Sunday Briefing: A $25K on the GGNetwork, Muehloecker Wins Sunday High Roller

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Aug 19, 2019 6 min read Last updated Dec 19, 2019

Sundays are traditionally the biggest days in the online poker tournament world, but Aug. 18 was something different. Massive prizes were awarded across all poker sites, especially at the GGpoker network Natural8 is part of, where a $25,000 buy-in event was scheduled, one that beat its guarantee three-fold.

Sunday Blade 25K at Natural8

The Sunday Blade $25K saw 32 entries processed, which meant the $250,000 guarantee was blown out of the water as a $784,000 prize pool was created. This monster-sized sum was shared among the top five finishers.

First to receive prize money was Ukraine’s “pihler13” who busted in fifth-place for a $49,279 score. They were followed to the sidelines by “MiMosa” of Finland whose fourth-place exit was worth $78,291.

MiMosa1 was the last player not to net a six-figure prize. The first was “ImLividBuddy” who collected $124,381 after being eliminated in third-place. This set up a heads-up battle between “PyramidOfSkulls” and “RockyMarciano” both of Canada.

First place was set to be $334,441 with second-place awarding $197,605. That $136,836 difference between the payouts was too much for the last standing duo to play one-on-one for, so they struck a deal that bridged the gap. This meant when PyramidOfSkulls busted in second-place they collected $295,681 with RockyMarciano claiming bragging rights and $236,366.

^{*reflects a heads-up deal}

Sunday Blade $10K at Natural8

The Sunday Blade $10K drew a crowd of 30 players who created a $291,000 prize pool. Only four players got their hands on a payout with ImLividBuddy banking $30,369 to add to the $124,381 they collected from the $25,000 buy-in event.

Canada’s “brotisserie chicken” fell in third-place for $49,413 which left “HogFish333” of Colombia and “chapdelaine” of Canada to battle it out one-on-one for the title and the lion’s share of the prize pool.

No deal was struck despite more than $50,000 difference between the prizes. It was the Canadian who came out on top, chapdelaine netting $130,816, resigning their South American opponent to an $80,399 consolation prize.

$215 Sunday Million at PokerStars

This week’s $109 Sunday Million was a progressive knockout (PKO) tournament and it proved to be a popular decision on PokerStars’ part as 16,281 entries were processed to smash the $1 million guarantee by more than $628,000.

With bounties included, everyone at the final table turned their initial investment into more than $7,700. Taiwan’s “MAXSOMAN” collected $10,047 in total before “Tatizechini” collected $7,773 from their Brazilian home.

One of three Russian players at the final table, “Ko1ya777” ran out of steam in seventh-place for $17,868 before Romania’s Grigore “marcelutz111” Marcel busted in sixth-place for $17,490. They were joined on the rail first by Mike “MikeyGG3” Gentili who collected $23,857 and then by “kapertje” from the Netherlands whose fourth-place finish added $37,346 to their lifetime winnings total.

The penultimate bust out was that of “Disel59” of Russia who collected an impressive $44,514, leaving their follow countryman “Bykladjo” and “Newcomer113” of Kazakhstan to fight it out for the title and the biggest prize of the night.

Bykladjo fell in second-place and returned home with $59,534 with Newcomer113 scooping a cool $106,068.

$2,100 Sunday High Roller at PokerStars

The $2,100 Sunday High Roller at PokerStars always attracts a stellar field and this weekend was no different. Eighty-four of the world’s best poker tournament players bought in and created a $168,000 prize pool.

Earlier at the final table, “house800” and “cmontopdeck” were the first casualties and they walked away with prizes worth $5,618 and $6,376 respectively. “Lafleur71” of Canada fell by the wayside in seventh-place for $8,293 and was joined on the rail by 888poker ambassador Dominik “Bounatirou” Nitsche who won $10,787.

Nitsche gained some company on the rail in the shape of Sweden’s Johannes “Greenstone25” Korsar who padded his bankroll with a $14,029 prize. Next to fall was the multiple Sunday Million champion Artem “veeea” Vezhenkov whose fourth-place won him $18,247. Arturs “ARTSchGamble” Scerbaks’s third-place finish won him $23,732.

It was a tournament won by the fantastic Thomas “WushuTM” Muehloecker (lead image) who secured the $40,146 first-place prize. Muehloecker did not have an easy time of things as he had to defeat Alex “bigfox86” Foxen heads-up for the title, resigning the runner-up to a $30,867 consolation prize.

Sunday Gladiator at partypoker

partypoker’s biggest tournaments this weekend were the Sunday edition of its Gladiators, the biggest being the $320 buy-in affair that saw 743 players enter. Half the $228,844 prize pool was shared among the top 104 finishers and the other half placed on the heads of all the entrants.

Some of the bounty payments were substantial, especially that awarded to the champion “DarrenElias” whose $15,615 top prize was boosted by $17,097 from the bounty prize pool for a combined prize weighing in at $32,712.

DarrenElias defeated “powerrrr” heads-up for the title, which left the runner-up to console themselves with an $18,890 haul.

Only third-place finisher“oooUsoooWacist” won five-figures, their third-place exit locking up a $10,480 prize bolstered by a $5,796 bounty payment. That bounty prize was second only to the eventual champion.

Sixth-place finisher “BRAER_71RUS” had also been busy sending opponents to the rail as they locked up $4,382 from the bounty prize pool in addition to their $3,612 main prize pool score.

Sunday High Roller Gladiator at partypoker

The High Roller edition of the Sunday Gladiator, a $2,100 buy-in affair, saw 95 players lock horns for the chance to win $19,112 plus chunky bounty payments created.

PKOs at partypoker pay first and second place a similar prize, leaving the heads-up duo to fight for the now massive bounty payment. There was a strange dynamic to this week’s final battle because both players had accumulated more than their fair share of scalps along the way.

“CalmDownMan” has bulldozed their way to the one-on-one section of the tournament and was guaranteed $19,949 worth of bounty payments. Had they gone on to win instead of busting in second-place, they would have won a huge prize. As it happens, they busted in second-place and walked away with a combined $39,042, leaving “SunTzu” to be crowned the tournament’s champion, an accolade that came with $44,837 in total.

$20,000 Sunday Sale Whale at 888poker

888poker ran its Sunday Sale promotion again this week, slashing the buy-ins of some of its most popular tournaments. The $20,000 Sunday Sale Whale was one such tournament, costing $320 instead of its usual $530 buy-in.

Anyone who reached the final table would have been a worthy winner, especially the two stars who are regulars in the high roller scene. Preben “prebzzz” Stokkan ran out of steam in eighth-place for $1,281 while Malta-based Dutchman Steven van Zadelhoff saw his tournament come to an abrupt end in fifth-place for $2,562.

The eventual champion was Denmark’s Rasmus “RAGATTACK” Gadegaard who defeated “Kafrou” heads-up for the title and $10,065, leaving their Greek opponent to bank the $6,771 consolation prize.

$100,000 Sunday Sale Mega Deep at 888poker

The site’s biggest field this weekend came in the $100,000 Sunday Sale Mega Deep which saw 1,113 players take to the 888poker felt.

Three players turned their $109 into five-figures. “ContaSagrada”, a regular at 888poker, busted in third-place and won $10,851 as a result. Their exit left Leo “KaizenStyle” Filho of Brazil and “dutchfish81” to play heads-up for the tournament’s largest prize.

Second-place was worth $14,469 with the winner walking away with $20,145. That winner was dutchfish81, meaning Filho had fallen at the final hurdle.

With such a good turnout for the Sunday Sale events, all of which hit their guarantees, it surely will not be long before 888poker runs the promotion again.

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

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