Sunday Briefing: Bonomo, Van Zadelhoff Win Big

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Feb 25, 2019 6 min read Last updated Dec 19, 2019

There were victories too for Justin “ZeeJustin” Bonomo, Steven “SvZff” van Zadelhoff, and Joao “joaosimaobh” Simao. Let’s check out this week’s edition of the Sunday Briefing.

Natural8 Sunday Blade $10K

Natural8 hosted a massive $10,000 buy-in event, the Sunday Blade $10K, which attracted a field of 46 players, who created a $446,200 prize pool shared among the top six finishers.

Macau’s “Chun Lei Zhou” was the first player to cash, banking $21,340 for their sixth-place finish. The Macau-based player was joined on the sidelines by Ukrainian superstar SanityWaterline who took home $31,771 after busting in fifth-place.

Fourth-place and $17,301 made its way to Brazil when “baita” busted before “ImLividBuddy” turned their $10,000 into a $70,423 prize after busting in third-place.

This exit left “FkTheseGuysBro”, and “ravenoustrashdog” to lock horns heads-up for the title. Despite more than $65,000 difference between first and second place, there was no deal, meaning "FkTheseGuysBro" walked away with a huge $170,515 when he defeated his final opponent, resigning the runner-up to a $104,848 score.

Natural8 Sunday Blade $5K

"FkTheseGuysBro" gave himself the chance of another massive score when they reached the final table of the Sunday Blade $5K, a $5,000 buy-in event that saw 78 players take to the Natural8 felt. Unfortunately for "FkTheseGuysBro", they ran out of steam in eighth-place and had to make do with a $13,449 prize instead of a $90,367 haul.

There was another familiar name at the final table, that of United Kingdom based Belgian star “girafganger7”. The Belgian is currently ranked number one for online poker tournaments in the UK and will likely have cemented his place there with a third-place finish in this event worth a cool $52,437.

Girafganger7’s exit left “Shark Bait” of Canada and “FuTimReilly” of Austria to play heads-up for the title. Again, like in the Blade $10K, there was no deal struck despite a large gulf in the prizes. When Shark Bait busted in second-place, they collected $68,837 from the $370,500 prize pool, leaving FuTimReilly to boost their bankroll with a colossal $90,367.

partypoker The Big Game: $1M Gtd

Canada’s “RPILON” was partypoker’s biggest winner this weekend courtesy of taking down The Big Game $1M Gtd. A field of 196 players exchanged $5,200 for one million chips and the chance to win more than $200,000.

Team partypoker’s Dzmitry “Dzmitry_Urbanov” Urbanovich burst the final table bubble, leaving the final eight players knowing they had locked up at least $23,000 and were only a handful of eliminations away from a six-figure prize.

Tom “Fugilee” Simm and “LintyontheLash”, both from the UK, were early casualties and were joined on the rail as a spectator by Germany’s “Colette1986”, “Don_Marato” and “FMylife”.

Roman “SanityWaterline” Romanovskiy, fresh from a $31,771 score at Natural8, banked a massive $105,500 in this tournament after busting in third-place. There was a near $56,000 difference between first and second-place, but neither player discussed a deal. This meant “drakeonne” of Brazil was awarded $148,000 for the second-place finish with “RPILON” of Canada turning their $5,200 into a gargantuan $203,900 prize.

partypoker Sunday High Roller Gladiator: $200K Gtd

The $200K Gtd Sunday High Roller Gladiator event smashed its guarantee by $46,000 and Team partypoker’s Joao “joaosimaobh” Simao took full advantage of the juicy prize pool by topping a field of 120 entrants to secure a combined score worth $65,215.

Any of the eight players at the final table could have won this event, there was a wealth of talent. Andrey “ifearpanic” Pateychuk, Niklas “Drulitooo” Astedt, “haddoken”, “MOTHERSMATTERS”, “RovoDice” and Sam “DeanMalenko” Greenwood all fell at the final table to leave “skitzo793” and Simao to play one-on-one for the title.

