The Daily Scoop – GGMillion$ Season 2025 Episode 21 – July 2, 2025

A brilliant final play brought glory for French player Ivan Deyra as the overnight chip leader saw out the latter stages of this week’s GGMillion$. With the action red hot on GGPoker’s YouTube channel, fans around the world watched as nine great players battled for glory and a top prize of over a quarter of a million dollars. 

Deyra Starts On The Top

This week’s GGPoker GGMillion$ was a classic, with Lithuanian Paulius Vaitiekunas on co-commentary duties alongside regular host Jeff Gross. The former Triton Poker event winner Vaitiekunas, who has over $5.23 million in live earnings alone, sits comfortably inside the top 500 poker players on the Hendon Mob’s all-time money list and provided some great insights into the action.

With nine players reaching the final table, it was the French player Ivan Deyra, holding 75 big blinds, who started at the top of the table. Russian player ‘Dimmmmm’ was second in chips with 65 big blinds, with Slovenian ‘Zajebal Ji’ (56BB) and Russian Nikita Kalinin (52BB) both close behind Further down in the chip counts was, Belgian Arthur Conan (43BB), German player Dominik Nitsche (31BB), Canadian Pascal Lefrancois (19BB), British hopeful ‘gazok-900’ (16BB) and, in the role of the short stack, Spanish pro Juan Dominguez (13BB). All nine had a chance to claim the championship if they could get off to a great start.

The first elimination came as quickly as it could, as Dominguez picked up pocket queens on the very first hand, but the timing could not have been worse. He managed to get it all-in pre-flop only to be called by pocket aces belonging to ‘gazok-900’. No help came for the Spaniard on the T-4-2-4-3 board, and Dominguez left with $36,982.

Nitsche Gets Close Again But Still So Far

It would be another thirty minutes before the next elimination, as the Russian player Nikita Kalinin lost with the best hand. Kalinin min-raised from the cut off with pocket tens and was called by his countryman ‘Dimmmmm’ holding nine-three, suited in diamonds. On a flop of 8-7-2 with two diamonds gave ‘Dimmmmm’ enough courage to go against conventional GTO wisdom, and put out a small bet. Kalinin, with the overpair, shoved all-in and was snap-called. A three on the turn paired ‘Dimmmmm’, giving him more outs but the ace of diamonds on the river was the final blow. Kalinin won $47,355 for finishing 8th as ‘Dimmmmm’ was propelled into the lead. 

German player Dominik Nitsche, one of the best poker players of all time, has never won the GGMillion$. While his numerous runner-up finishes might wear heavily on him, he once again found himself at the final table. Calling an all-in pre-flop with ace-queen, the German tried to win a flip that would have put him third in chips, but Zajebal Ji’s pocket threes held across a sweaty board of K-9-4-J-6, and Nitsche once again missed out, cashing for $60,637 in seventh place. 

A dominating position led to an unexpected defeat for Arthur Conan. The Frenchman, whose stack had been whittled down to just four big blinds, got his chips into the middle with ace-nine and was called by Zajebal Ji holding ace-five of hearts. A board of 7-4-3-5-K gave the Slovenian a pair on the turn, and that was all that was needed. The small pair held through the river, and Conan was sent to the rail with $77,645.

Despite their earlier dominance, ‘gazok-900’ slipped down the pecking order so far that his pre-flop shove with pocket nines was to survive, not eliminate someone else. All-in and at risk, ‘gazok-900’ needed to win a flip against ‘Dimmmmm’s ace-jack of diamonds. Unfortunately for the Brit, a board of K-K-J-Q-Q was no help, and the British player departed with $99,422 in fifth, a decent run up from eighth on the ladder at the start of play.

Lights Go Out for Dimmmmm

With four left, ‘Dimmmmm’ had a healthy lead with a stack of 5.78 million, nearly 45% of the chips in play. His competition was a bit behind with Zajebal Ji on 3.76 million, while Ivan Deyra (2.12m) and Pascal Lefrancois (1.26m) were a fair way back. Despite the disparity in stacks, everything was destined to change. 

