Sunday Briefing: Fabrizio Gonzalez Wins High Roller on Powerfest Day 1
Sunday was one of the busiest days of poker of 2017 thanks to the partypoker Powerfest and PokerStars World Championship of Online Poker getting underway.
At partypoker, 17 Powerfest events ranging from $5.50 to $5,200 took place with the $5,200 buy-in $500K Gtd High Roller being the highlight of the day. A field of 117 created a $585,000 prize pool and a $143,325 top prize.
"Z0rr088" busted in 17th place to burst the money bubble, paving the way for partypoker sponsored pro Kristen "Krissyb24" Bicknell to collect the $11,700 16th place prize. By the time the final table was reached, the least anyone would take home was $19,012, the amount awarded to "MechaCorta" the eighth-place finishers.
Heads-up saw "orud74" lock horns with Chris "thebattler33" Hunichen and it was the latter who came out on top to scoop $143,325 and left their opponent to bank the $102,375 runner-up prize.
Fabrizio "DrMiKee" Gonzalez (pictured), also known as "sixthsense19" online, took down the $250K Gtd High Roller for nearly $60,000. Gonzalez is the top-ranked online tournament player in Uruguay, according to PocketFives, with more than $5 million in recorded cashes across all sites.
Some of the other notable victories at partypoker included:
| Tournament | Champion | Prize |
|---|---|---|
| Powerfest #011: $300K Gtd High Roller | Ciao_Polacco | $63,546 |
| Powerfest #009: $200K Gtd | Aneriss | $37,348 |
| Powerfest #014: $75K Gtd High Roller 6-Max | Johannes "SLARVBOGMAJS" Korsar | $25,850 |
| Powerfest #002: $100K Gtd Freezeout | x_Perfect1239 | $20,357 |
| Powerfest #005: $100K Gtd PKO Freezeout | Ramiro "letsgodancing" Petrone | $11,268 |
Over at PokerStars, the first four events of the 2017 WCOOP got underway and you can read our Day 1 recap here.
PokerStars' usual array of Sunday majors also ran and one that caught the eye was the $1,050 Sunday Grand NLHE. The nine-handed final table was a star studded affair with the likes of Andras "probirs" Nemeth, Steve "Mr. Tim Caum" O'Dwyer, and Rocco "Sephirot88" Palumbo being present and correct.
Heads-up saw a battle between two Germans, namely "SsicK_OnE" and Jens "Fresh_oO_D" Lakemeier who struck a deal that locked up $37,271 and $37,922 respectively; Fresh_oO_D took down the tournament for yet another online victory.
Some of the biggest wins at PokerStars on Sunday included:
| Tournament | Champion | Prize |
|---|---|---|
| $700 Super-Sized Sunday | stackhousevv | $43,610 |
| $1,050 Sunday Grand PLO | WATnlos | $34,050 |
| $215 Sunday Supersonic | Nedelcu "Narcisus90" Narcis | $32,830 |
| Big $109 | FloweerBoy | $28,471 |
| Big $215 | vinnarin777 | $24,703 |
| Hot $109 | David "MonkeyBausss" Laka | $20,966 |
| $109 Sunday Cooldown | Alex "J0hnny_Dr@m@" Zervos | $20,700 |
| Hot $215 | Andrius "Respect_Lt" Gervinas | $19,917 |
| $109 Bounty Builder | Bernado "bedias" Dias | $17,878 |
| $215 Bounty Builder | Omon_Ra_AA | $15,931 |
| Hot $162 | Pimmss | $14,754 |
| Hot $162 | shorezydrew | $10,003 |
| $109 Bubble Rush | Perfect1232 | $8,365 |
| $109 Sunday Starter | Tulkaz | $6,539 |
| Big $162 | VERSUS67 | $5,954 |
Finally, over to 888poker where the $120,000 Whale made a return and saw 146 players battle it out for a share of the $203,000 prize pool. The tournament ended in a three-handed chop with all three players involved winning more than $32,000.
Germany's "allesrigged" finished in third place for $32,617 with Sweden's "anteen" claiming $32,197 for their runner-up finish. The official champion was "JBA888" who banked $34,146 and bragging rights among his peers.
Another big tournament at 888poker this weekend was the $100,000 Mega Deep, an eight-handed event with a $215 buy-in. Canada's "S.Janowski" claimed the $21,991 top prize after beating Austria's "breaking89" heads-up, leaving the Austrian to collect $16,170.
Some of the other big wins at 888poker included:
| Tournament | Champion | Prize |
|---|---|---|
| $60,000 Sunday Challenge | CoconuTree | $13,022 |
| $40,000 Turbo Mega Deep | InJeBakkes | $8,700 |
| $30,000 Sunday Crocodile | popsnpoker | $6,966 |
| $20,000 Sunday Tornado | Xuan "888Xuan" Liu | $4,600 |
