Greek Star DOMINATES $300K GGMillion$ – Crushes Final Table in Under 2 Hours
The Daily Scoop – GGMillion$ Season 2025 Episode 24
This week’s GGMillion$, the first since the WSOP Main Event ended, saw just eight players compete at the final table as the result of a double knockout on the last hand before the break. The final table consisted of some of poker’s most skilled professionals as they took to the virtual felt on GGPoker to compete for a $299,880 top prize from the $1,380,000 prize pool. When the final cards were dealt, it was the Brazilian star Maria Santos who claimed victory and silenced her critics, as she overcame early chip leader Viktor Petrov on GGPoker, thrilling poker fans worldwide.
Oscar’s Early Exit
This week’s commentary team delivered exceptional coverage as the latest GGMillion$ title was one of the fastest, taking just under two intense hours to play out. Regular host Jeff Gross was joined in the virtual booth by 5-time WSOP Bracelet winner, Robert Mizrachi, brother of the 2025 Main Event champion.
The final eight were led by the Greek professional Alex Theologis, who entered with 76 big blinds, a bit ahead of the Belarusian in second-place, Artsiom Lasouskii, with 70 big blinds. The two at the top had a solid lead over the middle positions, with Spain’s Juan Dominguez (48BB), Brazil’s Oscar Cueva (44BB), Canada’s Pascal LeFrancois, and Russia’s Nikita Kalinin positioned to make serious runs.
Also vying for this week’s GGMillion$ crown was Dominykas Mikolaitis (32BB) from Lithuania. Sitting on the short stack was a regular at the high roller tables, and someone you can never count out, Latvian Aleksejs Ponakovs (8BB). Despite the varied stack sizes, every player had enough ammunition to make moves, setting up an intriguing battle.
Even with Ponakovs being very short, it took nearly 20 minutes before the first player was knocked out. Oscar Cueva, who was down to around 10 bigs, got it all in with pocket jacks only to be called by Nikita Kalinin, holding ace-king. The flop came down K-Q-5 to put Cueva in a deep hole. A second five on the turn left offered no help and the six on the river ended it as he went in eighth place for $53,130.
Ponakovs Keeps On Laddering
It was another 25 minutes before the next elimination as everyone played cautiously, waiting for the short stack to bow out. Kalinin 4-bet shoved all in with pocket 10’s and was snap called by Lasouskii. The cards were turned over, and the Russian saw the bad news, as his opponent had pocket queens. The board ran out J-3-2-4-6, offering no assistance to Kalinin, who was sent to the rail in seventh for $68,032.
It was two hands later that Ponakovs finally made his last stand. He had doubled up a few times and was sitting on 6BB when he raised two-thirds of his stack preflop with queen-ten suited. It was Lasouskii who, holding the king-queen of clubs, decided to look him up. The flop came down 7-6-4 with two clubs, and Lasouskii bet out, which Ponakovs called. With the cards now on their backs, the Latvian was in dire need of assistance. The six on the turn offered nothing, and the river ace ended his ladder run as one of the most dangerous players in the field was sent packing in 6th for $87,114.
Canada’s lone participant, Pascal LeFrancois, was the next to hit the rails, finishing 5th for $111.547. His final hand was originally raised by Theologis, holding ace-king off. LeFrancois raised half his stack, which was folded back around to the original raiser, who reraised more than LeFrancois’s stack. LeFrancois insta-called for the rest of his chips with king-jack of diamonds. The flop came down Q-5-5 with one diamond to leave LeFrancois drawing thin, but the ten of diamonds on the turn opened a world of possibilities. Any ace, nine, or diamond would save the Canadian, but unfortunately, the spade ten completed the board and ended his run.
Lasouskii Takes The Lead…
Four-handed play began with the positions almost the same as they were at the start of play. Alex Theologis maintained the commanding lead with 6.68m, almost half the chips in play, while the rest of the field was in chase mode. Sitting second, with nearly half the chips, was Lasouskii with 3.49m, and Juan Dominguez had 2.43m. The current short stack, Mikolaitis, was down to 1.81m chips, but that was still good enough for 30BB.
Another ten minutes would pass before an elimination as Mikolaitis, still sitting as the short stack, 4-bet shoved all in with ace-queen off suit. He was snap called by Lasouskii with pocket kings. The king on the K-9-3 flop left the short stack drawing to a runner-runner straight. A ten on the turn provided some hope, which was quickly dashed when a second nine appeared on the river. Lasouskii had prevailed to give him the chip lead by the narrowest of margins, and sent the Lithuanian home in fourth for $142,834.
…But Falls Short
Three-handed play effectively lasted for one hand as Theologis min-raised from the button with K-9 of spades and was reraised by Lasouskii. Theologis called, and the flop came down Q-Q-7 with two spades. Lasouskii put out a small bet, which Theologis called, and an eight came down on the turn. This time, Lasouskii bet half the pot, which again was called by Theologis. The 3 of spades came down on the river, giving Theologis a king-high flush. After a moment of thought, Lasouskii went all-in, and Theologis, although he was the shorter stack, called. Lasouskii tabled his 6-4 of spades for a losing flush and was left with less than 1BB. The balance went in on the next hand with J-6 off and lost to Theologis with 9-2 on a board of Q-9-2-K-6, but earned $182,896 for the third-place finish.
Heads-up began with Theologis holding a 3:1 chip advantage over Juan Dominguez, but the match was anything but quick. Over the next 25 minutes, Theologis would slowly siphon chips from Dominguez until he had a near 10:1 chip lead. On what would be the final hand, both players checked to the flop, which came down 6-3-3. Garbage cards, but not when holding 8-3 as Theologis was, so he bet the minimum. Dominguez thought it over and chose to raise with J-5, which was called. A queen came down on the turn, giving Dominguez a flush draw, and he bet out, which was again called. The 10 of hearts came on the river, leaving Dominguez with nothing, but the story needed to be finished. Moving all in for his last 10BB, Theologis snap-called to win the GGMillion$ title and $299,880, while Juan had to settle for the runner-up position and $234,194. Watch all the action as it happened right here in the company of Jeff Gross and Robert Mizrachi.
GGMillion$ Final Table Results
| Place | Player | Country | Prize |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1st | Alex Theologis | Greece | $299,880 |
| 2nd | Juan Dominguez | Spain | $234,194 |
| 3rd | Artsiom Lasouskii | Belarus | $182,896 |
| 4th | Dominykas Mikolatis | Lithuania | $142,834 |
| 5th | Pascal LeFrancois | Canada | $111,547 |
| 6th | Aleksejs Ponakovs | Latvia | $87,114 |
| 7th | Nikita Kalinin | Russia | $68,032 |
| 8th | Oscar Cueva | Brazil | $53,130 |
| 9th | Dejan Kaladjurdjevic | Montenegro | $41,492 |
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.
