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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 the month of February.

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.

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Poker Podium: Chris Klodnicki, Christian Rudolph Among Major December Online Winners

The holiday season brought plenty of gifts and treats for online poker players and Poker Podium looks at big December winners.

The holiday season brought plenty of gifts and treats for online poker players. A few bigger names found the winner’s podium during a hefty international online poker schedule.

PokerStars, GGPoker, and 888poker all held major series with big scores coming from players like Chris Klodnicki, Christian Rudolph, and Dan Wilson all finding some nice wins.

Poker Podium once again takes a look at some big online poker winners from December.

PokerStars

The New Year Series kicked off at PokerStars on Dec. 25 and runs through Jan. 17. The festival features 140 winter- and holiday-themed tournaments with $40 million guaranteed.

AS of Tuesday, the series had already produced big numbers including:

  • Tournaments completed – 119
  • Entries – 467,648 
  • Prize pool total – $16 million
  • First-place payouts – $2.3 million

The New Year’s Day Sunday Million was one of the marquee events so far and came with a special buy-in of $202.30. The normal $1 million guarantee remained intact.

The tournament saw 5,362 entries with Switzerland’s “Scoops 2022” scooping the first-place payout of $143,479, Scoops locked up the largest score of the series so far.

In other action, Dan “NukeTheFish!” Wilson topped the field in the $530 NLHE Six-Max for $32,659. This player from Ireland has $1.5 million in live tournament winnings as well as a doctorate in astrophysics.

The $530 NLHE Six-Max Deep Stack saw Christian “WATnlos” Rudolph, of Austria, rise to the top for $39,298. He has more than $5 million in live tournament winnings and also now another online score to add to his poker resumé.

In 2020 Rudolph grabbed a World Series of Poker bracelet online at GGPoker as well. He took down the $25,000 Poker Players Championship for $1.8 million.

Brazil’s Bruno “great dant” Volkmann Event took down a $320 NLHE event for $26,897. The New Year Series continues this month. For a complete preview, click here.

PSPC next up for PokerStars

The Stars action next heads to the Bahamas for the PokerStars Caribbean Adventure, which runs from Jan. 22 – Feb. 3 at the Baha Mar Resort.

The $25,000 PokerStars Players Championship is also part of the festivities. The company has awarded numerous Platinum Passes over the last year, which includes a complete tournament and travel package.

Stars ambassador Nicholas Walsh recently awarded a pass to one lucky winner – quite a Christmas gift.

GGPoker

Plenty of World Series of Poker championship ring action was underway at GGPoker in December. The Winter Circuit awards 18 championship rings and offers $150 million guaranteed throughout the series, which runs through Jan. 9.

Nick Maimone was already on a roll last month. He bagged a $1,050 Sunday Main Event High Roller for $80,332 and then took the title in the $1,500 Sunday Saver High Roller Hyper Turbo for another $34,090.

If that weren’t enough, he then came out on top in the $1,050 Naughty or Nice Bounty, which was part of the Winter Circuit. The tournament saw 1,399 players for a $1.4 million guarantee. Maimone pocketed $157,755 and his first WSOP Circuit ring. He has more than $2 million in live tournament winnings to go along with plenty of cashes online.

He wasn’t the only big name grabbing gold in December. Chris Klodnicki vanquished the competition in the $320 GGMasters Bounty Winter Freezeout. The event saw 1,421 players for a $422,037 prize pool.

Klodnicki picked up $40,590 for his efforts, adding to a deep poker record. In a career stretching back to 2005, Klodnicki has $10.1 million in live tournament winnings. That now includes two circuit rings and a WSOP bracelet as well.

Plenty of action remains in the Winter Circuit at GGPoker. Click here for a complete preview and click here for the WSOP.ca/GGPoker series in Ontario, Canada.

888poker

This site got in the spirit of the season in December with the Happy Holidays Sale series. The festival was a thank you to players and offered half off the tournament buy-in with the same normal guarantees.

