Talal "raidalot" Shakerchi Enters 2024 in Style; Banks aR$100K Score
January 03, 2024 Matthew Pitt Senior Editor
British star Talal "raidalot" Shakerchi 🍐 kicked off 2024 in style by taking down theR$2,023 NLHE 8-Max New Year Special event at PokerStars. The tournament, one 🍐 of three New Year Specials held at PokerStars on January 1, 2024, was ridiculously stacked, as you would expect from 🍐 such a high-stakes affair. Any of the entrants would have made a worthy champion, but Shakerchi got the job done 🍐 and his hands onR$100,029.
$2,023 NLHE New Year Special Final Table Results
Place Player Country Prize 1 Talal "raidalot" Shakerchi United KingdomR$100,029 🍐 2 Ac-King00 AustriaR$74,944 3 gettingpwned BulgariaR$56,149 4 Christian "WATnlos" Rudolph AustriaR$42,068 5 tzuzteutezu AustriaR$31,518 6 Julian "jutrack" Track GermanyR$23,614 7 🍐 Forest_PL PolandR$17,692 8 Benjamin "Spraggy" Spragg United KingdomR$13,255 9 Benjamin "BC1989RF" Chalot HungaryR$10,976
Some 272 players bought in forR$2,023, an unusual 🍐 buy-in designed to celebrate the start of the new year. Those entrants created aR$524,054 prize pool, obliterating theR$400,000 guarantee.
"Wildace_hun" was 🍐 the unfortunate soul that popped the money bubble, crashing out in 35th place despite firing four bullets. An expensive day 🍐 at the virtual felt for the Hungarian. Seasoned professionals, including Jans "Graftekkel" Arends, Bruno "great dant" Volkmann, Ramiro "ramastar88" Petrone, 🍐 and final table bubble boy Alexandros "Pwndidi" Theologis, all cashed and saw a return on their investments.
Benjamin Spragg finished eighth 🍐 after winning aR$109 satellite
Everyone at the nine-handed final table locked in at leastR$10,976 for their efforts. Benjamin "BF1989RF" Chalot received 🍐 this sum. Chalot, a former PartyPoker MILLIONS Online champion, bowed out in ninth place. Team PokerStars' Benjamin "Spraggy" Spragg busted 🍐 in eighth forR$13,255, a superb result considering he won his seat in aR$109 buy-in satellite.
The final seven became six with 🍐 the elimination of Poland's "Forest_PL" before the 2013 EPT Prague Main Event champion Julian "jutrack" Track joined the list of 🍐 busted stars, leaving only five players in contention for the six-figure top prize.
Three Austrians found themselves in the final five, 🍐 but two crashed out in quick succession. "tzuzteutezu" saw their tournament end abruptly in fifth place, with Christian "WATnlos" Rudolph 🍐 running out of steam in fourth. Rudolph walked away withR$42,068 for his efforts.
Heads-up was set when Bulgarian grinder "gettingpwned" found 🍐 himself void of chips. Shakerchi fought with "Ac-King00" of Austria for the title and the lion's share of the prize 🍐 pool. Shakerchi left his final opponent in his wake and receivedR$100,029 for an impressive victory, resigning the runner-up to a 🍐 still-welcomedR$74,944 consolation prize.
A StaggeringR$40 Million Guaranteed in the PokerStars New Year Series
"Scoops 2024" Scoops Huge New Year Score
TheR$202.30 buy-in edition 🍐 of the New year Special drew in a bumper crowd of 5,362 entrants, who ensured theR$1 million guarantee was surpassed. 🍐 Those entrants locked horns and butted heads for a share ofR$1,009,074.
The prize pool was so large that two entrants got 🍐 their hands on prizes worth more thanR$100,000. Indeed, the heads-up duo of "Scoops 2024" and "Eset93" were the recipients of 🍐 those substantial prizes.
Surprisingly, there was no deal struck when the tournament reached the heads—up stages, despite a nearlyR$41,000 difference in 🍐 the payouts. The lack of any agreement meant Kazakhstan's Eset93 bankedR$102,272 for their second-place finish, while Switzerland's Scoops 2024 reeled 🍐 in a mammoth-sized score worthR$143,479.
$202.30 NLHE New Year Special Final Table Results
Place Player Country Prize 1 Scoops 2024 SwitzerlandR$143,479 2 🍐 Eset93 KazakhstanR$102,272 3 Mabreu16 BrazilR$72,903 4 GUNDIAS BrazilR$51,968 5 BBRS999 CroatiaR$37,044 6 wemetagain MexicoR$26,406 7 Denvlas MontenegroR$18,823 8 Alex "AlexGelinski" 🍐 Gelinski BrazilR$13,418 9 huegelking GermanyR$9,565
Andreas Christoforou Among the Big Christmas Day Winners at PokerStars
Low-Stakes New Year Special Ends in Four-Way 🍐 Deal
TheR$20.23 buy-in version of the New Year Special, part of the New Year Series at PokerStars, narrowly missed itsR$400,000 guaranteed, 🍐 but it came super close thanks to 21,602 players entering the tournament. Unlike the other New Year Special events, this 🍐 one ended in a deal, and nobody could blame the quartet of stars for choosing to do so.
None of the 🍐 final four had re-entered more than once, so they had only investedR$40.46. However, although they were in for a small 🍐 amount, the least any of the final four took home wasR$23,517, with the champion, "oskarbilstad" of Norway, collectingR$33,073 for an 🍐 incredible return on investment, and a superb start to poker life in 2024.
$20.23 NLHE New Year Special Final Table Results
Place 🍐 Player Country Prize 1 oskarbilstad NorwayR$33,073* 2 attitudeeeee HungaryR$24,138* 3 Gabriel Tung BrazilR$25,584* 4 ch_rag2 ChileR$23,517* 5 Pavel_Frants ArmeniaR$10,626 6 🍐 p0tK.O.mjt€d MaltaR$7,574 7 KasperliTheater SwitzerlandR$5,399 8 1ll1maister FinlandR$3,849 9 fijis aek GreeceR$2,743
New Year Series Main Events are Approaching
You do not 🍐 have long to wait before the huge New Year Series Main Events shuffle up and deal. Three No-Limit Hold'em Main 🍐 Events commence at 6:30 p.m. GMT on January 15, with the singular Pot-Limit Omaha Main Event scheduled for 7:05 p.m. 🍐 GTMT on the same day.
The No-Limit Hold'em Main Events come with buy-ins ofR$109,R$1,050, andR$5,200. They have guaranteed prize pools tipping 🍐 the scales atR$1,000,000,R$1,250,000, andR$1,500,000, respectively. TheR$215 buy-in Pot-Limit Omaha Main Event guarantees at leastR$200,000 will be won.
Sharelines Talal Shakerchi started 🍐 2024 as he means to go on; by winning more thanR$100,000.