‘Dimmmmm’ dropped a few small pots before folding the best hand of ace-eight to Ji’s pocket sixes bluff on a board showing A-7-4-T-J with three clubs. The hand hurt Dimmmmm’s stack and pocket sixes would return to deal the final blow. Holding the sixes himself, Lefrancois jammed with the short stack holding ace-queen, and ‘Dimmmmm’ made the call. The board ran out A-J-4-K-8 and left ‘Dimmmmm’ with just 1.5 big blinds, which were hoovered up a couple of hands later to see the leader with four remaining out in fourth place for $127,308.

Three-handed play lasted for around twenty minutes as Deyra won a number of pots to climb back into first with a commanding lead. With about 20% of the chips in play, Lefrancois woke up with ace-jack and managed to get it all in against Ji, who unfortunately held ace-king. There was no help for the Canadian on the Q-5-2-2-K board, which sent Lefrancois home with $163,016. 

Going into heads-up play, Deyra had a slim lead (58 big blinds to 49 big blinds), and would soon have all of the chips. On the fourth and final Texas Hold’em heads-up hand, Deyra woke up with pocket kings and min raised. Zajebal, holding A-4 of hearts, called. The flop came down A-K-4, causing both players to attempt to trap as minimum bets were thrown into the pot by both players. The turn brought the seven of clubs, which Deyra bet 1/3 the pot, which was also called. The river brought a second seven, and Deyra shoved. Ji called it off for his stack with two pair, but Deyra had been trapping from before the beginning, and that perfectly timed shove earned him the GGMillion$ title and $267,285.

Watch all the action from a thrilling GGMillion$ final table as Ivan Deyra racked up the win in style.

GGMillion$ Final Table Results

Place	Player	Country	Prize
1st	Ivan Deyra	France	$267,285
2nd	Zajebal Ji	Slovenia	$208,738
3rd	Paxcal Lefrancois	Canada	$163,016
4th	‘Dimmmmm’	Russia	$127,308
5th	‘gazok-900’	United Kingdom	$99,422
6th	Arthur Conan	France	$77,645
7th	Dominik Nitsche	Germany	$60,637
8th	Nikita Kalinin	Russia	$47,355
9th	Juan Dominguez	Spain	$36,982

The Daily Scoop – GGMillion$ Season 2025 Episode 22 – July 10, 2025

This week’s $10,000-entry GGMillion$ thrilled poker fans watching on the GGPoker YouTube channel as ‘jinx34’ completed a superb victory from way back in the field for a score of over $241,000. Short-stacked at several points, the Hong Kong player sealed a memorable victory after players like Benjamin Rolle, Ricardo Capela, and Volodymyr Palamar all fell short at the final table. 

Rolle on a Roll

This week, the GGMillion$ final table was presented by Michael Jozoff and Michael Berk, as regular host Jeff Gross was in action on Day 3 of the 2025 Main Event in Las Vegas. Between them, Jozoff and Berk have $4.7 million of live tournament earnings, with Berk having finished 43rd in the Main Event in 2023, and Jozoff a four-time GGMillion$ finalist. While Jeff was trying to win the $10 million top prize in the World Championship, nine players were battling for glory online as they hoped to become this week’s GGMillion$ champion. 

Heading into the final table, it was the German player Benjamin Rolle who began with the lead, having accumulated 89 big blinds. Behind him, Montenegrin players ‘FXXKMYLIF3’ (63BB) and ‘GodspeedYou!’ (48BB) were closest to the leader, while Lithuanian player ‘Travolta’ (44BB) and Hong Kong’s ‘jinx34’ (35BB) were just outside of the pre-game podium. 

Other players making the final included Canada’s ‘poonster’ (34BB), Ukrainian Volodymyr Palamar (30BB), the Austria player Ricardo Capela (29BB), and on the short stack, making his second appearance at the final table inside of a month, ‘IamBusinessman’ from Russia with just 16 big blinds. 

