First GGMillion$ Title Claimed by Jesse Lonis for $315,000 – May 7, 2025

A stunning wire-to-wire victory for Jesse Lonis gave the American his first-ever GGMillion$ victory on GGPoker this past Tuesday night. With players like Simon Mattsson, Roland Rokita, and Alexander Tkatschew all in the mix, Jesse Lonis dropped low then stacked ‘em high as he dominated the final table for much of the action to claim the top prize of $315,928.

Binder First to Bite the Dust

Regular host Jeff Gross was joined in the commentary booth by legendary YouTuber and Global Poker Award-winning poker legend Joey Ingram. The three-time GPI award-winning content creator was the perfect person to cast shade or to heap praise on this week’s combatants as they took to the felt. 

Leading the final nine was Jesse Lonis from the United States with a massive 114 big blinds. With less than half his stack, Austrians Roland Rokita (58BB) and Bernhard Binder (18BB) were at opposite ends of the chasing pack (2nd and 9th, respectively) in terms of chip stacks. German player Alexander Tkatschew (49BB), Swedish regular Simon Mattsson (47BB), and the Peruvian player, ‘TheProjector’ (25BB), all had hopes of winning, along with the Brazilian pair ‘MasesNeto’ (43BB), ‘The Good Doctor’ (24BB),  and the effervescent ‘Davi Cola’, who had 33 big blinds.

The first player to exit was an Austrian, as Binder went for it, all-in pre-flop for almost 21 big blinds with ace-queen. Lonis made the call with pocket sixes and was vindicated as a board of J-T-3-4-2 flirted with hitting Binder’s premium cards, but denied the Austrian on both turn and river as Lonis grew his stack. The short-stacked Binder was first to hit the rails, earning $45,132 for the effort.

The Devil You Know

There was a long wait before the next bust out as the chips were passed around the table for over 1.25 hours. ‘Davi Cola’, sitting in the hijack with the short stack, was all-in pre-flop with ace-eight offsuit and needed to win a race against the overwhelming chip leader Lonis, who again held pocket sixes. A flop of K-5-4 was no help to the at-risk player, and a six on the turn meant he was drawing dead to a seven. An ace on the river changed nothing as Lonis’s set of sixes, the so called ‘Devil’s Hand’ (6-6-6), prevailed, and Cola was out of fizz, leaving in eighth place for $57,560. 

Next to go was ‘The Good Doctor’, who failed to survive on the table when they ran king-five of clubs into Tkatschew’s ace-king off. The dominating hand won, across a board of J-8-2-6-3 to send the Chinese player home with $73,411 in seventh. Unfortunately for one of the players, 6-handed play wouldn’t last very long.

The lone Peruvian player, ‘TheProjector’ was desperately unlucky to go out. All-in with pocket jacks, he was ahead of Brazilian ‘MasesNeto’ with ace-six of diamonds, but after a flop of Q-7-6 yielded only one diamond, two more fell on the turn and river to complete the Brazilian’s runner-runner nut flush and sent the Peruvian player home with $93,627.

The top five players at the start of the final table were the last five left, and that was the case for over another 1.25 hours of play, during which time Roland Rokita got the better of ‘MasesNeto’ before the Brazilian got some back. He fell short soon after, however, and shoved pre-flop with ace-three of hearts, moving in over Jesse Lonis’ opening bet with – you guessed it – pocket sixes. 

“This hand is undefeated today!” Jeff Gross said, and it stayed that way through the slightly tense board runout of K-J-T-5-K to send the Brazilian home with $119,409.

The All-In King

With just four players left, Lonis still had the lead with 7.25 million chips, and his nearest rival hadn’t changed since the final table began, with Austria’s Roland Rokita on 4.15m. Both Alexander Tkatschew (2.65m) and Sweden’s Simon Mattsson (2.34m) had work to do if they wanted the victory. The lone Swede was unable to complete the comeback, moving all-in pre-flop with ace-three offsuit, only to discover he was well behind Jesse Lonis’ pocket sevens. A flop of 9-9-5 was no help to the Swede, and a nine on the turn meant only a nine or ace would save Simon. A six on the river sent Mattsson home with $152,291. 

Three-handed, Rokita fell behind Tkatschew and needed to hang in there to make heads-up. The best help came when Tkatschew opened with pocket eights. Lonis raised all-in with king-queen of hearts and the German called it off with the pair. A flip would decide a major pot and a flop of A-Q-3 immediately put Tkatschew at risk. A ten on the turn and seven on the river confirmed the German’s departure for $194,228. 

“Was it ever in doubt? He’s an all-in machine!” Joey Ingram said, and Jeff Gross agreed, referencing Lonis’ recovery from a temporary dip five-handed. 

