‘Beat the Best’ Super MILLION$ Won by ‘Rumuku!us’ for $1.5 million – June 7, 2023

The buy-in? $10,300? The top prize? A massive $1.5 million! The best thing on offer? Bragging rights among the high roller set in poker’s nosebleed online circuit. This week’s Super MILLION$ was a classic, as regular presenter Jeff Gross was joined by the Finnish Super MILLION$ winner from last week’s show, Joni Jouhkimainen.
When the final table came to a close, it was the Austrian player ‘Rumuku!us’ who, in the words of Jeff Gross, enjoyed “a ridiculous run” as the final stages of the Super MILLION$ caught fire in spectacular fashion.

Dominguez Dominant, Uselis Sees Hopes Evaporate Early 

Heading into the final table of nine players, it was Juan Dominguez who held the lead and what a lead it was, as the Spanish pro, who had never won a Super MILLION$ heading into the action began with 118 big blinds, more than double any other player. Second in chips, and a long way behind was Sven Andersson, who started with just 52 big blinds.
Of the nine finalists, only one player had previously won this event, and that player, two-time winner Ravid Garbi, was third in chips. The shortest stack at the table was one of Joni Jouhkimainen’s fellow Finns, in the shape of Samuel Vousden, who began with just 18 big blinds.
The theme for this week was to ‘Beat the Best’ and one player who could certainly count himself among the best in the poker world was the Lithuanian Gediminas Uselis. Sadly for him, he was out first, cashing for $191,350 when his ace-eight lost to ‘neverodd’ from North Macedonia, holding ace-ten.
Dennys Ramos from Brazil found a big hand pre-flop and had no problem piling in 16 big blinds pre-flop with ace-queen. The problem for him was that he was covered by Sven Andersson’s ace-king and an ace on the turn made no difference to proceedings. Drawing to a three-outer queen only on the river, he bricked out and fell in eighth place for $247,619.

Dominguez Dominating the Table 

North Macedonian player ‘neverodd’ was very short stacked when they shoved with king-jack offsuit and the chip leader Dominguez was more than priced in to call with ace-six of spades. The flop of J-9-5 with two spades had something for both players, with the nut flush draw out there but a jack flipping ‘neverodd’ into the lead. The turn of the ace of clubs was a disaster for the at-risk player, though, as Dominguez took the lead after pairing his ace. A nine of hearts on the river changed nothing and ‘neverodd’ bowed out scoring $320,589 for the seventh place finish.
“45 mill in the bank right there and he (Juan) is in control,” said Jeff Gross on comms and the man with over $3.5 million in live winnings and about as many Twitch followers wasn’t wrong. Dominguez had 44.7 million, maintaining his strong lead ahead of Sven Andersson (22.6m), ‘Rumuku!us’ (17.3m), Ravid Garbi (10.4m), ‘VeryMerry’ (9.9m) and the short stack Sam Vousden – who had previously been known as ‘€urop€an’ – down to just 5.2m, a little over 10 big blinds.
It was an awful bad beat that reduced the field from six to five. ‘VeryMerry’ raised in first position with pocket kings and called it off when big blind Dominguez shoved with ace-queen. The Mexico-based player only needed to hold, but that looked hard after a flop of A-6-5. No king on the turn meant two outs were all they were chasing on the river. The eight of hearts changed nothing and the Mexican player busted in sixth place for $415,221.

