More than $10 million awarded in PokerStars Sunday Million tournament

ONCHAN, Isle of Man -- (PRESS RELEASE) -- ‘BRAYDEN93,’ an American player who now lives in Mexico, was crowned winner Monday morning of the Sunday Million 9th Anniversary tournament, winning nearly $600k at PokerStars, an Amaya Gaming Group, Inc. (TSX: AYA) company.

In a heads-up battle that swung back and forth, ‘BRAYDEN93’ was able to overcome a big chip deficit to claim the extra $100,000 that was set aside for the winner. However, as a result of a seven-handed deal, runner-up ‘kelly_koulis,’ from Greece, emerged as the biggest winner, pocketing $725,267.11. Eight countries were represented at the nine-handed final table, with the top eight players each pocketing a six-figure sum.

The special tournament, which commemorated the ninth anniversary of the first PokerStars Sunday Million, garnered 50,432 entries and a total prize pool of $10,086,400, making it the eighth richest online poker tournament of all time. It is only bettered by five World Championship of Online Poker (WCOOP) Main Events and two previous Sunday Million special anniversary tournaments.

KEY FACTS
Sunday Million 9th Anniversary ($215 NL Hold’em)
Entries: 50,432
Prize pool: $10,086,400
Places paid: 8,397
1. BRAYDEN93 (Mexico) $597,719.60*
2. kelly_koulis (Greece) $725,267.11*
3. tiltinha (Brazil) $567,978.95*
4. PSMozak (Bulgaria) $542,539.85*
5. sonmonedas (Argentina) $413,610.60*
6. salalitto (Finland) $394,207.12*
7. ModzillaPL (Canada) $336,550.72*
8. bari_nikolov (Bulgaria) $119,523.84
9. Kokli_1 (Czech Republic) $87,247.36

• reflects seven-way deal

The tournament lasted 15 hours and 22 minutes.