asia-poker

The PokerStars 50/50 Series concluded in the early hours of February 9 when the Main Event crowned its champion. Belarusian “shkolota1488” was the last player standing and they turned their $50 into a massive $116,625 score.

There were those who thought PokerStars had gone a little crazy when they announced the 50/50 Series Main Event featured a $1 million guaranteed despite the tournament only costing $50 to enter. That guarantee wasn’t only hit, it was well-beaten by some $290,961 thanks to 19,502 unique entrants purchasing 8,902 re-entries between them.

All but one of the nine players who navigated their way through the majority of the 28,404-strong crowd saw a five-figure prize wing its way to their PoekrStars account. Estonia’s “LilBigKahuna”, a talented player with more than $1.2 million in PokerStars cashes, busted in ninth and collected $8,658.

Eighth place and $12,147 went “Paddel1896”, one of three Germans who reached the 50/50 Series Main Event final table. “JK-GuRRuNEAA” of Hungary and Greek star George “kelevra561” Katsakos ran out of steam in seventh and sixth-place respectively. Those finishing position awarded prizes of $17,040 and $23,905, which is pretty ridiculous for a $50 buy-in.

“spasch”, another of the German contingent at the final table, busted in fifth for $33,535 before seasoned Russian pro “Kot_Spartac” added $47,044 to the more than $6 million he’s already won from online poker tournaments.

The final three players discussed a deal and those discussions bore fruit. That deal resulted in “Unknownplayerrr” taking home $85,275 instead of the advertised $65,996.

“shkolota1488” and the last German in the field, “rattyde”, battled heads-up in a fight for the title and the $10,000 extra prize money set aside for the champion as per the tournament’s rules. Shklota1488 defeated their opponent to lock up a massive $116,625 prize, leavng the runner-up to scoop $86,588.