888 awarded more than $300,000 in the series with players from the United Kingdom topping the leaderboard with three titles. Brazilian players grabbed two titles and the other event victories went to those in Malta, Ireland, Finland, Kazakhstan, Lithuania, Belarus, and Montenegro.

All tournaments saw a total of 9,410 entries with $301,755 paid out. The $55 Mystery Bounty Main Event kicked off on Christmas Day and guaranteed $100,000. The tournament saw 1,618 players with 485 rebuys, topping the guarantee for a $105,150 prize pool.

In the end, “Laszlo_Szucs” took the top spot for $7,192 plus $258 in bounties for a total of $7,450.

The tournament also featured a top bounty of $10,000. Canada’s “Josieviolet” scooped that prize, finishing 113th for a total of $10,094.

In the $265 Mystery Bounty High Roller, Montenegro’s “Ognian1988” found the win for $12,034. The tournament produced 148 players, 37 rebuys, and a $46,250 prize pool, easily topping the $40,000 guarantee.

The tournament also features a $4,000 top bounty prize up for grabs, which went to Finland’s “Inflaatio.” The bounty winner finished sixth for a total payout of $8,957.

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POKER PODIUM: November Online Poker Winners Include Luis Faria for Massive $1.2 Million Payday 

November brought about plenty of major winners in the international online poker scene including Luis Faria with a seven-figure score.

The month of November brought about plenty of major winners in the international online poker scene. That was highlighted by Portugal’s Luis Faria coming out on top in the WCOOP Take 2 Main Event for a seven-figure score.

Other action also saw players cash in for major victories at a tiny price point. That included a six-figure win for only $6 at GGPoker. An 888poker winner also turned a free entry into a major championship. Here’s a look at some players who shined in November.

PokerStars

The World Championship of Poker (WCOOP) Take 2 played out in November and saw some big names rise to the top. The mini-series featured $28 million guaranteed and several main events.

The $10,300 Main Event highlighted the series with Luis Faria coming out on top for $1.3 million. The event brought in 760 entries for a $7.6 million prize pool.

The massive score came after winning a $530 PKO Sunday Warm-Up earlier in the series for $83,854. Along with his massive online winnings, Faria also has $811,000 in live tournament cashes.

Benny “RunGodlike” Glaser proved to be another nice winner in the series, taking two titles in Take 2 for a total of four during the entire WCOOP series. During Take 2, Glaser scored $19,107 for winning Event 14-H: HORSE and also grabbed a title in Event 04-L: No Limit Omaha Hi/Lo for $2,334.

PokerStars ambassador Parker “Tonkaaaa” Talbott also grabbed a trophy, winning Event 02-H: $1,050 Eight-Game for $21,092. It was almost a Take 2 double for the Canadian poker pro as well.  He finished runner-up in Event 05-H: $1,050 Turbo for $30,970.

Some other Stars ambassadors also found nice runs in the series. Spanish pro and the winner of the first PokerStars Player Championship, Ramon Colilas, scored runner-up in Event 01-H for $26,846. Mason “Pye_Face” Pye also found a second place in Event 02-M: $109 Eight-Game for $4,980.

The United Kingdom’s Sam Grafton is no stranger to online poker success and that continued in Take 2. He just missed out on winning the $530 Main Event, finishing runner-up for $44,258. Argentina’s Ramiro “ramastar88” Petrone took that title for $62,088.

Grafton also finished in third place in a $5,000 Titans side event for $94,343. He also has more than $12 million in live tournament winnings.

GGPoker

A nice story emerged from GG in November. The site’s $11 Flip & Go Millionaire offered players of all bankrolls a chance at a nice payday and topped the $1 million guarantee.

In the end, 22-year-old German university student Niclas G. came out on top for $54,929.

“It still feels incredible to have won such a big tournament with over $1 million guaranteed,” he told PokerScout after the win. “Many players wait for these spots their entire life, and it really took me a while to realize what I had achieved.”

