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Andrii  Novak Takes Down WSOP Online Main Event for $3.9m – GGMillion$ Season 2026 Episode 35

This year’s WSOP Online Main Event was once again hosted by Jeff Gross and brought to spectacular life by co-commentator Phil Hellmuth. The 17-time WSOP bracelet winner helped preside over the action, with nine players all vying for the chance to take home an astonishing $3.9m top prize. 

With Ukrainian player Andrii Novak beginning the final table with a big chip lead, Simon Beckmann took charge of proceedings only for late drama to hand Novak victory in the thrilling closing stages as one hand blew up the German’s chance of victory. 

Pre-Match Betting Odds

Heading into the final table, there was a clear frontrunner, with Ukrainian player Andrii Novak beginning with 108 big blinds. As a result, his odds were just 3.8 in the GGPoker client. We loved the chances of German pro Simon Beckmann, whose 88 big blinds had him closest to the leader in both chips and odds, at 4.02, and our pick for the title.

In third place on the leaderboard and chipped up courtesy of a superb triple barrel bluff to earn his stack was the sole Brazilian at the felt, Pablo Silva. Sitting behind a virtual stack of 57 big blinds, the only other player with more than half the chips of the top two, the South American was a 6.86 chance on GGPoker. Ukraine’s second representative at the felt, Pavlo Yakovliev (43BB/9.1), was behind the top trio, with Spanish player Fernando Liano (42BB/9.38) only marginally behind in both terms.

A little further back in the betting odds, Iranian Arian Hassankashani was sat on 34 big blinds at odds of 13.98, with Kazakhstan player Yuri Nadinsky (26BB/18.36) a long shot. Canadian Charles Boissonniere was also in, but with 26 big blinds was more fancied at odds of 13.22, while the Chinese player Moyan Chen (22BB/20.34) sat as the rank outsider among the finalists.

Key Moments from the Felt

All the usual on-screen graphics associated with the GGMillion$ final table were in place on GGPoker, with in-hand probability odds, the GTO Wizard recommended action, and live equity odds as each board progressed when two or more players were all-in. 

That was the case when Pablo Silva, who had lost more chips than he won in the opening level, was all-in for a stack of just under 30 big blinds with ace-queen but ran into Simon Beckmann’s ace-king. Both players paired up on the flop, but that wasn’t good enough for Silva, who won $491,676 in ninth place. 

There was another elimination very soon after Silva’s exit, and it was the Kazakh player Yuri Nadinsky who cashed for $637,476 in eighth place. All-in pre-flop with ace-four, he ran into the ace-king of Canadian player Charles Boissonniere, who rode out an ace-high board with ease to take the crucial pot. Arian Hassankashani joined him on the rail a bit later, shoving his pocket tens into Moyan Chen’s pocket jacks. No help came on the board, and Hassankashani bowed out for $826,555 in seventh place. 

Fifteen minutes after winning that hand, Chen was in amongst it again. (2:17:10) Moving all-in pre-flop from the big blind with pocket sevens, he covered the early limper at the table, Pavlo Yakovliev, with ace-queen. The Ukrainian needed to hit to survive, but the flop of 8-5-4 was more than favorable for Chen. Another four on the turn added in flush draws for Chen, and that meant when the queen of spades landed on the river, it paired Yakovliev but gave Chen the flush to send the Ukrainian home with $1,071,761 in sixth place.

In a revealing Mystery Hand, the two men at the top of the chipcounts clashed, with Andrii Novak’s hand visible and Simon Beckmann’s hidden behind the famous ‘question mark’ cards. Novak had ace-deuce of spades and in a raised pot, hit the nut flush on a flop of 9-8-7 all in spades. Beckmann raised Novak’s bet. A ten of spades on the turn was a stunning card. We couldn’t see what Beckmann had, but both players checked. An eight on the river paired the board, and Novak was in a world of pain when Beckmann bet 21 million into a pot of 27 million. 

“I do not mind the fold here, Jeff,” said Hellmuth. “You can’t really beat anything at this point. Keep yourself at 109 million and guarantee a top three spot. Just fold.”

The Ukrainian thought for some time but eventually made the call, and Beckmann showed eight-seven for a rivered full house, failing to follow Hellmuth’s correct instinct.

That hand gave Beckmann the lead, and he had the power at the table. That improved even more when his pocket eights turned a set and rivered quads, teasing a pot worth 80 million to put himself in a massive lead. And soon, the field was down to four. Novak was all-in with pocket threes and a bigger stack, with Boissonniere putting himself at risk with ace-jack of clubs. (3:11:13) A flop of J-9-3 gave the Canadian top pair but fulfilled Novak’s set, and after a king on the turn, Boissonniere was drawing dead to the river, and headed home with $1,389,754 in fifth place.

