Stadium Series Freezeout Weekly Final - High: $2,100 NLHE [8-Max], $1.5M Gtd
Day 1 Completed
2020 PokerStars Stadium Series
Stadium Series Freezeout Weekly Final - High: $2,100 NLHE [8-Max], $1.5M Gtd
Day: 1
Boivin Claims Day 1 Chip Lead of the 2020 PokerStars Stadium Series Freezeout Weekly Final
Level 22
: 12,500/25,000, 3,250 ante
It would take just over eight hours on the first day of the 2020 PokerStars Stadium Series Freezeout Weekly Final - High: $2,100 NLHE to come to an end with 87 players making it through to Day 2. The $1,500,000 guaranteed prize pool attracted 768 players to its field to create a prize purse of $1,536,000. The eventual winner will walk away on Tuesday with $261,489.
Belgium's Thomas "MarToMchat" Boivin who resides in the United Kingdom claims the Day 1 chip lead with 4,052,527 in chips. A chunk of those chips were earned when he won a four-way all-in against Bradley "mrbradleyy" Harwood, "xnrobix", and "!!f1ghtback!". He made even more waves during the bubble where he put players like "$w4g4l1c10u$" under pressure.
Boivin is followed in the counts by Helio "hneves182" Neves (2,787,815), "alexxt7" (2,776,585), Fabio "LFFF22" Freitas (2,380,464), and November Niner Michiel "utreg" Brummelhuis (2,269,974).
But with 87 players left in the field, there are many more notable players to pay attention to. Anton "Bomber&Granater" Wigg, Jasper "AppelKruimel" Wetemans, Alex "dynoalot" Difelice, Andrey "kot_spartac" Kotelnikov, Luis "luisdono" Dono, Jochum "groengras" Weenink, Konstantin "krakukra" Maslak, Igor "OMGitshunt" Soyka, Simon "Igorkarkarof" Ronnow Pedersen, Parker "tonkaaaa" Talbot, Andreas "mrAndreeew" Berggren, and Max "goodeh99" Silver are just some of the many familiar names still in it.
Joshua "slayerv1fan" Hoesel and Craig "onscreen1234" Shannon are two players who might also be known from the Twitch streets who have made Day 2 while PokerStars Team Online members Lex "L. Veldhuis" Veldhuis, Ben "Spraggy" Spraggg, and Fintan "EasyWithAces" Hand didn't fare as well.
Francisco "chicalltreta" Correia busted to Saymon "$aymon9" Nascimento before the bubble and so did "paxantho" before hand-for-hand play could start. The players went into the eighth and final break knowing one more player needed to bust. It would take almost 15 minutes before the bubble actually burst when "thebigdog09" raised and was called by "thx4urm0n3y". But "alexxt7" three-bet shoved for "thebigdog09" to make the call with kings. Unfortunately for them, they were up against aces and couldn't find any help on the board.
When the players return on Monday, July 27 at 7:05 p.m. CEST, they will finish the remainder of Level 22 which has a small blind of 12,500, a big blind of 25,000, and a running ante of 3,250. Level duration will remain at 20 minutes until there are 40 players left, the duration will then increase to 25 minutes for each level. Play will continue until the final table has been determined which will be played out on Tuesday.
PokerNews will be back from the start until there are nine players left so make sure to return right here.
End-of-Day 1 Chip Counts (full)
Level 22
: 12,500/25,000, 3,250 ante
| Player | Chips | Progress |
|---|---|---|
|
4,052,547 | 1,267,421 |
|
2,787,815 | 1,066,766 |
|
2,776,585 | |
|
2,380,464 | 1,633,365 |
|
2,269,974 | 1,229,297 |
|
2,247,578 | 457,100 |
|
1,964,065 | -17,346 |
|
1,767,462 | 231,625 |
|
1,737,435 | -403,550 |
|
|
1,544,525 | |
|
1,484,508 | 1,175,233 |
|
1,472,735 | -122,844 |
|
|
1,466,180 | |
|
1,429,991 | 661,861 |
|
1,407,972 | 293,404 |
|
|
1,341,172 | |
|
1,323,771 | |
|
1,225,922 | |
|
|
1,135,528 | 400,336 |
|
1,115,115 | -379,850 |
|
|
1,097,683 | |
|
1,059,768 | |
|
|
1,035,335 | |
|
1,026,537 | 169,829 |
|
|
1,015,753 | 461,348 |
"alexxt7" Bursts The Bubble by Busting "thebigdog09"
Level 22
: 12,500/25,000, 3,250 ante
"thebigdog09" raised to 55,000 from under the gun and was called by "thx4urm0n3y" in the small blind. "alexxt7" shoved from the big blind for over 1.8 million for "thebigdog09" to call for the 888,182 they had behind while "thx4urm0n3y" folded.
"thebigdog09": 
"alexxt7": 
The flop came 
for "alexxt7" to hit the higher pair of aces.
The turn was the 
for "alexxt7" to improve to the higher two pair.
The river completed the board with the 
for "thebigdog09" to bust as the bubble boy.
The 87 remaining players cash for at least $4,934 and can log off now as they have made Day 2.
The chip counts and a recap are to follow.
| Player | Chips | Progress |
|---|---|---|
|
|
2,776,585 | |
|
|
Busted |
Hand-for-Hand Started
Level 22
: 12,500/25,000, 3,250 ante
Hand-for-hand play has started as one player will leave the tournament without cashing.
Level: 22
Blinds: 12,500/25,000
Ante: 3,250
Eighth Break of the Day
Level 21
: 10,000/20,000, 2,500 ante
The 88 remaining players have gone for their last 5-minute break of the day as one more player needs to bust to signal the end of the day.
"paxantho" Busts Before the Bubble
Level 21
: 10,000/20,000, 2,500 ante
Viktor "papan9_p$" Ustimov raised to 40,000 from the hijack and was called by "Durzo.AO" in the small blind. "paxantho" called for the 28,441 they had behind.
Both "Durzo.AO" and Ustimov checked through the 
flop and the 
on the turn to the 
on the river. "Durzo.AO" bet 20,000 and Ustimov called. "Durzo.AO" tabled 
for the two pair on the board with the ace-kicker for Ustimov to show 
for the same hand. "paxantho" mucked and busted in 91st place.
| Player | Chips | Progress |
|---|---|---|
|
|
730,884 | |
|
|
518,605 | -128,530 |
|
Busted |
Play Slowed Down
Level 21
: 10,000/20,000, 2,500 ante
With 91 players left, play has slowed down as players are stalling and playing a bit more careful during while the bubble is closing in.
Level: 21
Blinds: 10,000/20,000
Ante: 2,500