GGPOKER

Second in Chips, First to the Title: Juan Dominguez Claims His Fifth GGMillion$ Crown

September 16, 2026 7 min Read

Juan Dominguez Wins Fifth GGMillion$ Title – GGMillion$ Season 2026 Episode 34

This week’s GGMillion$ finale gave us all the three-bet thrills and chip spills we’ve come to expect and a dash more as Spanish professional Juan Dominguez played his heart out to win a fifth title in the format. Regular host Jeff Gross was joined in the virtual commentary booth by none other than ‘Trekker’ herself, Victoria Livschitz. The well-liked high roller, who only learned to play the game during COVID, has now become synonymous with high-stakes games and helped pioneer Octopi Poker.

👉Use Referral Code: WINBIG 👈PLAY NOW!

Pre-Match Betting Odds

Play began with the leaders bunched up at the top of the chipcounts. Swedish player Simon Mattsson held the chip lead, and with 66 big blinds, he was the odds-on favorite, priced at 4.40 in the GGPoker client. Second in chips, the Spanish player Juan Dominguez had 55 big blinds and looked to be great value to us at 4.98 as our top pick for the week, with over $10.1m in GGMillion$ winnings. 

Hungarian player Tamas Adamszki (54BB/6.06) was only a raise behind Dominguez and looking to build on a series of consistent runs in the format, with seven of his 25 entries in the event ending at the final table. Behind the top three, the dangerously talented Portuguese player Joao Vieira sat on 45 big blinds at odds of 8.12, in his bid to beat last week’s result of $58,074 in ninth. 

The German player Max Buschmann (39BB/9.92) wasn’t far behind, with Brazilian GGPoker streamer and former winner Kelvin Kerber at a great value with 36 big blinds and at odds of 9.64. Kerber’s fourth-place finish last week netted him $195,962… but could he go further this week? The Ukrainian professional Andrii Derzhypilskyi began on 32 big blinds, and he was a good pick at 12.60. 

Two players had noticeably less than the leaders. Paul Hong from New Zealand started on 27 big blinds at odds of 11.72 as he looked to win a second GGMillion$ crown, while the rank outsider was Alexander Tkatschew, who had reached 15 final tables in his time but had never won. The German needed a swift start with just 15 bigs, and this was reflected in his price being set at 21.90 in the GGPoker client.

Key Moments from the Felt

The first elimination at the final table was the short stack, Tkatschew, who found himself in a marginal position. Down to 13 big blinds, the German bet pre-flop and called off Joao Vieira’s shove. Holding pocket eights, Tkatschew was in horrible shape against the pocket kings belonging to the Portuguese player, and a clean board sent Tkatschew home with a score of $51,235.

A brutal exit awaited the next player to leave. (1:19:05) Joao Vieira was at his 26th final table without winning a title, and as Jeff Gross highlighted, sometimes variance just doesn’t like you. The Portuguese pro got into a raising war with Simon Mattsson pre-flop, but while Vieira had pocket queens, the Swede held pocket aces and called Vieira’s eventual shove. Whoever won would be the chip leader, and after a flop of J-T-5, a nine on the turn meant Vieira was open-ended to a miraculous pot. Sadly for him, a seven on the river condemned him to an exit worth $66,443.

There followed a long period without anyone losing their tournament life, but that ended abruptly. Tamas Adamszki has an admirable record in the GGMillion$ finals. But when he shoved for 11 big blinds from the big blind with jack-ten of clubs, Kelvin Kerber’s call from early position with ace-queen gave him a great chance of knocking out a dangerous opponent. No help came for the Hungarian with the all-spade flop of 7-5-2, and the queen of spades on the turn meant only a spade would save Adamski. It never came, and he cashed for $86,167 as another of the top chip stacks at the start of play saw their chances of victory perish.

With the chips having moved around a lot with seven left, that pot gave Kerber the chip lead, as the Brazilians’ bid to go from fourth place last week to winner seven days later appeared possible.  

Soon, the field was down to five, as Paul Hong’s queen-jack lost to A Derzhypilskyi’s ace-deuce with all the chips in the middle pre-flop. (2:37:40) As the GGPoker live odds on-screen told us after the turn, things were still very much up for grabs, as Hong flopped a flush draw and turned an open-ended straight draw. 47% of the time, he’d win the hand, but the river of the four of spades proved the adage ‘too many outs’ true, and Hong busted in sixth place for $111,744.

