GGMILLION$ Won by Dutchman Jans Arends for $271,000 – October 11, 2023

A thrilling finish in this week’s $10,300-entry GGMILLION$ saw Jans Arends win his third GGMILLION$ title after a stunning final hand gave him all the chips with everything on the line. As other stars of the felt such as ‘Tedwina Slowsby’ and Juan Dominguez came close, Arends made some great moves as he jockeyed for position before moving in for the last, brilliant coup, claiming the top prize of $271,000.

Dominguez Starts Decider with Chip Mountain

Leading the pack when the final table began was the Spanish player Juan Dominguez, who began the final going for his third GGMILLION$ title with 88 big blinds. Dutch player Jans Arends was also shooting for his third win, beginning the closest to Dominguez with 71 big blinds.

Behind the two chip leaders, Brazilian Pedro Padilha (45BB) and Austrian Johannes Straver (33BB) were also going for GGMILLION$ title number three, with Straver’s fellow Austrian ‘Clickwork’ starting on 32 big blinds while going for his major triumph at the online felt. Canadian player ‘Karma is a Cat’ began on 31 big blinds, while British player ‘Super Solid’ (26BB), Leonard Maue (24BB) and German player Leon Sturm (17BB) brought up the rear.

Commentary this week came from regular host Jeff Gross and co-commentator Razvan Belea and the duo didn’t have long to wait before the number of players they were commentating on was eight instead of nine. One of the only two players without a previous victory in this format, Austrian player ‘Clickwork’, won $37,283 in ninth place as they became the first player to bust at this final table.

‘Clickwork’ was all-in with pocket queens. Called by Arends with pocket kings, the seven-high board was no help for the Austrian as the Dutch player – also playing in Austria – won the hand. ‘Clickwork’ was followed out of the door 20 minutes later by the German player Leonard Maue. He was unlucky to bust with pocket kings against the pocket jacks of Juan Dominguez, all-in pre-flop only to see a jack land on the turn and further strengthen the Spaniard’s lead, sending Maue to the rail with $47,740.

Sturm Blown Away, Chip Leader Departs 

At blinds of 25,000/50,000, Jans Arends made it 100,000 with ace-nine from the cutoff, and ‘Tedwina Slowsby’ shoved for just over 600,000 from the button with a suited king-jack. ‘Tedwina Slowsby’ got a call and needed to improve. The flop of A-Q-2 was not good news, pairing Arends’ ace. There was a Broadway straight draw out there for ‘Tedwina’, but after a nine on the turn, the river of another queen ended any hopes of a double up and he cashed for $61,130 in seventh place.

Next to go was the Brazilian player Pedro Padilha, who ran a premium hand into a monster. Pre-flop, he saw ‘Karma is a Cat’ raise it up from under the gun, so re-raised effectively committing his chips from the button with ace-king. Shoving with pocket kings and getting the call, ‘Karma is a Cat’ was delighted to see a jack-high board give him an important elimination, and Padiha cashed for $78,276 in sixth place.

Out in fifth for the first six-figure score of the event, $100,231, was the overnight chip leader Juan Dominguez. Having suffered a number of hits to his stack, the Spanish professional departed when his ace-king called all-in pre-flop against ‘SuperSolid’s pocket jacks. A board of Q-6-3-5-9 didn’t help Dominguez at all, and he headed to the rail.

Arends Flushes to Victory 

Four remained, and with Arends (5 million) in the lead, there was close competition from all of the other stacks, with ‘SuperSolid’ on just over 3 million, with ‘Karma is a Cat’ (2.49m) and Johannes Straver (2.22m) just behind him. Two hours of the three it took to find a winner had been played out, but it didn’t take long to reduce the number to three.

Johannes Straver was second in chips when he raised to 850,000 with ace-queen of diamonds. Arends wasn’t scaring easily holding pocket jacks, and he used his chip lead to exert pressure, shoving and getting a call. It was a big coinflip for the overall lead. Although Straver flopped a Broadway straight draw to add two more outs, Arends had the blockers and made it to the river with the best hand, eliminating Starver in fourth place for $128,343.

Now with a big lead, Arends utilized ICM pressure to put both of his opponents under the hammer. Eventually, British player ‘SuperSolid’ moved all-in with ace-five, but he ran into Arends’ ace-jack, and as the board ran out A-T-7-2-4, the Brit was eliminated for a score of $164,341.