The first player to bust was the lone Canadian, ‘poonster’. The first forty minutes of play had been disastrous for him as his stack had been whittled down to just 7.5BB. He managed to get it all-in pre-flop holding ace-ten and was quickly called by ‘FXXKMYLIF3’. The cards were opened, and ‘poonster’ saw the good news as ‘FXXKMYLIF3’ was well behind with ace-seven. It was a bad run as the board played out Q-Q-6-6-7 to cruelly send the at-risk player home with a score of $33,374 in ninth place.

Palamar Rises Then Falls

It wasn’t long before Russian player ‘IamBusinessman’ lost his stack to the Ukrainian pro Volodymyr Palamar. The former was forced all-in while short with less than a big blind, holding eight-five, and the results went as expected. Volodymyr Palamar made the call and rode out the J-9-3-6-A board to send the Russian to the virtual rail in eighth for $42,735.

There was not a long wait for the next two eliminations. First, Austrian-based Portuguese player Ricard Capela was all-in with ten-nine of hearts but couldn’t beat the pocket threes of his caller ‘FXXKMYLIF3’. The flop of Q-T-5 was a solid one, and that’s when the chips went in. An ill-timed three on the turn was horrible luck for the at-risk Portugal player, and a king on the river changed nothing as he left in seventh place for a score of $54,721. 

Soon, six became five, as the previously powerful Palamar busted for a score of $70,069 in sixth place. Committing four of his remaining six big blinds into the middle pre-flop with ace-eight, the Ukrainian shoved the remainder on the Q-8-2 flop for middle pair and top kicker. Sadly for him, it was no good. ‘FXXKMYLIF3’ had slow-played pocket nines and sprung the trap, snap-calling to see a jack turn and nine river send the Ukrainian home with $70,069.

The Comeback Crown

‘FXXKMYLIF3’ was on a roll, and that continued through the next elimination. ‘GodspeedYou!’ called all-in with pocket kings against his countryman and was right to do so, with ‘FXXKMYLIF3’ holding pocket tens. A flop of J-8-8 was safe enough, but the ten on the turn changed everything. Suddenly, ‘GodspeedYou!’ was drawing to two outs. There was no king to save the day on the river; instead, it was a meaningless three. And the field was reduced to four players. 

With a massive chip lead, ‘FXXKMYLIF3’ (6.7m) was some way clear of ‘jinx34’ (3.3m), with the overnight leader Rolle (1.1m) and ‘Travolta’ (391k) miles back. Then, two hands later, the German pro Benjamin Rolle got it all-in with pocket nines against ‘FXXKMYLIF3’ holding king-queen. The flop came down in favor of the hotter player and the board bricked out. The K-3-2-2-6 runout sounded the end for the overnight leader Rolle, who went home in fourth place with $114,888.

Three-handed play lasted barely any time. Travolta moved all-in with ace-deuce in their last hand but was overtaken by their caller, ‘jinx34’, whose king-jack hit the bigger pair on the J-7-2 flop. The paired jack was enough as ‘jinx34’ rode out the three turn and nine river to survive. With Travolta busting for $147,112 in third, ‘FXXKMYLIF3’ had a big lead going into the final battle, with 7.8 million chips against jinx34’s stack of 3.8 million.

Heads-up was a very one-sided affair, but not for the chip leader. In a series of small pots, ‘jinx34’ seemed unbeatable, winning without a showdown, then having the best of it whenever cards were on their backs. ‘Jinx34’ had accumulated a big lead by the time a board of J-8-4-A-5 landed, with a spade falling on the flop, turn, and river. Moving all-in and covering ‘FXXKMYLIF3’s stack, the latter had a big decision to make with pocket queens. Ultimately, they folded to fight another day, but the damage was done. 

Soon after, ‘FXXKMYLIF3’ was all-in with king-queen against the ace-ten of ‘jinx34’. The flop came T-4-2 to pair up the latter. A nine on the turn meant any paint card would save the at-risk Montenegrin, but a six on the river condemned him to a $188,373 result as the runner-up. The Hong Kong player ‘jinx34’ won the top prize of $241,207 and the title of GGMillion$ champion, his first victory in this high-stakes Texas Hold’em tournament.

Watch all the action play out via the GGPoker YouTube channel replay here with Michael Jozoff and Michael Berk.

