Leonard Maue Wins GGMillion$ For Huge $304,000 Top Prize – March 6, 2024

This week’s GGMillion$ starred some terrific players as GGPoker welcomed Justin Bonomo, Oliver Weis, Leonard Maue, Andrii Derzhypilskyi, and Matthew Stumpf to the virtual felt. The weekly $10,300-entry tournament saw a thrilling conclusion pronounce Maue the master as the German dominated the final stages, taking out numerous opponents on his way to a victory worth over $304,000.

Leonard the Leader

German player Leonard Maue led the final table of nine with 81 big blinds at his sixth final table of the season. Behind the leader, Russian player ‘Espolon’ held 63 big blinds, with Oliver Weis (49BB), Ilya Anatski (38BB), Norwegian player ‘EvilDrake’ (36BB), Ukraine’s Andrii Derzhypilskyi (36BB), Daniel Petersen (21BB), Justin Bonomo (21BB) and Matthew Stumpf (19BB) all hoping this week would be their week.

The commentary team of regular host Jeff Gross and guest co-commentator Mike Wasserman barely had time to announce their credentials before Justin Bonomo was heading to the virtual rail. All-in with king-queen offsuit pre-flop on the sixteenth hand of the night, Bonomo, who has won the second most in poker history at the live felt, couldn’t hit against Weis’ pocket eights and the German sent him home for a score of $42,094.

Matthew Stumpf was also playing from Canada – his home country – and unfortunately for him, went out with the same hand as Bonomo. Exiting one place higher up in eighth for $53,900, Stumpf called off his stack on the turn of a board showing Q-T-8-8 with king-queen but was still wrong to do so, Oliver Weis having pocket kings which easily held through the three on the river to reduce the field to seven.

Maue Moves Through the Gears

Very quickly, seven became six in what was starting as one of the fastest GGMillion$ final table ever. Daniel Petersen moved all-in pre-flop with ace-three of clubs, only to be called by Leonard Maue with ace-queen, including the queen of clubs. A flop of Q-6-4 with no clubs was a disaster for the at-risk Petersen. A four on the turn and rivered queen sent him home with $69,018 on the back of Maue making a full house.

The Russian player ‘Espolon’ was the next to bow out, cashing for $88,376 as his king-queen offsuit lost, for the third time on an all in during this final table, to pocket nines when the board came 7-5-4-4-8 to give Oliver Weis another big pot. Espolon’s exit was followed by that of ‘EvilDrake’ as the Norwegian attempted an audacious bluff on the river of a Q-9-3-J-Q board.

Holding ace-ten, ‘EvilDrake’ shoved into Leonard Maue’s king-jack and the German chip leader made the crucial call to send play four-handed and the Norwegian home with $113,164. With four left, Maue held a strong lead with a stack just over 7 million. The rest of the field was a fair bit behind with Oliver Weis on 3.49 million, Andrii Derzhypilskyi holding 2.62 million and Ilya Anatski in the short stack with just 1.37 million.

Weis-Wash as Maue Makes MILLION$

A massive all-in pre-flop saw a match-defining bust-out in fourth place for Ukrainian player Derzhypilskyi for a score of $144,904. Looking down at pocket tens, Derzhypilskyi, holding the second biggest stack of the final four, four-bet all-in, only to discover he was well behind Maue’s pocket aces. The board ran out K-6-4-K-3 sending play three-handed with the German Maue in control of matters, having ownership of more than two-thirds of the chips.

Another all-in pre-flop virtually ended matters with two players remaining. An all-German affair saw Weis all-in with pocket kings, Maue was committed with more chips and pocket fours. A flop of 8-6-4 immediately set Weis into the last chance saloon. A five on the turn had him nearly drawing dead and a second five on the river saw Weis go down and out, losing in third place for $185,546.

