The Sunday Briefing: Mike McDonald Chops FTOPS XXV Main Event

Canada lit up the Sunday grind yesterday with a massive domination in the biggest events of the week — certainly a wealthy Sunday Funday for the Great North.
Charles “Chilax Chuck” Sylvestre and Mike McDonald chopped Full Tilt Poker’s FTOPS Main Event three ways with the UK’s Niall “Firaldo87” Farrell (also playing from Canada as he just won Canadian Poker Tour Event 1 in Calgary, Alberta) for $200,000 each, leaving $36,000 and the gold jersey to play for. Farrell walked away with the victory beating Sylvester heads-up.
Aidan “whereisdonny” Tam was a big winner on Sunday as well, capturing Full Tilt’s $2,100 FTOPS Event 28 for $163,000. Ami “UhhMee” Barer finished third in the same event for $78,240.
Griffin “Flush_Entity” Benger had a decent day (like every Sunday) from Sanremo, shipping two EPT Grand Final packages for ~€23,000 and bubbling a third, cashing for €2,100. Benger had deep runs all over the virtual felt on Sunday.
Almost 3/3 in Monte Carlo seats stone bubbling the €700 but winning the €200r & €500. Coupled w/ 4th in 100 2x & 2 HR FTs, good Sunday!
— Griffin Benger (@GriffinBenger)
Here's a full look at the results from the Sunday Majors on PokerStars and Full Tilt Poker:

FTOPS Main Event
Buy-in | Entrants | Prize Pool |
---|---|---|
$635 | 2,557 | $1,534,000 |
Place | Player | Prize |
---|---|---|
1 | Niall "Firaldo87" Farrell | $236,232* |
2 |
![]() Charles "Chilax Chuck" Sylvestre | $200,000* |
3 |
![]() Mike McDonald | $200,000* |
4 |
![]() YEWTHMELTHR | $107,394 |
5 | Sami "LarsLuzak" Kelopuro | $79,788 |
6 | PrettyFlacko | $58,299 |
7 |
![]() Rasta_3 | $41,423 |
8 | NES_Pro | $29,149 |
9 | foster18 | $19,944 |
*Reflects three-handed deal
Canadian notables: “Mammola” 22nd for $5,062, “Humbadee” 24th for $5,062, and “AlexandraPaul” 28th for $3,682.

Sunday Million
Buy-in | Entrants | Prize Pool |
---|---|---|
$215 | 8,010 | $1,602,000 |
Place | Player | Prize |
---|---|---|
1 | icebearrr | $226,316* |
2 | bluet0m89 | $190,203* |
3 | ultimateturn | $120,150 |
4 | Ben "vindog03" Vinson | $80,740 |
5 | db10ISgod | $64,080 |
6 | pendo71 | $48,060 |
7 |
![]() BC_Pres | $32,040 |
8 | 133850526 | $18,423 |
9 | Guilherme "VinceVegaMFR" Cheveau | $12,415 |
*Reflects heads-up deal
Canadian notables: “chriscash01” 16th for $4,245, “Piquette” 20th for $3,524, and “Apotheosis92” 25th for $3,524.

Sunday Warm-Up
Buy-in | Entrants | Prize Pool |
---|---|---|
$215 | 3,570 | $714,000 |
Place | Player | Prize |
---|---|---|
1 | Konstantinos "arxigos" Nanos | $112,098 |
2 | 7Be^C7 | $83,538 |
3 | XXDH1983 | $58,905 |
4 | HeroCall123 | $41,055 |
5 | vicwellsuk | $30,345 |
6 | LeBroHbKA | $23,205 |
7 | pasty71 | $16,065 |
8 | nickym998 | $8,925 |
9 | Mix0 Mi | $5,712 |
Canadian notables: Pascal “Pass_72” LeFrancois 13th for $3,213 and “Shankar825” 19th for $1,820.

FTOPS Event #17
Buy-in | Entrants | Prize Pool |
---|---|---|
$109 | 5,512 | $551,200 |
Place | Player | Prize |
---|---|---|
1 | mrbrat | $109,137 |
2 | 3p3nipa | $66,970 |
3 |
![]() Getty "gettym" Mattinsgley | $48,483 |
4 | Mikleler | $34,174 |
5 | __KASSIN__ | $24,804 |
6 | carpediem123 | $16,536 |
7 | grdh1rm | $11,024 |
8 | koumasgio | $7,716 |
9 | Jack "JackQKA" Ellwood | $5,512 |
Canadian notables: “phil_ivey41” 12th for $3,637, “LivesWithMommy” 16th for $1,874, “HUNGLIKE” 19th for $1,543, and “PattyyBlouin” 24th for $1,543.