GGMillion$ Final Table Results

Place	Player	Country	Prize
1st	‘jinx34’	Hong Kong	$241,208
2nd	FXXKMYLIF3′	Montenegro	$188,373
3rd	‘Travolta’	Lithuania	$147,112
4th	Benjamin Rolle	Germany	$114,888
5th	‘GodspeedYou!’	Montenegro	$89,723
6th	Volodymyr Palamar	Ukraine	$70,069
7th	Ricardo Capela	Portugal	$54,721
8th	‘IamBusinessman’	Russia	$42,735
9th	‘poonstar’	Canada	$33,374

The Daily Scoop – GGMillion$ Season 2025 Episode 23 – July 15, 2025

This week’s GGMillion$ final table saw nine poker legends battle it out for the top prize of close to a quarter million dollars in the $10,000-entry weekly event on GGPoker. In the end, it was the Swedish master Simon Mattsson who took the title and a massive top prize of $242,551 on GGPoker. Regular host Jeff Gross was joined by German online superstar Benjamin Rolle for an exciting broadcast as poker fans were thrilled by a dramatic conclusion.

Dambrouski Leads the Pack

When play began, it was the Belarusian player Yahor Dambrouski who started with the chip lead, holding 74 big blinds. Sitting in second and third, just a short amount behind him, were the Mexico-based American player Deividas Daubaris (66BB), and the Montenegrin Dejan Kaladjurdjevic (64BB). Both had high hopes of victory, while Thailand-based ‘Jackie_Brown’ was next in chips, sitting on 55 bigs. 

The Brazilian player ‘Enois2025’ started on 41 big blinds, just one bet ahead of Swedish online crusher Simon Mattsson (40BB). French player Arthur Conan (33BB) and Russian hopeful Denis Zelenkin (30BB) both started with plenty of chips to mount an assault on the summit, while the lone Italian player, Enrico Camosci, had a mountain to climb, beginning his battle as the official short stack, having just 11 big blinds.

It was over 40 minutes before the first final tablist lost their stack. The Russian player Zelenkin, who moved all-in for 14 big blinds with ace-five of clubs from the small blind. His timing could hardly have been worse as he ran into Mattsson in the big blind with ace-king. A flop of J-8-8 kept the at-risk Russian behind and the seven turn and ten river offered no help and he was sent him home with $32,180.

Daubaris Delivers

It would be another 25 mintues before eight players would become seven. Brazil’s ‘Enois2025’ called all in for their last 12 bigs with jack-eight offsuit, but lost to ‘Jackie_Brown’, whose king-three took the victory. A board of T-4-3-A-5 sent the Brazilian home with $41,423. Play would stay at 7-handed, as chips passed around the table, for another thirty minutes.

Enrico Camosci was the next player to join the railbirds. Having recovered from starting ninth in chips, Camosci grown his stack to over 33 big blinds, all of which he got into the middle pre-flop with pocket jacks. Unfortunately, he was way behind Simon Mattsson who held pocket queens. The flop came down with a queen-high and the turn of a 10 had him drawing dead. Camosci accepted defeat and $53,320 for finishing seventh place. 

It was ‘Jackie_Brown’ who busted next, winning $68,635 after their short stack was all-in after the flop of J-3-2. The Thai player was nearly a 75% favorite to win with ace-ten against Deividas Daubaris holding queen-eight, but with the bigger stack. A queen on the turn flipped the script and gave the American the win over his opponent once the jack fell on the river.

It was another decent chunk of time before the next player was all-in as the Montenegrin player, Dejan Kaladjurdjevic, lost a crucial coinflip to cash for $88,348 in fifth place. Committing his last 10 big blinds with pocket nines, Kaladjurdjevic needed to hold against the king-queen of Daubaris but couldn’t do so. A king on the flop gave Daubaris the lead, and nothing changed the story on later streets, to send the luckless Kaladjurdjevic home with $88,348.

A Thrilling Climax

With four players left, it was Daubaris who held the chip lead with 4.38 million chips. Mattsson was chasing hard with 3.33 million, while Conan (1.53m) and Dambrouski (1.07m) were further back. Soon, Daubaris would lose one challenger, as a sensational hand sent play three-handed. 

