THE DAILY SCOOP – GGMillion$ Season 2024 Episode 16
Yuri Dzivielevski Wins GGMillion$ for $308,000 as Brilliant Brazilian Dominates
This week’s GGMillion$ was a runaway train hurtling down a mountain. Nine of the best poker players in the world clashed at the virtual felt on GGPoker in the weekly $10,300-entry event that separates the great from the even better in the online poker world. In the end, a final table that was filled with top talent saw one of the online pokers greats take home the top prize, as Brazilian player Yuri Dzivielevski won $308,956.
Lasouskii Loses in the First Hand
Nine players were led by Russian player ‘Espolon’ with 85 big blinds at the final table when play began, with Estonian player Ottomar Ladva the closest challenger on 72 bigs. Brazilian former online number one Yuri Dzivielevski (69BB) and German high roller crusher Ole Schemion (55BB) were in close contention. Canadian player ‘NuttyWolves’ (31BB) and Ukrainian Andrii Derzhypilskyi (30BB) were close behind.
Short stacked GGMillion$ legend, Australian player Michael Addamo (23BB) was joined by Belarussian Artsiom Lasouskii (16BB) and Swedish player Sven Andersson (15BB) and needed to get lucky to climb the ladder soon or perish. Going into the action at the final table, there was barely time for regular host Jeff Gross and special guest co-commentator Mike Wasserman to gamble on the first flop being black or red before a player hit the rail.
The flop prop bet was the red, to Gross’ delight, as he received first pick for the presenters’ weekly prop bet draft, where the weekly winner gets a free dinner. It was sour luck on the first flop for one player, however, as Artsiom Lasouskii was all-in with pocket jacks and Ukraine’s Andrii Derzhypilskyi called with ace-king, hitting a king on both flop and turn to send the Belarussian home with $44,136.
Derzhypilskiy Runs Out of Luck
Swedish star Sven Andersson was the next to fall, moving all-in for just over 16 big blinds with king-queen offsuit. He was called by Ladva with pocket jacks and the board ran out A-9-6-7-9 to send the Swede home with a score of $56,290. Andersson was soon joined by the third and final of the starting short stacks to bust. Addamo shoved on a flop of K-8-6 with ace-six only to be called by Ladva with eight-seven. A seven on the turn to make an unnecessary two pair and send the Aussie home with $71,791 in seventh place.
Out in sixth was ‘NuttyWolves’ whose shove with ace-jack of clubs was unlucky to run into Ladva’s ace-queen of spades. The flop of Q-T-8 with 2 clubs offered some hope to the Canadian offering both a flush draw and giving a double-gutter straight draw. The board ran out clean with a 3 and 7, both or spades, coming on the turn and river. Schemion scooped the pot and NuttyWolves collected $91,561 in sixth.
Ukraine’s hope busted for $116,774 in fifth place as Andrii Derzhypilskyi departed in unfortunate fashion. Set all-in pre-flop from the blinds, Derzhypilskyi had the best of it when he called from the big blind with ace-king of clubs. Ladva had moved all-in from the small blind with just seven-five of hearts but struck gold on the flop of Q-7-5, albeit with two clubs on board. Once again, Ladva managed to outlast a player chasing a world of outs as Derzhypilskyi missed clubs or running aces or kings or the backdoor straight to bust, as the turn and river fell a king followed by a six.
One Flip Too Many for Ladva
The chip leader had lost the lead and Russian player ‘Espoion’ picked the wrong time to lose a flip to crash out in fourth for $148,931. All-in pre-flop with ace-king, they were called by Dzivielevski with pocket threes and the Brazilian’s reward for taking the risk came after a board of T-6-5-J-3 even gave the former best online poker player in the world a set on the river.
Two players had busted within just a few hands but three-handed lasted a little longer. Dzivielevski had captured the chip lead with his elimination of Espoion and maintained that lead across three-handed play. German player Ole Schemion was not in the mood for slow-playing pocket deuces and moved all-in pre-flop to be called by Ladva with ace-nine. The Estonian had barely lost a pot all night and the board of A-9-K-9-8 had the German drawing dead to the river where he collected $189,942.
That pot helped Ladva amass 7.5 million chips going into the final battle, with Yuri Dzivielevski entering heads-up with the chip lead, Brazil’s finest sitting behind 8.3 million. The Brazilian grew his lead a little in the first 10 minutes of the match before being dealt ace-king twenty minutes after and three-bet shoving with a 2:1 advantage. Ottomar Ladva could hardly be blamed for calling off his stack with pocket tens, he’d won virtually every all-in during the final table. This time, however, a flop of 7-4-3 was followed by a king on the river.
Only a ten would save the Estonian and it didn’t come. A queen on the river signaled the victory for Dzivielevski and a bumper top prize of $308,956. Ladva, lucky and skillful until the last hand, had to be satisfied with a runner-up prize of $242,247.
Watch all the action as it happened by catching up on the final table replay with Jeff Gross and Mike Wasserman right here:
| Place | Player | Country | Prize |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1st | Yuri Dzivielevski | Brazil | $308,956 |
| 2nd | Ottomar Ladva | Estonia | $242,247 |
| 3rd | Ole Schemion | Germany | $189,942 |
| 4th | ‘Epsolon’ | Russia | $148,931 |
| 5th | Andrii Derzhypilskyi | Ukraine | $116,774 |
| 6th | ‘NuttyWolves’ | Canada | $91,561 |
| 7th | Michael Addamo | Australia | $71,791 |
| 8th | Sven Andersson | Sweden | $56,290 |
| 9th | Artsiom Lasouskii | Belarus | $44,136 |
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.