A New Tour Emerges on the Live Poker Circuit and partypoker Returns to the Spotlight
In 2017, partypoker has revamped not only their software but also the approach for the live circuit and established several tours such as the MILLION and the Grand Prix along with sponsoring several other international tournaments. However, the MILLIONS is far and away the flagship festival under the partypoker LIVE umbrella. The attractive guarantees and destinations ensured the presence of many big names on the international poker circuit at each of the six stops in its first season.
Below we take a look at the first three stops in Nottingham, Montreal and Sochi.
partypoker LIVE MILLIONS Season 1 at a Glance
| MILLIONS Stop | Number of Events at Festival | Guaranteed Prize Pools |
|---|---|---|
| MILLIONS Nottingham 2017 (Dusk Till Dawn) | 7 | £8,360,000 |
| MILLIONS North America 2017 (Playground Poker Club) | 10 | C$5,845,000 |
| MILLIONS Russia 2017 (Casino Sochi) | 14 | $7,000,000 |
| Caribbean Poker Party 2017 (Punta Cana) | 7 | $9,000,000 |
| MILLIONS Germany 2018 (King's Casino) | 18 | €11,500,000 |
| MILLIONS Grand Final Barcelona 2018 | 38 | €23,000,000 |
Breakthrough Victory for Maria Lampropulos in Nottingham
The very first MILLIONS festival took place at the Dusk Till Dawn poker club in Nottingham in April 2017 and it was Maria Constanza “Connie” Lampropulos who claimed the spotlight with her victory in the Main Event. When the participants of the Ladies Event noticed her victory, they all headed over to the feature stage to celebrate together and cap off a successful festival in style.
Lampropulos' first place came along with a payday of £1,000,000 and not even a full year later the Argentinian scored another seven-figure triumph to jump into third place of her country's all-time money list. While her boyfriend and High Roller regular Ivan Luca remains at the top of the ranking with more than $5.7 million in cashes, it is “Connie” that has recorded the two most outstanding results of the duo thus far.
Former World Series of Poker Main Event finalist Vojtech Ruzicka emerged victorious in the £10,300 High Roller, besting a field of 110 entries to claim £284,210 to his name. Other big names in the money included Tom Hall, Joao Simao, Jason Wheeler, Stefan Schillhabel and Govert Metaal.
Bartlomiej Machon, who finished runner-up to Ruzicka in the £10,300 High Roller, then finished third in the £25,000 Super High Roller while Canada's Pascal Lefrancois defeated Italian superstar Mustapha Kanit. Among the other Side Event winners was also Jonathan Abdellatif, who came out on top of a 418-entry strong field in the £2,700 8-Max Event after cutting a deal with German mixed game specialist Ismael Bojang.
All Trophies Stay on Canadian Soil in North American Festival
In cooperation with the Playground Poker Spring Classic, the partypoker LIVE MILLION North America took place at one of the biggest card rooms world wide and Canada's premiere poker destination, the Playground Poker Club in Montreal.
Jean-Pascal Savard took home the biggest prize of the entire festival with his victory in the C$5,300 Main Event worth a hefty C$956,050 and the top five were all waving the Canadian flag. Ari Engel, Triple Crown winner Niall Farrell and Matt Waxman were also among the finalists, while 2010 WSOP Main Event Jonathan Duhamel took down a side event.
As a matter of fact, all trophies at Playground remained on home soil as a Canadian topped the results of each of the 10 tournaments. Mike “Timex” McDonald, who is barely playing live poker anymore these days, instantly hit the right rhythm again and took down the C$10,300 High Roller (pictured above). The player with the quite possibly longest name in poker, Marc-Olivier Carpentier-Perrault, finished second ahead of Sorel Mizzi and partypoker sponsored pro Roberto Romanello.
Sochi to Become Frequent Destination on the Poker Circuit
The third of six stops of partypoker LIVE MILLIONS in Season 1 brought the circuit to the splendid Sochi Casino and Resort in the mountain resort of Gorky Gorod, an hour away from the 2014 Winter Olympics location. Described as “entertainment complex of a global scale” and a “unique concept for Russia in the spirit of the best casinos of Las Vegas,” the luxurious complex has rejuvenated the region and Sochi will also be host of the Russian F1 Grand Prix and the 2018 World Cup.
While gambling has been banned almost everywhere in Russia back in 2009, four specially arranged gaming zones in the Altai, Krasnodar, Kaliningrad, and Primorsky regions were established right away. In Russia's newest dedicated gambling zone, Sochi Casino and Resort opened the doors early in January 2017 and has since held several poker tournaments.
Three events of the festival were boasting a seven figure guarantee and the highlight was the $5,300 MILLIONS Russia Main Event, which turned out to be the biggest poker tournament ever held in Russia with 999 players. Aleksandr Gofman took home the lion's share of the $5,000,000 prize pool and collected a cool $1 million for his efforts after defeating David Laka in heads-up. The young Spaniard almost made it back-to-back victories after taking down the $10,300 High Roller for $250,000 and added another $600,000 to his poker bankroll.
A second MILLIONS Russia stop in Sochi has already been confirmed for 2018 and partypoker LIVE has recently signed a four-year deal to become the primary partner for live poker tournaments at the venue close to the Black Sea. The first highlight of the partnership will be the inaugural World Series of Poker Circuit Russia from May 13th to 29th with prize pool guarantees of $5,000,000.