PartyPoker Championship Winter Main Event Kicks Off; Hula Leads
Table Of Contents
The first of six PartyPoker Championship (PPC) Winter Main Event flights is in the bag, and it was Ukraine's Ihor Hula who was the fastest out of the blocks. Hula shone brightly on Day 1A of the $530 buy-in $500,000 guaranteed tournament and has done his chances of glory no harm at all. Indeed, his colossal stack makes him one of the favorites to go deep in the PPC Winter Main Event even at this early stage.
Day 1A was the starting flight of choice for 175 PartyPoker players, but only 26 of them progressed to Day 2 on January 16. Tomas Fara, Team PartyPoker's Patrick Leonard, Jerry Odeen, Diego Cuellar, Kenny Hallaert, and Tomi Brouk were a handful of players who busted before Day 1A concluded.
The aforementioned Hula saw his 500,000 chip starting stack swell to an incredible 11,248,789 by the time the curtain came down on proceedings. Hula has almost 2.5 million chips more than any other player in the field, with the average stack weighing in at 3.37 million.
Dominykas Joskas (8,838,498) bagged up enough chips for second place, with Samuel Vousden (5,968,294), Daniel Custodio (5,599,770), and Gabriel Schroeder (5,466,328) rounding out the top five.
Day 1A was a great flight for satellite winners, with no less than 11 of the 26 progressing players winning their $530 seat via PartyPoker's weekly satellites. Patrik Kucera (5,034,617) and Anthony Weldon (4,340,064) finished with enough chips for a spot in the Day 1A top ten.
Other stars to look out for as this tournament progresses include Blaz Zerjav (4,952,326), Antoine Saout (4,325,095), Alexandre Raymond (2,427,381), and Alexandros Theologis (2,018,216).
PPC Winter #01 Main Event Day 1A Top 10 Chip Counts
| Place | Player | Country | Chips |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Ihor Hula | Ukraine | 11,248,789 |
| 2 | Dominykas Joksas | Ireland | 8,838,498 |
| 3 | Samuel Vousden | Finland | 5,968,294 |
| 4 | Daniel Custodio | Brazil | 5,599,770 |
| 5 | Gabriel Schroeder | Brazil | 5,466,328 |
| 6 | Patrik Kucera | Czech Republic | 5,034,617 |
| 7 | Blaz Zerjav | Slovenia | 4,952,326 |
| 8 | Anthony Weldon | United Kingdom | 4,340,064 |
| 9 | Antoine Saout | United Kingdom | 4,325,095 |
| 10 | Eliot Hudon | Canada | 4,117,203 |
PartyPoker Is Your Online Poker Site for the Sunday Grind
Truschkowski Bags Big in the PPC Winter Mini Main Event
The $55 buy-in $100,000 guaranteed PPC Winter Mini Main Event ran alongside its bigger brother and saw 243 entrants whittled to a more manageable 36. Just like in the Main Event, this tournament has a runaway chip leader after the first of six flights, Germany's Mark Truschkowski, who bagged up a tournament-leading stack of 13,323,996 chips.
Austria's Elvis Arzic (9,214,834) has a successful opening flight, as did the likes of Jonas Mortensen (8,652,802), Joao Baumgarten (3,083,602), Mathias Siljander (1,836,087), and Eliot Hudon (1,494,194), albeit with varying degrees. Hudon also made it through the opening Main Event flight.
PPC Winter #01 Main Event Day 1A Top 10 Chip Counts
| Place | Player | Country | Chips |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Mark Truschkowski | Germany | 13,323,996 |
| 2 | Elvis Arzic | Austria | 9,214,834 |
| 3 | Jonas Mortensen | Denmark | 8,652,802 |
| 4 | Chrustop Schiendorfer | Austria | 8,043,887 |
| 5 | Tamas Matyas | United Kingdom | 7,814,469 |
| 6 | Andre Luiz Santos Silva | Brazil | 7,296,077 |
| 7 | Marc Honig | Germany | 5,594,387 |
| 8 | Philip Mousdell | United Kingdom | 4,348,120 |
| 9 | Sergio Filipe Da Silva Veloso | Malta | 4,268,783 |
| 10 | Emil Sjogren | Sweden | 3,599,771 |
You Need to Play the PartyPoker Championship Winter Edition this Holiday Season
Remaining PPC Winter Main and Mini Main Event Schedule
New Year's Day is when you can next get involved in the PPC Winter Main and Mini Main Events at PartyPoker. Cards are in the air from 7:05 p.m. GMT on January 1, and the Day 1B door slams shut when only 15% of the field remains.
You can play in as many Day 1s as you wish or as your bankroll allows, but only your largest stack goes forward should you progress to Day 2 more than once.
Main Event satellites, starting at $0.01, are in the PartyPoker lobby. They all feed into the weekly Sunday final, which has no direct buy-in, at 5:05 p.m. and has 15x $530 seats guaranteed.
| Date | Time (GMT) | Tournament | Buy-in | Guarantee |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Sun 1 Jan | 7:05 p.m. | PPC Winter #01 Main Event Day 1B | $530 | $500,000 |
| 7:05 p.m. | PPC Winter #02 Mini Main Event Day 1B | $55 | $100,000 | |
| Sun 8 Jan | 7:05 p.m. | PPC Winter #01 Main Event Day 1C | $530 | $500,000 |
| 7:05 p.m. | PPC Winter #02 Mini Main Event Day 1C | $55 | $100,000 | |
| Sun 15 Jan | 7:05 p.m. | PPC Winter #01 Main Event Day 1D | $530 | $500,000 |
| 7:05 p.m. | PPC Winter #02 Mini Main Event Day 1D | $55 | $100,000 | |
| Mon 16 Jan | 4:05 p.m. | PPC Winter #01 Main Event Day 1E | $530 | $500,000 |
| 4:05 p.m. | PPC Winter #02 Mini Main Event Day 1E | $55 | $100,000 | |
| 6:05 p.m. | PPC Winter #01 Main Event Day 1 Turbo | $530 | $500,000 | |
| 6:05 p.m. | PPC Winter #02 Mini Main Event Day 1 Turbo | $55 | $100,000 | |
| Mon 16 Jan | 9:05 p.m. | PPC Winter #01 Main Event Day 2 | $500,000 | |
| 9:05 p.m. | PPC Winter #02 Mini Main Event Day 2 | $100,000 | ||
| Tue 17 Jan | 9:05 p.m. | PPC Winter #01 Main Event Final Table | $500,000 | |
| 9:05 p.m. | PPC Winter #02 Mini Main Event Final Table | $100,000 |
PPC Winter Edition SPINS
PPC Winter Edition SPINS are a great way to try and win your way into the various tournaments taking place between now and January 17. They cost $10 to enter and pay their winner either $20 cash or PPC Winter tickets worth between $33 and $530.
| Multiplier | 1st Prize | Frequency in 1M Games |
|---|---|---|
| 2 | $20 cash | 653,193 |
| 3.3 | $33 PPC Winter Edition ticket | 249,807 |
| 5.5 | $55 PPC Winter Edition ticket | 75,000 |
| 10.9 | $109 PPC Winter Edition ticket | 20,000 |
| 21.5 | $215 PPC Winter Edition ticket | 1,500 |
| 53 | $530 PPC Winter Edition ticket | 500 |
