" was the player on top, collecting a $42,000 payday.
| Place | Player | Prize |
|---|---|---|
| *1 | OMGitshunt | $42,000 |
| *2 | pimmie | $37,238.25 |
| 3 | all in 2526 | $25,193.70 |
| 4 | Shooter1894 | $17,608.50 |
| 5 | dananashh | $13,545 |
| 6 | paxan955 | $10,836 |
| 7 | El Goosey! | $8,127 |
| 8 | Betudontbet | $5,418 |
| 9 | Erik_Wilhelm | $3,657.15 |
*denotes heads-up deal
Notable Finishes: Will "Altrum Altus" Reynolds (10th - $2,302.65)
PokerStars Bigger $55 ($200K Guaranteed)
| Buy-in | Entrants | Prize Pool |
|---|---|---|
| $50+$5 | 5,525 | $276,250 |
The Bigger $55 saw the biggest attendance drop of the week — more than 300 players. Attendance drop or not, the 5,525 entrants still crushed the guarantee, creating a prize pool of $276,250. The tournament also had the rare "even chop," as "marianofilet" and "benjimurry" made a deal heads-up, guaranteeing each $29,900 and change.
| Place | Player | Prize |
|---|---|---|
| *1 | marianofilet | $29,905.28 |
| *1 | benjimurry | $29,905.27 |
| 3 | tRaMp$d0PrAy | $16,436.87 |
| 4 | intercontec | $13,536.25 |
| 5 | farla11 | $10,773.75 |
| 6 | mini mad bob | $8,011.25 |
| 7 | itfc60 | $5,386.87 |
| 8 | BILLIE1971x | $3,315 |
| 9 | Marko "BriDge2PaiN" Neumann | $1,933.75 |
*denotes heads-up chop
Notable Finishes: Matt "mattutaylor" Taylor (18th - $690.62)
PokerStars Sunday Storm ($200K Guaranteed)
| Buy-in | Entrants | Prize Pool |
|---|---|---|
| $10+$1 | 30,904 | $309,040 |
Like the majority of the Sunday Majors, the Sunday Storm saw a slight drop in attendance this week as well. Still, a massive field of 30,904 came to play, creating a $309,040 prize pool. "Millerørbech" was able to outlast this monster field and scored an outright victory, good for $28,912.24.
| Place | Player | Prize |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | millerørbech | $28,912.24 |
| 2 | AY! ROCKABYE | $21,169.24 |
| 3 | Blaugrana12 | $13,752.28 |
| 4 | GMorros | $10,661.88 |
| 5 | V1ct0r90 | $7,571.48 |
| 6 | bill999999 | $4,635.60 |
| 7 | trojans il | $3,244.92 |
| 8 | TORPEDO N.N | $2,163.28 |
| 9 | Tool_911 | $1,529.74 |
*denotes heads-up deal
PokerStars Sunday Kickoff ($75K Guaranteed)
| Buy-in | Entrants | Prize Pool |
|---|---|---|
| $100+$9 | 1,691 | $169,100 |
The Sunday Kickoff was the only Sunday Major to see a gain in entrants this week, attracting a field of 1,691 to the $100+$9 buy-in event and smashing its guarantee. Steve "Illini213" Barshak, who recently moved to Canada, took home the lion's share of the $169,100 prize pool for outlasting the entire field. His outright win awarded $27,741.08.
| Place | Player | Prize |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Steve "Illini213" Barshak | $27,741.08 |
| 2 | micula1946 | $20,292 |
| 3 | miksbriedis | $15,219 |
| 4 | malefactor9 | $11,329.70 |
| 5 | Zagonorm | $8,032.25 |
| 6 | winstpakker | $6,341.25 |
| 7 | Gladi3 | $4,650.25 |
| 8 | otolas | $2,959.25 |
| 9 | 23noraB | $ 1,691 |
Notable Finishes: Thierry "BOKPOWER" van den Berg (16th - $760.95)
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