PokerStars Sunday Million Celebration Worth $7.5 Million-Plus
The PokerStars Sunday Million – a competition that made its debut in 2006 and has become the online poker industry’s most recognized multi-table tournament – will celebrate its 17th anniversary on March 26.
Organizers have guaranteed a $7.5 million prize pool and will assign $1 million to the winner. Last year, the 16th anniversary of PokerStars Sunday Million featured a $10 million guarantee. It was won by German player ‘Blackbeaty’, who secured a $931,885 prize. The payday followed a deal made with runner-up ‘JanRas1983’ from Denmark.
And the 15th anniversary PokerStars Sunday Million had an even bigger pledge. A $12.5 million guarantee worked to attract 69,876 entries and generate a $13,975,200 prize pool. With no deal struck, the winner, Vanessa ‘Niffller’ Kade collected $1,514,920. It is the biggest prize ever awarded in an anniversary PokerStars Sunday Million.
Since its inception, the Sunday Million tournament has allocated over $1.2 billion in prize money across all its editions. Standard weekly events demand a $109 entry fee, but the forthcoming anniversary Sunday Million will cost $215 to play. As usual, there will be plenty of other ways to qualify, including satellites, freerolls and Spin & Go’s.
Satellites Are Out of This World
The 17th anniversary Sunday Million is not the only event PokerStars customers can play for small stakes courtesy of an online satellite. Every week the enormous online poker room is running four direct satellites to the Irish Open.
Feeder satellite buy-ins begin with freebies and move up to €1.10, €5.50, €11.00 and €16.50. Direct satellites demand €55 or €109 entry, and the prizes are tickets or packages into Europe’s oldest poker tournament. PokerStars has guaranteed 23 entries to the Dublin event every week in the lead-up to the Irish Poker Open.
Numerous other online sites are also offering enthusiasts the chance to qualify cheaply for the Irish Poker Open. These include Novibet, Rizk, Guts, and the familiar British high-street bookmaking brand, Betfred.
O’Dwyer Will Return to the Scene
The 2022 Irish Poker Open was won by Irish American Steven O’Dwyer. On Wednesday, event organizers announced the 40-year-old with more won more than $33 million in live tournament winnings – ranking him 14 on the world all-time money list – will defend his title.
Since last year’s Irish Open, O’Dwyer has added another $2 million to his live tournament haul and is currently in the Bahamas competing at this year’s PokerStars Caribbean Adventure (PCA). The PCA is familiar territory for him, and it’s also where he had his biggest ever live cash – $1.8 million in 2015 after taking down the $100k Super High Roller competition.