Arthur Conan wasn’t the short-stack when he put all his chips into the middle with ace-king. Dambrouski sitting out due to signal loss, Conan’s ‘Big Slick’ was in need of a hit against the hand of Mattsson, who called with pocket tens. The flop brought an ace alongside an innocuous looking three and deuce. There were two clubs on board to match one of the Swede’s ten – and neither of Conan’s cards – but barring a ten it would require a runner-runner runout. A seven of clubs on the turn was followed by the queen of clubs on the river. Conan was sunk in fourth place for $113,723 as Dambrouski, still absent, survived to the final three.

While many players would have taken advantage of Dambrouski’s predicament, after a few hands, Mattsson and Daubaris agreed to sit out. They allowed the chips to continue around the table until Dambrouski could solve his technical issues and return. However, having waited a long time, the two players came back eventually and the overnight leader Dambrouski was blinded away for $146,386 in third place.

Heads-up, Mattsson had better than a 4:1 lead but Daubaris’, holding king-deuce in the first hand, doubled through the leader’s king-four in highly fortunate circumstances. Then, 3 hands later, his pocket twos flopped a set to beat Mattsson’s pocket queen to fully flip the script. However, Daubaris failed to complete the remarkable turnaround with him doubling Mattsson on the very next hand. Chips went back and forth for a while, and at one point Daubaris had a 9:1 lead. On the effectual final hand, Daubaris had a marginal chip lead and got all the chips in with his ace-nine dominating Mattsson’s king-nine. The board ran out K-J-4-5-K to hand the Swede almost all of the chips in play. The Swede had the remaining chips on the next hand, his ten-seven beating three-deuce to wrap it up on a K-J-8-J-7 board to end the Texas Hold’em tournament in Mattsson’s favor for a top score of $242,551 as Daubaris earned $188,431 as runner-up.

Watch all the action play out via the GGPoker YouTube channel replay here with Jeff Gross and Benjamin Rolle.

GGMillion$ Final Table Results

Place	Player	Country	Prize
1st	Simon Mattsson	Sweden	$242,551
2nd	Deividas Baubaris	United States	$188,431
3rd	Yahor Dambrouski	Belarus	$146,386
4th	Arthur Conan	France	$113,723
5th	Dejan Kaladjurdjevic	Montenegro	$88,348
6th	‘Jackie_Brown’	Thailand	$68,635
7th	Enrico Camosci	Italy	$53,320
8th	‘Ebios2025’	Brazil	$41,423
9th	Denis Zelenkin	Russia	$32,180

The Daily Scoop – GGMillion$ Season 2025 Episode 24 – July 24, 2025

This week’s GGMillion$, the first since the WSOP Main Event ended, saw just eight players compete at the final table as the result of a double knockout on the last hand before the break. The final table consisted of some of poker’s most skilled professionals as they took to the virtual felt on GGPoker to compete for a $299,880 top prize from the $1,380,000 prize pool. When the final cards were dealt, it was the Brazilian star Maria Santos who claimed victory and silenced her critics, as she overcame early chip leader Viktor Petrov on GGPoker, thrilling poker fans worldwide.

Oscar’s Early Exit

This week’s commentary team delivered exceptional coverage as the latest GGMillion$ title was one of the fastest, taking just under two intense hours to play out. Regular host Jeff Gross was joined in the virtual booth by 5-time WSOP Bracelet winner, Robert Mizrachi, brother of the 2025 Main Event champion.

The final eight were led by the Greek professional Alex Theologis, who entered with 76 big blinds, a bit ahead of the Belarusian in second-place, Artsiom Lasouskii, with 70 big blinds. The two at the top had a solid lead over the middle positions, with Spain’s Juan Dominguez (48BB), Brazil’s Oscar Cueva (44BB), Canada’s Pascal LeFrancois, and Russia’s Nikita Kalinin positioned to make serious runs.

