David Yan Just Misses GGMillion$ Glory After Final Bluff Goes Wrong – August 7, 2024

A thrilling conclusion to this week’s GGMillion$ on GGPoker saw New Zealand player David Yan lose at the end after a superb call won the title for ‘NN28’ who took home $319,119. With an appearance at the final table from one of last month’s WSOP Main Event final table players, it was a superb showdown for this week’s GGMillion$ title.

Palamar Pushed Out Early

Jeff Gross and Misha Grigorev hosted the action on GGPoker’s YouTube channel, and the action was fast and frantic as the whole final table played out within 150 minutes. Heading into the action with a big lead, New Zealand player David Yan began with 120 big blinds, ahead of United Arab Emirates player ‘NN28’ (82BB) and Dutch player Duco Haven (55BB).

Just three weeks ago, Swedish superstar Niklas Astedt (46BB) finished third in the WSOP Main Event in Las Vegas, winning $4 million as he ended the event just behind Jordan Griff in second and the eventual winner Jonathan Tamayo. Behind Astedt, recent Austrian winner ‘Wardska_’ (39BB), Swedish player Simon Mattsson (26BB), Canadian Guillaume Nolet (18BB), Brazil’s Alisson Piekazewicz (15BB), and Ukrainian Volodymyr Palamar (15BB) completed this week’s final table line-up.

The first player to leave was the player with the shortest stack. Just three hands in, on a board of A-7-2-5-2, Palamar called off his stack with ace-ten but was wrong to do so after Duco Haven shoved the river with ace-king, Palamar cashed for $45,558 in ninth place. The next hand, the additional chips Duco Haven had won went to doubling up ‘Wardska_’ who pulled into second, just behind Yan. The fifth hand had Yan lose to ‘NN28’, giving the unknown player the chip lead and dropping Yan into third, just behind ‘Wardska_’

It’s No for Nolet

A blind-on-blind battle on the sixth hand reduced the field to seven, as chip leader David Yan shoved with king-three offsuit from the small blind and won the ensuing flip against Mattsson, who called with pocket deuces. The flop of Q-7-4 kept Mattsson in the lead, as did the ace of hearts on the turn, but a fourth heart on the river completed the flush with Yan’s three of hearts in his hand, beating Mattsson by one pip – Mattsson held a two of hearts – and Mattsson met the rail for $58,142 in eighth place.

Keeping up with the high-action final table, on the tenth hand of the night, Alisson Piekazewicz shoved pre-flop when short with ace-eight of hearts and ran into a coinflip against ‘NN28’ who held pocket threes. A flop of J-T-2 was followed by a king on the turn and another ten on the river. Piekazewicz didn’t improve and was shown to the rail, scoring $74,153 for himself in seventh place and Brazil.

Three players had been knocked out in the first twenty-five minutes. It would be another twenty-five minutes before six became five as Guillaume Nolet committed his stack with five-four on a flop of Q-Q-5. Unfortunately, he ran into Duco Haven’s pocket sixes. The Dutch player confirmed he’d be winning the hand when a third six landed on the river to complete a full house.  Nolet, who has posted some superb results in GGMillion$ events in recent months after consistent performances, cashed for $94,572 in sixth place.

The top five stacks heading into play were – as is rarely the case – the final five stacks in the event. ‘NN28’ had taken the lead, and a chunky one, from Yan. Astedt and ‘Wardska_’ were both challenging and a lot closer than the still short-stacked Haven. The Dutch player got unlucky to bust, all-in post-flop with pocket eights after 6-5-4 of diamonds had fallen. Astedt was the caller with king-six, including the king of diamonds. A king on the turn followed by a queen on the river sealed victory for the Swede as Haven departed in fifth for $120,615.

Stunning Bluff Hero-Called by Winner

Over an hour of tense play continued without elimination as David Yan got the better of Astedt, taking the majority of his chips in the process. However, it was the Austrian player ‘Wardska_’ who busted in fourth for $153,380 after shoving with just over 6 bigs holding the nine-eight of hearts. He was called by ‘NN28’ with an ace-five offsuit. A board of K-J-2-2-A sent the Austrian home, which meant there would be no win for them this week.

