Sunday Briefing: Roberto Romanello Takes Down Big Game

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Nov 11, 2019 5 min read Last updated Dec 19, 2019

European Poker Tour Prague champion Roberto Romanello triumphed in the partypoker Big Game this weekend and padded his bankroll with almost $130,000. Romanello’s was not the only six-figure score because several other grinders also banked big prizes on November 10th. These are the largest.

High Roller Big Game at partypoker

A field of 105 players turned out for the $500,000 Gtd Big Game at partypoker, a $5,200 tournament that attracted some of the best in the business. Each of the eight finalists was guaranteed more than three-times their initial buy-in, “Porsche911” taking home $17,062 for their eighth place exit.

“Sims_or_sins..” netted $21,000 for their seventh place finish with “PunchlineEnBata” banking $26,250 after falling one place later. Fifth place and $34,125 went to “El_Cucuy” before “Player1235640423” busted in fourth and collected $45,937.

Now the prize money was getting into serious amounts, and the remaining players were only a handful of bust-outs away from a six-figure haul. “Games123456” ran out of luck and busted in third place for $65,625, leaving Roberto “R_Romanello” Romanello and “YouGotTheDud” to fight it out heads-up for the title.

It was partypoker pro Romanello who came out unscathed and scooped $128,625, leaving his final opponent to console themselves with $91,875.

partypoker MILLION at partypoker

The $1 million guaranteed partypoker MILLION final day ran perfectly this week after a technical hitch saw last week’s event canceled. The player known as “Velaquez76” is the one who goes into the history books as the inaugural champion, an accolade that came with a cool $152,700 prize.

“mickeyMous3” finished in second place and secured a $106,650 payday.

All but one player at the final table turned their $215 into five figures. “Poopernoodle” netted $9,360 for their eighth-place exit. They were joined on the sidelines by “QautreVingCent”, Bernado “g0dm0de” Dias Granato and “Anon1m1”, the latter picking up the $30,580 fifth-place prize.

“NvrSnLkThsB4” busted in fourth for $44,55 with “FlipTheShiip” being the penultimate elimination, their third-place finish seeing them haul in $68,440.

$109 Sunday Million at PokerStars

This week’s PokerStars Sunday Million smashed its $1 million guarantee again when 10,890 players bought in and created a $1,089,000 prize pool.This huge sum was shared among the top 1,934 finishers, with all but one of the final table players winning a five-figure prize.

Malta’s “1mDonuts” was the ninth-place finisher for $8,597 with Aaron “timetopop87” Stone of the UK collecting $11,846 for their eighth-place elimination. “GabiMuguruzu” busted before “Wildace_hun” collected $22,494 for their sixth-place finish, that Hungarian player would later reach the final table of the $2,100 Sunday High Roller.

“Asker444” and “H!tthehole” hit the rail, before “luvictor88” of Vietnam got their hands on $58,586 after a third-place exit. Heads-up was between “noob3r” of Hungary and “viniperri” of Brazil. It was the South American who came out on top to lock up $111,769, with the second-place finisher adding $81,103 to their lifetime winnings total.

$2,100 Sunday High Roller at PokerStars

Another star-studded field descended on the $2,100 Sunday High Roller, and of the nine finalists would have made a worthy champion. As it happens, it was “hello_totti”, the Russian pro, who emerged victoriously and got their hands on $38,866. The Russian defeated Austria-based Italian Gianluca “Tankanza” Speranza heads-up for the title, with the Italian banking $30,486 for his runner-up finish.

Earlier at the final table, poker streamer Parker “tonkaaa” Talbot busted in ninth and got some company on the rail by Simon “simon1471” Higgins and “Wildace_hun”. “Omaha4rollz” won $11,540 for their sixth-place exit before “house800" and “bencb789” fell by the wayside to leave only three players from the 80 starters.

Jon “aplestyles” van Fleet fell in third for a $23,913 score, leaving hello_totti to sweep aside Speranza heads-up for an impressive victory.

PKO Series #1 - $150,000 Gtd at 888poker

The PKO Series kicked off at 888poker at did so in style with the $150,000 guaranteed event hitting its guarantee. Brazil’s “GoldoJuninho” won the lion’s share of the prize pool, namely $26,607, for their victory.

The Bazilian defeated “green88g” of Belarus for the title, leaving the second-place finisher to scoop $14,482.

Before the champion was crowned, James “BL1NDRAZOR” Walsh banked a combined $2,061 for his ninth-place finish with fellow Brit “steamraise1” winning $2,907 for busting in eighth.

Sri Lanka’s “isurox1” secured a payday of $4,255 before “lasochobi” and “iBustYa888” walked away with $4,536 and $6,846 respectively. Canada’s“.Gregnog.” collected $7,698 for their fourth-place exit with“Mr_Coyote” of Sweden padding their bankroll with $9,195.

$20,000 Sunday Challenge at 888poker

This week’s $20,000 Sunday Challenge ended in a heads-up chop with the final two players winning more than $8,300 between them.

“LucySagara70”, “AlbaGiu” and “simondelu” were the first three players to exit from the final table, the latter being the last player to win four-figures. $1,140 went to “BuyUADrank” for finishing sixth with “Hudder5” of the UK collecting $1,368 for their fifth-place finish.

Finnish star “RaiseRaiZe” fell in fourth and scooped $1,995 with “hateeeeem” locking up $2,679 for their third-place finish.

Heads-up saw “ahjaa” and “alexos888” fight it out one-on-one for the lion’s share of the prize pool. The former came out on top but not before striking a deal that saw them win $4,076, and the runner-up take home $4,359.

^{*reflects a heads-up deal}

High Rollers $1K at Natural8

Two $1,000 high roller events took place at Natural8 and Brazil’s “chunanumberone” was the victory in the first. The Brazilian turned their $1,000 investment into $15,399 after outlasting 37 opponents, including “UknowWhoIam” of Uruguay heads-up for the title. The Uruguayan banked $9,098 for their second-place finish.

Only the top five finishers received money, “Mustlaaaveit” of Canada being the first to reach the payouts, their fifth place yielding $2,269. Natural8 regular “pDNA” won the $3,604 fourth place prize with “MickeyM”, also of the UK, winning $5,727 for their third-place exit.

High Rollers $1K at Natural8

The second $1,000 High Rollers event saw 39 players turn out and Hungary’s “Aladjinn” finishing on top of them all. First place in this tournament was worth $15,804, almost half of the $37,050 prize pool.

The Hungarian defeated “MickeyM” heads-up for the title and resigned their British opponent to a $9,338 consolation prize. Earlier, “bh9999” busted in fifth and won $2,328, “UknowWhoIam” scooped $3,699 for finishing in fourth and “Mustlaaaveit” got their hands on the $5,877 third-place prize.

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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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