‘Karma is a Cat’ started heads-up with a deficit to make up but had moved into the most marginal of leads by the time the pivotal hand played out. On a flop of Q-9-8 with two spades, Arends bet with six-nine of spades. ‘Karma is a Cat’ called with ten-six of hearts. A king of hearts on the turn technically changed nothing, but more money went into the middle. The river of a jack of spades changed everything. Fulfilling the Canadian’s gutshot straight, it looked miraculous and they bet accordingly, then calling it off when Arends shoved having hit his flush with the same card.

The Dutchman had his opponent outchipped by an enormous amount, and in the next hand, won with ace-eight against jack-ten, meaning he’d won his third title. You can watch the action as it happened in the company of Jeff Gross and Razvan Belea right here.

GGPoker GG MILLION$ 10th October 2023 Final Table Results:
Place	Player	Country	Prize
1st	Jans Arends	Netherlands	$269,458
2nd	‘Karma is a Cat’	Canada	$210,435
3rd	‘SuperSolid’	United Kingdom	$164,341
4th	Johannes Starver	Austria	$128,343
5th	Juan Dominguez	Spain	$100,231
6th	Pedro Padilha	Brazil	$78,276
7th	Leon Sturm	Germany	$61,130
8th	Leonard Maue	Germany	$47,740
9th	‘Clickwork’	Austria	$37,283

Former Footballer Mario Mosboeck Scores GGMILLION$ Win for $275,000 – October 23, 2023

With 127 entries, this week’s GGMillion$ final table was one packed with superstars. It was won, however, by a first-timer who traded the soccer pitch in Austria for the online poker felt. Mario Mosboeck, who once played professionally for Austrian Bundesliga side SC Wiener Neustadt, cleaned up the top prize of $275,977 as he defeated eight opponents, many of whom rank among the GGMillion$ biggest-ever winners.

Rich Player, Poor Player

Going into the final nine, some players had plenty of chips, others were fighting over scraps. Mosboeck (98 big blinds) held an impressive chip lead as he battled for his first GGMillion$ title, with Ramiro Petrone (84BB) appearing at his second final table, sitting second in chips. Duco Haven (55BB) and Pavel Plesuv (36BB) both survived to make their fourth GGMillion$ final table, while Fabrice Touil (31BB), Ivan Luca (27BB) and Fausto Tantillo (24BB) appeared at their first.

Johannes Straver (15BB) and Christian Rudolph (6BB) sat with two and three previous final tables, so they had experience in their corner. The short stacks were the odds-on favorite to be the first to bust and, as it turned out, the shortest of them all did indeed cash in ninth place for $38,185. All-in with ace-seven, Rudolph hit an ace on the river, but by that point it was not the card he was chasing, as Ramiro Petrone’s king-jack had flopped two pair. A queen on the turn meant a Broadway straight was Rudolph’s only hope, but that ace doomed him.

An early bust-out often leads to a flurry of them at a final table, but this week, things couldn’t have been more different. Under the watchful gaze of regular presenter Jeff Gross and special guest co-commentator Andrew Moreno, a live tournament crusher and poker professional, there were no further eliminations for over an hour. Petrone was in charge… and a big name was about to fall.

Stars Fall From The Sky

With eight players remaining, it was the Moldovan player Pavel Plesuv who slipped from being high in the chip counts to sitting on the virtual rail. Shoving all-in from the Big Blind with ace-eight, the previous GGMillion$ winner had picked the absolute worst time to bluff-shove, running into the Dutch player Duco Haven’s pocket Kings in the cutoff. The flop came down K-7-7 giving Duco a flopped full house. Plesuv was drawing dead as soon as the 5 came on the turn, but he went home with a solid score of $48,895.

Another Dutch player wasn’t having such a great time at the final table. Johannes Straver shoved from the big blind with pocket fours, but the initial raiser in the hand, Fabrice Touil, held pocket aces and made the easy call to take out his short-stacked opponent, an ace on the flop preceded a full house for the player sporting the Israeli flag, sending the Dutch player home with $62,609 in seventh place.

Another 30 minutes would pass before, six became five as another giant of the modern game fell. Fausto Tantillo raised to over half his stack with an offsuit ace-jack pre-flop and called it off to race to the river against Haven’s pocket tens. No ace or jack came and Tantillo left in sixth place earning $80,170. He was swiftly followed from the felt by Fabrice Touil, who also lost his tournament life courtesy of a ‘coinflip’. All-in with pocket fours, they were on course for a double-up against Petrone’s queen-ten on a board showing A-7-3-5 but a queen on the river was the final blow and he left in fifth for $102,656.

