As the stores and malls are bustling with shoppers during the busiest shopping month of the year, PokerStars has been busy with the World Cup of Poker and its regular uber-popular Sunday tournaments. The holidays have yet to put a dent in the number of players who log on to compete for the $1.5 million guarantee in the Sunday Million, and this week was no different.

A total of 7,577 players registered for the December 7th edition of the Sunday Million, creating a $1,515,400 prize pool. And along with the masses were several well-known Team PokerStars Pros, including Dario Minieri, Isabelle Mercier, John Duthie, and Marcin Horecki. William Thorson played along and busted short of the money in 1221st place, but Steve Paul-Ambrose did better by finishing in 1083rd for a small payout. It was Barry Greenstein who bested the rest of the pros by making it to 351st place, which was good for $909.24 in prize money.

Speaking of reaching the money, it was platinni as the bubble player in 1171st position who created the opportunity for the remaining players to get paid on this Sunday, with JasonGray leading the way as the 1170th place finisher; he received $303.08 for that distinction.

The survivors played on, finally reaching ten tables just after the six and a half hour mark, but it wasn’t until more than eight hours into the tournament that the final two tables were reached. Play slowed a bit, as it took nearly an hour to reach the final table. Stuck at 11 players for a bit, it was the elimination of wilder12u in 11th place that made way for hand-for-hand play to begin.

It was then that shane261966 decided to make an all-in move for just over 3 million chips with pocket jacks, but ggiillaadd called with pocket kings. The board brought some hope in the form of a straight draw for the short stack when it came 7c-Qd-8h-9c-4d, but the kings held up for ggiillaadd, and shane261966 became the final table bubble player, out in tenth place with a consolation prize of $7,577.00.

The final table was then seated as follows:

Seat 1: hiclimber (6,243,555 in chips)
Seat 2: drritalin (14,670,216 in chips)
Seat 3: herdgolf86 (9,750,193 in chips)
Seat 4: Winn8D (7,103,357 in chips)
Seat 5: mozitas (3,488,167 in chips)
Seat 6: Aftret (6,387,148 in chips)
Seat 7: mrvogt (7,929,158 in chips)
Seat 8: JSchnett (4,743,206 in chips)
Seat 9: ggiillaadd (15,455,000 in chips)

It only took a few hands for the first final tablist to be at risk, but hiclimber started it off by raising preflop to 777,777. Aftret came over with a reraise from the small blind to 2.4 million, and hiclimber responded with an all-in move for 5,558,555. Aftret called with pocket kings, and hiclimber showed pocket tens. The board couldn’t have been better for Aftret with 8h-Kh-Kc for quads, and the irrelevant 2d and 9s on the turn and river couldn’t have made a difference. hiclimber couldn’t argue with quads and took a ninth place finish and the $10,607.80 that came with it.

mozitas was the new short stack at the table and found no better time to try to double up. When herdgolf86 made an initial raise to 725,698, mozitas pushed all-in for 4,248,866 with Ac-Qs. herdgolf86 called with Ad-Kc and had to have felt pretty confident. That confidence was warranted as the board came 3d-3s-Tc-2s-4d, and herdgolf86 had to take an eighth place finish and $17,427.10 in prize money.

The next significant hand began with an all-in push from JSchnett preflop and a call from ggiillaadd. JSchnett showed As-Tc, and it would be a race against the pocket nines of ggiillaadd. The board brought 9d-4d-Td-6s-7c, and the pair of tens for the short stack didn’t match up to the trips of ggiillaadd. JSchnett was ousted in seventh place for a $26,519.50 prize.

With six players remaining, it was exactly tight play but cautious play that kept all of them playing for quite awhile. None were afraid to get millions of chips in the pot, but none wanted to go all-in either. mrvogt wanted to talk numbers, and Aftret was open to the idea, but herdgolf86 kindly said no and wished everyone good luck. Playing on through Level 35 and 36 they did, as ggiillaadd climbed to a massive 22 million chip stack.

Finally, it was herdgolf86 who pushed all-in for 5,812,036 preflop with Qh-Jc, and Aftret called from the big blind with Ah-Qd. The board came almost all hearts with Kh-7h-5c-3h-4h, and Aftret won with the ace-high flush, while the second-best king-high flush left herdgolf86 on the virtual rail in sixth place with $38,642.70 in prize money.

The remaining five players then paused the action to see request chip-count numbers from the tournament administrator. With the understanding that $30,000 must be set aside for the ultimate winner, the numbers were given, but Winn8D insisted on some additional cash. After much deliberation, the five players agreed on the following payouts:

ggiillaadd: $114,355
drritalin: $106,021
mrvogt: $96,458
Aftret: $92,881
Winn8D: $78,701

With that, play resumed…slowly. It took another dozen or so hands before a player was put in serious risk. That player was Winn8D who moved all-in after an initial raise from Aftret. Aftret called with pocket tens, but Winn8D showed pocket jacks for a good chance at a double-up survival. But the board produced Qs-Ts-Kh-3h-Kc and a full house for Aftret. Winn8D was out in fifth place with the agreed-upon amount of $78,701.

Aftret had become the aggressor at the table and raised preflop, as he had so many times before. This time, however, mrvogt pushed his short stack of 11,556,103 all-in from the small blind in response. Aftret called with pocket kings, and mrvogt showed the Kh-Tc that made him the severe underdog. The virtual dealer gave them Ks-4s-4h-Qd-3h, and Aftret had another full house for the win. mrvogt was forced out in fourth place for the $96,458 deal amount.

Aftret lost a little of the afore-mentioned mojo when drritalin doubled through Aftret and took the lead with more than 47 million. Aftret gained some back in a subsequent hand, however, but couldn’t get back into the lead. Finally, after an initial raise by ggiillaadd, Aftret pushed 17,114,314 into the pot all-in with Ah-Th, and ggiillaadd called with Ad-Qh. The board came 3d-Jc-Kd-6h-6c, and ggiillaadd had the better kicker. Aftret was eliminated in third place with $92,881 in prize money.

Heads-up play then began with the following counts:

Seat 2: drritalin (23,539,671 in chips)
Seat 9: ggiillaadd (52,230,329 in chips)

drritalin doubled through ggiillaadd during heads-up play, but the tables were turned in the very next hand when ggiillaadd doubled back. drritalin maintained the chip lead, though, and ggillaadd was crippled with less than 5 million in chips. Still cautious, though, the two players saw a hand all the way through to the river as the board showed 4c-6h-6s-3d-5s. When drritalin made the last bet, ggiillaadd called all-in with 8s-4s for two pair, but drritalin showed 6c-5d for the full house and the win. ggiillaadd took a second place finish, which was good for the pre-made deal amount of $114,355.

drritalin was the December 7th Sunday Million winner, and in addition to the agreed-upon amount of $106,021, drritalin also received the $30,000 held out for the winner, making the total first place prize $136,021.00. Congratulations to the doc for the win!

Sunday Million Results for 12/07/08:

1st place: drritalin ($136,021.00)
2nd place: ggiillaadd ($114,355.00)
3rd place: Aftret ($92,881.00)
4th place: mrvogt ($96,458.00)
5th place: Winn8D ($78,701.00)
6th place: herdgolf86 ($38,642.70)
7th place: JSchnett ($26,519.50)
8th place: mozitas ($17,427.10)
9th place: hiclimber ($10,607.80)

For more information on ways to register and qualify for the next weekend’s festivities, visit the Sunday Million page.