THE DAILY SCOOP – GGMillion$ Season 2024 Episode 43
GGMillion$ Won by Volodymyr Palamar for $315,000
A brilliant finish saw Ukraine’s Volodymyr Palamar take home the top prize of $315,092 as he triumphed heads-up against a resurgent Russian poker legend. The weekly $10,300 entry GGMillion$ tournament has become the jewel in GGPoker’s crown and the premier regular online poker tournament, and this week’s bragging rights went to Ukraine as the shortest stack with three players remaining proved a dogged underdog to take the win.
Wisbrod Whiffs the Board
There was no runaway chip leader heading into the final table, with Belarussian ‘D Kravchenko’ leading the way with 82 big blinds. Two Brazilians were closest to the chip leader, with Fabiano Kovalski (75BB) and Bruno Volkmann (53BB) close enough to provide a stiff challenge. Another Belarussian heavyweight, Mikalai Vaskaboinikau (50BB), sat behind those challengers, with Ukrainian Volodymyr Palamar (42BB) fifth in the rankings before the final table began.
Others still in the hunt for glory but much shorter stacked were Latvian Aleks Ponakovs (24BB), Israel’s GGMillion$ regular Barak Wisbrod (24BB), Swiss online poker machine Diego Zeiter (20BB), and the shortest stack, Russian player Nikita Kuznetsov, who started with just 10 big blinds.
The first player to bust was regular GGMillion$ final table player Barak Wisbrod. He left in ninth place for $43,597 when he shoved pre-flop with ace-king offsuit, only to be called by the ace-jack of Diego Zeiter. The Swiss player held the ace of hearts, and after two hearts on the flop gave hope to the underdog, another arrived on turn and again on the river to give Zeiter the nut flush, sending Wisbrod from the felt first.
Kovalski Crashes After Double Disaster
There was a surprise exit in eighth place as Mikalai Vaskiboinikau from Belarus scored $55,825 despite starting the final in fourth place. All-in and at-risk pre-flop with ace-nine, the Belarussian needed to hit when Volodymyr Palamar called with pocket sevens. The flop of A-K-7 left the Belarussian player nearly drawing dead. No help came on turn or river, meaning Palamar’s flopped bottom set of sevens won the day and reduced the field to seven.
There was another big pre-flop confrontation to send the Latvian Ponakovs home in seventh place for $71,483. All-in pre-flop with ace-queen of spades, Ponakovs needed to hit after he was called by Fabiano Kovalski with pocket jacks. An eight-high board was no good for the Latvian as he fell, sending the pot to Kovalski, who jumped up into second place with just six remaining.
Despite winning that hand and gaining all the momentum, Kovalski proved true the old poker adage that any player was only ever two hands from the exit. First, he was unfortunate to double up short stack Nikita Kuznetsov when the Russian’s small blind shove with nine-ten of hearts overtook Kovalski’s ace-jack call from the big blind. Running nines on turn and river halved Kovalski’s stack, and in the next hand, his shove with ace-seven from the small blind ran into Kravchenko’s ace-nine in the big. No help came to the Brazilian’s aid, sending Kovalski home with $91,532.
“That’s why you can’t just catch the knockouts, so much happens in between,” said Jeff Gross.
“[His stack] turned to dust in 60 seconds,” agreed co-commentator Sebastian Crema. “It shows you how insane these final tables can be.”
Palamar Pushes for Glory
Five players were racing to the finish, and soon, the other Brazilian at the virtual felt would hit the rails. All-in pre-flop with ace-six of spades, Volkmann ran into Kravchenko’s pocket queens. He couldn’t overtake the ladies and was forced to the rail with $117,205. Diego Zeiter followed him to the rail just three hands later, shoving with the short stack holding king-jack. He was called by Kutznetsov with pocket nines. The board came down 6-4-3-2-4 to send the Swiss player home with $150,079.
A trio of talented players remained, with Kravchenko leading on 7.9 million chips. Kuznetsov, who had started the day rock bottom of the chipcounts with just 10 big blinds, was on 4.45 million, and Palamar brought up the rear of 2.8 million. Despite these stacks, it all went wrong for Kravchenko, who dropped just behind Palamar before getting it all in bad with ace-ten. Palamar called with ace-jack. There was no help across the board as Kravchenko was sent home with $192,173 in third.
The Final Two
Heads-up, Palamar had a slight lead and won the title in short order after diamonds proved his best friend. On a flop of J-9-8 with two diamonds, Kuznetsov got it in with ten-deuce of diamonds for the straight and flush draw combo. Palamar called with queen-four of diamonds, and it was the correct call. A ten of clubs on the turn made him an overwhelming favorite to win while Kuznetsov was suddenly drawing to a chop. A three of clubs landed on the river to conclude the event, and a thrilling final table was over with the Ukrainian celebrating a tremendous victory and taking home $315,092.
Having been a huge 30-to-1 underdog to start, Russian Nikita Kuznetsov came in ninth and ended as runner-up for $246,073, a stunning performance that very nearly bagged him the title.
Watch all the action as it happened in this week’s exciting GGMillion$ finale with Jeff and Sebastian right here:
Watch all the action from the final table right in the company of him and regular host Jeff Gross:
GGMillion$ Final Table Results
| Place | Player | Country | Prize |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1st | Volodymyr Palamar | Ukraine | $315,092 |
| 2nd | Nikita Kuznetsov | Russia | $246,073 |
| 3rd | D. Kravchenko | Belarus | $192,173 |
| 4th | Diego Zeiter | Switzerland | $150,079 |
| 5th | Bruno Volkmann | Brazil | $117,205 |
| 6th | Fabiano Kovalski | Brazil | $91,532 |
| 7th | Aleks Ponakovs | Latvia | $71,483 |
| 8th | Mikalai Vaskaboinkau | Belarus | $55,825 |
| 9th | Barak Wisbrod | Israel | $43,597 |
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.