Sunday Briefing: “simba8787” Wins Two POWERFEST Events

Matthew Pitt
Senior Editor
6 min read
Sunday Briefing

The partypoker POWERFEST progressed to Day 8 on May 13 where three Championship Events, each with a $1 million guaranteed prize pool, took place. Some of poker’s biggest stars headed to the partypoker virtual felt, but it was “simba8787” who outshone them all, walking away with two of the three Championship Event titles.

partypoker POWERFEST #43-HR: $1M Gtd Championship Event NL Hold’em

DateMay 13
Buy-in$530
Guarantee$1,000,000
Entrants1,776
Prize pool$1,000,000
ITM248

The POWERFEST #43-HR: $1M Gtd Championship Event NL Hold’em was a $530 buy-in eight-handed tournament that attracted 1,776 players. This meant the tournament had an overlay of $112,000.

Everyone finishing in the top 248 players received some prize money for their efforts. A min-cash was worth $1,150 while a final table appearance increased the payout to $11,400.

“Derek Dumpster” was the first player to bust from the final table and they were followed to the sidelines by “Riverixxx”. Sixth-place and $25,400 went to the player known as “ATM_Mage” while “BockRamsch” secured $36,500 for their fifth-place finish.

“RedDwarf9” and “MonkMode” fell in fourth and third places, respectively, meaning the final two players were guaranteed a six-figure score. Despite the difference between first and second-place being almost $49,000, there was no deal struck between the heads-up duo. This meant when “good-bye-PS” banked $119,200 for the runner-up finish, simba8787 walked away with a cool $168,100.

PlacePlayerPrize
1simba8787$168,100
2good-bye-PS$119,200
3MonkMode$77,500
4RedDwarf9$51,600
5BockRamsch$36,500
6ATM_Mage$25,400
7Riverixxx$17,500
8Derek Dumpster$11,400

partypoker POWERFEST #44-HR: $1M Gtd Championship Event PKO NL Hold’em

DateMay 13
Buy-in$1,050
Guarantee$1,000,000
Entrants1,013
Prize pool$1,033,260
ITM136

Not content with winning $168,100 in one POWERFEST Championship Event, simba8787 went and won the POWERFEST #44-HR: $1M Gtd Championship Event PKO NL Hold’em tournament for $87,118 and an additional $82,553 in bounty payments.

Simba8787 eliminated 12 opponents on their way to victory, including runner-up “purelife23” who secured $62,400 from the main prize pool and $21,997 from the bounty prize pool.

Amazingly, simba8787 was not the player who claimed the most bounties, in terms of scalps claimed at least. Fellow final table member Guilherme “Fulgencio1962” Chevaeu also sent 12 opponents to the showers and “wisimaki” was responsible for the demise of 15 opponents; this banked them $10,278, which was more than the seventh-place prize money the player received.

PKO events may have the opinion of the poker community divided, but this event shows how profitable they can be for those who reach the tournaments’ final tables and who are prepared to go all out to eliminate opponents.

PlacePlayerPrizeBounty payment
1simba8787$87,118$82,553
2purelife23$62,400$21,997
3Mar10k4rt3n$41,279$7,430
4Chinocat$27,654$9,124
5Guilherme “Fulgencio1962” Cheveau$19,601$12,037
6bigb0ss827$13,878$7,263
7wisimaki$9,724$10,278
8pleaseITM$6,584$10,278

partypoker POWERFEST #42-SHR: $1M Gtd Championship Event NL Hold’em

DateMay 13
Buy-in$5,200
Guarantee$1,000,000
Entrants248
Prize pool$1,240,000
ITM32

The third POWERFEST Championship Event saw its $1 million guarantee smashed by $240,000 and the $1,240,000 prize pool was shared among the top 32 finishers. Once “rudiqa1” busted in 33rd place to burst the bubble, the surviving players locked up $12,896.

The min cash for the eight final tablists was $28,520, and this is the sum now nestled in the partypoker account of “Hahaha_Owned.” “CooperKupp” and “geileaap” fell in seventh and sixth-place before "Alien_Army" busted in fifth place for $68,200; Alien_Army won the 2017 888poker XL Inferno Main Event for $291,007.

“FMylife” was the fourth-place finisher for $96,270 and the final three players were guaranteed a six-figure score. “STORTjavlaGL” collected $130,820 after busting in third place, which left “aLiNeNok1617” and Juan “Malakastyle” Pardo to battle one-on-one for the title, a custom trophy and the small matter of more than a quarter of a million dollars.

Pardo emerged victorious to get his hands on $252,836 which meant aLiNeNok1617 was the tournament’s runner-up, a finish worth $183,520.

PlacePlayerPrize
1Juan “Malakastyle” Pardo$252,836
2aLiNeNok1617$183,520
3STORTjavlaGL$130,820
4FMylife$96,720
5Alien_Army$68,200
6geileaap$52,080
7CooperKupp$38,440
8Hahaha_Owned$28,520

PokerStars Sunday High Roller: $150K Gtd

DateMay 13
Buy-in$2,100
Guarantee$150,000
Entries117
Prize pool$234,000
ITM17

Russia’s Artem “veeea” Vezhenko took his lifetime winnings ever closer to the $8 million mark by winning the PokerStars Sunday High Roller.

Vezhenko was one of 117 entrants in the $2,100 buy-in tournament, PokerStars’ largest buy-in weekly tournament. Those 117 players created a $234,000 prize pool that was shared among the top 17 finishers.

