Kiwi Wins $68,420 On PokerStars 65 billionth hand

New Zealand player Christopher ‘yllams’ Small said he thought he was dreaming after an announcement popped up on his PokerStars cash table saying that along with five other people he had been dealt into the site’s 65-billionth hand.
PokerStars 65 billionth hand promotion has been running a short while now, with players receiving payouts for being dealt into a millionth hand between 64.7 billion and 65 billion
The 24-year-old student has been a regular at PokerStars for the past three years and along with thousands of other players, was aiming for a slice of the site’s recent landmark promotion, which also had a ‘special’ reward reserved for the winner of its 65 billionth hand.
The milestone was finally reached at 1am in the morning New Zealand time, when Christopher ‘yllams’ Small was playing $0.10/$0.25 six-max No Limit Hold’em on an incredible 24 tables simultaneously.
On his fateful table, Small had $27.84 remaining in his stack when a pop-up appeared on the table, promptly ensuring all the players at the table moved all-in pre-flop for the $150 pot.
Fortunately Christopher ‘yllams’ Small had been dealt Ac-Kh, but still had to face opposition from the other players at the table who held pocket tens, K-Q and an assortment of rags.
Small’s excitement began to mount, however, after seeing the A-A-9 flop, which soon turned to elation after the turn and the river brought only a 4 and 7.
Christopher Small was then rewarded with a massive $68,420 for his winning hand, while the other players had to content themselves with receiving $1,710 each for being involved in the hand.
After the big jackpot was hit, PokerStars announced: “In total, $770,588 in prizes was awarded during the 65 Billion celebration, with over 1,600 winners collecting cash. Next up, 70 Billion!”
PokerStars aims to reward every 5 billionth hand played on the site with 300 regular milestone millionth hands awarded in between the target, on the way to PokerStars’ Mega Milestone 100 billionth hand.