Icons of Online Poker: The PokerStars Sunday Million

How It Started

The first iteration of the Sunday Million came onto screens on March 5, 2006, a time when PokerStars had already established itself as a leader in the burgeoning online poker industry. The inaugural event attracted 5,893 players, each paying a $215 buy-in, creating a prize pool of $1,178,600. The first champion, known by the username “aaaaaaaa,” took home $173,843,50.

Initially, the tournament was not officially called the “Sunday Million.” It appeared with that name in the PokerStars lobby in June 2006, coinciding with a special $1,050 buy-in edition, which was won by “FlopSpanker” for $262,151,50. During its formative years, the buy-in occasionally fluctuated between $215, $530, and $1,050, before settling at $215 for the years to come.

Early Benchmarks

The first anniversary event in March 2007 marked a significant milestone, with PokerStars increasing the guarantee to $1.5 million. The field swelled to 10,508 players, pushing the prize pool over $2.1 million, a first for the tournament at the time. “Zeddor” claimed the top prize of $271,106,40, setting a precedent for anniversary editions that would become a hallmark of the Sunday Million. It was clear that the Anniversary Editions of the Sunday Million would be incredibly popular. You will see how the field sizes and prize money grew throughout the years later on.

In January 2010, 19,377 players generated a $3,875,400 prize pool, and the first player to win over half a million from the Sunday Million emerged. “OX45AL” took down the event 16 years ago, winning $550,011,29. However, it wouldn’t take long for his massive haul to be eclipsed. The Sunday Million’s reputation for massive fields and prize pools was cemented in February 2010, when 36,169 players entered a $4 million guaranteed event, creating a $7,233,800 prize pool. “RichieRichZH” emerged victorious, earning the first-ever seven-figure first prize in Sunday Million history at the time of $1,141,510,31, which is over double what “OX45AL” won just a month beforehand. In December 2011, PokerStars celebrated its own 10th anniversary with a special Sunday Million boasting a $10 million guarantee. The event attracted 62,116 players, creating a $12,432,200 prize pool—the largest in online poker history at the time. “First-Eagle” from Canada won $1,146,574.65 following a three-way deal.

The Impact of Black Friday

Black Friday caused a steep drop and halted the runaway success of the Sunday Million, as field sizes decreased due to the loss of the entire US market.

For those who don’t know, April 15, 2011, became known as Black Friday because the U.S. Government shut down the biggest online poker sites, accusing them of breaking U.S. Gambling Laws and concealing transactions. The U.S Department of Justice froze hundreds of millions in player funds and suspended their accounts. Unlike Full Tilt, which completely collapsed, PokerStars was able to pay back its players, but had lost its most lucrative market in the process. Between 2010 and 2011, it is estimated that the U.S represented 25-30% of the share of global traffic for online poker. Here is a look at how it affected the Anniversary Editions.

This deeply impacted the Sunday Million, as the tournament lost 40-50% of its player base. This prompted PokerStars to adapt to the European and South American markets. Additionally, U.S. players upped ship and moved north to Canada, where online poker remained legal. PokerStars didn’t stay down for long, and they successfully attracted players from Europe and South America to fill the void left by the absence of American players.

The Modern Sunday Million

PokerStars dropped the buy-in of their marquee tournament to $109 back in 2019, giving even more players the chance at Sunday Million success. Not only did the buy-in reduce, but the sumptuous $1,000,000 guarantee remained in place.

With that, the average field sizes doubled, which was a win-win scenario for both players and for PokerStars. In June 2022, the Sunday Million transitioned to a Progressive Knock-Out (PKO) format, reflecting the growing popularity of bounty tournaments. The event also shifted from 9-max to 8-max tables, increased starting stacks from 10,000 to 50,000 chips, and adopted a blind structure mirroring one of PokerStars marquee tournament series, the Spring Championship of Online Poker (SCOOP).

2020 saw the record broken for the largest prize pool in the Sunday Million, as a staggering $18,602,300 was collected from the 93,016 entries who ponied up the $215 buy in for the 14th Anniversary Edition. Ultimately, the tournament was won by “AAAArthur” of Brazil, who scooped $1,190,000 of the massive prize pool. The best thing about this player’s story is that he qualified for the field through a $4 satellite. “AAAArthur” won in the largest field size and the biggest prize pool in Sunday Million history to that point. His record for the largest field size still stands; however, the payout record fell almost instantly.

Vanessa “Niffller” Kade binked the largest payout in Sunday Million history. She won $1,514,920 of the $12,500,000 guaranteed prize pool in the $215 15th Anniversary Edition the following year. This already monstrous prize pool topped out at $13,975,200, and the consistent smashing of prize pool guarantees is a testament to the tournament’s popularity.

Kade said after winning: “We just beat a field of 69,876 to win $1.5 Million. It feels impossible. This is the best day of my life. It’s not close. All the pain was worth it, the dream is real.” Kade’s win was only the third time in 11 years that the anniversary edition ended without an ICM deal, meaning she took all of the massive first-place prize.

The Biggest Winners

Here are all the winners who have banked $1,000,000 or over from winning the Sunday Million outright or via a deal. Unsurprisingly, the top 10 biggest wins have come in the $215 Anniversary Edition of the Sunday Million.

Rank	Year/Edition	Winner	Country	Entries	Prize Pool	Prize
1	2021 15th Anniversary	Vanessa “Niffller” Kade		69,876	$13.97M	$1,514,920
2	2020 14th Anniversary	“AAAArthur”		93,016	$18.60M	$1,190,000
3	2011 10th Anniversary	First-Eagle		62,116	$12.42M	$1,146,574 (deal)
4	2010 4th Anniversary	RichieRichZH		36,169	$7.23M	$1,141,510
5	2017 11th Anniversary	Kevin “KevBoyStar” Stani		55,835	$11.16M	$1,048,000 (deal)
6	2018 12th Anniversary	Artem “veeea” Vezhenkov		43,975	$10.00M+	$1,000,043
7	2011 5th Anniversary	Luke “Bdbeatslayer” Vrabel		59,128	$11.83M	$1,000,000 (deal)
8	2022 16th Anniversary	“Wise Eagle”		~52,000	$10.00M+	$1,000,000+
9	2023 17th Anniversary	Ricardo “RFN1986” Nagamoto		39,500+	$7.93M	$1,000,000
10	2024 18th Anniversary	Mateus “CrossBreed17” Mendes		39,226	$8.00M	$1,000,000

What’s Next?

The Sunday Million will remain a staple in the schedules of grinders across the globe. From the established to the aspiring, the Sunday Million is a tournament where dreams can come true, and bankrolls can be made for many players. Even now, the Sunday Million remains chameleon-like, offering special editions like Mystery Bounty editions, a format that seemingly never stops growing in popularity, and with the buy-in of $109, it represents an insane level of value.

The latest edition, which concluded on Monday, 19th, was won by “nickiou7kos” of Greece, who banked $58,236 for first. Only $496 was from the bounty briefcase. The tournament’s biggest winners were Brazilian “wdias21” who pulled the sole $100,000 bounty. “StueyMcCluv” of the UK pulled two $25,000 bounties, and these were his only two pulls in the entire tournament.

Why not try it for yourself sometime, when it next hits the virtual felts at a screen near you.

That’s all for now, folks. Until next time, where another iconic tournament will take centre stage.