GGMillion$ Won by RRomashka as Epic Comeback Denies Messere Again
A thrilling finale in this week’s $10,000 GGMillion$ on GGPoker saw Russian player ‘RRomashka’ win the title and over $386,000 after beating British frontrunner Owen Messere heads-up. With poker legends such as Pablo Silva, Johannes Straver, and Vlad Darie all falling short of glory, a four-hour epic played out on the GGPoker YouTube channel, entertaining fans long into the night.
Early Departure for Silva Surfer
Matthew Lambrecht was this week’s special guest alongside Jeff Gross in the commentary box. The American, who has just under $3 million in live poker tournament earnings, a 2024 WSOP bracelet, and a massive reputation across the United States, cast his eye over the nine finalists across four hours of top-quality entertainment on the GGPoker YouTube livestream.
Heading into the action, last week’s third-place finisher was this week’s front-runner, as Owen Messere from the United Kingdom had the chip lead with 89 big blinds. The Romanian tournament specialist Vlad Darie (69BB) was significantly behind him, with Samuel ‘€urop€an’ Vousden (63BB) hot on the heels of Daire. After Israel’s Ravid Garbi (53BB), there was another 20BB gap to those who began with much less than half the leader’s stack. Mexico’s ‘LuLove’ (33BB), Austrian Johannes Straver (26BB), Brazilian Pablo Silva (20BB), Russia’s ‘RRomashka’ (15BB), and Chinese player ‘Ming Dai 310’ (11BB) were all hoping a fast start would put them back in the race.
It took less than 20 minutes for the first exit, as Brazil’s Pablo Silva, so often a GGMillion$ powerhouse, was unable to work his way back into contention. Slipping to less than 10 big blinds, he moved all-in pre-flop with ace-jack offsuit, but he couldn’t find help in a flip against ‘Ming Dai 310’ holding pocket eights. A board of Q-6-2-3-9 ejected the dangerous Silva from the competition with a prize of $52,267 in ninth place.
Garbi Throws Away the Snowmen
There were pocket pairs everywhere when a stunning hand reduced the field from eight to seven. Ravid Garbi had pocket eights, Vlad Darie had sevens, and Johannes Straver a pair of jacks. Darie min-raised from middle position and was re-raised by Straver. Samuel Vousden, with ace-king, four-bet from the dealer spot, which led to Garbi and Daire folding and Straver shoving. Vousden called off his stack making it a 3.3 million pot. A flop of A-8-4 condemned Straver to just 2 outs. The deuce of hearts landed on the turn increasing the number of cards he was chasing.
Any heart or jack would save Straver, but an offsuit king only improved Vousden’s hand to two-pair. It was worth noting that Garbi, had he remained in the hand, would have eliminated both players with middle set on the flop. Instead, Vousden eliminated the Austrian, sending Straver home with $66,659 and moving to second in chips close to Messere.
Soon, seven was down to six. Vlad Darie had the best of it on a flop of K-9-6, holding king-eight. ‘Ming Dai 310’ called off their stack with queen-ten of diamonds and an inside straight flush draw on the flop. A ten on the turn gave the Chinese player more outs, but it was not enough as an offsuit five on the river confirmed the end for Ming Dai 310 after just over 30 minutes of play, coming with a cash of $85,016 in seventh place.
‘RRomashka’ got a juicy double-up through Darie the very next hand to make sure the Romanian stayed humble, ace-king beating ace-eight as ‘LuLove’ folded pocket tens pre-flop and survived where in many other spots they would have busted.
The table would wait 48 minutes for the next elimination, which was Ravid Garbi. Garbi had become super short when his ace-king lost to pocket queens held by ‘LuLove’. He was forced all in as the big blind with ten-seven offsuit for less than a blind. He was called by Darie holding ace-king. The board came down 8-5-3-2-J meaning both players missed the board and the Romanian’s higher cards would play. The lone Israeli player was sent home with $108,427 in sixth place.
Vousden Fades Late as RRomashka Seals Victory
Darie won that hand after a protracted period without an elimination only to find himself in trouble just 8 minutes later. Under the gun, min-clicked with pocket jacks and was raised by ‘LuLove’ holding pocket kings. Darie 3-bet, which was met by a shove ‘LuLove’ that was snap-called. The Mexican had the marginally bigger stack as the 2 faced off for a 4.3m chip pot. The cards were turned up and Darie saw the bad news which only got worse on the A-K-3 flop. A seven on the turn had Darie drawing dead as the meaningless four on the river sent Darie to the virtual rail with $138,285 in fifth place.
Four players remained with Samuel Vousden as the chip leader with 5.85 million chips. The overnight leader, Owen Messere, was still sitting strong on 5.42 million, while ‘LuLove’ who had started the final table in the bottom half, was now sitting on 4.88 million. This left ‘RRomashka’ to bring up the rear with just 2.76 million. Everything would change over the next 1.25 hours as the chips passed back and forth without an elimination. Vousden, the former chip leader, found himself as the short stack when he shoved pre-flop with the ace-deuce of hearts. He was called to his doom by the dominating of ‘RRomashka’ holding ace-five of diamonds. A board of A-9-3 with no hearts wasn’t good news, but a nine on the turn made it a 39% shot that the players would chop or Vousden would survive. An offsuit four on the river was a disaster for ‘€urop€an’, and he was out in fourth place for $176,365.
One of the most fascinating hands of the night, the hand that sent play heads-up, occurred on a board of 8-3-2-3-7 with no flush draw. ‘RRomashka’ shoved when holding six-three and a larger stack than ‘LuLove’ putting the Mexico-based player into the tank with king-eight for their tournament life. Eventually, ‘LuLove’ called and departed in third place for $224,932, leaving ‘RRomashka’ in the lead with 11.2 million against the 7.7 million stack of Owen Messere, last week’s 3rd place finisher.
With the roles from the start of play reversed, the overnight chip leader was chasing the chip leader, Russia’s ‘RRomashka’, who began play eighth of the nine final table players. Despite a brilliant bluff to get back into it, Messere was still a 2:1 dog when the final hand played out. ‘RRomashka’ raised with a suited ace-queen, and Messere shoved with pocket fives. ‘RRomashka’ called it off, needing only to win the flip to take the title. A flop of Q-J-6 put the Russian into the lead and, after an eight on the turn, the British player was chasing one of two outs on the river. His miracle never came in, as a ten confirmed the fourth GGMillion$ title for ‘RRomashka’s as he won possibly his best GGMillion$ final table ever, starting eighth to end up on top.
Watch all the action in the company of Jeff Gross and Matthew Lambrecht in all its glory here, as RRomashka, who won one of the most exciting GGPoker final tables in recent memory at 29 to 1 on the GGMillion$ betting odds.
GGMillion$ Final Table Results
| Place | Player | Country | Prize |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1st | ‘RRomashka’ | Russia | $365,869 |
| 2nd | Owen Messere | United Kingdom | $286,782 |
| 3rd | ‘LuLove’ | Mexico | $224,932 |
| 4th | Samuel Vousden | Finland | $176,365 |
| 5th | Vlad Darie | Romania | $138,285 |
| 6th | Ravid Garbi | Israel | $108,427 |
| 7th | ‘Ming Dai 310’ | China | $85,016 |
| 8th | Johannes Straver | Austria | $66,659 |
| 9th | Pablo Silva | Brazil | $52,267 |
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.