DaGoddfather won the Sunday Million for a second time since August 2011. Canada's DaGoddfather now joins the elite group of multiple Sunday Million champs in the exclusive Two-Timer Club.
Sequels often fail to live up to their original film manifestation, however, there's one sequel that many critics and fans alike universally agree is far superior to its original: The Godfather, Part II. Francis Ford Coppola jumped around in time to tell the story of ruthless Michael Corleone running his family's new business ventures in Nevada as casino owners, while juxtaposed with a prequel or origin story of his father Vito Corleone's early days as a cool-talking immigrant in NYC and his own violent rise to power in Little Italy before eventually becoming the feared and respected Godfather.
On the surface, The Godfather trilogy of films (based on novels by Mario Puzo) is about the quest for respectability in a highly-competitive world. No wonder the film goes hand-in-hand with tournament poker. Very few poker players get a chance to relive one of their finest shining moments on the felt. Only a handful of players can say they've won the Sunday Million... and even a smaller number can boast they've won it at least twice. You can add another name, DaGoddfather, to that prestigious list with membership in the Two-Timer Club. Fittingly enough, DaGoddfather returned with a vengeance and burst back into the Sunday Million's winner's circle for a second time in the last five years.
This installment of $215 buy-in The Sunday Million attracted 5,401 runners. They created a prize pool worth $1,080,200.00. The top 810 places got a cut of the prize money, with $168,945.98 originally set aside to the champion.
The PokerStars EPT Grand Final is in full swing at the Monte-Carlo Casino in Monaco. Team PokerStars Pro Elky played in several of the side events and he's still alive in the Main Event. He played in the opening flight 1A on Saturday and advanced to Day 2 with a below average stack. On Sunday, he fired up Twitch and webcast his deep run in the Sunday Million. In the vernacular of Elky, he was running "so sick" until he got sidetracked and busted in 240th place. ElkY shoved with [7s] [7c] on the button, but got ambushed in the small blind by fuddebuf's [8c][8s]. One moment, it seemed like Elky was on a fast-track to the final table and the next, he was dunzo in 240th place. At least he cashed and he's still alive in the EPT Grand Final Main Event.
With 27 to go, Poland's FloweerBoy led with over 4M. When action dwindled down to the final two tables, Canada's DaGoddfather sat at the head of the table with 6M and a comfortable spot in the lead. With 11 remaining, DaGoddfather passed the 10M mark and battled with kosilkO for the top slot. DaGoddfather managed to retain the lead by the time Austria's snackerdelux bubbled off the final table in tenth place after failing to double up with [As][Jh] against alexandraK86's [Ac][Kd].
5/1/16 Sunday Million - Final Table Chip Counts:
Seat 1: BlindRazorJJ (3,437,906)
Seat 2: FloweerBoy (4,326,558
Seat 3: DaGoddfather (10,732,725)
Seat 4: KIngAntsi (5,321,166)
Seat 5: kosilkO (9,826,308)
Seat 6: ha0444 (2,395,775)
Seat 7: alexandraK86 (4,427,032)
Seat 8: Canno747 (8,673,111)
Seat 9: whollyflush (4,869,419)
The final table for the Sunday Milly commenced during Level 35 with blinds at 80K/160K and a 16K ante. Big dog DaGoddfather held the only stack over 10M, but kosilkO was not far behind with 9.8M. Meanwhile, ha0444 was the proverbial shorty with 2.3M.
DaGoddfather sought out a second Sunday Million crown. Back in August of 2011, DaGoddfather navigated a slightly larger Milly field to win nearly $164K for his victory (as part of a three-way deal). Also, FloweerBoy final tabled a SCOOP event in 2012 and bubbled a SCOOP final table in 2015, yet was still seeking a first-ever Sunday Million win. The narrative boiled down tot his: would DaGoddfather win a second Sunday Milly crown? Or will one of the other eight players get a chance to rub out DaGoddfather before he gunned them down first?
DEAD FLOWERS: FloweerBoy eliminated in 9th place
The final table kicked off with a bang because FloweerBoy was not afraid to throw down early on. FloweerBoy got crippled with [Ad][Td] against BlindRazorJJ's [Th][Ts]. BlindRazorJJ flopped a set and the flowers were all but wilted when BlindRazorJJ won a 9.3M pot.