With four players left, the WSOP Main Event bracelet was closer than ever. Beckmann led with 128 million chips, with Liano (100m), Novak (82m), and Chen (48m) trailing in his wake. Beckmann made a massive shove with ace-four offsuit, and Novak called for his tournament life with pocket kings. A flop of J-7-3- looked very safe, but a five of spades on the turn gave the German a 38% chance of winning the hand, the GGPoker on-screen graphics only enhancing the Ukrainian’s sweat to the river, where an offsuit queen appeared. A huge double and with Chen and Liano plummeting, both Beckmann and Novak were now around 140 million chips.

The field would soon be reduced to just three. (3:36:25) Liano and Beckmann had clashed all evening, with the German having the better of it. That was the case in card terms pre-flop, as Beckmann’s ace-queen was well ahead of Liano’s ace-ten and never looked back. The German rode out the board to take an even bigger lead into three-handed play as the Spaniard bowed out with $1,802,142 in fourth.

Three-handed play didn’t take long to play out, with the short-stacked Chen losing out for a score of $2,336,938 in third, an incredible result considering he started in ninth place on the leaderboard. The Chinese player had the best of it when the chips went in, his eight-nine having paired the A-T-9-4 board. Beckmann made the call for less than 10% of his chip mountain with jack-queen, as his open-ender with two overs had a 30% chance heading to the river. That chance came in as any paint spelled doom for Chen, a king filling Beckmann’s Broadway to leave Chen singing his way to the rail with a stunning seven-figure score.

The final two were the top two at the start of play, with our pick Beckmann in charge on 250 million chips, while the overnight leader, Novak, was sitting on 109 million. Novak nibbled away at Beckmann’s lead over the first few hands, and when the German shoved with queen-five of diamonds, the crazy play saw Novak snap it off as Novak rode out the ace-high board to boost himself into a huge lead. Suddenly, the tables had turned, and the Ukrainian had all the momentum. 

(4:02:10) Beckmann called all-in with queen-seven of hearts after Novak’s shove with ace-jack offsuit, and a flop of A-K-4 put the Ukrainian in an incredible position to win. A ten on the turn meant Beckmann could only survive if one of the three remaining jacks fell on the river. It was a five on the river that ended the event in Novak’s favor as Simon Beckmann’s bold bluff late in the day blew up his chances in the process, with the overnight chip leader coming back to win the top prize of $3,931,259 and the bracelet. For Beckmann, he could console himself with $3,030,486 as runner-up and the knowledge that he might never look at queen-five of diamonds quite the same way for the rest of his life.

This Week’s GGMillion$ Results – September 22nd, 2026

After an amazing last few hands of the 2026 WSOP Online Main Event, Ukraine’s Andrii Novak became the champion, winning over $3.9m and the coveted WSOP gold bracelet. 

“Generally speaking, the play was pretty good. It’s my job to call out what wasn’t – and I did -but Novak probably played the best and won. He kept himself in there and I would say the one who played the best today won.”

With Phil Hellmuth heading to The Bahamas to play WSOP Paradise very soon, Jeff announced that Alex Foxen would be next week’s guest in the GGMillion$ final table. It could hardly be more dramatic than the WSOP Online Main Event finale. Here are all the winners from a stunning night of poker.

Here are all nine finalists and what they took home in this week’s GGMillion$ finale:

Place	Player	Country	Prize
1st	Andrii Novak	Ukraine	$3,931,259
2nd	Simon Beckmann	Germany	$3,030,486
3rd	Moyan Chen	China	$2,336,938
4th	Fernando Liano	Spain	$1,802,142
5th	Charles Boissonniere	Canada	$1,389,755
6th	Pavlo Yakovliev	Ukraine	$1,071,761
7th	Arian Hassankashani	Iran	$826,556
8th	Yuri Nadinsky	Kazakhstan	$637,477
9th	Pablo Silva	Brazil	$491,676

Did Beckmann Blow the Bracelet?

Two hands defined Simon Beckmann’s runner-up finish in this week’s GGMillion$, with Andrii Novak benefitting each time. With three players left, Beckmann raise-shoved with ace-four over the opening bet from Chen with ace-six. Novak snapped it off with pocket kings in between the two players and rode out the board for a crucial double. Could Beckmann have just raised and avoided losing more chips? Possibly given his stack size.

The other hand was more devastating. With the heads-up battle starting and continuing in the German’s favor, a huge blow-up saw him shove with just queen-five of diamonds, a move that was a gift to Novak, who called off with ace-king and held with ease. Could Beckmann simply have misclicked? It’s hard to see any other reason why he would potentially give away his lead, for which he had to work so hard. Maybe there’s room for sentiment even among the high rollers, and the German was over-fond of the hand. One thing is for sure. After his crazy shove gave away a heads-up lead he never reclaimed, it’s not his favorite hand anymore. 

Check out all the action from the WSOP Online Main Event final table in the company of Jeff Gross and Phil Hellmuth right here:

2026 Week 34                                          2026 Week 36

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.