Fernando 'fviana' Viana took down the PokerStars Stadium Series $5,200 Grand Final - High, coming away with a $721,235 after making a three-way deal at the final table.
Viana's win caps off the PokerStars Stadium Series, with the $5 million guaranteed Grand Final -High representing the biggest prize pool of the series. The big payday is the biggest online score to date for the Brazilan Viana.
Viana struck a three-way deal with eventual second-place finisher Vlada 'Vlada2108' Stojanovic ($553,932) and third-place finisher Maxime 'Daghemuneguu' Chilaud ($570,220). All three top finishers go home with half-million-plus paydays at the end of the three-day event.
Day 3 of the Grand Final - High began with a nine-handed final table. After three hours of play, the final three players came down to Viana, the Serbian Stojanovic, and France's Chilaud. The trio of players agreed to the terms of a three-way deal, and after two more hours of play, Viana emerged victorious.
Chilaud entered the final table with a dominant chip stack, holding more than one-third of the chips in play. The French pro appeared poised to come away with the championship at times during Level 44, holding more than half the chips in play with Viana and Stojanovic looking up.
Viana and Stojanovic started to chip away at Chilaud's lead, however, and in the early minutes of Level 45, the three players stood virtually even.
That level proved to be the final of the tournament, however. Chilaud exited in third place at the hands of Viana, with Viana getting the best of a pocket tens versus pocket nines all-in preflop setup.
The tournament ended just a few hands later, with Viana ousting Stojanovic. The final hand saw Stojanovic triple barrel after turning a set of eights, with the river bet committing all of Stojanovic's chips.
Viana called off with the nuts, however, tabling ten-nine offsuit for a turned straight. The win in the Grand Final -High put Viana at over $5.5 million in career online tournament earnings, according to the PocketFives database.
Stojanavic also comes way with his biggest career online cash, and is over $1.6 million in career earnings.
Other top finishers
Russian player 'serggorelyi7' finished in fourth place, earning a $310,287 payday. Coming into the final table, 'serggorelyi7' stood second in chips, and the combined chip stacks of 'serggorelyi7' and Chilaud made up nearly 60 percent of the chips in play.
Sixth-place finisher 'MarinkaHT' from Russia earned $162,067, spinning up the entry to the Grand Final -High from a $7.50 buy-in tournament. According to the PokerStars Blog, 'MarinkaHT' won a $109 ticket from a chest in that $7.50 event, then turned that $109 ticket into a $1,050 ticket, and eventually the $5,200 buy-in for the Grand Final -High.
Stadium Series awards more than $55 million
The month-long PokerStars Stadium Series marked the first online series of its kind from PokerStars. The Stadium Series schedule included 106 events, with cards-up delayed streaming coverage presented on Twitch throughout the events.
The tournaments offered multiple buy-in levels and ran from July 5 to August 2. The series awarded more than $55 million overall across the 106 tournaments, with the $5 million guaranteed in the Grand Final -High comprising the biggest overall prize pool on the Stadium Series schedule.
PokerStars will extend the series for a few more days, adding the Stadium Series Afterparty. The Afterparty offers four buy-in levels, with the biggest coming in the $1,050 High Roller. That event offers a $1 million guaranteed prize pool.
