The Sunday Million that took place at PokerStars on June 5 was part of the online poker site's KO Week, meaning the format switched to a progressive knockout tournament. It proved popular, which is good news for PokerStars because it is changing the Sunday Million to a PKO event permanently; more on that shortly.
One player who must be pleased with the Sunday Million's format change is Germany's "Canyoh" because they took down the KO Week edition, outlasting a field of 9,957 players to bank $81,104, which included $22,956 from the bounty prize pool.
$109 NLHE 8-Max Sunday Million SE Final Table Results
| Place | Player | Country | Bounties | Prize | Total Prize |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Canyoh | Germany | $22,956 | $58,058 | $81,104 |
| 2 | Sorjak | Brazil | $4,734 | $58,051 | $62,785 |
| 3 | Vladk307 | United Kingdom | $4,131 | $34,443 | $38,574 |
| 4 | amario75 | Germany | $3,849 | $24,552 | $28,401 |
| 5 | Ivan "Negriin" Luca | Argentina | $6,677 | $17,501 | $24,178 |
| 6 | Marcos Epa | Brazil | $5,375 | $12,475 | $17,850 |
| 7 | Veemer | Canada | $2,968 | $8,893 | $11,861 |
| 8 | Pablo "PabloPool12" Roman | Argentina | $3,241 | $6,339 | $9,580 |
| 9 | jurezz | Germany | $1,427 | $4,518 | $5,945 |
"jurezz" was the shortest stack when the nine-handed table began; they were the first out of the door too. Jurezz open-shoved for 9.5 big blinds with pocket sixes but they ran into the aces of "amario75". The aces held and jurezz crashed out.
Pablo "PabloPool12" Roman of Argentina was the next player felted and the last player not to receive a five-figure payout. Ramon banked $9,580 when his second-pair was outdrawn by an open-ended straight draw.
Seventh place and $11,861 went to Canada's "Veemer" before "Marcos Epa" of Brazil bowed out in sixth, a finish good for $17,850. High-stakes specialist Ivan "Negriin" Luca dusted off his stack in fifth place and walked away with $24,178, which to the delight of the surviving four players.
The final four became three when Germany's "amario75" got their stack into the middle from the button with ace-king only for "Canyoh" to wake up in the big blind with pocket kings in the hole. Canyoh's hand remained true, and they now had more chips in their stack than the other two players combined.
Canyoh's position grew stronger when they added "Vladk307"'s stack to their own; the eventual champion's nine-six beat king-jack. Canyoh ground their opponent down and led by more than 12-to-1 when the final hand took place. "Sorjak" called off their last four big blinds with king-five after Canyoh set them all-in. Canyoh flopped over ace-ten. A king landed on the turn but Canyoh went runner-runner and hit a straight to become the Sunday Million champion, taking home $81,104 and leaving Sorjak to collect the $62,785 consolation prize.
Sunday Million Becomes a PKO on a Permanent Basis
PokerStars has announced it is changing the Sunday Million to the PKO tournament from June 12 onwards. The Sunday Million has been a PKO on special occasions, but it will have bounties permanently from this coming Sunday.
In addition to a change in format, there are a handful of other changes to the new look Sunday Million.
- Play is now on eight-handed tables instead of nine-handed tables
- Starting stacks increase to 50,000 from 10,000, although everyone still starts with 200 big blinds
- Blind levels are 15-minutes until the end of late registration
- Buying in during the last level of late registration sees you receive 20 big blinds
- Blinds are now 12-minutes for Day 2
- Day 1 ends one hour earlier at 1:05 a.m. CET instead of 2:50 a.m. CET.
- More timebank at the final table
The new look Sunday Million PKO for June 12 is already in the lobby, as are the various satellites feeding into it. Those satellites start at only $1.10 and increase to $22. However, it is an $11 buy-in Sunday Million satellite, scheduled for 5:05 p.m. BST on June 12, that is the best value, in our opinion, because it has 150 Sunday Million PKO seats guaranteed to be won.
Try the New Sunday Million PKO With a $600 Welcome Bonus
New depositing PokerStars customers can claim a welcome bonus worth up to $600. Download PokerStars via PokerNews, create your free account, and decide how much you want to deposit. Your deposit is matched 100% up to $600 in the form of a bonus. In fact, your first three deposits in the first 60-days after making your first deposit are matched up to a combined total of $600.
The bonus releases into your playable balance in $10 increments each time you generate 180 redemption points, which in turn are earned at a rate of five per $1 contributed to the cash game rake or spent on tournament fees (6.5 points per £1, 5.5 points per €1, and four points per CAD$).