Also vying for this week’s GGMillion$ crown was Dominykas Mikolaitis (32BB) from Lithuania. Sitting on the short stack was a regular at the high roller tables, and someone you can never count out, Latvian Aleksejs Ponakovs (8BB). Despite the varied stack sizes, every player had enough ammunition to make moves, setting up an intriguing battle.

Even with Ponakovs being very short, it took nearly 20 minutes before the first player was knocked out. Oscar Cueva, who was down to around 10 bigs, got it all in with pocket jacks only to be called by Nikita Kalinin, holding ace-king. The flop came down K-Q-5 to put Cueva in a deep hole. A second five on the turn left offered no help and the six on the river ended it as he went in eighth place for $53,130.

Ponakovs Keeps On Laddering

It was another 25 minutes before the next elimination as everyone played cautiously, waiting for the short stack to bow out. Kalinin 4-bet shoved all in with pocket 10’s and was snap called by Lasouskii. The cards were turned over, and the Russian saw the bad news, as his opponent had pocket queens. The board ran out J-3-2-4-6, offering no assistance to Kalinin, who was sent to the rail in seventh for $68,032.

It was two hands later that Ponakovs finally made his last stand. He had doubled up a few times and was sitting on 6BB when he raised two-thirds of his stack preflop with queen-ten suited. It was Lasouskii who, holding the king-queen of clubs, decided to look him up. The flop came down 7-6-4 with two clubs, and Lasouskii bet out, which Ponakovs called. With the cards now on their backs, the Latvian was in dire need of assistance. The six on the turn offered nothing, and the river ace ended his ladder run as one of the most dangerous players in the field was sent packing in 6th for $87,114. 

Canada’s lone participant, Pascal LeFrancois, was the next to hit the rails, finishing 5th for $111.547. His final hand was originally raised by Theologis, holding ace-king off. LeFrancois raised half his stack, which was folded back around to the original raiser, who reraised more than LeFrancois’s stack. LeFrancois insta-called for the rest of his chips with king-jack of diamonds. The flop came down Q-5-5 with one diamond to leave LeFrancois drawing thin, but the ten of diamonds on the turn opened a world of possibilities. Any ace, nine, or diamond would save the Canadian, but unfortunately, the spade ten completed the board and ended his run.

Lasouskii Takes The Lead…

Four-handed play began with the positions almost the same as they were at the start of play. Alex Theologis maintained the commanding lead with 6.68m, almost half the chips in play, while the rest of the field was in chase mode. Sitting second, with nearly half the chips, was Lasouskii with 3.49m, and Juan Dominguez had 2.43m. The current short stack, Mikolaitis, was down to 1.81m chips, but that was still good enough for 30BB. 

Another ten minutes would pass before an elimination as Mikolaitis, still sitting as the short stack, 4-bet shoved all in with ace-queen off suit. He was snap called by Lasouskii with pocket kings. The king on the K-9-3 flop left the short stack drawing to a runner-runner straight. A ten on the turn provided some hope, which was quickly dashed when a second nine appeared on the river. Lasouskii had prevailed to give him the chip lead by the narrowest of margins, and sent the Lithuanian home in fourth for $142,834.

…But Falls Short

Three-handed play effectively lasted for one hand as Theologis min-raised from the button with K-9 of spades and was reraised by Lasouskii. Theologis called, and the flop came down Q-Q-7 with two spades. Lasouskii put out a small bet, which Theologis called, and an eight came down on the turn. This time, Lasouskii bet half the pot, which again was called by Theologis. The 3 of spades came down on the river, giving Theologis a king-high flush. After a moment of thought, Lasouskii went all-in, and Theologis, although he was the shorter stack, called. Lasouskii tabled his 6-4 of spades for a losing flush and was left with less than 1BB. The balance went in on the next hand with J-6 off and lost to Theologis with 9-2 on a board of Q-9-2-K-6, but earned $182,896 for the third-place finish. 

