BRAZILIAN DOMINANCE! Rodrigo Selouan Claims $2M WSOP Bracelet After Crushing $14.8M Prize Pool
GGMillion$ and WSOP Online Events Combine Again as Rodrigo Selouan Strikes Gold
This week’s GGMillion$ event cost $10,300 to play but came with the added bonus of a WSOP gold bracelet, as the WSOP Online festival’s 33rd event grew a prize pool of $14.8 million. Alongside Jeff Gross in the commentary box was the WSOP legend, Poker Hall of Famer, and GGPoker Global Ambassador Daniel Negreanu. The action was fast and, at times, frantic, as Rodrigo Selouan showed his class to control the final stages of a massive event in style, claiming gold after a dominant showing.
Who Were the Pre-Match Betting Favorites?
Heading into the final table of nine, there were two stacks that were clear of many of the rest. Brazilians Matheus Cardoso and Rodrigo Selouan began the battle on 95 and 84 big blinds respectively, with Belarussian Nikita Mikholap (51BB) their closest challenger.
Colombian Sebastian Henao (40BB), Russia’s Vladislav Batrakov (33BB), and Finnish former winner Eelis Parssinen (24BB) were all in the chasing pack, while the three short stack players were hoping that an early double could propel them to success. Italian player Fausto Tantillo (18BB) was followed by two more Belarusians in Stanislau Malhui (13BB) and Artsiom Lasouskii (11BB) as play got underway.
Of the nine finalists in WSOP Online event #33, a Brazilian champion seemed much more likely than a Belarusian one. Still, of the two Brazilians, we liked Rodrigo Selouan’s chances, despite him starting the action 11 big blinds behind his countryman.
Key Moments from the Felt
An early exit for Stanislau Malhui came quickly, the Belarusian’s ace-jack being called and beaten by Matheus Cardoso’s king-queen, the chip leader’s stack enough to make the call with ease and send Malhui home with $251,634 in ninth place on the third hand of the final table. Another short stack soon followed him from the felt on the very next hand, as the Finnish former GGMillion$ winner Eelis Parssinen ran ace-queen offsuit into Mikholap’s pocket aces, the Belarussian player holding this time to send the Finn home with $325,934 in eighth place. Four hands in, two players down.
The shortest stack at the start of play was the next to be ousted. Artsiom Lasouskii became the second Belarusian to bust out of the first three players, crashing out with ace-jack to Rodrigo Selouan’s pocket kings as the Brazilian players had the better of the exchange, Lasouskii hitting the rail for $422,287 in seventh.
That hand gave Selouan the lead and his control over the table as he grew this advantage over the following hands, before another all-in and call gave a rival a big stack too. Sebastian Henao three-bet with ace-jack, was four-bet with pocket queens and had a big decision to make.
That hand gave Selouan the lead and his control over the table as he grew this advantage over the following hands, before another all-in and call gave a rival a big stack too. Sebastian Henao three-bet with ace-jack, was four-bet with pocket queens and had a big decision to make.
“If the four-bet range is what it’s supposed to be, ace-jack is in big trouble,” stated Daniel Negreanu (2:02:25), as Sebastian Henao took his time before making a painful shove. Snapped off by Russia’s Vladislav Batrakov with pocket queens, the flop initially looked to have saved Henao, coming J-J-9, but with two spades on the flop and another landing on the turn, Batrakov had 22% of the cards to come and hit a fourth spade to go runner-runner for an astonishing pot worth 43 million chips.
“That is a wildly insane run out!” exclaimed Jeff Gross as Henao left in sixth for $547,244.
Matheus Cardoso (2:32:25) came into play as the chip leader but left in fifth for $709,293. He ran king-queen into Selouan’s ace-nine as a mirror of last week’s Main Event when Ben Rolle won the WSOP Online bracelet when the same hand played out in reverse. This time, the king-queen didn’t hit as Selouan took out his countryman.
