GGMillion$ Recaps: September 2023
Latest GGMillion$ Drama Sees Schemion Grab Stunning Fourth Title – September 8, 2023
This week’s GGMillion$ was a classic, with German high roller Ole Schemion turning everything on its head at the last possible minute, claiming the win in stunning circumstances. With big names and many former winners around the final nine, there was a sting in the tail of our favorite weekly high roller tournament.
Early Drama as the Hunter Becomes the Hunted
With 142 entries this week, the final nine were topped by Ole Schemion. The German high roller regular was on 76 big blinds as he bid to win his fourth GGMillion$ title. Just behind him was ‘TimDunken’ who began on 72 bigs, going for his second title. A fair way back was Canadian Daniel Dvoress on 47 big blinds as he was shooting for his first win in the format, while Ukrainian ‘R Romanovskyi (43BB) was going for a third title. Renan Bruschi (41BB) was a short distance behind him as he hoped to win a maiden GGMillion$ crown.
Shorter in the chip counts were Brazilian Joao Vieira (29BB) with one previous win, Russian legend ‘spaise411’ (24BB) with four previous wins, and Leon Sturm (22BB) who already had a win in August and was going for title #3. The shortest stack was a potential first-timer, Owen Messere (17BB). It was a short stack that left first, but not the shortest. Sturm was the unfortunate victim when he ran pocket queens into pocket kings pre-flop, losing his stack to ‘R Romanovskyi’ for a score of $42,695.
If the Ukrainian winner of that hand thought he was good for a deep run, he couldn’t have been more wrong. All-in soon after with pocket queens, he ran headlong into pocket aces belonging to Norwegian ‘TimDunken’. The four-bet shove by the Ukraine-based player was met by an instant call. The board was no help and ‘R Romanovskyi’ took home $54,670.
Vieira Vanquished, Bruschi Busted
Shorter than anyone, the Portuguese star of the felt, Joao Vieira was the next one to leave the party. All-in with the jack-queen of diamonds pre-flop, it was ‘TimDunken’ who won the hand, his ace-jack prevailing on a board of K-9-4-K-5 to send Vieira home with $70,004.
It was a couple orbits later that a blind-on-blind battle saw Renan Bruschi bust out in sixth for $89,639. Bruschi used the GGPoker software to drop in some self-motivational messages, such as “Just One Time!”, “Good Luck” and “I’m So Good!” before he shoved with jack-ten. Calling with ace-jack in the big blinds, Ole Schemion survived the K-Q-8-J-4 board.
With five left, only one player remained with a six-figure chip stack rather than seven. All-in with king-jack, ‘spaise411’ was hoping to win a flip against the pocket tens of ‘TimDunken’, but a king in the window was followed by a five and a deadly ten. An hour into play, and the first five players had left the arena already. Of the four who remained, ‘TimDunken’ (6.9m) was the chip leader, with Schemion (3.3m), Messere (3.07m) and Daniel Dvoress (1.38m) were all playing catch up.
Two Hands Turn the Tide
Play went on for the best part of the next hour before Daniel Dvoress, having doubled his stack, lost the lot. On a board showing Q-T-4-9, Dvoress thought he had turned the gutshot of his dreams, but it was a third spade and his Norwegian opponent had king-deuce of spades for a flush. All the chips went on a river of an offsuit six as ‘TimDunken’ shoved and Dvoress called his stack away, cashing in fourth for $146,974.
The Norwegian was putting pressure on every decision, and eventually forced a mistake. On a flop of 9-9-3, he shoved with pocket sevens, and the British player Owen Messere called it off with just ace-king offsuit. A three on the turn made no difference, but a king on the river certainly did, flipping the Brit into the lead and sending TimDunken to the bottom of the counts.
The next hand saw the Norwegian on the rail for $188,197. This time, they were the one to have made a straight, holding the ‘Dolly Parton’ a.k.a. nine-five. That had rivered a straight, but fifth street had also given Messere the flush and that meant a big chip lead of 3 to 1 over Ole Schemion.
