Stadium Series Round-Up: Parker Talbot Bags $261K

Parker Talbot

Parker “tonkaaaa” Talbot got his hands on his largest-ever online poker tournament score on July 29 when he walked away with the title of Stadium Series Freezeout Weekly Final High: $2,100 NLHE [8-Max] champion. The popular Canadian Twitch streamer turned his $2,100 investment into a massive $261,489 score.

Stadium Series Freezeout Weekly Final High: $2,100 NLHE [8-Max]

PlacePlayerCountryPrize
1Parker “tonkaaaa” TalbotCanada$261,489
2VladTheSlayeUkraine$191,491
3Phil “Grindation” McAllisterUnited Kingdom$140,231
4Alexandru “alexxt7” FaracasnuRomania$102,693
5Andre “Donig” LettauAustria$75,203
6thx4urm0n3yCanada$55,072
7Anton “Bomber&Granater” WiggAustria$40,330
8LeslieGrovesRussia$29,534

Some 768 players bought into the massive $1.5 million guaranteed freezeout final and only 87 of those entrants got their hands on a prize. The payouts were littered with the biggest names in the online poker world.

The likes of Viktor “papan9_p$” Ustimov, Max “goodeh99” Silver, Simon “Igorkarkarof” Pedersen, Thomas “MarToMchat” Boivin, and Michiel “utreg” Brummelhuis were among those elite grinders who reached the money.

Former Sunday Million champion “losero88” was the ninth-place finisher, a finish worth $23,615. His elimination set the official final table.

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Russia’s “LeslieGroves” fell in eighth-place after a clash with Talbot didn’t go to plan. Lesliegroves open-shoved for a shade under seven big blinds with ace-ten and Talbot looked him up with pocket queens from the big blind. Talbot flopped a set to send his Russian opponent to the rail.

It didn’t take long for the next player to bust, that player being Anton “Bomber&Granater” Wigg. Wigg three-bet all-in from the small blind with ace-ten suited after “VladTheSlaye” opened with pocket nines. VladTheSlaye called and the nines held on a low draw-heavy flop.

Canada’s “thx4urm0n3y” busted in sixth at the hands of VladTheSlay before Andre “Donig” Lettau’s king-ten lost to the ace-nine of British star Phil “Grindation” McAllister.

Everyone Guaranteed More Than $100,000

Lettau’s exit locked up a six-figure prize for the surviving four players. The first of these prizes, $102,693, went to Alexandru “alexxt7” Farcasanu. He three-bet all-in with pocket eights after McAllister opened with a min-raise. Talbot came over the top with an all-in bet with queens, McAllister folded and Farcasanu didn’t get there.

Talbot added to his stack when his dominating ace-king remained true against McAllister’s ace-jack. McAllister, while disappointed not to win, must be pleased with the $140,231 addition to his bankroll.

VladeTheSlaye went into heads-up with a 50,120,899 to 26,679,101 chip advantage but Talbot almost immediately drew level. He then put his foot firmly on the gas and there was no stopping him.

The final hand took place during the 200,000/400,000/50,000a level and saw Talbot raise to 1,112,157 before calling his Ukrainian opponent’s 5,888,632 shove. Talbot revealed a pair of red nines and was flipping against king-queen. A nine on the flop gifted Talbot a set, but VladTheSlaye now had a gutshot Broadway straight draw. Neither the turn nor river altered the course of the hand and Talbot became the latest star to win a Stadium Series event.

$5M Gtd Stadium Series Freezeout Final is coming soon

rollingdrone Wins $215 Finale

Poland’s “rollingdrone” won the $215 buy-in Stadium Series Freezeout Weekly Final Medium and saw that initial investment swell to a massive $187,437. The Polish tournament specialist would have got their hands on $213,000 but they struck a deal with Brazil’s Matheus “royalmaf67” Fernandes when the duo were heads-up. Fernandes collected $177,397 for his runner-up finish.

Another player, “luk9r” of Austria, banked six-figures. They saw $108,232 head to their PokerStars account courtesy of a third-place exit.

