THE DAILY SCOOP – GGMillion$ Season 2024 Episode 25
Lakemeier Uses Lead for GGMILLION$ Glory and Wins $242k
The latest GGPoker GGMillion$ saw Jens Lakemeier go wire-to-wire to lead the final table, riding a rollercoaster battle across three hours of poker to take home the $242,551 top prize. With regular host Jeff Gross and special guest co-commentator Mike Wasserman both commentating after having unfortunately busted on Day 2 of the WSOP Main Event. The action was pulsating as a final table that saw the lead change hands dozens of times and the final hand ended in heroics.
Kuromichan Ducks the River
Kicking off the action with the chip lead was German player Jens Lakemeier, who began the final table with a massive 104 big blinds. Belarussian player Artsiom Lasouskii was the closest in chips to the leader, with 65 big blinds. Japanese player ‘Kuromichan’ (54BB) was at their second final table in a row, with Russian Almaz Zhdanov also on that starting stack. Just behind was the poker and GGMillion$ legend Michael Addamo (53BB), the Australian starting with a great chance of victory.
Other players involved included Belarussian pair Ilya Anatski (42BB) and ‘Golardo’ (7BB), with Russian duo Konstantin Maslak (12BB) and ‘kolayruss1978’ (8BB) both hoping to boost their chances with an early double. As it would happen, there was no early double-up, and 45 minutes elapsed before the first player departed. When they did, it was painful, as ‘Golardo’ was all-in with king-jack of diamonds and lost to Kuromichan’s pocket deuces. The flop of Q-J-7 paired up the Belarussian’s hand, a four on the turn was safe, leaving just one card for the player at risk to dodge. Sadly, a deuce on the river was a dagger to the heart of ‘Golardo’ and they departed in ninth for a score of $32,180.
Next to go was Zhdanov, who cashed for $41,423 in eighth place after a fascinating hand developed between them and ‘Kuromichan’. A board of T-8-7-K-Q saw the Japanese semi-bluff shove with ace-seven. After a lengthy time in the tank, Zhdanov called with the inferior nine-seven, leaving a pot of over 2.7 million to be added to the Japanese player’s chips, putting him in the lead.
Addamo Sent Home in Three-Way Paired Pot
Michael Addamo found himself the short stack of the GGMillion$ and hoped to get back into contention when he shoved pre-flop with pocket jacks for ten big blinds. Unhappily for the Australian, he was called by Artsiom Lasouskii with pocket kings and Jen Lakemeier with pocket tens. A board of 9-2-2-3-9 fell, and Lasouskii bagged the lead, sending Addamo home with $53,320 and reducing Lakemeier to twenty big blinds.
Two hands later, Lakemeier was all-in with jack-ten of spades against the ace-king of ‘kolayruss1978’. The Russian hit gin on the A-K-4 flop, making two pair. A seven fell on the turn which changed nothing but the queen on the river stunned both Gross and Wasserman on comms as the overnight chip leader and doubled up to a safe spot. Left with spare change, ‘kolayruss1978’ was all-in himself on the very next hand, this time with queen-jack against the suited ace-five of Anatski. A clean board of K-7-2-6-6 saw the Belarussian win the pot and sent the Russian home with $68,635.
Finding himself short on chips an hour after the last knockout, a flop of T-6-3 with two diamonds prompted Konstantin Maslak to shove with nine-eight offsuit. Kuromichan called it off with the superior queen-deuce of diamonds. The turn of an offsuit seven fulfilled Maslak’s dreams, but those dreams were dashed to pieces as the seven of diamonds fell on the river and Maslak cashed for $88,348 in fifth place.
Lakemeire Rides The Waves To The Finish
Four-handed, the stacks were quite different between the remaining players. Lasouskii had the lead with 3.88 million. ‘Kuromichan’ (3.16m) was closest to the chip leader, with Lakemeier (2.26m) a little way back and Ilya Anatski (694k) a long way behind. Despite these chip counts, it was another hour of play without anyone busting. But that hour changed things immensely, and it was ‘Kuromichan’ who had the short stack when they shoved with eight-ten of clubs. Calling with ace-ten off suit, Lakemeier easily survived the A-4-3-6-7 board, and the Japanese player went from third in chips to being on the virtual rail with $113,723.
The four-handed tournament play had lasted the best part of an hour. Three-handed play lasted little over a minute. Lasouskii shoved with pocket sevens two hands later, and Anatski called with pocket nines. A clean board came down for Anatski and he went into the final heads-up battle with a chip lead of 5.72 million to Lakemeier’s 4.28 million.
Martynenko trailed going into the final duel with 6.2m to ‘Wardska_’ with 6.6m. The Austria-based player had only captured his first victory in this event a few weeks ago and was hoping to repeat that trick, while Martynenko hoped that his overnight chip lead would lead him to victory.
The finale pot, just the second of heads-up play, was all ‘Wardska_’ from the deal. A pre-flop raising war ended with a chunky pot of 3.5m in the middle with ‘Wardska_’ holding pocket queens that were ahead of Martynenko’s suited ace-nine. A flop of J-T-8 came down and ‘Wardska_’ bet half pot from position. Martynenko tanked before shoving his chips all in on the straight draw only to be snapped off by ‘Wardska_’. Although ‘Wardska_’ had blockers, the four turn and river king did nothing to help his opponent, earning him a spectacular second win in three events.
You can watch all the action in the company of Jeff Gross and Aliaksandr Shylko right here:
| Place | Player | Country | Prize |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1st | Jens Lakemeier | Germany | $242,551 |
| 2nd | Ilya Anatski | Belarus | $188,431 |
| 3rd | Artsiom Lasouskii | Belarus | $146,386 |
| 4th | Kuromichan | Japan | $113,723 |
| 5th | Konstantin Maslak | Russia | $88,348 |
| 6th | ‘kolyaruss1978’ | Russia | $68,605 |
| 7th | Michael Addamo | Australia | $53,320 |
| 8th | Almaz Zhdanov | Russia | $41,423 |
| 9th | ‘Golardo’ | Belarus | $32,180 |
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.