THE DAILY SCOOP – GGMillion$ Season 2025 Episode 1
Volkmann Victorious in GGMillion$ After Thrilling Climax to Weekly Tournament
Bruno Volkmann stunned Barak Wisbrod heads-up as a huge final hand decided the destiny of this week’s GGMillion$ title. Joining regular host Jeff Gross in the commentary box was Brazilian professional Marcelo Tadeu Aziz, who, with over $4.8 million in live winnings and $4.6m in online earnings, is one of the most successful players in recent times in both the online and live arena combined.
The talented Aziz came second in the recent WSOP Paradise Super Main Event at Atlantis Resort in The Bahamas for $4.6 million and is third on the All-Time Money List for Brazil. He also finished 162nd in the WSOP Main Event in Las Vegas and he was a natural on the mic as he brought the action to life alongside the always lively Gross.
All-Russian Clash Ends One Star’s Chances Early
Last week’s winner was—ironically—named ‘Come2Brazil’ despite playing from Canada. This week, two Brazilians were part of the last nine at the final table for their countryman Aziz to commentate on. Bruno Volkmann (63BB) and Bruno Bernardino (38BB) both started with playable stacks, but it was Barak Wisbrod from Israel who led the field with 77 big blinds.
Russians Anatoly Filatov (69BB) and Vladimir Minko (49BB) both had very good chances of victory, while Bulgarian player Yulian Bogdanov (21BB), Estonia’s Ottomar Ladva (19BB), Israel’s Ravid Garbi (16BB) and a third Russian Viktor Ustimov (15BB) a little shorter in their race for glory. The first player to leave the party was the victim of an all-Russian clash as Viktor Ustimov raced with pocket nines against the ace-king of hearts belonging to his countryman Anatoly Filatov. A flop of A-Q-6 immediately vaulted Filatov into the lead, and after a deuce on the turn and a seven on the river, doomed pocket nines to ninth place for Ustimov who earned $51,105.
Eight Seven Remain…
Eight soon became seven, as Israel’s Ravid Garbi committed his stack pre-flop for just under seven big blinds. All-in with queen-nine of clubs, Garbi started and ended his final hand behind Filatov’s off-suit king-jack as a board of K-9-7-7-5 sent the Israeli home with a score of $65,178.
Filatov, with 16% of the chips in play, had started his assault on the title like a runaway train but was forced to switch tactics when his initial under-the-gun pre-flop raise with ace-jack and subsequent calls caused him to give back some chips on a board showing Q-5-2-6 by the turn. Two others were involved, as Volkmann bet with pocket eights and Ottomar Ladva called with ace-nine to put himself at risk for his final few chips, having put 95% of them in the middle pre-flop. A five on the river didn’t help the at-risk Estonian as he lost his chips to Volkmann, and the Brazilian drew level with Filatov at the top of the chip counts. Ladva cashed for $83,127 in seventh place.
And Finishing in Sixth
One feature the GGMillion$ stream brings to the viewer is the Mystery Hand, where the hosts try to figure out what to do when faced with action and seeing only 1 player’s hand. This time, they were playing with Volkmann as the Brazillian min-raised from the button with 8-9 of hearts. One caller, Vladimir Minko, came with Volkmann to see a flop of A-J-2 with 2 hearts as it was checked to the aggressor, who bet one-quarter pot. The turn came down seven of hearts as Minko checked to Volkmann again. Holding a flush and needing an elbow card for a straight flush, Volkmann bet out 301K, just over half the pot, which was again called. The board landed a brick on the river with a nine of spades, and again, Minko checked to Volkmann who put out a bet of 794K into a pot of 1,151K. Minko went into the tank for nearly a full minute as Gross and Aziz discussed the possibilities before calling off the bet for half his stack. Minko lost with 2 pair to Volkmann’s flush, leaving him with just 13 big blinds.
Vladimir Minko never really recovered and, before the level went up, pushed his last 10 big blinds into the middle with ace-ten offsuit. Unfortunately, he ran into Bruno Bernardino holding pocket queens, which held with ease through the board of K-Q-Q-8-A, of course, it always looks easy when you flop quads. Minko was sent home in sixth with $106,018.
A Very Mysterious Mystery Hand
Soon, there was an even bigger mystery hand, as Filatov woke up with sevens on the button. fell in a sensational ‘Mystery Hand’ where Barak Wisbrod’s cards were hidden until the river from viewers. Wisbrod doubled the blind from under the gun as everyone except Filatov folded. The flop came down J-J-7, giving him a full house as both players checked it through. A 9 on the turn prompted Wisbrod to bet 1/4 pot, which Filatov quickly called. A king on the river allowed for a possible straight as Wisbrod let out again with a 1/4 pot-sized bet. Filatov raised it up to 1.2M, which brought the pot to 2.425M. Wisbrod paused before eventually raising all-in, covering Filatov. It took Filatov a moment before calling, only to see his flopped full house was counterfeited by the J-9 of Wisbrod on the turn. Filatov went to the rail in fifth, earning $135,212.
A March to Victory
Four players remained, one of whom was in complete control. Barak Wisbrod’s dominant stack of 10.5 million soared above nearest challenger Bruno Volkmann (4m) and the two short-stacks Bruno Bernardino (2m) and Yulian Bogdanov (1.7m). Three hands later, Bogdanov doubled through Bernardino, and three hands after that, Bernardino was all in pre-flop with A-J in an all-Brazilian race against Bruno Volkmann with pocket fives. The board ran out clean, and Bernardino came out on the wrong side, leaving Volkmann with 4.8M while Bernardino settled on the rail with $172,446.
An extended period passed without any eliminations and the stacks had not changed drastically. Barak Wisbrod was dealt a premium hand and shoved with his offsuit ace-ten only to find he was on the wrong side of the odds when he was called by Bogdanov with ace-king. Wisbrod got lucky, a flop of Q-T-4 catapulting his hand into the lead, leaving Bogdanov drawing nearly dead to a king or running spades. The three of spades was revealed on the turn as his chances improved to 35%. An offsuit eight on the river did nothing to help Bogdanov, and he busted in third place for $219,933.
Seven to Three…Not Enough
Wisbrod’s had a 7:3 chip lead when heads-up play began, but over the next 25 minutes, the Brazilian Volkmann ground his way level. The chip lead went back and forth for a while, with both players taking turns in the lead right until Volkmann rivered two pair, taking a slim lead into what would be the final hand. Wisbrod four-bet all-in with pocket tens, and Volkmann called it off with ace-king. A flop of K-J-9 that paired Volkmann’s king was followed by another jack on the turn and a three on the river to see Wisbrod fail to catch a gutshot straight and crash out in second place for $280,497 as Volkmann claimed the $357,739 top prize.
Watch all the highlights of the action right here in the company of host Jeff Gross and special guest co-commentator Marcelo Tadeu Aziz:
GGMillion$ Final Table Results
| Place | Player | Country | Prize |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1st | Bruno Volkmann | Brazil | $357,739 |
| 2nd | Barak Wisbrod | Israel | $280,497 |
| 3rd | Yulian Bogdanov | Poland | $219,933 |
| 4th | Bruno Bernardino | Brazil | $172,446 |
| 5th | Anatoly Filatov | Russia | $135,212 |
| 6th | Vladimir Minko | Russia | $106,018 |
| 7th | Ottomar Ladva | Estonia | $83,127 |
| 8th | Ravid Garbi | Israel | $65,178 |
| 9th | Viktor Ustimov | Russia | $51,105 |
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.