PlacePlayerCountryPrize
1raion64rusPoland$187,437*
2Matheus “royalmaf67” FernandesBrazil$177,397*
3luk9rAustria$108,232
4alexfull13Romania$77,152
5M.Flush.NBrazil$54,996
6MarcelosrfBrazil$39,203
7exitonlyKKCanada$27,945
8PETER_3BETBrazil$19,920

The $22 Low edition of the Weekly Final was won by Russia’s “raion64rus”. The Russia scooped $89,499 for only a $22 buy-in after defeating Mexico-based British mixed game specialist Adam “Adamyid” Owen who banked $63,758.

PlacePlayerCountryPrize
1raion64rusRussia$89,499
2Adam “Adamyid” OwenMexico$63,758
3ocoringAKBrazil$45,449
4jfaraclanRomania$32,397
5Kiing PtkBrazil$23,094
6plett54Canada$16,462
7tautietis11Lithuania$11,734
8AbrisssbirneGermany$8,364

The only thing mini about these MTTs is their name

Some of the other massive scores won in the latest round of Stadium Series events included:

  • Mark “AceSpades11” Radoja – first-place in the Stadium Series Heat 23-H: $5,200 NLHE for $201,606
  • Claas “SsicK_OnE” Segrebrecht – first-place in the Stadium Series Heat 20-H: $2,100 8-Max PKO for $173,474*
  • Teun “tinnoemulder” Mulder – first-place in the Stadium Series Heat 24-H: $5,200 NLHE 6-Max PKO for $134,646*
  • “KKing James” – first-place in the Stadium Series Heat 23-M: $530 NLHE for $114,803
  • “NeedBeat” – first-place in the Stadium Series 18-H: $2,100 NLHE for $96,613
  • “AB_Poker_12” – first-place in the Stadium Series Heat 21-H: $2,100 NLHE Deep Stack for $96,613
  • Andrey “drupa-lucker” Chernokoz – first-place in the Stadium Series Heat 22-H: $2,100 NLHE PKO for $94,300*
  • “Radogoszcz” – first-place in the Stadium Series Heat 19-H: $2,100 NLHE 6-Max for $89,216
  • “bdel123” – first-place in the Stadium Series Heat 20-M: $215 NLHE 8-Max PKO for $70,117*
  • “Aalexxs” – first-place in the Stadium Series Heat 24-M: $530 NLHE 6-Max PKO for $70,021*
  • “Jacob Schindler” – first-place in the Stadium Series Heat 19-M: $215 NLHE 6-Max for $59,926
  • “Spinaczq” – first-place in the Stadium Series Heat 18-M: $215 NLHE for $53,372

How To Get Involved in the Stadium Series

Stadium Series tournaments run every day and continue to do so up until August 2. Head to the PokerStars tournament lobby and buy in now if you have the bankroll for those events. If you don’t have the bankroll for the bigger events, or you simply want to save yourself some cash, there are plenty of other routes into the biggest Stadium Series games.

The Stadium Series Heats are the daily tournaments. The top finishers in these tournaments receive a free ticket to the coveted weekly Stadium Series Sunday Finals. Reach the final tables of these finals and PokerStars gifts you a $5,200 ticket to the Grand Final where you’ll play for a share of a guaranteed $5 million.

Spin & Go specialists can try their luck in the special edition Spin & Go’s. These come with buy-ins of $4 and $22 and award a mixture of cash and Stadium Series tournament tickets.

Don’t forget you can also complete the Stadium Series Trials via the Challenges Window of your PokerStars account. Start the challenge then play real money multi-table tournaments. You earn one leaderboard point for every $1 spent on tournament buy-ins. Finish in the top 25 of the leaderboard when the promotion ends on August 1 and a $5,200 Grand Final ticket is all yours. Finish in 26-125th place and bank a free Stadium Series Fast track Final ticket worth a cool $1,050.

Last, but certainly not least, is the Stadium Series Fast Track program. These are a series of sit & go and MTT tournaments where you can buy into at any stage, but only Stage 4 awards Grand Final tickets.

  • Step 1: $1 Sit & Go Tournament (12 players)
  • Step 2: $11 Sit & Go Tournament (21 players)
  • Step 3: $109 MTT Tournament
  • Step 4: $1,050 MTT Tournament

Keep an eye on your email inbox and in the PokerStars lobby for the many planned giveaways. PokerNews has learned PokerStars is giving away more than $2.5 million in Stadium Series tickets and by adding some serious value via other giveaways to make it possible for every player to have a shot at Stadium Series glory.


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