GGMILLION$ Win by ‘Wardska_’ as ‘spaise411’ Misses Out Yet Again
This week’s $10,300-entry GGPoker GGMillion$ saw a thrilling conclusion to the action as Austrian ‘Wardska_’ grabbed the title and a top prize of $271,631, winning after a dominant heads-up battle. It was again the ultimate pain for their final opponent as Russian player ‘spaise411’ missed out on the win at his 19th final table in the event series.
Nemeth the Monster Chip Leader
This week, regular host Jeff Gross was joined in the virtual booth by Razvan Belea, a prominent online and live poker professional with over $1.46 million in live tournament earnings alone. Most of those winnings came when Belea won the EPT Paris Main Event in February last year for $1.25m.
The action got underway with Andras Nemeth from Hungary leading the way on 94 big blinds. Russian player and final table regular ‘spaise411’ was closest to the starting leader with 60 big blinds, while Estonian Ottomar Ladva (54BB) and Brazilian Felipe Boianovsky (43BB) were not far behind. Boianovsky’s fellow Brazilian Pedro Garagnani (38BB) was next followed by Mexico-based ‘BANG IT!’ (29BB), Austrians ‘Wardska_’ (28BB) and ‘Khaanos’ (16BB). The talented Belarussian Ilya Anatski bringing up the rear with 12 big blinds as the short stack.
The short stack was the first player to depart the final table, although Anatski deserves a lot of credit for lasting around 40 minutes. All-in from the big blind with jack-eight offsuit, Anatski lost to Garagnani’s ace-four of clubs when a board showing Q-9-6-6-4 fell, giving the Brazilian two pair and sending Anatski home with $37,584.
Brilliant Brazilians Depart
Incredibly, over an hour passed without an elimination, but that was soon rectified after back-to-back hands led to the departure of ‘Khaanos’. Sitting as the short stack with just over 2 big blinds, the Austria-based player first doubled up when queen-nine hit two pair against the ace-four of Ottomar Ladva. But in the next hand, Khaanos lost with ace-jack to the suited king-queen of Nemeth, the chip leader taking out Khaanos in eighth place for $48,125 after two clubs on the flop and another on the turn gave the chip leader the winning flush.
Ladva had been left short by his earlier loss to Khaanos and, a short time later, was sent to the rails in seventh for $61,623. The Estonian will have been disappointed to exit where he did, not the least because he entered the final table of this poker tournament third in chips, but the manner of the defeat will also sting. His pocket fours were all-in on a board of Q-5-3, and his shove for four big blinds into a pot of five was called by the chip leader ‘spaise411’ who held just king-jack. The turn ran clean with a 7 hitting the board, but the king on the river ended Ladva’s chances.
Brazilian Felipe Boianovsky, who also plays under the name ‘LisFlower,’ busted next in sixth place for $78,907. All-in pre-flop with queen-ten of hearts, he was called by ‘spaise411’ with ace-king. A board of J-J-4-3-K saw an unnecessary king on the river land as the Russian ousted another opponent. Soon, five became four, as the last Brazilian at the table was shown to the rail. Pedro Garagnani leaving in fifth for $101,039. The Brazilian had only two-and-a-half big blinds to his name when he shoved with king-seven, and Nemeth called him with queen-six. The Hungarian paired both his cards to take Garagnani’s last few chips.
Austrian King Reigns as Banging Bluff Goes Wrong
With four players remaining, ‘spaise411’ had the chip lead, with a stack of 4.68 million. Austria’s ‘Wardska_’ (4.59m) was closest in chips, while Mexico’s ‘BANG IT!’ (1.97m) and the aforementioned Nemeth (1.8m) were both in need of a double-up. Unbeknownst to the players, just half an hour remained. The remaining players needed to make moves, and quickly, as the blinds raced around the table. Nemeth was next to go and in unlucky fashion. His ace-nine lost to ‘BANG IT!’s’ king-queen. The chips were all in pre-flop when a queen on the flop ended Nemeth’s run and sent the Hungarian home with $129,378.
With the overnight chip leader out of contention, ‘BANG IT!’ had found some momentum, but they gave it all away after calling a double pot-sized bet on the river with a board showing two aces. ‘BANG IT!’ held fourth paid, but ‘Wardska_’ had a set of aces. The call gave the latter a big lead, and Mexico’s ‘BANG IT!’ fell out of contention soon after. Down to less than 2 big blinds, ‘BANG IT!’ was all-in with queen-eight against the call from ‘Wardska_’ holding eight-six and ‘spaise411’ with king-eight. ‘Wardska_’ led out on a flop of 7-5-3 to isolate ‘BANG IT!’ The open straight draw came in with a four on the turn, and ‘BANG_IT!’ was drawing dead to a 6, which would save him with a split pot. The king on the river sent ‘BANG IT!’ home with $165,666 in third place.
Heads-up, ‘spaise411’ was the underdog with 2.67 million chips, some way behind ‘Wardska_’ with 10.37 million. That advantage was crucial, as the Russian shoved on the seventh hand with pocket threes, which was a quick call for ‘Wardska_’ with pocket kings. Crushed pre-flop, the J-7-7 flop did nothing to alter the standings. A six on the turn left ‘spaise411’ drawing to one of the two remaining threes in the deck. Instead, it was a four on the river ended his dream and left ‘Wardska_’ as the champion while the Russian just missed ending his GGMillion$ final table curse.
Watch all the action play out in the company of Jeff Gross and Razvan Belea right here:
| Place | Player | Country | Prize |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1st | ‘Wardska_’ | Austria | $271,631 |
| 2nd | ‘spaise411’ | Russia | $212,132 |
| 3rd | ‘BANG IT!’ | Mexico | $129,378 |
| 4th | Andras Nemeth | Hungary | $101,039 |
| 5th | Pedro Garagnani | Brazil | $78,907 |
| 6th | Felipe Boianovsky | Brazil | $61,623 |
| 7th | Ottomar Ladva | Estonia | $48,125 |
| 8th | ‘Khaanos’ | Austria | $37,584 |
| 9th | Ilya Anatski | Belarus | $46,282 |
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.