Insane Three-Way All-In Decides Title

With five players fighting it out for the title, there was a long period that followed where no-one left and the chip stacks evened up considerably. Swedish player Sven Andersson was down to just five bigs when he shoved from the small blind with ace-eight but Dominguez called from the big blind with jack-five, and hit a jack on the flop to send the Swede home with $537,943 in fifth place.
Play had been going on for three hours and still four players remained, but within six minutes, the whole tournament would be over. A blizzard of bust-outs began as Austrian players ‘Rumukulus’ shoved with ace-king and was called by Dominguez with ace-jack. The strongest hand won and Dominguez went from hero middle stack.
A massive three-way all-in took place when Garbi shoved with ace-jack of clubs, Vousden re-popped it with king-queen offsuit and Rumukulus called with the pocket kings as three huge hands four-handed clashed pre-flop. Around 40% of the chips in the tournament sat on the virtual felt in the middle of the table and despite a jack and a queen landing, it wasn’t enough, sending both Garbi and Vousden to the rail, setting up the heads-up battle.
With a 4:1 chip lead, Dominguez called off his stack pre-flop with jack-ten suited on the first hand, but Rumukulus was ahead with ace-five. A spectacular flop of A-9-2 with two diamonds saw both Jeff Gross and Joni Jouhkimainen on the edge of their seats. Dominguez needed to hit a diamond, but both the turn and river came clubs with the ace on 5th street only confirming it – Rumukulus had won the $1.5 million top prize and the former chip leader Dominguez had been beaten late on to come second having to settle for $1.1 million instead.
You can watch all the action with Jeff and Joni at the three-hour final table of ‘Beat the Best’ Super MILLION$ which supplied all the drama it promised and more right here.https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3M3wExzf1H4

GGPoker Super MILLION$ 6th June 2023 Final Table Results:
Place	Player	Country	Prize
1st	Rumukulus	Austria	$1,518,400
2nd	Juan Dominguez	Spain	$1,171,144
3rd	Samuel Vousden	Finland	$903,485
4th	Ravid Garbi	Israel	$697,093
5th	Sven Andersson	Sweden	$537,943
6th	VeryMerry	Mexico	$415,221
7th	neverodd	North Macedonia	$320,589
8th	Dennys Ramos	Brazil	$247,619
9th	Gedniminas Uselis	Lithuania	$191,350

Aliaksei Boika Wins Second Super MILLION$ Title for $335,000 – June 14, 2023

The Belarussian professional Aliaksei Boika won his second GGPoker Super MILLION$ title this week as he conquered a final table including some of the most well-known online poker stars in the world. Coming from behind in heads-up play, he triumphed after a superb display of aggression and dominance at just the right time.

How the Final Table Shaped Up 

In yet another extremely well attended game, this week’s GGPoker Super MILLION$ was a huge one, with the top five players all winning six-figure prizes. This week’s prize pool was a whopping $1.65 million with a top prize of $335,380 and included players such as Mike ‘Sir Watts’ Watson, Aliaksei Boika, Simon Mattsson, and Benjamin Rolle taking part in a thrilling denouement. Watson took the chip lead into the final table, as he began with 83 big blinds in an attempt to finally win an event that has thus far eluded him.
A little behind him was Boika, who was going for a second title with 72 big blinds. ‘Lucky Ming’ (52BB), ‘Tedwina Slowsby’ (47BB), two-time former champion Simon Mattsson (46BB), and previous winner ‘Mr-Doberman’ (45BB) all comprised the middle order. Short stacked at the start, ‘VeryMerry’ (27BB) and ‘H Madani’ (15BB) were both going for their second wins, while Benjamin Rolle was firing for his third title with 27 big blinds.
When play began, it took some time, nearly 45 minutes, for the stacks to be put at risk, but eventually, Jeff Gross in the regular presenter seat and Mike Jozoff as the guest co-commentator were able to describe the first bust-out. ‘H Madani’ was all-in with ace-queen and was called by ‘Lucky Ming’ holding ace-king. The better hand held with ease as a king arrived on the flop and the field was reduced to eight as the lone German player cashed for $47,911 in ninth place.

