GGMillion$ Winner Hits Jackpot on Fireworks Night to Remember – November 6, 2024

Another GGMillion$, another classic final table to absorb and appreciate in equal measure. This week’s GGPoker $10,300-entry GGMillion$ event saw players battle on fireworks night, and after an explosive ending featuring a legendary ‘slots’ hand, the final four eliminations took place in less than 30 minutes as stars raced to the conclusion at the GGPoker felt. 

This week’s special guest co-commentator was the Ukrainian-American poker legend Eugene Katchalov, who joined regular host Jeff Gross in the commentary booth for the week’s spectacular action. The GGMillion$ once again had well over $1.3 million in the prize pool, and it saw an exciting topsy-turvy conclusion as some of the world’s best online poker players went for glory.  

Double Defeat for Brilliant Brazilians

Working their way into the lead ahead of the final table was Maksim Vaskresenski, with the Polish player kicking off on a massive 87 big blinds. Canadian player ‘JackJohnson9’ was his closest challenger with 62 big blinds, while Dutch master Jans Arends (51BB) and Israel’s Ravid Garbi (44BB) were also close. 

Other players challenging included Japanese player ‘songu227’ (36BB), Hong Kong’s ‘splendens’ (35BB), and Russian ‘IamBusinessman’ (34BB) right behind them. Only two players started short, both of them from Brazil, as Breno Bertalia (13BB) and Felipe Ketzer (12BB) were both hoping to get off to a lightning-fast start.

Bertalia became the first player to bust as his hopes were dashed just four hands in. All-in with ace-jack, he lost to ‘JackJohnson9’, holding pocket tens, after the board ran dry and took out the at-risk player in his first meaningful hand. Bertalia earned $43,296 for finishing ninth. 

Eight soon became seven as the other short-stacked Brazilian, Felipe Ketzer, took his leave in eighth for a score of $55,440. Moving all-in for 12 big blinds with ace-five from the dealer button, he ran into Jans Arends with ace-ten in the next seat. There was to be no reprieve across the board, as it came J-T-3-A-4 to leave seven only in their seats.

From Chip Leader to Short Change

There was another classic flip next, with two players very close to even in chips getting their entire stack into the middle pre-flop. Japanese player ‘songu227’ had pocket tens and was all-in from the small blind with the pocket pair, as Ravid Garbi called it off with ace-king in the big blind. A flop of A-Q-7 put Garbi in the lead, and he held through turn and river to take out the Japanese player for a score of $70,990. 

After three quick eliminations at the final table, there was an extended period, more than 1 hour, without anyone busting before the Hong Kong player ‘splendens’ left for $90,901 in sixth place. They were very unlucky to do so, too, as a pre-flop shove with ace-king of diamonds was way ahead of the ace-queen of ‘JackJohnson9’. That was until a board of 9-8-6-T-Q rivered top pair for the player with the bigger stack, sending home ‘splendens’ and guaranteeing everyone still in contention at least six figures of profit. 

With five left, play continued without an elimination for another 40 minutes, leaving just 15 minutes of play as the action ramped up in speed and intensity.  Four players would bust in quick succession, starting with the overnight leader Maksim Vaskresenski after a board of A-T-7-6-A fell, failing to improve his pair of nines against the pocket Kings of ‘IamBusinessman’, forcing the chip leader at the start to the rails with $116,397 for the effort.

And Then There Were Four

The four remaining were in the sprint to the finish, and what a finish it was. Leading the way was Vaskresenski’s conqueror, ‘IamBusinessman’ with 8.6 million, followed by the shorter stacks of Ravid Garbi (3m), Jans Arends (2.5m) and the short stack ‘JackJohnson9’ (970,000). The latter recovered, doubling to a sufficient level, and had managed to outstack Arends when the Dutch player committed his stack with ace-five. ‘JackJohnson9’, holding ace-king, called. A five on the flop spelled near disaster for the Canadian, but it was followed by a king on the turn to reduce the field to three, as Jans Arends hit the rails, earning $149,044 in fourth. 

