Posted on by Sean Chaffin

Poker Podium: Online Qualifiers Crushing, Ambassadors Chalk Up Nice Wins, Big Bluffs, & More

While it may have been a short month, some big online poker winners rose to the top in February. Online operators offered plenty of action with a few players also reaping massive rewards in live events after qualifying online.

Severa site ambassadors also recorded nice scores including Lex Veldhuis, Ian Simpson, and Vivian Saliba. Here’s a look at the latest Poker Podium and some players recording some wins in February.

PokerStars

The ability to qualify for major online events remains a nice incentive for many online poker players. PokerStars offers numerous opportunities, whether just smaller buy-in satellites or major promotions like Platinum Passes.

The last month saw some of these qualifiers win big. That includes Razvan Belea recently winning the European Poker Tour Paris main event title for $1.2 million. He secured his seat via a €530 online qualifier and is more accustomed to playing low roller events, especially freerolls.

The Romanian may now be tempted to move up in stakes after such a life-changing win.

“This is unreal,” he said after the win. “It’s all I’ve ever dreamed of since I started playing poker.”

If that weren’t enough, the series also featured a stop on the France Poker Series. Another online qualifier found the winner’s circle with France’s Alan Gaosdoue taking down the €1,100 Main Event for €287,830.

PokerStars ambassador Lex Veldhuis also showed off a massive hand in February when heads-up in the $540 Marathon. He ran a huge bluff with 5-high to take a massive pot and then went on to win the event for $5,213.

GGPoker

The $150 Overlay Edition highlighted much of the online action at GG in February. That culminated with Germany’s Philipp Gruissem taking the title earlier this week for $806,385.

The tournament brought in 64,622 entries for an $8.9 million prize pool. As part of the overlay, GG added $1.1 million to the prize pool. The win came after Gruissem took some time away from the game.

“I can still do it,” he noted on Twitter.

In other action, Collin Capone offered a look at what it’s like to win a GG Bounty Jackpot. Playing in a $10.80 Bounty Hunters event, he cashed in for more than $1,000.

Some good vibes also headed the way of GGPoker ambassador Kevin Martin recently. The Canadian poker pro and former Survivor contestant made quite the hero call in a huge pot with only Ace high. His instincts proved correct, eliminating his opponent in a $100 Sunday Hyper event.

888poker

A few days remain in the 888poker Mystery Bounty Series. The action runs through March 7 and the entire series features $2 million guaranteed.

The festivities kicked off on Feb. 19 and 888 ambassador Vivian Saliba making a deep run on the first day of action in the $109 Mystery Bounty Opening. The tournament came with a $120,000 guarantee and saw 1,032 entries. Players also vied for a top bounty of $12,000.

Saliba, of Brazil, ultimately finished fourth for $4,002. A pair of fellow Brazilians took the top two spots with “Leofoliveira” winning the event for a total of $10,812. “perrivini” took runner-up for $9,210, and here’s a look at the final hand.

As of March 1, Brazilians were dominating the series with six titles. The closest other countries were Montenegro, Ukraine, and the United Kingdom with two each

One of the other big events so far included the $109 Mystery Bounty Eight-Max, which came with a $150,000 guarantee. The action produced a field of 1,820 entries for a $182,000 prize pool with a top bounty of $15,000. 

player named “Anywayz” entered the final table in the middle of the pack, but was able to move up and take the win. Anywayz scored the $15,633 top prize plus $1,215 in bounties for a total of $16,848.

Another 888 team member scored a nice run in the series. In the $109 Mystery Bounty ($15,000 guaranteed), StreamTeam member Josh Manley made a final table appearance, finishing eighth for a total of $540.

Fellow ambassador Ian Simpson has quite the celebration after scoring a bounty tournament win for a $5,000 night.

PartyPoker

This operator recently announced a new tournament schedule including the weekly $109 Sunday Party. The PKO (progressive knockout) event comes with a $150,000 guarantee. Online qualifiers start at just $0.01.

The first event debuted on Feb. 6 with 1,608 entries, topping the guarantee by $10,800. “BinkusMaximus” took the inaugural Sunday Party win for a total of $15,955.

On Feb. 26, Party boosted the prize pool to $200,000 and saw 2,014 entries for a $201,400 prize pool. In the end, “Nepomniachtch” ended the party on top, scoring $10,985 with an additional $13,014 in bounties for a total of $23,999. “Takafogonela” took runner-up for a total payout of $13,634.

The new $22 Sunday Carnival includes a $50,000 guarantee and saw a boost to $75,000 on Feb. 26. The tournament saw 3,436 entries for a small overlay. In the end, “Spakman0888” grabbed the win in this PKO event for a payout of $4,254 plus $2,900 in bounties for a total of $7,154.

In other news, PartyPoker ambassador Jaime Staples remains a popular Twitch streamer and recently gave fans a look at how he streams on Twitch. Not a bad online poker setup.