Danilo Velasevic Victorious in First Super MILLION$ Win for $182k – July 6, 2023

Serbian poker player Danilo Velasevic won his first-ever GGMillion$ title after a memorable final table of the weekly high-stakes poker tournament. With three Brazilian poker crushers in attendance, the battle was hard-fought, as some of the most successful players on GGPoker clashed at the final table felt.

Two Big Chip Leaders Hunt First Win 

The action got underway with nine great players involved with a chance of becoming the champion. Top of the leaderboard heading into the last day was the overnight chip leader Bruno Volkmann from Brazil with 106 big blinds. He was going for his first-ever GGMillion$ title, but so too was the Serbian player Danilo Velasevic, who only had one big blind fewer than the overnight chip leader.

Behind both the two leaders, each with over 25% of the chips in play but no previous wins, lay a raft of players with plenty of experience in this popular $10,300 weekly tournament. The second Brazilian of three at the final table felt and third overall in the chip count was Rodrigo Selouan with two previous final tables and 88 big blinds.

There was a massive gap to Pieter Aerts with 35 big blinds and a win earlier this year, before the short stacks lined up. Russian player ‘spaise411’ (19BB) had already won the Super MILLION$ three times, with Sven Andersson (18BB) similarly decorated. Sebastian Gaehl (13BB) had no previous wins, but Duco Haven (13BB) had two wins, including one this summer already, and Pablo Silva brought up the rear with just 8 bigs, having previously won it on four occasions.

Early Eliminations Change the Picture

Sebastian Gaehl may have started on 13 big blinds, but it wasn’t long before his stack was busted. All-in for roughly the same number a few minutes later with jack-queen from the small blind. Russian player ‘spaise411’ had an easy call with pocket kings and although Gaehl caught a queen on the flop, no more help came and he busted for $25,000, exactly the same amount as the current big blind itself.

Pablo Silva fell short in his bid for a fifth GGMillion$ title soon after. Calling it off on a flop of T-9-4 with just jack-five, ‘spaise411’ had ace-jack and with a three and a deuce falling on the turn and river sent the brilliant Brazilian to the rail. While ‘spaise411’ had eliminated the first two players, they were still sitting short with just 20 big blinds.

Sven Andersson got his stack on soon after, shoving pre-flop with ace-jack, and being called by Velasevic with ace-queen. There were no surprises on the board of 8-6-3-9-K and Andersson crashed out for a score of $40,148.

Velasevic Pushes for Victory 

Russian player ‘spaise411’ had already won two low-value all-ins when he moved all-in with his own life on the line holding pocket tens. A double-up from his stack of 635,858 would transform his tournament, but he ran into Volkmann’s pocket kings, and the Brazilian easily held when the board of K-9-5-5-4 gave him an unassailable full house on the turn. A cash of $51,679 was of some consolation to the relentless Russian, who so often is found in the late stages of this tournament series.

Next to go was the Dutchman Pieter Aerts, who lost in dramatic circumstances with the best pre-flop hand to the worst pre-flop hand in poker. Pre-flop, Rodrigo Selouan came along for the ride with seven-deuce and Aerts had pocket aces, and on the flop of K-8-7, the Brazilian called Aerts’ bet of 40,000 chips with just bottom pair. That holding improved considerably on the turn of a deuce and after another check-call, Selouan’s shove on the river was called by Aerts, who busted in fifth place for $66,523.

Selouan had built his stack to almost 1.8 million chips, but in one hand, lost it all. His hard work was undone pre-flop, as he raised under-the-gun with king-eight of diamonds, and Velasevic three-bet with ace-king. Selouan shoved and was quickly called by the Serbian, who won after a dry board of J-J-5-9-T condemned the unfortunate Brazilian to a fourth-place finish worth $85,629. Velasevic took the chip lead with the pot.

Two Big Bluffs Picked Off by the Winner 

Three players remained in the hunt for glory in this week’s GGMillion$ and the Serbian player Danilo Velasevic had the lead with 5.6 million. Close behind was the irrepressible Volkmann with 3.89m, while the short stack was miles behind, with Duco Haven having laddered into the podium places with just 621,386 chips.