It took less than 2 hours to get to heads-up play with Maue holding a convincing 5:1 chip lead. But it would be nearly an hour before the tournament finally ended as in the early stages Anatski was able win a few hands and dramatically balance the chips. The Belarussian even took the lead at one point, extending it to a 5:2 chips advantage before Maue grabbed it back, determined to deliver on a final table packed with promise. A full house for the German on the river saw Maue take back control and pocket aces on the next hand helped him re-establish a 2:1 lead.

By the final hand, Maue held over 85% of the chips in play which made for an easy call for Maue with queen-eight of clubs when Anatski pushed all-in, turning over pocket sixes. A flop of K-7-2 with no clubs changed nothing, nor did the ten that landed on the turn. But a queen on the river became the decisive card, giving overnight chip leader Leonard Maue a wire-to-wire win and the top prize of $304,226, while the runner-up Anatski cashed in second place for a cool $237,588.

You can watch all the GGMillion$ action as it happened right here:

Place	Player	Country	Prize
1st	Leonard Maue	Germany	$304,226
2nd	Ilya Anatski	Belarus	$237,588
3rd	Oliver Weis	Germany	$185,546
4th	Andrii Derzhypilskyi	Ukraine	$144,904
5th	‘EvilDrake’	Norway	$113,164
6th	‘Espolon’	Russia	$88,376
7th	Daniel Petersen	United Kingdom	$69,018
8th	Matthew Stumpf	Canada	$53,900
9th	Justin Bonomo	United States	$42,094

GGMILLION$ Won by LemonHouse for $ 315,000 – March 14, 2024

A big week of GGMillion$ action continued as nine of the finest players on the planet reached the final table on GGPoker. When play concluded after just under two and a half hours, it was the Mexico-based player ‘LemonHouse’ who proved sharpest on the night. As stars of the online poker scene such as Eliot Hudon, Ottomar Ladva, and Oliver Weis all fell away, ‘LemonHouse’ claimed a victory worth an incredible $315,092 after beating Moldovan poker legend Pavel Plesuv heads-up.

The Haves and Have-Nots

Jeff Gross was joined in the commentary booth by Romanian poker professional Razvan Belea as the 2023 EPT France Main Event winner helped analyze the play on a night of fun. The chip leader was the aforementioned Mexico-based ‘LemonHouse’ who started as the player to beat with 78 big blinds. Just a single blind behind them was Brazil’s ‘axelroses’ while Pavel Plesuv (67BB) and Barak Wisbrod (63BB) from Israel were in close pursuit.

Behind the big stacks, Germany’s Oliver Weis (33BB), Canadian Eliot Hudon (23BB) and Ukrainian Volodymyr Palamar (21BB) all had very playable stacks, with Romanian ‘Mr Nouira’ (9BB) and Estonia’s Ottomar Ladva (5BB) hoping for an early miracle to preserve their tournament chances.

The first player left before they’d had time to really judge the dynamics of the final table. Romania’s ‘Mr Nouira’ was all-in on the J-8-6 flop with ace-eight of spades only to run into Barak Wisbrod’s pocket kings. The Israeli player held through the six turn and seven river to take out his first opponent as the Romanian cashed in ninth for $43,597.

Hudon Not the Hero This Time

In a blizzard of early bust-outs, the former WPT World Championship winner Eliot Hudon was the next to feel the chill. The Canadian was all-in pre-flop with the third best starting hand in poker, pocket queens, only to run into ‘LemonHouse’ holding the second best starting hand, pocket kings. The board was in no mood to save Hudon, when a king on the flop was joined by one more on the river for ‘Death by Quads’ and the Canadian left with $55,825 in eighth.

Estonian Ottomar Ladva, who started the final table with just five big blinds, laddered to seventh but no further, cashing for $71,483 on the very next hand. All-in pre-flop with pocket deuces, the ducks were not allowed to cross the perilous path to the upper limits of the leaderboard, Pavel Plesuv’s pocket queens showing no mercy as they mercilessly cut them down, a jack-high board with no third ‘duck,’ eliminating Ladva.

