GGMILLION$ Won for $1.68 million After Epic Finale – June 5, 2024

This week’s GGPoker GGMillion$ was one of the biggest in online poker history, with a top prize of $1.68 million and not one, not two, but three million dollar prizes awarded. The final table featured nine players at different stages of their GGPoker journeys, with some final table regulars and others who were hoping to turn their first appearance at a GGMillion$ final table into life-changing money.

Gierse Can’t Get Going

Commentary this week came from Jeff Gross and co-commentator Jonathan Jaffe, as nine players sat down to battle in the GGPoker streets for a top prize of $1.68 million, one of the biggest in GGMillion$ history. Top of the chipcounts heading into play was controlled by Irish player Michael ‘Mikster’ Dwyer, who began with 92 big blinds. Second in chips was Leonard Maue from Germany, with 66 big blinds to start his sixth final table of the season.

Austrian player ‘xxkfiss’ started with 60 big blinds, while Montenegran Dejan Kaladjurdjevic had 54 big blinds, and German Daniel Smiljkovic, last season’s PokerGO Tour end-of-year champion, went into the action with 39 big blinds. The remaining players in the mix for a chance of a seven-figure score this week included Finnish player Andreas Nasman (37BB), Austria’s ‘idkthp’ (34BB), Belarussian Ilya Anatski (11BB), and short stack Marius Gierse also from Austria, starting with just nine bigs.

The first player to leave the action was indeed the short stack. Gierse was all-in pre-flop with the best hand, holding king-eight, but it was only for his seven big blind stack. Kaladjurdjevic, who had already chipped up to over 120 bigs, called it off with jack-nine of hearts and the board played out J-T-2-Q-7. Gierse never had a chance to get going and went home with $211,297.

Nasman Runs into a Brick Wall

One short stack had gone, and the other looked like they might soon follow. Ilya Anatski raised with ace-ten and called off the raise by Leonard Maue with pocket nines, putting Anatski all in. The board of flop of K-K-8 kept Maue ahead, but after a queen on the turn, another on the river counterfeited Maue and doubled up the fortunate Belarussian.

Finnish player Andreas Nasman shoved pre-flop for 12 bigs with ace-ten but found the worst moment possible to do so, as Austria-based ‘xxkfiss’ woke up with aces and watched as a safe board of K-8-6-9-J arrived. A chunky pot went to the Austrian winner, who nearly doubled his stack, as he sent Nasman to the rail for $273,953.

Anatski had fought bravely, but their run ended in seventh place when they fell to the same Austrian player. All-in with ace-king pre-flop, Anatski lost to ‘xxkfiss’ when the latter turned over pocket queens, a board of Q-J-4-J-2 had the at-risk player drawing dead to the river. Anatski cashed for $355,209 in seventh.

Michael ‘Mikster’ Dwyer took charge over an extended period without any eliminations but that ended emphatically when a large proportion of his chips slipped digitally to his right. Leonard Maue moved with in with pocket sevens and Dwyer’s ace-queen couldn’t hit, meaning the at-risk Maue doubled up to 17 million chips, going from short stack to just a few big blinds behind being the Irish chip leader’s nearest rival.

Six became five when a massive pre-flop flip took out the German player Leonard Maue. All-in with pocket tens, the German was hoping that Kaladjurdjevic wouldn’t hit with his ace-king but a flop of A-4-2 was followed by a five on the turn and six on the river to oust Maue in sixth place for a score of $460,584. Two hours in and there had been just four eliminations.

Dwyer and Kaladjurdjevic Battle for the Glory

Kaladjurdjevic was playing fearlessly and, a few hands later, shoved with pocket fives after a raise by ‘xxkfiss’. The latter called off their stack with ace-jack but didn’t hit on the flop of K-T-3; however, all three cards were hearts, meaning any heart, ace, jack or queen would save the Austrian, and while still behind, he was actually a 61% favorite to win the hand. Kaladjurdjevic had to fade a world of outs on turn and river but did exactly that. The four of spades on the turn was followed by a seven in the same suit on the river.

The Austrian player busted for $597,239 in fifth place and with four left, everything had changed regarding the chips. The overnight leader Dwyer was now the short stack on 19.2m, while Daniel Smiljkovic (20.2m) was some way behind both Kaladjurdjevic (40.5m) and ‘idkthp’ (40.1m) at the top.

The fourth place and final prize that was ‘only’ six figures, went to Daniel Smiljkovic. His ace-queen was all-in pre-flop against Kaladjurdjevic’s pocket jacks. A clean board of K-K-3-9-2 sent Kaladjurdjevic into the chip lead and eliminated Smiljkovic for $774,458. Eight minutes later, play was heads-up. After a raise from Kaladjurdjevic, ‘idkthp’ went all-in with king-queen only to find he was dominated by ace-king. The board ran out clean with a 7-high and ‘idkthp’ was out in third, earning $1,004,282.

