Sunday Briefing: Sami Kelopuro and Chris Oliver Secure Titles

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Jun 17, 2019 5 min read Last updated Dec 19, 2019

Sami Kelopuro and Chris Oliver are two stellar names that would not look out of place grinding in Las Vegas at the 2019 World Series of Poker (WSOP), but they have decided to stay away from Sin City to concentrate on playing online poker tournaments, at least for now.

It turned out to be a great decision on Jun. 16 as they both walked away with major titles from PokerStars events.

$1,050 Sunday Supersonic 6-Max at PokerStars

A field of 140 players turned out for the $1,050 Sunday Supersonic at PokerStars and they created a $142,220 prize pool that was shared among the top 17 finishers.

Each of the six finalists won at least $8,009, the sum awarded to Brazil’s “homemepeixe” who busted in sixth-place. The Brazilian was joined on the rail by Belarusian superstar Aliaksei “ale6ka” Boika who collected $10,420, the first five-figure prize.

Fourth-place and $13,556 went to Sweden’s Bengt “pkrbt” Sonnert who was then followed to the sidelines by “SonOfBadger”, who calls the United Kingdom home, in third-place, a finish good for $17,637.

Heads-up pitted Preben “prebz” Stokkan, firing his second bullet, and Sami “Lrslzk” Kelopuro together in a battle for the lion’s share of the prize pool. Kelopuro emerged victorious to bank $29,852 resigning Stokkan to the $22,945 runner-up prize.

Sunday 500 at PokerStars

Chris “ImDaNuts” Oliver was the last player standing in the $530 buy-in Sunday 500 and collected $22,414, taking his lifetime winnings past the $12.1 million mark, more than $8.6 million of that total stemming from his play at PokerStars.

Oliver defeated Alfred “Kzzon” Karlsson of Sweden heads-up to secure the title and the first-place prize, meaning Karlsson had to make do with a $17,223 consolation prize.

Earlier at the final table, UK’s “LAP1293” fell in ninth-place for $2,724 and was joined as a spectator first by “JK_GuiRRuNEAA” and Cassio “cassiopak” Kiles who netted $3,546 and $4,614 respectively.

Canadian Goliath Sam “Str8$$$Homey” Greenwood ran out of steam in sixth place for a $6,005 addition to his bankroll before “drew.derzh” of Ukraine bowed out in fifth place for $7,815.

The first five-figure score weighed in at $10,170 and was given to “youaremelon” of Canada, before “bencb789” became the penultimate elimination, their third-place exit awarding a $13,235 payout.

Sunday High Roller Bounty Hunter: $100K Gtd at partypoker

“Magnifico007” topped a field of 255 entries in the Sunday High Roller Bounty Hunter: $100K Gtd at partypoker to walk away with a total prize worth $28,803. This sum was made up of $10,277 from the main prize pool for finishing in first place and $18,526 from the bounty prize pool, including the scalp of runner-up “georgeza” who netted a combined $14,169.

“KERRMODE” who finished in third, was the only other player to win more than $10,000 when bounties were included. They walked away with a total prize weighing in at $10,368.

Everyone else padded their bankrolls with hauls worth between $2,416 and $6,987, those players being “Britz1”, “TigerVSyou”, “JWF1964”, “ucantrybut” and “TullaMoreFan12”.

Sunday High Roller Bounty Hunter: $75K Gtd at partypoker

“Specter_Litt” spoiled the part in the Sunday High Roller Bounty Hunter $75K Gtd by defeating Team partypoker pro Philipp “Phil_Gruissem” Gruissem heads-up for the title and a total prize worth $10,506.

The champion scooped $6,929 for finishing in first place and $10,506 worth of bounty payments, with Gruissem having to make do with $6,921 plus $3,501 worth of scalps.

One player who had been busy eliminating opponents was the seventh-place finisher “savageplenty”. Gruissem and the champion aside, savageplenty won the most from the bounty prize pool, increasing their $1,586 main prize pool win with $2,321 meaning their overall prize was worth more than “SHHHHHHHHHH77” and “Crazy_Lissy” secured for their sixth and fifth place finishes.

$100,000 Sunday Sale Mega Deep at 888poker

888poker ran a Sunday Sale this week, slashing the buy-in of a couple of its most popular tournaments. One such tournament was the Sunday Mega Deep which had a $100,000 guarantee for a $109 buy-in instead of the usual $215.

Everyone at the nine-handed final table won at least $1,411 with the top three finishers winning no less than $10,754. “Elberger8”, “Multilift”, “BlacKK_DucKK” and “Tschi11i” all busted before Lithuania’s “gkareckas” crashed out in fourth place for a $8,051 addition to their bankroll.

Third place and $10,754 went to “TattiTope” to leave “NZhero007” and “sekta14” to fight it out one-on-one for the title. It was the latter, from Russia, who won the tournament, a result that secured a $19,964 payout, leaving NZhero007 to walk away with the $14,339 runner-up prize.

$30,000 Sunday Sale Whale at 888poker

This week’s Whale was reduced to a $320 buy-in and it resulted in 120 players buying in and creating a $36,000 prize pool shared among the top 12 finishers.

Each player at the nine-handed final table walked away with $1,080 or more, but it was New Zealand’s “villagelife” who locked up the biggest prize, a cool $9,900 after defeating “Lucky_Frutti” heads-up; the runner-up added $6,660 to their bankroll.

Before heads-up took place, “SeaBee777” of Costa Rica fell in ninth place for $1,080 and was joined on the rail by “Wei2goo4Yu” ($1,260), Canada’s “zoobanana” ($1,530), “heraluen” ($1,890) and “Lyle_Demo” ($2,520).

The two final bust outs before heads-up saw “ictang88” crash and burn in fourth place for $3,420 and “Mr.Fonzi” collect $5,040 for their third-place finish in sunny Malta.

Sunday Blade $5K at Natural8

Natural8 ran two Sunday Blade $5K events and both attracted fields of 32 runners. The first of this brace of high stakes events was won by Thailand’s “ImLividBuddy” who collected $64,840 for their victory, a princely sum awarded after they took down “Olekojole” of Austria heads-up. Second place was worth $38,311.

Only fifth-place finisher “HectorHermano” didn’t win five-figures, although the $9,554 was close to it. “Picasso16” walked away with $15,178 after falling in fourth place with “MiMosa1” of Finland claiming the $24,114 third place prize.

Sunday Blade $5K at Natural8

Lithuania’s “LaurisL91” was the player who won the second Sunday Blade $5K, also banking the same $64,840 that ImLividBro collected from the previous edition. The Lithuanian busted “pDNA” of the UK in second place to leave the runner-up to bank $38,311.

Hungary’s Andras “Pokerluff1” Nemeth was the third place finisher, a result worth $24,114 with “SasukeUchiha” and “HE22” making up the fourth and fifth place finishes for $15,178 and $9,554 respectively.

_{The Stars Group is a majority shareholder in iBus Media}

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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