GGMillion$ Won by Bernhard Binder for Maiden Victory and $1.8m – February 12, 2025

A brilliant performance from the Austrian poker player Bernhard Binder saw this week’s GGMillion$ go to a first-time winner on GGPoker. This week’s show was presented as always by Jeff Gross, and the GGPoker Ambassador was joined behind the mic by Seth Davies. The American, who has over $32 million in live ranking event winnings alone, sits in 24th place on The Hendon Mob’s All-Time Money List and provided key analysis as the nine finalists battled towards a massive $1.8 million top prize. 

Uncapped Starts Badly

Heading into the final table, the chip leader was the Austrian Bernhard Binder, who began the final with an awe-inspiring 92 big blinds. Behind him were two Germans in the mix, with Martin Finger (78BB) ahead of his compatriot Ole Schemion, on 31 big blinds. The Brazilian poker professional Pablo Silva (61BB) and Portuguese player Pedro Neves (58BB) were close behind Finger, with Czech player Roman Hrabec on 41 bigs a little further back. 

Chasing with fewer chips were Austria’s ‘Aubstriakk’ (28BB), Lithuanian player ‘DntStpBelieving’ (15BB), and the short stack, Indian player ‘Uncapped,’ who began the final table with just seven big blinds. As it happened, the Indian player continued to fold his way up the ladder early, as ‘Aubstriakk’ pushed all-in pre-flop, three-betting to his doom with king-queen of hearts. The Austrian was called and defeated by Hrabec’s pocket queens, which made a set on the flop with the case queen and filled up to a full house on the river, leaving ‘Aubstriakk’ to collect $214,857 in ninth place. 

‘Uncapped’ was all-in soon after, holding ace-queen, but both Binder with pocket eights and Pablo Silva with ace-ten of diamonds had reason to continue on the J-7-6- flop with two diamonds. Silva made the nut flush when the deuce of diamonds landed on the turn, and after Binder called the Brazilian’s 4th street bet, ‘Uncapped’ was drawing dead to the river, where an eight landed. Silva fired another 5 million chips into the middle and got a call from Binder, which not only took out  ‘Uncapped’ in eighth place for $278,608 and gave Silva the lead. Suddenly, just 5 hands into the final table, it was down to 7.

Schemion Slides Out

Lithuanian player ‘DntStpBelieving’ cashed next, exiting in seventh place for $362,323. His belief was on the wane when a missed gutshot draw river bluff was called by Binder holding just A-K on a Jack-high board that left ‘DntStpBelieving’ very short with just 5 big blinds. The Lithuanian was out just 2 hands later with queen-seven of clubs all-in pre-flop against Silva’s ten-six of diamonds. A flop of Q-9-3 hit top pair for the at-risk player, but there were two diamonds as well. Another on the turn reduced the field to six as ‘DntStpBelieving’ hit the rail.

Next to go was the man with one of the biggest reputations at the final table, Ole Schemion. The German high roller regular shoved pre-flop with 23 big blinds while holding ace-king offsuit. He found himself in a lopsided race to the river against Binder’s pocket jacks, with Pedro Neves having folded a king pre-flop. A flop of 9-4-3 was no help, nor was the six on the turn. A queen on the river was close but not close enough, as Schemion cashed in sixth for $470,888. 

“Everyone likes Ole but they’re happy to see him go out there knowing what he’s capable of.” Jeff Gross said on commentary. Less than and hour had passed and four players had bit the dust.

The Final Four

The middle period of this week’s GGMillion$ was drawn out but ended with a spectacular bluff and the easiest call of the week. Roman Hrabec had tried to tell a story against Binder that relied on complete conviction on the river, but with a missed straight draw, he’d run into a monster, as Binder has flopped trips, turned a full house and rivered quad eights. Binder easily snapped off the shove on the river to leave Hrabec out in fifth place for $611,679.

With four players remaining, Binder had the chip lead with 46.7 million chips, followed by Martin Finger with 28 million. Pablo Silva was sitting third at 25.8 million, while Pedro Neves played the short stack at a healthy 21.9m (44BB). Play continued for some time before a flop of 9-5-2 where Neves bet around 85% of the pot with ace-nine. He was called by Silva with nine-ten. A turn of a four saw Silva bet out for half-pot and Neves found the call. On the river of a ten, Silva ‘hit gin’ in the words of Jeff Gross.

“We’ve seen Pedro make some big calls at this final table. I wouldn’t be surprised if this is it for him.” Seth Davies said. Silva shoved and true enough, Pedro Neves called and busted in fourth place for $794,262.

