Sunday Million: 6th Place Finisher Was Under-Aged, Prize Denied

The anniversary edition of the PokerStars.com Sunday Million came to an end but now it was revealed that 6th place finisher was in fact 17 years old. Because of this, it was illegal for him to play in the first place and PokerStars announced that his prize money will be forfeited.

We previously reported here that the PokerStars.com Sunday Million brought together almost 60,000 players, generating a prize pool of $11,825,600. The final table participants all agreed to a 9-way chop, but one of them was recently identified as being only 17 years old.

The 6th player finisher Jimmy "zeurrr" Jonker from the Netherlands was revealed to have broken the PokerStars Terms & Conditions, as they state that a player needs to be 18 or older in order to be able to play real money poker.

The Dutch player won his seat via a $2 qualifier and after the chop he was entitled to $518,402.33. A reporter from Dutch newspaper Algemeen Dagblad tried to call and interview him but he came across something suspicious: his 47 year old father, Jos Jonker answered instead and said that he was the one who played the tournament.

After further investigation, it turned out that his son was the one who played and he was in fact only 17. Jimmy's Twitter account, "jiminho3", suddenly had its name changed to Jos Jonker, further confirming the suspicions.

Simon Keijzer, Pokerstars Holland Representative, said that Jimmy was registered as a 19-year old member, which means that he used fake information to bypass the under-age issue. He added that according to the Terms & Conditions, he will not receive the prize money and that he might even be prosecuted.

Update: A PokerStars representative has just posted on 2+2 saying that the investigation in Jimmy Jonker's case is not yet finished. PokerStars is currently investigating whether Jonker is indeed 17 and if this turns out to be true, then he will not be entitled to the cash prize.

What will happen to his prize money? It could be split between the remaining eight players at the final table, or it could go back to PokerStars - nothing is confirmed yet.

What do you think about this issue? Tell us your thoughts in the comment section.

If you haven't watched the final table action yet, check it out now: