PokerStars first Blowout Series wrapped up recently with $93.6 million paid out to players around the world. That was quite a number – easily topping the festival guarantee of $60 million.
The series closed out the year, running from Dec. 27 to Jan. 19. The Blowout Series attracted more than 300,000 players across 266 events. Additionally, PokerStars also awarded $2 million worth of free tickets for the series.
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Big Blowouts go huge at PokerStars
As part of this series, PokerStars ran four signature “Big Blowout” tournaments each Sunday. These events came with a different buy-in each week and a total of $24.8 million was awarded to players.
The $1,050 version drew a prize pool of $6.9 million with “Arbaarba” topping the field. Arbaarba earned a seat in the field for a fraction of the price in a $109 qualifier. That run brought a $739,976 payout, the biggest profit of the series.
The $530 Big Blowout awarded $6.5 million and $721,691 for the winner. That prize went to “gwolde” after winning a seat through a $22 satellite.
The $215 NLHE version, “UnHuman3” won the title for $456,346. The tournament produced a prize pool of $6.4 million.
The $109 Blowout awarded $5 million with “pilaa” crowned the winner for $381,174.
The $11 buy-in New Year’s Bash event also proved to be a big hit. The event attracted 219,967 entries, the most of the series. The tournament awarded $2.2 million overall, with “NetoGamboa” earning the top spot for $92,745 after a four-way deal.
Multiple players turned small buy-ins into big wins. Three players – ”flynthehouse,” “r4fuel,” and “katarina1011” – all turned $2.85 into $19,623, $14,690, and $9,721, respectively.
PokerStars ambassadors find success
On the final event of the series PokerStars ambassador Lex Veldhuis won his biggest prize ever live on his Twitch stream. He placed fourth in the $5,200 Blowout Series Side Event for $97,256.
That run helped Veldhuis break his own Twitch record for number of viewers.
Arlie Shaban also broke personal records after he turned $22 into $19,707 in a $22 Mini Sunday Cooldown. That became the biggest score ever for the Twitch streamer.
More on tap at PokerStars
With online poker seeing massive series after massive series, a new festival debuts on Sunday at PokerStars. The 50/50 Series runs Jan. 31 – Feb. 7 with $6.2 million guaranteed.
The series features 50 events with lower-priced versions of some of PokerStars’ popular regular tournaments. As the series name implies, each event comes with a $50 buy-in and huge guarantees.
The 50/50 brings 50 tournaments all at 50 bucks. The Main Event highlights the series on Feb. 7 with $1 million guaranteed.
For more on this series as well as the MicroMillions set for Southern Europe and Italy, click here.
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