Rolle Hits the Rail 

Russian player ‘Mr-Doberman’ was out next, losing his stack to exit in eighth place for $61,104. All-in pre-flop with king-jack, he lost out to Boika’s king-queen and the field was down to seven. It wasn’t long before the next player left for the rail too, with Thai player ‘Tedwina Slowsby’ moving all-in with ace-queen and ‘Lucky Ming’ was priced in to call with king-ten.
The flop came 4-4-4 which might have looked nice but didn’t help ‘Lucky Ming’, nor did the nine on the turn. A king on the river changed everything, as it took out the Thai player and sent the winning player into second position on the leaderboard behind Mike Watson.
A bit later, a huge hand when play was six-handed that had ramifications for multiple players. ‘VeryMerry’ was all-in with ace-jack of hearts and Watson called it off with pocket tens. Mattsson, perhaps feeling ICM was the better part of valor, folded pocket queens, and when the cards were flipped, the runout of J-8-3-Q-7 with only two hearts doubled ‘VeryMerry’ where it would have eliminated him had Mattsson made the call.
Benjamin Rolle although being short stacked, had more chips than Mattsson and took out the Swede with an ace-queen against ace-ten and all the chips committed before the flop. After the turn, both players needed to hit their opponent’s lower card to make a Broadway straight, but it didn’t come and Mattsson left with $99,391.
Out next was Rolle. Shoving from the small blind with a suited jack-queen, he was called by ‘Lucky Ming’ with ace-queen after the initial raiser Watson got out of the way. Rolle was dominated and defeated when the board fell 8-6-2-6-4. Rolle, so tantalizingly close to getting back into the game, was out in fifth for $126,761.

Watson Dramatically Busted Before Boika Comeback

Mike Watson was busted in a sensational hand where viewers could play along and guess what hand was held by ‘Lucky Ming’. Watson’s hand of pocket eights was there for all to see, and he hit gold on the flop of Q-8-3 as he flopped middle set. The turn of a deuce and river of a five saw all the chips go into the middle, and incredibly, ‘Lucky Ming’ held ace-four for a runner-runner straight. Watson, just three places from finally winning a Super MILLION$ was out for $161,668 instead.
‘Very Merry’ lost to ‘Lucky Ming’ too, calling off his stack with king-queen, as ‘Lucky Ming’ shoved pre-flop with his new favorite hand, ace-four. The board of T-7-2-8-3 sent the Mexico-based player home in third place for $206,187. It also gave ‘Lucky Ming’ a mammoth chip lead heads-up, with his stack of 14 million chips way ahead of Aliaksei Bokia holding 2.4 million.
Reaching the final duel took less than two hours, but winning it took another 30 minutes, as the Belarussian Boika bullied his way into a slim lead, winning a series of pots where he pressured with the best hand. Often, ‘Lucky Ming’ got away from more serious trouble, but each fold cost him chips.
Boika’s lead was better than three to one when ‘Lucky Ming’ shoved with pocket nines and Boika called it off with ace-eight. No ace came on the K-7-4 flop and the queen on the turn set ‘Lucky Ming’ poised for a double up that would have seen him almost level. An ace on the river changed all that, however, giving Boika the win, over $335,000 for his efforts after a stunning last-gasp victory.
You can watch all the action with Jeff and Mike at the Super MILLION$ final table right here.https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f8gXyrvOOp8

GGPoker Super MILLLION$ June 13th, 2023 Final Table Results:
Place	Player	Country	Prize
1st	Aliaksei Boika	Belarus	$335,380
2nd	‘Lucky Ming’	United Arab Emirates	$262,966
3rd	‘VeryMerry’	Mexico	$206,187
4th	Mike Watson	Canada	$161,668
5th	Benjamin Rolle	Germany	$126,761
6th	Simon Mattsson	Sweden	$99,391
7th	‘Tedwina Slowsby’	Thailand	$77,931
8th	‘Mr-Doberman’	Russia	$61,104
9th	‘H Madani’	Germany	$47,911

Pieter Aerts Wins First-Ever Super MILLION$ for $291,000 – June 21, 2023

The Belgian poker player Pieter Aerts won his first-ever GGPoker Super MILLION$ event and a prize worth $291,188 as he navigated through a difficult final table in under three hours on Tuesday evening. The final table included three former double Super MILLION$ winners, but Aerts got the job done with a dominant performance as he rose from the middle of the pack like the joker in his avatar picture to end up the ace in the deck.

