The Sunday Briefing: "Royal Jiks" Wins PokerStars Sunday Million; FTP Majors Return

Sunday Briefing

For the first time since summer 2011, the Sunday Majors consisted of tournaments on both PokerStars and Full Tilt Poker. The FTP docket comprised the Sunday Brawl ($50K Guarantee) and a $200K Guarantee. Both tournaments saw excellent numbers, and more of the same can be expected moving forward. As for who came out on top on Sunday, Kenji "Royal Jiks" Tsukamoto was the biggest winner, taking down the Sunday Million for more than $180,000. Others who emerged victorious include Trevor "allintrev23" Dineen, Kenny "SpaceyFCB" Hallaert, and Jimmie "AlusivPnkBny" Guinther.

PokerStars Sunday Million ($1M Guaranteed)

Buy-inEntrantsPrize Pool
$200+$157,055$1,411,000

While it wasn't quite Gaelle Baumann and Elisabeth Hille making deep runs in the WSOP Main Event, Team PokerStars Pro Ana Marquez (15th - $5,855.65) and Kami "drkamikaze1" Chisholm (18th - $3,950.80) represented the female notable pros this week with deep runs in the Sunday Million. However, Kenji "Royal Jiks" Tsukamoto bested the field to take the title.

The deciding hand came at the 600,000/1,200,000/120,00 level after a five-handed deal had been agreed to. With the heads-up chip stacks separated by less than one big blind, Tsukamoto opened with a min-raise to 2,400,000. "AleksHNL" reraised all in, Tsukamoto called it off for 34,642,826, and was ahead with A9 against the A6 of "AleksHNL." The board ran out 109222, leaving "AleksHNL" with less than a big blind before Tsukamoto finished it off the following hand to earn $180,504.30.

PlacePlayerPrize
*1Kenji "Royal Jiks" Tsukamoto$180,504.30
*2AleksHNL$116,633.58
*3danmark2000$91,335.09
*4bbeat77$93,179.77
*5intbild$131,243.33
6DuduPoker-Br$43,741
7SundayLights$30,336.50
8Anderbruegge$16,932
9-shameLi-$10,935.25

*denotes five-handed deal

To read more about this week's Sunday Million, head over to PokerStarsBlog.com.

PokerStars Sunday Warm-Up ($500K Guaranteed)

Buy-inEntrantsPrize Pool
$200+$153,512$702,400

Mickey "mement_mori" Petersen (14th - $3,160.80), David "Mrdawwe" Sonelin (21st - $1,791.12), George "gkap13" Kapalas (31st - $1,580.40), Alex "Allingomes" Gomes (37th - $1,439.92), and Jeff "jeff710" Hakim (38th - $1,439.92) were some of the notable finishers in the Sunday Warm-Up. In the heads-up battle, Ireland's Trevor "allintrev23" Dineen bested Mads "moumaife84" Smith-Hansen for the six-figure payday.

PlacePlayerPrize
1Trevor "allintrev23" Dineen$110,277.97
2Mads "moumaife84" Smith-Hansen$82,180.80
3Elmagico19A1$57,948
4wodka88$40,388
5XuTpbIu_Tun$29,852
6Jengleleg$22,828
7MegaDes777$15,804
8marlin5555$8,780
9SheikhMar$5,619.20

To read more about this week's Sunday Warm-Up, head over to PokerStarsBlog.com.

Full Tilt $200K Guarantee ($200K Guaranteed)

Buy-inEntrantsPrize Pool
$200+$163,061$612,200

It wasn't the $750,000 Guarantee that used to run regularly on Sundays, but Full Tilt's $200K Guarantee was tripled as 3,061 entries (three entries maximum per player) created a prize pool of $612,200. James "j_t_s80" Broom (13th - $3,979.30), Frank "roo_400" Billard (20th - $1,959.04), and Tom "hitthehole" Middleton (27th - $1,959.04) all made deep runs, but "Zebalhao" took it down after a heads-up deal, earning a cool $100,000.

PlacePlayerPrize
*1Zebalhao$100,000
*2palotnik$92,843
3Andrew222555$54,485.80
4Denys "SantaZzz" Chufarin$40,405.20
5zdubbs22$30,610
6krzysiekmiszcz$22,712.62
7ccc_king102$16,223.30
8bas0r$11,509.36
9Karolis Sereika$7,774.94

*denotes heads-up deal

PokerStars Sunday 500 ($300K Guaranteed)

Buy-inEntrantsPrize Pool
$500+$30815$407,500

Matias "Festivuss" Gabrenja (11th - $4,278.75) and Tim "blumenkind53" Ulrich (17th - $2,648.75) were among those who came close to the Sunday 500 final table.

The notable filled final table came down to Kenny "SpaceyFCB" Hallaert and Ankush "pistons87" Mandavia duking it out in a heads-up duel in which Mandavia doubled through Hallaert four times. However, Hallaert finally sealed the deal when his QQ held up against Mandavia's A7 to earn the win.

PlacePlayerPrize
*1Kenny "SpaceyFCB" Hallaert$63,528.75
*2Ankush "pistons87" Mandavia$45,088.24
*3g-man/obell$46,419.96
*4Julian "soydelmillo" Menendez$40,359.30
5Amit "AMAK316" Makhija$20,538
6Kora Fett$16,463
7Lord$tyln$12,388
8dsnka$8,353.75
9Kakalala$5,093.75

*denotes four-handed deal

PokerStars $109 Sunday Rebuy ($225K Guaranteed)

Buy-inEntrantsPrize Pool
$100+$91,071$346,300

Among the players who made deep runs in the $109 Sunday Rebuy were Bryan "bparis" Paris (12th - $3,463), Jason "jakoon1985" Koon (14th - $2,770.40), Aditya "intervntion" Agarwal (18th - $2,147.06), and Dylan "ImaLucSac" Linde (19th - $1,558.35). Jimmie "AlusivPnkBny" Guinther took it down outright for $63,719.20.