Ravid Garbi lost out in third when he shoved with ace-ten and was called by the king-queen of ‘JackJohnson9’. A queen on the flop and king on the river did for the Israeli player as Garbi cashed for $190,848 while ‘JackJohnson9’ took the lead into heads-up with 9 million chips to ‘IamBusinessman’ with 6.1m.

‘777’ Jackpot Breaks the Tape

The final battle was over in almost no time at all, as in the second hand of play between the two, the Canadian was dealt pocket sevens while the Russian, ‘IamBusinessman,’ had pocket queens. 

“This could be nasty!” said Jeff Gross, who had just promised Katchalov a freeroll fast food prop bet if the Russian won. “This could flip the script pretty quickly.”

As it happened, a raise from the Canadian saw the Russian three-bet, prompting ‘JackJohnson9’ to shove, which was quickly called. A flop of 7-3-2 put ‘JackJohnson9’ into the lead, and a three on the river meant only a queen would save the ‘IamBusinessman’. A six on the river ended the Russians’ hopes, and ‘JackJohnson9’ was the champion!

“I should watch more of these final tables, especially before playing myself. You pick up a lot, you learn a lot and it inspires you to practice and try things in your own game.” 

After a thriller of a finale, Bonfire Night saw a blazing final table crown the Canadian player ‘JackJohnson9’ as the deserved winner. 

Watch all the action as it happened in the company of Jeff Gross and Eugene Katchalov right here:

 

 

Place	Player	Country	Prize
1st	‘JackJohnson9’	Canada	$312,919
2nd	‘IamBusinessman’	Russia	$244,376
3rd	Ravid Garbi	Israel	$190,848
4th	Jans Arends	Netherlands	$149,044
5th	Maksim Vaskresenski	Poland	$116,379
6th	‘splendens’	Hong Kong	$90,901
7th	‘songu227’	Japan	$70,990
8th	Felipe Ketzer	Brazil	$55,440
9th	Breno Bertalia	Brazil	$43,296

GGMillion$ Drama as Volz Wins Electrifying Final Table for $327,000 – November 14, 2024

A thrilling final table played out on GGPoker last night as the $10,300 weekly GGMillion$ event saw German player Dennis Volz take the title after a rollercoaster finish to the high stakes tournament. With commentary from regular host Jeff Gross and his guest this week, Michael Jozoff, the action was non-stop as it took four hours to find a winner in an exciting finale to the classic online showdown for high rollers and GGPoker satellite qualifiers alike. 

Savino’s Ugly Early Exit

The final nine were led into the action by Bulgaria’s Ognyan Dimov, who started the final table on 91 big blinds. Behind him, French player Jérémie Zouari (72BB), Brazil’s Iago Savino (70BB), and Austrian Martin Finger (61BB) were all in hot pursuit, as was the amusingly named ‘Filthy Triple’ from Poland on 55 big blinds.

There was a long drop to Germany’s Dennis Volz (22BB) in sixth, followed by Italian regular at this buy-in, Enrico Camosci (20BB), Russian Kirill Skcherbakov (18BB) and the short-stacked Christopher Frank, also from Germany, who started with just 13 big hands. Despite the disparity in chips, there was no quick kill, with the short stacks mainly chipping up early.

It was nearly 30 minutes into the final table before Iago Savino shoved with a suited eight-nine from the big blind. Kirill Skcherbakov, sitting in the Big Blind, put himself at risk by calling with ace-seven off. Kirill was defeated across a board of K-8-2-J-8, and the Russian, whose on-screen avatar is the main protagonist in the classic movie American Psycho, was unable to survive the hand which killed his hopes with the same level of brutality, as he left for a score of $46,750.

The Chip Leader is Shot Down

One short stack had gone, and soon, the man who started as the shortest of short stacks was also on the rail. Chris Frank was all-in with king-ten of spades and was drawing thin when Martin Finger turned over pocket tens. The flop of 6-5-4 without a single spade provided little inspiration for Frank. An eight on the turn left him drawing to three outs. No king arrived, with a six condemning to an eight-place finish worth $59,623.