First and second-place prizes are almost the same in partypoker’s PKO events with the heads-up duo essentially playing for what is a sizable bounty payment. And sizable it was as skitz0793 banked $22,568 from the main prize pool and $5,414 worth of bounties, with Simao collecting $22,592 for winning the tournament, a figure boosted by $42,623 from the bounty prize pool.

PokerStars $1,050 Sunday Warm-Up 8-Max

Dutchman Steve “SvZff” van Zadelhoff emerged victorious from the PokerStars $1,050 Sunday Warm-Up 8-Max event to get his hands on a $53,445 prize.

It was a tough final table and any of the eight finalists would have been worthy champions. After “Fukuruku” and Johannes “Greenstone25” Korsar busted, everyone was guaranteed a five-figure score for their efforts.

There were three South Americans in the final six and one of that Latin American flair almost danced its way to victory.

Christoper “NigDawG” Brammer from the UK fell in third-place for $29,945 leaving the last South American, “kofi89” of Uruguay, to battle with van Zadelhoff for the top prize and the glory of winning such a prestigious event.

It was the Dutchman who had the last laugh, defeating his final opponent to scoop the lion’s share of the prize pool and leaving the Uruguayan to pad their bankroll with $40,005. It was the perfect early birthday present for van Zadelhoff who turns 40-years-old this Friday.

PokerStars $2,100 Sunday High Roller

Justin “ZeeJustin” Bonomo overcame a ridiculously strong final table in the $2,100 Sunday High Roller, adding another $55,673 to his lifetime winnings.

The nine-handed final table read like a who’s who of online poker with Sami “Lrslzk” Kelopuro, Artem “veeea” Vezhenkov, Kristen “krissyb24” Bicknell, Sergei “srxakgirona” Reixach, and Andras “probirs” Nemeth falling by the wayside in positions ninth-through fifth.

Netherlands’ “Pimmss” was the fourth-place finisher and netted $25,381 while Russian grinder “Kot_Spartac” busted in third-place for a $32,978 score.

Bonomo found himself heads-up against Austrian pro “WATnlos” and let’s be honest, it was only ever going to end one way; with a Bonomo victory. That is exactly what happened: Bonomo triumphed over his opponent to secure a $55,673 prize, with WATnlos having to console themselves with a $42,848 addition to their bankroll.

888poker $100,000 RakeLESS Sunday

888poker ran another rake free tournament on Feb. 24, a $300 buy-in with $100,000 guarantee. It was well-received as 426 players bought in to create a $127,800 prize pool shared among the top 45 finishers.

Ironically, the player known as “TooMuchRake” was the last player standing, turning their rake-free $300 into a $24,729 prize after defeating Malta’s “Farrugia_1” heads-up for the title.

The top four finishers all walked away with a five-figure cash prize. UK’s “plomaha” finished in third-place and secured a $14,058 payout, while “SkallePer58” from Sweden banked $10,543 when their tournament ended in fourth-place.

888poker $50,000 Whale

A compact field of 67 entrants took to the 888poker virtual felt in the $50,000 Whale, ensuring the guarantee was surpassed by $17,000.

Brazil’s “BeeTheBeagle” busted in sixth-place for $3,685 and “Hateeeeem” from the UK turned their $1,050 into $5,025 when they fell in fifth-place. The Brit was joined on the sidelines first by “BrIliant” and then “matokr” who walked away $6,700 and $10,050 richer than they started.

This left the Swedish superstar Niklas “tutten7” Astedt to fight one-on-one with “Fltip4ld” of the UK and surprisingly the Swede succumb to his opponent and was the tournament’s runner-up, a finish worth $16,750. The champion scooped $24,790.

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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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• Tags 888 Andrey Pateychuk Global Poker Index Justin Bonomo Macau Online Poker partypoker PokerStars Sami Kelopuro
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