Palamar Starts as Pacesetter 

With nine players at this week’s final table, it was the Ukraine-based player Volodymyr Palamar who began as the chip leader, with 79 big blinds. Next in the rankings was Nick Maimone, with 76 big blinds, who was also trying to earn his first win in this popular $10,300-entry weekly tournament.
A little further back, ‘Pyra lubi sos’ had 60 bigs, with ‘Achterinde Tram’ (44BB), the aforementioned Aerts (43BB) and ‘yyyyy96’ (31BB) all aiming for glory from the middle of the pack. Three shorter stacks each had two previous Super MILLION$ titles to rely on for encouragement, with Belarussian Aliaksei Boika (24BB), Pablo Silva (16BB) and David Yan (10BB) all hoping a big comeback would lead to their third title.
It was the Belarussian player Boika who busted first, making a move early in the action with ace-five. He was called by Aerts with ace-king, and although the 9-2-3 flop gave Boika a ‘wheel’ draw, he could find neither a four or a five as jacks fell on both turn and river. Boika, whose recent record in Super MILLION$ events is incredibly good, cashed for $40,290.

Yan Dealt Dutch Defeat

Chinese player ‘yyyyy96’ was all-in and at risk next, down to a super short stack and in serious trouble. Electing only to min-raise pre-flop with seven-eight, the flop of Q-T-7 was good enough to get it all into the middle. But his caller, Dutch player ‘Pyra lubi sos’ had queen-three. A deuce on the turn was followed by an unnecessary queen on the river too in order to send the Chinese player home with $51,590.

The Brazilian Pablo Silva was tested on a dramatic board as the commentary team of regular host Jeff Gross and special guest co-commentator Bert ‘girafganger7’ Stevens called the action with Aerts’ cards hidden, trying to establish what the chip leader held.

All the chips went in the middle with the action on 4th street and 431,000 chips in the middle. Aerts had shoved for 3.5 million with Silva only having 182,507 back. The board read 4-4-2-A and Silva called with ace-nine. He saw the bad news as he was well behind with Aerts holding five-three for the turned straight. Stevens picked the hand as a logical one for Aerts to have. A ten on the river sent play six-handed, with Silva crashing out for $66,060.

Six became five when David Yan shoved his short- stack with ace-ten. Called by ‘Pyra lubi sos’ with ace-king, the New Zealand player needed a lot of help but got none on the J-6-2-J-7 run-out, cashing for $84,588 instead.

Aerts Imitates Life 

With five players left, Aerts still led with 4.2 million chips, but it was no cakewalk, with overnight leader Palamar holding 3.8 million, Nick Maimone sitting with 2.2 million, and both other opponents over a million in chips. One Dutch player was thriving as ‘Pyra lubi sos’ momentarily took the lead, but ‘Achterinde Tram’ was not. All-in preflop from the dealer position with pocket sixes, he lost a flip to Aerts’ ace-nine when an ace landed on the turn. Tram got off at the next stop, on the rail(s) with $108,314 as Aerts regained the chip lead.

Another ‘Sweat with Aerts’ hand produced an elimination, with Palamar shoving on the river with six-five on a board showing J-7-3-6-J. Aerts had to think about it with a paired board and flush draw out there, but eventually made a brilliant call with five-four, a turned straight the best hand, sending Palamar home with $133,694.

Three-handed, Aerts had as many chips as both his opponents combined. Nick Maimone was the next player to leave, departing in third place for $177,594 when his ace-king of hearts was good enough to call off a five-bet shove from Aerts with pocket eights. It was a classic flip, and the run-out of 7-6-5-9-T was brutal for the Canadian, a turned straight ending his hopes.

Aerts had all the momentum and, having been picked to win by the impressive Stevens, who was an excellent co-host throughout, used his 4:1 chip lead to devastating effect. Soon, Aerts had 12.2 million to the Dutchman’s 1 million chips, and Aerts’ queen-four of diamonds was facing king-eight for ‘Pyra lubi sos’. The flop of 8-6-6 with only one diamond looked great for a Dutch double-up, but the turn of the deuce of diamonds preceded a king of diamonds on the river, leading to Aerts making his flush and winning his first-ever Super MILLION$ event, and in doing so claiming the top prize of $291,188.