Oliver Weis was the next player to leave, shoving all in with an offsuit queen jack after a min-raise from ‘LemonHouse’. The original chip leader couldn’t believe their luck, insta-calling with pocket aces and riding the hand through the river on a rainbow board runout of 9-8-6-7-8 to send Weis home with $91,532.

Plesuv Runner-Up as the ‘House’ Wins

Barely over twenty minutes into this final table and just five remained which is how it would stay for the better part of 40 minutes. Dropping from 2.7 million when play went five-handed to holding just 350,000 chips, Barak Wisbrod made a bad read and wrongly folding to Brazil’s ‘axelroses’ before his final hand. Wisbrod was short and went all-in with ace-deuce when facing a raise by ‘LemonHouse’ holding queen-seven. A board of 7-5-4-Q-9 sent the Israeli player home with a healthy $117,205.

Four players were left and Pavel Plesuv was sitting pretty on 7.13 million chips. Behind him, ‘LemonHouse’ had a strong stack of 5.18 million chips, ‘axelroses’ with 2.18 million and Ukrainian Volodymyr Palamar hanging on with just 579,031. Palamar actually doubled up and was right back in contention for a while but all-in with king-ten, couldn’t find help against the Mexico-based ‘LemonHouse’ holding suited ace-seven. A flop brought a nine, ten, and an ace pairing both players. The turn paired the nine on the board and four on the river ended it for the Ukrainian, who left in fourth earning $150,079.

Three-handed play lasted the best part of the final hour of the competition. Brazilian player ‘axelroses’ pushed pre-flop for just over 2 million chips with king-queen of clubs and ‘LemonHouse,’ having pulled back into the lead and now sitting on 10.8 million, made the call with pocket sixes. The flop of A-J-9 with two clubs gave ‘axelroses’ hope and huge potential draws. A second ace followed on the turn putting the odds at exactly 50/50 going to the river. Unfortunately, Brazilian fans were to be left disappointed, as an offsuit four landed on 5th street, only growing ‘LemonHouse’s’ stack and sending ‘axelroses’ to the rail for $192,173 in third.

Dominating the heads-up chips-wise with a nearly 7:1 lead, it didn’t take long for ‘LemonHouse’ to book the win. All-in with ace-ten pre-flop, ‘LemonHouse’ was called by Plesuv with a suited jack-ten of hearts. The flop of 9-7-2 gave Plesuv a gutshot and backdoor flush draw, keeping his hopes alive. The turn of the five of diamonds ended flush hopes, meaning only an eight or a jack could save the Moldovan. The river came down a three of diamonds and ‘LemonHouse’ locked up this edition of the GGMillion$, taking it home for $315,092 and their first win of the season, denying Plesuv a second victory of the season in the process.

Watch all the action with Gross and Belea’s unparalleled commentary bring all the action to life in spectacular fashion here:

Place	Player	Country	Prize
1st	‘LemonHouse’	Mexico	$315,092
2nd	Pavel Plesuv	Moldova	$246,073
3rd	‘axelroses’	Brazil	$192,173
4th	Volodymyr Palalmar	Ukraine	$150,079
5th	Barak Wisbrod	Israel	$117,205
6th	Oliver Weis	Germany	$91,532
7th	Ottomar Ladva	Estonia	$71,483
8th	Eliot Hudon	Canada	$55,825
9th	Mr Nouira	Romania	$43,597

Finnish Star Samuel ‘€urop€an’ Vousden Wins GGMillion$ for $323,000 – March 20, 2024

An incredible ending saw this week’s GGMillion$ title head to Finland as the online poker legend Samuel ‘€urop€an’ Vousden won the top prize of $323,784. The story was a wild one as a monster chip leader blew their chance near the final curtain only for a surprise underdog to win under dramatic circumstances.