Everything changed over an hour and forty-five minutes without an elimination as the chip leader, Bulgaria’s Ognyan Dimov, went from hero to almost zero. The seven players battled like Trojans until bigger blinds and less time to think forced some moves. On a board of K-5-4-8-4 where two hearts had arrived on the flop, Dimov shoved ten-six of hearts, perhaps hoping that his suited hand would block a call from Denniz Volz. Unbeknownst to Dimov, Volz was sitting with the king-ten of clubs. The German eventually figured it out, making the call to take out Dimov in seventh place for $76,042.

Volz continued his aggressive play, and it paid off handsomely when he took out Enrico Camosci in sixth for $96,982. The Italian raised pre-flop and then shoved for around 15 big blinds with pocket nines following a re-raise. Volz had conjured his image perfectly and called with pocket queens. A flop of T-6-2 with two diamonds was no trouble, but another diamond on the turn in the shape of an ace meant that any diamond would complete an unlikely four-flush for the at-risk Camosci. It didn’t come, as an offsuit king fell, sending the Italian home instead and making Volz the outright leader.

Flip-Flop Finish Favors Volz

Next to go was Martin Finger, who was all-in for just seven big blinds with king-ten and was called by Jérémie Zouari with ace-king. Two aces on the flop made it near impossible, and the deuce of spades on the turn ended Finger’s hopes as he cashed in fifth for $123,688. Zouari’s win saw him shoot up to 5.19 million in chips, only behind Volz on 6.2 million. Savino (3.14m) and ‘Filthy Triple’ (2.27m) were a little further back.

While the Polish short stack managed to get back into it, the Brazilian Savino struggled. Savino eventually called off Volz’s four-bet shove with ace-nine, only to see his opponent table pocket kings. No help came for Savino on the Q-8-6-4-J board, and he departed for a result worth $157,749 as he narrowly missed out on the podium places.

‘Filthy Triple’ needed a double and was all-in with king-ten. He needed help after his caller, Zouari, flipped over pocket nines, then caught a flop full in the face with it coming A-9-3. The Polish all-in player needed running hearts or Broadway cards. Unfortunately, the turn revealed the three of hearts, which locked up the full house, confirming Zouari would make heads-up with 6.11 million chips.

Heading Into Heads Up

Volz had the lead with 10.69 million, and between the two potential first-time GGMillion$ players, that was a decent lead. It changed quickly, however, with Zouari brilliantly bluffing with a double-gutter to take the lead. In the very next hand, the Frenchman only had to win a coinflip to take the title but his pocket fives couldn’t hold against the ace-six of Dennis Volz, with a board of A-J-9-Q-4 flipping the German back into the lead. 

Volz had grown his lead by the time he shoved with king-jack and Zouari called it off with ace-queen, hoping that the best hand held up. If it didn’t, the title was going to Germany. A flop of Q-J-7 paired both players but kept Zouari in line for the chip lead. A four on the turn put the Frenchman as an 88% favorite, but a second jack on the river handed Dennis Volz trips and the latest GGMillion$ title for $327,250, with Zouari forced to accept the $256,591 for second place.

Watch all the action of a thrilling conclusion to this week’s GGMillion$ action right here in the company of Jeff Gross and Michael Jozoff:

 

 

Place	Player	Country	Prize
1st	Dennis Volz	Germany	$327,250
2nd	Jeremie Zouari	France	$256,591
3rd	‘Filthy Triple’	Poland	$201,189
4th	Iago Savino	Brazil	$157,749
5th	Martin Finger	Austria	$123,688
6th	Enrico Camosci	Italy	$96,982
7th	Ognyan Dimov	Bulgaria	$76,042
8th	Christopher Frank	Germany	$59,623
9th	Kirill Skcherbakov	Russia	$46,750

Juan Dominguez Dominates Late to Claim GGMillion$ Title for $361,000 – November 20, 2024

It took just over two hours to wrap up one of the fastest GGMillion$ finals in the weekly $10,000 tournament’s history tonight as Spanish poker professional Juan Dominguez dominated the latter stages of the final table to claim victory for $361,804.