The Netherlands player Duco Haven was soon on the rail, taking home $110,224 for a run all the way to third place. On a board of J-7-5-2, Haven check-raised with nine-eight against the jack-deuce of Velasevic and got a quick call. The river was a four and Haven bluffed it off, called quickly by the victorious Velasevic.

That pot gave the Serbian a big lead, with his stack of roughly 7 million well ahead of Volkmann with 3 million chips. Again, it was a mistimed bluff, as on a board of 7-5-3-3-9, Volkmann bet big on the turn then shoved the river, being called both times by the winner, Serbian player Danilo Velasevic.

Three Brazilians had made the final table, but none had won, as the Serbian player Velasevic captured his first-ever GGMillion$ crown and the top prize of $182,633. You watch exactly how it played out with commentary from two special guests this week in guest presenter ‘Egption’ and co-commentator ‘Callmelija’.

GGPoker GGMillion$ 4th July 2023 Final Table Results:
Place	Player	Country	Prize
1st	Danilo Velasevic	Serbian	$182,633
2nd	Bruno Volkmann	Brazil	$141,882
3rd	Duco Haven	Netherlands	$110,224
4th	Rodrigo Selouan	Brazil	$85,629
5th	Pieter Aerts	Netherlands	$66,523
6th	spaise411	Russia	$51,679
7th	Sven Andersson	Austria	$40,148
8th	Pablo Silva	Brazil	$31,190
9th	Sebastian Gaehl	Austria	$25,000

Belarussian Player ‘focus_nik’ Wins GGMILLION$ for $195k – July 13, 2023

A thrilling late flurry of hands produced a surprise winner as first-timer Belarussian player ‘focus_nik’ scooped his first GGMILLION$ title for $195,997. Two Brazilian players made the final three but a late collapse for the South Americans led to a surprise victory for the Belarus player after a trio of three-time GGMILLION$ winners all fell in quick succession early on.

Astedt Out First After Long Wait 

The chip leader heading to the final nine was Brazilian player ‘Depaulaispt’, who began with 73 big blinds as they bid to win their first GGMILLION$ title. Just a single big blind behind them was Russia player Konstantin Maslak, who was also looking for their first title in the format. Behind the two leaders without a title was a player with three previous victories, Aliaksei Boika who began today’s final with 54 big blinds.

Behind the podium positions on the leaderboard, it was a deep-stacked final nine. Belarussian, ‘fokus_nik’ (47BB) was hoping for a maiden victory, while Brazil’s Rodrigo Sirichuk (43BB) was going for title #2. Swedish phenom Niklas Astedt (39BB) was going for his fourth title, as was New Zealand’s David Yan (35BB). Montenegran ‘Picasso98’ (35BB) was going for a second title, while the short stack Mexico-based ‘Goku9000’ still had a very playable 32 big blind stack as they went for their first-ever GGMILLION$ win.

The stacks were so deep that despite the entire final table wrapping up in 150 minutes, it took an hour to produce the first casualty of the final table. That player was the Swedish superstar Niklas Astedt, who busted with ace-queen to ‘Goku9000’ holding pocket queens. The board of 7-5-4-7-8 had the Swede drawing to a three-outer from the turn but he couldn’t spike the river and crashed out in ninth place for $31,269.

Five players remained, and it would take an hour for the final stages to play out in this thrilling online poker tournament. The New Zealander got his final six big blinds into the middle with pocket fives only to lose a pivotal flip against the chip leader ‘Depaulaispt’, whose ace-ten hit an ace on the river to further grow his lead over the rest of the field.

Next to go was the Belarussian poker powerhouse Aliaksei Boika. The final player of three in a row who were going for title #4 lost out with pocket kings in a horrible spot. All-in pre-flop with the lead against Rodrigo Sirichuk’s ace-king, he fell behind on the A-4-2 flop and with an eight on the turn and seven on the river, never got it back, typing ‘WHAP!’ into the chat as he disappeared in seventh for $51,270.

