PokerNews can only imagine how Canada’s "JoshSmallAA" is feeling today because they managed to turn a $50 investment into $69,616 and the title of PokerStars 50/50 Series Main Event champion.
The 50/50 Series Main Event boasted of a $1 million guaranteed prize pool despite its affordable buy-in. That guarantee was not only hit but surpassed by some $125,932 thanks to 24,773 PokerStars players taking to the virtual felt.
50/50 Series Main Event Final Table Results
| Place | Player | Country | Bounties | Prize | Total Prize |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | JoshSmallAA | Canada | $21,309 | $48,307 | $69,616 |
| 2 | blue1084 | Canada | $5,351 | $48,288 | $53,639 |
| 3 | robertscom | Romania | $2,393 | $28,286 | $30,679 |
| 4 | SLeonV | Russia | $3,073 | $20,001 | $23,074 |
| 5 | crisovza | Brazil | $7,246 | $14,143 | $21,389 |
| 6 | CeceuMPA | Brazil | $3,618 | $10,000 | $13,618 |
| 7 | siera92 | Poland | $1,395 | $7,071 | $8,466 |
| 8 | rubbeer legz | Latvia | $1,800 | $5,000 | $6,800 |
| 9 | Cabeca Tilt | Brazil | $3,958 | $3,535 | $7,493 |
The nine-handed final table saw nobody win less than $6,800 for their $50 buy-in when bounties were taken into consideration. PokerStars’ Twitch channel streamed all the action.
"Cabeca Tilt" was the first player out of the door; they busted in cruel circumstances. The action folded to "SLeonV" of Russia in the small blind, and they open-shoved with king-eight. Cabeca Tilt instantly called off their 16 big blind stack with pocket aces, and looked set for a timely double-up. That was until a king flopped and an eight appeared on the turn. Cabeca Tilt walked away with $7,493 in total.
Latvia’s "rubbeer legz" bounced out shortly after that bad beat and padded their bankroll with $6,800. The Latvian busted when they open-shoved for 11 big blinds from under the gun with ace-king, and "crisovza" looked them up from the button with pocket queens. A jack-high board reduced the player count by one.
Seventh-place and $8,466, the tournament’s last four-figure prize, went to "siera92" of Poland. SLeonV min-raised to 5,000,000 from under the gun with king-eight of hearts, siera92 three-bet all-in for 34,136,964 with pocket jacks, and crisovza four-bet all-in for 54,458,741 with what turned out to be pocket aces. SLeonV mucked his hand. The queen-high board provided no drama, and the tournament was no down to only six players.
Five Figure Prizes All Round
The final six became five when "CeceuMPA" bowed out. The Brazilian ripped in their final eight big blinds from under the gun with king-jack offsuit, and JoshSmallAA called from the big blind with queen-seven of clubs. Everything pointed towards CeceuMPA doubling their stack, but the community cards had other ideas. CeceuMPA turned a jack and rivered two pair, but the king on the river gifted JoshSmallAA a Broadway straight, ouch. CeceuMPA walked away with $13,618 and a bad beat story to remember.
crisovza was the next player heading for the exits, and it was JoshSmallAA who did the damage once again. JoshSmallAA min-raised to 8,000,000 from the button before calling when crisovza three-bet all-in for 65,168,205 with pocket queens. JoshSmallAA flopped an open-ended straight draw, which came in on the river crisovza saw his PokerStars account balance grow by $21,389.
Fourth-place and $23,074 went to SLeonV who can count themselves unfortunate not to progress deeper. SLeonV pushed all-in for 13.5 big blinds from the small blind with pocket eights, and "blue1084" called from the big blind with king-trey of diamonds. A three on the flop and a king on the river saw SLeonV crash out.
Heads-up was set soon after when "robertscom" ran into the hot-running JoshSmallAA. The blinds were 3,000,000/6,000,000/750,000a when robertscom raised to 45,000,000 from the button, leaving themselves 28,925,951 behind. JoshSmallAA shoved from the small blind, and robertscom called off their last chips. It was pocket threes for robertscom but a pair of nines in the hole for JoshSmallAA.
That hand gave JoshSmallAA a five-to-one chip advantage over blue1084 and it did not take too much longer to press home their lead. The final hand saw blue1084 move all-in for 81,681,622 with jack-eight of clubs, and JoshSmallAA call with king-six of clubs. An eight on the flop pushed blue1084 into the lead but a king on the turn gifted the hand and the victory to JoshSmallAA. blue1084 reeled in a $53,639 consolation prize.
The PokerStars KO Week Packs a Serious Punch
Don’t worry if you missed out on 50/50 Series glory because you have the chance to become a KO Week champion. Several PKO tournaments run each day up to and including February 13 in what is billed as KO Week.
There are 65 events in total, buy-ins range from $5.50 all the way up to $5,200, with guaranteed prize pools starting at $2,000 and soaring to a mouth-watering $1 million. The latter is reserved for KO Week 59, a $109 buy-in PKO edition of the ever-popular Sunday Million at 6:05 p.m. GMT on February 13.
Need to brush up on your Progressive Knockout strategy? PokerNews has you covered with these five tips for PKO tournaments.
