GGPOKER

Brazilian Brilliance Shines in Glorious GGMillion$ – GGMillion$ Season 2026 Episode 29

With the regular host of the GGMillion$ show, Jeff Gross, joined by former event winner Rayan ‘Beriuzy’ Chamas, the action produced drama from the first card to the last this week. Six of the nine combatants were from the same country, including the final three, leading to leveling wars, big raises, and massive all-ins! 

Pre-Match Betting Odds

The odds in the GGPoker client reflected an imbalanced player list in terms of chips and chances. With a record six of the nine final table players coming from Brazil, the chip leader was held by one of the country’s best, Alisson Piekazewicz, who began with 111 big blinds and was a big favorite at odds of 2.90. Second through fourth place on the leaderboard were all Brazilian too, with Bernardo Soares (65BB/7.08), Carlos Ribeiro (63BB/5.29), and Bruno Botteon (44BB/9.52) all chasing down their countryman.

Our tip for the win was one of the live poker scene’s most prodigious talents. Ding Biao from China, who began on a very playable stack of 43 big blinds. While he had some catching up to do on the chip leader, his odds of 10.02 seemed generous to us given his ability to close out final tables the world over in the past few years.

Brazilian player ‘Fabio W’ (32BB/11.78) was also chasing from the middle of the pack, along with the subject of the opening episode of the GGPoker series Online Poker Millionaires, Alex Theologis. The Greek player started with 27 big blinds at generous odds of 14.58. Two short stacks were hoping for a comparative miracle, with Austrian Max Buschman (19BB/17.96) and Dalton Hobold, Brazil’s lowest-ranked player in the final on just 12 big blinds at odds of 26.90.

Key Moments from the Felt

There was an early elimination, and it was no surprise that Dalton Hobold was the first victim at the final table. Winning $58,074, Hobold shoved on a flop of 9-2-2 with two overcards, a king-queen. He was called off by the chip leader, Piekazewicz, holding nine-seven. Hobold couldn’t overcome his compatriot and departed in ninth.

Next to go was the Chinese player Ding Biao (1:11:45). He won $74,066 in eighth place, moving all-in pre-flop with ace-king against the superior stack belonging to Bernardo Soares with pocket queens. An ace on the flop looked to double up the at-risk Chinese player, but a queen on the turn changed everything, leaving Biao drawing dead to the river.

It was at this point that a Mystery Hand played out, and it was an important one for Bernardo Soares, who held an open-ended straight flush draw from the turn. We could tell you how it ends, but that would ruin the mystery.

An unfortunate series of events saw Online Poker Millionaires star Alex Theologis bust in seventh place for $94,462. In his penultimate hand, the Greek poker boss made a brave play on the river but had to fold when Bruno Botteon reshoved with pocket aces. In the following hand, Theologis was committed from before the flop for less than a big blind with jack-seven of diamonds. The same player he was up against before eliminated him as Botteon’s six-four triumphed when a seven on the river paired Theologis but filled the gutshot of a straight for the Brazilian.

As one Brazilian had thrived, another made their way to the rail in sixth place for $120,475. All-in with ace-six, ‘Fabio W’ lost to Max Buschmann’s dominating ace-jack, a safe board propelling the German up the leaderboard. Ace-Jack was no good for Bruno Botteon in a big pot against Buschmann soon after, as the German’s inferior jack-nine of hearts pre-flop caught runner-runner hearts to flush out the board.

Botteon was short and moved all-in in the next hand for jack-queen of diamonds (2:16:03). Up against his countryman Carlos Ribeiro’s pocket tens, the flop of K-Q-5 gave Botteon second pair, and when Ribeiro did what the GTO Wizard graphic on-screen suggested and moved all-in. Botteon called, but it was soon agony for him as the turn was a ten, catapulting Ribeiro into the lead. Botteon’s redraw to a straight fell short with a seven on the river, and he left with $153,650 in fifth place. 

