Thiago Crema Wins PokerStars Sunday Million Special Edition; PokerNews Qualifier Finishes 10th
Table Of Contents
PokerStars ran a special edition Sunday Million this weekend, a $215 buy-in, $1 million guaranteed progressive knockout tournament. Such an event was not without significant risk because many top-tier pros are still in Las Vegas for the 2024 World Series of Poker (WSOP), and the 2024 European Championships final was taking place. However, 5,451 entrants resulted in a guarantee-busting $1,090,200 prize pool, quashing any overlay fears.
Fifty of the entrants won their tickets via a PokerNews promotion. The partnership between PokerNews and PokerStars saw us give away 50x $215 seats via a PokerNews-exclusive freeroll a couple of days prior to this big event.
Six ticket winners finished in the top 895 places and received some of the $545,100 regular prize pool. Even more claimed a bounty or two before busting, meaning they got their hands on some free money.
Two of those ticket winners went deep. Lithuania's "peledziukas17" went out in 37th place for a combined prize worth $2,550. Canada's "Azzurro550" navigated their way to an incredible tenth-place finish, narrowly missing out on a seat at the star-studded final table. The Canadian walked away with $6,663, including bounties, for an outstanding return on their free ticket. Stay tuned for similar promotions in the future.
Sunday Million Special Edition Final Table Results
| Rank | Player | Country | Bounties | Prize | Total Prize |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Thiago "KKremate" Crema | Brazil | $35,352 | $66,378 | $101,730 |
| 2 | ramiro_ak | Brazil | $10,143 | $66,375 | $76,518 |
| 3 | EDY14101 | Andorra | $7,063 | $39,382 | $46,445 |
| 4 | prOvinzia1 | Poland | $8,091 | $28,073 | $36,164 |
| 5 | Drawmind | Brazil | $4,858 | $20,011 | $24,869 |
| 6 | rmilanezi | Brazil | $3,367 | $14,264 | $17,631 |
| 7 | FreedJoker | Finland | $2,879 | $10,168 | $13,047 |
| 8 | biuzinho17 | Brazil | $7,504 | $7,248 | $14,752 |
| 9 | marllonpinto | Brazil | $4,307 | $5,167 | $9,474 |
The final table was dominated by Brazilians, with six of the nine finalists hailing from the South American country. All but one of the finalists walked away with a five-figure payout, with ninth-place finisher "marllonpinto" taking home $9,474 for their efforts.
With four players remaining, a pair of Brazilians faced off against "prOvinzia1" of Poland and "EDY14101" of Andorra. The Polish grinder was the first of that quartet to fall, busting in fourth for an impressive $36,164. The elimination of "EDY14101" in third, a finish good for $46,445, guaranteed a Brazilian champion.
"ramiro_ak" locked horns with seasoned grinder Thiago "KKremate" Crema for the title and the lion's share of the progressive bounty prize pool. Both players locked in more than $66,300 from the regular prize pool, but Crema struck the final blow, eliminating his fellow countryman and adding $35,352 worth of bounties to their haul. Crema was announced as the latest Sunday Million champion. He received $101,730 and resigned "ramiro_ak" to a still-welcomed $76,518 consolation prize.
Schemion Strikes Gold in the Titans Event
The $5,200 Titans Event saw a smaller-than-usual crowd compete, with 37 entrants fighting over the $185,000 prize pool. The small player count meant only the top five finishers saw a return on their investment, although that return was almost three times their initial buy-in.
Belarus' "zelvavegas" was the unfortunate soul who popped the money bubble, leaving the surviving five stars to collect at least $15,915. That sum went to Pascal "Päffchen" Hartmann, who fell in fifth.
Fellow Austrian "P0KERPR02.0" was the next player to run out of chips. They busted in fourth place with $22,791 in prize money.
Heads-up was set after David "MissOracle" Yan crashed out in third for $32,636. Here, Ole "wiziwizo" Schemion faced off against Brazil's Iago "neverstandard" Savino. Schemion has a fantastic record when he finds himself heads-up, stacking the odds against Savino. Indeed, Schemion got the one-on-one job done, banked $66,922, and left Savino to collect a $46,734 runner-up prize.
$5,200 Titans Event Final Table Results
| Rank | Player | Country | Prize |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Ole "wizowizo" Schemion | Austria | $66,922 |
| 2 | Iago "neverstandard" Savino | Brazil | $46,734 |
| 3 | David "MissOracle" Yan | New Zealand | $32,636 |
| 4 | P0KERPR02.0 | Austria | $22,791 |
| 5 | Pascal "Päffchen" Hartmann | Austria | $15,915 |
| 6 | zelvavegas | Belarus | |
| 7 | fernandogiac | Croatia | |
| 8 | Natrium111 | Belarus | |
| 9 | DingeBrinker | Estonia |
Other Notable PokerStars Results
Aside from the two tournaments above, "RicoMinibAby" was the biggest winner on PokerStars this weekend, courtesy of the $24,177 they scooped by winning the $1,050 Sunday High Roller PKO.
Veterans Peter "Belebasci" Traply and Simon "C. Darwin2" Mattsson also won, the latter likely grinding while cheering on fellow Swede Niklas Astedt in the 2024 WSOP Main Event.
| Event | Entrants | Prize Pool | Champion | Prize |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| $1,050 Sunday High Roller | 92 | $92,000 | RicoMinibAby | $24,177* |
| $530 Bounty Builder High Roller | 215 | $107,500 | rollingdrone | $21,585* |
| $1,050 Sunday Supersonic | 21 | $25,000 | DschinhisKai | $12,982 |
| $109 Sunday Fenomeno | 726 | $72,600 | razzlehazzel | $12,325 |
| $109 Sunday Warm-Up | 737 | $73,700 | raonikojatsu | $10,990 |
| $1,050 Sunday Warm-Up High Roller | 28 | $30,000 | boraodota | $10,560 |
| $109 Sunday Cooldown | 646 | $64,600 | Goonie Tot | $10,229* |
| $215 Sunday StacKOsaurus | 284 | $60,000 | Peter "Belabasci" Traply | $9,898* |
| $215 Sunday Supersonic | 179 | $36,652 | Simon "C. Darwin2" Mattsson | $7,345 |
*includes bounty payments
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