Finnish Stars Shine Brightly; Kelopuro Bags a Brace

Finland has produced some excellent poker players over the years and a trio of them won big on January 24. Sami Kelopuro won a pair of high stakes tournaments at GGPoker, which is where fellow Finn Eelis Parssinen took down an event. Joni Jouhkimainen also won big, taking down a $2,600 buy-in tournament on his sponsor’s site, partypoker.

Kelopuro Wins Hugh Rollers Blade Opener

The first of Sami Kelopuro’s two victories came in the $2,625 buy-in High Rollers Blade Opener over at GGPoker. A compact but star-studded field of 61 entrants ensured the guarantee was smashed and it was Kelopuro who secured the largest chunk of change.

Kelopuro netted $40,012 for this win after defeating Austria’s Benjamin Rolle heads-up for the title; Rolle banked $30,812 for his runner-up finish.

Earlier at the final table, Ukraine’s Andrii Novak finished in eight place and Francois Billard in seventh. The first five-figure prize went to David Peters for his sixth-place finish before Joachim Andersson and Michael Addamo saw their runs end, the latter in fourth place for a $18,271 prize.

Sam Greenwood’s elimination in third-place, a finish worth $23,727, was the penultimate of this high roller event.

High Rollers Blade Opener $2,625 Final Table Results

Kelopuro Triumphs in the Sunday High Rollers Bounty King

Sixty-six players bought into the Sunday High Rollers Bounty King for $3,150 and, again, Kelopuro outlasted them all. Victory in this event weighed in at $58,479 thanks, in part, to a $39,000 bounty payment.

Connor Drinan (8th) and Aleksei Barkov (6th) were the only players not to lock up five-figures for their initial investment. The likes of Sam Greenwood (7th - $12,534), Andrii Novak (5th - $17,356), Georgios Manousos (4th - $15,763), and Ami Barer (3rd - $22,650) all saw a healthy return for their efforts.

Kelopuro was heads-up with Rui Ferreira and he got the job done. Ferreira scooped $29,678 when he fell in second-place. Ferreira would later make amends for falling at the final hurdle by winning a tournament at PokerStars.

Sunday High Rollers Bounty King $3,150 Final Table Results

Other GGPoker Highlights From January 24

• Daniel Colpoys – first-place in the High Roller MILLION$ for $215,510
• “don chimbo” – first-place in the GGMasters High Rollers $1,050 for $141,384
• Brunno Botteon – first-place in the Sunday 500 High Rollers $5,250 for $126,544
• N0HomeJerome – first-place in the Global MILLION$ for $112,712
• J Mendoza – first-place in the Bounty Hunters HR Main Event $525 for $108,199*
• Justin Bonomo – first-place in the Sunday High Rollers Main Event $1,050 for $99,797
• “Gr4vyB04t” – first-place in the GGMasters $150 for $65,613
• Ole Schemion – first-place in the High Rollers Sunday Blade opener $5,250 for $59,386
• “Ector” – first-place in the Sunday Bounty King $315 for $45,291*
• Yuri Dzivielevski – first-place in the High Rollers Blade Closer $2,625 for $41,324
• Eelis Parssinen – first-place in the High Rollers Blade Bounty King PLO $3,150 for $40,591*
• Claas Segebrecht – first-place in the High Rollers Marathon $840 for $36,756
• “aiEhLocura” – first-place in the Sunday Forty Stack $400 for $32,366
• Vlad Martynenko – first-place in the Sunday High Rollers Deep Bounty Turbo $1,050 for $35,848*
• Connor Drinan – first-place in the Sunday High Rollers Fifty Stack $500 for $34,040
• Julian Stuer – first-place in the Sunday High Rollers Bounty Special $840 for $32,757*
• “JogosBoemios” – first-place in the Sunday Main Event $200 for $31,269

*includes bounty payments

Jouhkimainen Cleans Up in the partypoker High Roller Big Game

The High Roller Big Game is the largest tournament partypoker runs each week and this latest edition was no different. A field of 126 players bought in to blow the $300,000 guarantee out of the water by mire than $70,000.

Team partypoker pro Joni Jouhkimainen was the last man standing in this star-studded event, a remarkable achievement when you look at the quality of the players who reached the final table.

