GGPOKER

Aleks Ponakovs Claims Sixth GGMillion$ Title – GGMillion$ Season 2026 Episode 32

The latest $10,000 GGMillion$ showdown saw nine of the world’s best poker players gather to battle it out for a bumper top prize of $476,603. In the end, it was the Latvian poker legend Aleks Ponakovs who won his sixth title in the format after the heads-up destruction of overnight leader Guillaume Nolet sealed the victory. 

Pre-Match Betting Odds

Bringing the action to life last night were regular host Jeff Gross alongside the online tournament crusher Bryan Paris. As they settled into their seats, the overwhelming favorite was the Canadian player Guillaume Nolet. Sitting on an impressive stack of 115 big blinds, last week’s fourth-place finisher for $194,226 was hoping to finish three places higher without the challenge of overcoming Michael Addamo. When play began, Nolet was backable at odds of 2.84 in the GGPoker client.

Second in chips heading into the action, and the only player with more than half of the chip leaders’ stack, was the Latvia WSOP bracelet winner Aleks Ponakovs, who began with 65 bigs and was available at odds of 4.92, attractive odds given his level of experience. Brazilian player Ramon Kropmanns started on 40 big blinds, and was priced at 9.12, while GGMillion$ final table regular Sven Andersson (38BB/9.18) was next and our pick of the chasing pack. Israeli player Barak Wisbrod (30BB/9.60), another regular winner in GGMillion$ events, was hoping that a good start could propel him into contention. 

Outsiders in chip terms but solid bets nonetheless, two Austrian players, Max Buschman  (27BB/11.72) and Johannes Straver (23BB/12.66), had every chance of glory if they got an early double, and the same applied to Argentinian player Marco Perez(21BB/19.48), no stranger to the final table in this format. Maltese player ‘SuperFish5555’ began with just 17 big blinds and was the rank outsider at odds of 28.60. 

Key Moments from the Felt

It was three-quarters of an hour before Johannes Straver became the first player ousted from the final table. Afer dropping to less than four big blinds, the Austrian shoved with king-queen and was called by Ramon Kropmanns with ace-three in the big blind. The flop wasn’t a kind one for the at-risk player, coming ten-high. Any paint would have saved Straver, but none appeared on the turn or river as the Austrian was sent to the rail in ninth place with $59,575.

An early raise from Ponakovs in a hand shortly afterward looked to have lined up perfectly for the Maltese player ‘SuperFish5555’ who moved all-in for six big blinds with ace-king. The Latvian had ace-queen but folded after a call from Kropmanns, who was sitting with pocket jacks (1:36:00). The Brazilian Kropmanns’ pocket pair was looking good to take out the Maltese player. An ace on the flop changed the script, but there was a dramatic rewrite on the turn as a two-outer jack came to end matters in the Brazilian’s favor and give him his second elimination, as ‘SuperFish5555’ earned $77,259 in eighth.

It took a little longer, but eventually, Marco Perez completed a trio of exits for the three starting short stacks at the final table. All-in with pocket fours for eight bigs, Perez was in horrible shape against the pocket kings of Sven Andersson. A flop of J-T-2 kept Perez behind, and no help on the turn meant he was drawing to two outs on the river, the four did not come as a queen landed, and the Argentinian left with $100,193.

Four hands later, German pro Max Buschmann moved all-in (2:13:42) from the small blind with ace-deuce and was called by Andersson with king-seven in the big blind. The flop contained an ace and made Buschmann a 98% favorite to double up, but the Swede caught some luck on the seven turn and completed a miraculous overtake on the king river, his runner-runner two-pair ending the German’s chances as he cashed for $129,935 in sixth place. 

The Israeli Barak Wisbrod was the next player to depart, finishing in fifth place for $168,504. Calling a raise with king-eight, he was dominating the king-three of the chip leader Ponakovs pre-flop, but the Latvian hit gold and overtook him on the K-6-3 flop. All the money went in, and an ace on the turn and seven on the river didn’t help Wisbrod as he was knocked out of the tournament.

The four remaining players were the same ones who started in the top four on the leaderboard, but in a different order. Latvia’s Aleks Ponakovs was now in the lead with 12.2 million chips. The overnight leader Nolet, sat in second on 6.1m, with Ramon Kropmanns (4.0m) and Sven Andersson (3.9m) both chasing hard.

