GGPOKER

Malinov Marches to Victory in – GGMillion$ Season 2025 Episode 45

This week’s pre-Christmas GGMillion$ was one of the most enjoyable of the year, as Jeff Gross played Santa Claus as regular host and was joined by his cheeky elf-like sidekick Alexandros Kolonias in the virtual booth. With the Russian player Arsenii Malinov taking a huge lead into the action, the online poker boss bullied his opponents in a frankly ludicrous masterclass of chip dominance to win the last GGMillion$ title before the Yuletide period.

PLAY TEXAS HOLD’EM POKER!

Pre-Match Betting Odds

As the final table of nine gathered, eight of them could be forgiven for hoping that they were not joined by the chip leader, such was the Russian player Arsenii Malinov’s domination. Piling up a gargantuan 118 big blinds, the Russian’s lead was one of the biggest seen this year, and as such, he was only available at odds of 2.98 before the cards went into the air. Malinov’s closest rival, Israel’s ‘Lastchanc’,  was close with 97 big blinds himself, on offer in the client at odds of 5.06.

Behind the top two, the Dutch master Duco Haven sat on 60 bigs, with his recent record meaning he was our pre-match bet at odds of 5.32. Next in chips, from the United Arab Emirates, was ‘CallMeCEO’ sitting on 42 bigs, with odds of 10.68 attached to the less frequent player, while Argentina’s most in-form online poker player Ezequiel Kleinman was on available at 18.44. 

Despite starting behind the top five, the record-holding GGMillion$ winner Artur Martirosian was only available at odds of 10.36 with 23 big blinds. The Russian was followed in the counts by Canada’s Mark Radoja (23BB/16) with outsiders Erik Bauer (22/15.52) and Greek Online Poker Millionaires star Alex Theologis (15/23.12) both hoping for an early double to fire themselves back into contention. 

Key Moments from the Felt

Ezequiel Kleinman (1:13:30) was in a terrific position to get right back into contention when Malinov sent him packing in unfortunate circumstances. Lady luck wasn’t only refusing to smile on the Argentinian Kleinman, she was positively grimacing at him when he got his chips in good with pocket aces on a 7-6-2 flop. Malinov had made the post-flop call for all the chips with pocket nines. A two-outer nine landed on the turn to give the chip leader the set. No ace came on the river, and $47,330 went to the departing Kleinman. 

Out in eighth place was the record-holding GGMillion$ end boss Artur Martirosian, whose ace-queen played itself as he shoved into the pocket aces belonging to his countryman Malinov. The aces held to send Martirosian home with $60,364. Soon after, the Russian had company on the rial in the form of another GGMillion$ titan. Duco Haven, who has been a star on GGPoker over the past 12 months, and has made regular appearances at the final table of this event. Shoving with the king-queen of spades, he ran into Malinov’s ace-queen, and a gutshot sweat to the river was as close as the Dutchman would get, exiting for $76,987. 

Soon, six became five, as the Slovakian Erik Bauer went out for $98,187. King-queen of spades was the hand of death, losing to the ace-nine of Lastchanc, as a board of A-8-5-6-J played out to send the Slovakian to the rail. 

(1:35:30) GGPoker documentary subject Alex Theologis crashed out in fifth place for $125,225 when his pocket tens fell to Malinov’s pocket aces as the chip leader continued to brutalise the table. Holding nearly 75% of the chips in play, the Russian was able to exert maximum pressure on his opponents and punished them all in turn. Mark Radoja dropped with ace-eight to ‘Lastchanc’ with ace-four in fourth place for $159,709 when a four landed on the flop and turn (1:44:30). Thereafter, it was a relentless march to glory for the Russian, as ‘Lastchanc’ fell with ace-jack to Malinov’s third pocket aces of the final table. 

Heads-up with a massive 6:1 chip lead, Malinov beat ‘CallMeCEO’ when pocket deuces beat the aces of his U.A.E. opponent to take the title (1:58:40) in style.

This Week’s GGMillion$ Results – December 23rd, 2025

This week’s $10,000 GGMillion$ was an absolute epic and saw Arsenii Malinov dominate the final table with a series of sleigh-ings on his way to wrapping up the top present… ahem, prize of $331,315. Beating the U.A.E. player ‘CallMeCEO’ heads-up was child’s play for the Russian, with ducks taking down rockets at the last. 

Here are all the pre-Christmas winners from the last GGMillion$ before the big day.

Place	Player	Country	Prize
1st	Arsenii Malinov	Russia	$331,315
2nd	‘CallMeCEO’	United Arab Emirates	$259,778
3rd	‘LastChanc’	Israel	$203,688
4th	Mark Radoja	Canada	$159,709
5th	Alex Theologis	Greece	$125,225
6th	Erik Bauer	Slovakia	$98,187
7th	Duco Haven	Netherlands	$76,987
8th	Artur Martirosian	Russia	$60,364
9th	Ezequiel Kleinman	Argentina	$47,330

Did Anyone Miss a Chance to Topple Malinov?

While the Russian chip leader came into play with a dominant chip stack, he wasn’t miles clear, and others had chances to take him down… so who could have scored but missed instead? Looking back, perhaps the opening exchanges relied on Malinov exerting pressure on his opponents more than the late stages. 

Malinov’s aggression really kicked in once he had the huge lead, and players tumbled like skittles. In the early levels, Duco Haven and Mark Radoja played perfect ICM without utilising opportunities to turn the tables on the chip leader. 

Of the chasing pack, credit must go to Alex Theologis. The subject of the GGPoker documentary Online Poker Millionaires, who bullied his way from being eighth going into play to a fifth-placed finish worth over $125,000.

Watch all the action in the company of Jeff Gross and Alexandros Kolonias right here:

 

2025 GGMillion$ Live                                          2025 Week 46

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.