It wasn’t long before a fourth bust-out inside 20 minutes of fast and furious action was confirmed. Montenegro’s ‘Picasso98’ shoved from the small blind for six big blinds with ace-seven, but ran into ‘Goku9000’, who once again had pocket queens. Just as Astedt had been, ‘Picasso98’ was after an ace, but the board of 6-4-2-T-J didn’t offer one and was busted in sixth for $65,651.

Five players remained, and it would take an hour for the final stages to play out. ‘Depaulaispt’ led the way with 3.6 million chips, but it was fairly evenly spread behind him, with Sirichuk (2.3m), Goku9000 (2.25m), ‘focus_nik’ (1.4m) and Konstantin Maslak (1m) all having a chance of victory.

Both Brazilians Fall in Frantic Finale 

It was Maslak who bowed out first, losing a flip with ace-king against Sirichuk’s queens with all the money in pre-flop. It was the third time pocket queens had won in a knockout situation, and Sirichuk was never in danger, with a queen landing on the river for good measure to send Maslak home with $84,064.

‘Goku9000’ ran short and shoved with pocket deuces but ran into Depaulaispt’s pocket kings. No help on the board meant the former busted for $107,643. The hand gave ‘Depaulaispt’ the chip lead with only three players remaining. It also meant that two out of three of the podium places would be filled by Brazilian players.

While ‘Depaulaispt’ started three-handed play well, Rodrigo Sirichuk showed why he was the only player of the three to have a previous victory and worked his way into a lead. ‘focus_nik’ was all-in and in massive trouble a few hands later with a king-nine behind ‘Depaulaispt’s ace-queen. A king on the river instead gave him a vital double-up and crippled the overnight leader, who busted with king-deuce to his fellow Brazilian soon after, cashing for $137,834.

Heads-up, Sirichuk had the lead, with 6.2 million chips to Belarussian player ‘focus_nik’ with 4.5m.

A few hands into heads-up play, it was all over. The Belarussian shoved with pocket fives and Sirichuk took his time but eventually called with king-queen of hearts. The board of 4-4-2-7-6 was no good for the Brazilian, who shoved a little later with king-three and was dominated by his opponent’s ace-three. The board ran out J-7-6-5-2 and ended the tournament in the Belarussian’s favor, seeing Sirichuk fall one place short of winning his second Super MILLION$.

With Jeff Gross deep in the WSOP Main Event, this week’s final table was presented by ‘AllinPav’ and Vidur Singhal. You can watch all the action as it happened right here

GGPoker GGMILLION$ July 11th Final Table Results:
Place	Player	Country	Prize
1st	‘focus_nik’	Belarus	$195,997
2nd	Rodrigo Sirichuk	Brazil	$176,494
3rd	‘Depaulaispt’	Brazil	$137,834
4th	‘Goku9000’	Mexico	$107,643
5th	Konstantin Maslak	Russia	$84,064
6th	‘Picasso98’	Montenegro	$65,651
7th	Aliaksei Boika	Belarus	$51,270
8th	David Yan	New Zealand	$40,040
9th	Niklas Astedt	Sweden	$31,269

GGMILLION$ Won by Russian Player ‘Army034’ for $943,000 After Dominant Display – July 26, 2023

The latest GGMILLION$ final table saw a dramatic conclusion as Russian player ‘Army034’ earned the victory for their first-ever GGMILLION$ win, securing them a payday of almost a million dollars at the expense of some poker greats along the way.

An Early Elimination 

Heading into the action, some of poker’s finest players were battling for the bulk of a $6.19 million prize pool. The most recent winner in this format ‘focus_nik’ from Belarus led the field with 78 big blinds as they looked to win their second title in a matter of a few weeks. Behind them eight great players who only had one previous GGMILLION$ win between them gathered.

Russian player ‘Army034 (66 big blinds) was closest to the leader, while the amusingly named ‘Karma is a Cat’ from Canada came in with a purr-fectly acceptable stack of 55 big blinds. Hong Kong’s ‘No-Ola’ (50BB), Lebanese ‘youngmoney23’ (45BB) and Mexico-based ‘LemonHouse’ (44BB) all hovered with intent behind the leaders. Mike ‘SirWatts’ Watson (21BB) was the only previous winner lurking in the lower end of the order, with Kazakhstan’s Dmitry Grinenko (15BB) and Norway’s Linus Hjulstrom (11BB) bringing up the rear.