An Early Juan for the Leader

Going into the action with a huge lead was the 2023 PGT season’s leaderboard winner, Daniel Smiljkovic. The German began the final table with 142 big blinds, a well clear of second-placed Finnish player ‘BAAABUUSKIIII’ (64BB). With regular final table player and passionate Canadian poker player Matthew Stumpf (41BB) and Thai player Kannapong Tent (40BB) both significantly back from the top of the chip counts, the leader was running away with things as the final table began.

Elsewhere on the leaderboard, fellow Finnish player Samuel Vousden (36BB), Italian player Enrico Camosci (25BB), Ukraine’s Volodymyr Palamar (17BB), British poker legend, and winner of the WSOP Online Main Event, Bert Stevens (12BB) and Spanish professional Juan Dominguez (also 12BB) were all hoping for some early success to improve their chances of booking a comeback victory for the ages.

The best part of 30 minutes had passed by the time the first player was eliminated and it was the short-stacked Juan Dominguez who bit the bullet. All-in with ace-ten pre-flop, he was in horrible shape against the chip leader Smiljkovic, whose ace-king had no problem scooping the pot with a board of J-J-5-J-3 playing out. Dominguez, dominated, cashed for $44,800 in ninth place.

Big Slick Serves Mixed Results

A three-way all-in destroyed two players’ chances in seventh and eighth. Enrico Camosci had ace-deuce of hearts, Finnish player ‘BAAABUUSKIIII’ held ace-five of spades and Bert Stevens held pocket tens. Italian player Camosci was already committed pre-flop and ‘BAAABUUSKIIII’ raise-called all-in on the flop of 6-5-5 with two clubs. Stevens called with pocket tens – one was a club – and needed a lot of help to keep his superior stack safe. He got it, the three of clubs on the turn followed by the nine of the same suit and both opponents were dead on the river. Camosci won $57,365 in eighth place and ‘BAAABUUSKIIII’ won $73,455 in seventh.

A huge hand played out soon afterward when Ukrainian Volodymyr Palamar shoved with pocket aces and Samuel Vousden tank-folded with ace-king. It was an inspired save by Vousden, known as ‘€urop€an’ in online circles. Moments later, ace-king would win in the most cruel of circumstances. While Kannapong Tent managed to fold his ace-queen to Smiljkovic’s reraise, Canadian Matthew Stumpf, the original raiser, was all-in with the worst of it pre-flop, holding ace-queen to Daniel Smiljkovic’s ace-king with the king of hearts. The flop was a miraculous Q-6-4 for Stumpf but all three cards were hearts and a further heart on the turn gave Smiljkovic the flush and pushed his chip stack to over 7.7M, half of the chips in play, as Stumpf was eliminated for $94,057.

Ace-king had served two masters well but a third would be condemned to the exit by ‘Big Slick’. Thai player Kannapong Tent was all-in with ace-king against Palamar’s ace-queen. The board was a killer, however, as a flop of Q-J-7 was followed by another seven on the turn and a four on the river, sending Tent to packing with a result worth $120,439.

Two Twists End the Event with a Shout

Four players remained, with Smiljkovic in the lead with 8.06 million. Palamar was closest to the runaway leader with 5.52 million, with both Vousden (1.3m) and Bert Stevens (575,000) trailing some way behind. All-in with ace-seven, the British online legend Stevens, often known as ‘girafganger7’, was flipping against Smiljkovic with pocket fours. A board of Q-J-6-8-8 wasn’t nearly enough for Stevens to survive, and he left in fourth place for $154,219.

Three-handed, there was a major change of direction in the event as the lead changed hands for the first time at the final table when Palamar took the lead. His pocket jacks and Smiljkovic’ ace-king ended up on their backs pre-flop with a pot of 7.7 million chips in the middle. The ten-high board kept Palamar’s pair in charge and sent the overnight chip leader to the rail in brutal fashion for $197,474.

