A Dedicated Denial of Service attack on the Winning Poker Network´s servers last night cost the network almost $200,000 in overlay in its feature event.
Yesterday´s Million Dollar Sunday was the first of four consecutive $1,000,000 guaranteed events scheduled to be played throughout October on the Winning Poker Network. However, after last night´s events, the network must be considering the viability of hosting the next three tournaments.
The tournament started okay – with 587 players already registered and five hours of late registration still to go. However, within an hour players were experiencing the lagging and disconnections that plagued the previous Million Dollar Sunday in September due to a DDoS attack.
As with the previous event, the network made the decision to continue with the tournament; but, with just 1,605 players being able to register for the tournament by the time late registration closed, the decision cost the Winning Poker Network $197,500 in overlay ($133,300 once fees were taken into account).
Mega-Satellites also Overlay
The Million Dollar Sunday overlay due to the DDoS attack was not the only financial loss suffered by the Winning Poker Network this weekend. The three mega-satellites offering 250 seats into the feature event also failed to meet their guarantees – providing nearly $40,000 of value to players who chose these qualifying routes.
One player who almost benefitted from the mega-satellite route was “upsenati”. “upsenati” was one of ten players to win tickets to a Million Dollar Sunday sub-satellite via the USA Friendly Freeroll on Saturday lunchtime. “upsenati” then qualified through the sub-satellite into Saturday´s 100 seat mega-satellite, where he (or she) survived a nervous last level to finish in 92nd place.
Unfortunately there was to be no “zero-to-hero” outcome for our qualifier, as “upsenati” bust out in 900th place in the feature event. However, encouraged by the fantastic response to the USA Friendly Freeroll, we will be hosting another qualifier this coming Saturday, so make sure you visit this site again towards the end of the week for the tournament password.
A Good Night for the Twitchers
While it was an expensive weekend for the Winning Poker Network, it was a good night for players live streaming their action on Twitch. The winner of last month´s Million Dollar Sunday – Rupert “JohnLegend” Elder – performed well again, finishing in 33rd place for $3,300, while the popular streamer Deborah “QueenB902” Vanneste made interesting following until she bust in 222nd for $800.
High stakes professional and poker coach Alec Torelli finished in a commendable 124th for $1,300. Interestingly Torelli was live streaming his action from his home in California – busting the myth that a new generation of US online poker players, who have been attracted to the game by Twitch streamers, have nowhere to play.
Another US player to perform well during his live stream was November Niner Josh Beckley. Playing from Florida, Beckley started well by doubling up in the first hand {Q♦} {Q♠} > {J♦} {J♠}, and continued playing like a boss until a series of unfortunate hands led to his demise in 188th place for $900. Beckley will be back again next week in an attempt to improve on his finishing position.
And a Good Night for Runzgood
At the business end of the action, there was a good finish to the Million Dollar Sunday. The final table was reached after twelve hours of play with “RepaidByScorn” (4,421,576 chips) having a commanding advantage over “YeahButCanYouAWP?” (1,809,949 chips), with the remainder of the field closely packed in behind (blinds 40,000/80,000 – ante 8,000).
An honorable mention should be made for “P0ppin0ff” who was making back-to-back appearances at a Million Dollar Sunday final table and – having finished ninth in the previous event – he went on to add $22,800 to his previous $13,200 by finishing in seventh place on this occasion. Maybe next week he can get into the top three!
“payMEfool” temporally came out of the pack to challenge “RepaidByScorn” for the top spot when his {A♥} {9♦} found a Nine on the Flop to bust “vickygar” ({A♠} {K♦}) in fifth place, and “Runzgood” lived up to his (or her) name by turning Quad Sixes to double up against the chip leader when the game was four-handed – at which point talk of a deal started.
Deal Agreed after a Little Negotiation
By the time the ICM figures were produced, “Runzgood” had taken a 3.44 million chip pot against “RepaidByScorn” with {2♥} {2♦} to move into the chip lead – a lead he held for only one hand when he was forced out of a valuable pot by “curzdog”. Closely matched in chips, the four remaining players considered the numbers and agreed to the following after a little adjustment in favor of “payMefool”
| Player | Chips | Deal Amount |
| curzdog | 4,898,288 | $113,339 |
| Runzgood | 4,040,130 | $105,900 |
| RepaidByScorn | 3,915,753 | $105,244 |
| payMEfool | 3,195,829 | $99,116 |
With the deal done, and despite $20,000 still to play for, the pace of the game accelerated. “payMEfool” and “curzdog” fell quickly – leaving a heads-up between “Runzgood” (8,745,809 chips) against “RepaidByScorn” (6,254,191 chips). “Runzgood” extended his (or her) advantage when hitting runner-runner Trip Sevens, and then took the Million Dollar Sunday a few hands later when his {J♦} {2♣} made two pairs against “RepaidByScorn´s” missed open-ended straight draw with {7♦} {9♠}.
Congratulations to “Runzgood”. We only hope that the Winning Poker Network enjoys a good run of its own next weekend and does not have to cancel future Million Dollar Sunday events.
