PokerStars first Blowout Series wrapped up recently with $93.6 million paid out to players around the world. That was quite a number – easily topping the festival guarantee of $60 million.
The series closed out the year, running from Dec. 27 to Jan. 19. The Blowout Series attracted more than 300,000 players across 266 events. Additionally, PokerStars also awarded $2 million worth of free tickets for the series.
Big Blowouts go huge at PokerStars
As part of this series, PokerStars ran four signature “Big Blowout” tournaments each Sunday. These events came with a different buy-in each week and a total of $24.8 million was awarded to players.
The $1,050 version drew a prize pool of $6.9 million with “Arbaarba” topping the field. Arbaarba earned a seat in the field for a fraction of the price in a $109 qualifier. That run brought a $739,976 payout, the biggest profit of the series.
The $530 Big Blowout awarded $6.5 million and $721,691 for the winner. That prize went to “gwolde” after winning a seat through a $22 satellite.
The $215 NLHE version, “UnHuman3” won the title for $456,346. The tournament produced a prize pool of $6.4 million.
The $109 Blowout awarded $5 million with “pilaa” crowned the winner for $381,174.
The $11 buy-in New Year’s Bash event also proved to be a big hit. The event attracted 219,967 entries, the most of the series. The tournament awarded $2.2 million overall, with “NetoGamboa” earning the top spot for $92,745 after a four-way deal.
Multiple players turned small buy-ins into big wins. Three players – ”flynthehouse,” “r4fuel,” and “katarina1011” – all turned $2.85 into $19,623, $14,690, and $9,721, respectively.
PokerStars ambassadors find success
On the final event of the series PokerStars ambassador Lex Veldhuis won his biggest prize ever live on his Twitch stream. He placed fourth in the $5,200 Blowout Series Side Event for $97,256.
That run helped Veldhuis break his own Twitch record for number of viewers.
Arlie Shaban also broke personal records after he turned $22 into $19,707 in a $22 Mini Sunday Cooldown. That became the biggest score ever for the Twitch streamer.
More on tap at PokerStars
With online poker seeing massive series after massive series, a new festival debuts on Sunday at PokerStars. The 50/50 Series runs Jan. 31 – Feb. 7 with $6.2 million guaranteed.
The series features 50 events with lower-priced versions of some of PokerStars’ popular regular tournaments. As the series name implies, each event comes with a $50 buy-in and huge guarantees.
The 50/50 brings 50 tournaments all at 50 bucks. The Main Event highlights the series on Feb. 7 with $1 million guaranteed.
For more on this series as well as the MicroMillions set for Southern Europe and Italy, click here.
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