THE DAILY SCOOP – GGMillion$ Season 2024 Episode 39
GGMillion$ Winner Hits Jackpot on Fireworks Night to Remember
Another GGMillion$, another classic final table to absorb and appreciate in equal measure. This week’s GGPoker $10,300-entry GGMillion$ event saw players battle on fireworks night, and after an explosive ending featuring a legendary ‘slots’ hand, the final four eliminations took place in less than 30 minutes as stars raced to the conclusion at the GGPoker felt.
This week’s special guest co-commentator was the Ukrainian-American poker legend Eugene Katchalov, who joined regular host Jeff Gross in the commentary booth for the week’s spectacular action. The GGMillion$ once again had well over $1.3 million in the prize pool, and it saw an exciting topsy-turvy conclusion as some of the world’s best online poker players went for glory.
Double Defeat for Brilliant Brazilians
Working their way into the lead ahead of the final table was Maksim Vaskresenski, with the Polish player kicking off on a massive 87 big blinds. Canadian player ‘JackJohnson9’ was his closest challenger with 62 big blinds, while Dutch master Jans Arends (51BB) and Israel’s Ravid Garbi (44BB) were also close.
Other players challenging included Japanese player ‘songu227’ (36BB), Hong Kong’s ‘splendens’ (35BB), and Russian ‘IamBusinessman’ (34BB) right behind them. Only two players started short, both of them from Brazil, as Breno Bertalia (13BB) and Felipe Ketzer (12BB) were both hoping to get off to a lightning-fast start.
Bertalia became the first player to bust as his hopes were dashed just four hands in. All-in with ace-jack, he lost to ‘JackJohnson9’, holding pocket tens, after the board ran dry and took out the at-risk player in his first meaningful hand. Bertalia earned $43,296 for finishing ninth.
Eight soon became seven as the other short-stacked Brazilian, Felipe Ketzer, took his leave in eighth for a score of $55,440. Moving all-in for 12 big blinds with ace-five from the dealer button, he ran into Jans Arends with ace-ten in the next seat. There was to be no reprieve across the board, as it came J-T-3-A-4 to leave seven only in their seats.
From Chip Leader to Short Change
There was another classic flip next, with two players very close to even in chips getting their entire stack into the middle pre-flop. Japanese player ‘songu227’ had pocket tens and was all-in from the small blind with the pocket pair, as Ravid Garbi called it off with ace-king in the big blind. A flop of A-Q-7 put Garbi in the lead, and he held through turn and river to take out the Japanese player for a score of $70,990.
After three quick eliminations at the final table, there was an extended period, more than 1 hour, without anyone busting before the Hong Kong player ‘splendens’ left for $90,901 in sixth place. They were very unlucky to do so, too, as a pre-flop shove with ace-king of diamonds was way ahead of the ace-queen of ‘JackJohnson9’. That was until a board of 9-8-6-T-Q rivered top pair for the player with the bigger stack, sending home ‘splendens’ and guaranteeing everyone still in contention at least six figures of profit.
With five left, play continued without an elimination for another 40 minutes, leaving just 15 minutes of play as the action ramped up in speed and intensity. Four players would bust in quick succession, starting with the overnight leader Maksim Vaskresenski after a board of A-T-7-6-A fell, failing to improve his pair of nines against the pocket Kings of ‘IamBusinessman’, forcing the chip leader at the start to the rails with $116,397 for the effort.
And Then There Were Four
The four remaining were in the sprint to the finish, and what a finish it was. Leading the way was Vaskresenski’s conqueror, ‘IamBusinessman’ with 8.6 million, followed by the shorter stacks of Ravid Garbi (3m), Jans Arends (2.5m) and the short stack ‘JackJohnson9’ (970,000). The latter recovered, doubling to a sufficient level, and had managed to outstack Arends when the Dutch player committed his stack with ace-five. ‘JackJohnson9’, holding ace-king, called. A five on the flop spelled near disaster for the Canadian, but it was followed by a king on the turn to reduce the field to three, as Jans Arends hit the rails, earning $149,044 in fourth.
Ravid Garbi lost out in third when he shoved with ace-ten and was called by the king-queen of ‘JackJohnson9’. A queen on the flop and king on the river did for the Israeli player as Garbi cashed for $190,848 while ‘JackJohnson9’ took the lead into heads-up with 9 million chips to ‘IamBusinessman’ with 6.1m.
‘777’ Jackpot Breaks the Tape
The final battle was over in almost no time at all, as in the second hand of play between the two, the Canadian was dealt pocket sevens while the Russian, ‘IamBusinessman,’ had pocket queens.
“This could be nasty!” said Jeff Gross, who had just promised Katchalov a freeroll fast food prop bet if the Russian won. “This could flip the script pretty quickly.”
As it happened, a raise from the Canadian saw the Russian three-bet, prompting ‘JackJohnson9’ to shove, which was quickly called. A flop of 7-3-2 put ‘JackJohnson9’ into the lead, and a three on the river meant only a queen would save the ‘IamBusinessman’. A six on the river ended the Russians’ hopes, and ‘JackJohnson9’ was the champion!
“I should watch more of these final tables, especially before playing myself. You pick up a lot, you learn a lot and it inspires you to practice and try things in your own game.”
After a thriller of a finale, Bonfire Night saw a blazing final table crown the Canadian player ‘JackJohnson9’ as the deserved winner.
Watch all the action as it happened in the company of Jeff Gross and Eugene Katchalov right here:
| Place | Player | Country | Prize |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1st | ‘JackJohnson9’ | Canada | $312,919 |
| 2nd | ‘IamBusinessman’ | Russia | $244,376 |
| 3rd | Ravid Garbi | Israel | $190,848 |
| 4th | Jans Arends | Netherlands | $149,044 |
| 5th | Maksim Vaskresenski | Poland | $116,379 |
| 6th | ‘splendens’ | Hong Kong | $90,901 |
| 7th | ‘songu227 | Japan | $70,990 |
| 8th | Felipe Ketzer | Brazil | $55,440 |
| 9th | Breno Bertalia | Brazil | $43,296 |
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.