Nobody likes working 10 hour days, but who minds when you get paid $15,000 an hour!

That’s the effective salary that PartyPoker players sheketguy and olahhh managed to bank on Sunday, when they finished 1^st and 2^nd respectively in the PartyPoker.com Monthly Million.

The two players made it to heads up after a marathon 10-hour game – and did a final table deal that saw over $150,000 each deposited into their accounts.

Over 200 players turned their $600 + $40 buy-in into a huge payday – with the 200^th player squeaking in with a $1,300 cash.

JokerFullz finished third for $69,000 when he shoved with Ace Jack and was called by Olgaahhh’s Ace Queen.

PartyPoker’s Monthly Million guarantees $1,000,000 on the first Sunday of every month. You can qualify from as little as $1. Qualifiers and satellites for the next Sunday Million are running all month. Find out more in the full qualifying structure.

Every first Sunday of the month is the Monthly Million Sunday time. We got in touch with Redcard21 who won Monthly Million in March. Here is what he had to say…

How did poker become a part of your life and how long have you been playing for?

Like many people, I started playing with friends after seeing poker everywhere on TV in 2003. The next summer I played a little at the casino and in 2005 began online.

What and/or whom has helped you learn how to play?

It’s been a gradual accumulation of experience for the most part. Luckily I was still playing for five bucks with friends when I learned not to bluff every hand.

Which players would you be sat with at your dream poker game? Any specific location?

My dream poker game would be against people who barely know the rules, but I would make an exception for Jason Alexander because he is awesome.

How did you get started on PartyPoker?

I tried a few sites when I started out, and Party, being very visible and reputable, happened to be one of them.

You won $169,472 – what will you do with your winnings?

I’ll be investing it, despite a friend’s suggestion that I fill up my apartment with coins and swim around in it Scrooge McDuck style. The main use of the money will be giving me peace of mind.

Tell me how the tournament went, what were the key moments? What key hands and big decisions did you have to make?

During the mid stages I thought I made a lot of good decisions, making good marginal calls of all-in reraises such as A-J, where my opponent showed K-J, and 7-7, where my opponent showed A-K. At the final table I was much more lucky than good.

I won two coinflips for my tournament life (K-10 vs. 8-8 and later 8-8 vs. A-10) and then sucked out Q-3 vs. A-Q to knock DegenSicko out in 3rd. I can at least be proud of a hand with 8 players left where the small blind open-shoved for almost 1.5 million chips with blinds at 50/100k and in the big blind I called with Q-9s. My hand held up against his 10-8.

What goals do you have as a poker player? Will this experience change the role of poker in your life?

For awhile I’ve vaguely had my eye on trying to satellite into some big buy-in events, and this might spur me to actually start trying that a little. For the most part though I plan to play the same games (including of course the Monthly Million).

What is your advice for players who want to emulate your success in the next Party tournament?

Persistence is important. I think Tom Smykowski from Office Space said it best when he said “Just remember, if you hang in there long enough, good things can happen in this world.”

Monthly Million is on again this weekend, will you be the next Million winner?

PartyPoker’s huge Monthly Million tournament was played yesterday. The buy-in was $600+40, 1481 players registered and 177 tables went into play. The tournament was a long and hard battle, it lasted almost 11 hours.

The unlucky bubble was silvahbullit who finished 201st – just shy of the money. The next player out in 200th place got $1,200 for his efforts. silvahbullit was shortstacked and ended up all-in in the big blind with T2. He was called by the small blind who had him dominated with TJ. Another Jack on the river knocked silvahbullit out.

MyLilPwny was the final table bubble finishing 10th winning $9,500. bosmar63 raised from an early position with pocket queens but MyLilPwny found pocket kings in the big blind and called all-in. A Queen on the flop made the situation very difficult for MyLilPwny, no King on turn or river got the game ready for the final table.

Final table play lasted almost 2 hours before DegenSicko, cyberkanguru and Redcard21 found themselves in the final 3 positions. There was a mood for a deal to be done, but players decided to wait until just two remained.

It proved to be unlucky for DegenSicko, who was already the short stack. Even though his AQ was the pre-flop favourite, Redcard21 picked up a pair of threes on turn which was enough to knock DegenSicko out in third with $69,000 in winnings.