Max Buschmann led the field as the end drew near, but his stack took one hit after another. Losing pot after pot, no matter what the German held as hole cards, seemed to miss the flop. (3:04:50) In the end, he had just three big blinds in the middle as his queen-deuce lost to the five-four of Ribeiro. The board of 8-5-3-3-9 drew trips for Ribeiro as Buschmann headed home with $195,962 in fourth.

Three-handed, Bernardo Soares shoved with ace-six but ran into Piekazewicz’s ace-jack and a safe board of 9-2-5-9-J, meaning the heads-up battle was set, as Soares claimed $249,924 in third place. The final duo had come about their stacks in very different ways. Ribeiro’s chip-leading stack of 11.74m, mostly having been accumulated at the expense of Max Buschmann, while Piekazewicz had come into play with a huge lead but needed to win that dominating spot against Soares just to scrabble back to 9.02m as the underdog heads-up.

Piekazewicz won the early skirmishes and even managed to regain the lead. But Ribeiro ground his way back in smallball exchanges and worked his way up to a 2:1 lead when the fateful final hand played out. Piekazewicz had pocket queens and raised over Ribeiro’s limp with ace-five. Ribeiro shoved, and Piekazewicz snapped it off (3:33:03), hoping to hold and reverse the 2:1 chip lead. An ace on the flop gave Ribeiro the lead; however, a third spade on the board landed on the turn, giving Piekazewicz the chance to redraw to a life-saving flush. It didn’t come, the eight of clubs giving Carlos Ribeiro the top prize of $406,521 and his first-ever GGMillion$ title at the expense of his fellow Brazilian Piekazewicz, who was denied his second title, finishing as runner-up for $318,747.

This Week’s GGMillion$ Results – August 11th, 2026

Prior to his appearance in this week’s GGMillion$ final table, Carlos Ribeiro had played the GGMillion$ 14 times and cashed for just $79,228, a loss of over $60,000 based on a single buy-in per tournament. Reaching his first final table this week, he sealed the victory on his opening attempt, going from third in chips to the winner for a massive $406k payday.

“Brazil just dominated this final table, their aggression was too much,” said former GGMillion$ champion Rayan ‘Beriuzy’ Chamas. “We saw wild stuff, unnecessarily big pots as we predicted. Congrats to Riberio for his first tile, The chip leader could have been out in fourth or fifth being short at times but grinded it out.”

Jeff Gross spoke afterward about the WSOP Online Series, which runs from August 16th to September 29th, and teased that the latest World Championship winner, Lucas Jumalon, will be a co-commentator and they will discuss his recent WSOP Main Event victory while analyzing the action at the GGPoker felt.

Here are all the winners from this week’s GGMillion$ final table:

Place	Player	Country	Prize
1st	Carlos Ribeiro	Brazil	$406,521
2nd	Alisson Piekazewicz	Brazil	$318,747
3rd	Bernardo Soares	Brazil	$249,924
4th	Max Buschmann	Germany	$195,962
5th	Bruno Botteon	Brazil	$153,650
6th	Fabio W	Brazil	$120,475
7th	Alex Theologis	Greece	$94,462
8th	Biao Ding	China	$74,066
9th	Dalton Hobold	Brazil	$58,074

Which Player Blew Their Big Chance?

It’s sad to say it, because finishing fourth when you started play in eighth place is some achievement. His expected score of $74,066 was almost trebled to $195,962, but Max Buschmann will be wondering what went wrong on what may have been the greatest comeback win of all time in the GGMillion$. 

With Alisson Piekazewicz slipping from his lofty leader position, Buschmann’s middle game was incredible, and taking the lead with four players remaining was a key spot. Losing a couple of pots, the German doubled down on playing a huge number of pots, raising his VPIP and playing many hands where he was a flip to either hit or hold. 

There’s no doubt that he ran bad at pivotal moments of the final table, but if Bushmann had tightened his range a little and slowed down when the deck refused to play ball, he might have been involved in the heads-up, instead of just a spectator. Starting play as a massive outsider, he played himself back into contention superbly, only to stay too loose once he reached the summit, sliding back down and busting in fourth place.

Here’s how this week’s thrilling GGMillion$ final table played out:

2026 Week 28                                          2026 Week 30

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.