Joined: Feb '11
Location: Serbia
Age: 53 (M)
Posts: 40
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.
Sunday MillionWe 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 $518,402.33. A reporter from Dutch newspaper Algemeen Dagblad tried to call and interview him but he came across something suspicious: his 47 year old father, Jos Jonker answered instead and said that he was the one who played the tournament.
After further investigation, it turned out that his son was the one who played and he was in fact only 17. Jimmy's Twitter account, "jiminho3", suddenly had its name changed to Jos Jonker, further confirming the suspicions.
Simon Keijzer, Pokerstars Holland Representative, said that Jimmy was registered as a 19-year old member, which means that he used fake information to bypass the under-age issue. He added that according to the Terms & Conditions, he will not receive the prize money and that he might even be prosecuted.
Update: A PokerStars representative has just posted on 2+2 saying that the investigation in Jimmy Jonker's case is not yet finished. PokerStars is currently investigating whether Jonker is indeed 17 and if this turns out to be true, then he will not be entitled to the cash prize.
What will happen to his prize money? It could be split between the remaining eight players at the final table, or it could go back to PokerStars - nothing is confirmed yet.
Joined: Oct '09
Location: Spain
Age: 60 (M)
Posts: 2851
That is some shocking news, for everybody concerned. Still, I guess this kid knows what he´s doing and will probably make a lot more money in the years to come. But still, this has GOT to hurt. Shouldn´t have falsified his age in the first place, of course. Naughty naughty....
Joined: May '09
Location: India
Age: 37 (M)
Posts: 4873
wow talk about fate he won that much money from a 2$ qualifier and he cant get it because hes underage. poor guy should have known better and now he must be wishing he hadnt finished that high in the game.
Posted by mrnugger: Hope this dutch boy will get his money anyway as i believe that when the parents agreed it should be allowed to play even when the boy or girl is not yet 18 .
i kinda agree with u here, its not tht in 1 year or months when he turns 18, he suddenly gets matured and responsible. age is just an arbitrary criteria. but rules are rules and if PS let him hav the money then they might get in legal trouble and also invite all underage kids to have a go on their site
Joined: Feb '08
Location: Belgium
Age: 64 (M)
Posts: 751
my oldest son who is not yet 18 is also playing during some months and he has hes own account . he plays very well and he plays just the medium mtts ... if he wins he transfer the money to my account and i withdraw for him or pay him . The biggest problem for him will be to tell PS and FT and PP that he has cheated with his age as he will be 18 on the end of this month however that i believe that he will ask me to make the phone calls to support and explain them the situation . All started about a year ago when he was seeing me playing and when i asked him sometimes to take over for a while so that i could relax a bit . Hope this dutch boy will get his money anyway as i believe that when the parents agreed it should be allowed to play even when the boy or girl is not yet 18 .
Joined: Nov '10
Location: Serbia
Age: 37 (M)
Posts: 2087
Can you imagine how this boy is feeling now? He invested 2$ and won 500k$ and now he wont get cent of that money... I would be devastated! I hope boy will get his money! Like there is some huge difference being 17 or 18...
Joined: Feb '08
Location: Netherlands
Age: 52 (M)
Posts: 818
Wow, he and his family will be devastated not getting the money! I can't see him getting it, if stars reward him the money, even if they want to, they will be in serious legal trouble. Imagine how the boy is feeling right now
I personally think that this situation is his own fault...he could have made an arrangement with pokerstars that he would get his money when he turns 18 but this idiot acted like an attention whore and made it all public....
Joined: Feb '11
Location: Philippines
Age: 43 (M)
Posts: 228
it's his own fault...i mean, how can you sympathize with the kid?..he broke the rules.period.
how about feeling sorry for the guy who finished 10th? for all we know, he could be a legit 18 year old who played as well as he could but didn't get in the final table because of this kid...
lesson to be learned here : follow the rules.simple as that.
Joined: May '09
Location: Croatia
Age: 39 (M)
Posts: 20493
first of all:ARE YOU ALL IDIOTS ?he broke one of main rules and you say that you are sorry for the boy ?and even he have 17 he put 19 years at registration!what do you want more?I am glad that PS caught him and that he would lost his money!he could register then his father and to play on his name,not after this to tell that his dad played!like flexibleeric said,anybody feeling sorry for player on 10 position?but right way would that this money go to charity,not to 8 players from this final table!
