In recent times, partypoker have been posing a challenge to PokerStars when it comes to being the top poker room, and that has been further underlined by the live festival offerings which partypoker are now bringing to the poker community.
The most recent of these festivals took place in Punta Cana in the Caribbean, with millions of dollars in prizes guaranteed between November 17th and November 25th of this year. The Main Event alone had a $5 million guarantee attached to it, and a further four events boasted a $1 million guaranteed prize pool. With such great prizes on offer, it was no surprise to see an excellent turnout, which included some of the best players in the world.
$10,300 Millions High Roller: Preben Stokkan
The first event on the schedule was the $10,300 Millions High Roller, which attracted a field of 103 top quality players, pushing the prize pool up to the $1 million that was guaranteed. The final table included the likes of Kenny Hallaert, Jonathan Little and Steffen Sontheimer, but in the end, it was a lesser known pro that took down the win. Preben Stokkan normally works at the online heads-up tables, but his ventures into the live arena had only netted him just over $500,000 in live earnings, until that figure was boosted by his win here. He adds a further $275,000 to his live cashes with this win.
MILLIONS High Roller Final Table Results
| Place | Player | Country | Prize |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Preben Stokkan | Norway | $275,000 |
| 2 | Jonathan Little | United States | $175,000 |
| 3 | Sam Greenwood | Canada | $124,100 |
| 4 | Alexandru Papazian | Romania | $100,000 |
| 5 | Kenny Hallaert | Belgium | $85,000 |
| 6 | Pascal Lefrancois | Canada | $70,000 |
| 7 | Steffen Sontheimer | Germany | $55,000 |
| 8 | Sean Winter | United States | $40,000 |
The $1,100 Millions Open
The $1,100 Millions Open also had a $1 million guarantee, which was not surpassed by the 812 runners who showed up for this event. This affordable event saw a wide range of players taking part, from the High Roller pros to the recreational players. Unsurprisingly, it was one of the top level High Roller regulars who took this one down. Rainer Kempe picked up $200,000 for taking 1st place in this event, bringing his overall live career cashes to over $11 million.
MILLIONS Open Final Table Results
| Place | Player | Country | Prize |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Rainer Kempe | Germany | $200,000 |
| 2 | Claudio Di Giacomo | Italy | $121,500 |
| 3 | Manuel Martinez | Spain | $80,000 |
| 4 | Paul Hockin | New Zealand | $54,000 |
| 5 | Andrei-Lucien Boghean | Romania | $40,000 |
| 6 | Michael Sklenicka | Czech Republic | $30,000 |
| 7 | William Blais | Canada | $22,500 |
| 8 | Vincent Tremblay | Canada | $15,000 |
The $25,500 Super High Roller
The $25,500 Super High Roller saw 43 entrants pull up their chairs, generating a prize pool of $1,042,750. The star studded field created an interesting final table, with Sam Trickett, Adrian Mateos, Steffen Sontheimer and Sam Greenwood all making the final. Greenwood had already taken 3rd place in the High Roller event earlier in the festival, and went one better here, taking 2nd. Trickett finished 3rd, with Chris Hunichen taking the win, claiming $400,000 in the process.
MILLIONS Super High Roller Final Table Results
| Place | Player | Country | Prize |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Chris Hunichen | United States | $400,000 |
| 2 | Sam Greenwood | Canada | $242,750 |
| 3 | Sam Trickett | United Kingdom | $165,000 |
| 4 | Adrian Mateos | Spain | $110,000 |
| 5 | Rafael Moraes | Brazil | $75,000 |
| 6 | Steffen Sontheimer | Germany | $50,000 |
The $5,300 Millions Finale
The $5,300 Millions Finale kicked off on November 23rd, with 215 entries helping the prize pool to grow just beyond the $1 million guarantee. The final table had a couple of familiar names in the running, with Kenny Hallaert eventually taking 3rd place. Fourth place finisher in the Super High Roller event, Adrian Mateos took 1st place. He adds a cool $250,000 to his career cashes and another trophy to his growing collection.
MILLIONS Finale Final Table Results
| Place | Player | Country | Prize |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Adrian Mateos | Spain | $250,000 |
| 2 | Anatoly Filatov | Russia | $165,000 |
| 3 | Kenny Hallaert | Belgium | $110,000 |
| 4 | Tom Waters | United Kingdom | $87,600 |
| 5 | Manig Loeser | Germany | $70,000 |
| 6 | Marc-Oliver Carpentier-Perrault | Canada | $55,000 |
| 7 | Bartlomiej Machon | Poland | $45,000 |
| 8 | James Walker | United Kingdom | $35,000 |
The $5,300 Main Event
The $5,300 Main Event saw 1,061 player take to the felt to fight it out across three starting days before the field finally came together for day 2. The final figure for the prize pool reached $5,145,850 and it took until the end of day 5 to determine the champion. The final table included champion of the opening event, Preben Stokkan, and Brazilian pro Felipe Ramos, along with Sam Greenwood, who was making his third final table appearance in the space of five events.
MILLIONS Main Event Final Table Results
| Place | Player | Country | Prize |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Sam Greenwood | Canada | $1,000,000 |
| 2 | Andrey Shatilov | Russia | $650,000 |
| 3 | Jonas Gjelstad | Norway | $450,000 |
| 4 | Jiri Horak | Czech Republic | $315,850 |
| 5 | Felipe Ramos | Brazil | $220,000 |
| 6 | Preben Stokkan | Norway | $150,000 |
| 7 | Udo Erlei | Germany | $100,000 |
| 8 | Dan Dizenzo | United States | $70,000 |
Remarkably, Greenwood carved his way through the final table, and eventually went on to defeat Andrey Shatilov heads-up to take home $1,000,000. This caps an amazing week for Greenwood, who claims a 3rd, a 2nd, and finally a 1st in the biggest event of the festival.
Article by Craig Bradshaw
