Ukraine's "solik1968" Wins $1 Million in PokerStars Golden Ticket All-in Shootout
PokerStars just wrapped up its Dream Team Collection promotion, which rewarded players with cash rewards, though none bigger than the $1 million awarded to Ukraine's "solik1968" on Sunday.
The Dream Team Collection promotion began on Aug. 17 with PokerStars players vying to collect puzzle pieces, which when completed revealed PokerStars SportStars Cristiano Ronaldo, Neymar Jr and Ronaldo Nazário. In the United Kingdom, the online poker room was forced to substitute Team PokerStars Pro Daniel Negreanu for Neymar Jr. due to advertising restrictions.
Players were required to complete tasks assigned by PokerStars before the end of Sept. 17 in order to be awarded one of the nine pieces in each puzzle. Each time a piece was collected, the player was also rewarded with a random prize which for most people was a $20,000 All-in Shootout ticket. However, some lucky players were able to win cash prizes, with even luckier players being rewarded with the maximum prize of $7,911 in cash and a Golden Ticket.
The odds of collecting a ticket to the $20,000 All-in Shootout were 89.97092 percent, while the odds of collecting the top prize which included the exclusive Golden Ticket were a minuscule 0.00158 percent. Out of the 277,000 players that participated in this promotion, 47 of them were able to defy the odds and were able to grab a seat in the Golden Ticket All-In Shootout which promised $1 million to the winner, along with eight players receiving Cristiano Ronaldo or Neymar Jr. autographed shirts.
As you might imagine, those entered in the tournament were full of nerves even despite not having to play a single hand (they were automatically all-in every hand). After a few minutes of play, the tournament was down to its last match, pitting "solik1968" against the United Kingdom's "gregior" for the rights to the tournament's top prize of $1 million.
Before the flop, "solik1968" appeared to have a slight advantage being dealt the A♦3♠ against his opponent's 9♥5♥. However, "gregior" had reason to be optimistic about his chances when he paired the flop of 4♥5♠7♠. Things got a bit more exciting when the Q♠ appeared on the turn giving "solik1968" many outs including any ace for top pair, any two or six for the straight, and any spade for the flush. The deal was sealed for "solik1968" when the J♠ appeared on the river, giving him a flush.
All was not lost for "gregior," since in addition to winning a signed shirt, he also sold a bit of his action via Facebook through his friend Daniel "judgedredd13" Charlton. It is believed through Charlton's post that "gregior" was able to sell 50 percent of his equity in the tournament and banked $10,000 from investors hoping to strike it big.
Special congrats to Ukraine's "solik1968" for grabbing $1 million and for everyone else winning something during the promotion. PokerStars will be crowning two more millionaire on Tuesday when the World Championship of Online Poker (WCOOP) Main Event concludes. Barring any deals on the final table, the top two finishers in this tournament are slated to be reward $1,760,500 and $1,210,000 respectfully.
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