Sunday Briefing: Justin Bonomo Wins $192K

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Feb 11, 2019 6 min read Last updated Dec 19, 2019

Justin “ZeeJustin” Bonomo had a 2018 to remember, winning more than $25 million from live poker tournaments and soaring to the top of the worldwide online money listings.

Bonomo isn’t only a live grinder; he can cut it with online poker’s elite grinders, as is evident by his victory at PokerStars on Feb. 10 that netted him almost $200,000.

PokerStars Turbo Series 54: $5,200 NLHE 8-Max High Roller Turbo

The PokerStars Turbo Series 54: $5,200 NLHE 8-Max High Roller Turbo drew in a field of 194 entrants who helped create a $970,000 prize pool that was shared among the top 23 finishers.

Each of the eight players who reached the final table locked up at least $32,571 for their troubles and this was the sum Orpen “OrpTheTurk” Kisacikoglu walked away with when he busted in eighth-place.

Kisacikoglu was joined on the sidelines by Chris “ImDaNuts” Oliver and the Netherlands-based Brit Conor “1_conor_b_1” Beresford who collected $41,979 and $54,105 respectively.

Canada’s “skitzo333” and Manuel “fellatiado” Ruivo were the next to bust, with their exits leaving only three players in the hunt for the title; all three guaranteed a six-figure score.

PokerStars regular “WATnlos” of Austria saw their tournament end in third-place, a finish worth $115,839, leaving Tomi “elmerixx” Brouk and Bonomo to play heads-up for the title. Brouk, like so many players before him in this position, couldn’t outmaneuver Bonomo and had to make do with the $149,300 consolation prize, which meant Bonomo got his hands on $192,427.

PokerStars Sunday Million

The attendance of the new $109 buy-in Sunday Million fell for the second consecutive week, but 12,371 players still bought in and smashed the $1 million guarantee by $237,100.

It was Germany’s “strongwill81” who was the last player standing, meaning they secured a cool $124,602 payout. The German’s final opponent was “AlexS1” of Canada who walked away with $90,415 for their runner-up finish.

All but the ninth-place finisher, “kostelo,” turned their initial buy-in into a five-figure haul.

“GuiTirandente” from Brazil busted in eighth-place and banked $13,206. “Readas_reada” and “eblumin”’s exits left five players contesting for the lion’s share of the prize pool before “Guillaume479” and “Biffinio” busted to leave strongwill81 and AlexS1 to battle for the title, and we know how that ended up.

partypoker KO Series #37-HR: $300K Gtd 8-Max

There were some big results over at partypoker thanks to the KO Series having some $300,000 guaranteed tournaments scheduled on Feb.10.

The KO Series #37-HR: $300K Gtd 8-Max beat its guarantee by $66,180, and this meant there were some chunky bounties on offer in the PKO tournament. Bounties can boost players’ prizes significantly with eighth-place finisher “Mrakobes20” taking home more than seventh-place finisher, Team partypoker’s Roberto “WelshWizard” Romanello.

It was a similar story later at the final table, with “sergewiceq” securing more than $1,000 more than “GewoonBoef” despite busting one place before.

It was the final two players who saw some giant-sized bounty payments come their way. Runner-up “NinjasHype” of the United Kingdom won $27,464 from the main prize pool plus an impressive $20,036 from the bounty prize pool. This was surpassed by the $27,500 first-place prize “dartazz” won, which was increased by $24,391 worth of bounties.

partypoker KO Series #38-HR: $300K Gtd 8-Max

Lithuania’s “dartazz” won the KO Series event highlighted above and managed to reach the final table of the KO Series #38-HR: $300K Gtd 8-Max event too. This time they couldn’t go all the way. Instead, they had to make do with a seventh-place finish that was worth a combined $5,940.

Dartazz was the last player not to walk away with more than $11,000 for their effort. “Onehundredeyes” of Austria netted a combined $11,230 after finishing in sixth-place, only slightly less than the $11,340 locked up by Canada’s “Uhtredsan”, the fifth-place finisher.

Norway’s Eirik “digvalley” Boen Gravdal boosted his partypoker bankroll by $19,036 with “The1n0nlyJonG” of Canada turning their $530 into a total prize worth $23,164.

Heads-up saw Croatia’s “Juste1Canard” and “JimyTransaction” from Costa Rica play for a huge gulf in bounty payments. Their prizes for finishing first and second only differed by $37, but there was a massive gap in the bounties. Juste1Canard fell in second-place and won $10,609 worth of bounties, but the champion saw their prize boosted by $32,825 from the bounty prize pool.

888poker $100,000 Sunday Mega Deep

Over to 888poker now where Norway’s “ShipGold” found themselves heads-up against one of the best in the business in the $100,000 Sunday Mega Deep.

The Norwegian fought tooth and nail with the United Kingdom’s Christopher “NigDawG” Brammer, formerly ranked number one in the world, and managed to get the job done, securing the $19,350 top prize. Brammer won $14,500 for his second-place finish.

Earlier at the final table, “Pik00rs” and Germany’s “allesrigged” fell in sixth and fifth-place for $4,400 and $5,700 score, with “Metelista” and “Al_Robbya” seeing their tournaments end in fourth and third-place respectively for cash injections of $8,250 and $11,000.

888poker $50,000 Whale

Only six players made it into the money in the $50,000 Whale thanks to a compact field of 62 players taking part.

“MisterN411”, a regular in high stakes tournaments, was the first player to get their hands on some prize money, namely $3,410, and they were followed to the sidelines by “Juanfran1973” of the UK and “YSoSerious7” of Ukraine.

Third-place and $9,300 went to the Swiss grinder known as “J.DIFOOL,” and they were the last player in the tournament not to bank a five-figure prize.

“f0rmEiTseGaL” of the UK and Tim “REALTTWIST” Kelly were the last two players standing, but no deal was discussed despite a $7,440 difference in prize money, more than what fourth-place paid. This meant when f0rmEiTseGaL won all of the chip in play, they netted $22,940, and Kelly padded his bankroll with the $15,500 consolation prize.

Natural8 Sunday High Roller $1K

Natural8 continued to run some big buy-in events on Feb. 10, and it looks to be a great site for those wanting compact fields and high buy-ins.

The Sunday High Roller $1K saw 48 players take to the felt with six of those winning prize money. Canada’s “chapdelaine” was the first player to cash, getting their hands on $2,180 with two other Canadians falling in fourth and fifth-place, namely “SasukeUchicha” and “Lexandru” who turned their $1,000 into $4,834 and $3,426.

Third-place and $7,197 went to “oldzet” from Mexico, which left “TexasPete” and Bart “escobarry” Lybaert as the last two players standing. The latter, a Belgian, was the man to emerge victoriously. His prize? $17,426. TexasPete collected $10,715 for second-place.

Natural8 Sunday Blade $1K

Another $1,000 buy-in tournament at Natural8 was the Sunday Blade $1K that also saw a field of 48 players.

Three British players, two Mexico-based grinders and a Canadian, made it to the final table. Canadian Kristen “Krissyb24” Bicknell busted in fifth-place for a $3,246 haul.

Two of the Brits, “0milly” and “chan593” exited in fourth and third-place for $4,834 and $7,197, leaving the two Mexico flag bearers to play for the title.

“2gbenz” and “nbvcxz” decided to strike a deal for the remaining prize pool, which meant 2gbenz won $13,668 when they busted in second-place and nbvcxz took home $14,472 for their victory.

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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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