Luc Greenwood, Brunno Botteon, Simon Higgins and Juan Pardo Dominguez all busted one after another. Finland’s Thomas Fyrqvist and Benjamin McMenemey dusted off their stack to leave a super-talented trio fighting it out for the title.

Those three became two when Steve O’Dwyer fell by the wayside, leaving Adrian Mateos and Jouhkimainen heads-up. The Finn sent the Spaniard to the showers to claim the $77,720 top prize for himself, leaving Mateos to walk away with a $50,010 consolation prize.

High Roller Big Game Final Table Results

Other partypoker Highlights From January 24

• “Koos Roekeloos” – first-place in the $1,111 High Roller One Shot for $42,106
• Pedro Garagnani – first-place in the $530 Big Game for $38,538
• “Happy-AIA” – first-place in the $320 The 300 for $29,238*
• “Disco_Stu” – first-place in the $109 Weekender for $19,301*
• “Toanui” – first-place in the $111 One Shot for $16,567
• Brener Henrique Vicente – first-place in the $55 Mini Big Game for $16,234
• “L8reQ” – first-place in the $55 Gladiator for $13,405*

*includes bounty payments

888poker Sunday Sale a Huge Success; “santafe23” Wins Mega Deep

The $100,000 Sunday Sale Mega Deep at 888poker drew in a crowd of 2,159 players and Belarusian star “santafe23” outlasted them all. The champion was one of two finalists who saw their $55 buy-in swell to five figures. Runner-up “geniuspoker” joined the five-figures club courtesy of a $12,975 prize.

$100,000 Sunday Sale Mega Deep Final Table Results

Other 888poker Highlights From January 24

The other events selected for the Sunday Sale treatment also proved to be a huge success. Just as “Paok19262303” and “brasconni” who claimed the titles of the $30,000 Sunday Sale Whale and $20,000 Sunday Sale Monsoon respectively.

• “Paok19262303” – first-place in the $30,000 Sunday Sale Whale for $10,535
• “BrunoZika1” – first-place in the $30,000 Sunday Challenge for $6,541*
• “Kaneoya” – first-place in the $33 Sunday BIG Fish for $6,282
• “brasconni” – first-place in the $20,000 Sunday Sale Monsoon for $5,212

*includes bounty payments

Rui Ferreira Wins PokerStars Sunday High Roller

Rui “RuiNF” Ferreira made up for missing out on a title to Kelopuro over at GGPoker by winning the Sunday High Roller at PokerStars. Victory weighed in at a cool $64,116 after Ferreira sent “xMPFx” of the United Kingdom to the showers in second-place, which was a finish worth $48,312.

A pair of Lithuanian grinders reached the final table. Gediminas “gedis92” Uselis could only muster a seventh-place finish but Audrius “Stakelis24” Stakelis pushed on and eventually fell in third for a $36,403 addition to his bankroll.

Shout-outs to the likes of Ramiro “ramastar88” Petrone and Austrian sensation “DEX888” who also made it though a 345-strong crowd to take a seat under the spotlight at the final table.

Sunday High Roller Final Table Results

Other PokerStars Highlights From January 24

• “Markudre” – first-place in the $215 Bounty Builder for $35,432*
• Pedro “PaDiLhA SP” Padilha – first-place in the $1,050 Sunday Supersonic for $35,249*
• Lucio “WizardOfAz” Lima – first-place in the $1,050 Sunday Cooldown for $33,710*
• “Seanlazdi” – first-place in the $109 Sunday Cooldown for $33,264*
• Fellipe “FellipeD” Drapichinski – first-place in the $215 Bounty Builder for $32,039*
• “ezynow99” – first-place in the $109 Bounty Builder for $27,155*
• Mark “Muntjesvader” Roovers – first-place in the $215 Sunday Supersonic for $26,967*
• “Storimos” – first-place in the $215 Fat Sunday for $21,469*
• “Buckblack” – first-place in the $109 Sunday Kickoff for $13,230
• David “MissOracle” Yan – first-place in the $530 Sunday Marathon for $10,600
• “SmallKindB” – first-place in the Hotter $109 for $10,452

*includes bounty payments