Tonight’s show was hosted as always by GGPoker ambassador Jeff Gross and poker professional and author Maria Konnikova. Their insight was priceless on a rapid night of quick moves and marginal decisions.

Lasouskii’s Legendary Lead

This week’s final table chip leader had a big lead, as the Belarus player Artsiom Lasouskii started the nine-handed action with an incredible stack of 101 big blinds. Sitting in second with a total of 77 big blinds was the American player Jon Van Fleet, with Lasouskii’s fellow Belarussian Mikalai Vaskaboinikau on 65 bigs in third.

Others in contention all had less than half the chip leader’s stack, with Swedish player Simon Mattsson (42BB), Spain’s Juan Dominguez (38BB), Germany’s Alexander Tkatschew (20BB) and Italian player Jacopo Olivieri (17BB) all having playable stacks. Behind the top seven players sat two micro stacks, with American Benjamin Miner (6BB) marginally ahead of Chinese player Ren Lin with just five big blinds.

It was Lin who left first, shoving with ace-jack off early only to run into Belarussian Mikalai Vaskaboinikau’s pocket kings. A flop of J-T-7 gave Lin some hope, and a queen on the turn offered more options. Unfortunately, a four on the river condemned Lin to the first exit, as he earned $51,686 in ninth place. He would soon be joined by another player, but it wasn’t Miner who dug in and survived the first 30 minutes at the virtual felt.

Italy’s Jacob Olivieri, who was down to just 14 blinds, moved all-in from the small blind with ace-jack. His attempt to steal or be called by a worse hand was doomed when big blind player Dominguez snap shoved with ace-king. The board fell Q-8-8-6-2 to send the Italian home with $65,919 in eighth place.

Aces Sunk as Tkatschew Shot Down

There was a brutal knockout next, as Alexander Tkatshcew played it perfectly, only to be let down by the cards. All-in with the best pre-flop hand in poker, the German’s aces were way ahead of Vaskaboinikau’s pocket queens. The flop stayed safe, as did the turn, leading to Tkatschew playing a Rambo GIF. Sadly for him, a queen on the river shot him down in flames, and his adventure was over in seventh place, earning him a score of $84,071.

Next to go was the Swedish player Simon Mattsson. All-in pre-flop with king-jack, he ran into Vaskaboinikau’s ace-jack and this time, the better hand held. The board landed Q-9-8-6-5 to give Mattsson $107,222 for finishing 6th and left the Belarussian with a lead of almost 20 big blinds.

Benjamin Miner had laddered magnificently from the start of the final, where he had just six big blinds, but ran out of luck when he fell in fifth place for an impressive score of $136,749. All-in pre-flop for 16 big blinds with pocket fives, Miner needed to hold against Juan Dominguez’s ace-nine of spades. The flop of K-J-T with two spades was ominous. On the ace turn, Jeff Gross’ good friend Antonio ‘The Magician’ Esfandiari wandered into the shot to tell viewers that it was never a good coinflip and that pocket fives were dead there. True enough, no five arrived on the river and Miner was gone.

“I should have listened to Antonio,” laughed Konnikova. “He knows!”

Spades Provide Late Drama

With four players left, Vaskaboinikau still led with 6.73 million, but the gaps were closing up behind him. Jon Van Fleet (4.34m) was closest, followed by Dominguez (4.04m), and Lasouskii (3.41m) was still in the hunt. Indeed, it took 30 minutes for the next player to leave, as Van Fleet lost out in fourth for $174,406.