Joined: Dec '09
Location: United Kingdom
Age: 42 (M)
Posts: 2087
yea he must be gutted but really it is is own fault, making a stupid account to play was stupid he should have got his dad or friend or something to make one, and by the sounds of it hes been bragging about it which is just stupid to bring attention to himself when he has a fake account. i have no problem with his age but he had just went about it the wrong way in the first place
Joined: Feb '11
Location: United Kingdom
Age: 59 (M)
Posts: 8
Rules are rules I guess. I managed to finish 15th in the Sunday million one night back in 2007. Had my cowboys busted by the chip leader pushing with rags. Lucky for me I'm older than 2 17 year olds put together. Oh well it paid for a couple of weeks in the canaries.
Joined: Feb '11
Location: United States
Age: 68 (M)
Posts: 36
yes rules are rules and he did knowly lie when put his age down ...and no i do not feel sorry for him ...is this the way you will bring your kids up to lie and then try to get everyone feeling sorry for you ...i think not ...he flat out lied and now he really knows what happens when you lie
Joined: Jan '11
Location: United States
Age: 60 (M)
Posts: 3361
There's no way poker sites can truely be sure of a players age when one opens an account. There should be a provision thatc allows players under the age of 18 to play, but are not allowed to participate in real money games. Only reason for my comment is, I'd rather see my son playing poker then playing some of the ruthless video games that are out there. Probably a dumb reply, but I see no harm in card games. There's a lot of trash that kids become exposed to in some of the video games I've seen.
Joined: Jan '11
Location: United States
Age: 66 (M)
Posts: 99
It is an addiction that can be as bad nas any thing else out there.when you play for free,its ok,but if you get hooked for real money,it can be as bad as heroin,or any other drug. It can be a very expensive habit thats hard to stop...
Joined: Mar '09
Location: Greece
Age: 47 (F)
Posts: 14136
Posted by mrnugger: my oldest son who is not yet 18 is also playing during some months and he has hes own account . he plays very well and he plays just the medium mtts ... if he wins he transfer the money to my account and i withdraw for him or pay him . The biggest problem for him will be to tell PS and FT and PP that he has cheated with his age as he will be 18 on the end of this month however that i believe that he will ask me to make the phone calls to support and explain them the situation . All started about a year ago when he was seeing me playing and when i asked him sometimes to take over for a while so that i could relax a bit . Hope this dutch boy will get his money anyway as i believe that when the parents agreed it should be allowed to play even when the boy or girl is not yet 18 .
Thats is so wrong. I believe in your age you should take better decisions than the one you made and let him open an account. If you call to support him, which will be one more mistake on your behalf they will probably ban both of you. As for the dutch boy he shouldnt take a single cent if he is underaged.
Joined: Jan '11
Location: United States
Age: 42 (M)
Posts: 852
I was playing before the age of 18 and in the state I'm from you must be 21 which seems peculiar since 17 and 18 year olds are old enough to die for our country(you can be legally emancipated and enlist at 17 and a half) At least in the US. So I feel a little bad for the boy. But not much by the age of 17 i knew the rules, and I knew when I was doing something wrong, as I'm sure this kid did. He just learned a very valuable 500k dollar lesson. Follow the rules.
Joined: May '09
Location: Croatia
Age: 39 (M)
Posts: 20493
Posted by Greenmohave: There's no way poker sites can truely be sure of a players age when one opens an account. There should be a provision thatc allows players under the age of 18 to play, but are not allowed to participate in real money games. Only reason for my comment is, I'd rather see my son playing poker then playing some of the ruthless video games that are out there. Probably a dumb reply, but I see no harm in card games. There's a lot of trash that kids become exposed to in some of the video games I've seen.
yes,site can be sure if do one thing and thats that customer put photo of his driving licence or passport copy and then all will be right!now most of bookmakers and poker sites wants from you to upload that when you register or before first payout,so everything can be done!and he is fool when he didnt think about that!
?he broke one of main rules and you say that you are sorry for the boy 
?and even he have 17 he put 19 years at registration!what do you want more?I am glad that PS caught him and that he would lost his money!he could register then his father and to play on his name,not after this to tell that his dad played!like flexibleeric said,anybody feeling sorry for player on 10 position?but right way would that this money go to charity,not to 8 players from this final table!