Fastest Finger Can’t Find First

All three remaining players were fairly level, with Silva behind Binder at the top. Martin Finger grew his stack and was second in chips to Binder by the time a board of Q-8-3-K with two hearts and two diamonds fell. Finger bet 20% of the pot with the nut flush draw and Silva called with jack-ten of diamonds for a straight and flush draw that was heavily blocked. A five of diamonds on the river saw Finger shove with the nut flush, and Silva called to his doom for a third-place score of $1,031,043.

Incredibly, each player inside the top six places had busted in the place they had begun the final table in until the heads-up battle, but if the overnight leader Bernhard Binder was to achieve that, then things would have to change, as it was the German professional Martin Finger who started the final duel with a near 3:1 chip lead.

Two marginal calls went Binder’s way and the potential first-time winner bagged the chip lead just 20 minutes into heads-up play as the final table ticked into the third hour of play. A pivotal hand took place when Binder’s king-eight won against Finger’s king-jack. A flop of 5-3-3 was followed by an eight on the turn and Finger found the fold, but the Austrian now had a 2:1 chip lead. 

Binder had a slightly bigger lead by the time the final hand played out, as a straight coinflip decided it in the overnight leader’s favor. Shoving pre-flop with ace-queen, Binder was called by Finger with pocket eights. A queen on the flop spelled disaster for the German, who was looking to flip himself into a decent lead. No eight on the turn meant Finger needed to find one of two outs and when no eight landed on the river, Austrian player Bernhard Binder had his first-ever GGMillion$ victory and one of the series biggest top prizes ever, $1,832,484. Finger had to be satisfied with the runner-up result worth a bit more than $1.33 million.

Watch all the action as it played out on GGPoker’s YouTube channel right here:

 

 

GGMillion$ Final Table Results

Place	Player	Country	Prize
1st	Bernhard Binder	Austria	$1,832,484
2nd	Martin Finger	Germany	$1,338,110
3rd	Pablo Silva	Brazil	$1,031,043
4th	Pedro Neves	Portugal	$794,262
5th	Roman Hrabec	Czech Republic	$611,679
6th	Ole Schemion	Germany	$470,888
7th	‘DntStpBelieving’	Lithuania	$362,323
8th	‘Uncapped’	India	$278,608
9th	‘Aubstriakk’	Austria	$214,857

Adrian Mateos Scores GGMillions Win for $376,000 – February 19, 2025

A brilliant late-stage victory for Adrian Mateos meant Spanish celebrations in this week’s GGMillion$, as the live tournament crusher won the $376,032 top prize. Coming into play third in chips, Mateos bade his time before delivering the knockout blow to his last two opponents to scoop glory in the weekly $10,000 buy-in high roller event on GGPoker.

Early Exit for Popyk

This week’s special guest, alongside host Jeff Gross, was a poker legend. German poker player Fedor Holz has not only risen to the top and retired in his twenties but couldn’t stay away, reigniting his career in high stakes events and launching Pokercode, which helps the best players, along with anyone else who uses it, to get even better with GTO theory! With over $47.7 million in winnings, the GGPoker Global Ambassador Holz knows high rollers better than virtually anyone, having played them so many times on his way to 10th place on the All-Time Money List on The Hendon Mob. 

With nine players heading into the final table, the leader was Fedor’s fellow German, an online poker coach himself, Benjamin Rolle, with 79 big blinds. There was a decent gap to second-placed Canadian ‘Come2Brazil’ with 55 big blinds. Marginally behind were Spanish legend Adrian Mateos (54BB) and another German player, Alexander Tkatschew (53BB). Russian duo Vasiliy Meshkov (41BB) and Artur Martirosian (38BB), also known as the king of GGMillion$, were next, with Mauricio Pais (36BB), Ukraine’s Igor Popyk (18BB) and Brazilian Alisson Piekazewicz (12BB) hoping for a lightning start to get back into the game.

The Ukrainian player Popyk was the first player to bust, moving all-in pre-flop for 18 big blinds with an offsuit ace-king and being called by Mauricio Paes with pocket queens. ‘Come2Brazil’ had folded ace-jack of hearts, which was one less out for Popyk to chase, leaving him close to drawing dead. The Ukrainian missed across the T-8-6-7-8 board, which sent him home with $53,719 in ninth place.