Three-handed, ‘NN28’ (7.74m) and David Yan (7.70m) were way ahead of Astedt, who had a little over a million chips. The first hand of the final three had Yan shove with ace-deuce, which was called by Astedt holding king-queen. A board of J-4-4-4-5 sent play heads-up, with Yan having a slight advantage. Astedt – again third – cashed for $196,190.

Heads-up was a battle between the two biggest stacks at the start of play and the most dominant forces of the final table. Their clash for the title seemed inevitable, and so it proved, but there was no lengthy epic slugfest. Yan won some small ball pots to improve his marginal lead into almost a 3:1 advantage and then a 5:1 lead. ‘NN28’ wasn’t finished, winning after flopping a boat with pocket tens on a board of T-5-5-9-4. The board also gave Yan a queen-high flush that he could not get away from, giving a full double up to ‘NN28’.

The final hand was a spectacular one, with ‘NN28’ edging into a lead before a board of K-2-3-Q-6 fell. The final three cards of the board had all been clubs, and with 2.6 million chips in the pot, David Yan shoved for 6.8m more with just jack-ten, including the ten of clubs. ‘NN28’ only had 7m chips themselves, so the call was effectively all or nothing for the title. It was a tricky one for ‘NN28’ with king-queen for two pair, but the call was snappend, and it was all over. Yan cashed for $250,216 as NN28 won the top prize of $319,119.

Watch it all play out in exciting fashion right here:

Place	Player	Country	Prize
1st	‘NN28’	U.A.E.	$319,119
2nd	David Yan	New Zealand	$250,216
3rd	Niklas Astedt	Sweden	$196,190
4th	‘Warska_’	Austria	$153,380
5th	Duco Haven	Netherlands	$120,615
6th	Guillaume Nolet	Canada	$94,572
7th	A Piekazewicz	Brazil	$74,153
8th	Simon Mattsson	Sweden	$58,142
9th	Volodymyr Palamar	Ukraine	$45,558

Juan Dominguez Wins GGMillion$ for $1.4 million – August 21, 2024

With a total prize pool of $8.86 million, a top prize of over $1.4m, and nine of the best poker players in the world, this week’s GGMillion$ showdown had it all. With commentary from regular host Jeff Gross and his special guest Mike Wasserman, there was a surprise ending to the event won by Juan Dominguez, which, as ever, brought some of the biggest names in the poker world to the virtual felt on GGPoker.

Special K in the Lead

Heading into this week’s nine-player final table, Montenegro player Dejan Kaladjurdjevic had the chip lead with 107 big blinds, his stack not too far ahead of Spanish player Juan Dominguez (93BB) and Alisson Piekazewicz from Brazil on 85 big blinds. From the top trio, a large gap existed to regular player and one of Israel’s finest, Barak Wisbrod (42BB), Moldovan Pavel Plesuv (33BB), Brazil’s ‘Levistraus’ (28BB), Austrian ‘hazuzukaa’ (22BB), Russian Alexander Zubov (18BB) and the short stack, Swedish player Simon Mattsson, who began with just 14 big blinds.

The first player to leave the action, which occurred nearly half an hour after the start, was indeed Mattsson, who busted in ninth place for $171,291. The Swede called off his stack from the small blind with ace-eight offsuit, but the move was poorly timed as Piekazewicz called with ace-jack of spades from the button. The board provided no help for the Swedish player and the field was reduced to eight.

Next to go was ‘Levistraus’, who, more than an hour later, got it in bad with Barak Wisbrod. The latter shoved from the button with ace-nine of clubs, and ‘Levistraus’ called it off with ace-eight of diamonds but fewer chips. Calling it off for around 14 big blinds, the Brazilian had no luck across the Q-Q-Q-3-2 board, which flirted with “chopportunities” in the words of co-commentator Mike Wasserman.

Dominguez on the March

Over 90 minutes of the final table had passed with just two eliminations, but another six exits were crammed into just over an hour that remained, starting just 3 hands later. With a board of A-A-K-J-T on display, with three of the first four cards being hearts, a potential Royal Flush was out there. Overnight leader Kaladjurdjevic shoved with ace-eight but was called after a lengthy tank by Juan Dominguez with queen-jack of spades. The straight won the hand, and the Spanish player, having the larger stack, knocked the Montenegran to the virtual rail in seventh for $285,345 after starting the final table with the largest stack.