By that point, Juan Dominguez had taken the lead, and it became a huge one when his ace-king dominated Van Fleet’s ace-seven. A flop of K-8-4 with three spades provided hope for Van Fleet, with him holding the seven of spades. Dominguez had no spades, but another king on the turn gave him trips. The deuce of clubs on the river sent play three-handed with the Spaniard in charge.

Any hopes of an all-Belarussian finale ended when Mikalai Vaskaboinikau missed out and fell in third for $222,432. Shoving with king-seven of spades, Dominguez quickly called him with pocket eights. A flop of 8-2-2 saw the Belarussian drawing dead to a queen on the turn and a jack on the river.

And Then There Were Two

Heads-up, the Spanish player had nearly a 5:1 chip lead, and soon he would have the title. Lasouskii battled back to being almost level, but he was looked up on what would be a costly bluff on a board of J-9-8-9-3 to set up the denouement. On the final hand, Lasouskii had six-five of spades for a rivered flush, prompting a shove. Dominguez quickly called with a marginally better seven-four of spades, meaning he won the title and top prize of $361,804, with Lasouskii claiming $283,685 as runner-up.

Watch all the action with Jeff and Maria (and Antonio) as the action played out across a fast and furious final table on GGPoker.

 

 

Place	Player	Country	Prize
1st	Juan Dominguez	Spain	$361,804
2nd	Artsiom Lasouskii	Belarus	$283,685
3rd	Mikalai Vaskaboinikau	Belarus	$222,432
4th	Jon Van Fleet	United States	$174,406
5th	Benjamin Miner	United States	$136,749
6th	Simon Mattsson	Sweden	$107,222
7th	Alexander Tkatschew	Germany	$84,071
8th	Jacopo Olivieri	Italy	$65,919
9th	Ren Lin	China	$51,686

Paulius Plausinaitis Wins Latest GGMillion$ for $315,000 – November 27, 2024

The latest GGPoker GGMillion$ ended with one of the most incredible runouts in recent memory, as Lithuanian player Paulius Plausinaitis triumphed in spectacular fashion. Commentating on the action were high roller legend Lucas Greenwood and regular presenter Jeff Gross, who once again handed out prizes to GGPoker fans on the stream and brought the action to life as another thrilling final table played out.

Kenney Gets an Early Kill

Heading into the final table of nine, Dutchman Duco Haven led the field with 79 big blinds. Behind him, however, was the all-time live tournament earning record holder, Bryn Kenney, on 61 big blinds. Behind the top two were Israeli player Oshri Lahmani (57BB) and Mexico-based Ignacio Moron (50BB), both threatened deep runs.

Other players in contention included the passionate Lithuanian player Paulius Plausinaitis (49BB), Danish poker titan Daniel Petersen (33BB), Russian regulars Viktor Ustimov (32BB) and Denis Zelenkin (27BB), with German poker coach and long-time tournament crusher Benjamin Rolle, with a very playable 18 big blind as the short stack.

The first player to leave was Zelenkin, who added to his live results worth $250,000, with another online cash, this time for $57,401, as he hit the rails in ninth place. All-in with pocket fives on a flop of J-8-6, Kenney called him, holding two over cards, a king-queen. A nine on the turn was safe for Zelenkin, but a queen landed on the river to reduce the field to eight players.

Cold As Ice

Ignacio Moron busted in eighth place for a score of $57,401 when he ran into a freezing cold deck. All-in pre-flop with ace-king, he lost out to Ben Rolle’s pocket kings as the German slow played the ‘cowboys’ perfectly. All the chips were in the middle before the flop which had the case king win the window. A meaningless nine came down on the turn and Moron was drawing dead. Rolle took the overall lead after scooping a valuable pot.

Russian player Viktor Ustimov cashed in seventh place for $73,208 when he ran out of time to make a move with his short stack. All-in with pocket queens, he looked to have found the perfect time to push his stack in from the small blind and was called by Lithuanian player Paulius Plausinaitis with ace-jack in the big blind. A safe flop of 8-4-2 left Ustimov hopeful of a valuable double to 13 big blinds, but it was not to be. An ace fell on the turn and a seven on the river to close out the Russians’ time in the tournament.

