PokerStars Sunday Million 20th Anniversary Comes With $5M Guaranteed

Online poker’s most iconic weekly tournament, the PokerStars Sunday Million, is celebrating its 20th anniversary with a phased progressive knockout (PKO) edition boasting a $5 million guaranteed prize pool.

While Phase 2 of this celebratory tournament doesn’t start until the evening of September 6, Phase 1s are running for the next 10 weeks, starting on June 28. Players can enter as many Phase 1s as they wish, or as many as their bankroll allows, until they progress to Phase 2.

Those who advance to Phase 2 do so with their end-of-Phase 1 stacks.

Each Phase 1 entry costs $109. Players receive 10,000 chips and play to 10-minute levels, with blinds starting at 40/80/10a. Up to three re-entries are permitted while late registration is open, which is for 100 minutes or around the end of Level 9.

Play on each Phase 1 concludes when only 3% of the field remains, with those surviving players heading to Phase 2 at 8:05 p.m. BST on September 6.

As the PokerStars Sunday Million 20th Anniversary edition is a PKO tournament, it’s possible to win money without needing to navigate through Phase 1. All players start with a $25 bounty on their heads. Anyone who eliminates an opponent instantly receives 50% of that bounty in their PokerStars account, with the remaining half added to their own bounty, making them a more attractive proposition to their opponents.

Ashley Chase, Poker Director at PokerStars, said: “The Sunday Million is a major part of PokerStars’ history. For 20 years, it has been the tournament that players build their weekends around, the one that creates stories, champions, and life-changing moments. For this anniversary edition, we want to celebrate that legacy properly, with a $5 million guaranteed prize pool and an accessible summer-long road to Phase 2 that provides more ways than ever for players to win their way in.”

Sunday Million 20th Anniversary satellites, starting at only $0.55, land in the PokerStars lobby from June 27.

Those looking for a different qualification route should consider the $0.75 and $4 Sunday Million editions of PokerStars Spin & Go tournaments. These spins pay out a mixture of satellite tickets and seats to $109 Phase 1s.

$0.75 Sunday Million Spin & Go Payouts

$4 Sunday Million Spin & Go Payouts

Matthew Pitt hails from Leeds, West Yorkshire, in the United Kingdom, and has worked in the poker industry since 2008, and worked for PokerNews since 2010. In September 2010, he became the editor of PokerNews. Matthew stepped away from live reporting duties in 2015, and now concentrates on his role of Senior Editor for the PokerNews.