FloweerBoy was barely left with 100K and busted on the next hand after making a final stand with [9c][5s] in a multi-way pot versus ha0444 and kosilkO. Instead of checking it down to the river, on a flop of [Kh][Jd][7h], kosilkO check-called an all-in bet from ha0444 for 1,783,331. kosilkO [Ks][6h] flopped top pair, but ha0444 woke up with [As][Ad]. The turn was the [Td] and the river was the [Qs]. ha0444's Aces held up but only after rivering a Broadway straight to win both the main pot and side pot. The best kosilkO could do was a pair of Kings, which was a futile effort. FloweerBoy rivered a King-high straight but lost to ha0444's Broadway straight. FloweerBoy became the first player to exit the final table. Ninth place paid out $8,641.60.
BROWN SUGAR: kosilkO eliminated in 8th place
After getting caught up in the fracas as collateral damage between FloweerBoy and DaGoddfather, a wounded kosilkO was a short stack looking to double up. Big-stacked bully DaGoddfather min-raised to 522,000 and kosilkO called from the big blind. The flop was [Ac][Qs][7c]. kosilkO check-called a 423K bet from DaGoddfather. The turn was the [Kd], and kosilkO check-called a 1,010,000 bet from DaGoddfather. The [7d] fell on the river. kosilkO checked, DaGoddfather bet 4M, and kosilkO called all-in for 3,756,533.
DaGoddfather: [As][Qc]
kosilkO: [Ah][Th]
DaGoddfather won the pot with a flopped two pair -- Aces and Queens. kosilkO lost with a worst two pair (Aces and sevens). For an eighth-place finish, kosilkO took home $13,502.50. Belarus' kosilkO got whacked by DaGoddfather.
With seven remaining, DaGoddfather held a firm grip on the lead with 21.6M, or 3x than his closest opponent.
SWAY: KIngAntsi eliminated in 7th place
Big-stack bully DaGoddfather opened to 514,000, KIngAntsi bombed it all-in for 5,714,242, and DaGoddfather snap-called with [Ad][Kh]. KIngAntsi was in trouble with a dominated [Ac][8c]. Although KIngAntsi picked up a nut-flush draw on the flop with two clubs, the DaGoddfather dodged a few bullets when the board finished up [Ks][Qc][7c][6s][6h]. No clubs for KIngAntsi who never improved. DaGoddfather hit the flop with Big Slick and won the pot with two pair -- Kings and sixes. KIngAntsi got whacked by DaGoddfather and busted in seventh place, which paid out $24,304.50.
MOONLIGHT MILE: ha0444 eliminated in 6th place
Six-handed did not last very long, but surprisingly enough, DaGoddfather was not involved in this particular clipping. Two of the shorties rumbled.... ha0444 open-shoved for 4,034,675 with [Qd][9c], alexandraK86 re-shoved for 6,027,564 with [6s][6h], but no one else wanted to join in on the rumpus. Heads-up and ha0444 desperately hoping to win a race. The flop was [Ah][Kc][Jd] and ha0444 picked up a Broadway straight draw, but the turn was the [8d] and the river was the [4h]. alexandraK86 faded a straight draw and dragged the pot with a pair of sixes. Lebanon's ha0444 whiffed on a straight and never improved. ha0444 was dunzo in sixth place, which paid out $35,106.50.
With five remaining... DaGoddfather led with 23.2M, followed by alexandraK86 (10.5M), BlindRazorJJ (8.1M), whollyflush (7.2M), and Canno747 (4.8M).
I GOT THE BLUES: alexandraK86 eliminated in 5th place
Short-stacked Swede alexandraK86 attempted to double up and open-shoved for 3,720,359. However, whollyflush snap-called with [Qd][Jd] against alexandraK86's [4h][4s]. Coin flip. Race. Another tournament life at stake. The flop was a brutal one for alexandraK86 because whollyflush flopped top two. The turn was a blank and the river was the [Qc], which filled in an unnecessary full house for whollyflush. alexandraK86 finished up with two pair -- Queens and fours -- but it fell short of the mark. Sweden's alexandraK86 bailed in fifth place, which paid out $45,908.50.
With four to go, whollyflush chipped with to 18.7M or second overall behind DaGoddfather's 24.4M. At that juncture, it appeared that whollyflush was the only player left who might have enough ammo to challenge DaGoddfather.
