Against all odds: What a comeback in the Sunday Million
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This week’s Sunday Million (19/01/2025) showcased some incredible poker drama. It was led by Switzerland’s “Matusow4,” who climbed from just two big blinds to finish third for over $45,000.
We also highlight:
Runner-up Felipe “Felipe688” Peres
Fourth-place finisher Atanas “AtanasPPP” Pavlov
And eventual champion “8_spizzico_9,” who banked $53,735 and $25,800 in bounties
It was a tournament of comebacks, big flips, and ultimate glory…
AN UNDERDOG STORY
Like a boxer on the ropes, many players would throw in the towel when pummelled down to two big blinds on a final table. But not the never-say-die attitude of the Swiss “Matusow4”.
This was the Sunday Million after all, and if you’re going to bust the most iconic tournament in online poker, you want to go down swinging, not take a knee, dejectedly.
Matusow4 and six others battled through a field of 10,223 in the $109 Progressive Knockout format. The guarantee was 85 times that amount. Thousands more was up for grabs in bounties.
It looked like all hope was lost for Matusow4. He had only 5.4 million at the 1.25M/2.5M blind level. And there was a stack of 124 million in front of the chip leader, “waterboy1921” from Germany. The opportunity to punt and gamble and pray to spin it up for a couple of hands existed. But they made a patient fold, waiting for the right spot.
It came when they were in the small blind and were dealt A♣ A♠ . Brazil’s Felipe “Felipe688” Peres opened with J♣ 10♠ and waterboy1921 called on the button with K♠ 10♣ . Naturally, Matusow4 went all in for just over the open-raise size and that allowed Austria’s “molks” to come in from the big blind with Q♥ 2♥ .
“That’s so funny,” said commentator Sebastian Huber. “Because those guys just min-raised, no one can isolate him.”
Indeed, molks could comfortably enter the pot knowing they’d at least get to see a flop without investing any more than an extra sixth of a big blind – well worth it as Matusow4 had a bounty worth more than $1K on their heads.
Matusow4, meanwhile, couldn’t have found a better spot and was potentially looking at a quadruple-up when the flop came 8♦ K♥ 7♥ . This gave Peres a gutshot, waterboy1921 a top pair, and Molks a flush draw. It checked to the chip leader, who led 7M into a pot of 24M, and both players called.
Watch what happened next.
With that, Matusow4 raked in a pot of 24 million. And a few hands later he doubled through waterboy1921 to rocket up to 90 million. That came thanks to a blind-on-blind all-in confrontation with ace-ten-off against ace-deuce-off.
“He went from 5 million to 90 million in the same blind level!” Wistern gushed in the commentary, and Matusow4 wasn’t done. They went on to eliminate Atanas “AtanasPPP” Pavlov in fourth place. In the process winning an enormous 206-million-chip flip with pocket jacks against ace-queen-off. That meant a big chip lead going into three-handed play.
Things might not have gone Matusow4’s way from there (they ended up finishing third for $40,023 plus $5,124 in bounties). But it goes to show you should never throw in the towel when you’re feeling down and out in a poker tournament.
Comebacks are always possible and we should know–we’ve written about hundreds of them. Who could forget Italy’s Giuliano Bendinelli’s EPT Barcelona win in 2022 worth almost €1.5 million. He’d been down to a single big blind.
So never give up–Matusow4 didn’t and it ended up netting them an additional $31K+ in cash.
FURTHER READING: How to put adversity in the rear-view mirror and make comebacks in poker tournaments
TOP PROS SHINE IN SUNDAY MILLION SPOTLIGHT
Despite the enormous fields it gets every week, we often see the cream rising to the top in the Sunday Million. Last week (19/01/2025), two established poker players reached the final table.
Atanas “AtanasPPP” Pavlov is a respected Bulgarian player, splitting his time between London and Vienna. Pavlov, 34, put his business and management degree to work at Barclays for seven years, then quit to go into business for himself and play poker on the side. He took up the game at university and has been playing seriously since 2017.
A great result for Atanas “AtanasPPP” Pavlov
We last saw Pavlov when he finished runner-up in the UK and Ireland Poker Tour (UKIPT) London Main Event back in August 2024 for £99,340 – the second-best score of his career. His top prize is the $364,800 earned by winning the MGM Grand Summer Series Grand Final in Las Vegas back in 2022.
After busting in that enormous flip, Pavlov finished fourth in the Sunday Million for $27,442 plus $6,041 in bounties.
Felipe “Felipe688” Peres, a well-known Brazilian player and poker coach, also made his presence felt at the final table.
Peres only turned pro in 2020 and has several great PokerStars scores under his belt, including a win in the $109 Thursday Thrill for $15,425 and a third-place finish in a $55 buy-in Spring Championship of Online Poker (SCOOP) event for $19,701 in 2023.
But this Sunday Million result tops all those. As runner-up Peres banked $53,729 plus $7,458 in bounties. And narrowly missed out on being forever known as a Sunday Million champ.
THIS WEEK’S WINNER: “8_spizzico_9”
When you’re playing a PKO tournament, should you go hog wild for bounties, or play for a deep run?
Malta’s “8_spizzico_9” did both last week. When all was said and done, 8_spizzico_9 had eliminated 21 players throughout the tournament en route to victory, only pipped by “vicekPolska” who eliminated 25 (they finished 140th).
The sweetest bounty prize of all comes at the end though, as you get to keep your own. When 8_spizzico_9 beat Peres heads-up they not only collected $53,735 but a whopping $25,800 in bounties.
They also get that sweet Sunday Million Winner badge to display proudly on their PokerStars avatar forevermore.
Perhaps you’ll get one next week.
You can watch the full PokerStars Sunday Million stream here.
MORE ABOUT THE SUNDAY MILLION
The Ultimate First Timer’s Guide to Playing the Sunday Million
Sunday Million Anniversary 19: Save the date…
How to use Power Path to play the Sunday Million
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