Mosboeck Plays Out from the Back

Four players remained, and the battle for supremacy appeared to be between Duco Haven with 4.66 million and Ramiro Petrone with 4.34 million. Behind them, however, Mosboeck lurked ominously with 2.71 million, with Argentinian player Ivan Luca (1.42 million) the short stack. Luca didn’t stay as short stack for long when he shoved with ace-eight of hearts from first position and was called by Haven with pocket tens in the small blind. Those tens held on the board of Q-J-J-3-3 and Luca collected $131,448 for the fourth-place finish.

Mosboeck was now the shortest stack, but the former pro soccer player knew how to keep attacking as he tried to hit his goal of making the heads-up. Nearly 20 minutes later, after hitting a full house on the turn, had Haven bluff into him with just 2 pair. Mario Mosboeck had stolen the chip lead from Haven. The Dutchman, who had hardly seen any trouble during the final table proved the old adage that no one is ever more than two hands from devastation in No Limit Hold’em. In the very next hand, Haven couldn’t help shoving for 1.5 million with ace-six offsuit and ran into Petrone’s pocket jacks, losing after the board of 4-4-3-T-Q landed, sending the Dutchman to the rail for $168,317.

Heads-up, Mosboeck held a very marginal lead, but a short way into the final duel against the WSOP bracelet winner Petrone, he struck gold. Petrone raised pre-flop with pocket eights, Mosboeck re-raised with pocket aces. Petrone called and the flop of J-7-2 led to two checks. An innocuous four on the turn led to action as Mosboeck checked, Petrone bet 1.29 million chips and the Austrian took his time calling. The river of a six saw two final checks, but that was enough for the former soccer player to take a close to 2:1 lead.

Petrone did well not to go broke in a couple of hands where he was outkicked, only to run into an ending that was colder than a Siberian cocktail. On a flop of Q-5-2, Petrone was loving his 9-5 and played the ‘Dolly Parton’ stronger than The Queen of Country ever strummed a banjo. A turn of another five lit the blue touch paper and Petrone again bet out, only called by Mosboeck. The river was gold for Petrone, who hit a nine to make a full house. All the chips went into the middle of course, but Mosboeck had been slow-playing queen-five for a superior turned full house and his slow play – so suited to the poker felt rather than the soccer pitch saw him lift the trophy and the top prize of over $275,000.

Here’s how everything played out with Jeff Gross and Andrew Moreno in the commentary booth.

GGMillion$ 17th October 2023 Final Table Results:
Place	Name	Country	Prize
1st	Mario Mosboeck	Austria	$275,977
2nd	Ramiro Petrone	Uruguay	$215,526
3rd	Duco Haven	Netherlands	$168,317
4th	Ivan Luca	Argentina	$131,448
5th	Fabrice Touil	Morocco	$102,656
6th	Fausto Tantillo	Austria	$80,170
7th	Johannes Straver	Netherlands	$62,609
8th	Pavel Plesuv	Moldova	$48,895
9th	Christian Rudolph	Germany	$38,185

Nick Maimone Wins GGMillion$ for $232,000 After Amazing Climax – October 26, 2023

This week’s GGMilLION$ was one of the most exciting endings of them all. Deep in season two of the $10,300-entry high roller weekly event series, we saw an unforgettable conclusion to the event with over 98% of the chips in play going into the middle in the penultimate hand. It was all on the line and rivering a better hand, it was the Canadian player Nick Maimone who ended up the champ, bagging a sensational top prize of $232,516.

Plesuv the Pre-Match Boss

Going into the action, Pavel Plesuv led the way, the Moldovan having 103 big blinds with four previous appearances at 2023 GGMilLION$ final tables in his locker. His two closest challengers only had a single final table appearance this year between them, with Alexey Borokov (76BB) making his debut in the final nine and Nick Maimone (75BB) both close behind.

Trailing significantly in the wake of the top three, Argentinian WSOP Hybrid Main Event champion Damian Salas (29BB) made his first final table of the year, the polar opposite to Israel’s Barak Wisbrod (25BB), who was there for the fifth time. Chinese player ‘yyyyy96’ (21BB) was at the final table for the third time while British player ‘SuperSolid’ (20BB) and Hungarian Andras Nemeth (17BB) were at their second. The shortest stack, Belgian player Pieter Aerts, was at the final table for a third time but began with only six big blinds.

In the commentary booth, it was a tale of two Jeffs as regular host Jeff Gross was joined behind the mic by Jeff Boski. They might have guessed they’d have a quick elimination to speak about, but the very opposite transpired to be the case. Almost an hour into play, everyone had survived. The stacks were shallow, however, and the first bust-out was to lead to a flurry of them.