Heads-up began with Theologis holding a 3:1 chip advantage over Juan Dominguez, but the match was anything but quick. Over the next 25 minutes, Theologis would slowly siphon chips from Dominguez until he had a near 10:1 chip lead. On what would be the final hand, both players checked to the flop, which came down 6-3-3. Garbage cards, but not when holding 8-3 as Theologis was, so he bet the minimum. Dominguez thought it over and chose to raise with J-5, which was called. A queen came down on the turn, giving Dominguez a flush draw, and he bet out, which was again called. The 10 of hearts came on the river, leaving Dominguez with nothing, but the story needed to be finished. Moving all in for his last 10BB, Theologis snap-called to win the GGMillion$ title and $299,880, while Juan had to settle for the runner-up position and $234,194. Watch all the action as it happened right here in the company of Jeff Gross and Robert Mizrachi.

GGMillion$ Final Table Results

Place	Player	Country	Prize
1st	Alex Theologis	Greece	$299,880
2nd	Juan Dominguez	Spain	$234,194
3rd	Artsiom Lasouskii	Belarus	$182,896
4th	Dominykas Mikolatis	Lithuania	$142,834
5th	Pascal LeFrancois	Canada	$111,547
6th	Aleksejs Ponakovs	Latvia	$87,114
7th	Nikita Kalinin	Russia	$68,032
8th	Oscar Cueva	Brazil	$53,130
9th	Dejan Kaladjurdjevic	Montenegro	$41,492

The Daily Scoop – GGMillion$ Season 2025 Episode 25 – July 30, 2025

This week, the GGMillion$ final was one for the books. A fast start and a frantic conclusion bookended the action on GGPoker as ‘gazok-900’ from Russian became a first-time winner for over $300,000. With appearances at the final table from Swedish online poker legend Simon Mattsson, Latvian WSOP bracelet winner Aleks Ponakovs and Brazilian poker professional Pedro Garagnani, the win was hard-fought and came after a dramatic final hand.

Latvian Ponakovs Build Huge Lead

Joining regular host Jeff Gross in the virtual commentary booth on GGPoker’s YouTube channel was Frank Brannan, a.k.a. Frank Banks, who, with $3.33 million in live poker earnings, sits just one decent major behind Jeff himself in the money stakes. The player, who came second in the 2024 WSOP Paradise version of the GGMillion$ for his record score of $1.64 million, was an entertaining co-commentator for the action alongside Jeff as the action got underway.

Leading the last nine players into the final table of the tournament was Aleks Ponakovs. The Latvian WSOP bracelet winner began with an incredible pile of 133 big blinds, one of the biggest leads the GGMillion$ final has ever seen. Second in chips but with barely over half of Ponakovs’ stack was Russia’s ‘gazok-900’ (73BB). Slightly further back was Swedish superstar Simon Mattsson (60BB), who was followed by Russian ‘RRomashka’ (40BB) and Germany’s Christopher Puetz (also 40BB), all with hopes of victory. 

Some way behind and hoping for a final table turnaround to rival some of the best stories was Germany’s Leonard Maue (17BB), Brazilian crusher Pedro Garagnani (16BB), Belarusian tournament poker legend Mikita Badziakouski (11BB), and in the very short stack, the Hong Kong player named ‘Cody Maverick’, who began with just four big blinds.

Despite starting in sixth, Leonard Maue was the first to leave the final table. Witnessing double-ups for his rivals at the bottom of the chipcounts, Maue raised pre-flop with ace-jack offsuit, then called Simon Mattsson’s shove. It was bad news for the German, who was way behind the Swede’s pocket jacks. The jacks held with ease through the 4-4-2-9-K board to send Maue home with $43,846 in ninth place.

Garagnani Runs into Cowboys

Soon, eight became seven on the very next hand as Garagnani’s attempt to climb the ladder saw him plummet through every rung instead. Opening to around 2.2x the big blind pre-flop with suited ace-queen, the Brazilian saw Puetz raise. Gargnani re-raised all-in, and saw the bad news as Puetz snapped it off with pocket kings. The flop of A-K-5 paired the Brazilian but gave Puetz a set of kings. The ten on the turn offered Garagnani hope of a Broadway straight, but a six on the river destroyed all hope as quickly as it had given it, sending Garagnani home in eighth for a score of $55,920.