Heads-up, Palamar was in almost complete control, with a lead of 3-to-1 and all the momentum after winning that pivotal flip against the overnight leader Smiljkovic. That counted for zero, however, as an ill-timed bluff all-in on the river when holding king-queen on a board of J-6-4-3-8 cost him dearly. Vousden had no problem calling with jack-eight and that gave him an almost 2:1 lead.

The script had been well and truly flipped, and pretty soon it was all over. Once again, an all-in bluff cost the Ukrainian, and this time it wasn’t for the chip lead but for all of his chips. On a board of A-T-7-4-4 with three spades, and with 1.9 million in the middle of the table, Palamar shoved with queen-jack offsuit and was called by Vousden with pocket jacks, thereby sealing a famous win and one which with three players left looked highly unlikely.

“[Vousden] made big folds, big calls and all day long figured it out like a Rubik’s Cube.” Said Jeff Gross as he and special guest co-commentator Lynne Ji brought the action to life on YouTube:

Place	Player	Country	Prize
1st	Samuel Vousden	Finland	$323,784
2nd	Volodymyr Palamar	Ukraine	$252,862
3rd	Daniel Smiljkovic	Germany	$197,474
4th	Bert Stevens	United Kingdom	$154,219
5th	Kannapong Tent	Thailand	$120,439
6th	Matthew Stumpf	Canada	$94,057
7th	‘BAAABUUSKIIII’	Finland	$73,455
8th	Enrico Camosci	Italy	$57,365
9th	Juan Dominguez	Spain	$44,800

GGMillion$ Won by Danilo Velasevic for $331,000 – March 27, 2024

This week’s GGMillion$ was a rollercoaster ride for some of the best poker players in the online poker world. Taking some time for the fuse to light, the sparks eventually started to fly as an epic show brought the fireworks to a conclusion late into the night. Danilo Velasevic from Serbia took the title after finally ending the hopes of the last of three Brazilian players at the final table, Rodrigo Sirichuk.

Brilliant Brazilian Falls from Grace

This week, regular host Jeff Gross was joined by ‘The BensBenz’, so-called ‘Mr. Beast of Poker Stakes’ and king of the giveaways, as well as a tournament and cash game player with over two decades in the game.

Chip leader when play began was ‘23RUDY23’, a GGMillion$ regular, with 99 big blinds. Romania-based ‘MY1980’ was second in chips on 73 big blinds, then there was a drop to two Brazilians, with Bruno Volkmann (54BB) and Rodrigo Sirichuk (48BB) both in with a great chance. Serbian player Danilo Velasevic (47BB) completed the top half of the players.

A little lower down the leaderboard was Belarussian Mikalai Vaskaboinikau (42BB), with Niklas Astedt (32BB), Pedro Padilha (19BB) and short-stacked Russian Nikita Kuznetsov (11BB) bringing up the rear. Partly due to stack depth and otherwise down to the short stacks doubling up, there was no elimination for over 35 minutes. When it came it was a surprise.

Brazil’s Bruno Volkmann had a nightmare first couple of levels and left in ninth place for $47,330. Sliding from over 50 bigs to the roundest number of all, Volkmann was committed pre-flop with king-queen of diamonds, only to run into the resurgent Russian Nikita Kuznetsov’s pocket aces, one of which was a club. The flop of T-9-5 gave Volkmann a sliver of hope but two of those cards were clubs and while no miracle jack arrived, clubs did on both turn and river to give Kuznetsov an important pot and doom Volkmann to the door.

Kuznetsov Kills Then Gets Killed

One Brazilian of the three that made the final table was gone 30 minutes in, and it was another 30 minutes before the next one fell. Pedro Padilha hadn’t come into play third in chips like Volkmann. He’d been short and that depth of stack caught up with him eventually. After losing with pocket nines to Astedt’s tens in the previous hand, Padilha shoved for three big blinds with ace-ten of spades and looked in good shape to double through Velasevic’s ace-eight. The cards didn’t see it that way, however, with a flop of 9-8-6 changing everything. A five on the turn and three river sent the Brazilian home for $60,364.

