On Sunday, December 28th at 4:30pm Eastern Time (16:30 ET), PokerStars, the world’s largest online poker room, will bump up the prize pool of its weekly Sunday Million to $2.5 million. The marquee tournament regularly boasts a $1.5 million guarantee, making it the largest weekly event held.
An e-mail sent to PokerStars members on Wednesday read, “The world’s biggest weekly tournament is about to get bigger for World Record Week. PokerStars is guaranteeing a prize pool of $2.5 million in the December 28 Sunday Million. The buy-in remains at $215!” Also on Sunday, PokerStars will offer its members a chance to become a part of history in an attempt to hold the world’s largest poker tournament. The $11 buy-in event carries a $500,000 guaranteed prize pool and is capped at 35,000 people. PokerStars generated a massive field of 20,000 players the last time it attempted such a feat. However, the tournament then featured just $100,000 up for grabs.
The Sunday Warm-Up, which is also a $215 buy-in tournament, will see its guarantee ballooned from $750,000 to $1 million on December 28th. The tournament kicks off at 12:45pm ET and will set the tone for the day to come on the world’s premier online poker site. Last week, snowking_85 emerged victorious in the Warm-Up, taking home $99,000 in the process. Right behind him was jas21, who pocketed $69,000 for second place. Rounding out the final table was dan82mur (third place for $46,044), ael1979 (fourth place for $38,370), OMGSHIPIT (fifth place for $30,696), cadillacsa (sixth place for $23,022), AhKhQhJh10h (seventh place for $15,348), etishoo (eighth place for $9,593), and liverdracon (ninth place for $6,600).
Just like the Sunday Warm-Up, the Sunday Million on PokerStars shattered its guarantee last week. In fact, a healthy 8,015 players turned out, creating a total prize pool of $1.6 million, besting its guarantee by $100,000. KopplarJocke won the event, turning his $215 buy-in into $196,368. Heads-up, the PokerStars member defeated crazylarry43, who walked away with $132,408. Others who pocketed life-changing money in a matter of a few hours included phil steve (third place for $89,768), vuki (fourth place for $72,937), DFGBOYS (fifth place for $56,907), dstrung (sixth place for $40,877), gladik (seventh place for $28,053), tAAggart (eighth place for $18,435), and mezyoureyez (ninth place for $11,221).
If the increased guaranteed prizes up for grabs in the Sunday Million and Warm-Up weren’t enough, PokerStars is shelling out cash for players involved in every one-millionth hand dealt. In Micro-Stakes games, the winner of the hand will take home $250 and the rest of the pack will pocket $100. In Low-Stakes games, the winner of the hand will take home an additional $500 and the rest of the table will land $200. In Medium-Stakes games, winners will take home $1,000 and the rest of those seated at the table will win $400. Finally, for High-Stakes tables, the winner will receive $2,000, while others seated with them will see their bankrolls boosted by $800. Multipliers based on PokerStars VIP Status range from bumping the bonus by 15% to increasing it by 200%.
Finally, at 1:00pm ET (13:00 ET) on Sunday, members of Team PokerStars Pro will head to the tournament felts of the site to compete in a special Championship Match. The top three finishers will have money donated to the charity of their choice and prizes ranges from $5,000 to $15,000. Although every member of the esteemed panel of site pros has been invited to play, it’s unclear who will actually comprise the field. The winner of the tournament will also be named a captain in the PokerStars All-Star Weekend, which the site states is “a brand new online team competition coming next year.”