Heads-up, Kaladjurdjevic had nearly a 10:1 lead (105m to 15m), but Dwyer had nothing to lose. After doubling up on the very first hand and play continued for 10 minutes before he decided to move in from the button with 7-3 of diamonds. Kaladjurdjevic made the easy call with pocket kings! The flop of 9-8-2 kept the Irishman well behind, but the turn of a ten opened up the straight draw. Any jack or six would double up Dwyer, but it never came, the ace of clubs on the river ending the tournament, sending ‘Mikster’ home with $1.3m, as Dejan Kaladjurdjevic took home $1,688,889 and the title of GGMILLION$ winner!

You can watch all the action play out as it happened in the company of Jeff Gross and Jonathan Jaffe right here on GGPoker’s YouTube channel:

Place	Player	Country	Prize
1st	Dejan Kaladjurdjevic	Montenegro	$1,668,669
2nd	Michael ‘Mikster’ Dwyer	Republic of Ireland	$1,302,327
3rd	‘idkthp’	Austria	$1,004,282
4th	Daniel Smilijkovic	Germany	$774,458
5th	‘xxkfiss’	Austria	$597,239
6th	Leonard Maue	Germany	$460,584
7th	Ilya Anatski	Belarus	$355,209
8th	Andreas Nasman	Finland	$273,953
9th	Marius Gierse	Austria	$211,297

GGMillion$ Won in Style for $323,000 After Epic Hero Call! – June 12, 2024

This week’s GGMillion$ on GGPoker saw a bumper field of poker’s finest compete for a top prize of $323,977. With over a million on the line for the final table players, legends of the online felt, such as Juan Dominguez, Christoph Vogelsang, and Arsenii Malinov battled for supremacy, but there was a surprise winner after a thrilling conclusion to the weekly $10,300 buy-in event.

The King of Spain

Joining regular host Jeff Gross on commentary duties this week was poker pro Mike Wasserman, the co-creator of Mid Stakes Mastery. He also has over $9 million in live and online poker winnings to go with his strategic analysis. With $1.61 million in the prize pool, the top prize of $323,977 was being chased by the chip leader Pedro Neves from Portugal with 91 big blinds.

Behind Neves’ monster stack, Russian players Arsenii Malinov (63BB) and Vlad Batrakov (13BB) had polar opposite sized stacks, while German high roller specialist Christoph Vogelsang (63BB) was at his fourth final table of the season. Croatian player ‘d1nzvoz’ (57BB) and Spain’s Juan Dominguez (51BB) had very strong chances, while Chris Klodnicki (36BB), Brazilian GGMillion$ final table regular ‘LisFlower’ (24BB) was hoping to improve early. Canada’s Guillaume Nolet (21BB) was also dreaming of a double-up close to the start of play to get back into contention.

The first player to bust was an unexpected one, as Spanish poker professional Juan Dominguez lost a number of early pots before waking up with pocket kings pre-flop. All-in pre-flop, Dominguez was crushed by LisFlower’s pocket aces, and an ace on the flop saw the Spaniard drawing dead other than to running kings, straight or flush cards. The six of hearts on the turn ended all hope for Dominguez, who cashed for $46,282 in ninth place.

Malinov Climbs to Chip Leader

Guillaume Nolet was the next player to leave and again fell foul of pocket aces. The Croatian player ‘d1nzvoz’ had the rockets and took out Nolet after the Canadian shoved pre-flop with pocket jacks. A clean board of K-8-5-7-5 sent Nolet home with a score of $59,027.

Vlad Batrakov had started as short stack, and the Russian laddered brilliantly for 90 minutes but eventually ran short again and busted with pocket nines from the big blind. It was ‘d1nzvoz’ again with the winning hand, this time the queen-ten was enough. The flip went the Croatian’s way when a Q-6-5 and no nines thereafter sent the Russian home in seventh place with $75,281.

A long period elapsed without any casualties, and both Gross and Wasserman looked ready to settle in for the long haul. Quite the opposite happened, however, and after almost two and a half hours with only a trio of eliminations, the tournament’s final stages saw five bust-outs inside 30 minutes!

The first to fall was possibly the most important, as the overnight chip leader Pedro Neves bought a ticket in sixth place for a return of $96,012. All-in pre-flop with king-ten of clubs, but it turned into a case of terrible timing, as Arsenii Malinov called with pocket kings and won with ease when a board of 7-5-2-4-6 fell with only one club.