Velasevic didn’t stop with the scalp of Padilha. Niklas Astedt, otherwise known as ‘Lena900’ online, started in seventh place and ended in the same position, shoving with pocket jacks and being called by Velasevic with pocket queens. The board gave the Swede no help as it came 8-7-2-Q-9 to leave Astedt drawing dead to the river, as he left with $76,987.

Belarussian player Mikalai Vaskaboinikau was the next player to be busted, taken out in sixth place for a score of $98,187. All-in with pocket nines, he was cut down in spectacular fashion by Russian adversary Kuznetsov with pocket kings, the board of J-8-5-K-A as ruthlessly brutal as the previous knockout had been for Astedt.

Kuznetsov will likely be disappointed to have failed to use that hand as a springboard. All-in soon after with queen-jack, the Russian called off his stack pre-flop against a three-bet shove from Sirichuk with ace-king. It was the wrong move and was punished as such on the board as it came T-6-3-A-7 to send the Russian player home in fifth for $125,225.

Epic Heads-Up Ends Brave Sirichuk Battle

Four players remained and the chip leader was Velasevic with 8.16 million chips. Second in chips was the Brazilian Sirichuk with 4.42 million, with overnight leader ‘23RUDY23’ (2.97m) and ‘MY1980’ (1.42m) trailing behind. The next hand, Sirichuk won a 1.7M pot from the leader, hitting runner-runner flush, which was followed by ‘MY1980’ losing their stack. All-in with king-nine of diamonds pre-flop against the shove of Velasevic, the chip leader had the luck as a flop of 9-8-5 with no diamonds was followed by a queen on the turn and jack on the river gave Velasevic a straight to slay the Romania-based player for $159,709 in fourth.

Sirichuk was constantly getting it in good and managed to double up through the leader when his ace-king beat Velasevic’s ace-queen. The defining moment in three-handed play came when the overnight leader, ‘23RUDY23’, shoved with ace-eight from the button and was called by Velasevic in the small blind with ace-king. The board was no help to the Montenegro-based player and they cashed for $203,688 in third place.

Heads-up, Velasevic had a commanding 3.3:1 chip lead but it was anything other than a quick kill. Through a series of small pots, Rodrigo Sirichuk took the lead in the tournament as his heads-up experience – especially in previous GGMillion$ battles – looked set to prove pivotal. Velasevic came back swinging, however, and an hour after heads-up play started, the stacks were level.

Slowly, the Serbian managed to crawl back into a lead similar to what he’d had at the start of the final battle. Raising with jack-nine, Velasevic pondered the call when Sirichuk shoved with ace-king. Eventually, the Serb clicked call and hoped to hit for victory. The flop of T-6-2 wasn’t encouraging, and a five of spades on the turn meant that Velasevic was only an 11% for the win to come on the river, with Sirichuk on a better flush draw too. The offsuit jack on the river was a bolt from the blue, and gave Velasevic his first-ever GGMillion$ win, relegating the redoubtable but luckless Sirichuk to runner-up in the record setting longest GGMillion$ of all time.

Watch all the action play out in a thrilling encounter on GGPoker right here:

Place	Player	Country	Prize
1st	Danilo Velasevic	Serbia	$331,315
2nd	Rodrigo Sirichuk	Brazil	$259,778
3rd	’23RUDY23′	Montenegro	$203,688
4th	‘MY1980’	Romania	$159,709
5th	Nikita Kuznetsov	Russia	$125,225
6th	Mikalai Vaskaboinikau	Belarus	$98,187
7th	Niklas Astedt	Sweden	$76,987
8th	Pedro Padilha	Brazil	$60,364
9th	Bruno Volkmann	Brazil	$47,330

« February 2024  |  April 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.