Heads-up, a 4:1 chip lead meant Lonis could open wider than the Grand Canyon, and soon, Rokita found himself staring into the abyss. Lonis had seven-eight on a flop of 9-7-2, and when Rokita bet with ace-king, Lonis shoved, Rokita called. He was behind, needing an ace or king to deny the American the victory. A ten on the turn was followed by a nine on the river to give Jesse Lonis his first GGMillion$ win and a top prize of $315,928 while Rokita was consoled with $247,714.

Watch all the action as it happened, with Jeff Gross and Joey Ingram bringing a stunning GGMillion$ final table to astounding life.

 

 

GGMillion$ Final Table Results

Place	Player	Country	Prize
1st	Jesse Lonis	United States	$315,928
2nd	Roland Rokita	Austria	$247,714
3rd	Alexander Tkatschew	Germany	$194,228
4th	Simon Mattsson	Sweden	$152,291
5th	‘MasesNeto’	Brazil	$119,409
6th	‘TheProjector’	Peru	$93,627
7th	‘The Good Doctor’	China	$73,411
8th	‘Davi Cola’	Brazil	$57,560
9th	Bernhard Binder	Austria	$45,132

The Daily Scoop – GGMillion$ Season 2025 Episode 15 – May 14, 2025

The GGMillion$ gave viewers around the world on the GGPoker YouTube channel a real treat. This week’s action lived up to the billing as the show that promises “exclusive hands, massive pots, insane bluffs, and world-class decision-making.” Nine great players clashed at the felt, and after the dust settled, it was the overnight chip leader who booked the win after a rollercoaster ride to the finish line. 

Stakelis in Charge as Final Begins

Hosted weekly by Jeff Gross and a special guest co-commentator, the GGMillion$ hype train has been a runaway success, and this week’s episode highlighted why. Big action, massive moves, and a final showdown that had an explosive ending, this week’s Texas Hold’em action was brought to life by Rayan Chamas in the co-commentator seat, otherwise known as ‘Beriuzy’, one of the most successful GGMillion$ players of all time. Coming third just a fortnight ago for $246,175, Chamas’ insights were priceless as the action unfolded.

When play began at the nine-handed final table, the chip leader was one of two Lithuanians at the felt, as Audrius Stakelis started with 82 big blinds. German player Ole Schemion was Stakelis’ closest rival with 61 big blinds, with Luxembourg-based Portuguese player Pedro Neves (52BB), Lithuanian Paulius Vaitiekunas (45BB), and Chinese player Ren Lin (35BB) in hot pursuit. Others in with a chance of glory included Dutchman Duco Haven (32BB), French pro Arthur Conan (23BB), Canadian Joshua Hopkins (22BB), and Ukraine’s Andrii Derzhypilskiy, who began the final as short stack with 19 big blinds to his name. 

The first player to leave, nearly 30 minutes into the stream, was the luckless Hopkins. Canada’s only representative at the final table was all-in pre-flop with pocket sevens from the big blind, but he ran into Pedro Neves holding ace-queen. A flop of Q-6-5 immediately put Hopkins behind. A three on the river offered more outs to a straight for the at-risk player, but a five on the river ended Hopkins’ chances of victory, sending him home with $53,292 instead.

Mystery Hand Leads to ‘Insane’ Runout

The first ‘Mystery Hand’ of the day ended in a bust-out, taking out Arthur Conan in eighth place for $69,111. Conan had ace-jack and went to the flop against Ren ‘Tony’ Lin with the mystery hand. A flop of K-J-J looked amazing for Conan, and a seven of clubs on the turn was followed by a seven of diamonds on the river; both looked safe. A full house looked great for Conan, but his big bet on the river was cause for Lin to shove. Conan called, and pocket kings were revealed as Lin had the superior hand. 

Play continued 7-handed for forty-five minutes before Andrii Derzhypilskyi, the short stack at the start of the day, was sent home with $89,626 in seventh place. All-in pre-flop with king-nine of clubs, Derzhypilskiy, who has reached the late stages in several GGMillion$ events already this year, was behind Ole Schemion’s king-jack, and the German’s hand prevailed across the 8-7-2-K-6 board, as Schemion’s chance of winning increased.

With six players remaining, Pedro Neves took his leave, busting in sixth for $116,231. It was a huge pot and a massive cooler, as Neves held ace-king and ran into the pocket aces of Lithuanian Paulius Vaitiekunas. All the chips were in pre-flop, and a king on the flop gave Neves a chance, but no more help came, and the field was reduced to five. 

