Sunday Million 20th Anniversary Down to Final 49 as Niklas Astedt Chases Title

The Sunday Million 20th Anniversary has gone from 55,444 entries to just 49 players, and one of online poker’s biggest names is right in the middle of the title race. Niklas “Lena900” Astedt will return sixth in chips when the $5 million guaranteed PokerStars tournament concludes today, September 7.

Finland’s “RageReaperf” leads the remaining field with 28.4 million chips, while Astedt has 19.6 million. German high-stakes regular Leonard “Grozzorg” Maue is also still alive, although he faces a much more difficult route from 42nd place.

The numbers underline just how far the tournament has come. Poker Type reported on September 4 that more than 1,400 players had already qualified through the tournament’s unusual 10-week Phase 1 system.

By the time qualifying closed and the surviving fields combined, total entries had reached 55,444. Now just 49 remain in contention for one of the biggest Sunday Million titles of the year.

Sunday Million 20th Anniversary Final 49

The top ten stacks heading into the final day are:

The tournament reaches its conclusion on Monday after Phase 2 began on Sunday alongside the opening day of WCOOP 2026. The final day brings together some of online poker’s most established professionals and several screen names rarely seen outside the virtual tables.

Niklas Astedt Has Been Here Before

Astedt is comfortably the biggest name near the top of the leaderboard. The Swedish professional has spent years playing under the “Lena900” screen name and has built one of the most successful online tournament records in poker history.

His PokerStars résumé includes 12 SCOOP titles, with his latest arriving in 2026. His live record is hardly an afterthought either, with millions of dollars won away from the virtual tables.

Astedt finished third in the 2024 WSOP Main Event, collecting $4 million after surviving all but two players in the 10,112-entry field. He has continued adding major live results since then, including winning a €50,000 event at EPT Paris in February 2026.

He also has some unfinished Sunday Million anniversary business. Astedt reached 23rd when the Sunday Million celebrated its 16th anniversary in 2022, a tournament that attracted 52,119 entries.

Four years later, he has gone even deeper into an even larger anniversary field. This time, 55,444 entries have been reduced to 49, and Lena900 begins the final day inside the top six.

RageReaperf Is More Than an Unknown Chip Leader

Astedt may be the most recognizable surviving player, but he does not have the chip lead. That belongs to Finland’s “RageReaperf,” who starts with 28,384,634 chips.

There may not be a familiar real name attached to the account, but this is not the first significant PokerStars result for the Finnish player. RageReaperf won a SCOOP title in 2025, defeating 2,324 entries in a $55 NLHE Turbo Progressive Knockout Freezeout for $12,848.76.

Now the same screen name sits on top of a tournament with more than 55,000 total entries. RageReaperf holds roughly 45% more chips than Astedt entering the final day, although several challengers are close behind.

Ruslan_91193 Arrives in Recent Winning Form

The third-place stack also has a significant recent result. Argentina’s “Ruslan_91193” has 26.95 million chips, putting the player less than 1.5 million behind RageReaperf.

Only a few weeks ago, Ruslan_91193 won a WCOOP Boot Camp event on PokerStars. The $55 six-max progressive knockout tournament attracted 1,500 entries and produced a $75,000 prize pool, with the Argentine finishing first for a reported total payout of $8,298.

That victory gives Ruslan_91193 some particularly relevant recent form. One of the largest stacks entering the Sunday Million finale has already won a substantial PokerStars PKO tournament during the build-up to WCOOP.

Leonard Maue Is Still Dangerous From 42nd

Leonard “Grozzorg” Maue has a very different problem. The German is still alive, but only seven players begin the day with fewer chips.

That puts Maue 42nd of the remaining 49 rather than among the leaders, but few players near the bottom have a résumé like his. He is a multiple SCOOP and WCOOP champion with millions of dollars in live tournament results and a long history of competing in some of the biggest online tournaments available.

Maue’s live record includes a runner-up finish in a $50,000 Triton Poker event in Montenegro earlier this year worth $909,127. Online, he has won the $5,200 PokerStars Titans Event and previously collected more than $1.35 million for winning a $10,300 Super MILLION$ on GGPoker.

There is even some history between the two biggest names still standing. In July 2024, Maue defeated Astedt heads-up in the $5,200 PokerStars Titans Event, collecting $80,853 while Astedt finished second for $55,358.

Astedt has the far healthier stack this time, but Maue remains the sort of player nobody above him will want to see rebuilding. A quick double-up could put the German back into contention.

The Biggest Bounty Belongs to 234241234214432

This is not a conventional Sunday Million because the anniversary edition is being played as a progressive knockout. The prize attached to eliminating another player becomes increasingly important as the tournament gets deeper.

No surviving player currently carries a bigger bounty than Ukrainian account “234241234214432,” with $8,400 attached to the elimination. That bounty alone is already worth considerably more than the regular cash prize for many of the next finishing positions.

The unusual screen name also belongs to an account with experience in major PokerStars high rollers. Previous results include final-table appearances in $5,200 Titans events, making the player another experienced opponent hidden behind a relatively unfamiliar screen name.

Second-place stack AHTOCb is not far behind on the bounty leaderboard at $8,359, while Astedt carries $6,725. Those numbers add another strategic layer to the final day because eliminating the right player can be worth thousands of dollars before regular prize money is even considered.

Sunday Million 20th Anniversary Payouts

All 49 surviving players have secured at least $924 from the regular prize pool, excluding whatever bounty money they have already collected. The scheduled top ten payouts are:

The near-identical payouts for first and second are a consequence of the progressive knockout format. The eventual champion’s true winnings will therefore not simply be the $176,310 shown next to first place, as bounties collected along the way will increase the final total.

55,444 Entries Are Down to 49

The 2026 WCOOP schedule is only just beginning, but PokerStars is already approaching one of its biggest results of the month. A tournament that spent ten weeks gradually collecting qualifiers has now reduced 55,444 total entries to 49 players.

Some arrived through inexpensive qualifiers, while others are established high-stakes professionals. The result is a final group that reflects the enormous range of players attracted by the Sunday Million anniversary.

Astedt is chasing another major title four years after falling short of the final table in another Sunday Million anniversary edition. Maue needs a comeback, RageReaperf has everyone looking upward, and several lesser-known online specialists have the stacks to prevent either superstar from reaching the trophy.

By the end of today, only one player should remain. Twenty years after the first Sunday Million, PokerStars is about to crown its 20th Anniversary champion.