“You could see the table in general was very tough,” said Stevens about his fellow poker player. “He misplayed zero hands which is almost impossible to do. It’s so hard to play close to perfect. It looks easy when you can see the cards, but it’s not. It’s very impressive. I’ll have to consider my ‘Best of Belgium’ tag. I might be second best!”

After a thrilling victory where he put on a clinic in final table strategy, it’s hard to disagree. Pieter Aerts is a major star and a name to watch out for in the coming years.

You can watch the final table in full, with analysis and the usual hi-jinks from Gross and Stevens, right here.

GGPoker Super MILLION$ 20th June 2023 Final Table Results:
Place	Player	Country	Prize
1st	Pieter Aerts	Belgium	$291,188
2nd	‘Pyra lubi sos’	Netherlands	$227,406
3rd	Nick Maimone	Canada	$177,594
4th	Volodymyr Palamar	Ukraine	$133,694
5th	‘Achterinde Tram’	Netherlands	$108,314
6th	David Yan	New Zealand	$84,588
7th	Pablo Silvq	Brazil	$66,060
8th	‘yyyyy96’	China	$51,590
9th	Aliaksei Boika	Belarus	$40,290

Cypriot ‘P1ppin’ Wins First-Ever Super MILLION$ for $230k – June 28, 2023

A bumper week in the GGPoker Super MILLION$ saw a prize pool of $1,060,000 distributed mostly to nine superstars on the felt, with Cyprus-based player ‘P1ppin’ winning the $230,343 top prize, claiming their first-ever victory in the tournament format. The final table, which had begun with no fewer than nine victories between the players, saw a brand-new winner as the chip leader heading into the action going wire-to-wire.

Chips Stacks Dictate Early Elimination

Kicking off the action in the lead was Cyprus-based player ‘P1ppin’, who started with 82 big blinds but had never won the tournament before. Nor had their closest challengers, Austrian ‘FiesoDuck’ (74BB) or Thai player Joshua McCully (71BB). Behind the leading trio, however, sat five players with enormous experience in getting over the line and winning this event.

Fourth in chips was Brazilian player Pablo Silva, who has been a fixture in the latter stages of recent Super MILLION$ events. He began with 54 big blinds in his bid to win a third title and was followed in the counts by Ukrainian Andrii Derzhypilskiy who started with 46 big blinds and a dream of making it two wins. Ottomar Ladva needs no introduction to anyone who follows the history of this tournament series. The Estonian already had three wins prior to him beginning the final table with 37 bigs.

Behind those middle runners, Duco Haven of the Netherlands had 31 big blinds and was seeking his second victory, with Arsenii Malinov (17BB) chasing his third. The short-stack was Montenegrin player ‘Picasso98’ with 12 big blinds, and they were the first player out, shoving just a couple of minutes into the action with ace-five. Called by Duco Haven with king-jack, the board of A-T-9-Q-Q completed the Dutch player for a turned straight and sent ‘Picasso98’ to the canvas with $31,871.

Ladva’s Ladies Fail to Take Off 

With eight players left, regular host Jeff Gross and special guest Pamela Balzano commentated on the action, with Latvian Ottomar Ladva unable to get anywhere near his fourth title. All-in pre-flop with pocket queens, he ran into FiesoDuck’s pocket aces, and there was no help coming for the ladies. An ace on the turn only confirmed the bust-out, with Ladva cashing for $40,810.

Pablo Silva was shorter than Arsenii Malinov when the Brazilian shoved with pocket jacks before the flop. Silva’s jacks were leading on the flop against Malinov’s ace-king, which came dry, but an ace on the turn and a king on the river sent Silva to the rail for $52,256.