PlacePlayerPrize
1Jimmie "AlusivPnkBny" Guinther$63,719.20
2Gambler4444$46,231.05
3Ami "UhhMee" Barer$34,630
4zilbeee$25,972.50
5Gustavo "PIUlimeira" Goto$18,180.75
6roosi88$14,717.75
7GeoManousos$11,254.75
8guyguy12$7,791.75
9strflushtome$4,848.20

PokerStars Bigger $109 ($160K Guaranteed)

Buy-inEntrantsPrize Pool
$100+$93,096$309,600

Posting solid showings in the Bigger $109 were Chris "ImDaNuts" Oliver (11th - $1,935) and Ben "bennybunny18" Richardson (19th - $851.40). "Graftekkel" topped the 3,096-player field outright for a $48,762.29 payday.

PlacePlayerPrize
1Graftekkel$48,762.29
2Aaron "Aguskb" Gustavson$36,378
3Born4game$26,006.40
4ZKostas$17,802
5panayri$13,467.60
6donkmeh$10,371.60
7lonewolf1744$7,275.60
8ynd!$4,185.79
9tonho32$2,631.60

PokerStars Bigger $162 ($150K Guaranteed)

Buy-inEntrantsPrize Pool
$150+$121,701$255,150

Dylan "ImaLucSac" Linde (17th - $1,148.17) and Steve "Zugwat" Silverman (18th - $1,148.17) both came up just a bit short of the Bigger $162 final table. Outlasting the field was "Kihlström" for an outright win worth $41,857.

PlacePlayerPrize
1Kihlström$41,857.97
2Dönig$30,618
3Peter "twirlpro" Turmezey$22,963.50
4komornik$17,095.05
5Goldenboys$12,119.62
6Greenstone25$9,568.12
7Pete_St_Bas$7,016.62
8steve3331$4,465.12
9majestro190$2,551.50

PokerStars Sunday 2nd Chance ($175K Guaranteed)

Buy-inEntrantsPrize Pool
$200+$151,352$270,400

Notable results in the Sunday 2nd Chance included Nick "gbmantis" Niergarth (10th - $2,406.56), Bryan "bparis" Paris (12th - $2,406.56), Kevin "ImaLuckSac" MacPhee (14th - $1,865.76), and Jason "TeamWispy" Helder (17th - $1,324.96). The outright victory went to "sosickPL" for $46,671.04.

PlacePlayerPrize
1sosickPL$46,671.04
2boytakas$33,800
3upstrick77$25,688
4OverTheTop43$18,819.84
5Felipe "fcarrico" Carrio$13,384.80
6Anjeyyy$10,680.80
7Tom "hitthehole" Middleton$7,976.80
8jaxxonxxx$5,272.80
9Jim "reelhugefish" Gilbert$2,974.40

Full Tilt Sunday Brawl ($50K Guaranteed)

Buy-inEntrantsPrize Pool
$240+$161,091$218,200

The first Full Tilt major to return was the Sunday Brawl. It was a notable-filled final table as James "shiiipitobv" Bills, Russell "rdcrsn" Carson, and Matthias "goodvibe" Neu finished in fourth, sixth, and ninth places, respectively. After a heads-up deal, "ottoman09" came away with the win.

PlacePlayerPrize
*1ottoman09$39,195.32
*2WALTER1952$40,993.18
3BluffurBluff$23,020.10
4James "shiiipitobv" Bills$18,001.50
5Kurkoseiska$13,637.50
6Russell "rdcrsn" Carson$9,819
7moliveira$6,546
8lawnmower0$4,909.50
9Matthias "goodvibe" Neu$3,491.20

*denotes heads-up deal

PokerStars Sunday Storm ($300K Guaranteed)

Buy-inEntrantsPrize Pool
$10+$135,626$356,260

Making a deep run in the Sunday Storm was Pierre "Zoutechamp" Neuville, finishing in 43rd place for $374.07. Neuville is making a habit out of navigating the massive Sunday Storm field because back in August he posted a 31st-place finish. Earning the outright win this time around was "TANQUE3," who pocketed $30,978.

PlacePlayerPrize
1TANQUE3$30,978.37
2joeeey99$22,241.31
3SSashen_ka$14,962.92
4rava123$11,400.32
5baxarev$7,837.72
6olly_e$4,809.51
7Slontys$3,295.40
8depasseL$2,315.69
9stezosledec$1,620.98

PokerStars Sunday Kickoff ($100K Guaranteed)

Buy-inEntrantsPrize Pool
$100+$91,715$171,500

Starting things off this weekend was "litleSharky" earning an outright win in the Sunday Kickoff for $28,134.80.

PlacePlayerPrize
1litleSharky$28,134.80
2TryToExploit$20,580
3AXEL THEKING$15,435
4Valdemar "Luigi da BP" Kwaysser$11,490.50
5Pete_029$8,146.25
6QazMiNowPlz$6,431.25
7voehahnLP$4,716.25
8lopezadrian1$3,001.25
9cashcas$1,715

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