The New Year Series wrapped up on PokerStars last night, with the three No Limit Hold’em Main Events reaching their conclusions.
Jerry “Perrymejsen” Odeen was the big winner of the night after he took down the $5,200 buy-in Main Event for $290,062. He came onto the final table last in chips but was able to spin it up to get a great start to the year. Thomas “WushuTM” Muehloecker and Joao “Jbiancolini” Biancolini captured Main Event titles of their own and also pocketed six-figure paydays.
Joao Pedro “Jbiancolini” Biancolini
A huge $3.75 million was guaranteed across the trio of Main Events, with each tournament surpassing its respective guarantee. The first online series for the Spadie brand was a huge success and now PokerStars is just days away from moving to the live felt with the PokerStars Caribbean Adventure kicking off this weekend.
But before you check out what’s in store in the Bahamas, be sure to find out how the New Year Series reached its exciting conclusion.
Odeen Pulls Off Epic Comeback
The $5,200 New Years Series Main Event was the biggest buy-in of the three headline tournaments and came with a $1.5 million guarantee, the biggest throughout the online festival.
306 entries were registered by the time late registration closed, boosting the prize pool to $1,530,000. Only 41 players made the money with Fedor Holz being the unfortunate player to go out on the bubble.
PokerStars’ Sam Grafton finished in 15th place for $20,056 while the likes of Benjamin “bencb789” Rolle (12th – $23,844) and Frank “Denman98” Lillis (10th – $23,844) missed out on making the final table.
With nine remaining, “Netstar11” was the first player to exit the final table. He moved all in with king-queen for his last nine big blinds after Michael “Imluckbox” Addamo opened with pocket sevens from the cutoff. Joao Mathias “joaoMathias” Baumgarten woke up in the big blind with ace-queen and rejammed which folded out Addamo. Neither player would connect on the runout and Addamo’s ace high was good for the pot and elimination.
Peter “Belabacsi” Traply bowed out in eighth place following a preflop cooler and some smart play from Addamo. Traply, with ace-king, opened from the cutoff before Addamo three-bet with pocket jacks from the small blind. Odeen, who had considerably chipped up from the beginning of the day and covered both players, reraised after looking down at a pair of queens. Odeen ripped in his larger stack and Traply called off for his tournament life before Addamo gave up his premium holding. Odeen flopped a set while Traply needed a ten for Broadway. The straight never arrived and Odeen became the chip leader.
Odeen then secured his second elimination after downing “aminolast”. Odeen raised preflop with pocket kings and was called by “aminolast”, who had queen-six in the big blind. A six high flop saw all the chips go in the middle and Odeen’s pocket pair remained best after the turn and river.
Odeen then had one hand on the trophy after collecting the stack that once belonged to Addamo. The pair committed their chips before the flop with the former having another premium in ace-king while Addamo had pocket sevens. An ace on the flop put Odeen ahead and Addamo was unable to survive after the runout.
High roller regular Mikita “fish2013” Badziakouski was next to fall. He shipped in a majority of his ten big blind stack from the small blind with ace-six. Odeen, in the big blind, raised all-in with ace-jack and Badziakouski put in the last of his chips. Badziakouski was unable to avoid elimination after Odeen paired his jack on the flop with the rest of the board bricking out.
Odeen’s domination continued after he saw off Baumgarten. With ace-three in the small blind, Odeen jammed on his opponent who had pocket tens, and immediately called off his stack. Odeen flopped the nut flush draw before moving ahead as an ace came on the turn. A fourth club appeared on the river to keep Odeen in front and bring the tournament to three-handed play.
Finland’s “zerodeda” became the third-place finisher after Odeen notched another knockout. “zerodeda” limped in with ace-deuce from the small blind and then moved all in after Odeen three-bet with ace-king from the big blind. The chip leader called and flopped top two pair to set up a heads-up battle with Paulius “D3cor” Vaitiekunas.