Here are the final standings:

Screen Name Win Amount(USD)

1. Redcard21 $169,472
2. cyberkanguru $140,527
3. DegenSicko $69,000
4. pokerlady955 $54,500
5. CouldBeGood $46,000
6. rakens $34,500
7. bosmar63 $26,500
8. fnelsson $17,500
9. rocket27 $13,500

Congratulations to everybody who cashed. If you didn’t play, secure your seat at the next Monthly Million from just $1 at PartyPoker.com.

Every first Sunday of the month PartyPoker’s Monthly Million is played. First Sunday of March is this Sunday so to warm you up for the big tournament, we have a profile of KASABIAN_LSF who won the Monthly Million in February.

KASABIAN_LSF won $200,000 in the Monthly Million and then in late February even won the $50K Guaranteed – what a run!

Here is more from KASABIAN_LSF:

From Royal Navy to second place in Party’s Monthly Million in 2005

Poker became part of my life in mid-2004, just after the internet poker boom. I saw one of my friends playing online and thought I would give it a try. As I was in the Royal Navy at the time I had lots of time to read and study the game when my ship was at sea. I read a few basic LHL books and the Super System.

I would play limit cash games and NL tourneys on Party, at weekends and holidays. To start of with I was a losing player because I had bad hand selection (playing too many hands). In early 2005 I turned my attention to SNGS and built a small bankroll, in May that same year I finished 2nd in the Monthly Million on Party for $120,000. That’s when I decided to leave the Navy and Grind Sngs for a living.

A nice holiday for me and my family

In my early days I suppose I was a loose aggro player. As the game is today I think it is very important not to play a certain way and to adopt to what is happening around you. In  some of the higher stakes games players are so aggro that you need to sit back and let the chips come to you!

Some of money will be invested in property, some I will use as a bankroll for mid stakes mtts, Wsop sats, and a nice holiday for me and my family.

My Dream table would be:

• Stu Unger
• Phil Ivey
• Vanessa Rousso
• Huck Seed
• Mike the mouth
• Chip Reese
• Jen Tilly
• Zigmund
• isildur1
• Kasabian_LSF

Play at Bobbys Room Las vegas.

The hand that set me up for the win

The Monthly Million tourney started of well for me as I doubled up early. I raise with JJ early pos, 3 callers – the flop came jx2 , with two diamonds. I bet, 1 caller. I’m sure he has a flush draw, I bet again he calls, 2 of diamonds on the river. I shove 17,000 into a pot of 7,000. He time bank calls with the nut flush.

After this hand I was card dead for a few hours, this isn’t a big problem in this tourney because of the great structure. When the antes kicked in I turned up the aggression with the odd three bet and chiped up nicely. About eight hours in I was moved to a table with several strong players to my left, they made it hard for me to gain chips by stealing so I had to change my game to counter their constant aggression.

This involved changing the pos on the table that I would steal blinds from and four bet bluffing now and again. A hand that has stuck in my mind played out like this: the two big stacks at the table, me and an aggressive Scandinavian player. We both had 6 million chips, he raised my blind, I defended with KQ. Flop KK2, I make a weak lead, he min re raises and I make the call. Turn is an 8, I bet again he calls – river is another 8. I shove and he snap calls with A8. This hand set me up for the win.

My goals as a poker player are to keep playing online in mid/high stakes MTTS, Sat into my first WSOP this summer and play some WPT and WPT live events.

My advice for other players: Read some good books, winning tournaments one hand at a time, Kill Everyone. Join poker X factor and Card Runners. If you know others players talk to them about hands. When your playing poker never rush take your time over every decision.

Next MonthlyMillion is played this Sunday, you can qualify via a wide range of satellites, you can buy in directly for $600+40. To prepare for the Monthly Million we have a new poker lesson on PartyAcademy: How to lay down a big hand.

How did poker become a part of your life and how long have you been playing for?

I started out playing very small sit and go tournaments in high school with my friends, after I watched WPT and Gus Hansen on TV. I have been playing poker for nearly 5 years now, 4 years as a professional.

What and/or whom has helped you learn how to play?

I learned by doing, very simple. I also talked some poker strategy with my friends and read some poker forums, but most came from just playing the game and thinking about it.

What is your style of play? What are your strengths, what are your weaknesses? What area of your game are you trying to improve?

I always play very aggressively, no matter what game I play. I like to think I don’t really have any mayor weaknesses. Maybe I play a little too aggressively sometimes, especially in tournaments.

How did you get started on PartyPoker?

