THE DAILY SCOOP – GGMillion$ Season 2024 Episode 10
GGMILLION$ Won by LemonHouse for $ 315,000
A big week of GGMillion$ action continued as nine of the finest players on the planet reached the final table on GGPoker. When play concluded after just under two and a half hours, it was the Mexico-based player ‘LemonHouse’ who proved sharpest on the night. As stars of the online poker scene such as Eliot Hudon, Ottomar Ladva, and Oliver Weis all fell away, ‘LemonHouse’ claimed a victory worth an incredible $315,092 after beating Moldovan poker legend Pavel Plesuv heads-up.
The Haves and Have-Nots
Jeff Gross was joined in the commentary booth by Romanian poker professional Razvan Belea as the 2023 EPT France Main Event winner helped analyze the play on a night of fun. The chip leader was the aforementioned Mexico-based ‘LemonHouse’ who started as the player to beat with 78 big blinds. Just a single blind behind them was Brazil’s ‘axelroses’ while Pavel Plesuv (67BB) and Barak Wisbrod (63BB) from Israel were in close pursuit.
Behind the big stacks, Germany’s Oliver Weis (33BB), Canadian Eliot Hudon (23BB) and Ukrainian Volodymyr Palamar (21BB) all had very playable stacks, with Romanian ‘Mr Nouira’ (9BB) and Estonia’s Ottomar Ladva (5BB) hoping for an early miracle to preserve their tournament chances.
The first player left before they’d had time to really judge the dynamics of the final table. Romania’s ‘Mr Nouira’ was all-in on the J-8-6 flop with ace-eight of spades only to run into Barak Wisbrod’s pocket kings. The Israeli player held through the six turn and seven river to take out his first opponent as the Romanian cashed in ninth for $43,597.
Hudon Not the Hero This Time
In a blizzard of early bust-outs, the former WPT World Championship winner Eliot Hudon was the next to feel the chill. The Canadian was all-in pre-flop with the third best starting hand in poker, pocket queens, only to run into ‘LemonHouse’ holding the second best starting hand, pocket kings. The board was in no mood to save Hudon, when a king on the flop was joined by one more on the river for ‘Death by Quads’ and the Canadian left with $55,825 in eighth.
Estonian Ottomar Ladva, who started the final table with just five big blinds, laddered to seventh but no further, cashing for $71,483 on the very next hand. All-in pre-flop with pocket deuces, the ducks were not allowed to cross the perilous path to the upper limits of the leaderboard, Pavel Plesuv’s pocket queens showing no mercy as they mercilessly cut them down, a jack-high board with no third ‘duck,’ eliminating Ladva.
Oliver Weis was the next player to leave, shoving all in with an offsuit queen jack after a min-raise from ‘LemonHouse’. The original chip leader couldn’t believe their luck, insta-calling with pocket aces and riding the hand through the river on a rainbow board runout of 9-8-6-7-8 to send Weis home with $91,532.
Plesuv Runner-Up as the ‘House’ Wins
Barely over twenty minutes into this final table and just five remained which is how it would stay for the better part of 40 minutes. Dropping from 2.7 million when play went five-handed to holding just 350,000 chips, Barak Wisbrod made a bad read and wrongly folding to Brazil’s ‘axelroses’ before his final hand. Wisbrod was short and went all-in with ace-deuce when facing a raise by ‘LemonHouse’ holding queen-seven. A board of 7-5-4-Q-9 sent the Israeli player home with a healthy $117,205.
Four players were left and Pavel Plesuv was sitting pretty on 7.13 million chips. Behind him, ‘LemonHouse’ had a strong stack of 5.18 million chips, ‘axelroses’ with 2.18 million and Ukrainian Volodymyr Palamar hanging on with just 579,031. Palamar actually doubled up and was right back in contention for a while but all-in with king-ten, couldn’t find help against the Mexico-based ‘LemonHouse’ holding suited ace-seven. A flop brought a nine, ten, and an ace pairing both players. The turn paired the nine on the board and four on the river ended it for the Ukrainian, who left in fourth earning $150,079.
Three-handed play lasted the best part of the final hour of the competition. Brazilian player ‘axelroses’ pushed pre-flop for just over 2 million chips with king-queen of clubs and ‘LemonHouse,’ having pulled back into the lead and now sitting on 10.8 million, made the call with pocket sixes. The flop of A-J-9 with two clubs gave ‘axelroses’ hope and huge potential draws. A second ace followed on the turn putting the odds at exactly 50/50 going to the river. Unfortunately, Brazilian fans were to be left disappointed, as an offsuit four landed on 5th street, only growing ‘LemonHouse’s’ stack and sending ‘axelroses’ to the rail for $192,173 in third.
Dominating the heads-up chips-wise with a nearly 7:1 lead, it didn’t take long for ‘LemonHouse’ to book the win. All-in with ace-ten pre-flop, ‘LemonHouse’ was called by Plesuv with a suited jack-ten of hearts. The flop of 9-7-2 gave Plesuv a gutshot and backdoor flush draw, keeping his hopes alive. The turn of the five of diamonds ended flush hopes, meaning only an eight or a jack could save the Moldovan. The river came down a three of diamonds and ‘LemonHouse’ locked up this edition of the GGMillion$, taking it home for $315,092 and their first win of the season, denying Plesuv a second victory of the season in the process.
Watch all the action with Gross and Belea’s unparalleled commentary bring all the action to life in spectacular fashion here:
| Place | Player | Country | Prize |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1st | ‘LemonHouse’ | Mexico | $315,092 |
| 2nd | Pavel Plesuv | Moldova | $246,073 |
| 3rd | ‘axelroses’ | Brazil | $192,173 |
| 4th | Volodymyr Palalmar | Ukraine | $150,079 |
| 5th | Barak Wisbrod | Israel | $117,205 |
| 6th | Oliver Weis | Germany | $91,532 |
| 7th | Ottomar Ladva | Estonia | $71,483 |
| 8th | Eliot Hudon | Canada | $55,825 |
| 9th | Mr Nouira | Romania | $43,597 |
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.