THE DAILY SCOOP – GGMillion$ Season 2024 Episode 27
Anatski Earns Late GGMILLION$ Victory
Ilya Anatski won a late GGMILLION$ title after beating the overnight chip leader Michael Jozoff to the win and a massive $317,265 top prize. With players such as Aleks Ponakovs, Oliver Weis, and Volodymyr Palamar at the final table, it was a thrilling night at the virtual felt on GGPoker.
Jozoff the Leader
Heading into the final table, it was the American player Michael Jozoff who had the chip lead, and it was a massive one with his 122 big blind stack dwarfing everyone around him. Austrian player ‘xxkfiss’ was Jozoff’s closest challenger with 74 big blinds. Belarussian Ilya Anatski began a fair bit lower with just 48 big blinds, and Aleks Ponakovs from Latvia on 40 big blinds. Others at the eight-handed final table were ‘rieeson’ from Croatia (32BB), Ukrainian player Volodymyr Palamar (31BB), Austria-based ‘hazuzukaa’ (20BB) and German player Oliver Weis (15BB), who was short-stack but still had a very playable pile.
The first player to bust out of the event fifteen minutes after it began was Oliver Weis, the German was never able to build on his short stack to put himself back in the fight. All-in with king-queen, he was in a horrible position with ‘xxkfiss’ calling him with ace-king. The jack-high board was unable to save the at-risk player, and Weis headed home with $56,210.
Ukrainian Volodymyr Palamar was the next to go, busting in seventh for $71,976 when pocket kings were shot down by a weaker hand. The chip leader Michael Jozoff shoved from the hijack with an ace-six of clubs, and Palamar called it off with the best hand. A flop of A-8-5 put Palamar behind. One club fell on the flop, another on the turn, and a third on the river to give Jozoff the nut flush, sending Palamar to the rail.
Ponakovs Pushed Out
Aleks Ponakovs can claim a unique accolade in poker, having beaten Phil Ivey heads-up to win a WSOP bracelet. He was not, however, able to add this week’s GGMILLION$ title to a prime poker resume. All-in with king-jack, he lost a flop to Jozoff when the Latvian’s drawing hand failed to hit the A-5-2 flop. A queen on the turn opened up Broadway draws to Ponakovs’ outs, but an eight on the river only set up Jozoff for victory, as Ponakovs cashed for $92,164 in sixth.
There was another big pot twenty-five minutes later, as ‘rieeson’ busted in fifth for $118,014. All-in with ace-nine of spades, the Croatian was way behind Ilya Anatski’s pocket jacks and remained there through the 5-5-2-6-T board. With four players left, Jozoff was a clear leader, holding 7.5 million chips at the top of the leaderboard.
Behind Jozoff, ‘xxkfiss’ (4m), Anatski (2.1m), and ‘hazuzukaa’ (1.6m) gathered in pursuit of the crown. With $317,265 on the line for first, everyone was chasing one of the biggest top prizes of the year so far in 2024, with Jeff Gross and Jonathan Jaffe on the comms and loving the dramatic action.
End Game Sees Anatski Triumph
Down to four players, it was ‘xxkfiss’ who bowed out first, winning $151,114 in the process. All-in with king-seven, they lost to Anatski’s pocket kings after a clean board for the Belarussian came 9-6-3-Q-Q. Anatski vaulted into a clear second place on the leaderboard with that victory, with Jozoff still leading the way.
The final table had reached two hours of play as the final three continued to battle it out. Jozoff was still well in the lead with 8.2m in chips, but it wasn’t quite the dominant lead he had when play began. Ilya Anatski had climbed his way up to second and was sitting with 5.3m, while the short stack, ‘hazuzukaa’, was holding just 1.7m, good for 14.5 big blinds.
Fifteen minutes later, ‘hazuzukaa’ finally fell in third place. He was all-in for 900K with pocket eights. Jozoff easily had the stack to call it off with queen-nine and won as the board player out 9-6-4-4-T, giving Jozoff a pair of eights. ‘Hazuzukaa’ was headed to the rails with $193,498 as the stage was set for the final duel. Heading into the final, Jozoff had a strong lead of around 2:1 (9.77m to 5.51m) going to heads-up poker.
The chips flowed back and forth over the next few minutes as Anatski slowly chipped away at Jozoff’s monstrous stack. A crucial pot developed when Anatski had 9-8 on a Q-T-6-J-J board against Jozoff’s queen-nine. That advantage for the Belarussian saw the stacks level up at 7.6m each. A few hands later, on a board of T-T-5-9 all the chips went in. Most of the chips were on the line, with Anatski miles ahead. Ilya was holding a jack-ten against Jozoff’s pocket sevens. The final card was a King, not the miracle seven Jozoff needed as Anatski’s win was finalized.
Watch all the action in the company of Jeff Gross and Jonathan Jaffe right here:
| Place | Player | Country | Prize |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1st | Ilya Anatski | Russia | $317,265 |
| 2nd | Michael Jozoff | Belarus | $247,770 |
| 3rd | ‘hazuzukaa’ | Austria | $193,498 |
| 4th | ‘xxkfiss’ | Austria | $151,114 |
| 5th | ‘rieeson’ | Croatia | $118,014 |
| 6th | Aleks Ponakovs | Latvia | $92,164 |
| 7th | Volodymyr Palamar | Ukraine | $71,976 |
| 8th | Oliver Weis | Germany | $56,210 |
| 9th | ‘TBDestroyer’ | Austria | $43,898 |
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.