THE DAILY SCOOP – GGMillion$ Season 2024 Episode 11
Finnish Star Samuel ‘€urop€an’ Vousden Wins GGMillion$ for $323,000
An incredible ending saw this week’s GGMillion$ title head to Finland as the online poker legend Samuel ‘€urop€an’ Vousden won the top prize of $323,784. The story was a wild one as a monster chip leader blew their chance near the final curtain only for a surprise underdog to win under dramatic circumstances.
An Early Juan for the Leader
Going into the action with a huge lead was the 2023 PGT season’s leaderboard winner, Daniel Smiljkovic. The German began the final table with 142 big blinds, a well clear of second-placed Finnish player ‘BAAABUUSKIIII’ (64BB). With regular final table player and passionate Canadian poker player Matthew Stumpf (41BB) and Thai player Kannapong Tent (40BB) both significantly back from the top of the chip counts, the leader was running away with things as the final table began.
Elsewhere on the leaderboard, fellow Finnish player Samuel Vousden (36BB), Italian player Enrico Camosci (25BB), Ukraine’s Volodymyr Palamar (17BB), British poker legend, and winner of the WSOP Online Main Event, Bert Stevens (12BB) and Spanish professional Juan Dominguez (also 12BB) were all hoping for some early success to improve their chances of booking a comeback victory for the ages.
The best part of 30 minutes had passed by the time the first player was eliminated and it was the short-stacked Juan Dominguez who bit the bullet. All-in with ace-ten pre-flop, he was in horrible shape against the chip leader Smiljkovic, whose ace-king had no problem scooping the pot with a board of J-J-5-J-3 playing out. Dominguez, dominated, cashed for $44,800 in ninth place.
Big Slick Serves Mixed Results
A three-way all-in destroyed two players’ chances in seventh and eighth. Enrico Camosci had ace-deuce of hearts, Finnish player ‘BAAABUUSKIIII’ held ace-five of spades and Bert Stevens held pocket tens. Italian player Camosci was already committed pre-flop and ‘BAAABUUSKIIII’ raise-called all-in on the flop of 6-5-5 with two clubs. Stevens called with pocket tens – one was a club – and needed a lot of help to keep his superior stack safe. He got it, the three of clubs on the turn followed by the nine of the same suit and both opponents were dead on the river. Camosci won $57,365 in eighth place and ‘BAAABUUSKIIII’ won $73,455 in seventh.
A huge hand played out soon afterward when Ukrainian Volodymyr Palamar shoved with pocket aces and Samuel Vousden tank-folded with ace-king. It was an inspired save by Vousden, known as ‘€urop€an’ in online circles. Moments later, ace-king would win in the most cruel of circumstances. While Kannapong Tent managed to fold his ace-queen to Smiljkovic’s reraise, Canadian Matthew Stumpf, the original raiser, was all-in with the worst of it pre-flop, holding ace-queen to Daniel Smiljkovic’s ace-king with the king of hearts. The flop was a miraculous Q-6-4 for Stumpf but all three cards were hearts and a further heart on the turn gave Smiljkovic the flush and pushed his chip stack to over 7.7M, half of the chips in play, as Stumpf was eliminated for $94,057.
Ace-king had served two masters well but a third would be condemned to the exit by ‘Big Slick’. Thai player Kannapong Tent was all-in with ace-king against Palamar’s ace-queen. The board was a killer, however, as a flop of Q-J-7 was followed by another seven on the turn and a four on the river, sending Tent to packing with a result worth $120,439.
Two Twists End the Event with a Shout
Four players remained, with Smiljkovic in the lead with 8.06 million. Palamar was closest to the runaway leader with 5.52 million, with both Vousden (1.3m) and Bert Stevens (575,000) trailing some way behind. All-in with ace-seven, the British online legend Stevens, often known as ‘girafganger7’, was flipping against Smiljkovic with pocket fours. A board of Q-J-6-8-8 wasn’t nearly enough for Stevens to survive, and he left in fourth place for $154,219.
Three-handed, there was a major change of direction in the event as the lead changed hands for the first time at the final table when Palamar took the lead. His pocket jacks and Smiljkovic’ ace-king ended up on their backs pre-flop with a pot of 7.7 million chips in the middle. The ten-high board kept Palamar’s pair in charge and sent the overnight chip leader to the rail in brutal fashion for $197,474.
Heads-up, Palamar was in almost complete control, with a lead of 3-to-1 and all the momentum after winning that pivotal flip against the overnight leader Smiljkovic. That counted for zero, however, as an ill-timed bluff all-in on the river when holding king-queen on a board of J-6-4-3-8 cost him dearly. Vousden had no problem calling with jack-eight and that gave him an almost 2:1 lead.
The script had been well and truly flipped, and pretty soon it was all over. Once again, an all-in bluff cost the Ukrainian, and this time it wasn’t for the chip lead but for all of his chips. On a board of A-T-7-4-4 with three spades, and with 1.9 million in the middle of the table, Palamar shoved with queen-jack offsuit and was called by Vousden with pocket jacks, thereby sealing a famous win and one which with three players left looked highly unlikely.
“[Vousden] made big folds, big calls and all day long figured it out like a Rubik’s Cube.” Said Jeff Gross as he and special guest co-commentator Lynne Ji brought the action to life on YouTube:
| Place | Player | Country | Prize |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1st | Samuel Vousden | Finland | $323,784 |
| 2nd | Volodymyr Palamar | Ukraine | $252,862 |
| 3rd | Daniel Smiljkovic | Germany | $197,474 |
| 4th | Bert Stevens | United Kingdom | $154,219 |
| 5th | Kannapong Tent | Thailand | $120,439 |
| 6th | Matthew Stumpf | Canada | $94,057 |
| 7th | ‘BAAABUUSKIIII’ | Finland | $73,455 |
| 8th | Enrico Camosci | Italy | $57,365 |
| 9th | Juan Dominguez | Spain | $44,800 |
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.