Ole Schemion is a GGMillion$ powerhouse, and despite being down, the German found a way to win. It was No Limit Hold’em at its best, as Schemion three-bet with deuce-five of hearts and Messere flat called to a disastrous flop of 7-5-2. Schemion c-bet and was called to a turn of a four. Schemion’s flopped two-pair could hardly have been better disguised and bet 40% of his stack. Messere shoved all-in and Schemion snap-called. A six on the river gave Schemion the lead.
In the very next hand, the German picket up pocket jacks. Messere three-bet all-in with ace-king offsuit, and Schemion made the call. The board of 9-8-2-Q-T gave Schemion victory and in two hands went from an underdog to the champion to claim an incredible fourth GGMillion$ crown. One of the most stunning endings to the final table produced a superb winner after a sickening penultimate hand to watch for Messere but a fantastic one for poker fans watching online.
Join Jeff Gross and special guest co-commentator Kristy Arnett-Moreno in watching this week’s amazing GGMillion$ event.
GGMillion$ September 5th, 2023 Final Table Results: |
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| Place | Player | Country | Prize |
| 1st | Ole Schemion | Germany | $308,573 |
| 2nd | Owen Messere | United Kingdom | $240,982 |
| 3rd | TimDunken | Norway | $188,197 |
| 4th | Daniel Dvoress | Canada | $146,974 |
| 5th | spaise411 | Russia | $114,780 |
| 6th | Renan Bruschi | Brazil | $89,639 |
| 7th | Joao Vieira | Portugal | $70,004 |
| 8th | R Romanovskyi | Ukraine | $54,670 |
| 9th | Leon Sturm | Germany | $42,695 |
Wiktor Malinowski Wins Third GGMILLION$ Title for $339,000 – September 13, 2023
Polish poker superstar Wiktor Malinowski beat Yuri Dzivielevski heads-up to claim a superb victory in this week’s GGMILLION$ Event, where players put up a $10,000 entry – unless they qualified for mere hundreds of dollars. The top prize was over $339,000 and it was only claimed at the end of a stunning final table where more winners gathered to battle for the title than ever before in GGMILLION$ history.
Dzivielevski Goes for History
Play began with Brazilian poker legend and online crusher Yuri Dzivielevski in charge of matters, with 99 big blinds to his name as he pushed for a record-equalling fifth GGMILLION$ title. Behind him was the dangerous Russian player ‘Mr-Doberman’ was on 76 big blinds chasing his third win, with Swedish superstar Niklas Astedt sitting on 71 bigs in his pursuit of a fifth GGMILLION$ victories himself.
Behind the leading trio, Moldovan poker crusher Pavel Plesuv (65BB) was shooting for a fourth GGMILLION$ win, with Poland’s Wiktor Malinowski (41BB) looking for his third. Finnish poker phenom Sam ‘€urop€an’ Vousden (26BB) was going for his second GGMILLION$ title, and Austria’s ‘Sting83’ (26BB) going for a debut victory. At what was by far the most decorated GGMILLION$ final table in both seasons on the weekly high roller event, Russian ‘spaise411’ (23BB, four wins) and Christian Rudolph (8BB, three wins) rounded out a final table for an amazing total of 23 GGMILLION$ titles between them.
Predictably perhaps, German player Rudolph was the first player to leave. All-in with the best hand, Rudolph was left red-faced rather than red-nosed as his ace-eight failed to hold against Plesuv’s queen-nine. The flop of 9-8-7 paired both players but put Rudolph behind and the seven and ten on turn and river didn’t save him as the German cashed for $48,492 in ninth place.
Astedt and Malinowski Clash in ‘Mystery Hand’
A thrilling hand saw Pavel Plesuv crash out at the hands of the chip leader next. Dzivielevski raised from the cutoff with ace-eight of spades, and Plesuv called from the big blind with six-four of diamonds. The flop of 8-5-2 with two diamonds was always going to spell trouble and the Brazilian’s c-bet was shoved on by the Moldovan. Dzivielevski called it off and a five of hearts on the turn was followed by the six of hearts on the river to send Plesuv packing, lining his online pockets with a cash of $61,845 in eighth place.