Another long period passed without an elimination before a bad beat left just four with a chance of victory. Lin was all-in pre-flop with the best of it, holding ace-jack offsuit, but Stakelis, who had taken the chip lead from his countryman Vaitiekunas, had the chips to call it off with ace-seven of hearts. A seven on the flop put Stakelis in the lead as no help came for Lin, as the Chinese player scored $150,733 in fifth place.

Debut Winner Denies Dutchman Duco

With four left, Stakelis had a massive chip lead, holding 10.7 million chips, nearly half the chips in play. Dutch player Duco Haven had sneaked into second place on the leaderboard with 5.07m, while Vaitiekunas was on 3.83m, with Schemion the short stack on just 2.66m. It was the shorter of the two Lithuanians who busted in fourth for $195,477 as his ace-king offsuit fell to Haven’s ace-ten of clubs. A flop of Q-T-3 set the Lithuanian behind. A nine on the turn and three on the river gave Haven the pot as the Lithuanian went to the virtual rails.

“He folded an ace-eight where he might have flipped [against pocket sevens in the previous hand] for more chips.” Said Jeff Gross, astutely analyzing how Vaitiekunas gave away some stack equity in the previous hand.

Soon, play was heads-up, as Ole Schemion called off his stack with a suited ace-queen and was well behind Stakelis’ ace-king. A board of 6-5-3-6-4 hinted at a miraculous chop but denied the German as Schemion headed to the rail in third place for $253,503. That gave Stakelis a stack of 15.56 million chips with Haven on 6.72 million as play was sent to heads up.

A big hand heads-up came when Duco Haven was all-in and at risk for 64% of the chips in play with king-jack offsuit against Stakelis’ ace-four suited. A board of K-T-8-J-3 actually gave an unbelievable sweat, with a diamond flush draw and Broadway straight draw to the river, which were denied, preventing the victory. Haven had taken the chip lead.

“In my opinion, Stakelis has been the best player at this final table by far,” Rayan ‘Beriuzy’ Chamas said in the commentary booth. A series of smallball pots went Stakelis’ way, and he managed to regain a slim lead when he found pocket nines. Haven shoved with ace-five of spades, and Stakelis called with the superior pocket pair. A board of 8-4-4-J-5 was clean, and in winning his first-ever title, the Lithuanian player Audrius Stakelis prevented Duco Haven from winning his fifth GGMillion$ title. 

The start-of-day chip leader won $426,339 and his first-ever title, as Haven had to settle for $328,752 in second place. A fine return after coming into play sixth in chips.

Watch the action as it played out in the company of Jeff Gross and Rayan ‘Beriuzy’ Chamas on GGPoker right here:

 

GGMillion$ Final Table Results

Place	Player	Country	Prize
1st	Audrius Stakelis	Lithuania	$426,339
2nd	Duco Haven	Netherlands	$328,752
3rd	Ole Schemion	Germany	$253,503
4th	Paulius Vaitiekunas	Lithuania	$195,477
5th	Tony Lin	China	$150,773
6th	Pedro Neves	Portugal	$116,231
7th	Adnrii Derzhypilskyi	Ukraine	$89,626
8th	Arthur Conan	France	$69,111
9th	Joshua Hopkins	Canada	$53,292

The Daily Scoop – GGMillion$ Season 2025 Episode 16 – May 22, 2025

The latest GGPoker GGMillion$ final table had it all. Massive showdowns, hero calls, fantastic folds, and a thoroughly deserving winner. Nine of the very best did battle on GGPoker, and in the end, a titanic tussle between two of the best online poker players ever had a dramatic finish to thrill poker fans worldwide. 

The Norwegian Who Wouldn’t Be King

When play began, regular host Jeff Gross and this week’s special guest co-commentator, Denys Chufarin, brought the action to life. Chufarin, known as ‘SantaZzz’ on the GGTeam, is a very popular content creator whose YouTube channel has over 10,000 subscribers. 

When the final nine chose seats at the GGMillion$ Texas Hold’em final table, there was one massive chip leader. Canadian player ‘rivo_john’ kicked off with an incredible 95 big blinds, dwarfing even his nearest challenger. The next best at the table was Swedish online poker superhero Niklas Astedt on 63 bigs. Irish player Jon Proudfoot followed on 57 big blinds, with last week’s winner, Audrius Stakelis, on 42 big blinds. 

Others battling for glory included one more Canadian, Pascal Lefrancois, just behind the reigning champ on 41 big blinds, Austria’s ‘If_i_persist’ (27BB), Russian Nikita Kalinin (27BB), and German poker star Benjamin Rolle (19BB), all still in with a great chance. 