A pre-flop shove by Kropmanns for over 4m chips with ace-seven in the big blind was a bold move, but it was snapped off by the pre-flop aggressor Ponakovs with pocket nines. The chip leader easily stayed ahead across the board and reduced the field to just three, as the Brazilian departed with a cash worth $218,523.

Ponakovs was on a roll, and that didn’t stop when Sven Andersson three-bet all-in with king-queen of clubs. (2:53:58) The Latvian had woken up with ace-queen, and while he found a fold with the same hand earlier in the final table, this time he called, much to his delight as he saw he was dominating the at-risk player. Two clubs on the flop made sure there was a sweat, but no other club or a life-saving king came on the turn or river as they were both safe cards for Ponakovs, who took a lead of 2:1 into the heads-up battle as Andersson cashed for $283,390 in third.

Heads-up, the chips were reversed, but the two at the top when play began had made the final showdown. Ponakovs had double the chips of his opponent, Nolet, but the heads-up match was an epic one. Ponakovs held the lead for a long time, at one point moving 3:1 in chips clear. That lead evaporated, however, as Nolet battled back to almost even in chips. 

The final hand, which took nearly an hour to reach, was a long way off, but with blinds at the nosebleed level of 250,000/500,000, every decision was pivotal. (3:55:00) Ponakovs raised with pocket tens, and Nolet shoved with pocket fours. The Latvian quickly called and was in a superb position to claim victory. The board of 7-7-3-5-8 confirmed the win for Ponakovs, who “put on a clinic,” as Jeff Gross put it, in winning his sixth GGMillion$ title and the top prize of $476,603, with the overnight leader Nolet taking a runner-up result worth $367,511.

This Week’s GGMillion$ Results – September 1st, 2026

With Canadian Guillaume Nolet reaching the top four in consecutive weeks but falling short again, it was the Latvian Alkes Ponakovs who added a sixth GGMillion$ title to his resume. The WSOP bracelet winner had performed brilliantly all evening and sealed the win with a dominating hand. 

“This guy is incredible. He just showed you how good it is possible to be,” said Bryan Paris. “He dominated the entire time; there’s levels to this game and Ponakovs is really, truly great. I’m glad we got to witness that.”

With the WSOP Online Main Event around the corner on GGPoker and yet more glory to come in the GGMillion$, Ponakovs put down a marker with his latest win, just four short of the record.

Here are all the winners from this week’s GGMillion$ final table:

Place	Player	Country	Prize
1st	Alekx Ponakovs	Latvia	$476,503
2nd	Guillaume Nolet	Canada	$367,511
3rd	Sven Andersson	Sweden	$283,390
4th	Ramon Kropmanns	Brazil	$218,523
5th	Barak Wisbrod	Israel	$168,504
6th	Max Bushmann	Germany	$129,935
7th	Marco Perez	Argentina	$100,193
8th	‘SuperFish5555’	Malta	$77,259
9th	Johannes Straver	Austria	$59,575

Did Nolet Give the Game Away?

Aleks Ponakovs deserves a lot of credit for playing himself into a leading position, but deep in the heads-up battle, was Guillaume Nolet right to three-bet shove for 24 big blinds with pocket fours? Nolet’s decision likely came down to reads on what Ponakovs had shoved with previously, since those shoves had worked. Sadly for Nolet, this is where he misstepped. 

During the final, Ponakovs had shown everyone that he rated a mid-range pair slightly higher than he did two drawing cards. Folding ace-queen in a spot where he could have knocked out two players was by no means the wrong call, but equally, if he had called the two all-in moves with the dominant stack, it wouldn’t have been an awful play. He folded and got the news that he was behind Kropmanns’ ace-king on that occasion. Later on, he called off a shove with pocket nines, where some may have folded, but he was absolutely right to do so, starting and staying well ahead of ace-seven to claim another victim.

In the final hand, Nolet needed to weigh up not what Ponakovs is shoving with, but what he might then call a shove with. If it is two higher drawing cards, then Nolet was choosing to flip, not a shameful decision, just as factoring in folds is perfectly acceptable. If it’s a pair, then anything other than deuces or treys is a disaster. We know from the final table that there was a higher chance of it being a pair, and that’s why the final hand went in the Latvian’s favor.

Here’s how this week’s thrilling GGMillion$ final table played out:

2026 Week 31                                          2026 Week 33

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.

* The pre-game pick is the sole opinion of the author. It in no way reflects or affects the outcome of the final table.

---

Edited by Shawn A.