It was the short-stacked Hjulstrom who busted first, cashing for $122,182 when he ran pocket eights into the pocket queens being held by ‘Army034’. After the excitement of this early hand, the table remained drama free as ‘fokus_nik’ and ‘Army034’ slowly chipped up, accumulating over 60% of the chips in play.

The Slippery Ladder 

Grinenko shoved with ace-queen and the Belarussian chip leader immediately had the chance to grab his chip lead back with pocket sevens. It was Mike Watson, who had woken up with pocket eights, with the winning shove, getting close to a treble up at Grinenko’s expense as the Kazakh player busted in eighth place for $157,014 as the board ran out dry.

Incredibly, after 90 minutes of action, only two players had left but that was all about to change. The blinds were racing through players when Watson shoved from the button with ace-eight of hearts for 15 big blinds, as would be expected. Also to be expected was the call from ‘Army034’ with pocket tens in the next seat. No ace and only one heart on the board signaled defeat for the popular Canadian pro, as he cashed for $202,185.

‘Karma is a Cat’ doubled with seven-five, spiking a five to chip up a little through ‘youngmoney23’, but in the very next hand, got unlucky with pocket nines. Their pre-flop shove was called by ‘Army034’ who was priced in with jack-six. A turned jack reduced the field to five as the Canadian player went home with $260,765.

Soon, only four remained. ‘Army034’ was running over the table, but a clash between two others saw premium hands go to war. Mexican player ‘LemonHouse’ was left feeling bitter when all in with ace-king only to run into ‘No-Ola’, whose pocket kings survived the board of 9-8-7-T-T and sent the Mexico-based player home with $336,734.

Hero Fold 

With four players in the hunt for glory, one player had a huge amount of chips. Russia’s ‘Army034’ looked dominant with 30.3 million chips as ‘No-Ola’ (13.1m), ‘focus_nik’ (9.6m) and ‘youngmoney23’ (8.3m) all jockeyed for position behind them. ‘No-Ola’ found a moment to get all in with a pocket pair, but their deuces were no match for their Russian caller’s pocket aces and ‘Army034’ had taken yet another scalp, the Hong Kong player taking fourth place for $435,253.

The overnight chip leader fell just short in their attempt to win a second title in a matter of weeks as ‘focus_nik’ busted in third place for $563,017. Shoving pre-flop from the small blind with king-jack of diamonds, they were unfortunate to bust to ‘Army034’s eight-deuce of hearts as the board came 5-5-2-K-3 with a heart flush arriving on the turn card of a king.

That pot gave ‘Army034’ a gargantuan chip lead heading into the final duel, as they racked up 52.8 million chips to the Lebanese player ‘youngmoney23’s 8.8 million. Despite this lead, heads-up took over 30 minutes to play out, as the Lebanese player somehow didn’t go bust with hands like king-five on a board of K-8-8-Q-5 when up against the Russian’s king-eight.

Incredibly, the Lebanese player did grind back into contention, even doubled up to just a 2:1 dog when ace-queen beat pocket fives. A little later, however, king-five came back to bite ‘youngmoney23’ as they shoved with a suited version of it and ran into the Russian’s ace-jack. No help came for the Lebanese player and ‘Army034’ was the champion, winning their first-ever GGMILLION$ title and the top prize of $943,582.

You can watch the full final table replay with regular presenter Jeff Gross resuming his seat after WSOP exertions and Peruvian bracelet winner Diego Ventura this week’s special guest co-commentator right here.

GGPoker GG MILLION$ Tue 25th July 2023 Final Table Results:
Place	Player	Country	Prize
1st	Army034	Russia	$943,582
2nd	youngmoney23	Lebanon	$728,706
3rd	focus_nik	Belarus	$563,017
4th	No-Ola	Hong Kong	$435,253
5th	LemonHouse	Mexico	$336,734
6th	Karma is a Cat	Canada	$260,765
7th	Mike Watson	Canada	$202,185
8th	Dmitry Grinenko	Kazakhstan	$157,014
9th	Linus Hjulstrom	Norway	$122,182

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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.