The bust-outs were coming thick and fast and didn’t end there. Ukrainian professional Andrii Derzhypilskiy entered play as one of the stars to be stopped, but Joshua McCully had no trouble doing so. The Ukrainian shoved with ace-ten of hearts and McCully called it off with pocket tens. The flop of J-4-2 with two hearts was more than worrying for McCully, as was the three of diamonds on the turn. Any ace, heart or five would save Derzhypilskiy, giving him a double up to over 22 big blinds. He bricked those “too many outs” as Gross called it, the queen of spades on the river condemning him to a sixth-place finish worth $66,913.

Just 45 minutes into the action, four players had been sent to the rail, but stacks were fairly even. As a result, the action slowed down a little. The best part of an hour elapsed without anyone being eliminated, but then in just a couple of hands, everything changed.

Arsenii Malinow was all-in and at risk with the best hand possible, pocket aces, before the flop. Called by the chip leader, ‘P1ppin’, with pocket jacks, a disastrous flop for the Russian of K-J-4 preceded a ten on the turn and another on the river to end Malinov’s tournament in fifth place as a bad beat suckered his chances of winning this week’s Super MILLION$, his fifth-place result of $85,681 no consolation at all in the heat of battle.

P1ppin Pips Duck to the Bills 

Four players remained, but only one could win. At that stage, ‘P1ppin’s stack of 5.3 million chips was far ahead of ‘FiesoDuck’ (2.4m) Duco Haven (1.68m), and Joshua McCully (1.03m) as the rest of the field struggled to amount to the same chips as ‘P1ppin’ had on their own. McCully blinked first as short-stack, eventually shoving 11 big blinds into the middle with ace-six pre-flop only to run into ‘FiesoDuck’ with pocket aces. No help came on the board for McCully and he earned $109,713 in fourth place.

Down to three, play went for some time without anyone being in jeopardy of losing their tournament lives. Eventually, Duco Haven, down to under 10 big blinds was forced to shove with ace-seven and was called by ‘FiesoDuck’ with ace-jack. Things looked bleak for the Netherlands player. A flop of K-Q-8 was followed by another eight on the turn.

“OK, we’re chopping, it’s a chop.” Said GGPoker ambassador Pamela Balzano on the commentary. The Poker Gods did not want to hear it, however, and a jack slammed down on the river to give the Austrian player the chips and send the Dutch pro Haven to the rail in third for $140,485.

Heads-up, ‘FiesoDuck’ had gathered 3.5 million chips, but remained behind the leader ‘P1ppin’ with 7 million. A neat 2:1 chip advantage had grown around 15 minutes later by the time ‘FiesoDuck’ shoved for 1.4 million, the equivalent of 13 big blinds, with ace-four. Called by ‘P1ppin’ with pocket sixes, the flop of K-9-4 made no difference and a ten on the turn was followed by the deuce on the river and P1ppin had done it. Winning their first-ever GG MILLION$ for $230,343, the Cypriot had seen off a quality opponent in ‘FiesoDuck’ who took home the runner-up score of $179,888.

“I think I’ve never seen so many races pre-flop or creative moves!” Balzano said on the action that had flown by in a near-record time of just 2 hours and 20 minutes.

“Super MILLION$ is now GG MILLION$ and next week, we’ll be on in Vegas during the WSOP with a special guest,” said Gross. “I can’t wait!”

You can watch all the action right here in a full replay of the final table on GGPoker’s YouTube channel.

GGPoker GG MILLION$ June 27th 2023 Final Table Results:
Place	Player	Country	Prize
1st	P1ppin	Cyprus	$230,343
2nd	FiesoDuck	Austria	$179,888
3rd	Duco Haven	Netherlands	$140,485
4th	Joshua McCully	Australia	$109,713
5th	Arsenii Malinov	Russia	$85,681
6th	Andrii Derzhypilskiy	Ukraine	$66,913
7th	Pablo Silva	Brazil	$52,256
8th	Ottomar Ladva	Estonia	$40,810
9th	Picasso98	Montenegro	$31,871

« May 2023  |  July 2023 »

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.