A blind-on-blind battle gave Dzivielevski another scalp as his ascent to GGMILLION$ immortality seemed to get inexorably closer with each passing all-in and call. Holding queen-five offsuit, the Brazilian raised enough from the small blind to set Samuel Vousden all-in if he called, which he duly did with king-ten. Unfortunately for Vousden, he couldn’t hold through the board of Q-T-3-8-7 and cashed for $78,876.
A regular spot in the GGMILLION$ final table is the ‘Mystery Hand’ where one player’s hand is hidden from both the commentators – in this case, the regular presenter Jeff Gross and his special guest this week Kane Kalas – and the audience. Swedish player Niklas Astedt’s hand was face up to viewers, and his pocket queens looked good as he bet around 70% of the pot on the river of a board showing J-J-5-8-4. Wiktor Malinowski raised to shove over that bet, and when Astedt called, the Polish player’s mystery hand was revealed as ace-jack, which had outflopped his opponent and those trips sent Astedt packing for a score of $100,596.
Russians Exit in Quick Succession
Less than an hour had passed, and four players had already hit the rail. Not long after, ‘Sting83’ was all-in with ace-king offsuit with no hearts on a board of A-Q-4 all hearts against Malinowski, who again had a mystery hand. The chips got all in on the turned 3. The heart ten on the river didn’t offer any help to ‘Sting83’ who was drawing dead against Malinowski’s flopped flush. This hand was the end of the last Austrian who collected $128,298 in fifth place.
Out next was Russian player ‘spaise411’, whose misfortune extended to shoving from the big blind with king-ten when Malinowski raised from the small blind with pocket aces on the very next hand. The board of J-9-3-K-5 wasn’t quite enough to save the Russian player and he cashed for $163,628. Malinowski had over 8 million chips and was ahead of Dzivielevski (6.6m) and Mr-Doberman (2.6m).
It took a board of Q-2-2-4-J to see off the other Russian player, as Mr-Doberman with queen-four faced a bet from Dzivielevski on the river with ten-deuce. The Russian committed his stack and it went across the felt to the Brazilian, whose 9.2m was now marginally ahead of Malinowski’s 8.2 million chips.
Malinowski Wins Epic Final Duel
It was a remarkably fast 1.5 hours to play down to heads up from the relatively deep starting stacks, but it would be an hour more before a champion would emerge. 50 minutes into the hour-long small ball battle, Malinowski was level and there was nothing to separate the two men as the Polish player went for his third GGMILLION$ title and Dzivielevski shot for title number five. Leading by 10 million to 6 million, Malinowski raised with ace-jack from the button and got a re-raise from Dzivielevski. The flop of Q-T-5 saw both players miss, and they checked to another queen on the turn. The river was blank too and Dzivilevski won, taking a slim lead – 56BB to 53BB.
The next hand decided the destination of the title, as, on a board of Q-7-5-3-2, a pot that had already been raised to over 4.5 million saw the Brazilian player shove with just king-ten for king-high. Malinowski had been floating to the river with the absolute nuts on the turn, holding six-four for a turned straight.
Dzivielevski shoved and was immediately snapped off with Malinowski effectively claiming his third GGMILLION$ title with the click of a button. Soon after, king-three beat jack-seven and the Brazilian crusher earned $266,153 in second place, just short of glory. Malinowski became a triple GGMILLION$ winner for a stunning $339,445. It had been one of the best heads-up battles across both seasons of the popular high stakes weekly tournament.
You can watch all of the action, with the indomitable host and voice of GG, Jeff Gross, and his guest co-host, Kane Kalas, right here.
GGPoker GGMILLION$ 2023 12th September Main Event Results: |
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| Place | Player | Country | Prize |
| 1st | Wiktor Malinowski | Poland | $339,445 |
| 2nd | Yuri Dzivielevski | Brazilian | $266,153 |
| 3rd | Mr-Doberman | Russia | $208,687 |
| 4th | spaise411 | Russia | $163,628 |
| 5th | Sting83 | Austria | $128,298 |
| 6th | Niklas Astedt | Sweden | $100,596 |
| 7th | Samuel Vousden | Finland | $78,876 |
| 8th | Pavel Plesuv | Moldova | $61,845 |
| 9th | Christian Rudolph | Germany | $48,492 |
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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.
Edited by Shawn A.
