10th Anniversary Sunday Million to Carry $10 Million Guarantee on PokerStars
On the 10th anniversary of its flagship tournament, the $215 Sunday Million, PokerStars is rolling out a special edition that will carry a $10 million guaranteed prize pool and award at least $1 million to the winner.
According to a press release, the special event will go down on March 20, taking place a little over 10 years after the very first one, which ran on March 5, 2006. That tournament, which drew 5,893 players for a prize pool of $1,178,600, will be dwarfed by the 10th anniversary one, showcasing the incredible growth of both the tournament and PokerStars in that time frame.
The sky-high guarantee comes with some changes to the normal format and some enticing measures from PokerStars to juice up the prize pool. For one, reentries will be allowed. Players may reenter up to three times until late registration ends after three hours of play. Additionally, PokerStars is handing out 1,200 free entries to the tournament via hyper-turbo freerolls that will run every Saturday through March 19. Special real money and StarsCoin are also scheduled — check PokerStars.com for details and times.
More than a dozen PokerStars Team Pros will be playing the tournament, including Chris Moneymaker, George Danzer, and Johnny Lodden.
“The Sunday Million is one of the most prestigious, and best-known, poker tournaments held anywhere in the world," Danish pro Theo Jorgensen said. "I hope that this 10th Anniversary Sunday Million is the first one that I win.”
His fellow Team Pro, Mickey Petersen, who has banked more than $4.5 million in online cashes, added that "everyone in poker" is going to be participating, and he's making sure he gets in on the action.
One innovation in the poker world that has changed things considerably in the time since the Sunday Million first debuted is the advent of players streaming their play via Twitch.tv. Danzer and fellow Team Pros Betrand "ElkY" Grospellier, Jorge Limon, Felix Schneiders, and Jaime Staples have confirmed they'll be hosting live streams during the tournament.
“I’m super excited to play this and celebrate the anniversary of the Sunday Million on Twitch with everyone,” Grospellier said.
Danzer also noted the amount of value makes it a can't-miss tournament: “It’s a huge guaranteed prize pool, and with so many satellites and free seats being given away, there will be lots of new players playing for the first time; I don’t want to miss out.”
For history's sake, here's a look at the 10 biggest Sunday Million prize pools in history.
| Date | Tournament | Players | Prize Pool | Winner | First Prize |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 12/18/2011 | $215 Sunday Million 5th Anniv. | 62,116 | $12,423,200 | Kyle "First-Eagle" Weir | $1,146,574 |
| 6/3/2011 | $215 Sunday Million 5th Anniv. | 59,128 | $11,825,600 | Luke "Bdbeatslayer" Vrabel | $844,209 |
| 3/15/2015 | $215 Sunday Million 9th Anniv. | 50,432 | $10,086,400 | BRAYDEN93 | $597,719.60 |
| 3/3/2013 | $215 Sunday Million 7th Anniv. | 49,287 | $9,857,000 | benislovas | $848,589 |
| 3/2/2014 | $215 Sunday Million 8th Anniv. | 46,586 | $9,317,415 | DrUPSWING | $1,038,540 |
| 2/21/2010 | $215 Sunday Million 4th Anniv. | 36,169 | $7,233,800 | Mike "RichieRichZH" Friedrich | $1,141,510 |
| 11/3/2013 | $215 Sunday Million 6th Anniv. | 33,732 | $6,746,400 | slyfox151 | $590,482 |
| 12/28/2014 | $215 Sunday Million $5M Guaranteed | 31,439 | $6,288,015.00 | TrondheimAAA | $489,130.83 |
| 12/27/2015 | $215 Sunday Million $5M Guaranteed | 31,335 | $6,267,000 | Internett93o | $354,187.08 |
| 12/8/2013 | $215 Sunday Million $5M Guaranteed | 26,925 | $5,385,000 | sincinaty118 | $421,971 |
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