Interestingly, Niclas missed out on much of the early stages of the tournament.

“I was actually on the road for the first one or two hours of the tournament, and was sitting out like a third of the hands since I wasn’t able to be on the phone the whole time,” he says. “Nevertheless, I managed to build a stack and continued playing at home until the end.”

GG also recently launched Bet & Go tournaments to correspond with World Cup events. Players can notch some nice wins in these football-style tournaments. One player celebrated grabbing a $10,000 SuperMillion$ seat after an Argentina win. It looked to be a nice feeling to score a win on the tournament felt and on the pitch.

One player on the site also saw quite an interesting hand play out with a majority of the table starting with pocket pairs.

888poker

It was a busy month in November at 888poker with plenty of winners in the site’s Knockout Games Mystery Bounty series. One of the biggest of those was Germany’s “quvai” in the $250 Main Event. 

Quavi scored a free entry into the $250 Main Event for free via 888pokerTV ticket giveaway. He then turned that into winning the title and scoring a total of $40,613 – a 100% return on investment.


888’s own StreamTeam member Jordan Banfield also produced a nice result in the event. He took fourth place for $17,327. The tournament saw 1,924 entries and featured a $500,000 prize pool with a $50,000 top bounty. The UK’s “youler” was the lucky winner of that prize, taking home a total of $52,050.

In the $2,100 Super High Roller PKO saw 57 players for a $114,000 prize pool. “Matas.C” scored the title for a total payout of $35,656.

Overall, players from Brazil notched the most wins in the series with five titles. Lithuanians players finished second with three. Ukraine, Chile, Latvia, the United Kingdom, Germany, Canada, and Ukraine all had two titles.

In other recent action, the 888poker continued the site’s 20th-anniversary celebration in November with the CNP888poker LIVE Madrid series in Spain at the Casino Gran Madrid Torrelodones.

Abel Gongora celebrates his 888poker Live Madrid win. (photo courtesy 888poker)

The €1,100 Main Event highlighted the action and brought in 374 entries for €349,241 prize pool. Spain’s Abel Gongora reached the final table with  a sizable chip lead and parlayed that into a win.

He scored €70,000 for his efforts and now has more than $100,000 in live tournament winnings. Bernat Carreras, also of Spain, finished runner-up for €50,000.

PartyPoker

One of the biggest recent winners at PartyPoker may be Sebastien Proulx. The Canadian player took down the MILLIONS Online KO Winter Edition Main Event for $123,602 after qualifying via a $6 satellite.

Proulx advanced up three qualifying steps before taking his seat into the Main Event. It was quite a run to winning six figures for the price of a hamburger and fries.

In other action, the $1,050 Grand recently saw Jans Arends, of Austria, come out on top for $22,397. The event produced 120 players for a $118,700 prize pool. Beyond his online winnings, Arends also has $522,144 in live tournament winnings.

Earlier in November, Brazil’s Rodrigo Seiji also grabbed a Grand title for $23,495. He topped a field of 103 final phase players that created a $104,055 prize pool. Seiji also has more than $900,000 in live tournament winnings.

Next up at the site is the PartyPoker Players Championship Winter Edition, running Dec. 25 – Jan. 17. The festival features a $530 Main Event with $500,000 guaranteed. Online qualifiers are already underway and for a complete preview, click here.

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Poker Podium: Ian Hamilton, Adrian Mateos, Hannes Jeschka Among Online Poker’s October Winners

Poker Podium offers another look at some online and live poker winners over the last month from online poker operators.

There was plenty of action from the major online poker operators in October. From big winners on the European Poker Tour to a million-dollar score at GGPoker, players cashed in right up through Halloween in both the live and online arenas.

The month also brought some interesting online challenges with GGPoker’s Kevin Martin now facing an interesting athletic feat. Once again Poker Podium takes a look at some of online poker winners and headlines from the last month.

PokerStars

The European Poker Tour stop in London was a huge part of the PokerStars action in October. The £5,300 Main Event highlighted the series from Oct. 22-28.