The final two players would only play a few hands before all the chips went into the middle. Odeen had pocket nines and was up against ace-king. A clean runout for Odeen confirmed his victory and he claimed the lion’s share of the prize pool following an impressive outing.
$5,200 New Years Series Main Event Final Table Results
| PLACE | PLAYER | COUNTRY | PRIZE |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Jerry “Perrymejsen” Odeen | Sweden | $290,062 |
| 2 | Paulius “D3cor” Vaitiekunas | Lithuania | $213,275 |
| 3 | “zerodeda” | Finland | $156,816 |
| 4 | Joao Mathias “joaoMathias” Baumgarten | Brazil | $115,303 |
| 5 | Mikita “fish2013” Badziakouski | Belarus | $84,779 |
| 6 | Michael “Imluckbox” Addamo | Australia | $62,336 |
| 7 | “aminolast” | Canada | $45,834 |
| 8 | Peter “Belabacsi” Traply | Hungary | $33,701 |
| 9 | “Netstar11” | Denmark | $28,347 |
Muehloecker Pips Jozonis to Main Event Title
The second New Year Series Main Event of the night was won by tournament crusher Muehloecker, who boosted his bankroll with a further $252,075 after topping the 1,662 entry field.
The $1.25 million guarantee was eclipsed to have a final prize purse of $1,662,000 with 239 places paid. Notable names who cashed the event included Vanessa “Niffler” Kade (63rd – $4,293), Alex “FutureofMe” Kulev (52nd – $$4,293) and recent 2022 Rock ‘N’ Roll Poker Open (RRPO) $3,500 Main Event winner Andy “BowieEffect” Wilson (45th – $5,037).
$1,050 New Years Series Main Event Final Table Results
| PLACE | PLAYER | COUNTRY | PRIZE |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Thomas “WushuTM” Muehloecker | Austria | $252,075 |
| 2 | Tomas “dartazzzz” Jozonis | Lithuania | $179,697 |
| 3 | Jonathan “jwolter” Wolter | Brazil | $128,087 |
| 4 | “Avrora-sp” | Montenegro | $91,305 |
| 5 | “kilrogg94” | Belarus | $65,085 |
| 6 | “yAAwn” | Canada | $46,395 |
| 7 | “corleonegerber” | Brazil | $33,072 |
| 8 | “SuperQ22” | Montenegro | $23,575 |
| 9 | “sexyflo1990” | Germany | $16,805 |
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Six-Figure Score for “Jbiancolini”
Int the $109 edition of the New Year Series Main Event, gold went to Brazil’s Biancolini, who was the last player standing from an enormous 11,787 entry field.
The $1 million guarantee was smashed, with $1,178,700 ending up in the prize pool when all was said in done.
“Jbiancolini” bested “3376788” in heads-up play when the event was down to its final two players. The champion helped themselves to the $153,443 first-place prize while the runner-up took home $109,375.
$109 New Years Series Main Event Final Table Results
| PLACE | PLAYER | COUNTRY | PRIZE |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Joao “Jbiancolini” Biancolini | Brazil | $153,443 |
| 2 | “3376788” | United Kingdom | $109,375 |
| 3 | “13_Pasha_13” | Ukraine | $77,966 |
| 4 | “Brunodellas” | Brazil | $55,577 |
| 5 | “alanyamil” | Argentina | $39,617 |
| 6 | “Carlos levis” | Brazil | $28,240 |
| 7 | “extasyman” | Romania | $20,131 |
| 8 | Vinicius “viniperri” Perri | Brazil | $14,350 |
| 9 | “T8yourmoney” | Canada | $10,229 |
Editor & Live Reporter
Calum has been a part of the PokerNews team since September 2021 after working in the UK energy sector. He played his first hand of poker in 2017 and immediately fell in love with the game. Calum’s proudest poker achievement is winning the only tournament he has ever played in Las Vegas, the prestigious $60 Flamingo evening event.