The Rise and Fall of Alexander Tkatschew

The best to ever do it – in GGMillion$ terms – hit the rail next, as Russian poker powerhouse Artur Martirosian left the final table in eighth place for $68,511. On a board showing 7-3-3-2, the Russian bet big with just king-queen offsuit, and Alexander Tkatschew called with pocket tens. On the river of another deuce, Martirosian emptied the clip, shoving for 1.2 million chips into the pot, which was just under 1.1 million. Tkatschew made a quick call, and it was a brilliant one, earning him the chip lead in the process. 

Alisson Piekazewicz from Brazil came into play as the short stack, and while he laddered two places, he could climb no further. All-in with pocket queens, Piekazewicz ran into Vasiliy Meshkov’s pocket aces, and while a flop of K-T-9 gave the hope of a miracle straight, neither the seven on the turn nor the three on the river, reducing the field to six and sending the Brazilian home with $87,377.

Over the next forty minutes, chips were passed back and forth without an elimination. The streak was ended by a raising war between Tkatschew and Pais. Pais was first to act and doubled the blind, and Tkatschew three-bet with ace-king to 7.5 big blinds. The action was capped when Pais bombed, shoving with ace-three diamonds. Tkatschew called only to discover he was dominating and on his way to a big double-up. That was until the J-7-7 flop was followed by a three on the turn. No help came for the now at-risk Tkatschew on the river as a four ended the German’s hopes of glory in sixth place for $111,439, as a big pot went Pais’ way.

The clock ticked past three hours, and five players still remained in their virtual seats, but within 25 minutes, the tournament would be over as play raced to a conclusion. There was a shock exit in fifth place as Benjamin Rolle, who had started the final table as the chip leader, left with $142,126 as the German missed out on the final four. All-in with pocket threes, Rolle lost a coinflip against the seemingly bulletproof Meshkov, whose ace-queen hit when the board came A-K-J-4-5. A flush draw to the river would have given salvation to the at risk player, but missed for the luckless former leader.

Mateos Starts to Sweep the Table

With four players remaining, Spanish poker legend Adrian Mateos was the chip leader with 7.1 million chips, with Meshkov (5.2m) best placed to challenge him. Both Pais (3.7m) and ‘Come2Brazil’ (3m) still had playable stacks as the blinds of 80,000/160,000 began to bite. 

‘Come2Brazil’ went through a surge in some small pots before shoving pre-flop with ace-queen and getting a call from Pais with ace-seven. The dominated hand hit the ignorant end of a straight across a board of T-T-8-J-9 but was defeated by the Canadian with a straight to the queen to send Pais home with $181,264 in fourth place.

The Final Three

Meshkov was now third in chips behind both ‘Come2Brazil’ and Mateos when he was dealt pocket twos and decided it was the right time to get it all in. Mateos was ahead, having made the call with pocket fours, and remained that way through the T-T-5 flop. A seven on the turn meant Meshkov was drawing to two deuces or a chop. A five came on the river and spared his tournament life just one more hand, as next he shoved queen-ten into Mateos’s ace-queen. A board of A-8-7-5-T sent play heads-up as the Russian claimed $231,180 in third place. 

The final duel saw Mateos on over 12.1 million chips taking on ‘Come2Brazil’ on 7.1 million, and it didn’t take long for the Spanish player, sometimes nicknamed ‘El Matador’ to collect all the chips and score the final blow to topple his quarry. Just three hands into heads-up play, holding pocket queens, Mateos trapped ‘Come2Brazil’ with ace-three. On a flop of 8-4-3, Mateos raised, which goaded the Canadian into a shove that was quickly called off. A six on the turn and jack on the river played out perfectly for Mateos, who claimed victory and the top prize of $376,032, leaving his opponent to collect the runner-up prize of $294,841. 

Watch exactly how it all went down in this week’s GGMillion$ via the GGPoker YouTube replay with Jeff Gross and Fedor Holz right here: 

 

 

GGMillion$ Final Table Results

Place	Player	Country	Prize
1st	Adrian Mateos	Spain	$376,032
2nd	‘Come2Brazil’	Canada	$294,841
3rd	Vasiliy Meshkov	Russia	$231,180
4th	Mauricio Pais	United Kingdom	$181,262
5th	Benjamin Rolle	Germany	$142,126
6th	Alexander Tkatschew	Germany	$111,439
7th	Alisson Piekazewicz	Brazil	$87,377
8th	Artur Martirosian	Russia	$68,511
9th	Igor Popyk	Ukraine	$53,719

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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.