Stigunas Strikes Gold and Becomes the PPC Winter Main Event Champion

The PartyPoker Championship (PPC) Winter edition has crowned its final champion of the series after the biggest PartyPoker tournament of the year so far concluded on January 17. The $530 buy-in $500,000 guaranteed PPC Winter Main Event was that tournament, and Rytis Strigunas is the man that struck gold, padded his bankroll with a massive score, and forever has the right to call himself the PPC Winter Main Event champion.

Over the six starting flights, 1,089 PartyPoker players took to the virtual felt, ensuring that the $500,000 guarantee was blown out of the water thanks to creating a $544,500 prize pool. Only 164 of those players that started with high hopes managed to progress to Day 2, each locking in at least a min-cash for their efforts.

The Day 2 field read like a who’s who of the poker world, such was the prestige of the PPC Winter Main Event. Elio Fox, Antoine Saout, Jans Arends, and our very own Matthew Staples were among the early Day 2 casualties.

Former MILLIONS Online champion Benjamin Chalot, Samuel Vousden, Swedish superstar Niklas Astedt, Thomas Boivin, and Diego Ventura also saw a return on their $530 investments but fell short of the nine-handed final table; Ventura came agonisingly close, busting in 11th place.

Final Table Set

The nine finalists returned to their seats on January 17 knowing they were only eight eliminations away from glory. All but two of the PartyPoker grinders that sat down at the final table walked away with a five-figure prize for their efforts.

Brazilian Ramon Kropmanns‘ time at the PPC Winter Main Event final table was short-lived because he was the first finalist heading for the exits. Ninth place came with $7,213. Fabian Schmidt fared a little better, busting in eighth place for a $9,146 addition to his PartyPoker bankroll before Jesus Martinez Ucero bowed out after coming unstuck in seventh, a finish worth $11,540 to the Estonia-based star.

The pay jumps widened with each elimination, adding another layer of excitement to the proceedings. Simon Beckmann was eliminated in sixth place for $14,635, Dalton Holbold collected $18,947 for his fifth-place finish, while Hristo Dimitrov received $27,649 when his PPC Main Event run ended in fourth place.

Heads-up was set when UK-based Irishman Daniel Wilson crashed out. Wilson, a former champion of the long-running Irish Open Main Event, had to make do with the $42,314 third-place prize money, a still welcomed score.

With the difference in first and second-place prize money weighing in at almost $28,000, it was no surprise to see Rytis Strigunas and Victor Oliveira Girao pause the tournament clock and strike a deal to lessen the blow of falling at the final hurdle. The deal resulted in Girao officially finishing in second place for $72,827 ($61,571 initially), leaving Strugunas to reel in $78,160 ($89,415 original payout) and capture the title of PPC Winter Main Event champion.

PPC Winter #01 Main Event Final Table Results

*reflects a heads-up deal

Da Silva Crowned PPC Winter Mini Main Event Champion

The PPC Winter Mini Main Event was only mini in name thanks to the incredible support from you, our loyal PartyPoker players. Some 2,730 players turned out in force and created a $136,500 prize pool, more than a third larger than the advertised $100,000 guarantee.

Henrique Miguel Santos Da Silva was the main beneficiary of that juicy prize pool as he was the last player standing. Da Silva defeated Czech Republic’s Petr Marek to become the Mini Main Event’s worthy champion, an accolade that came with an impressive $20,284 for his $55 buy-in. Although disappointed not to come away with the victory, Marek must still be delighted at hauling in a runner-up prize that tipped the scales at $13,767.

PPC Winter #02 Mini Main Event Final Table Results

PPC Winter Numbered Event Results

We have to mention Denmark’s Jonathan Skovson, who excelled in the PPC Winter editions of The Grand. Skovson came out on top in the first The Grand event, outlasting 94 opponents and winning $19,968. He won The Grand again a week later, navigating his way past 105 opponents to clinch the $23,448 top prize. Watch out for Skovson this Sunday’s The Grand, which you can win your way into from as little as $0.01!

*includes bounty payments

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