After surviving several all-in situations at the final table, the United Kingdom’s Ian Hamilton took the title for £664,400. Jack Sinclair, also from the UK, finished runner-up for £414,650 in a tournament that saw 749 entries.

Former Deliveroo executive Adam Miller also proved to be a success at EPT London. The company offers restaurant delivery services in the UK and Miller served as the company’s chief financial officer.

Adam Miller battles at the EPT London. (photo courtesy PokerStars)

At EPT London, Miller delivered some nice finishes. After winning a £530 online satellite, he scored a Main Event package valued at £9,200. He then went on to finish 56th for £11,200.

Next, Miller took seventh in the £550 Eight-Game mix for £2,370. He battled PokerStars ambassadors Georgina “GJReggie” James and Parker “Tonkaaaa” Talbot at the final table. 

Miller’s run in the series got even better in the £10,300 High Roller. He took the top spot for £358,550. With his recent success, more poker tournaments look to be in his future.

“Yeah, I’m going to start traveling around a bit more to play more of these bigger buy-in events,” he said. “I haven’t decided between EPT Prague and another event in December, but I’ll play in the Bahamas and then play a full World Series of Poker schedule next year.”

Mystery Bounty rewards Platinum Pass 

The £3,000 Mystery Bounty was a major part of the action in London with a Platinum Pass as one of the bounties up for grabs. Germany’s Hannes Jeschka added to a nice year, bagging the pass and a trip to the $25,000 PokerStars Players Championship in January.

Hannes Jeschka accepts his new Platinum Pass. (photo courtesy PokerStars)

The win came after Jeschka won a $5,300 tournament in Cyprus in August for $542,000. Adding one of poker’s biggest prizes wasn’t on his mind when the action got underway.

“When I entered this tournament I didn’t know there was a Platinum Pass,” he told the PokerStars blog. He added: “I was disappointed to bust the tournament and I have mixed feelings right now, but this is overwhelming.”

WCOOP 2022: Take 2 is next up at PokerStars, running Nov. 5-9 with 66 events and total guaranteed prize pools of almost $28 million.

PartyPoker

The Grand Prix KO Autumn Edition was in the spotlight at Party in October. The $109 Main Event featured a $500,000 guarantee and Sweden’s Emil Sjogren grabbed the title for a total payout of $47,569.

The tournament topped the guarantee, bringing in 5,123 entries for a $512,300 prize pool. The Czech Republic’s Jiri Havlena took runner-up for $36,451.

The $320 Six-Max High Roller was another major event in the series and saw Brazil’s Gabriel De Melo come out on top. The tournament easily topped the $200,000 guarantee, attracting 773 entries for a $231,900 prize pool.

De Melo won $30,383 for the title with Canada’s Philippe D’Auteuil taking runner-up for $18,150.

The MILLIONS Online series is also now underway at PartyPoker. The series kicked off on Oct. 27 and runs through Nov. 15. The action started with Brazil’s William Barbosa becoming the series’ first champion.

He topped a field of 912 opponents in the $162 Opener for a score of $17,225. The event featured a $125,000 guarantee and Austria’s Tomas Patka finished runner-up for $9,568.

Adrian Mateos was another early winner, taking the title in the $530 Eight-Max for $12,461. The Spanish poker pro also has more than $30 million in live tournament winnings and is an ambassador for Winamax. He’ll also be part of an upcoming training session as part of the Winamax Poker Tour.

GGPoker

Much of the action over the last month at GG focused on the Bounty Hunters Series, which runs through Nov. 7 with $50 million guaranteed.

One of the big winners so far is Philippe D’Auteuil, fresh off his nice runner-up at PartyPoker. He took down the $525 Bounty Hunters High Roller Main Event on Sunday for more than $105,000.

GG also partners with WSOP.com in Canada for a new Ontario platform. The site recently ran a WSOP Online mini series with three bracelets up for grabs.

