GGPOKER

Samuel Vousden Wins Ninth GGMillion$ From the Middle of the Pack – GGMillion$ Season 2026 Episode 20

The Finnish online poker legend Samuel ‘€urop€an’ Vousden won this week’s GGMillion$ for a top prize of $401,900 after beating the German pro Leon Sturm heads-up for the title as part of the GG World Festival. With some of the world’s best online poker players making the prestigious final, regular host Jeff Gross was joined in the virtual broadcast booth by the American professional Jared Jaffee, and what a show they brought to life. 

Pre-Match Betting Odds

As the final table began, the chips were widely spread, but there was a clear leader who was a deserving favorite in the GGPoker client. It was the Russian player Aleksandr Blokhin who began with the lead and holding 85 big blinds, he had odds of just 4.12 to take the title. Germany’s Leon Sturm was Blokhin’s closest challenger on 61 bigs, and was available at 4.94, while Spanish GG legend Juan Dominguez (52BB/5.14) was third in chips. 

Germany’s David Kaufmann sat on 47 big blinds and was available at odds of 9.18, but our spidey senses were tingling at the eight-time GGMillion$ champion, Samuel Vousden, being available at odds of 6.50. The Finnish player may have been the middle-ranked player on 42 big blinds, but the vast experience of ‘€urop€an’ meant he was a great bet for the win.

Elsewhere in the leaderboard, Austrian player ‘s00nShine’ (40BB/10.52) had a very playable stack, while three short stacks behind him all needed a lot of help. Portuguese player Diogo Coelho (14BB/21.06) was marginally ahead of Singapore-based ‘Rollpounder’ (13BB/22.64), with the Brazilian pro Alisson Piekazewicz starting on just 11 big blinds at odds of 26.42.

Key Moments from the Felt

It took less than one orbit to find the first victim of the final table, and it was ‘Rollpounder’ who busted in ninth place for $50,237. All-in with ace-queen of hearts, he lost a classic coinflip to the pocket eights of Diogo Coelho as the Brazilian held through the board of 7-6-5-K-J to reduce the field to eight players.

The Austrian player, ‘s00nShine’ was next to go, cashing for $65,150 as he busted in eighth place. All-in on the flop with the inferior king-queen, he lost to David Kaufmann’s ace-king when an ace-high board left the Austrian with only a doomed shot at Broadway from the flop to the river. Then, six hands later, the Brazilian player Alisson Piekazewicz was all-in preflop with pocket sixes, but he had picked the worst possible time. Up against Blokhin’s king-three and Sturm’s queen-jack, a board of J-9-7-J-A sent the South American home with $84,489.

The Portuguese player Diogo Coelho was put in a horrible position with six players left (1:49:37). Holding pocket aces, a board of T-9-7-Q had played out by the time Juan Dominguez put him to the ultimate test, moving all-in over the Portuguese player’s c-bet. Coelho thought for some time and eventually found the call only to be greeted by the bad news as the Spanish pro turned over queen-ten for two-pair. He drew dead on the river, and Coelho busted for $109,568.

Down to five players, Leon Sturm held the chip lead, but everyone was still in with a chance of victory. That was until Juan Dominguez moved all-in with ace-nine of spades (2:31:29) and Samuel Vousden called with king-queen. It looked good for the Spanish pro and GG legend until the turn, when a king landed to vault Vousden into the lead. His hand held through the river, and Dominguez was out for $142,093 in fifth.

David Kaufmann was the next player to lose their tournament life. Running short, the German hit the T-9-3 flop with king-nine and eventually shipped his last 5.5 big blinds on the turn of a five. He was unfortunately busted by Vousden, as the Finnish player had ace-nine and had his opponent out-kicked to send Kaufmann to the virtual rails in fourth place for $184,272.

Three-handed lasted only a short time after a stunning exit for the overnight chip leader. Blokhin loved the Q-J-8 flop with his queen-eight hand (3:11:01) and bet almost half of his stack on the turn four. Vousden called with king-jack. A king on the river practically took care of Blokhin by itself. The Russian moved all-in. Vousden called. And Blokhin busted for $238,971 in third place. 

Heads-up, Vousden had a huge chip lead, with 17.7 million playing Leon Sturm with 4.1 million. That better-than-4:1 lead proved insurmountable for the German, although he’d reduced those arrears a little by the time the crucial final hand played out. Vousden three-bet all-in with pocket threes, and the German’s ace-ten suited was simply too good not to call, which he did. (3:24:48) A flop of K-J-3 meant Sturm was down to four outs from the flop, and the ace on the turn changed nothing. Only a queen could save him, but the river was an innocuous five, and it was all over. While Sturm’s skills saw him ladder to a very respectable score of $309,907 in second place, Vousden’s win was worth an epic $401,900 and his ninth GGMillion$ title, putting him second only to Artur Martirosian in the GGMillion$.

This Week’s GGMillion$ Results – June 2nd, 2026

After a superb run to the ‘Finnish’ line, co-commentator Jared Jaffee paid tribute to the winner, Samuel ‘€urop€an’ Vousden.

“Imagine drafting that guy as your second pick when he was fifth in chips!” he laughed, with Jeff Gross owing this week’s special guest a meal after the traditional sidebet. 

“Both those guys played pretty flawless,” Jaffee went on. “Leon played really, really well the whole way through but the cards just ran better for Sam at the end. I thought Kaufmann played solid as well, it was an interesting final table with a lot of swings. The two best guys ended up battling it out for the win.”

“It was a stacked final table, and an amazing guest with $7 million in [live] winnings.” Jeff Gross said, paying tribute to the entertaining Jaffee, before wishing him luck in this week’s WSOP event in Las Vegas, where more players than ever are qualifying for the WSOP Main Event via GGPoker. 

Here are all the results from this week’s $10,000-entry GGMillion$, where Finnish star Samuel Vousden created a piece of poker history.

Place	Player	Country	Prize
1st	Samuel Vousden	Finland	$401,900
2nd	Leon Sturm	Germany	$309,907
3rd	Aleksandr Blokhin	Russia	$238,971
4th	David Kaufmann	Germany	$184,272
5th	Juan Dominguez	Spain	$142,093
6th	Diogo Coelho	Portugal	$109,568
7th	Alisson Piekazewicz	Brazil	$84,489
8th	‘s00nShine’	Austria	$65,150
9th	‘Rollpounder’	Singapore	$50,237

Timing is Everything

While Vousden played some superstar stuff to grab victory, there can be no doubt that despite coming third for over $238,000, the overnight chip leader Alexsandr Blokhin will look back on the final table with regret. It was a missed opportunity for the Russian, who failed to build on his lead going into the final, instead putting his domination in jeopardy early on. 

Losing the chip lead to Leon Sturm, Blokhin had some bad luck to his wide opening range, and that eventually spelled disaster. His stack was preserved thanks to a nice flush against Vousden, but eventually, he was squeezed out in third. On another week, perhaps avoiding some early conflict, it might have been Blokhin’s title, but the Russian will have to try again next week. 

Watch all the action from a fun-packed final table in this week’s GGMillion$ here:

 

2026 Week 19                                          2026 Week 21

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.

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Edited by Shawn A.