With six players left, the blinds were escalating quickly and racing through the players’ stacks. Soon, the second Brazilian bust, as Piekazewicz moved in with queen-jack of clubs and was in a coinflip against Wisbrod with pocket sevens. The board landed 6-3-3-9-9, and the chips were sent to Wisbrod. Cashing for $368,856, Piekazewicz’ exit meant that of the top three stacks coming into play, only Dominguez remained in the hunt for this week’s latest GGMillion$ title and the $1.4m top prize.

Pavel Plesuv ran short over the extended period of play without an elimination as Juan Dominguez and Barak Wisbrod dominated the other three players. When Plesuv took a stand, his stack of thirteen big blinds was actually the third biggest stack at the table. His shove with ace-nine of diamonds from the big blind ran into Dominguez’ pocket jacks, and the ‘fishhooks’ held with ease through the Q-8-3-K-Q board to add to the Spanish player’s lead.

Zubov’s Ladder

With four players left, Dominguez’ stack of 57 million chips dwarfed all his challengers, with Wisbrod closest on 21.7 million. Wisbrod was significantly ahead of ‘hazuzukaa’ (6.7m) and Alexander Zubov (3.1m). With Dominguez able to exert pressure in virtually every hand on at least two of his opponents, it was ‘hazuzukaa’ who fell first, busting in fourth for $617,609. All-in with queen-jack, ‘hazuzukaa’ was up against it when Dominguez’s call was revealed with pocket queens. A jack on the flop was only false hope as play quickly moved three-handed.

Wisbrod at least had a sweat story to take home with $799,751 in third. First, he lost a coinflip to Zubov to level their stacks in pursuit of Dominguez. Then he called off his stack with pocket aces on a board showing 6-4-2-7-Q against the Spanish player, but Dominguez had shoved with two-pair, sixes and sevens, to take a strong 7:1 lead into the final duel.

Zubov needed a quick double-up to get back into contention, but with only 15 big blinds, he didn’t have long to wait. Holding nine-eight on a flop of 9-7-5, Zubov raised Dominguez’s c-bet with pocket queens and called off the Spaniard’s shove. A king on the turn and five on the river ended it all as Juan Dominguez won the $1,421,680 top prize, with the $1,035,959 runner-up prize won by the laddering Zubov.

Watch all the action play out as three hours took us from overnight leaders to a sick sweat at the death in the company of Jeff Gross and Mike Wasserman here:

Place	Player	Country	Prize
1st	Juan Dominguez	Spain	$1,421,680
2nd	Alexander Zubov	Russia	$1,035,959
3rd	Barak Wisbrod	Israel	$799,751
4th	‘hazuzukaa’	Austria	$617,609
5th	Pavel Plesuv	Moldova	$477,158
6th	Alisson Piekazewicz	Brazil	$368,856
7th	Dejan Kaladjurdjevic	Montenegro	$285,345
8th	‘Levistraus’	Brazil	$220,948
9th	Simon Mattsson	Sweden	$171,291

GGMillion$ won by Satellite Star for $410,000 – August 28, 2024

This week’s GGMillion$ was won for one of the best returns on investment in the competition’s history. After qualifying via satellite, the Argentinian player ‘Be Myself’ stayed true to his qualifying principles and ran his satellite ticket all the way to a $410,427 victory in thrilling style. With regular host Jeff Gross and special guest co-commentator Jonathan Jaffe in the virtual booth, the action was red hot from the first card to the last.

Early Levels Trim the Fat

Heading into the action, it was Barak Wisbrod from Israel who had the lead with 94 big blinds. Argentina’s ‘Be Myself’ was closest to Wisbrod with 77 bigs, while a trio of top talents in Russia’s Konstantin Maslak (54BB) and ‘RRomashka’ (53BB) and Romanian ‘Ehhhh pinnnggg’ (52BB) all hovered not far behind. A little lacking were German player Alexander Tkatschew (34BB) and Aussie GGMillion$ legend Michael Addamo (23BB), while Brazilian Rodrigo Sirichuk (20BB) and Austria’s ‘lospob4res’ (18BB) brought up the rear.

