The $500,000 guaranteed PartyPoker Championship (PPC) Winter Main Event kicked off on Christmas Day with 175 PartyPoker players hitting the tables of the $530 buy-in tournament. When the curtain came down on the day’s proceedings, it was Ukraine’s Ihor Hula that had clinched the Day 1A chip lead, giving them every chance of walking away with the lion’s share of the Main Event’s prize pool.
Hula bagged up 11,248,789 chips at the close of play, the only player to finish with an eight-figure stack of chips. Dominykas Jokas finished in second with 8,838,498 chips, with Samuel Vousden (5,968,294), Daniel Custodio (5,599,770), and Gabriel Schroeder (5,466,328) rounding out the talented top five.
Others who punched their Day 2 tickets and are now guaranteed at least a min-cash include Antoine Saout (4,325,095), Alexandre Raymond (2,427,381), and Alexandros Theologis (2,018,216).
We are delighted to see no fewer than 11 PPC Main Event Day 1A satellite winners safely through to the business end of this $500,000 affair. Patrik Kucera (5,034,617) and Anthony Weldon (4,340,064) bagged up enough chips to clinch a top-ten spot, while William Folwell (3,350,179) and Teemu Vornanen (2,846,602) are lurking just outside the top ten place.
Jim Cook (1,643,750), Noah Marco Aaron Frei (1,096,796), Shane White (1,067,048), Soutasay Souvanh (905,475), Shin Wha Yi (846,779), Graham Ivany (710,925), and Artjoms Visockis (422,899) are the other satellite winners to look out for on Day 2 on January 16.
Day 1B, is your next chance to get involved in the PPC Winter Main Event. Get ready for the second of six flights at 19:05 GMT on January 1, 2023.
PPC Winter #01 Main Event Day 1A Top 10 Chip Counts
| Place | Player | Country | Chips |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Ihor Hula | Ukraine | 11,248,789 |
| 2 | Dominykas Joksas | Ireland | 8,838,498 |
| 3 | Samuel Vousden | Finland | 5,968,294 |
| 4 | Daniel Custodio | Brazil | 5,599,770 |
| 5 | Gabriel Schroeder | Brazil | 5,466,328 |
| 6 | Patrik Kucera | Czech Republic | 5,034,617 |
| 7 | Blaz Zerjav | Slovenia | 4,952,326 |
| 8 | Anthony Weldon | United Kingdom | 4,340,064 |
| 9 | Antoine Saout | United Kingdom | 4,325,095 |
| 10 | Eliot Hudon | Canada | 4,117,203 |
Hertmann Takes Down the 8-Max PKO
There has been plenty of PPC Winter action over the first couple of days of the festival, but the Main Event aside, two tournaments stand out because of their large prize pools.
The PPC Winter 8-Max PKO was one of those, a $215 buy-in tournament that saw $70,000 awarded. It attracted 272 players, including Thomas Boivin, Tomi Brouk, Mathias Siljander, Jan Bednar, and Pavel Veksler, who cashed but missed out on a final table appearance.
Three Danes were present and correct at the nine-handed final table, but Henrik Juncker and Yana Smokotova bowed out early doors, busting in ninth and seventh place respectively. The third Danish grinder, Morten Bloch-Thomsen, navigated his way to the final two, where he faced Brazil’s Luan Felipe Leonel Hertmann. The one-on-one battle went Hertmann’s way, and he banked a cool $11,979 prize, leaving Bloch-Thomsen to receive the $9,340 consolation prize.
PPC Winter 8-Max PKO Final Table Results
| Place | Player | Country | Bounties | Prize | Total Prize |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Luan Felipe Leonel Hertmann | Brazil | $6,029 | $5,950 | $11,979 |
| 2 | Morten Bloch-Thomsen | Denmark | $3,398 | $5,942 | $9,340 |
| 3 | Gylbert Drolet | Canada | $175 | $4,003 | $4,178 |
| 4 | Antonio Galiana Ortega | Malta | $293 | $2,669 | $2,962 |
| 5 | Jeniffer Ritter Da Silva | Brazil | $606 | $1,933 | $2,539 |
| 6 | Kevin Parkes | United Kingdom | $600 | $1,560 | $2,160 |
| 7 | Yana Smokotova | Denmark | $2,134 | $1,205 | $3,339 |
| 8 | Gustav Johan Ekhagen | Sweden | $368 | $1,007 | $1,375 |
| 9 | Henrik Juncker | Denmark | $562 | $847 | $1,409 |
Lukiantes Reels In Near $10K Score
The $109 buy-in edition of the PPC Winter 8-Max PKO drew in 604 players that fought tooth and nail for their slice of the $70,000 prize pool. All but one of the nine finalists saw their $109 investment swell to four figures, Serhiy Paschenko being that player having collected $629 for his ninth-place finish.
A trio of players calling the United Kingdom home reached the final table, but like the Danes in the $215 edition of this tournament, none of them managed to capture the title. Ghassan Esfahani and Scott Walters busted in sixth and fifth place, respectively, with Benjamin McMenemy progressing to a heads-up battle with Mexico-based grinder Dmitril Lukiantes.
Lukiantes defeated McMenemy heads-up to receive a total prize worth $9,954, leaving the defeated runner-up to pad their PartyPoker bankroll with $7,052.
PPC Winter 8-Max PKO Final Table Results
| Place | Player | Country | Bounties | Prize | Total Prize |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Dmitril Lukiantes | Mexico | $4,929 | $5,025 | $9,954 |
| 2 | Benjamin McMenemy | United Kingdom | $2,035 | $5,017 | $7,052 |
| 3 | Jan Strazisar | Slovenia | $210 | $3,349 | $3,559 |
| 4 | Paulo Santigo | Brazil | $560 | $2,192 | $2,752 |
| 5 | Scott Walters | United Kingdom | $893 | $1,514 | $2,407 |
| 6 | Ghassan Esfahni | United Kingdom | $649 | $1,179 | $1,828 |
| 7 | Lucas Montovan | Brazil | $367 | $881 | $1,248 |
| 8 | Eduardo Kalil Escada | Brazil | $969 | $711 | $1,680 |
| 9 | Serhiy Pashchenko | Ukraine | $54 | $575 | $629 |
SPINS Your Way to a PPC Winter Main Event Seat
Our PPC Winter SPINS run alongside our traditional satellites, giving you a different angle of attack if you want to try winning your way into PPC Winter events.
These SPINS only cost $10 to enter, and they award either $20 in cash or PPC Winter tickets worth from $33 to $530, the latter being your entry to the $500,000 guaranteed PPC Winter Main Event.
| Multiplier | 1st Prize | Frequency in 1M Games |
|---|---|---|
| 2 | $20 cash | 653,193 |
| 3.3 | $33 PPC Winter Edition ticket | 249,807 |
| 5.5 | $55 PPC Winter Edition ticket | 75,000 |
| 10.9 | $109 PPC Winter Edition ticket | 20,000 |
| 21.5 | $215 PPC Winter Edition ticket | 1,500 |
| 53.0 | $530 PPC Winter Edition ticket | 500 |
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