Sunday Million Turns 15: Everything You Need to Know About the $12.5 Million Anniversary Event This Weekend

The PokerStars Sunday Million is one of the most famous regular tournaments in the online poker world.

This coming Sunday, the venerable tournament turns 15 years old, and the whole poker world is invited to share in $12.5 million in prizes.

PokerStars kicked off their big Sunday major with $1 million guaranteed on March 5, 2006, but it took a few months before the $1 million guaranteed event found the name Sunday Million. On June 25 of that same year, a special $1,050 buy-in version of the event took on the name.

The label stuck from there, and the legendary weekend phenomenon was born.

With the buy-in usually set at $215 (though it recently switched to $109 outside of special events), and at least $1 million in the prize pool, the Sunday Million has become a regular part of many players’ weekend plans.

If the Sunday Million has become a fixture on the weekly poker schedule, the Anniversary events have become one of the most anticipated tournaments of the year.

This year, for the 15th Anniversary event, there is $12.5 million worth of guaranteed prize money to hand out to players who qualify for the classic cost of $215. It will need to attract a staggering 62,500 entries to cover.

Win Your Entry Through Satellites and Spins

You don’t need to pay $215 to get into the game, however. PokerStars is offering lots of chances to win a ticket to the Sunday Million 15th Anniversary for a fraction of the regular $215 price tag.

Even players that do not have a PokerStars account yet still have time to sign up, deposit and try and win their way into the tournament.

Satellite Entry

There is a regular satellite route to the prize, and there are some juicy Mega Sats running. Every day, there are 100 seats guaranteed in a $22 Sunday Million 15th Anniversary Meg Sat that kicks off at 6:15 p.m. UTC, as well as multiple other satellites with as many as 50 seats guaranteed throughout the day.

You can even get in for free through a Freebuy satellite with 5 tickets guaranteed to the $22 Mega Sat running four times a day. Other satellites start at $1.10 with tickets to the $11 or $22 Mega Sat events guaranteed, so there are plenty of chances to get a ticket to the weekend party without paying the full entry price at the door.

Special Spin & Gos

Tickets to the Sunday Million 15th Anniversary event are just one of the ways you could win in $4 and $22 buy-ins Spin & Gos with jackpots up to $1 million. In addition to the chance at huge jackpots, there are other ways to Spin and win.

Anyone can play, just like the regular Spin & Gos, and you can spin prizes like Sunday Million seats, satellite tickets, or cash prizes. This may be your best way to try and win a ticket—even if you don’t win a ticket, the $1 million jackpot might mean you don’t need one.

Sunday Million Anniversary Ticket Machine

PokerStars has turned on the Ticket Machine! That means you can get a piece of $500,000 worth of tickets to the anniversary event. The machine is running now, and will be churning out tickets through March 21.

Complete daily challenges to earn as many as three entries per day. Opt-in from the Challenges Window to get underway.

Challenges can be completed just by playing the poker you already love:

• Cash & Zoom: Play 250 hands and earn a ticket.
• Spin & Go’s or Sit & Go’s: Play seven games and earn a ticket.
• Tournaments: Knock another player out to earn a ticket.

Sunday Million History: Fifteen Years of Million Dollar Prize Pools

Sunday Million’s annual birthday celebrations have a history of huge fields and massive guarantees. The very first Anniversary edition was back in 2007, and even then they were crushing guarantees. The final prize pool for the first anniversary topped out at $2,101,600, more than $600,000 over the $1.5 million guarantee.

Since 2010, the Anniversary edition of the Sunday Million has only missed the guarantee once. In the first running of the 12th Anniversary in February 2018, they were on the hook for more than $1.2 million in overlay.

However, when they ran “Take 2 for #12” a few months later in 2018, they made up for it, exceeding the $10 million guarantee by $1,262,000.

The 2020 event set Sunday Million Anniversary records across the board:

• 93,016 entries: Biggest field in an Anniversary event.
• $12.5 million: Biggest guarantee in an Anniversary event.
• $18,602,300: Biggest total prize pool in an Anniversary event.

The one record 2020 didn’t break was for excess prize pool over the guarantee. The better than $18 million pool in 2020 posted an impressive excess of $6,352,300, but that was still a bit behind 2011, when they more than doubled the guarantee with $6,825,600 extra in the $11,825,600 prize pool, over the $5 million guaranteed.

Perhaps one reason for the huge prize pool in 2011 was the added value of a Lamborghini Gallardo to the winner.

There is no supercar on offer to the winner this year, but that isn’t likely to slow down the interest. Expect the 2021 edition of the Sunday Million Anniversary event to post another year of huge results.