For over seven years the PokerStars Sunday Million has been the flagship weekly online poker tournament for players across the globe.
At least $1 million is guaranteed each and every Sunday and, usually, this amount is exceeded by a mile.
Add in some special editions as part of bigger promos and festivals, like last month's $5m guaranteed event, and the numbers over the years get even more astounding.
10 Astounding Statistics from the PokerStars Sunday Million
1. Number of Sunday Millions Played: 365
The Sunday Million has been on the scene for over 7 years and in early 2014 will hit its 8th anniversary.
2. Total Number of Participants: 2.8 Million
That's roughly the number of people living in Chicago, Nevada or Kansas.
3. Number of Unique Participants: 450,000
Almost half a million different players have tried their luck so far in the largest regular online tourney. That is more people than live in Atlanta, Miami or Cleveland.
Jesper "KipsterDK" Hougaard: Two-time Sunday Million winner.
4. Total Prize Money: $585 Million
That's enough to buy 360 Bugatti Veyrons – more than ever produced and sold worldwide.
5. Two-Time Winners: 5
(WhatArunAA, Diegoaiz, KipsterDK, kevsteele, vietcong01)
Quite surprisingly only five players have managed to acquire two victories in this tournament. The fastest two-time champ is Kevin "kevsteele" Steele who got his two victories in under four months.
The most recent two-time champ is T.J. "WhatArunAA" Slifka, who secured his 2nd win on December 29, 2013.
6. Winning Countries: 52
More than a quarter of all countries on the planet have produced a winner so far and almost every European country is among them.
7. Best Performing Countries: US – 79 Wins, Canada – 42, UK – 30
Despite PokerStars not offering its services in the US since Black Friday in 2011 US players still have a very comfortable lead in this race.
Canadians are catching up, though - but mostly due to the fact that many US tournament grinders relocated there after 2011.
8. Highest Single Prize Pool: $12.4 Million
(December 2011, 10th anniversary special)
The winner of this enormous event: First-Eagle. For finishing first he received over $1.1 million – enough to buy 10 ordinary Porsches.
9. Number of Cashes: 408,000 (152,000 unique)
Average cash: $1,200.
Over 400,000 players have made at least a min-cash in a Sunday Million.
On average a cash is worth $1,200 – not too shabby for 5-8 hours of poker.
10. Total Rake: $42 Million
PokerStars charges $15 for each entry, which is a fair deal given the buy-in of $200.
But with so many players each weekend they make over $115k per tournament. After so many years this adds up to more than $40 million.
To get in on the action, sign up for a PokerStars account via our review page and get a free ticket to our next exclusive Sunday Million satellite.
*Any mention of a bonus or discussion of such terms is not in relation to the province of Ontario.