Frantic Finish Sees Heroic Call to Close Action

German player Christoph Vogelsang departed in fifth for $122,452 when he committed his final chips with queen-eight offsuit pre-flop. Malinov, holding an offsuit king-deuce, was the aggressor, setting his opponent all in. The better hand held across the ten-high board to reduce the field to four players.

Four remained, but it looked like a two-horse race, with Malinov (7.8m) followed by ‘d1nzvoz’ (6.5m) in the counts. Both players from the Americans, Chris Klodnicki (1.56m) and LisFlower (896k), were a fair bit behind and not quite in a position to start challenging at that stage. The Brazilian short stack left next, cashing for $156,171 in fourth place. The last of LisFlower’s chips were all in preflop with an ace-seven only to be cracked by the king-ten of Malinov after a ten landed on the flop.

Play was heads-up just 2 hands later after Klodnicki bowed out for $199,177. All-in on the next hand with king-jack, he couldn’t hit against Malinov’s ace-three, and the Russian was ready for the final battle, holding around 64% of the chips in play.

Despite having that lead, the match came down to a brilliant call from the at-risk Croatian. On a board showing 8-5-3-2-9, Malinov made a huge river bet of 2.94m chips into a pot of just under 2.1m with queen-jack. Somehow, ‘d1nzvoz’ made the correct call with just eight-seven, giving them a better than 2:1 chip lead. The finale came when Malinov called off his stack with five-three on a board of 8-5-2-4 only to discover that his Croatian opponent had slow-played pocket queens and the Croatian had won the title and $323,977 top prize, Malinov having to accept the $254,025 runner-up score for his efforts in the poker tournament.

“We saw a bunch of sickos get in there and battle!” Said Mike Wasserman at the end of the thrilling final table.

Watch all the sickos battle in action right here:

Place	Player	Country	Prize
1st	‘d1nzvoz’	Crotia	$323,997
2nd	Arsenii Malinov	Russia	$254,025
3rd	Chris Klodnicki	United States	$199,177
4th	‘LisFlower’	Brazil	$156,171
5th	Christoph Vogelsang	Germany	$122,452
6th	Pedro Neves	Portugal	$96,012
7th	Vlad Batrakov	Russia	$75,281
8th	Guillaume Nolet	Canada	$59,027
9th	Juan Domingues	Spain	$46,282

GGMILLION$ Win by ‘Wardska_’ as ‘spaise411’ Misses Out Yet Again – June 19, 2024

This week’s $10,300-entry GGPoker GGMillion$ saw a thrilling conclusion to the action as Austrian ‘Wardska_’ grabbed the title and a top prize of $271,631, winning after a dominant heads-up battle. It was again the ultimate pain for their final opponent as Russian player ‘spaise411’ missed out on the win at his 19th final table in the event series.

Nemeth the Monster Chip Leader

This week, regular host Jeff Gross was joined in the virtual booth by Razvan Belea, a prominent online and live poker professional with over $1.46 million in live tournament earnings alone. Most of those winnings came when Belea won the EPT Paris Main Event in February last year for $1.25m.

The action got underway with Andras Nemeth from Hungary leading the way on 94 big blinds. Russian player and final table regular ‘spaise411’ was closest to the starting leader with 60 big blinds, while Estonian Ottomar Ladva (54BB) and Brazilian Felipe Boianovsky (43BB) were not far behind. Boianovsky’s fellow Brazilian Pedro Garagnani (38BB) was next followed by Mexico-based ‘BANG IT!’ (29BB), Austrians ‘Wardska_’ (28BB) and ‘Khaanos’ (16BB). The talented Belarussian Ilya Anatski bringing up the rear with 12 big blinds as the short stack.

The short stack was the first player to depart the final table, although Anatski deserves a lot of credit for lasting around 40 minutes. All-in from the big blind with jack-eight offsuit, Anatski lost to Garagnani’s ace-four of clubs when a board showing Q-9-6-6-4 fell, giving the Brazilian two pair and sending Anatski home with $37,584.

Brilliant Brazilians Depart

Incredibly, over an hour passed without an elimination, but that was soon rectified after back-to-back hands led to the departure of ‘Khaanos’. Sitting as the short stack with just over 2 big blinds, the Austria-based player first doubled up when queen-nine hit two pair against the ace-four of Ottomar Ladva. But in the next hand, Khaanos lost with ace-jack to the suited king-queen of Nemeth, the chip leader taking out Khaanos in eighth place for $48,125 after two clubs on the flop and another on the turn gave the chip leader the winning flush.

