888poker Sunday Majors: Dominik Nitsche Third in Sunday Challenge

The virtual felts were hopping over the weekend at 888 Poker. Players from far and wide, some enjoying their last glimpses of summer heat, descended on one of the world's largest online poker rooms for three-figure buy-in tournaments. And one 888poker pro nearly took down one of the biggest weekly tournaments the site offers.

888poker Pro Dominik Nitsche Third in $80,000 Sunday Challenge

888poker pro Dominik Nitsche, known on the site as '888Dominik', finished third in the $80,000 Sunday Challenge for $9,142. Nitsche has over $10 million in career live and online tournament winnings and is one of the top poker players that Germany has to offer. Nitsche, along with players like Chris Moorman and Kara Scott, represent 888poker at events around the world.

In May, Nitsche won the $150,000 Super XL - Mini Main Event for a massive haul of $36,541, his largest cash on 888poker to date. Last September, Nitsche hit it big once again, this time winning a World Series of Poker Europe Berlin qualifier. That tournament had a $1,050 buy-in and he scored a prize package worth well over $11,000.

Whereas non-Europeans dominated the top of the Mega Deep, Europeans had their way with the competition in the 888poker $80,000 Sunday Challenge. Players from Europe grabbed the top five spots, led by Estonia's 'CaiFuXi', who took the tournament's gold medal and $14,274. This is the highest score that 'CaiFuXi' has ever logged on 888poker, beating out a $12,301 cash for getting third in the $100,000 Mega Deep last July.

Second place and $15,211 in cash went to Slovakia's 'links1111'. He was the highest finishing player from his home country and earned his largest cash on 888poker to date.

This week's final table in the 888poker $80,000 Sunday Challenge:

• 1. CaiFuXi - $14,274 (Estonia)
• 2. links1111 - $15,211 (Slovakia)
• 3. 888Dominik - $9,142 (Germany)
• 4. _rudinhos_ - $6,857 (Poland)
• 5. OBigO - $4,799 (United Kingdom)
• 6. REFpussy - $3,885 (Mexico)
• 7. THEPWNER - $2,971 (Netherlands)
• 8. Nemekiss - $2,057 (Mexico)
• 9. ravenbyrne - $1,289 (United Kingdom)

'TomYamKai' Wins $120,000 Whale for $32,236

The 888poker $120,000 Whale returned this week. The tournament, which will next run on August 21, has a buy-in of $600 and the price of poker goes up every 20 minutes. It regularly attracts some of the top players in the game.

Finland's 'TomYamKai' was the biggest winner on 888poker this weekend after taking down the Whale for $32,236. He has had some massive scores on 888poker already, including winning a $250,000 Special Edition of the Whale last year for almost $70,000. He's also a champion of the 888poker $85,000 Volcano and $100,000 Mega Deep.

Second place in the $120,000 Whale went to Canada's 'C_SWAMI'. His runner-up finish was worth $23,645 and he's had a bundle of success on 888poker before, taking down the $70,000 Sunday Crocodile last year and $60,000 Turbo Mega Deep in 2013 for $15,000 apiece. According to PocketFives, he has almost $200,000 in career cashes on 888.

Rounding out the top three was 'BadModafoka1' from the United Kingdom, who cashed for $17,812. In May, he had a second place finish in the Baby Whale for $20,000 and made about the same amount after taking third in the Volcano two days later.

This week's final table in the 888poker $120,000 Whale:

• 1. TomYamKai - $32,236 (Finland)
• 2. C_SWAMI - $23,645 (Canada)
• 3. BadModafoka1 - $17,812 (United Kingdom)
• 4. krokopp - $13,398 (Switzerland)
• 5. ekziter1 - $9,142 (Belarus)
• 6. dccnesquick - $7,093 (Netherlands)
• 7. Grisildur - $5,517 (Sweden)
• 8. Deeepz - $3,940 (Switzerland)
• 9. UrShitStorm - $2,995 (Sweden)

'SickManJFS' Wins $100,000 Mega Deep for $25,000

The $100,000 Mega Deep was "mega deep" this week. In recent weeks, European players have dominated the top of the leaderboard, but this week, it was all about the Americas. Uruguay's 'SickManJFS' edged out Mexico's '33ReNate' for the top spot in the Mega Deep and walked off with $25,875. For his second place showing, '33ReNate' earned $18,630.

For 'SickManJFS', the 888poker Mega Deep win was a redemption of sorts. In July, he finished in third place in the Mega Deep for $11,750 and so needed all of a month to capture glory after missing out the first time around. And for '33ReNate', this week's Mega Deep was equally as memorable, as he recorded his largest online tournament score ever on 888poker.

Third place in the Mega Deep went to Australia's 'MakeToney', who ensured no European appeared in the top three. 'MakeToney', whose real name is Martin Kozlov, has $2.8 million in career online winnings according to PocketFives and is accomplished on 888poker. In April, he took third in the $150,000 Whale for $19,763, his largest score on 888poker. Last year, he had a pair of third place finishes in the 888poker Volcano for almost $30,000 combined.

One of the most decorated players in online poker history also made the final table of the 888poker Mega Deep this week. Nico 'PKaiser' Fierro took seventh place for $4,485. He has over $9 million in career online winnings and took down the Mega Deep three times last year. In fact, he has almost $300,000 in career MTT winnings on 888poker alone.

This week's final table in the 888poker $100,000 Mega Deep:

• 1. SickManJFS - $25,875 (Uruguay)
• 2. 33ReNate - $18,630 (Mexico)
• 3. MakeToney - $13,800 (Australia)
• 4. icallyamet - $10,350 (United Kingdom)
• 5. 974kWRT - $7,245 (Ukraine)
• 6. trino11 - $5,865 (Bulgaria)
• 7. PKaiser - $4,485 (Chile)
• 8. Runnerboy23 - $3,105 (United Kingdom)
• 9. Xorkoth - $1,945 (United Kingdom)