Toronto’s David Cowling won the final event, the $1,050 GGMasters Online Championship. He scored $50,992 and his first WSOP bracelet. For a complete look at the series results, click here.

In other action, GGPoker ambassador Kevin Martin conducted a unique challenge in late October. With $20,000 in his online account, the Twitch streamer had to play 60 hours with the hopes of ending up in the black. If not, the challenge came with an interesting punishment.

The result? He dipped below the initial amount and will now be readying his scooter for a marathon. On the other end of the spectrum, one player recently cashed in via a Bounty Jackpot event for a cool $1 million.

888poker

The XL Retro Series was a huge part of the 888 action in October with more than two weeks of tournaments. The 27-event series saw 10,951 entries and awarded $1.5 million.

Brazilians performed particularly well, winning seven titles. Canada was just behind with players winning six events. Players from Sweden, Germany, Malta, Finland, Uzbekistan, Ukraine, Lithuania, Mexico, the Netherlands, Montenegro, Ireland, and the United Kingdom won titles as well. 

The series saw seven five-figure payouts for first place. The largest came in the $250 Main Event, with “raw_dawg” winning for $70,164. The championship topped the $500,000 guarantee, attracting 2,162 entries for a $508,070 prize pool.

Some of the 888poker ambassador team found nice runs as well. Vivian Saliba and StreamTeam members Nick Eastwood and Josh Manley all made it in the money.

Another StreamTeam member found the winner’s circle. Jordan Banfield took down the $320 Crocodile KO for a $5,418 top prize plus $375 in bounties. The Canadian player collected a total payout of $5,793.

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Poker Podium: Simon Mattson, Preben Stokkan Among Huge September Online Winners

September produced some massive winners in the international online poker market. Players saw some massive series and payouts on PokerStars, GGPoker, PartyPoker.

One major highlight included Simon Mattson taking down the World Series of Poker Online Main Event. Preben Stokkan also came up big, winning the PartyPoker Millions Online Main Event. Poker Podium takes a look at those winners as well as other action from September.

PartyPoker

The MILLIONS Online recently wrapped up at PartyPoker. In the $3,200 Main Event, Preben Stokkan (pictured in lead image, courtesy PartyPoker) found the winner’s circle for a payout of $391,731.

Originally from Norway and now living in the United Kingdom, Stokkan also earned a Party Ape NFT as part of the prize package. He took the chip lead into the final table and rode that to victory. 

Eelis Parssinen, of Finland, took runner-up for $270,213 with Austria’s Ole Schemion grabbing third for $186,168.

The win came only days after Stokkan also chalked up a victory in the $1,575 Closer PKO. That event brought in 253 players for a $379,500 prize pool. Stokkan added $73,423 for that win as well.


The $320 Min Main Event saw Franco Spitale, of Argentina, rise to the top for a payout of $100,480. Austria’s Leon Sturm finished runner-up for $68,227.

Two other players shined in the MILLIONS Online. Ricardo Arraiano, of Malta, won the Super 500 PKO for a total prize of $69,315. Emiliano Ricchini, of Argentina, won the Super 100 for a total of $31,765.

PokerStars

The World Championship of Online Poker (WCOOP) recently wrapped up at PokerStars, despite some hiccups. Stars has rescheduled main events and added some other tournaments for November after DDoS attacks led to some tournament cancellations.

The first running of WCOOP saw several big winners however. Well-regarded online player Renas Bruschi took the $5,000 Titans title for $173,239. Bruschi has more than $8 million in online winnings.

After two runner-up finishes in the series, Stars ambassador and Twitch streamer Patrick Leonard added a WCOOP ‘22 title by winning the $1,050 Six-Plus Hold’em event for $17,444. He also won events in this version of Short Deck in the 2021 WCOOP and in SCOOP earlier this year.

After the nice finish, Leonard then made a huge run in the $5,000 WSOP Online Main Event at GGPoker (more on that below) as well for a score of more than $91,000.

