British star Talal "raidalot" Shakerchi kicked off 2023 in style by taking down the $2,023 NLHE 8-Max New Year Special event at PokerStars. The tournament, one of three New Year Specials held at PokerStars on January 1, 2023, was ridiculously stacked, as you would expect from such a high-stakes affair. Any of the entrants would have made a worthy champion, but Shakerchi got the job done and his hands on $100,029.
$2,023 NLHE New Year Special Final Table Results
| Place | Player | Country | Prize |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Talal "raidalot" Shakerchi | United Kingdom | $100,029 |
| 2 | Ac-King00 | Austria | $74,944 |
| 3 | gettingpwned | Bulgaria | $56,149 |
| 4 | Christian "WATnlos" Rudolph | Austria | $42,068 |
| 5 | tzuzteutezu | Austria | $31,518 |
| 6 | Julian "jutrack" Track | Germany | $23,614 |
| 7 | Forest_PL | Poland | $17,692 |
| 8 | Benjamin "Spraggy" Spragg | United Kingdom | $13,255 |
| 9 | Benjamin "BC1989RF" Chalot | Hungary | $10,976 |
Some 272 players bought in for $2,023, an unusual buy-in designed to celebrate the start of the new year. Those entrants created a $524,054 prize pool, obliterating the $400,000 guarantee.
"Wildace_hun" was the unfortunate soul that popped the money bubble, crashing out in 35th place despite firing four bullets. An expensive day at the virtual felt for the Hungarian. Seasoned professionals, including Jans "Graftekkel" Arends, Bruno "great dant" Volkmann, Ramiro "ramastar88" Petrone, and final table bubble boy Alexandros "Pwndidi" Theologis, all cashed and saw a return on their investments.
Everyone at the nine-handed final table locked in at least $10,976 for their efforts. Benjamin "BF1989RF" Chalot received this sum. Chalot, a former PartyPoker MILLIONS Online champion, bowed out in ninth place. Team PokerStars' Benjamin "Spraggy" Spragg busted in eighth for $13,255, a superb result considering he won his seat in a $109 buy-in satellite.
The final seven became six with the elimination of Poland's "Forest_PL" before the 2013 EPT Prague Main Event champion Julian "jutrack" Track joined the list of busted stars, leaving only five players in contention for the six-figure top prize.
Three Austrians found themselves in the final five, but two crashed out in quick succession. "tzuzteutezu" saw their tournament end abruptly in fifth place, with Christian "WATnlos" Rudolph running out of steam in fourth. Rudolph walked away with $42,068 for his efforts.
Heads-up was set when Bulgarian grinder "gettingpwned" found himself void of chips. Shakerchi fought with "Ac-King00" of Austria for the title and the lion's share of the prize pool. Shakerchi left his final opponent in his wake and received $100,029 for an impressive victory, resigning the runner-up to a still-welcomed $74,944 consolation prize.
"Scoops 2022" Scoops Huge New Year Score
The $202.30 buy-in edition of the New year Special drew in a bumper crowd of 5,362 entrants, who ensured the $1 million guarantee was surpassed. Those entrants locked horns and butted heads for a share of $1,009,074.
The prize pool was so large that two entrants got their hands on prizes worth more than $100,000. Indeed, the heads-up duo of "Scoops 2022" and "Eset93" were the recipients of those substantial prizes.
Surprisingly, there was no deal struck when the tournament reached the heads—up stages, despite a nearly $41,000 difference in the payouts. The lack of any agreement meant Kazakhstan's Eset93 banked $102,272 for their second-place finish, while Switzerland's Scoops 2022 reeled in a mammoth-sized score worth $143,479.
$202.30 NLHE New Year Special Final Table Results
| Place | Player | Country | Prize |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Scoops 2022 | Switzerland | $143,479 |
| 2 | Eset93 | Kazakhstan | $102,272 |
| 3 | Mabreu16 | Brazil | $72,903 |
| 4 | GUNDIAS | Brazil | $51,968 |
| 5 | BBRS999 | Croatia | $37,044 |
| 6 | wemetagain | Mexico | $26,406 |
| 7 | Denvlas | Montenegro | $18,823 |
| 8 | Alex "AlexGelinski" Gelinski | Brazil | $13,418 |
| 9 | huegelking | Germany | $9,565 |
Low-Stakes New Year Special Ends in Four-Way Deal
The $20.23 buy-in version of the New Year Special, part of the New Year Series at PokerStars, narrowly missed its $400,000 guaranteed, but it came super close thanks to 21,602 players entering the tournament. Unlike the other New Year Special events, this one ended in a deal, and nobody could blame the quartet of stars for choosing to do so.
None of the final four had re-entered more than once, so they had only invested $40.46. However, although they were in for a small amount, the least any of the final four took home was $23,517, with the champion, "oskarbilstad" of Norway, collecting $33,073 for an incredible return on investment, and a superb start to poker life in 2023.
$20.23 NLHE New Year Special Final Table Results
| Place | Player | Country | Prize |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | oskarbilstad | Norway | $33,073* |
| 2 | attitudeeeee | Hungary | $24,138* |
| 3 | Gabriel Tung | Brazil | $25,584* |
| 4 | ch_rag2 | Chile | $23,517* |
| 5 | Pavel_Frants | Armenia | $10,626 |
| 6 | p0tK.O.mjt€d | Malta | $7,574 |
| 7 | KasperliTheater | Switzerland | $5,399 |
| 8 | 1ll1maister | Finland | $3,849 |
| 9 | fijis aek | Greece | $2,743 |
New Year Series Main Events are Approaching
You do not have long to wait before the huge New Year Series Main Events shuffle up and deal. Three No-Limit Hold'em Main Events commence at 6:30 p.m. GMT on January 15, with the singular Pot-Limit Omaha Main Event scheduled for 7:05 p.m. GTMT on the same day.
The No-Limit Hold'em Main Events come with buy-ins of $109, $1,050, and $5,200. They have guaranteed prize pools tipping the scales at $1,000,000, $1,250,000, and $1,500,000, respectively. The $215 buy-in Pot-Limit Omaha Main Event guarantees at least $200,000 will be won.
