Ruivo and De Goede Chop the partypoker MILLIONS Online for $2.3 Million Each
The record-breaking partypoker MILLIONS Online is in the books after Portuguese player Manuel "Sheparentao" Ruivo (registered under the Dutch flag) and Pim "ForMatherRussia" de Goede (registered at partypoker with a Maltese flag) agreed to a heads-up deal awarding the duo $2,329,944 and $2,309,995 respectively.
The event was hyped up for a full year in no small part thanks to partypoker guaranteeing a record-breaking $20 million prize pool. The guarantee was shattered with 4,367 entrants ponying up the $5,300 buy-in during five opening flights on Nov. 25 to Dec. 4 to generate a historic $21,385,000 prize pool.
The third and final day began with 29 hopefuls battling it out with Mexico's "wheatforsheep" in the chip lead and each player guaranteed a $65,505 payday.
Belgium's "NOCOINER" was eliminated in 29th place on the very first hand of play on the final day after player's king-jack suited proved to be no match for the ace-king held Estonia's "depo777".
Christopher "Ad_Finem" Kruk (11th - $163,720), Jon "ICMslut99" Clark (19th - $109,175), and Chance "ChanceSeeYou" Kornuth (22nd - $81,881) all began the final day in the top ten but were unable to reach the final table.
partypoker $5,300 MILLIONS Online Final Table Results
| Position | Player | Country | Prize |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Manuel "Sheparentao" Ruivo | Netherlands | $2,329,944* |
| 2 | Pim "ForMatherRussia" de Goede | Malta | $2,309,995* |
| 3 | Scarmak3r | Slovenia | $1,364,688 |
| 4 | Pedro "Maddonaa" Marques | Netherlands | $1,091,750 |
| 5 | j2805667 | Malta | $818,813 |
| 6 | COL_Moutarde | Canada | $655,050 |
| 7 | wheatforsheep | Mexico | $491,288 |
| 8 | orginALUS | Lithuania | $327,525 |
*Reflects heads-up deal.
The eight-max final table began after Ukraine's "senchilko" (ninth - $218,350) jammed ace-queen and was unable to hold against De Goede's ace-jack.
Portuguese poker player Pedro "Maddonaa" Marques, registered at partypoker with a Dutch flag, began the final table with the chip lead closely followed by Mexico's "wheatforsheep", Canada's "COL_Moutarde", and De Goede.
De Goede quickly took the chip lead from Marques and became the first player in the tournament to surpass 1 billion in chips.
Lithuania's "orginALUS" was the first casualty at the final table. Marques, who was bleeding some chips, jammed king-eight from the small blind and "orginALUS" called off a short-stack of three big blinds with ace-ten. Marques paired up his eight on the flop and "orginALUS" was unable to catch up to exit the tournament in eighth place for $327,525.
Shortly after, "wheatforsheep" jammed 12 big blinds with queen-deuce suited from the small blind and was ousted in seventh place for $491,288 after he or she didn't get there against De Goede's ace-ten in the big blind. After this hand, De Goede had more than half the chips in play and was raising or jamming the majority of hands.
It was déjà vu an orbit later. "COL_Moutarde" jammed the button for 12 big blinds with ace-four suited and was called by De Goede with ace-ten. De Goede's hand held and "COL_Moutarde" hit the rail in sixth place for $655,050.
De Goede's momentum appeared to be halted a little while later after he doubled up "Sheparentao" when his pocket sevens could outflip ace-queen. Although De Goede still had the lead at this point, "Sheparentao" narrowed the gap and became the second player to surpass 1 billion in chips.
Malta's "j2805667" was the next to go in fifth place for $818,813 after jamming three big blinds with ace-jack and not holding against the queen-seven held by "Sheparentao". The remaining four players were each guaranteed a massive seven-figure payout.
Shortly later, "Sheparentao" snagged the chip lead before extending it further after eliminating Marques in fourth place for $1,091,750. Marques jammed a short stack with king-seven and wasn't able to get there against the pocket jacks held by "Sheparentao".
Slovenia's "Scarmak3r", who qualified into the partypoker MILLIONS Online for just $5, managed to parlay his small investment into a huge payday of $1,364,688. The Slovenian was ousted in third place after jamming pocket deuces and running up against De Goede's pocket sixes.
One hand was played before the action was paused for players to discuss a deal. "Sheparentao" held a minor chip lead against De Goede. Payouts were scheduled to be $2,729,376 for the winner and $1,910,563 for the runner-up.
De Goede suggested a chip count deal. "Sheparentao" quickly accepted and was crowned the second-ever partypoker MILLIONS Online winner after Jonathan "sordykrd" Van Fleet won the inaugural MILLIONS Online for $1,027,000 last year.
This concludes our coverage of the partypoker MILLIONS Online. Be sure to check back as we update the biggest live and online events from around the world.