Sunday Million 20th Anniversary leaderboard, the names to watch

The Sunday Million is doing the sensible anniversary thing: it has made the tournament longer, the numbers larger, and the lobby impossible to ignore. PokerStars' 20th Anniversary edition is a $109 phased Progressive Knockout with $5 million guaranteed. Phase 1 heats run daily through September 6, then the survivors regroup for Phase 2 from September 6 to 7, according to the official PokerStars event page.

The useful news this week is the leaderboard, not another press release about life-changing money. A PokerNews report published August 13 counted 24,881 entries across completed Phase 1s, with 799 players already through to the final phase. That is a lot of $109 bullets, and a decent reminder that phased tournaments are still very good at turning one event into a summer job.

The event in one minute

• Guarantee: $5 million.
• Buy-in: $109 per Phase 1 entry.
• Format: Phased Progressive Knockout.
• Phase 1: Daily heats run until September 6.
• Phase 2: The remaining qualifiers play September 6 to 7.
• Starting stack: 10,000 chips, with 10-minute levels and starting blinds of 40/80/10 ante.

Each Phase 1 can take up to three re-entries while late registration is open. Play stops when 3% of the field remains, so the point is not to win a heat outright. It is to turn a $109 entry into a live stack for the September final. PokerStars calls it a phased tournament. Your bankroll calls it repeated exposure to 10-minute levels.

Current top 10 leaderboard

This is the Phase 2 chip leaderboard reported by PokerNews on August 13. It is a snapshot, not a live lobby feed, and the numbers are chips rather than cash. Austria's go1vs1 legko leads the field with 1,076,054, while the tenth-place stack is already 863,571. The top two are the only players above one million chips in the report.

1. go1vs1 legko, Austria: 1,076,054 chips.
2. getdamoney0, Canada: 1,045,132 chips.
3. makemevision, Ukraine: 954,094 chips.
4. mooroboy87, New Zealand: 927,216 chips.
5. cebuanamyrna, Philippines: 914,797 chips.
6. chaavees, Brazil: 906,697 chips.
7. luily021, Belarus: 901,533 chips.
8. rodfarah, Brazil: 881,102 chips.
9. Douglas "h.dogui" Hobold, Brazil: 872,974 chips.
10. Paul "behindme93" Jurcuta, Romania: 863,571 chips.

The gap at the top is not enormous in tournament terms. First has 1.25 times the chips of tenth. That is useful context when someone describes a seven-figure stack as if the trophy has already been engraved. A lot of poker remains between a good Phase 1 finish and a meaningful September payout.

Spraggy is in, and so are plenty of serious names

The leaderboard also has enough familiar names to make the final phase worth watching. Benjamin "Spraggy" Spragg turned a 10,000-chip start into 187,043 and was listed in 544th place. PokerStars' Marle "MarlzTV" Spragg was through with 88,462. Steven "SvZff" van Zadelhoff had 695,141, Peter "Belabacsi" Traply had 602,644, and Jussi "calvin7v" Nevanlinna had 402,413.

Those stacks illustrate the real shape of a phased event. The point is not to look impressive on the first report. It is to survive with enough chips that the final phase gives you a real decision tree instead of a ceremonial orbit and a min cash. The 799 qualifiers will not all arrive in the same condition, which is where the actual edge starts.

Recent winners: the deal is often the headline

Last year's 19th Anniversary edition produced the kind of result that makes poker tournament coverage worth reading twice. The $6 million guaranteed event drew 28,444 entries. Brazil's gutAoAllin won the title for $391,436, but Vietnam's KkkEndriK finished second and collected $436,013 after a four-way deal. The champion won the trophy. The runner-up won more money. Poker is occasionally a negotiation with cards attached, as Poker.org's results report documented.

The 18th Anniversary was a cleaner story. Brazil's Mateus "CrossBreed17" Mendes outlasted 39,226 entries in 2024 and took $1 million after a three-day grind. The heads-up battle lasted 90 minutes, which is a long time to discover that both players would rather be anywhere else. The contrast is the useful part: one year ended with a million-dollar outright win, the next with a four-way deal and a runner-up paid more than the champion.

How to buy a sensible shot

Direct entry is not the only route. PokerStars lists satellites from $0.55, plus special edition Spin & Go formats from $0.75 and $4 that can award Phase 1 tickets. The Ticket Machine promotion runs into early September. Its current terms advertise 918 $109 tickets in each Saturday draw at 00:05 ET, with challenges such as playing two MTTs, 75 Zoom hands, or 100 cash game hands. Each challenge can be completed up to four times in a weekly period, for up to 20 draw entries.

That is a useful rebate only if the underlying play was already sensible. Do not open a table, enter a tournament, or fire a Spin & Go solely to turn a promotion badge green. The tournament variance calculator is the right place to model the repeated bullets. The bankroll management guide is the right place to decide whether $109 is an entry fee or an unscheduled argument with rent.

The bankroll verdict

The 20th Anniversary is a good target for players who already play $109 MTTs and a bad excuse for players who do not. A Phase 1 ticket has value because it creates a path into a $5 million pool, not because the guarantee cancels variance. If you want the event, set a fixed number of bullets, use satellites only when their cost fits your normal schedule, and stop when the number is reached.

For the room's current cash, tournament, and promotion details, see our PokerStars review. For a final-table deal, run the numbers through the ICM deal calculator before you start congratulating yourself on a chip lead. The leaderboard tells us who has the chips. It does not yet tell us who will make the sensible deal.