Tuesday, November 11, 2014

PokerStars 10th anniversary: From unemployed to millionaire



Sunday Million logo NEW.PNGIn Toronto, Canada, Kyle Weir sat unemployed. He was 24 years old and paying the bills by playing poker. Meanwhile, he had college loans hanging over his head It was a life, but not necessarily a rich one.

"I've always played cards to scrape together money," Weir said.

A lot of individuals could be satisfied with that way of living. Still, the theory of scraping to get by isn't one who appeals to many. Before this weekend, Weir--known as First-Eagle on PokerStars--had never cashed for greater than $40,000 in a single online tournament. Though he's been playing on PokerStars for four years, his success have been somewhat limited.

That changed early this morning when Weir won the biggest-ever Sunday Million--the biggest-ever online tournament in history!--and became an instant millionaire.

"The feeling after the win was unbelievable," Weir said. "I still feel like I'm dreaming and cannot believe it's happened. It's a surprisingly fortunate experience."

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The 10th Anniversary Sunday Million final table

As you likely know by now, Weir was one among greater than 62,000 individuals who signed up for the PokerStars 10th Anniversary Sunday Million. Before yesterday, the most important Sunday Million prize pool was $12,215,000. Now the standing record is $12,423,200, and Weir got the lion's share of it. His cut of the overall table deal earned him $1,146,574.

"I plan on paying off some loans I'VE built up over time deciding to buy college. Its an enormous weight off my shoulders eliminating those," Weir said.

At one time only a friendly homegame player, Weir spent numerous time over the last several years honing his video game and dealing to support himself along with his talents. It is not always easy on him, neither is it easy at the people he loves. Now that it's paid off in spades, Weir is seeking how to pay back some support to a few important people.

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"I would certainly love to send my parents on vacation for a couple of weeks. Playing poker such a lot doesn't only take effect on a player itself, but parents and friends as well," he said. "IT'LL be an ideal feeling giving them a couple of weeks off to enjoy themselves."

As for whatever else is next? That's still up within the air. Weir hasn't even had 12 hours to process the truth that he's now a millionaire. He'll take a few days off to celebrate and relax, after which it's back to the grind.

"Tournament leaderboards are still in the market. Why stop after this kind of great run?" he said. "I just hope it continues. I MIGHT love an opportunity to play some live events soon. We'll just see where the following couple of months take me."

Congratulation to Kyle "First-Eagle" Weir for a stellar performance. Thanks for helping PokerStars celebrate its 10th anniversary in style!


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Read More... [Source: PokerStarsBlog.com :: 10th Anniversary]

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