A look at other PokerStars winners

Winamax ambassador Joao Vieira also scored three WCOOP titles in the series. That included taking  down the $2,100 Deep Stack for $62,131. He also rose to the top in the $2,000 Deuce to Seven Triple Draw for an additional $32,230.

Women’s WCOOP event winner Charlotte Van Brabander. (photo courtesy PokerStars)

Brazil’s Rui Ferreira took runner-up in that Deep Stack event for $48,097 after already winning three events in the series as well.

Sweden’s Christian Jeppsson scored his third career WCOOP trophy in the $2,100 Thursday Thrill PKO for $115,695. He then added another win in the $1,000 NLHE freezeout for $47,880.

Ognjan Dimov was one of the series biggest winners, scoring three championships. That included winning the $5,200 High Roller for $160,277 and the $10,000 High Roller for $230,000.

In the first WCOOP Women’s World Championship, Belgium’s Charlotte Van Brabander (a former PokerStars ambassador) took the top spot for  $15,886. Current Stars ambassador Georgina “GJReggie” James also made a nice run, finishing seventh for $3,014.

GGPoker

Obviously much of September’s GG action focused on the WSOP Online. The series recently wrapped up and Simon Mattsson scored the biggest title of the series. He took down the $5,000 Main Event for a massive score of $2.8 million.

The WSOP Online wrapped up on Tuesday at GGPoker with Eric Mattsson winning the $5,000 Main Event for $2.8 million.
Main Event winner Simon Mattsson. (photo courtesy PokerStars/Danny Maxwell)

The championship easily topped the $20 million guarantee, bringin in 4,984 entries for a $23.7 million prize pool. That wasn’t Mattsson’s only win of the series. He also took down a $5,250 Bounty Hunters Super High Roller non-bracelet event for $23,293.

In total, the series’ 33 events produced a total prize pool of more than $66 million. Beyond the Main Event, the $1,500 Millionaire Maker saw the second-largest payout of the series. Markus Prinz scored that title for $1.2 million with the tournament attracting 4,706 entries for $6.7 million.

The $10,000 Super MILLION$ High Roller also produced hefty numbers with 593 entries for a $5.7 million prize pool. David Yan scored the win for almost $1 million.

888poker

A former WSOP Main Event champion scored a nice finish at 888 in September. Sweden’s Martin Jacobson, winner of the 2014 WSOP Main Event, came up just short of a title in the $109 Big Shot, which features a $100,000 guarantee.

The event brought in 909 total entries and Jacobson entered the final table as chip leader. However, the United Kingdom’s “Patsharpe” took the top spot for $15,480 with Jacobson as runner-up for $11,290.

In other news, 888 recently offered up some prizes for those who shared one of their best stories from the site. Numerous players submitted their memories including this winner from a recreational player.

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POKER PODIUM: A Look at Big August Live & Online Winners

August saw some big winners across the live and online poker world and here's a look at a few hitting it big.

Plenty of action continues for online and live players in the coming weeks on the international poker scene. August saw some big winners across the spectrum and that included some massive wins at the PokerStars European Poker Tour Barcelona stop.

A PartyPoker ambassador had a nice run as well with more bracelet winners also finding nice payouts at GGPoker. Day 1 in the 888poker ChampionChip Games also brought some nice scores in the low roller series. Poker Podium once again takes a look at some major poker winners.

PokerStars

The European Poker Tour Barcelona was a huge event in August for PokerStars attracting record numbers for the Main Event. The festival ran from Aug. 8-21 at Casino Barcelona.

 The  €5,300 Main Event brought in 2,294 entries with 1,686 unique players for a €11.1 million prize pool. Italy’s Giuliano Bendinelli found the top spot for €1.5 million. He came back to win after being down to a single big blind at one point.

Online poker regular Mikita Badziakouski scored the win in the €100,000 Super High Roller for €2 million. The event saw 68 entries, 16 re-entries, and a €6.6 million prize pool. American poker pro and Hall of Famer Erik Seidel scored second place for €1.3 million.