“This could go fast now!” said Jeff Gross, and the GGMillion$ host was spot on, as it took just another half an hour to go from five players to a winner. After losing to a flush for Selouan, Batrakov was in real trouble and lost almost all of his chips with pocket tens going down to Nikita Mikholap’s ace-nine, as aces came on the turn and river (2:47:30). Batrakov’s few remaining chips were soon scooped up by Selouan, and the Russian went home with $919,443 in fourth place.
One key hand had the GTO Wizard and Daniel Negreanu disagree when Fausto Tantillo had king-seven on a flop of 9-8-2 with Mikholap holding aces.
“They like a mid-bet 30% of the time but in this specific spot I like the check,” said Negreanu, and the Canadian was spot on as the Italian smelled a rat and folded it away. Three hands later, the Italian Tantillo called off his stack correctly with ace-ten, but he lost to Selouan’s five-three. Despite laddering from seventh in chips to finishing third for $1,191,974, Tantillo couldn’t quite make the title shootout.
With a 4:1 chip lead, Selouan, Negreanu’s pre-game pick, was in a position to allow a flip to decide the championship, particularly after improving his lead further. (3:04:00) All-in with king-nine against the pocket threes of the at-risk Mikholap, the flop of Q-J-7 provided no pair for the Brazilian, but the nine on the turn did. Now he only had to fade two outs to become a WSOP bracelet winner for $2 million up top, and he did. A six on the river confirming his victory.
This Week’s GGMillion$ Results – September 30th, 2025
With millions of dollars on the line, this week’s WSOP Online Main Event was always going to be absolutely huge. It didn’t disappoint. After a frantic battle at the end of play, Benjamin Rolle, who started in first, beat the player who had entered play second in chips, Finland’s Anatoly Zlotnikov, to earn the title.
“Give Ben the crown, this man has made the final table two years in a row, What a day, what a final table!” Jeff Gross said on air.
“Other than one misstep Ben made, you look at the hands he made after that. To me, when you’re playing great, the biggest pots are where you have a huge advantage.”
GGMillion$ Final Table Results
| Place | Player | Country | Prize |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1st | Rodrigo Selouan | Brazil | $2,003,850 * |
| 2nd | Nikita Mikholap | Belarus | $1,545,404 |
| 3rd | Fausto Tantillo | Italy | $1,191,974 |
| 4th | Vladislav Batrakov | Russia | $919,443 |
| 5th | Matheus Cardoso | Brazil | $709,293 |
| 6th | Sebastian Henao | Columbia | $547,244 |
| 7th | Artsiom Lasouskii | Belarus | $422,287 |
| 8th | Eelis Parssinen | Finland | $325,934 |
| 9th | Stanislau Malhui | Belarus | $251,634 |
*plus a $30,000 WSOP Super Pass
Torch of the Day
Daniel Negreanu was not a fan of the ace-jack shove by Sebastian Henao, who busted in sixth place when he shoved into Vladislav Batrakov’s pocket queens.
“You’re just praying to be OK with ace-jack, I really think that’s a huge blunder,” said Kid Poker on the live stream. “Even the hands you’re OK against like tens and nines you’re getting called not raised. He looked like a genius until the river!”
So, was Henao a little trigger-happy? He sure was. With just six players left, ICM pressure is such that no matter the strength of the Colombian’s cards, there’s just no way that the Russian Batrakov is raising light in that spot. He had to have better than ace-jack, and while the flop looked to have rewarded the weaker hand’s boldness, that eventually evened up with the runout of a four-flush. Was it cruel? Maybe, but Henao will have learned a poker lesson he’s unlikely to forget ever.
Watch all the action as it happened right here in the company of Jeff Gross and the seven-time WSOP bracelet winner Daniel Negreanu.
2025 Week 32 2025 Week 34
About the Author: Paul Seaton has written about poker for over 10 years, interviewing some of the best players ever to play the game such as Daniel Negreanu, Johnny Chan and Phil Hellmuth. Over the years, Paul has reported live from tournaments such as the World Series of Poker in Las Vegas and the European Poker Tour. He has also written for other poker brands where he was Head of Media, as well as BLUFF magazine, where he was Editor.
* The pre-game pick is the sole opinion of the author. It in no way reflects or affects the outcome of the final table.
