Sunday Briefing: Darren Elias Nets $127K Prize

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Aug 03, 2020 5 min read

Massive tournaments were the order of the day on August 2 and they brought out some of the poker’s biggest names, including Darren Elias who helped himself to a $127,018 score.

Elias was one of 122-entrants in the High Rollers Blade Prize $5K at GGPoker. $400,00 was guaranteed but $579,500 was awarded across the top 17 finishers.

The likes of Dario Sammartino and Artur Martirosian were among the first players to cash while Daniel Dvoress and Isaac Haxton fell a handful of places away from a final table appearance. Juan Pardo Dominguez burst the final table bubble and guaranteed at least $18,719 for the eight finalists.

Nick Petrangelo and last week’s big winner Ami Barer were the first casualties of the star-studded final table before Dan Smith and Lev “LevMeAlone” Gottlieb saw their tournaments end abruptly in sixth and fifth, the latter’s prize weighing in at $42,529.

Then came the demise of British superstar Stephen Chidwick in third and Chi Zhang in third-place. This left Elias and Ali Imsirovic heads-up, the latter having finished as the Day 1A chip leader of the $3 million guaranteed WPT 8-Max Championship at partypoker.

Elias got the job done and his hands on $127,018, resigning Imsirovic to a $96,621 consolation prize.

Kristen Bicknell wins her third WSOP bracelet

Check out these ridiculously large prizes from some of the other non-bracelet events at GGPoker.

• “mieux 90” – first-place in the WSOP Side Event: $600 Sunday Monster Stack for $142,232
• Martin “FuTimReilly” Zamani – first-place in the High Rollers Blade Mulligan $5K for $117,491
• “NewGambler” – first-place in the WSOP Side Event: $365 Giant for $96,232
• Isaac Haxton – first-place in the High Rollers Blade Closer $5K for $95,443
• Elio Fox – first-place in the High Rollers Blade Opener $5K for $89,208
• Juan Pardo Dominguez – first-place in the High Rollers Main Event $1K for $60,448
• “neliosss” – first-place in the Bounty Hunters Main Event $210 for $55,704*
• Simon Lofberg – first-place in the Sunday Special $250 for $47,432
• “iStayOn5” – first-place in the High Rollers Battle Royale $525 for $45,204*
• “FiestaPagana” – first-place in the High Rollers Big Game Hunter $1,050 for $40,337*
• Zvi “dashanika” [Removed:288] – first-place in the High Rollers PLO Main Event $1K for $32,516
• “pennyblack” – first-place in the Sunday Special $125 for $32,500
• “Destiny6879” – first-place in the Bounty Hunters Sunday Special $105 for $22,436*

*includes bounty payments

Sam Grafton Wins Big in a partypoker WPTWOC Side Event

British star Sam Grafton shone brightest in the $1,050 buy-in WPT 8-Max Warm Up event online at partypoker and walked away with a shade under $100,000.

The tournament saw 93 players compete on Day 2 but only 88 were paid. Raul Martinez Gallego was the unfortunate soul who burst the money bubble.

Plenty of big names saw a return on their investment, including Swedish duo Simon Mattsson and Robin Ylitalo. David Peters, Manig Loeser, Jeff Gross, Philipp Gruissem, Parker Talbot and Rok Gostisa also cashed, the latter finishing ninth.

Grafton eventually found himself heads-up against Canadian grinder Mike Watson and he sent Watson to the showers. Grafton banked $99,180 while Watson collected $70,780.

Some of the other big winners at partypoker included:

• Chris Hunichen – first-place in the $2,100 WPT 8-Max Turbo KO for $57,062*
• Philippe Dauteuil – first-place in the $109 WPT 8-Max Mini Warm Up for $32,451
• “PrinzOfDTO” – first-place in the $320 Big Gladiator Mix-Max for $28,658*
• “lvlup-00” – first-place in the $109 Masters: $100K for $17,480
• Bruce Jones – first-place in the $215 WPT 8-Max Turbo KO for $16,642*
• “ThankGod_Im_me” – first-place in the $55 Gladiator Mix-Max for $11,110*

Read Mike Sextons thoughts on the WPT and partypoker partnership

Tyler Goatcher Wins the $1,050 Sunday Cooldown at PokerStars

The UK’s Tyler “wonderboy222” Goatcher padded his bankroll with almost $25,000 by triumphing in PokerStars $1,050 Sunday Cooldown. Goatcher outlasted 73-opponents in the big PKO event and saw $23,387 head to his ‘Stars account.

Victory in this event is never an easy task because it attracts some massive names. The final table was as stacked as they come with Olli "Erä_Koira" Ikonen and last week’s Stadium Series Weekly Final winner Parker “tonkaaaa” Talbot reaching it before being the first to bust.

Ole “wizowizo” Schemion and Netherlands’ “Pimms” fell by the wayside before Russian grinder “hello_totti” crashed out in fourth for a combined $4,632.

Christian “WATnlos” Rudolph saw his tournament end in third-place, a finish worth $9,942, which left triple Sunday Million winner Artem “veeea” Vezhenkov and Goatcher heads-up. The British star defeated his Russian opponent to bank $23,387 and resign Vezhenkov to a $9,702 runner-up prize.

Some of the other PokerStars results of note included:

• Pete “psxfrcndhe” Chen – first-place in the $109 Sunday Cooldown PKO for $25,015*
• “doulas12” – first-place in the $1,050 Sunday Supersonic for $22,576
• “bonito1982” – first-place in the $215 Sunday Warm-Up for $22,209
• “stewybaby01” – first-place in the $215 Sunday Supersonic for $20,631
• “CrazyLissy” – first-place in the $1,050 Sunday Warm-Up for $16,873
• “gardze_wami” – first-place in the Bigger $109 for $14,479
• Jack “JBHInfinity” Hardcastle – first-place in the $109 Sunday Kickoff for $12,607
• “ha0444” – first-place in the Hotter $109 for $10,223

*included bounty payments

Follow the action from the $5M Gtd Stadium Series Grand Final

Charlie Combes Takes Down 888poker Sunday Mega Deep

British pro Charlie “chazcombes” Combes took down the $100,000 Sunday Sale Mega Deep at 888poker to turn a mere $55 into $17,000. Some 1,915 players bought into this special edition tournament and Combes outlasted each and every one of them, including “SleepingZace” who finished second for the tournament’s other five-figure prize, namely $12,500.

This week’s A Good Tournament ended in a heads-up deal between champion Roman “EyeofSkadi” Matveychuk and Canada’s “DosPoochies”. The deal resulted in DosPoochies netting $5,464 and EyeofSkadi collecting $6,935.

A similar prize was awarded in the $20,000 Sunday Sale Whale, which had its buy-in slashed from $320 to only $160. UK’s “Weeman235” took the tournament down and saw that $160 investment swell to $6,141.

Lastly for this week is a mention of Malta’s “facilmeudeus” who won the $25,000 Sunday Challenge for $5,375.

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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