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GGMillion$ Won by Stunning Short Stack Comeback – GGMillion$ Season 2026 Episode 1

The first GGMillion$ final table of 2026 saw Felipe Ramos take over the presenting duties on a temporary basis from Jeff Gross, with the Austrian WSOP Super Main Event winner Bernhard Binder joining him in the co-commentary seat. A massive $2.31 million prize pool made sure the nine-handed final table was playing for huge sums, including a $467,038 top prize. In the end, that went to an underdog who came from nowhere to win his first-ever title.

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Pre-Match Betting Odds

Still without a win, the German player Dominik Nitsche went into play at the final table with the biggest lead he’d ever had, with 130 big blinds. Although he was available at odds of 2.8, we didn’t like the value – here was an incredible player who’d never won a GGMillion$ finale. We wondered if the curse would strike again. Nitsche’s stack was more than double the 52 big blinds held by his countryman Ole Schemion, who was available at odds of 6.32. We also chose to steer clear of Schemion, despite his prowess in high roller events. 

The German often finishes top of the pile or at the back of the grid and that risk meant we preferred a dark horse further back in the field. The two Russians Viktor Ustimov (48BB/8.56) and Vladimir Minko (45BB/7.78) were experienced players, but we loved the 10.26 on offer to back Brazilian GGMillion$ regular Rodrigo Selouan, who began with 37 big blinds and a real shot at glory if he started well. 

Elsewhere in the chipcounts, Israeli player ‘Lastchanc’ (37BB/11.36) and the short stack who was streaming live on Twitch with the GGPoker Streamer mode allowing him to share the journey without giving away his strategy, ‘GREAGYPoker’ (15BB/22.2) were both hoping an early double-up could reignite their chances, while Spanish poker legend Adrian Mateos started with 24 big blinds and was a great outside bet at odds of 12.2. The Dutch master Duco Haven only had 18 big blinds to play with but with his recent record in GGMillion$ being the stuff of lore, couldn’t be ruled out at odds of 16.22.

Key Moments from the Felt

As it happened, Haven could soon be struck off the list of players who could win the title. The Dutchman was all-in pre-flop with ace-king and was flipping for his tournament life against Israel’s ‘Lastchanc’ with pocket sevens (1:00:30). A flop with two sevens killed Haven’s hopes stone dead, and the player from the Netherlands cashed for $58,379 in ninth place.

The Russian player Viktor Ustimov was the next to leave, busting for $75,709 in eighth after a dramatic fall from prominence over the next 40 minutes. Starting the final third in chips, Ustimov ran short before putting all his chips in the middle with pocket tens, only to lose a crucial coinflip to Nitsche’s ace-queen. 

The overnight chip leader needed that pot to stay in the chasing pack by that stage, with ‘Lastchanc’ pulling clear of Ole Schemion, who had overtaken his countryman into second spot on the leaderboard before Nitsche won that hand. Soon afterwards, Nitsche once again fell to his own personal curse, sliding out of the running in seventh place for a disappointing score of $98,182, given his gargantuan lead at the start of play. All-in with ace-ten on a flop showing A-7-6, he was well behind the six-seven of ‘GREAGYPoker’. Nitsche never caught up with a queen falling on the turn and a jack on the river to bust six places short of the title yet again (2:03:15).

A swift exit followed for Rodrigo Selouan in sixth place for $127,327 as he lost with ace-three to ace-king. Still, the real drama was about to come for ‘Lastchanc’, who lost a lot of chips in a fascinating hand (2:35:30). Adrian Mateos was the short stack with just eight big blinds, but managed to find a fold with pocket tens when Minko shoved with pocket queens. ‘Lastchanc’, however, was able to get away from his ace-king and lost over 60% of his stack, despite flopping a king and turning an ace. A queen on the flop gave the Russian the win, more than doubling up his stack. Mateos had pocket kings in the next hand, shoved, and was doubled up by ‘GREAGYPoker’. 

‘Lastchanc’ busted soon after in fifth for $165,123 as nines lost to ‘GREAGYPoker’ with queens. The player in ninth when the final table began was on the comeback trail, taking the lead in the event with over 40% the chips in play. Minko lost with ace-five to ‘GREAGYPoker’ with seven-three in a blind-vs-blind battle in fourth place, earning $214,138 after a seven landed on the flop. 

Three-handed, ‘GREAGYPoker’ had a big stack and finally took out the dogged Schemion in third place for $277,702.  The German held ace-king while ‘GREAGYPoker’ was ready for action with pocket sevens. All the chips went in, and despite an ace on the flop helping Schemion, a seven on the turn changed everything and gave GREAGYPoker a 2.4:1 chip lead going into the final battle.

It took nearly 20 minutes to end, but it was an incredible final hand that gave ‘GREAGYPoker’ the title, as Mateos, such a superb player all night, walked into a nightmare. On a board of 6-3-3-7 with two spades, the Spaniard shoved four-nine of spades on the turn only to be snap-called by ‘GREAGYPoker’ with deuce-three, the ‘dirty diaper’ as Nick Rigby made famous in the WSOP Main Event. The river needed to be a spade to save Mateos, but it was a deuce instead, filling up ‘GREAGYPoker’ to a full house as he won their first-ever GGMillion$ title.

This Week’s GGMillion$ Results – January 6th, 2026

A brilliant performance from the overwhelming short stack at the start of play, Israel’s ‘GREAGYPoker’, earned him his first GGMillion$ title. 

“We didn’t expect you to win, but you definitely deserved it,” said Felipe Ramos in the commentary box. “Also, [I have] great respect for the man, the myth, the legend Adrian Mateos winning $360,000 from being short stack at 22/1.”

“Congrats to everyone who bet on GREAGY,” added Binder. “I put him last on my list and he proved me wrong. I’ve become a GREAGY Fan; he surprised me so many times.”

Here are all the winners from a superb night’s action at the GGPoker felt: 

Place	Player	Country	Prize
1st	‘GREAGYPoker’	Israel	$467,038
2nd	Adrian Mateos	Spain	$360,135
3rd	Ole Schemion	Germany	$277,702
4th	Vladimir Minko	Russia	$214,138
5th	‘Lastchanc’	Israel	$165,123
6th	Rodrigo Selouan	Brazil	$127,327
7th	Dominik Nitsche	Germany	$98,182
8th	Viktor Ustimov	Russia	$75,709
9th	Duco Haven	Netherlands	$58,379

Who Really Won This Week’s GGMillion$?

While ‘GREAGYPoker’s short stack victory came out of nowhere to provide the best rags-to-riches tale of the year so far, it could be argued that Adrian Mateos’ performance was even better. The Spanish player started with a few more chips to play with than ‘GREAGY’, but at one point was down to eight big blinds while holding pocket tens. Finding the fold at that pivotal stage was nothing short of amazing, and both Ramos and Binder complimented their fellow professional on an outstanding play. 

Mateos eventually won over $360,000, a little short of the $467,038 taken down by ‘GREAGY’, but the kind of bonus that even the experienced Spanish player could not have expected to collect at the end, given his starting stack. He was in a horrible table position for almost the entire final table, too, and deserves maximum credit for his deep run to the runner-up position. 

Watch all the action from a thrilling opening GGMillion$ of 2026 here, in the company of GGPoker Global Ambassador Felipe Ramos and the 2025 WSOP Super Main Event champion Bernhard Binder. 

 

2025 Week 46                                          2026 Week 2

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.