Linus Loeliger Wins Latest GGMillion$ for Bumper $484,000 Top Prize
This week’s GGMillion$ on GGPoker proclaimed the Swiss Online poker star Linus Loeliger the winner, for a top prize of $484,385. With legends of the felt such as Ole Schemion, Andrii Novak, Barak Wisbrod, and GGMillion$ regular ‘spaise411’ all present, there was a royal battle at the online felt.
Gross Joined by Feldman in the Booth
It was regular host Jeff Gross and poker player and Hustler Casino Live co-owner and producer Ryan Feldman on comms and they had a classic GGMillion$ to describe to viewers. A total of 242 entries meant a prize pool of well over $2.4 million in this $10,300-entry weekly online event and leading the final nine was Linus Loeliger on 95 big blinds. ‘LisFlower’ from Brazil (73B) and Israel’s Barak Wisbrod (72BB) were the closest challengers to the overnight chip leader.
Lower down the pecking order, Mexico-based ‘LemonHouse’ (38BB), Nico Koop (25BB), Belarussian Nike Mihao (22BB), Russian ‘spaise411’ (18BB), Ukrainian Andrii Novak (16BB) and German Ole Schemion (2BB) as the short stack. They all had varying degrees of hope coming into the final table, with the former multiple GGMillion$ champion Schemion most at threat of losing his stack.
On the second hand of the night, it was indeed Ole Schemion who faced an early exit. With his king-jack, he went up against the ace-nine held by ‘spaise411.’ The board came down T-T-6-3-T, and the Russian’s kicker played, sealing Schemion’s fate. This unfortunate hand meant that Schemion was the first to bust, cashing out for $60,548. It was a disappointing finish for the seasoned pro, whose early elimination set the tone for a night of intense action.
Novak Not the One
While ‘spaise411’ emerged victorious on that hand, their success on lived for another 35 minutes. They got he chips all-in pre-flop with pocket nines, hoping for another win. However, they were met by Linus Loeliger’s pocket jacks. The board played out K-7-6-5-Q, dashing ‘spaise411’s’ hopes and sending them to the rail. Their efforts earned them a respectable $78,521, but it was Loeliger who continued his march towards the top.
Ukrainian Andrii Novak busted in the very next hand, moving all-in on the river when he eventually called off his stack on a board showing K-T-T-6-2. Tabling trips with an ace-ten, he was forced to the rails by Barak Wisbrod, who had pocket kings for a flopped full house! This stunning hand brought Wisbrod close to the chip lead, as the Ukrainian cashed for $101,829 in seventh place.
Out next was the Mexican ‘LemonHouse’, who three-bet shoved with ace-king of hearts pre-flop and was called by ‘LisFlower’ who work up with pocket jacks. A flop of Q-9-5 kept the at-risk player behind and after another nine on the turn, an eight on the river with no hearts to be seen, sent the Mexican player home with $132,056.
Three hands later, there was some blind-on-blind action with five left as Wisbrod with king-jack and Koop with queen-ten got the chips in the middle before the flop of 9-4-2 fell. A five on the turn was no help to Koop and a rivered three only meant he was the next victim of an early exit, busting in fifth place for a score of $171,256.
Wisbrod Hits Miracle But ‘LLinusLLove’ Wins
Down to four-handed, Loeliger held the lead on 9.9 million chips, with ‘LisFlower’ closest on 8 million chips, Wisbrod sitting with 5.4m, and Mihao, a bit further back, with 1.8m. Mihao only spent three hands as the short stack. The Belarussian shoved with king-jack of spades and was quickly called by Loeliger with ace-ten. The flop of 7-4-2 kept the Swiss player ahead. A deuce on the turn followed by a ten on the river changed nothing and Mihao was on the virtual rail with $222,091.
Three-handed play lasted a little longer but saw ‘LisFlower’ shot down at the last for a score of $288,017. They shoved fifteen minutes later with king-nine of diamonds for just five big blinds. Loeliger, now racing clear, called with king-queen and a clean board of J-J-6-2-4. That sent play to heads-up and with Loeliger holding an almost 2.5:1 chip lead, there was a clear favorite… and a clear underdog.
The final duel of the match, which lasted half again as long as the table had already played, saw Loeliger continue to dominate. Wisbrod fought back and though he dropped as short at down to 3 million chips, he was constantly able to double back into contention. Everything was going Wisbrod’s way, and he even doubled up again with ace-three against ace-queen, two threes on the flop providing another miraculous escape. In the very next hand, Wisbrod raised then called it off with ace-nine only to see Linus Loeliger tabling pocket sevens which held through the K-4-2-6-T board to proclaim the Swiss online legend the winner for $484,385.
Watch all the action in the company of Jeff Gross and Ryan Feldman right here!
| Place | Player | Country | Prize |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1st | Linus Loeliger | Switzerland | $484,385 |
| 2nd | Barak Wisbrod | Israel | $373,512 |
| 3rd | ‘LisFlower’ | Brazil | $288,017 |
| 4th | Nike Mihao | Belarus | $222,091 |
| 5th | Nico Koop | Austria | $171,256 |
| 6th | ‘LemonHouse’ | Mexico | $132,056 |
| 7th | Andrii Novak | Ukraine | $101,829 |
| 8th | ‘spaise411’ | Russia | $78,521 |
| 9th | Ole Schemion | Germany | $60,548 |
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.