GGPOKER

WSOP Online Main Event Won by Benjamin ‘bencb’ Rollefor $3.9m

This week’s $5,000-entry WSOP Online Main Event took the place of the regular $10,300-entry GGMillion$ online. It was a spectacular show, with regular host Jeff Gross joined by Phil Hellmuth as co-commentator in the biggest online event of the year, which saw an incredible prize pool of $28.3 million up for grabs. 

While the live action took place on the GGPoker YouTube channel all night, in the end, Benjamin ‘bencb’ Rolle won the top prize of $3.9m. It was a brilliant performance capped by a crucial heads-up hand that will live long in the memory. 

PLAY TEXAS HOLD’EM POKER!

Pre-Match Betting Odds

Heading into the action, the German online poker legend Benjamin Rolle held the chip lead with an astronomical 85 big blinds, meaning he was a big favorite in the betting odds. Not only that, but the German reached the final eight in 2024’s WSOP Online Main Event, showing just how consistent he really is. 

Finland’s Anatoly Zlotnikov was second in chips with 61 big blinds, while last week’s GGMillion$ winner for a massive $304,218, Santiago Plante from Canada, was third in chips with 51 bigs. In the middle section of the leaderboard, Chinese player Zengxiang Chen (35BB), Argentina’s Marco Perez (32BB), and the German former WSOP bracelet winner Daniel Smiljkovic (30BB) were all hoping to hit seven-figure paydays.

Smiljkovic, in particular, was hoping to use his experience, having won his WSOP title in the $5,000 6-Handed NLH Championship during the 2021 WSOP Online series. With over $5 million in career earnings, including over $2.7 million in WSOP events, the German, who also won the $25,000 GGMillion$ High Rollers Championship at the 2023 WSOP Paradise series for $1.19 million, was looking stronger than his chip stack would leave one to believe.

Shorter stacks hoping for an early double to fire them back into contention included Isael’s Amit Benyacov (28BB), Cypriot poker legend Andreas Christoforou (22BB), and the lowest player on the leaderboard, Austria’s Felix Rabas, who began on just 11 big blinds.

Key Moments from the Felt

As might have been expected, the action started tense and tight, and it took over an hour to provide the first elimination. When it came, it was an unfortunate one, with Chinese player Zengxian Chen all-in with ace-jack against Anatoly Zlotnikov, holding ace-ten. A flop of Q-Q-7 was followed by a four on the turn, but Zlotnikov hit a three-outer ten on the river to reduce the field to eight as Chen cashed for $487,813 in ninth, five places short of his starting position. Soon, another player departed with the same hand as Chen. Amit Benyacov’s ace-jack lost to the resurgent Austrian Rabas, as the latter’s pocket aces survived the board to send the Israeli player home in 8th with $632,473.

Aces weren’t the only big hand crushing. Benjamin Rolle won a big flip with ace-king against Andreas Christoforou’s pocket sevens to send the Cypriot home with $820,072 in seventh, and shortly after, last week’s GGMillion$ winner was out too. All-in with king-seven from the small blind, Plante was uprooted, running into the runaway chip leader Benjamin Rolle’s ace-ten and never catching up. The lone Canadian hitting the rails in sixth for $1,063,360, the first seven-figure score at the final table.

Argentina’s Marco Perez was unlucky to head home in fifth for $1,378,866. Calling off his stack from the big blind with king-seven, Perez made the right call, but lost to Rabas’ queen-nine, when a nine hit the flop and no help came for the at-risk player. In the very next hand, Daniel Smiljkovic was the player sent home, busting with pocket sixes against Zlotnikov holding king-queen. A queen hit on the flop to bust the German for a score of $1,788,026.

A stunning hand soon changed the fortunes of the former short stack. All-in with king-deuce, Rolle’s shove was called by Rabas, and the player who started ninth in chips was ahead with pocket tens. The flop paired Rolle’s king but also gave Rabas the better flush draw, and that came in on the turn to see him double his stack. All that hope proved to be for nothing, however, as Rabas shoved ace-three into Zlotnikov’s pocket aces, crashing out in third for $2,318,640.

With almost twice the stack of Rolle, Zlotnikov was suddenly a huge favorite, but all that changed in an instant. Zlotnikov open-shoved with king-jack and was snapped off by Rolle with ace-king. It was the coldest of cold decks, and the Finnish player was kicking himself as a safe board for the German, which gave the overnight leader a massive 3:1 chip lead. Soon, all the chips were his, as Rolle called his opponent’s shove, the German holding king-queen. Rolle started the final hand behind Zlotnikov’s ace-nine, but the K-5-2 flop put Rolle in the lead. A jack on the turn meant only an ace could save Zlotnikov, but it was another king that fell, pronouncing Rolle the king instead. After coming 8th in last year’s WSOP Online Main Event on GGPoker for $651,921, the online poker legend had done it, winning an incredible $3.9 million as the latest WSOP Online Main Event champion!

This Week’s GGMillion$ Results – September 16th, 2025

With millions of dollars on the line, this week’s WSOP Online Main Event was always going to be absolutely huge. It didn’t disappoint. After a frantic battle at the end of play, Benjamin Rolle, who started in first, beat the player who had entered play second in chips, Finland’s Anatoly Zlotnikov, to earn the title.

“Give Ben the crown, this man has made the final table two years in a row, What a day, what a final table!” Jeff Gross said on air. 

“Other than one misstep Ben made, you look at the hands he made after that. To me, when you’re playing great, the biggest pots are where you have a huge advantage.” 

Place	Player	Country	Prize
1st	Benjamin Rolle	Germany	$3,900,707 *
2nd	Anatoly Zlotnikov	Finland	$3,006,762
3rd	Felix Rabas	Austria	$2,318,640
4th	Daniel Smijkovic	Germany	$1,788,026
5th	Marco Perez	Argentina	$1,378,866
6th	Santiago Plante	Canada	$1,063,360
7th	Andreas Christoforou	Cyprus	$820,072
8th	Amit Ben Yacov	Israel	$632,473
9th	Zengxiang Chen	China	$487,813

*plus a $30,000 WSOP Super Pass

Did Rolle Rule or Zlotnikov Throw it Away?

Ben Rolle certainly used his big stack in the middle section of the final table, laying waste to several opponents and keeping the others at arm’s length. In the death, however, did that huge hand with king-jack hurt Zlotnikov? Of course it did. With a great chance to take Ben Rolle all the way in an epic heads-up for the ages, the Finnish player’s relative inexperience meant that he may have seen the hand as a way of polarising his hopes, potentially winning a coinflip to take the title.

Rolle’s premium hand got the job done, and while Hellmuth was right about one misstep, across four hours of play, mostly spent as the chip leader, Ben Rolle’s performance was that of a seasoned champion who could handle the pressure. A dominant chip leader from the start, the German only lost his advantage in chips briefly. When he had the chance to apply pressure on the short stacks at a key ICM stage of the final table, he didn’t shrink from the opportunity, on his way to winning the spectacular $3.9 million top prize.

Zlotnikov indeed gave Rolle an easier route back to the chip lead than he should have had, but Rolle took full advantage and saw it out for the online result of his superb career. Congratulations to the 2025 WSOP Online Main Event winner, Benjamin Rolle from Germany. You earned it.

Watch all the action as it played out in the company of Jeff Gross and the 17-time record-owning WSOP bracelet winner Phil ‘The Poker Brat’ Hellmuth right here: 

 

GGMillion$ Final Table Results

2025 Week 31                                          2025 Week 32

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.

* The pre-game pick is the sole opinion of the author. It in no way reflects or affects the outcome of the final table.