GGMillion$ Won by Estonia’s Markkos Ladev for Debut Title
A thrilling finale saw Estonian professional Markkos Ladev triumph over GGPoker legend Michael Addamo to capture this week’s GGMillion$ title in a frantic finale worth over $400,000 to the winner. With top professionals, GGMillion$ legends, and first-time qualifiers in the mix, one of the most entertaining final tables of the series played out across three thrilling hours on GGPoker.
Kings Shoot Down Navarro
Joining regular host Jeff Gross in the virtual commentary booth was one of the most successful players, and certainly one of the hottest currently playing, in the poker world, an in-form tournament crusher with $15.6 million in live earnings alone. Shannon Shorr sits in 85th place on The Hendon Mob’s All-Time Money List and has won the last three live tournaments he’s played, and tonight, he called the action alongside Jeff as nine bosses made the finale.
The chip leader was a very familiar name, as Canadian player ‘Beriuzy’ led with 95 big blinds, a huge stack but only held a slim lead over the Chinese player ‘Dongshizhang0’ with 83 big blinds. Behind the top two players, Ukraine’s Andrii Novak (60BB) and ‘filthiest’ (37BB) jockeyed for position either side of GGMillion$ legend Michael Addamo on 39 big blinds, with Chilean Mario Navarro (30BB) and Estonian Markkos Ladev (28BB) ahead of the two German short stacks, Chris Nguyen (23BB) and Chris Puetz (18BB).
The first player to leave the action took over an hour to depart as a slow start to action bred tension and levelled up the stacks, while the blinds continued to increase in the process. Mario Navarro was down to just six big blinds when he moved all-in with an offsuit queen-jack. Unfortunately, the Chilean ran into ‘Beriuzy’ holding pocket kings. A safe board of T-3-2-7-9 left him drawing dead to the river as Navarro cashed for $57,203 in ninth place.
“Always a Sweat!”
With the final table now down to eight, the action ramped up as players pushed for a stack that might see them reach the big payouts. Ukraine’s Andrii Novak was the next to bust when he shoved pre-flop with ace-three of diamonds, but again Beriuzy had a monster, holding pocket aces for the best hand. Novak had a massive sweat from the two-diamond flop, but ‘The Rooster’, as Jeff Gross referred to him, ended Novak’s run.
“Always a damn sweat.” ‘Beriuzy’ commented in the table chat. There was no sympathy for his plight from the table, and after Novak departed with $72,995 in eighth.
It wasn’t too many hands later when Chris Puetz left with $93,045 in seventh as the runaway chip leader claimed another victim. The German Puetz was all-in with ace-five of diamonds but lost a coinflip to the pocket deuces of ‘Beriuzy’, which held through a fairly sweat-free board to leave just six in the hunt.
The other short stack left next as six was reduced to five, a whirlwind of eliminations concluding with the departure of Puetzs’ German compatriot, Chris Nguyen, for a score of $118,667. All-in with an offsuit queen-nine from the button, Nguyen ran into ‘Dongshizhang0’ with ace-jack, and that hand held to reduce the field to five players.
It was some time before the final four were formed, but when they were, it was the second of two Ukrainian eliminations, ‘filthiest’ heading home for $151,346 in fifth place. All-in with ace-seven of spades, they were some way behind the pocket kings of Estonia’s Markkos Ladev. The cowboys shot down ‘filthiest’ on a board of 9-3-2-2-6 with just one spade.
Addamo Can’t Complete the Comeback
Four players remained with a chance of becoming this week’s winner on GGPoker, and Ladev now had a massive chip lead with 11.7 million chips. Second in chips was the overnight leader Beriuzy with 4 million, while ‘Dongshizhang0’ (2.6m) and GGMillion$ legend Michael Addamo, who was short-stacked with 2.1m.
It was the Chinese player, ‘Dongshizhang0’, who exited in fourth for $193,022. Losing an earlier pot, he was at risk with a queen-six dominated by Addamo’s queen-jack. The Aussie’s hand stayed ahead to send the Chinese player home just outside the podium.
‘Beriuzy’ bluffed his way to the exit in third place for $246,175. On a board showing T-4-2-6 with three clubs, ‘Beriuzy’ shoved with eight-five with the eight of clubs. Ladev made the call with ten-seven, including the ten of clubs. An offsuit jack on the river meant play was down to heads-up, with Ladev in a dominant lead, holding three times Addamo’s chip stack.
Action went from four-handed to a winner in just 15 minutes as Ladev had built a better than 20:1 chip lead after some no-showdown wins. Addamo did get lucky to double up once with king-queen against Ladev’s ace-jack, but the reprieve was temporary. Ladev pushed with ace-seven in the next hand, and Addamo called for his last 13 big blinds with jack-ten. A flop of 6-4-4 kept Ladev ahead. A seven fell on the turn, followed by an ace on the river, giving the Estonian, Markkos Ladev, his first-ever GGMillion$ title, taking out a legend in the format to complete this feat.
Watch all the action with Jeff Gross and Shannon Shorr as the 14.02 longshot, Markkos Ladev, won the top prize of $400,423, while GGMillion$ legend Addamo had to settle for $313,965 as runner-up.
Watch all the action as it happened right here in the company of Jeff Gross and Bryan Paris.
GGMillion$ Final Table Results
| Place | Player | Country | Prize |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1st | Markkos Ladev | Estonia | $400,423 |
| 2nd | Michael Addamo | Australia | $313,965 |
| 3rd | ‘Beriuzy’ | Canada | $246,175 |
| 4th | ‘Dongshizhang0’ | China | $193,022 |
| 5th | ‘filthiest’ | Ukraine | $151,346 |
| 6th | Chris Nguyen | Germany | $118,667 |
| 7th | Chris Puetz | Germany | $93,045 |
| 8th | Andrii Novak | Ukraine | $72,995 |
| 9th | Mario Navarro | Chile | $57,203 |
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.