PokerStars' MicroMillions IV Draws 223,000 Players on Day 1
The fourth installment of the popular MicroMillions tournament series at PokerStars kicked off on Thursday with six events. More than 223,000 entrants participated on the first day of action, generating more than $680,000 in prizes and exceeding the advertised $350,000 in guarantees.
The biggest winner of the first day was "Swarm255," who topped a field of 49,977 players in Event #2 to score more than $18,000. The third-place finisher, "Vlader666" won his seat through a satellite for just $0.15 and banked $8,732 for his final-table finish. That's a return of nearly 1 million percent.
Event #3 winner "Leadankoning" didn��t even buy in to the event; he entered using 70 Frequent Player Points and went on to win nearly $11,000.
Thursday's opening of MicroMillions IV was the also official debut of Zoom Poker tournaments. Nearly 30,000 players registered for the inaugural fast-paced event to create a $148,960 prize pool. Ukrainian player "yana-11k" became the first Zoom Poker tournament champion to collect the top prize of $10,000. 2012 World Championship of Online Poker (WCOOP) leader board winner "mikal12345" finished third for $8,507.60.
Here��s a look at the winners from the first day of MicroMillions IV:
| Event | Buy-in | Entrants | Winner | Prize |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Event #1: No-Limit Hold��em Hyper-Active | $0.11+R | 75,328 | Zoultanberg | $2,448 |
| Event #2: No-Limit Hold��em 3x-Turbo | $1+R | 49,977 | Swarm255 | $18,537 |
| Event #3: No-Limit Hold��em Six-Max | $3.30 | 41,496 | Leadankoning | $10,986 |
| Event #4: No-Limit Hold��em Zoom Turbo | $5.50 | 29,792 | yana-11k | $10,007* |
| Event #5: No-Limit Hold��em | $3.30 | 18,459 | botaro666 | $5,985 |
| Event #6: No-Limit Hold��em 2x-Turbo | $2.20+R | 8,514 | TODDY1947 | $9,161 |
*adjusted for four-way deal
Several members of Team PokerStars participated in the first day of action, including Team Online's Tyler Frost, who opened up about his intent to win the MicroMillions IV leader board. In a recent blog entry, Frost explained that he will enter 80 or more events in an attempt to earn as many leader board points as he can by the end of the series.
��I don��t have an exact strategy worked out in terms of sleeping since the events run around the clock,�� Frost stated in his blog. ��But thanks to late registration, I'll hopefully be able to carve out some six hour blocks to rest up.��
Team PokerStars Pro Marcin Horecki, who won the MicroMillions III Player of the Series late last year, told PokerNews he wouldn��t be playing nearly as many events this time around. In November, he played in 86 of the 100 events in MicroMillions III to earn the coveted title.
"I promised my wife, myself, and a few other people that I will not compete in MicroMillions IV," Horecki joked during an interview with PokerNews late last year.
MicroMillions IV runs through Sunday, March 24, concluding the series with a $22 Main Event with a $1 million prize pool. For more on Thursday��s results, visit the PokerStars Blog.
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