Le Monde du Poker.

January 02 2012, Mickey Doft

The 2012 Sunday Majors season kicked off Sunday with big numbers across the board, and four players earning six-figure scores. The largest prize went to "FMorbiducci" for a runner-up showing in the Sunday Million, from a final table that included Team PokerStars Online's Shane "shaniac" Schleger.

When the final table of the Sunday Million began, three players were within five big blinds of the chip lead. PokerStars Team Online's Shane "shaniac" Schleger was among them, but by the time seven players remained, he had lost about 40 percent of his stack. A seven-handed deal was worked out, however, that guaranteed Schleger $84,000.

Schleger got his chips in shortly thereafter with and appeared primed to double up against "Ifold2ndnuts'" . However, the board ran out to deliver a brutal river and send Schleger to the rail in seventh place.

Sure enough, "Ifold2ndnuts" made it all the way to heads-up play and went on win. On the final hand, "FMorbiducci" shoved with and was called by "Ifold2ndnuts," who was holding . The board came down to secure the victory for "Ifold2ndnuts."

To read more about this week's Sunday Million, head over to PokerStarsBlog.com

*denotes seven-handed deal

Notable Finishes: Chris "NigDawG" Brammer (34th - $3,035.13)

A couple of notable players were close to making the Sunday Warm-Up final table as Bryn Kenney came in 15th place, and two-time Sunday Million winner Juan Antonio “vietcong01” Barros finished in 14th. As for those who did make it, "Flying Smile" held the chip lead at the start, with nearly double the amount of second place. "Jenbizzle", in second on the chip leaderboard, was on a mission at the final table, eliminating three players by the time action was three handed.

The rare, three-way all-in-for-the-tournament hand was played "jenbizzle," with a huge chip lead, shoved on the button with . "Flying Smile" called all-in for about 12 big blinds with , but "lehai80" woke up with in the big blind.

The kings held, leading to a heads-up match between "lehai80" (11.3m) and "jenbizzle" (19.7m). It came to an end when "lehai80" three-bet shoved for about 40 big blinds with , but was dominated by "jenbizzle's" . The board came down to lock it up for "jenbizzle."

To read more about this week's Sunday Warm-Up, check out PokerStarsBlog.com

Notable Finishes: Alexander "AlexKP" Petersen (10th - $3,813), Juan Antonio “vietcong01” Barros (14th - $2,883), Bryn "BrynKenney" Kenney (15th - $2,883), Johnny "johnnylodden" Lodden (23rd - $1,643)

The Sunday 500 attracted 712 entrants, creating a prize pool of $356,000. Ben "delaney_kid" Delaney and Mickey "mement_mori" Petersen were eliminated just shy of the final table, in 11th and 10th respectively. A three-handed deal took place at the final table, and Duy "dsnka" Le Thanh survived his opponents to take home $51,443.92.

*denotes three-handed deal

Notable Finishes: Mickey "mement_mori" Petersen (10th - $3,844.80), Ben "delaney_kid" Delaney (11th - $3,844.80)

The Bigger $55 drew a more notable final table than usual. Rafael "LiroLa" Monteiro, Alon "hamazriya" Nissim, Jamie "Bear4rms" Sykes, and Shyam "G's zee" Srinivasan all made appearances at the final table. Srinivasan and Sykes were eliminated in eighth and seventh respectively, but Nissim and Monteiro were part of the four-handed deal that took place. The shortest stack when the deal was struck, "TheTravMan58," came away with the victory, pocketing $23,676.34.

*denotes four-handed deal

The Bigger $109 smashed its $100K guarantee by attracting a crowd of 2,510 for a $251,000 prize pool. Shaun Deeb was eliminated in 14th place, just missing out on the final table. "Dean6745" earned the outright victory, adding $41,415 to his bankroll.

Notable Finishes: Shaun "shaundeeb" Deeb (14th - $1,631.50)

The Bigger $162 nearly doubled it $100K guarantee as a field of 1,324 created a prize pool of $198,600. A four-handed deal went down and "zokete" came away with the victory.

*denotes four-handed deal

Notable Finishes: Andrey "ThePateychuk" Patetchuk (20th - $794.40)

The Sunday 2nd Chance final table included Kyle "First-Eagle" Weir, winner of the 10th Anniversary Sunday Million two weeks ago. He finished in fourth place on Sunday, and "Patq74" won the Sunday 2nd Chance outright for $39,636.

Notable Finishes: Chris "Moorman1" Moorman (12th - $2,202), Kenny "SpaceyFCB" Hallaert (18th - $1,321.20)

As is usually the case, the $109 Sunday Rebuy's final table was stacked. Alex "joiso" Kostritsyn and Alex "Allingomes" Gomes came up just short of the win, finishing in third and fourth respectively. After a heads-up deal, "DimaDima13" took it down for more than $44,000.

Jonathan "Poker Own U" Bardier

*denotes heads-up deal

Notable Finishes: Alex "Assassinato" Fitzgerald (10th - $2,916.10)

The Sunday Storm drew a monstrous field of 34,827 and offered a result that was unusual. There was no chop on Sunday as "naozay" won outright for just less than $30,000.

The Sunday Kickoff got the 2012 Sunday Major season started by drawing a field of 1,228 and creating a prize pool of $122,800. "$trateGema" notched the win and took home the lion's share of the prize pool — $20,876.

Notable Finishes: Scott "BigRiskky" Clements (19th - $491.20)

*PokerStars Sunday Million and Sunday Warm-Up data obtained from PokerStarsBlog.com

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