Less than one orbit into the final table, the Norwegian short stack Joachim Haraldstad, who began with just four big blinds, was unsurprisingly the first to depart. His ace-five was shot down by Kalinin’s jack-ten after a devastating board of Q-8-6-K-9 rivered a straight to the latter and sent the Norwegian home with $51,456. 

The Champion is Unseated

Eight became seven in dramatic fashion as, after 45 minutes without an elimination, Rolle’s return to power mirrored Stakelis’ fall from grace. Last week’s winner was at-risk when he got his chips into the middle with pocket jacks and ran into Ben Rolle’s pocket kings. A board of 8-6-3-3-3 sent the Lithuanian to the virtual rail for a score of $65,626 as he made back-to-back final tables but couldn’t make it two victories in a row.

Next to go was Pascal Lefrancois who ran great hole cards into the best possible. All-in with ace-queen, the Canadian was well behind Astedt’s pocket aces. The J-T-5 flop flirted with hope for Lefrancois, but a turn of a three and a seven on the river condemned him to an exit in seventh for a return of $83,698.

Out in sixth was the Austrian player ‘If_i_persist’, who won $106,746 after the cruellest of run-outs propelled him from the competition like an ejector seat into the atmosphere. The Austrian was at risk of losing 98% of his stack with ten-nine of spades against the ace-jack of diamonds for Proudfoot. The flop was a favorable Q-9-3 with no diamonds and one spade. An eight on the turn gave Proudfoot a chance of a gutshot straight that was completed by the ten on the river. Two pair was no good for the Austrian. Left with less than half a big blind, ‘If_i_persist’ busted on the next hand holding an ace-king that fell to Rolle’s six-deuce.

After a dogged battle for nearly an hour, five became four, as a pivotal hand handed Astedt a way back into proceedings while Nikita Kalinin was put to the rail for $136,142. All-in with king-six against king-queen, the at-risk Russian picked up a flush draw but ended up drawing dead, meaning Astedt was now second in chips behind Rolle.

The Closest of Calls

It took nearly two and a half hours for the first five eliminations to happen as the table closed in on the tournament’s final stage. And in less than 8 minutes of action, the final three players would bust to bring the tournament to a heads-up battle. Rolle held the lead with 6.86 million chips, just clear of Astedt’s 6.70m with ‘rivo_john’ on 3.32m and Proudfoot languishing on 1.94 million in last place. 

An ill-timed shove from Astedt got lucky as the Swede’s ten-eight of hearts, which started well behind the at-risk suited king-jack held by ‘rivo_john’, caught up quickly. A flop of Q-8-4 paired the Swedish player’s second card. A turned four and rivered three sent play three-handed as the overwhelming chip leader at the start of the final day crashed out for $173,632 in fourth place. 

Soon, play was heads-up. Proudfoot, sitting with just seven bigs, shoved with ace-king, and Rolle made the call with a suited seven-five. A board of Q-7-5-K-5 gave the German a full house, and the Irish player busted for $221,445 as Rolle went onto the heads-up with just over 8 million chips. Astedt started in the lead with 10.6m and grew that lead to a 4:1 advantage within eight hands, but it disappeared just as quickly.

Rolle ground some back before he doubled with ace-nine against queen-jack, grabbing the lead. An outkicked top pair of an ace gave Rolle a gusty lead as a board of A-Q-5-J-3 played out. Astedt went all in on the river with ace-eight, forcing Rolle into the tank with ace-nine. Rolle knew if he called and was wrong, he’d be out, but if he was right, he would have a massive lead. A full 2 minutes later he made the hero call and was correct to do so as Astedt’s ace-eight was revealed. The most marginal of calls had given the German a crucial lead of 8:1. 

“Sorry, man.” Rolle commented in the chat box. Four hands later, all the chips were in again. Astedt tabled a queen-eight and was dominated by Rolle’s king-queen. A flop of Q-9-5 was no help to the Swede. An ace on the turn was followed by a jack on the river to give Rolle the crown and $360,198. Astedt had to be content with $282,425 as the runner-up.

Watch all the drama play out here with Jeff Gross and Denys ‘SantaZzz’ Chufarin on the GGPoker YouTube channel.

 

 

GGMillion$ Final Table Results

Place	Player	Country	Prize
1st	Benjamin Rolle	Germany	$360,198
2nd	Niklas Astedt	Sweden	$282,428
3rd	Jon Proudfoot	Rep. of Ireland	$221,445
4th	‘rivo_john’	Canada	$173,632
5th	Nikita Kalinin	Russia	$136,142
6th	‘If_i_persist’	Austria	$106,746
7th	Pascal Lefrancois	Canada	$83,698
8th	Audrius Stakelis	Lithuania	$651626
9th	Joachim Haraldstad	Norway	$51,456

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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.