Ladva had been left short by his earlier loss to Khaanos and, a short time later, was sent to the rails in seventh for $61,623. The Estonian will have been disappointed to exit where he did, not the least because he entered the final table of this poker tournament third in chips, but the manner of the defeat will also sting. His pocket fours were all-in on a board of Q-5-3, and his shove for four big blinds into a pot of five was called by the chip leader ‘spaise411’ who held just king-jack. The turn ran clean with a 7 hitting the board, but the king on the river ended Ladva’s chances.

Brazilian Felipe Boianovsky, who also plays under the name ‘LisFlower,’ busted next in sixth place for $78,907. All-in pre-flop with queen-ten of hearts, he was called by ‘spaise411’ with ace-king. A board of J-J-4-3-K saw an unnecessary king on the river land as the Russian ousted another opponent. Soon, five became four, as the last Brazilian at the table was shown to the rail. Pedro Garagnani leaving in fifth for $101,039. The Brazilian had only two-and-a-half big blinds to his name when he shoved with king-seven, and Nemeth called him with queen-six. The Hungarian paired both his cards to take Garagnani’s last few chips.

Austrian King Reigns as Banging Bluff Goes Wrong

With four players remaining, ‘spaise411’ had the chip lead, with a stack of 4.68 million. Austria’s ‘Wardska_’ (4.59m) was closest in chips, while Mexico’s ‘BANG IT!’ (1.97m) and the aforementioned Nemeth (1.8m) were both in need of a double-up. Unbeknownst to the players, just half an hour remained. The remaining players needed to make moves, and quickly, as the blinds raced around the table. Nemeth was next to go and in unlucky fashion. His ace-nine lost to ‘BANG IT!’s’ king-queen. The chips were all in pre-flop when a queen on the flop ended Nemeth’s run and sent the Hungarian home with $129,378.

With the overnight chip leader out of contention, ‘BANG IT!’ had found some momentum, but they gave it all away after calling a double pot-sized bet on the river with a board showing two aces. ‘BANG IT!’ held fourth paid, but ‘Wardska_’ had a set of aces. The call gave the latter a big lead, and Mexico’s ‘BANG IT!’ fell out of contention soon after. Down to less than 2 big blinds, ‘BANG IT!’ was all-in with queen-eight against the call from ‘Wardska_’ holding eight-six and ‘spaise411’ with king-eight. ‘Wardska_’ led out on a flop of 7-5-3 to isolate ‘BANG IT!’ The open straight draw came in with a four on the turn, and ‘BANG_IT!’ was drawing dead to a 6, which would save him with a split pot. The king on the river sent ‘BANG IT!’ home with $165,666 in third place.

Heads-up, ‘spaise411’ was the underdog with 2.67 million chips, some way behind ‘Wardska_’ with 10.37 million.  That advantage was crucial, as the Russian shoved on the seventh hand with pocket threes, which was a quick call for ‘Wardska_’ with pocket kings. Crushed pre-flop, the J-7-7 flop did nothing to alter the standings. A six on the turn left ‘spaise411’ drawing to one of the two remaining threes in the deck. Instead, it was a four on the river ended his dream and left ‘Wardska_’ as the champion while the Russian just missed ending his GGMillion$ final table curse.

Watch all the action play out in the company of Jeff Gross and Razvan Belea right here:

Place	Player	Country	Prize
1st	‘Wardska_’	Austria	$271,631
2nd	‘spaise411’	Russia	$212,132
3rd	‘BANG IT!’	Mexico	$129,378
4th	Andras Nemeth	Hungary	$101,039
5th	Pedro Garagnani	Brazil	$78,907
6th	Felipe Boianovsky	Brazil	$61,623
7th	Ottomar Ladva	Estonia	$48,125
8th	‘Khaanos’	Austria	$37,584
9th	Ilya Anatski	Belarus	$46,282

Montenegro’s Vlad Batrakov Wins First-Ever GGMILLION$ for $232,000 – June 26, 2024

This week’s GGMillion$ hosted at GGPoker saw a thrilling finish as first-time winner Vlad Batrakov from Montenegro outdid Finnish GGMillion$ regular Samuel Vousden heads-up to claim the top prize of $232,516. At a talented final table that also featured players such as Mark Radoja, Ramiro Petrone, and Chris Nguyen, the finale was as exciting as it could be, with Jeff Gross and Benjamin Rolle commentating on the action.

LeBrunns on a Hot Run

Heading into the final table, some very evenly spread chips meant no one was running away with the title, and the short stacks were all still in contention. Russian player ‘LeBrunns’ led the way with 71 big blinds, a little more than Vousden, known as ‘€urop€an’, with 61 bigs.

