GGMillion$ Won by First Timer Straver as Vogelsang Fades Late
This week, the GGMillion$ final table hosted nine exceptional players from nine different countries in a truly global showdown on GGPoker. Christoph Vogelsang, Adrian Mateos, and Jans Arends all brought vast experience to the final table, but it was the Austrian Johannes Straver who booked the win, taking home $386,195 after a thrilling conclusion to the tournament.
‘Espolon’ Leads the Way
Heading into the final table, it was a very balanced set of chip counts, with less than 40 big blinds between the chip leader and the shortest stack. Russian player ‘Espolon’ led the field with 64 big blinds, closely followed by a Spanish multiple WSOP bracelet winner, Adrian Mateos (61BB). Behind the top two, both Austria’s Johannes Straver (54BB) and German legend Christoph Vogelsang (50BB) were in nearby attendance, chips-wise.
Others had less to start with but playable stacks nonetheless, with Triton Poker Series player Wai Kiat Lee from Malaysia and British player Gavin Andreanoff both on 37 big blinds. Just behind those two players were two more, with Irishman Jon Proudfoot and Dutch GGMillion$ regular Jans Arends, both beginning with 35 big blinds. The short stack coming into play was the Belarussian Ihar Soika, but with a stack of 25 big blinds, he had a very playable stack.
Chips were passed around the table for the first 45 minutes of play before the first player was finally knocked out. The Dutchman Arends had lost more than he had won over time and was all-in pre-flop with the monstrous hand of pocket queens. Unfortunately, he ran into an even bigger monster, pocket aces, in Wai Kiat Lee’s hand. The Malaysian had the bigger stack, and after a runout of K-4-4-2-3, the field was down to eight, and Arends cashed for $55,170 in ninth place.
Kiat Lee Has Aces Cracked
It would be another 40 minutes of chips going around the table before eight became seven. The overnight short stack Ihar Soika, who was down to 4 bigs, shoved with pocket sevens and was called by Christoph Vogelsang with ace-deuce. The Belarussian’s sevens held, and he doubled up, but in the very next hand, he ran his ace-queen into Kiat Lee’s pocket kings. This time, there was no luck for the at-risk player, as a cruel board of A-6-5-9-3 initially saw Soika overtake his opponent on the flop, only for the board to play out runner-runner in spades to make Kiat Lee’s flush. Soika cashed for $70,363.
Irish player Jon Proudfoot was next to bust, cashing for $89,739 when his king-queen offsuit ran into Vogelsang’s ace-jack of hearts. With the chips committed pre-flop, a flop of 6-4-3 with two hearts was a nightmare for Proudfoot, and after another four on the turn, only a non-heart king or queen would help on the river to come. An offsuit seven ended the drama, and Proudfoot was gone as Vogelsang won a crucial pot to strengthen his own chances.
Kiat Lee was one of the dominant players at the final table, but he encountered horrific misfortune and crashed out in sixth place. Johannes Straver raised it up pre-flop with pocket queens after Espolon’s opening bet. Kiat Lee re-popped it with pocket aces, and when Straver shoved for 4.8 million total, Kiat Lee called off his entire 3.7 million chip stack. A flop of 9-7-4 was safe enough, although things got tricky on the turn, as the ace of clubs gave Kiat Lee top set but offered Straver a glimmer hope for an upset with his queen of clubs. Sure enough, the three of clubs on the river sealed a spectacular 8 million-chip pot for the Austrian as Kiat Lee busted in sixth for $114,451.
Russian player ‘Espolon’ began the final table in pole position, but nearly 3 hours into the final table, he was down to less than 10 big blinds. He called pre-flop with ace-jack on what would be his final hand but was well behind Vogelsang’s ace-queen suited in hearts. A flop of A-7-3 with two hearts, a perfect flop for Vogelsang, and when he bet, ‘Espolon’, who had the jack of hearts, shoved. The German snap-called. Only a jack would save the Russian, but the seven, which fell on the turn, did offer the Russian outs to a chop. An offsuit four on the river was no good, and ‘Espolon’ busted in fifth for $145,968 as the starting chip leader busted before the final four.
Straver Presses His Edge
Play reached four-handed, with Straver in the leader holding 8.51 million chips, but Vogelsang’s resurgence saw him pile up 7.75 million as a very close second on the leaderboard. Andreanoff (2.4m) and Adrian Mateos (1.28m) had a lot of work to do if they wanted to win. Unfortunately for the Spaniard, a small blind shove with ten-seven was no good against Andreanoff’s queen-eight as the British player’s higher cards played and Mateos cashed for $186,163 in fourth.
Three-handed play lasted a very short space of time, 2 hands to be exact, as the final stages of this week’s GGMillion$ raced to completion. A board of Q-9-5-2-Q saw Straver shove the river with some well-disguised pocket tens. Andreanoff called it off with jack-nine, congratulating his opponents with the ‘Good Game’ emoji and went to the rail for $237,428 richer.
The final two went into battle with German high roller regular Christoph Vogelsang holding around half the chips of Austria’s Johannes Straver as both men looked to break their GGMillion$ duck. Vogelsang drifted further behind before getting all his chips in with king-eight. Straver made the call with ace-jack, and a flop of J-9-6 left the German looking for a miracle. A four of hearts on the turn ruled out the backdoor flush as Vogelsang was nearly drawing dead, needing one of three kings on the river. A deuce came instead, relegating him to the runner-up position for a cash of $302,809, while Straver locked up $386,195 for the win and his first-ever GGMillion$ triumph.
Watch all the action with poker legends Jeff Gross and Fedor Holz as a thrilling final table played out on GGPoker’s YouTube channel right here:
GGMillion$ Final Table Results
| Place | Player | Country | Prize |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1st | Johannes Straver | Austria | $386,195 |
| 2nd | Christoph Vogelsang | Germany | $302,809 |
| 3rd | Gavin Andreanoff | United Kingdom | $237,428 |
| 4th | Adrian Mateos | Spain | $186,163 |
| 5th | ‘Espolon’ | Russia | $145,968 |
| 6th | Wai Kiat Lee | Malaysia | $114,451 |
| 7th | Jon Proudfoot | Ireland | $89,739 |
| 8th | Ihar Soika | Belarus | $70,363 |
| 9th | Jans Arends | Netherlands | $55,170 |
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.