GG MILLION$ Won by Super Finn Samuel Vousden for $434,000
This week’s GGPoker GGMillion$ saw Finnish poker star Samuel Vousden claim another victory. He got the better of a final nine packed with poker talent. With legends of the online felt, including Bruno Volkmann, Michael Jozoff, Duco Haven, and Jans Arends all present, the final table was a mix of leveling action and some huge premium-on-premium clashes as these masters put everything on the line.
Double Dutch Drama
Finnish star Samuel Vousden, known online as ‘€urop€an’ began with a huge chip lead with 115 big blinds. Ilya Anatski from Belarus trailed closest, having amassed 62BB, and British player ‘Promoking’ (49BB), the brilliant Brazilian Bruno Volkmann (45BB), and Michael Jozoff (37BB) all in the hunt with a great chance for a deep run in the GGMillion$.
Shorter stacks included Fausto Tantillo from Austria (23BB) and Belarussian Artsiom Lasouskii (20BB), while the Dutch pair Duco Haven (17BB) and Jans Arends (13BB) completed the star-studded line-up. First to go was Arends, who shoved for just under 12 bigs early with pocket tens. He was called by Vousden, who had been acting as the table bully, with an offsuit ace-eight. Vousden hit an Ace in the window and the board ran out A-J-3-2-J, condemning the Dutch player to a ninth-place finish worth $54,293.
Vousden suffered a big beat soon after, his ace-king losing to ‘Promoking’s pocket aces for a pot worth 6.18 million, and the chip lead was passed across the table to the British player. The next out, in eighth place, was the American player Michael Jozoff, who called off his stack with ace-nine on a board showing K-K-9-5-3. It was Vousden’s pot this time, as his pocket aces had trapped the Canada-based Jozoff, who went home with $70,409 in seventh place.
Two Survive Vousden Triple Threat
A massive three-way all-in saw two players at risk, as Bruno Volkmann with pocket nines and Duco Haven with the ace-king of spades were both hoping that Samuel Vousden with the chip lead wouldn’t win the hand with pocket eights. The flop almost killed both pairs off, coming A-K-5. A six on the turn helped neither Volkmann nor Vousden as Haven’s two pair led. A third spade on the river meant both at risk players added to their stacks as Vousden failed to claim another scalp.
A little under 1 hour into the event, Duco Haven shoved pre-flop again with ace-king but ran out of luck when Artsiom Lasouski called with pocket queens. A board of 9-6-3-J-4 sent the Dutch player home with $91,310 as Lasouskii, who won his first Triton Poker Series title the other day, continued to build his stack and climb the leaderboard.
The next player to leave was the Belarussian Ilya Anatski. He was all-in pre-flop with ace-three but was unable to overcome Vousden’s pocket jacks. The board ran out Q-T-6-3-T, sending Anatski home for a score of $118,414 as his Finnish opponent added to his stack and consolidated his chip lead. It was another 35 minutes before five became four. The Austrian Fausto Tantillo had his ace-seven beaten by the Vousden’s queen-jack on a board of T-8-3-2-Q, heading home with $153,564.
Vousden’s Aggression Pays Off
There was another elimination right the very next hand, as Vousden shoved from the small blind with queen-nine only to be called by Lasouski with pocket tens. The Belarussian was desperately unlucky, busting in fourth place for $199,148. Both players had a spade, but Vousden with the queen matched highest with the four spades that arrived on the board.
With three players left, Vousden’s stack of 15.5 million dwarfed that of Promoking (5.5m) and Bruno Volkmann (1.5m). After forty minutes of three-way play, Volkmann had trebled his stack when he was faced with a choice. On a board of J-8-5-9-2, Vousden shoved the river holding queen-jack. Volkmann had more in the time bank than his enemy Vousden but couldn’t find the fold, only to see the bad news that his ace-nine was no good. Play went to heads-up as the Brazilian cashed for $258,263.
Heads-up, Vousden’s stack of 12.4 million led ‘Promoking’s 10.3 million chips. After the best part of three hours, the heads-up match would not be simple. ‘Promoking’ initially fell behind but managed to regain parity on multiple occasions. Then, about thirty minutes into heads-up, the board came Q-9-5-K with ‘Promoking’ holding ace-king. Vousden held the lead and had turned gin, holding jack-ten for a straight. Checking to ‘Promoking’, Vousden drew a pot-sized bet of 1.4m, simply calling. The river was an ace, and that was the final nail. ‘Promoking’ put a pot-sized bet and snap called the raise for his last 1.5 million chips, seeing the bad news as his runner-runner two-pair was trumped by the Finnish poker hero’s flopped straight.
Watch all the action play out in the company of regular host Jeff Gross and the highly entertaining co-commentator special guest Nate Hill here:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PvGAxQ0Zc0w
| Place | Player | Country | Prize |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1st | Samuel Vousden | Finland | $434,345 |
| 2nd | ‘Promoking’ | United Kingdom | $334,926 |
| 3rd | Bruno Volkmann | Brazil | $258,263 |
| 4th | Artsiom Lasouskii | Belarus | $199,148 |
| 5th | Fausto Tantillo | Austria | $153,564 |
| 6th | Ilya Anatski | Belarus | $118,414 |
| 7th | Duco Haven | Netherlands | $91,310 |
| 8th | Michael Jozoff | United States | $70,409 |
| 9th | Jans Arends | Netherlands | $54,293 |
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.