FTOPS Event #28
Buy-in | Entrants | Prize Pool |
---|---|---|
$2,100 | 326 | $652,000 |
Place | Player | Prize |
---|---|---|
1 |
![]() Aidan "whereisdonny" Tam | $163,000 |
2 | Chilloutboy | $104,320 |
3 |
![]() Ami "UhhMee" Barer | $78,240 |
4 |
![]() Ihopeurdown | $60,310 |
5 | Steve "MrTimCaum" O'Dwyer | $45,640 |
6 | OBagre | $32,600 |
7 | Whoozz | $21,190 |
8 | Marton "noirduck" Czuczor | $16,300 |
9 | SpanishKey | $13,040 |
Canadian notables: “hustla16” 22nd for $3,586, “judge1034” 23rd for $3,586, and “ShutTheClubDown” 24th for $3,586.

FTOPS Event #30
Buy-in | Entrants | Prize Pool |
---|---|---|
$265 | 2,367 | $473,400 |
Place | Player | Prize |
---|---|---|
1 | Christian "charder30" Harder | $60,042* |
2 | Jono "Spyver" Beck | $63,726* |
3 | PoutsoKefalos | $43,557 |
4 |
![]() dan_nofx55 | $38,602 |
5 | liran2788 | $20,356 |
6 | Luckypom | $13,728 |
7 | zekulya | $8,757 |
8 | sylvian31 | $8,757 |
9 | Sirocko | $5,917 |
*Reflects heads-up deal
Canadian notables: “YoungSupremacy” 11th for $4,023, “Ott-Man87” 12th for $4,023, “kfax” 14th for $2,840, “just2easy” 15th for $2,840, and “apestyles” 23rd for $1,988.

Sunday 500
Buy-in | Entrants | Prize Pool |
---|---|---|
$530 | 886 | $443,000 |
Place | Player | Prize |
---|---|---|
1 | lilachaa | $71,665* |
2 | buckguy2200 | $65,665* |
3 | Colombian80% | $42,971 |
4 | Christian "charder30" Harder | $32,117 |
5 | Soccermom96 | $22,327 |
6 | idrissi | $17,720 |
7 | Annette "Annette_15" Obrestad | $13,290 |
8 | palenque88 | $8,860 |
9 |
![]() NuCLeArMiNd | $5,316 |
*Reflects heads-up deal
Canadian notables: “n3xD” 24th for $1,993 and “Str8$$$Homey” 26th for $1,993.

$109 Sunday Rebuy
Buy-in | Entrants | Prize Pool |
---|---|---|
$109 | 1,057 | $315,600 |
Place | Player | Prize |
---|---|---|
1 | Shyam "G's zee" Srinivasan | $58,070 |
2 | Jamie "Bear4rms" Sykes | $42,132 |
3 | Joao Mathias | $31,560 |
4 | Brian "brianm15" England | $23,670 |
5 |
![]() CTNW | $16,569 |
6 | Valdemar "Luigi da BP" Kwaysser | $13,413 |
7 | Ronald "ronaldgrauer" Grauer | $10,257 |
8 |
![]() Ryan "piggysnipz" Pignatelli | $7,101 |
9 | Jason "jdtjpoker" Wheeler | $4,418 |
Canadian notables: Griffin “Flush_Entity” Benger 29th for $1,104 and “zangbezan24” 30th for $1,104.

Sunday 2nd Chance
Buy-in | Entrants | Prize Pool |
---|---|---|
$215 | 1,444 | $288,800 |
Place | Player | Prize |
---|---|---|
1 | APD0290 | *$46,004 |
2 | TerranUser | *$39,191 |
3 | Mauricaaa | $27,407 |
4 | mentalpshyco | $19,638 |
5 | Gottonik | $14,295 |
6 | Timorm1 | $11,407 |
7 | ismo<3seppo | $8,519 |
8 | chrispker23 | $5,631 |
9 | Tiago_Dias19 | $3,119 |
*Reflects heads-up deal
Canadian notables: “Radiihead” 22nd for $1,155, “Frenzuh” 23rd for $1,155, and “mossified84” 26th for $1,155.

Sunday Supersonic
Buy-in | Entrants | Prize Pool |
---|---|---|
$215 | 1,521 | $320,626 |
Place | Player | Prize |
---|---|---|
1 | mrAndreeew | *$51,452 |
2 | Neeeeek | *$47,077 |
3 |
![]() ram_siva1 | $32,062 |
4 | Grizzlypower | $24,047 |
5 |
![]() CzarKassim | $16,832 |
6 | Miltos14 | $13,626 |
7 | alexandrekbr | $10,420 |
8 | IfooIU | $7,214 |
9 | Ringelsdorf | $4,488 |
*Reflects heads-up deal
Canadian notables: “Drewfus81” 10th for #3,045, “TuckYouIn” 16th for $1,763, and Sebastian “p0cket00” Sikorski 26th for #1,090.

Canadian Live Major Qualifier
PokerStars Canada Cup Main Event package winners ($3,300)
- YRWTHMELTHR
- pseftis
- WUTZ_DAPOINT
EPT Grand Final package winners (€14,000)
- Griffin “Flush_Entity” Benger (x2)
- Mike “SirWatts” Watson
- dirty.brasil
Get in on the Sunday Majors action yourself by visiting PokerStars and Full Tilt Poker
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