Germany’s Julian “jutrack” Track busted on the money bubble and did so after firing two bullets at the tournament. This exit paved the way for the likes of Patrick “pads1161” Leonard (14th for $4,437), “hotmark777” (12th for $5,051) and Dario “Secret_M0d3” Sammartino (10th for $5,051) to see some return on their investment.

“EnvomiYa” secured a $5,750 payout by becoming the ninth-place finisher and the first casualty of the final table. Sweden’s “snapUcry” was next out and they were followed to the rail by high stakes cash game specialist Rui “RuiNF” Ferreira.

Team partypoker’s Kristen “krissyb24” Bicknell exited in sixth place for $13,063 with online veteran Jon “apestyles” Van Fleet collecting $17,173 for fifth. Van Fleet was followed out of the door by Nick “caecilius” Petrangelo who netted $22,575.

“T-Macha” of the United Kingdom busted in third place, a finish worth $29,678 and they were followed by UK-based German, and every writer’s nightmare due to his alias, Fabio “hdjkfgsgdl” Sperling in second- place, which meant Vezhenkov collected the $51,289 first-place prize.

PlacePlayerCountryPrize
1Artem “veeea” VezhenkovRussia$51,289 
2Fabio “hdjgkfkgsdl” SperlingUnited Kingdom$39,015
3T-MachaUnited Kingdom$29,678
4Nick “caecilius” PetrangeloCanada$22,575
5Jon “apestyles” Van FleetCanada$17,173
6Kristen “krissyb242 BicknellCanada$13,063
7Rui “RuiNF” FerreiraNetherlands$9,937
8IsnapUcrySweden$7,559
9EvnomiYaRussia$5,750

PokerStars Sunday 500

DateMay 13
Buy-in$530
Guarantee$150,000
Entries429
Prize pool$214,500
ITM62

Players calling Canada home made up five of the nine seats at the Sunday 500 final table, yet it was Austria’s “WATnlos” who emerged victorious to scoop the $38,481 top prize.

WATnlos defeated Canada’s Sebastian “p0cket00” Sikorski heads-up, a player who has won more than $11.3 million online, for the title. Sikorski picked up the $28,206 consolation prize. Other Canada natives finished in places third through sixth: Joseph “subiime” Cheong, Jon “apestyles” Van Fleet, UK’s Chris “Moorman1” Moorman and “luckyluckey” being that quartet.

PlacePlayerCountryPrize
1WATnlosAustria$38,481
2Sebastian “p0cket00” SikorskiCanada$28,206
3Joseph “subiime” CheongCanada$20,675
4Jon “apestyles” Van FleetCanada$15,155
5Chris “Moorman1” MoormanCanada$11,108
6luckyluckeyCanada$8,142
7EduardoGarl@Brazil$5,968
8“lasagnaam”Austria$4,374
9Denis “NEWFlat” TimofeevRussia$3,206

Several Spring Championship Of Online Poker events started on May 13 and will conclude on May 14. These include the SCOOP edition of the Sunday Million where 395 players remain and almost $230,000 is awaiting the champion, and the $2,100 NLHE 6-Max that is down to 24 players and which has $196,407 reserved for the winner.

888poker $50,000 Sunday Challenge

DateMay 13
Buy-in$109
Guarantee$50,000
Entries403
Prize pool$50,000
ITM40

The XL Inferno is in full swing at 888poker and you can learn which players have won big by reading our daily updates, but the site also ran some of its standard Sunday Majors, including the $50,000 Sunday Challenge.

Some 403 entries were processed in the $109 buy-in $50,000 Sunday Challenge, meaning there was an overlay of $9,700 for the players to take advantage of. “Tydarax” of Germany took full advantage and won the tournament for $9,750 after beating Malta’s “Bravo1972” heads-up for the title. The Malta-based runner-up turned their $109 investment into $7,250 thanks in part to a deal being struck when only two players remained.

PlacePlayerCountryPrize
1TydaraxGermany$9,750*
2Bravo1972Malta$7,250*
3Zluka2010Latvia$5,500
4Christophero “Dustyourfish” ColoumboCanada$4,000
5budny888Ukraine$2,750
6dErEk_eekkRomania$2,000
7Kaktus26rusRussia$1,500
8ElnevaORussia$1,250

*reflects a heads-up deal


888poker $30,000 Sunday GREAT 8

DateMay 13
Buy-in$88
Guarantee$30,000
Entries329
Prize pool$30,000
ITM32

Another exciting tournament at 888poker is the $30,000 Sunday GREAT 8, which is played on eight-handed tables, costs $88 to enter and everyone sits down with 8,888 chips; 888poker love the number eight!

Russia’s “MaximusAces3” was the tournament’s winner after they topped a field of 329 entries to get their hands on $6,075. Germany’s “tier999111” finished second for $4,650 while “_Antikk_” of Belarus walked away with $3,450 for their third-place finish.

PlacePlayerCountryPrize
1MaximusAces3Russia$6,075
2tier999111Germany$4,650
3_Antikk_Belarus$3,450
4GramNaKartke $2,550
5shadinho888Malta$1,650
6naien123Iceland$1,350
7DavidamonNetherlands$1,050
8flubbergreenIceland$825

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Matthew Pitt
Senior Editor

Matthew Pitt hails from Leeds, West Yorkshire, in the United Kingdom, and has worked in the poker industry since 2008, and worked for PokerNews since 2010. In September 2010, he became the editor of PokerNews. Matthew stepped away from live reporting duties in 2015, and now concentrates on his role of Senior Editor for the PokerNews.

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