Akenhead ships Sunday Million

Ever since his ninth place finish at the 2009 Main Event, British pro James Akenhead has been found wanting when it comes to tournament binks. And aside from a little Poker Million victory in 2009, Akenhead has struggled in recent years. But this weekend, the HitSquad pro was back in the limelight again thanks to shipping the PokerStars Sunday Million for a hefty $213,750.

With the TCOOP series up and running on PokerStars, Sunday’s $215 buy-in field was bursting at the seems, topping out at 7,125. And it was Akenhead who finished with the biggest smile on his face, seeing off a multinational final table for his biggest cash in over two years.

Denmark, Greece, Russia, England, Brazil, Germany, and Romania were all represented in the final nine. And in the end, Akenhead did it for Team UK when he beat Romania’s ‘pnp23’ heads-up for all the marbles.

Akenhead went into heads-up play with a 40m chip lead, but ‘pnp23’ didn’t take long to make a stand, doubling through in the second hand with A-K against Akenhead’s A-9. But in the final hand, the Brit was on the right side of a coin-flip when his K-J spiked a King on the river to crush his opponent’s pocket eights.

Here’s how the final table finished up:

1. James ‘Asprin1’ Akenhead $213,750.00
2. pnp23 $157,277.25
3. Ansgar2000 $114,000.00
4. Gambler4444 $75,525.00
5. sigopi $58,425.00
6. Milana Jones $44,175.00
7. shibinha $30,637.50
8. tyxerakias $17,100.00
9. philipoo $11,043.75