PokerStars ambassador and Twitch streamer Mason Pye scored a nice win as well in Barcelona. He took down the €550 HORSE for €17,290. Pye added a SCOOP title in April and now has an EPT title to go along with it.

Online qualifier heads to EPT for only $5

Ireland’s Jenny Steele also recorded a motivational story for online poker players in August. The recreational player earned a seat into the EPT Main Event for only $5.

“I said, I really want to play in the EPT Main Event,” Steele told the PokerStars blog. “So I played a fiver satellite, and won into the next round, which was €55. I played the €55, won that one, into the €530. Played the €530 and won that one. All in one night.”

Steele and her husband run a printing business back in Ireland. Both are regular players as well and are always working on their skills.

“Me and my husband are a good tag team, he helps me and I help him,” she said. “But I’m better.”

For a complete recap of the EPT Barcelona, click here. Next up at PokerStars is the World Championship of Online Poker (WCOOP), running Sept. 4-28 with $85 million guaranteed. Buy-ins range from $5.50 to $25,000 and the schedule also includes 12 World Championship events. For a complete preview and schedule of the series, click here.

PartyPoker

One PartyPoker ambassador made some waves recently in the recent McLaren Turbo Series. Twitch streamer Jaime Staples made two final tables in a single weekend.

While he didn’t find the winner’s circle, Staples scored fourth in the $109 Seven-Max Weekender for $4,436. He then went on to take sixth in the $55 Daily Sprint for $710.

Staples followed that up Monday with a third-place finish in the $320 Grand Prix as well for a $11,786 win. 

In the Grand Prix Summer Series, Brazil’s Lucas Alves found the top spot in the $109 Main Event.

Two other Brazilian players also made final table appearances. The event brought in 765 entries for a $521,000 prize pool.

The action at PartyPoker now turns to the upcoming Millions Online, which kicks off Thursday. Millions has become one of the biggest series in online poker and runs Sept. 1-27. Look for several tournament formats including six-max, seven-max, eight-max, progressive knockouts (PKO), and more.

The $3,200 Main Event highlights the series and comes with a $2 million guarantee. The first Main Event starting flight is set for Sept. 4. For a complete preview and schedule for the series , click here.

GGPoker

The World Series of Poker Online continues at GG from Aug. 14 – Sept. 27. So far 12 winners have been crowned with the biggest win coming in the $1,500 Millionaire Maker. The tournament brought in  4,706 entries for a $6.7 million prize pool.

Markus Prinz came out on top for a massive $1.2 million payday. The founder of DTOPoker training site locked up one of the biggest wins of his career on Monday.

The second largest winner’s payout came in the $5,000 Six-Handed Championship, which brought in 430 entries for a $2 million prize pool. Daniele Sesta came out on top for $400,213.

Many eyes were also on the Million Dollar Mystery Bounty. “PH14” came out on top for $367,953, but the bigger prize went to one lucky bounty winner.

Two-time bracelet winner Scott “ItsRumcake” Ball had the lucky draw for a cool million bucks. It took a bit for Ball to realize how big he’d actually won.

Look for more winners later in the week in PokerScout’s next WSOP Online update. For a complete preview of the series, click here.

888poker

The ChampionChip Games got underway this week at 888poker. The series runs through Sept. 6 and features lower buy-ins, most priced at under $30. The first day of the series saw 5,575 total entries for $92,030 in prize money awarded.

Day 1 featured six events and players could buy into all of those for under $80. Two of those titles went to players in the United Kingdom and two also went to Brazilian players.

The $33 Opening Event featured a $30,000 guarantee and actually found 912 entries, 282 re-entries, and a $35,820 prize pool. Ukraine’s “Dkfdyulr” found the winner’s circle for a $4,235 payday.

The second-biggest winner on the day came in the $22 Triple Threat PKO, which attracted 1,071 entries for a $21,420 prize pool. Kazakhstan “SlevinK161” scored the win for $2,796. For a complete preview of the series, click here.