Sunday Briefing: Big Win For Connor Drinan

Connor Drinan

Hundreds of poker players are currently in Rozvadov for the 2019 World Series of Poker Europe festival, but that did not stop the online poker world from creating some massive prize pools. Let’s take a look at who the biggest winners were on October 27th.

Sunday Big Game at partypoker

DateOctober 27th
Buy-in$5,200
Guarantee$500,000
Entrants100
Prize pool$500,000
ITM16

The $5,200 Big Game ran again at partypoker again this week and saw 100 players buy-in and create a $500,000 prize pool that was shared among the top 16 finishers.

Everyone who reached the eight-handed final table locked up at last $16,500, which is the sum won by “kristian150”, who was the first finalist to bust. They were followed to the rail by “huevo2000”, who banked $20,000.

$25,000 and sixth place went to “EmpireMaker” who was joined on the rail by “tdlvehcicknbn” whose fifth-place exit locked up $32,500. The prize money kept on increasing, and a cool $43,750 was enjoyed by “CalmDownMan” who gained some company on the sidelines by “kannichtmehr” who secured a $62,500 prize.

Heads-up saw “Jizoint” and “mnnlfg” lock horns, and it was the former who came out on top. Second place was worth $87,500, with Jizoint winning a massive $122,500.

PlacePlayerPrize
1Jizoint$122,500
2mnnlfg$87,500
3kannnichtmehr$62,500
4CalmDownMan$43,750
5tdlvechicknbn$32,500
6EmpireMaker$25,000
7huevo2000$20,000
8kristian150$16,250

High Roller Sunday Masters at partypoker

DateOctober 27th
Buy-in$1,050
Guarantee$200,000
Entrants205
Prize pool$205,000
ITM32

One of the new additions to the partypoker Sunday schedule is the High Roller Sunday Masters, a $1,050 buy-in non-PKO tournament. Some 205 players bought in and created a $205,000 prize pool.

It was “fromHolland1945” who emerged victoriously and turned their $1,050 into an impressive $41,799. “fromHolland1945” defeated “tdlvechicknbn” who earlier finished fifth in the Big game. This runner-up finish was worth $30,340.

Earlier at the final table, “Pablos” busted in eighth for $4,715 with “hotsince92” collecting $6,355 for their seventh-place finish. Sixth-place and $8,610” went to “Kroat..” who was joined on the rail by “Psilocybin” who padded their bankroll with $11,275.

High stakes regular “CalmDownMan” ran out of steam to fall in fourth place, a finish worth $15,990. “MahmoudMaokhtar” was the penultimate bust out, their third-place finish yielding $21,627.

PlacePlayerPrize
1fromHolland1945$41,799
2tdlvechicknbn$30,340
3MahmoudMaokhtar$21,627
4MrDreamMachine$15,990
5Psilocybin$11,275
6Kroat..$8,610
7hotsince92$6,355
8Pablos$4,715

$2,100 Sunday High Roller at PokerStars

DateOctober 27th
Buy-in$2,100
Guarantee$100,000
Entrants72
Prize pool$144,000
ITM8

Over at PokerStars, the final table of the $2,100 Sunday High Roller was ridiculously tough, and any of the finalists would have been a worthy champion.

It was game over in eighth-place for Finland’s “elmerixx”, who banked $5,702. Swedish star “anteen” crashed out in seventh for $7,501 before Ole “wizowizo” Schemion busted in sixth-place and won $9,867, the last prize not weighing in at five-figures.

$12,980 was awarded to “mararthur1” of Russia before Denmark’s Simon “IgorKarkarof” Pedersen. Yet another Scandinavian player in Johannes “Greenstone25” Korsar then fell in third for $22,461, setting up a one-on-one encounter between “Aren1991” and Connor “blanconegro” Drinan (lead photo).

The latter came out of the battle unscathed and got his hands on the $38,867 top prize, resigning the runner-up to a $29,546 consolation prize.

PlacePlayerCountryPrize
1Connor “blanconegro” DrinanMexico$38,867
2Aren1991Armenia$29,546
3Johannes “Greenstone25” KorsarSweden$22,461
4Simon “IgorKarkarof” PedersenDenmark$17,074
5marathur1Russia$12,980
6Ole “wizowizo” SchemionAustria$9,867
7anteenSweden$7,501
8elmerixxFinland$5,702

$109 Sunday Million at PokerStars

DateOctober 27th
Buy-in$109
Guarantee$1,000,000
Entrants11,090
Prize pool$1,109,000
ITM1,934

The Sunday Million attracted more than 11,000 players this week, and they were all outlasted by Ukraine’s “FeaNoR4eG” who locked up a six-figure prize, namely $113,824. The Ukrainian’s victory was made all the more impressive by the fact they defeated one of the world’s best players heads-up.

That runner-up was Niklas “Lena900” Astedt, who had to make do with $82,592. Not many people manage to brush aside Astedt once a tournament reaches the heads-up stage, but FeaNoR4eG managed to do precisely that.

All but one of the nine finalists won a five-figure prize, going to show how fantastic this $109 buy-in tournament is. Shout out also to “Keisuke-ace” who managed to navigate their way to a third-place finish for $59,937 from their home all the way in Japan.