It wasn’t long before another player with a short stack ran into trouble. Mikita Badziakouski knows what it is like to not only win GGMillions titles, but poker tournaments, sitting comfortably inside the top 20 of all-time live tournament poker players according to The Hendon Mob. This time, however, the Belarusian was up against it, all-in pre-flop with ace-seven of hearts against Ponakovs ace-ten. A flop of 8-6-4 contained two hearts, but an offsuit six and jack on turn and river crushed Badziakouski’s hopes and sent him home with $71,319.

Named after the lead character of the 2007 animated movie Surf’s Up, Hong Kong player ‘Cody Maverick’ had started the final day with just four big blinds in last place. Somehow, he managed to ladder all the way to sixth for a score of $90,958, more than double his projected result. All-in with queen-ten, the Hong Kong player ran into the brick wall of Aleks Ponakovs’ pocket aces and was already emoting ‘Good Game!’ when the 6-4-3 flop landed, a jack on the turn left him drawing dead as a meaningless seven fell on the river as ‘Cody Maverick’ became the 4th knockout over eight hands

Ponakovs Misses Again

It had taken just over twelve minutes to decimate the field and, as expected, the next period of play lasted some time before the table would be down to four. When it came, it was a shock exit for Simon Mattsson for $116,006 in fifth. Holding slightly fewer chips than Russian player ‘RRomashka’, Mattsson’s ace-jack of clubs lost to ‘RRomashka’s king-queen offsuit when a queen landed on the flop. The Swede left in fifth place, earning $116,006.

With four players left, Ponakovs had a convincing lead with 6 million chips, followed by ‘gazok-900’ (3.46m), Puetz (3.41m), and the surviving ‘RRomashka’ with 2.19m. The Russian short stack lost more than half of his chips to Puetz before committing the balance with five-three on a flop of K-4-2. Unfortunately for him, the Latvian Ponakovs had pocket deuces for a flopped bottom set. A bet from the Latvian on the turned eight was enough to push Puetz, who had come along with 5-6 suited, off the double belly buster straight draw, leaving ‘RRomashka’ needing an Ace or six. A five on the river completed the board and sent ‘RRomashka’ home with $147,951.

Puetz Pummelled into Submission

Three-handed play saw Puetz stay steady on his stack around 6 million chips, but it all went wrong for Ponakovs. Over the better part of the next hour, he slipped from chip leader to short stack before getting 1.5 million into the middle with ace-king against the pocket sevens of ‘gazok-900’. A board of 9-6-2-J-8 sent the Latvian home with $188,693 as the overnight leader missed out on heads-up play. 

Holding just under 60% of the chips in play, ‘gazok-900’ was coming into the final duel with all the momentum. ‘gazok-900’ methodically siphoned chips from Puetz until, after having pocket kings, had increased his lead to 5.5 to 1 in his favor, and continued to stretch the lead until he was up over 13:1. In the final hand, Chris Puetz flopped top pair with queen-nine as a spread of Q-8-7 all in diamonds landed. A min-bet from ‘gazok-900’ saw Puetz raise, then call off a shove only to discover he needed running cards against the Russian’s two diamonds and flopped flush. Another queen landed on the turn to give hope of a boat, but an insignificant deuce on the river meant ‘gazok-900’ was the champion. He took home the $306,923 top prize as third-favorite at the start of play, while Puetz settled for $240,654 in second. 

Watch all the action as the GGMillion$ final table played out in the company of Jeff Gross and Frank Brannan right here:

GGMillion$ Final Table Results

Place	Player	Country	Prize
1st	‘garok-900’	Russia	$306,923
2nd	Christopher Puetz	Germany	$240,654
3rd	Aleks Ponakovs	Latvia	$188,693
4th	‘RRomashka’	Russia	$147,951
5th	Simon Mattsson	Sweden	$116,006
6th	‘Cody Maverick’	Hong Kong	$90,958
7th	Mikita Badziakouski	Belarus	$71,319
8th	Pedro Garagnani	Brazil	$55,920
9th	Leonard Maue	Germany	$43,864

« June 2025  |  August 2025 »

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.

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Edited by Shawn A.