THE DAILY SCOOP – GGMillion$ Season 2023 Episode 21
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Andrii Novak Wins Second GGMILLION$ Title for $250,000
This week’s GGMILLION$ lit up the online streets, as Andrii Novak claimed his second title in thrilling circumstances. There was a late rollercoaster pot that will be right up there whenever the next ‘best hands of’ compilation from GGPoker is put together, as a close fight four-handed eventually saw the Ukrainian reign supreme in the weekly $10,300-entry high roller tournament series.
Six Former Champions Chasing Second Victory as Delgado Falls First
There were nine finalists who made it through to the second and final day of this week’s $10,300-entry GGMILLION$ final table. After ending Day 1 with six of those nine having been previous winners but not one of them having claimed a second victory, the final could not have been better poised as regular presenter Jeff Gross and special guest co-commentator Adam Hendrix described the action.
Top of the leaderboard heading into the final showdown was the brilliantly named Brazilian ‘GTO DONK’, who began with 94 big blinds. Second in chips was Artur Martirosian, who joined the leader in chasing his second win, albeit with only 75 big blinds. Behind the two leaders, Cypriot player ‘MagicDonald’ (53BB) was going for their first win, while Chinese player ‘Lucky Ming’ (38BB) going for title number two.
Chris Klodnicki (37BB) was hoping to take the title for Canada for the first time, with Andrii Novak (36BB) attempting a run at a second victory. Vicente Delgado (31BB) was firing for a maiden victory, while the short stacks, Nikita Kuznetsov (22BB) and Leon Sturm (16BB), were also chasing a second win.
Perhaps surprisingly, it was the Spanish player Vicente Delgado who busted first, slipping from seventh place to bust first of the nine for $34,877. On just the second hand, he moved all-in pre-flop with ace-ten offsuit but ran into pocket jacks held by ‘GTO DONK’. The jacks held with ease through the Q-J-4-3-3 board to reduce the field to eight and give the chip leader an even bigger advantage than he started with.
Sturm Blown Out of Contention Early
Half an hour into play, the second play busted, and it was the German player Leon Sturm who crashed out. The young phenom shoved pre-flop with queen-nine of spades when short-stacked and was called by ‘GOT DONK’ with pocket sixes. The flop looked beautiful for Sturm, as it came Q-9-2. A six on the turn was a dagger to his chances, and the river deuce only completed the Brazilian’s full house, sending Sturm to the rail for $44,660.
Chris Klodnicki busted for $57,186 when he ran a pre-flop four-bet with ace-ten into ‘MagicDonald’ who held pocket aces. The flop of T-2-2 looked great to Klodnicki, who put the rest of his chips into the middle, but two pair was no good, and he couldn’t catch another ten on the turn or river, exiting in seventh place.
It was some time before another player busted, but when Nikita Kuznetsov lost a flip with pocket eights against Andrii Novak’s ace-king of hearts, it started a chain reaction of quick all-ins. Novak caught an ace on the “dagger turn” as Gross described it and the Ukrainian was just 1.5BB behind ‘Lucky Ming’ at the top of the leaderboard as Kuznetsov left with $73,226. Soon, the field was down to just four, as Artur Martirosian got it in bad with ace-nine crushed by ‘MagicDonald’ holding ace-ten. The board actually gave both players a flush, but it was ‘MagicDonald’s ten that was higher than the Russian’s nine in the flushing suit of clubs.
Close Fight Ends with Novak Heroics
With four players chasing glory, it was tough to pick a winner, or for Gross and Hendrix to predict who’d be buying the other dinner, as per the show’s traditional weekly wager of a meal out for whoever picked the eventual champion. Novak was the chip leader with 3.46 million, but the chips were fairly evenly distributed, with ‘Lucky Ming’ (3.07m), ‘MagicDonald’ (3.02m), and ‘GTO DONK’ (2.5m), all with a great chance to end the event with all the chips.
It was the Brazilian overnight leader ‘GTO DONK’ who got it in good pre-flop with pocket tens against ‘MagicDonald’s king-three suited. A king on the flop spelled doom for the South American player and, by winning the pot, the Cyprus-based ‘MagicDonald’ took the chip lead.
One hand later, Novak was at risk, all in for fewer chips than ‘Lucky Ming’ and needing to win a crucial flip. Novak had pocket sevens and needed to hold against the Chinese player’s ace-ten with the ten of clubs. The flop was 9-8-7 in clubs, as Novak bagged the bottom set to move ahead but ‘Lucky Ming’ had the straight flush draw. The flush came with the five of clubs on the turn, but the river brought the nine of hearts, pairing the board and giving Novak a superior full house.
‘Lucky Ming’ lasted only a short time longer, all-in with tens to be crushed by Novak’s pocket queens, as the Chinese player busted in third place for $153,738. That meant Novak had the chip lead going into the final battle, with Novak (6.8m) going for his second title in an attempt to deny ‘MagicDonald’ (5.2m) their first.
A series of small pots went Novak’s way, quickly establishing him a near 4:1 chip advantage. ‘MagicDonald’ shoved for 2 million chips with ace-four and Novak called with a total stack of 10 million holding ace-seven, a board of A-8-Q-3-7 condemning the Cypriot to second place for $196,859 and giving Andrii Novak a second GGMILLION$ title, taking $252,073 back to Ukraine!
You can watch a full replay of the final table action in the company of Jeff Gross and Adam Hendrix and find out who won the side bet right here!
GGPoker GG MILLION$ 8th August 2023 Final Table Results: | |||
Place | Player | Country | Prize |
1st | Andrii Novak | Ukraine | $252,073 |
2nd | MagicDonald | Cyprus | $196,859 |
3rd | Lucky Ming | China | $153,738 |
4th | GTO DONK | Brazil | $120,063 |
5th | Artur Martirosian | Russia | $83,764 |
6th | Nikita Kuznetsov | Russia | $73,226 |
7th | Chris Klodnicki | Canada | $57,186 |
8th | Leon Sturm | Germany | $44,660 |
9th | Vicente Delgado | Spain | $34,877 |
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.
