Yuri Martins Gama Denies Fellow Brazilian Thiago Crema a Sunday Million Title

Brazilian poker players dominated the latter stage of the latest PokerStars Sunday Million, with five samba stars navigating to the $1 million guaranteed event’s final table. Two of those Brazilians, Yuri “tecaoo” Martins Gama and Thiago “KKremate” Crema found themselves heads-up. Between them, they took home $$140,246 of the seven-figure prize pool.

This week, the $109 Sunday Million was played to a progressive knockout format. PokerStars processed 9,749 entries, resulting in a $25,100 overlay on the $1 million guarantee. The top 1,615 finishers, including Team PokerStars’ Kenny “SpaceyFCB” Hallaert and Benjamin “Spraggy” Spragg, received a regular prize pool payout.

Day 1 concluded with 115 hopefuls in with a chance of Sunday Million glory. They returned to their seats on Day 2 to fight it out for a $54,596 top prize plus as many progressive bounties they could get their hands on.

$109 Sunday Million PKO Final Table Results

Gama scored a double elimination relatively early into the final table’s proceedings. “gregory709” moved all-in with ace-five of diamonds from under the gun for less than an ante, “bpauludo11” ripped it in for 5.5 big blinds with ace-eight of spades in middle position, and Gama squeezed all-in from the cutoff with king-ten of clubs, folding out the remaining players. Gama turned an ace-high flush to send two opponents to the rail; he also collected $3,720 from the bounty prize pool.

Losing a coinflip sent Ukraine’s “m.o_4515” home in seventh. The Ukrainian min-raised under the gun with pocket tens, “nakil301” responded with a three-bet jam from the cutoff with ace-king of clubs, and “m.o_4515” called off the 15 big binds they had behind. An ace-king-trey flop left the all-in player drawing thin, and no help arrived for them on the turn or river.

Another coinflip scenario resulted in “tuliodutra96” heading for the exits. They open-shoved for 10 big blinds with king-queen of hearts from under the gun. The action folded to “nakil301” in the small blind and they moved all-in with five-four of hearts. Those suited connectors had improved to a wheel straight by the river, sending “tuliodutra96” to the sidelines.

$15M GTD Across Two Weeks of Bounty Builder Series Action on PokerStars

Check out the schedule

Five-handed play ended when “YureRML” bowed out at the hands of “22Turk22.” Seated under the gun and nursing a 3.5 big blind stack, “YureRML” moved all-in with king-jack. Crema folded but “22Turk22” was holding ace-king of hearts and was going nowhere. Tey committed their 14 big blind stack, and boosted their chip count when the five community cards fell queen-high.

“22Turk22” was the next player relieved of their stack despite winning that pot. Their final hand saw them open-shove for 11 big blinds with queen-jack from under the gun, and the aggressive bounty-hunting “nakil301” raised all-in with king-ten of diamonds, which folded out the other two players. Both players spiked a pair on the flop, but “nakil301” improved to two pair on the turn. A blank river later, and the Sunday Million was down to only three players.

Those three became two with the untimely demise of “nakil301,” who went from a commanding lead to being left with dust where their chips once stood. First, “nakil301” lost almost half their stack when their ace-nine fell foul to Crema’s pocket tens. The last of “ankil301″‘s chips went into the middle pocket deuces, only for Gama” to wake up with a pair of kings in the hole. Those kings improved to a set on the flop, sending “nakil301” home in third place.

Gama held a two-to-one chip lead over fellow Brazilian Crema going into the heads-up battle. Gama became the champion less than ten minutes after the first heads-up hand was dealt. Crema initially limped with ace-deuce but then raised all-in after Gama raised from the big blind with king-queen. The shove was for 22 big blinds, and Gama called. A king-high flop put Gama in front, and he stayed though through the turn and river to become the PokerStars Sunday Million champion.

Other Notable PokerStars Results

Ukraine’s “drew.derzh” triumphed in the $5,200 Titans Event for $87,884, a prize rivalling the Sunday Million’s top payout. The Ukrainian defeated Austria’s “ibotown” heads-up, with Ole “wizowizo” Schemion continuing his explosive start to 2025 with a third-place finish worth $41,198.

Check out the table below to some see of the biggest names and prizes awarded at PokerStars over the weekend.

*prizes include bounties where applicable

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.