PokerStars' iconic Sunday Million celebrated its 18th Anniversary this past weekend. After the three-day grind, one player - Brazil's Mateus "CrossBreed17" Mendes - stood alone atop the podium.
Mendes outlasted the field of 39,226 entries to claim both the top prize of $1,000,000 and the ever-lasting glory that comes with a Sunday Million victory - check out his winning moment below.
Mendes took the chip lead into the heads-up battle against runner-up finisher "Sunday Melon" - a battle that lasted for 90 minutes, streamed in its entirety on the PokerStars Twitch channel. Mendes offered his opponent a deal prior to the start of heads-up play, but "Sunday Melon" declined and the two fought it out.
After briefly relinquishing the chip lead, Mendes regained control and never looked back. "Sunday Melon" managed to find a double here and there to stay alive, but couldn't overcome the chip disparity. Mendes' victory also saw him shoot to the top of the Sunday Million Season overall leaderboard.
The event fell just shy of the 40,000 entries needed to meet the $8,000,000 guarantee - leading to only the second-ever overlay in a Sunday Million Anniversary.
Sunday Million 18th Anniversary final table results
| Place | Player | Country | Prize (USD) |
| 1 | Mateus "CrossBreed17" Mendes | Brazil | $1,000,000 |
| 2 | "Sunday Melon" | Poland | $733,959 |
| 3 | "FcProto10" | Czechia | $526,523 |
| 4 | "themasteryan" | Canada | $377,713 |
| 5 | Jans "Graftekkel" Arends | Netherlands | $270,961 |
| 6 | "Majo360" | Slovakia | $194,380 |
| 7 | "n3v3rw1n88" | Finland | $139,442 |
| 8 | "alxwhitty" | United Kingdom | $100,032 |
| 9 | "nzlking" | New Zealand | $71,759 |
More action still to come
Mendes' win came amidst PokerStars' six-week Sunday Million Season - created to celebrate the 18th anniversary of the Sunday Million - which features an action-packed tournament schedule spread across 24 episodes from March 10 - April 21.
There are three 'Epilogue' events set to conclude on the final day and be sure keep an eye out as Team PokerStars ambassadors Fintan Hand, Ben Spragg, Parker Talbot, Rafael Moraes, and Lex Veldhuis take to the streets to battle in five special Mystery Bounty events. The player that knocks out each ambassador in their respective event will earn a spot in the $1,500,000 guaranteed Sunday Million Season Finale on April 21st.
- Fintan Hand: $5.50 PKO - $25K GTD on Apr 16
- Ben Spragg: $11 Mystery Bounty - $70K GTD on Apr 17
- Parker Talbot: $55 Mystery Bounty - $150K GTD on Apr 18
- Rafael Moraes: $5.50 PKO - $20K GTD on Apr 18
- Lex Veldhuis: $215 Mystery Bounty - $125K GTD on April 19