YOU GOTTA MOVE: Canno747 eliminated in 4th place
Canno747 was all over the final table and should have busted a couple of times, but somehow always managed to spring back to life. If Canno747's spirit animal was a cat, it must've been on its ninth life because it failed to thwart an execution order from DaGoddfather. The big-stacked Don opened to 1,023,000, Canno747 bombed it all-in for 6,047,960, and DaGoddfather called with [As][Qs]. Canno747 was slightly ahead with [7h][7c], but Canno747 lost the race on the flop. The board finished up [Qc][6c][6s][2s][Kd] and DaGoddfather flopped Aces up to win the pot with a better two pair. For a fourth-place finish, Canno747 earned $61,031.30. And yes, DaGoddfather whacked another victim.
CAN'T YOU HEAR ME KNOCKING: BlindRazorJJ eliminated in 3rd place
Three-handed lasted three hands, but whollyflush was the one who took charge of the liquidation of the third place player. The Brit whollyflush shoved for 14,105,075 and BlindRazorJJ called all-in for 3,998,244. BlindRazorJJ attempted a final stand with [Kh][5c], but failed to gun down whollyflush's [Ad][Tc]. Although neither player improved by the river, whollyflush won the pot with a better Ace-kicker when the board finished up [Qc][9s][7h][Qd][Jh]. BlindRazorJJ failed to double up and was sent to the virtual rail in third place, which paid out $88,954.47.
HEADS-UP: DaGoddfather (Canada) vs. whollyflush (U.K.)
Seat 3: DaGoddfather (35,256,681)
Seat 9: whollyflush (18,753,319)
Only one player stood in DaGoddfather's way of winning a second Sunday Million. DaGoddfather appeared in charge with a 2-1 edge. Alas, whollyflush was not about to roll over and get flushed down the toilet so easily.
MIDNIGHT RAMBLER: whollyflush eliminated in 2nd place; DaGoddfather binks second career Sunday Million
The solid heads-up bout lasted nearly 38 minutes. When it appeared whollyflush gained a scintilla of momentum and might overtake DaGoddfather, whollyflush brought up the notion of discussing a money deal. DaGoddfather quashed any idea of chopping up the money with a firm, "No deal." Once whollyflush knew it was going to be a fight to the death, whollyflush quickly retreated into a defensive stance. The DaGoddfather's stack incurred a few hits early on, but before whollyflush got close to evening up the score, DaGoddfather launched a swift counter-attack to regain lost ground.
After their initial spat, it seemed as though the two reached a quagmire with whollyflush unable to get any traction going, yet DaGoddfather unable to deliver the fatal knockout blow. Eventually, time and luck ran out for whollyflush and the DaGoddfather neutralized another enemy. As Hyman Roth eloquently stated to Michael Corleone in The Godfather, Part II, "This is the business we have chosen."
On the final hand, a raising war broke out. The skirmish quickly escalated, but initiated by whollyflush, who opened to 1.72M. DaGoddfather didn't mess around and shoved for 38,676,341, and whollyflush decided to rumble and called all-in for 13,453,659. Although whollyflush took a pocket pair into a gun fight, whollyflush was in deep trouble with [4d][4h] against DaGoddfather's superior [9h][9s]. The board finished up [7d][5c][5s][7h][Th] and DaGoddfather' won with a better two pair. Ho hum, whollyflush sleeps with the fishes. Cue "The Godfather" theme song by Nino Rota.
The U.K.'s whollyflush busted in second place, which paid out an impressive $125,843.30 for a gritty runner-up performance.
First place in the first Sunday Million of May 2016 paid out $168,945.98. Congrats to Canada's DaGoddfather, who has now won multiple Sunday Millions. Welcome to the Two-Timer Club!
5/1/2016 Sunday Million ($215 No-Limit Hold'em) results
Entrants: 5,401
Prize pool: $1,080,200.00
Places paid: 810
1. DaGoddfather (Canada) $168,945.98
2. whollyflush (U.K.) $125,843.30
3. BlindRazorJJ (U.K.) $88,954.47
4. Canno747 (Australia) $61,031.30
5. alexandraK86 (Sweden) $45,908.50
6. ha0444 (Lebanon) $35,106.50
7. KIngAntsi (Finland) $24,304.50
8. kosilkO (Belarus) $13,502.50
9. FloweerBoy (Poland) $8,641.60
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Pauly McGuire is a freelance contributor to PokerStars Blog. His favorite movie is The Godfather, Part II.
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