A Blizzard of Bust-Outs

The first player to go wasn’t the Dutch player, but instead the Hungarian Nemeth. All-in with pocket nines pre-flop, he was called by the initial raiser in the hand, Wisbrod, holding king-queen and half a big blind left behind. A queen on the flop sent Nemeth out of the tournament, as he cashed for $32,171.

Two hands later, having climbed one rung up the ladder, Aerts was joining his fellow European on the rail. All-in when very short with king-nine, he couldn’t improve against ‘yyyyy96’ with ace-jack, an ace coming on the flop and no help for Aerts meant he fell in eighth place for $41,195.

Two had fallen inside five minutes, and another was about to drop. Uruguay-based Russian Alexey Borokov cashed for $52,749 after he originally bet with pocket eights. It was a strong hand from the dealer button following four folds, but Pavel Plesuv woke up with pocket aces in the small blind and re-raised, calling off Borokov’s shove for 1.5 million chips. Plesuv’s pile was already 3.3 million before making the call, and after the 4-2-2-3-K board, Plesuv had over 5 million, with Borokov eliminated in seventh place.

Chinese player ‘yyyyy96’ was the fourth person to bust out in the first 90 minutes of action, all-in with ace-jack. It was the British player ‘SuperSolid’ who busted them, with ace-king holding to dominate and defeat their opponent for a sixth-place result worth $67,544.

Final Flush Drama as Plesuv Rivered For It All

A surprise exit took place in fifth as SuperSolid’s hopes crumbled in front of their eyes. Cashing for $86,489, the British player was all-in on a board showing Q-9-4-8 with pocket aces, but well behind. Plesuv had trapped him with nine-eight and a six on the river didn’t help the British player at all.

With four left, Plesuv had a huge lead, holding 7.5 million chips. That was way clear of all three of his opponents, with Maimone (2.3 million), Salas (800,000) and Wisbrod (580,000) all miles behind the dominant chip leader. Damian Salas had a strong hand with ace-jack, but not as strong as Wisbrod’s pocket jacks, which held to send the Argentinian home with $110,748.

Wisbrod was looking to score a crucial second bust-out in a row after being all-in pre-flop with pocket kings against Maimone’s pocket sevens.

The very next hand had all 3 players looking at playable cards. Wisbord raised 2x under the gun with pocket kings. Nick Maimone shoved all in as the short stack holding a pair of sevens. Pavel snap-folded and let the two short stacks battle it out. The flop of K-J-7 suited Wisbrod just fine – both men had flopped a set and he was well in command. In addition, only one seven remained in the deck, but after a three landed on the turn, Maimone hit his one-outer seven on the river for a stunning conclusion to the hand. Instead of having 4.1 million and battling heads up for the championship, Wisbrod was down to 1.4 million and was the short stack.

A few rounds later, Wisbrod’s pocket eights lost to Maimone’s king-jack when the chips were all in pre-flop, Maimone flopping a jack and ending Wisbrod’s hopes with a full house on the river. Maimone went into the heads-up around 2 million chips short. But just 5 minutes later, his opponent lost in a spectacular hand. Very little money was in the middle pre-flop, but on a flop of J-4-3 of spades, a pot of 300,000 swelled to over 2 million. On the turn of an offsuit queen, Maimone shoved with just king-ten offsuit, with the king only being in spades. Plesuv made the call, having flopped a flush with seven-deuce of spades. The river of a nine of spades, however, was an absolute heartbreaker for Plesuv, as Maimone made the better flush on the river. The next hand saw Maimone’s ace-queen beat Plesuv’s six-nine of diamonds with a queen on the flop and Nic Maimone became this week’s GGMillion$ winner in fine style after one of the most unforgettable endings of any major title tournament.

Watch all the action as it went down at “a memorable final table” in the words of Jeff Gross with his guest Jeff Boski right here.

GGMILLION$ 24th October 2023 Final Table Results:
Place	Player	Country	Prize
1st	Nick Maimone	United States	$232,516
2nd	Pavel Plesuv	Moldova	$181,585
3rd	Barak Wisbrod	Israel	$141,810
4th	Damian Salas	Argentina	$110,748
5th	SuperSolid	United Kingdom	$86,489
6th	yyyyy96	China	$67,544
7th	Alexey Borokov	Russia	$52,749
8th	Pieter Aerts	Netherlands	$41,195
9th	Andras Nemeth	Hungary	$32,171

« September 2023  |  November 2023 »

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.

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Edited by Shawn A.