PartyPoker was one of the first sites I started playing at, and I always liked it. I have been coming and going from the site, but now I got a proper bankroll there, so I guess I will start playing there more again. I have always loved playing the Sunday tournaments there.

You won $200,000.00 – what will you do with your winnings?

This money won’t change my life. I will just add it to my bankroll and keep playing. I might start playing more tournaments in the future though, especially online.

Tell me how the tournament went, what were the key moments? What key hands and big decisions did you have to make?

The tournament was pretty smooth sailing for me untill we were about 20 players left. I had a healthy stack all the way up till then. I found some really good spots to steal and it worked out. I was only all in for my tourney life a few times during the tournament, but winning these were obviously all-important. After that my stack went up and down, but I managed to get out ahead. When we got down to short handed I killed the table with superior post-flop skills.

Tell me about the opponents, what did you think of the level of the play? Who were the most dangerous players you came across and why?

In general the level of play was low. So many players really wanted to make to money, and I took advantage of that on the bubble. The most dangerous opponents were the ones that didn’t care about the money and only cared about making the best decision.

What goals do you have as a poker player? Will this experience change the role of poker in your life

I want to win a mayor live tournament! I have a 2nd, 3rd, 4th and 5th place in my career, but I miss 1st place! This won’t really change the role of poker in my life, since it is already taking up all the space.

What is your advice for players who want to emulate your success in the next Party tournament?

Don’t be afraid to be the bubbleboy! Take advantage of the weaker players.

Congratulations to Albert, and all the best luck at both the online and offline events! Next PartyPoker MonthlyMillion tournament takes place on first Sunday of 2010. Can you take Albert Iversen’s crown?

After an incredible eleven hour session Dane Albert ‘ireadyoursoul’ Iversen was the last man standing in the PartyPoker Monthly Million.  Iversen took home a cool $200,000 for his troubles after fighting his way through a field of over 1500 players.

Play got under way at 12:45 EST with 1573 hopefuls sitting down each having paid the $600 + $40 buy-in to the marquee poker tournament at PartyPoker.com.

200 places paid out

The championship blind structure ensured this was a tactical and tense tourney but it was not until we got down to the paid places starting at 200th place that the action really started to hot up.

H7517 was the unlucky bubble boy as his pair of tens was called by OldBettrHand, who stayed true to his name holding pocket rockets.  Each player was now guaranteed at least a $1300 pay day but only one man would take the  Monthly Million glory.

Following in the footsteps of recent winners and fellow countrymen Brian ‘Halfrek’ and Mads Wissing, Iversen took down the biggest regular tournament prize at PartyPoker after a short but explosive heads-up battle with shadydog1111.

Overcards win against the pocket pair

The final hand saw both players all-in pre-flop with Iversen holding Ac, Kd and shadydog111 the slight favourite with pocket 4s.  As is often the case a heads-up tussle was decided by an overcards against a pocket pair race.

Despite being the underdog ireadyoursoul hit his ace on the first card and maintained his lead through to the river as the board landed Ad 7h Qh 7d Jd.  Shadydog111 was left to console himself with an admiral second place finish and the not so inconsiderable sum of $110,000.

PartyPoker Monthly Million Top 10

Screen Name            Win Amount(USD)
ireadursoul                             200,000.00
shadydog111                         110,000.00
tottigoal10                               69,000.00
Pikkemand999                         54,500.00
ernesto_777                            46,000.00
Ivanskyvol                               34,500.00
Trunkmanie                              26,500.00
zeksymashine                          17,500.00
BODYROXER                             13,500.00
Maxim25                                    9,500.00

The PartyPoker.com Monthly Million takes place on the first Sunday of every month.  Satellite tournaments run throughout the month starting from as little as $1.  You can find the entry route to suit you over at partypoker.com and then register for that tourney with our new tournament schedule that lets you register online rather than through the poker lobby.

Image by Pokernyhederne

The Million Dollar Race is PartyPoker.com’s biggest ever rake race and gets underway on Friday, 1st May while the fourth running of the Monthly Million is scheduled for Sunday, 3rd May. 

The Million Dollar Race is an exciting leader board promotion where 3,000 players will share more than $1,000,000. Depending on rank players will receive a cash amount and a WSOP® prize, either a dream package or freeroll entry into one of our online qualifiers. For the leader board winner, they will receive $20,000 and an elite WSOP® package worth another $20,000.