The first player to lose their seat, over 30 minutes into the final table, was the short stack. ‘lospob4res’ moved all-in with pocket sevens and was crushed pre-flop by Michael Addamo with pocket kings. The Austrian’s lot got worse on the A-T-9 flop, and after a queen on the turn and an eight on the river, he was shown the rail and exited for $51,303. With the win, Addamo put himself right back in the mix as he attempted to get nearer Artur Martirosian at the top of the all-time GGMillion$ winners list.

Next to go was Tkatschew, who was all-in pre-flop with ace-king offsuit and up against Barak Wisbrod with pocket jacks. The Israeli remained ahead throughout the clean run out of 9-5-3-7-7. Tkatschew, who lost in eighth place for $66,532, strengthened Wisbrods chip stack, moving back into the chip lead with seven left.

Addamo Unlucky to Lose

Soon, Michael Addamo joined the rail as his exit was confirmed in seventh place for $86,281. His departure was particularly brutal, though, as he committed the last of his chips as the favorite with ace-nine and lost to Wisbrod’s ace-four with the chips all in the middle pre-flop. A flop of A-K-6 kept Addamo in line for a big double-up to a second-placed stack. A four on the turn was a hammer blow, and a meaningless jack on the river sent the Aussie out as Wisbrod opened up a huge lead.

An extended period without any eliminations saw ‘Be Myself’ take over the lead. His ascension to the top of the leaderboard was eventually followed by the bust-out of Romanian ‘Ehhhh pinnnggg’ for $111,893 in sixth, again courtesy of Wisbrod. All-in pre-flop with pocket eights from the big blind, the Romanian lost a flip to Wisbrod, whose king-ten offsuit hit the K-J-6 flop and survived a three on the turn and five on the river to take out yet another player.

Russian player RRomashka won a hand where he was behind Rodrigo Sirichuk to double but soon after, got short again, and those crumbs were hoovered up. All-in with ace-deuce for just over a single big blind, he lost to the jack-three belonging to ‘Be Myself’. The J-8-2-Q-T board reduced the field to four, and the Russian left for $145,108.

Wisbrod Just Misses Another Win

With four left, ‘Be Myself had the lead with 11.7 million, with Wisbrod (5.5m), Konstantin Maslak (3.2m) and Rodrigo Sirichuk (709k) all coming up short with the final stages of the battle remaining. Sirichuk recovered considerably, more than quadrupling his stack. He then shoved with six-three of hearts and was called and eliminated by Maslak’s ace-six of clubs as aboard of T-8-6-J-4 sent the Brazilian home with $188,812.

Three-handed play almost leveled out the stacks, but when Maslak ran pocket sevens into Wisbrod’s aces, everything changed. The near 13.2m pot went Wisbrod’s way, a board of A-T-T-2-2 nailing Maslak to the ground before the turn. He busted shortly afterward for $244,041 in third place when his final three big blinds lost with ace-eight to ‘Be Myself’, who woke up with aces, eventually winning with the nut flush.

Heads-up, ‘Be Myself’ had a 2.5:1 chip lead and soon had all the chips on the virtual felt. On the fourth hand of play, Wisbrod shoved with ace-five, which was snap called by the Argentinian holding pocket eights. No help came for Wisbrod, and the GGMillion$ regular had to settle for a runner-up result worth $316,483.

‘Be Myself’, who parlayed his satellite ticket into the title, was left to reflect on a dream night of online poker as he left $410,427 richer after being 5.82 to 1 to win on the site before the action began. It was a stunning victory and looked to be life-changing money on the night.

Watch all the action right here as three hours of superb action on GGPoker produced a deserving winner on the night.

 

Place	Player	Country	Prize
1st	‘Be Myself’	Argentina	$410,427
2nd	Barak Wisbrod	Israel	$316,483
3rd	Konstantin Maslak	Russia	$244,041
4th	Rodrigo Sirichuk	Brazil	$188,182
5th	‘RRomashka’	Russia	$145,108
6th	‘Ehhhh pinnnggg’	Romania	$111,893
7th	Michael Addamo	Australia	$86,281
8th	Alexander Tkatschew	Germany	$66,532
9th	‘lospob4res’	Austria	$51,303

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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.

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Edited by Shawn A.