Behind the top two, players such as Austrians ‘EEweedm99’ (55BB), ‘Audrii’ (24BB) and last week’s winner ‘Wardska_’ (18BB) all jockeyed for position, while Argentina’s Ramiro Petrone (49BB), German player Chris Nguyen (42BB), Montenegran Vlad Batrakov (29BB) and Canadian professional Mark Radoja (25BB) were all hoping this week would be their week.

The first player to bust hailed from Austria – there was a one-in-three chance – and it was ‘Audrii’. They shoved pre-flop with pocket tens only to lose to Vousden’s suited ace-king when a board of K-7-6-K-A gave the Finnish poker legend a full house. ‘Audrii’ left for a score of $32,171, with Vousden overtaking ‘LeBrunns’ to become chip leader.

Ten minutes later, Vousden had eliminated another player, winning another flip. This time, the Finn had the made hand, his pocket threes holding against Chris Nguyen’s ace-queen when a board of flop of Q-4-3 gave Vousden bottom set. An ace on the turn gave Nguyen a sweat but a ten on the river ended matters, the German leaving the table with $41,195 in eighth place.

Radoja Runs into Rockets

Shortly after Nguyen’s elimination, Canadian Mark Radoja picked the worst time possible to shove with pocket sevens. Moving all-in pre-flop, it was folded around to Ramiro Petrone who woke up with pocket aces, the best pre-flop hand in the game. A board of T-T-4-8-4 sent Radoja to the rail with a score of $52,749 in seventh place.

An exciting pot took place almost immediately afterward, as last week’s winner ‘Wardska_’, who had come into play as the short stack, ran out of luck. All-in with ace-eight on a board showing T-8-8-K with two diamonds, ‘Wardska_’ was up against Ramiro Petrone’s jack-seven of diamonds as the Argentinian hoped for his 32% to come good, and in spectacular fashion it did. A nine of spades on the river completed the straight for Petrone, who took the overall lead in the poker tournament as ‘Wardska_’ departed with $67,554 in sixth place.

Incredibly, it was Petrone who busted next, going from chip leader with five remaining to on the rail in fifth place for a score of $86,849. All-in the next hand with ace-king against Vousden’s pocket aces, Petrone could catch no luck at all on the board and dropped to the short stack. He managed to stave off elimination for some time but eventually succumbed when his jack-six lost to Vousden’s ten-eight.

Vousden Blows a Huge Lead

With four players left, Vousden had a vast amount of the chips in play. Sitting behind a stack of 6.95 million, he had over 60% of the chips in play. ‘LeBrunns’ (2.37m) was closest, as Vlad Batrakov (1.21m) and ‘EEweedm99’ (673k) trailed by a considerable margin.

All-in with ace-seven of clubs, ‘EEweedm99’ hoped for a miracle when up against the ace-jack held by ‘Lebrunns’. A board of K-4-3-4-8 let him down, and the last remaining Austria-based player of the three who made the final table was out in fourth place for $110,748.

Vlad Batrakov began his march to victory at this point. Down to just over half a million chips, he got a full double with pocket kings against Vousden’s ace-ten. He then watched with presumed glee as ‘LeBrunns’ shoved pre-flop with queen-eight offsuit, busting to Vousden’s king-nine of clubs when a board of A-J-4-5-T sent play heads-up, relegating the Russian to a third-place finish worth $141,810.

Heads-up, Vousden’s 8.2m chips were some way clear of Batrakov’s 3.0m, but the tables slowly turned over the next hour of play. Rivering quads helped Batrakov bump his stack up considerably before winning another important one with just middle pair on a flop of 7-4-2. Aggressive play from both men helped keep the stacks even for quite some time before Batrakov took the lead without his opponent seeing his cards.

The final hand played out when Vousden called off his stack with jack-queen of hearts, after Batrakov had three-bet shoved with ace-three. A nine-high board of 9-5-4-9-8 made sure of it for the Montenegran as he became a first-time GGMillion$ winner.

Watch all the drama play out on GGPoker’s YouTube channel as Jeff Gross and Benjamin Rolle talk you through the action right here:

Place	Player	Country	Prize
1st	Vlad Batrakov	Montenegro	$232,516
2nd	Samuel Vousden	Finland	$181,516
3rd	‘LeBrunns’	Russia	$141,810
4th	‘EEweedm99’	Austria	$110,748
5th	Ramiro Petrone	Argentina	$86,849
6th	‘Wardska_’	Austria	$67,554
7th	Mark Radoja	Canada	$52,749
8th	‘Audrii’	Germany	$41,195
9th	Ilya Anatski	Austria	$32,171

« May 2024  |  July 2024 »

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.