GGMillion$ Won by Former World Champion Espen Jorstad for $363,000
This week’s GGMillion$ saw nine of poker’s finest talents take to the virtual felt on GGPoker and compete for a $363,836 top prize. When the dust settled, it was the 2022 WSOP Main Event winner Espen Jorstad who won the title and bragging rights among poker’s elite, as he defeated the overnight leader Duco Haven on GGPoker, thrilling poker fans worldwide.
Early Exit for Dapra
This week’s commentary team had enormous fun bringing the action to life as the latest GGMillion$ title was fought for across three hours. Regular host Jeff Gross was joined in the virtual booth by Bryan Paris, a hugely successful poker player in his own right and a well-known Twitch streamer who is a consistent player at the live felt, especially during previous years at the World Series of Poker, which is now part of the GGPoker stable.
The final nine were led by Dutchman Duco Haven, who started with 88 big blinds, a fair way clear of second place, Norwegian former WSOP Main Event winner Espen Jorstad on 64 big blinds. With a trio of Portuguese-speaking players followed next in line, Brazilians Pedro Padilha (60BB) and Pedro Garagnani (32BB) were joined in the chasing pack by Portugal’s Joao Vieira, who started on 37 big blinds.
Also present in the race to become this week’s GGMillion$ champion was a well-known regular at the final table of these events, Malaysia’s Kiat Lee, and Swedish online poker legend Niklas Astedt, both on 28 big blinds. Israel’s Ravid Garbi was sitting near the back with 22 bigs, while the Argentine, Hernan Dapra (17BB), was the short stack. All of the players had playable stacks, so the action began with everyone having a fighting chance.
Despite a stable 40-minute period at the start of play, Dapra’s short stack wasn’t able to last. All-in pre-flop with pocket sixes, the Argentinian started and ended the hand behind as he found himself up against Joao Vieira’s pocket queens. A flop of K-J-T was a nightmare for Dapra, and the four on the turn was no help. Only a six would save him, but he couldn’t hit the two-outer as a ten came on the river to reduce the field to eight and send Dapra home with $51,976.
Haven in Quads Heaven
The very next hand brought another knockout, and this time, it was one of the Brazilians who left the party. All-in pre-flop with pocket tens, Pedro Garagnani was ahead of his caller, the chip leader Duco Haven, who had pocket eights. That lead held until a spectacular flop of 9-8-8, which gave the Dutchman quad eights! A four on the turn meant that Garagnani was drawing dead on the river. A deuce was the final card and the Brazilian left with $66,289 in eighth place.
Malaysia’s Kiat Lee figured that fortune might favor the brave one orbit later, but over the course of two hands, he was shown the inaccuracy of that phrase. After losing most of his stack with ace-five to Niklas Astedt’s ace-king, Lee shoved pre-flop from the small blind with king-nine and was flipping against the pocket fours of Pedro Padilha. This time, the Brazilian prevailed. A king landed on the flop, and so did a four, as the South American made a bottom set to send Lee home with $84,544.
That was the last elimination for the next 40 minutes, when Israel’s Ravid Garbi was sent to the rails for $107,825 in sixth place. Garbi shoved his last 8 big blinds with ace-four into Pedro Padilha’s ace-six. These hands chop fairly often, but not on this occasion. A flop of 9-7-6 put Garbi at risk of elimination. A turn eight followed by an ace river sadly confirmed his exit.
Niklas Astedt’s record in online poker tournaments is the envy of virtually everyone in the world, but this time he busted in fifth place for $137,517. Down to just under 9 bigs, Astedt committed pre-flop with king-ten of hearts and found a caller in Jorstad who held ace-seven. A teasing flop of Q-J-3 was followed by a seven on the turn. No help for the Swedish legend on the river and he was out.
World Champion Shows His Class
With four players remaining, Duco Haven still led the way, and it was not a small lead. The Dutch professional’s stack of just over nine million chips was clear of Jorstad’s 5.79m, Padilha’s 2.79m, and nine times the 1m stack in front of Joao Vieira. Duco Haven was in possession of just under 50% of the chips in play.
The Portuguese player was under immense pressure with just ten big blinds, but quickly doubled up to put Padilha under the same pressure. Chips went back and forth for almost 40 more minutes when Padilha found himself in the big blind with ace-six. He shoved and was called by Haven, holding a superior ace-nine. Haven’s hand held through the K-7-4-J-3 board to reduce the field to three, as the Brazilian was sent home with $175,385.
Vieira, back as short stack, doubled up early in three-handed before a spectacular hand saw him double once more through Haven. A board of K-Q-Q-T-9 looked beautiful to the Dutch player who held jack-ten for a rivered straight. But Vieira had been ahead from the flop, who held king-queen for a flopped full house. He won a vital hand that essentially leveled the remaining three stacks.
In total, three-handed play lasted for 45 minutes until Jorstad, second in chips behind Haven, raised with pocket aces. Vieira called with seven-six. The board came down A-4-3-3-5, which prompted the Portuguese player to bet big on the river. This time, the Norwegian former world champion had the boat, and he raised. Vieira called off the last of his chips only to see the bad news. The Portuguese player went home with $223,682 in third place.
Heads-up, that hand gave Jorstad the most marginal of leads, with both men holding over nine million chips. The last two to finish were the biggest stacks at the start of the final table, but it was a cooler that ended the action quickly. Haven held king-queen of clubs and raised into Jorstad’s ace-queen of diamonds. All the chips went into the middle quickly and a flop of 8-7-4 with two diamonds removed two outs for the at-risk Dutchman. An offsuit three on the turn and a five on the river meant Espen Jorstad’s ace played, and the 2022 World Series of Poker Main Event winner added a GGMillion$ title to his already impressive resume.
Watch all the action as it happened right here in the company of Jeff Gross and Bryan Paris.
GGMillion$ Final Table Results
| Place | Player | Country | Prize |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1st | Espen Jorstad | Norway | $363,836 |
| 2nd | Duco Haven | Netherlands | $285,278 |
| 3rd | Joao Vieira | Portugal | $223,682 |
| 4th | Pedro Padilha | Brazil | $175,385 |
| 5th | Niklas Astedt | Sweden | $137,517 |
| 6th | Ravid Garbi | Israel | $107,825 |
| 7th | Kiat Lee | Malaysia | $84,544 |
| 8th | Pedro Garagnani | Brazil | $66,289 |
| 9th | Hernan Dapra | Argentina | $51,976 |
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.