From chip leader down to just four big blinds, Kelvin Kerber found king-ten and moved all-in, only to be called by the queen-five of Juan Dominaguez. The flop came down Q-J-8, giving the Spanish player top pair while the at-risk player was open-ended. Kerber was unable to hit an ace, king, or nine on the river to survive, departing for $144,915 in fifth place.

Down to four players, Dominguez was now the chip leader with 9.7m, with Derzhypilskyi chasing hard with 6.7m. Both Simon Mattsson (2.9m) and Max Buschmann (2.5m) were some way behind, and that was important, as Buschmann’s all-in hand of king-eight was behind Dominguez’ ace-three before, during, and after the board, as the German ended up drawing dead to the river on his way to collecting $187,931 in fourth place.

Three-handed play lasted no time at all, as the overnight leader, Mattsson, watched as his chance simply drifted away. (3:08:55) Short-stacked with king-five, he shoved for eight big blinds with and was called off and eliminated by Derzhypilskyi with ace-six for $243,717, a sweaty river once again going against the at-risk player. 

Heads-up, the Ukrainian Derzhypilskyi had a marginal lead over Dominguez, but the Spaniard had reversed that situation when a raised pot saw a flop of 7-5-4. (3:10:58) Dominguez had ace-six for an open-ended straight draw, while Derzhypilskyi had flopped the flush draw with queen-ten of diamonds. A bet from Derzhypilskyi was shoved on by Dominguez, whose time bank had run out. The Ukrainian called it off, and the GGPoker graphics told us the Spanish player was a 48% favorite to win the hand. Those odds improved to 65% on the turn of a four. With over 95% of the chips in play in the middle, Derzhypilskyi needed a queen, ten, or any diamond to double into an unassailable lead, but instead an offsuit six on the river proclaimed Juan Dominguez the winner of his fifth GGMillion$ title and $409,882 as Derzhypilskyi claimed $316,062 as runner-up.

This Week’s GGMillion$ Results – September 15th, 2026

A stunning victory for Juan Dominguez marked his fifth GGMillion$ title and saw him come from second in chips to win, fulfilling our prophecy in the process! In the end, it came down to one hand where all the chips were hanging on two cards, and almost a coin flip.

“I think we’ve got an incredibly worthy winner,” said Victoria Livschitz about the winner, Juan Dominguez. 

“They say he’s one of the best to do it,” stated Jeff Gross, agreeing with the analysis of Victoria on a stunning final table performance. Dominguez stayed out of danger when he needed to, then pressed home his advantage, playing lights out poker when without a time bank to speak of.

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

Place Player Country Prize
1st Juan Dominguez Spain $409,882
2nd Andrii Derzhypilskyi Ukraine $316,062
3rd Simon Mattsson Sweden $243,717
4th Max Buschmann Germany $187,931
5th Kelvin Kerber Brazil $144,915
6th Paul Hong New Zealand $111,744
7th Tamas Adamszki Hungary $86,167
8th Joao Vieira Portugal $66,443
9th Alexander Tkatchew Germany $51,235

Did Beckmann Rightly Turn Down ‘Flip to Win’?

With the heads-up battle going to the underdog, was there a point where Simon Beckmann could have won the war earlier? He certainly had to chance to “end it all right here” as Jeff Gross put it. When Beckmann had pocket tens, and Klodnicki eventually pushed him off the pot on the flop, the German could have called to convert what the commentary team called “a lot of equity in the hand”.

Holding an open straight draw and backdoor flush draw, we’ll never know what turn and river might have come, but for Beckmann, he let go of the lead and never got it back. Klodnicki enjoyed some luck along the way, but the stack was built by this crucial play, and if Beckmann had the chance to go back in time now and take his chances, you can bet he’d take it. 

Watch all the action from this week’s GGMillion$ final table right here with Jeff Gross and Matt Hunt:

2026 Week 33                                          2026 Week 35

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.


Edited by Shawn A.

Related Posts

Latest Posts

Qualify Exclusively At GGPoker For WSOP Circuit Panama City
September 16, 20261 min Read
WSOP Circuit Calgary Qualifiers Now Running At GGPoker
September 11, 20261 min Read