Stakelis Denies Heaven for Haven in Latest GGMillion$ Drama
The GGMillion$ gave viewers around the world on the GGPoker YouTube channel a real treat. This week’s action lived up to the billing as the show that promises “exclusive hands, massive pots, insane bluffs, and world-class decision-making.” Nine great players clashed at the felt, and after the dust settled, it was the overnight chip leader who booked the win after a rollercoaster ride to the finish line.
Stakelis in Charge as Final Begins
Hosted weekly by Jeff Gross and a special guest co-commentator, the GGMillion$ hype train has been a runaway success, and this week’s episode highlighted why. Big action, massive moves, and a final showdown that had an explosive ending, this week’s Texas Hold’em action was brought to life by Rayan Chamas in the co-commentator seat, otherwise known as ‘Beriuzy’, one of the most successful GGMillion$ players of all time. Coming third just a fortnight ago for $246,175, Chamas’ insights were priceless as the action unfolded.
When play began at the nine-handed final table, the chip leader was one of two Lithuanians at the felt, as Audrius Stakelis started with 82 big blinds. German player Ole Schemion was Stakelis’ closest rival with 61 big blinds, with Luxembourg-based Portuguese player Pedro Neves (52BB), Lithuanian Paulius Vaitiekunas (45BB), and Chinese player Ren Lin (35BB) in hot pursuit. Others in with a chance of glory included Dutchman Duco Haven (32BB), French pro Arthur Conan (23BB), Canadian Joshua Hopkins (22BB), and Ukraine’s Andrii Derzhypilskiy, who began the final as short stack with 19 big blinds to his name.
The first player to leave, nearly 30 minutes into the stream, was the luckless Hopkins. Canada’s only representative at the final table was all-in pre-flop with pocket sevens from the big blind, but he ran into Pedro Neves holding ace-queen. A flop of Q-6-5 immediately put Hopkins behind. A three on the river offered more outs to a straight for the at-risk player, but a five on the river ended Hopkins’ chances of victory, sending him home with $53,292 instead.
Mystery Hand Leads to ‘Insane’ Runout
The first ‘Mystery Hand’ of the day ended in a bust-out, taking out Arthur Conan in eighth place for $69,111. Conan had ace-jack and went to the flop against Ren ‘Tony’ Lin with the mystery hand. A flop of K-J-J looked amazing for Conan, and a seven of clubs on the turn was followed by a seven of diamonds on the river; both looked safe. A full house looked great for Conan, but his big bet on the river was cause for Lin to shove. Conan called, and pocket kings were revealed as Lin had the superior hand.
Play continued 7-handed for forty-five minutes before Andrii Derzhypilskyi, the short stack at the start of the day, was sent home with $89,626 in seventh place. All-in pre-flop with king-nine of clubs, Derzhypilskiy, who has reached the late stages in several GGMillion$ events already this year, was behind Ole Schemion’s king-jack, and the German’s hand prevailed across the 8-7-2-K-6 board, as Schemion’s chance of winning increased.
With six players remaining, Pedro Neves took his leave, busting in sixth for $116,231. It was a huge pot and a massive cooler, as Neves held ace-king and ran into the pocket aces of Lithuanian Paulius Vaitiekunas. All the chips were in pre-flop, and a king on the flop gave Neves a chance, but no more help came, and the field was reduced to five.
Another long period passed without an elimination before a bad beat left just four with a chance of victory. Lin was all-in pre-flop with the best of it, holding ace-jack offsuit, but Stakelis, who had taken the chip lead from his countryman Vaitiekunas, had the chips to call it off with ace-seven of hearts. A seven on the flop put Stakelis in the lead as no help came for Lin, as the Chinese player scored $150,733 in fifth place.
Debut Winner Denies Dutchman Duco
With four left, Stakelis had a massive chip lead, holding 10.7 million chips, nearly half the chips in play. Dutch player Duco Haven had sneaked into second place on the leaderboard with 5.07m, while Vaitiekunas was on 3.83m, with Schemion the short stack on just 2.66m. It was the shorter of the two Lithuanians who busted in fourth for $195,477 as his ace-king offsuit fell to Haven’s ace-ten of clubs. A flop of Q-T-3 set the Lithuanian behind. A nine on the turn and three on the river gave Haven the pot as the Lithuanian went to the virtual rails.
“He folded an ace-eight where he might have flipped [against pocket sevens in the previous hand] for more chips.” Said Jeff Gross, astutely analyzing how Vaitiekunas gave away some stack equity in the previous hand.
Soon, play was heads-up, as Ole Schemion called off his stack with a suited ace-queen and was well behind Stakelis’ ace-king. A board of 6-5-3-6-4 hinted at a miraculous chop but denied the German as Schemion headed to the rail in third place for $253,503. That gave Stakelis a stack of 15.56 million chips with Haven on 6.72 million as play was sent to heads up.
A big hand heads-up came when Duco Haven was all-in and at risk for 64% of the chips in play with king-jack offsuit against Stakelis’ ace-four suited. A board of K-T-8-J-3 actually gave an unbelievable sweat, with a diamond flush draw and Broadway straight draw to the river, which were denied, preventing the victory. Haven had taken the chip lead.
“In my opinion, Stakelis has been the best player at this final table by far,” Rayan ‘Beriuzy’ Chamas said in the commentary booth. A series of smallball pots went Stakelis’ way, and he managed to regain a slim lead when he found pocket nines. Haven shoved with ace-five of spades, and Stakelis called with the superior pocket pair. A board of 8-4-4-J-5 was clean, and in winning his first-ever title, the Lithuanian player Audrius Stakelis prevented Duco Haven from winning his fifth GGMillion$ title.
The start-of-day chip leader won $426,339 and his first-ever title, as Haven had to settle for $328,752 in second place. A fine return after coming into play sixth in chips.
Watch the action as it played out in the company of Jeff Gross and Rayan ‘Beriuzy’ Chamas on GGPoker right here:
GGMillion$ Final Table Results
| Place | Player | Country | Prize |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1st | Audrius Stakelis | Lithuania | $426,339 |
| 2nd | Duco Haven | Netherlands | $328,752 |
| 3rd | Ole Schemion | Germany | $253,503 |
| 4th | Paulius Vaitiekunas | Lithuania | $195,477 |
| 5th | Tony Lin | China | $150,773 |
| 6th | Pedro Neves | Portugal | $116,231 |
| 7th | Adnrii Derzhypilskyi | Ukraine | $89,626 |
| 8th | Arthur Conan | France | $69,111 |
| 9th | Joshua Hopkins | Canada | $53,292 |
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.