All you have to do to get involved is play real money cash games at PartyPoker.com. If you are in the top 5,000 you’ll be alerted via your Party Account and the leader board will be updated at least once an hour. Remember, if you finish in the top 10 you are guaranteed cash and a trip to Vegas.

A PartyPoker.com spokesman said: “This promotion is simple, the more Race Points you earn the higher up in the leader board you climb and the more cash and prizes you can win.”

One important point to note is that throughout the Million Dollar Race players earn Race Points as well as PartyPoints but only Race Points count for this promotion. All the details can be found on the Million Dollar Race page.

The fourth PartyPoker.com Monthly Million takes place on Sunday, 3rd May at 12:45 ET (17:45 UK time). The buy-in to the $1,000,000 guaranteed championship blind structure event is $600+$40 but the diverse qualifying paths mean players can join the qualifiers from as little as $1. For more information check out the Monthly Million page.

The 50 Seat Frenzy will run this Saturday at 11:25 ET (16:25 UK time) with 50 seats guaranteed. There are also Super8 qualifiers running over the weekend which feature an $88 buy-in and a one in eight chance of getting through. Further to this there is an Ultimate Qualifier which is to be held on Sunday at 11:15 ET (16:15 UK time) which has a buy-in of $340 and 10 seats guaranteed in the one in two chance.

The PartyPoker.com Monthly Million is a $1 million guaranteed tournament every first Sunday of the month. The third Monthly Million takes place at the end of this week on Sunday, 5th April at 12:45 ET (17:45 UK time) and features a championship blind structure. The buy-in is $600+$40 but the diverse qualifying paths means you can join the qualifiers from as little as $1. The qualifiers includes $64+$4 daily satellites with 18 seats guaranteed, a Mega Friday $50+$5 satellite that guarantees 30 seats and Super Satellite Saturday qualifiers with a $32+$3 buy-in and 25 seats guaranteed.

Visit the Monthly Million page for all the extra information you’ll need.

We got in touch SuperTight31, also known as Irina from Russia, and here’s her story:

“Thanks for your congratulations.

“I’ve been playing card games since I was young but started off with easier games like bridge and solitaire. After several years I thought I’d start playing poker. It’s such a dynamic and unpredictable game, that’s why I liked it. Soon after, I became really interested in tournaments with big prize pools.

“I’ve been doing my best to participate in all of PartyPoker.com’s Sunday tournaments, such as 300K Guaranteed Sunday and this new Monthly Million. I even managed to take 13th place in the very first Monthly Million and that really excited me.

“In this tournament, though, I was lucky more than once at the final table; I twice won against a pair of aces! As regards the winnings I have a lot of plans and it is difficult to just one thing to do with the money. I am still thinking what do with it all.

“I do not consider myself as an expert so I don’t think I can give advice. All I can say is just trust your instincts and do not be afraid to take risks. I like to take risks and am not afraid to raise the stakes when I feel that the opponent may surrender.”

Do you want to be telling the world your story after you take down the next Monthly Million? If you want to take part in the next tournament with a guaranteed $1 million prize pool on 5th April find out how you can qualify on the Monthly Million page.

Main honours went to SuperTight31 who finished first for $163,114.08, while fellow Russian P_L_A_N took third for $103,336.52.

It was also a productive night for the Danes with three representatives from Denmark in the final ten. Representatives from Norway, Iceland, Sweden, Germany and the United Kingdom also made the final table.

A PartyPoker.com spokesman said: “The rise of Russia in the poker world has been acknowledged for some. A few years ago you would have said that the strongest Russian online players were those who played in big Limit games but the situation now is very different. The main plaudits go to SuperTight31 who spectacularly failed to live up to her name after taking the top spot.”

The final table ended as follows:

1st SuperTight31 (Rus) $163,114.08
2nd LuckyLudvig (Den) $112,549.41
3rd P_L_A_N (Rus) $103,336.52
4th Kaspar19 (Den) $54,500
5th tfastrack (Ger) $46,000
6th READBLANK (Swe) $34,500
7th torkolort2 (Nor) $26,500
8th casinoice (Ice) $17,500
9th hinker2000 (Den) $13,500
10th zeNUTcracker (UK) $9,500

A total of 1,591 players took part in the tournament which had a $1,000,000 prize pool and paid out 200 places.

Qualifiers are already online for the next PartyPoker.com Monthly Million on Sunday, 5th April at 12.45 ET (17.45 GMT, 18:45 CET). For more information read the PartyPoker.com Monthly Million page.