An entertaining cooler took out the Danish professional in sixth place for a result worth $93,368. On a board showing A-J-T-8, Peterson’s bet of 385,000 chips into a pot of 677,280 was raised all-in by Plausinaitis. Peterson called with ace-ten for two pair on the flop, but he was behind the Lithuanian’s ace-jack. The river of a deuce ended the hand and Peterson’s tournament.

Five became four shortly after Peterson’s departure. Two damaging hands against the same player took out Benjamin Rolle. After dropping some chips to Plausinaitis, Rolle was behind when he four-bet shoved pre-flop with ace-king. Plausinaitis called with pocket queens. A dead ace and a dead king left Rolle with just 4 outs, meaning he needed a lot of help. The board came down 8-7-4, all clubs, on the flop which was good news for Rolle, who had the ace of clubs. The heart four and diamond nine came on turn and river to see the German exit in fifth place for $119,079.

Bye Bye Bryn

The final four featured three players who had never won the GGMillion$ before and the overnight chip leader, Duco Haven. Top of the pile was the Lithuanian Plausinaitis holding 5.9 million chips, with Haven (4.2m), Oshri Lahmani (4m), and the short-stacked Bryn Kenney (1.9m) as the chasing pack. It took very little time to reduce the field further as Kenney called off his stack from the big blind with king-ten after Plausinaitis shoved with pocket fours. A flop of 9-8-4 made the Lithuanian chip leader a 95% favorite, and a queen on the turn meant only a jack would save Kenney. A deuce came on the river to send play three-handed as the Long Islander busted for $151,870. 

Play went heads-up when Oshri Lahmani shoved with king-six of hearts, and Haven called with pocket fives. It was a big flip with the flop of Q-7-2, but with no hearts, it didn’t help the at-risk Lahmani. An ace on the turn was similarly unhelpful to the Finn, and an eight on the river confirmed his exit in third for $193,691.

Heads Up Not A Safe Haven

Heads-up, the overnight chip leader Duco Haven started with 5.4 million as he made a bid to win his fifth GGMillion$ title. He was facing off against the potential first-time Plausinaitis, who started the final duel on 10.7m chips. Haven had to bide his time but dominated his way into the lead when his ace-king conquered Plausinaitis’ ace-nine, a flop coming K-8-2-7-T to flip the script.

The stacks were almost level for a long time before a board of K-T-8-7-A with three hearts changed everything. Plausinaitis shoved the river with jack five of hearts for the turned flush, and Haven called it off with king-seven for just two pair. Suddenly, the Lithuanian had almost a 3:1 chip lead, which he would never lose. 

When Plausinaitis shoved with pocket eights, Haven, with no time left on his shot clock, called it off with ace-six of diamonds, calling with a millisecond to spare. A flop of Q-7-3 with two diamonds kept Plausinaiti in the lead but gave Haven a shot at the nut flush. That shot came in on the turn with the eight of diamonds, giving Haven the nut flush and leaving Plausinaitis drawing to a full house. A seven landed on the river, pairing the board and ending the poker tournament in the Lithuanian’s favor in incredible fashion. 

“It was a great final table, in the end the guy who played the best poker won.” Said co-commentator Luc Greenwood. 

Watch all the action from the final table right in the company of him and regular host Jeff Gross:

 

Place	Player	Country	Prize
1st	Paulius Plausinaitis	Lithuania	$315,054
2nd	Duco Haven	Netherlands	$247,029
3rd	Oshri Lahmani	Israel	$193,691
4th	Bryn Kenney	United States	$151,870
5th	Benjamin Rolle	Germany	$119,079
6th	Daniel Petersen	Denmark	$93,368
7th	Viktor Ustimov	Russia	$73,208
8th	Ignacio Moron	Mexico	$57,401
9th	Denis Zelenkin	Russia	$45,007

« October 2024  |  December 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.