PlacePlayerCountryPrize
1FeaNoR4eGUkraine$113,824
2Niklas “Lena900” AstedtSweden$82,592
3Keisuke-aceJapan$59,937
4luchokoma17Uruguay$43,496
5THCHunterCanada$31,565
6Konstantin “kobyy” HeldGermany$22,907
7Richipoker22Germany$16,624
8romprvRussia$12,064
9TimonpoikaFinland$8,754
Niklas Åstedt
Niklas “Lena900” Astedt finished 2nd for $82,592

Sunday High Roller $1K at Natural8

DateOctober 27th
Buy-in$1,000
Guarantee$40,000
Entrants38
Prize pool$40,000
ITM4

After a week or so of $25,000 invitational tournament, the largest Natural8 events on October 27th were $1,000 buy-in affairs.

The Sunday High Roller $1K had a compact field of 38 entries, and only four of those received a slice of the $40,000 prize pool. Hong Kong’s “bingpong” was the first player to cash, their fourth-place weighing in at $4,091. Another Hong Kong player in “HalfKid” collected $6,721 for their third-place exit before “pDNA” defeated “WooKah” heads-up for the title.

pDNA won $18,142 for their victory although they did fire four bullets at the tournament. The runner-up, who hails from Germany, also netted a five-figure score, namely $11,043.

PlacePlayerCountryPrize 
1pDNAUnited Kingdom$18,142 
2WooKahGermany$11,043 
3HalfKidHong Kong$6,721 
4bingpongHong Kong$4,091 

Sunday Purple $1K at Natural8

DateOctober 27th
Buy-in$1,000
Guarantee$30,000
Entrants42
Prize pool$39,900
ITM5

The Sunday Purple $1K saw 42 players create a $39,900 prize pool that was distributed among the top five finishers.

“WooKah”, fresh from a runner-up finish in the other $1K game, finished in fifth for $2,507. They were joined on the rail by “MickeyM” of the UK, who scooped $3,984. pDNA continued their impressive form with a third-place worth $6,330.

Second place went to “BigGogi” of Germany, who collected $10,056 after losing heads-up to New Zealand’s “Moist”. The first place weighed in at a cool $17,020.

PlacePlayerCountryPrize 
1MoistNew Zealand$17,020 
2BigGogiGermany$10,056 
3pDNAUnited Kingdom$6,330 
4MickeyMUnited Kingdom$3,984 
5WooKahGermany$2,507 

$20,000 Sunday Sale Whale at 888poker

DateOctober 27th
Buy-in$320
Guarantee$20,000
Entrants96
Prize pool$28,800
ITM12

888poker ran its Sunday Sale promotion again this week, which slashed the buy-ins of some key events. One was the $20,000 Sunday Sale What that was reduced from $530 to $320. It was a prevalent decision as 96 entries ensured the $20,000 guarantee was surpassed by $8,800.

The final two players struck a deal for the lion’s share of the prize pool. Qatar’s “Full2Win” was the official runner-up and won $6,507 with the UK’s “Kroat.” being crowned champion, an accolade that came with $6,740 after the heads-up deal.

Poker truly is a global game, and it was proven at this final table. In addition to the players from the UK and Qatar, several other countries were represented at the final table. It has players from New Zealand, Kazakhstan, Germany, Malta, Ukraine, and Russia. You’ve got to love the cosmopolitan nature of this crazy game.

PlacePlayerCountryPrize
1Kroat.United Kingdom$6,740*
2Full2WinQatar$6,507*
3cashman0810New Zealand$4,032
4usen1898Kazakhstan$2,736
5RumukulussGermany$2,016
6stroposozMalta$1,512
7FukurukuUkraine$1,224
8An0n1m1Russia$1,008
9ThecaatUnited Kingdom$864

*reflects a heads-up deal


$100,000 Sunday Sale Mega Deep at 888poker

DateOctober 27th
Buy-in$109
Guarantee$100,000
Entrants1,211
Prize pool$121,100
ITM108

The $215 buy-in of the $100,000 Sunday Sale Mega Deep was slashed to $109, and a massive field of 1,211 players turned out to support it. This meant the $100,000 guarantee was blown out of the water with a $121,100 prize pool created.

Like the Sunday Sale Whale, this event ended in a deal, although it was a three-handed one and not just heads-up. Third-place and $15,482 went to Ukraine’s “my888GMode” with second-place eventually going to “SleepingZace” of Malta whose $109 investment turned into $14,257. The champion was none other than “HnThMn” of Finland, who secured a $19,729 payout.

PlacePlayerCountryPrize
1HnThMnFinland$19,729*
2SleepingZaceMalta$14,257*
3my888GModeUkraine$15,482*
4tapatashiUkraine$8,840
5allinfdsMexico$6,236
6Bandhu12United Kingdom$5,025
7RafaelBT88Brazil$3,814
8TorNadOO147United Kingdom$2,676
9MukongsLithuania$1,550

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  • Connor Drinan was among the big winners on October 27th, taking down the $2,100 Sunday High Roller.

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