THE DAILY SCOOP – GGMillion$ Season 2024 Episode 29
David Yan Just Misses GGMillion$ Glory After Final Bluff Goes Wrong
A thrilling conclusion to this week’s GGMillion$ on GGPoker saw New Zealand player David Yan lose at the end after a superb call won the title for ‘NN28’ who took home $319,119. With an appearance at the final table from one of last month’s WSOP Main Event final table players, it was a superb showdown for this week’s GGMillion$ title.
Palamar Pushed Out Early
Jeff Gross and Misha Grigorev hosted the action on GGPoker’s YouTube channel, and the action was fast and frantic as the whole final table played out within 150 minutes. Heading into the action with a big lead, New Zealand player David Yan began with 120 big blinds, ahead of United Arab Emirates player ‘NN28’ (82BB) and Dutch player Duco Haven (55BB).
Just three weeks ago, Swedish superstar Niklas Astedt (46BB) finished third in the WSOP Main Event in Las Vegas, winning $4 million as he ended the event just behind Jordan Griff in second and the eventual winner Jonathan Tamayo. Behind Astedt, recent Austrian winner ‘Wardska_’ (39BB), Swedish player Simon Mattsson (26BB), Canadian Guillaume Nolet (18BB), Brazil’s Alisson Piekazewicz (15BB), and Ukrainian Volodymyr Palamar (15BB) completed this week’s final table line-up.
The first player to leave was the player with the shortest stack. Just three hands in, on a board of A-7-2-5-2, Palamar called off his stack with ace-ten but was wrong to do so after Duco Haven shoved the river with ace-king, Palamar cashed for $45,558 in ninth place. The next hand, the additional chips Duco Haven had won went to doubling up ‘Wardska_’ who pulled into second, just behind Yan. The fifth hand had Yan lose to ‘NN28’, giving the unknown player the chip lead and dropping Yan into third, just behind ‘Wardska_’
It’s No for Nolet
A blind-on-blind battle on the sixth hand reduced the field to seven, as chip leader David Yan shoved with king-three offsuit from the small blind and won the ensuing flip against Mattsson, who called with pocket deuces. The flop of Q-7-4 kept Mattsson in the lead, as did the ace of hearts on the turn, but a fourth heart on the river completed the flush with Yan’s three of hearts in his hand, beating Mattsson by one pip – Mattsson held a two of hearts – and Mattsson met the rail for $58,142 in eighth place.
Keeping up with the high-action final table, on the tenth hand of the night, Alisson Piekazewicz shoved pre-flop when short with ace-eight of hearts and ran into a coinflip against ‘NN28’ who held pocket threes. A flop of J-T-2 was followed by a king on the turn and another ten on the river. Piekazewicz didn’t improve and was shown to the rail, scoring $74,153 for himself in seventh place and Brazil.
Three players had been knocked out in the first twenty-five minutes. It would be another twenty-five minutes before six became five as Guillaume Nolet committed his stack with five-four on a flop of Q-Q-5. Unfortunately, he ran into Duco Haven’s pocket sixes. The Dutch player confirmed he’d be winning the hand when a third six landed on the river to complete a full house. Nolet, who has posted some superb results in GGMillion$ events in recent months after consistent performances, cashed for $94,572 in sixth place.
The top five stacks heading into play were – as is rarely the case – the final five stacks in the event. ‘NN28’ had taken the lead, and a chunky one, from Yan. Astedt and ‘Wardska_’ were both challenging and a lot closer than the still short-stacked Haven. The Dutch player got unlucky to bust, all-in post-flop with pocket eights after 6-5-4 of diamonds had fallen. Astedt was the caller with king-six, including the king of diamonds. A king on the turn followed by a queen on the river sealed victory for the Swede as Haven departed in fifth for $120,615.
Stunning Bluff Hero-Called by Winner
Over an hour of tense play continued without elimination as David Yan got the better of Astedt, taking the majority of his chips in the process. However, it was the Austrian player ‘Wardska_’ who busted in fourth for $153,380 after shoving with just over 6 bigs holding the nine-eight of hearts. He was called by ‘NN28’ with an ace-five offsuit. A board of K-J-2-2-A sent the Austrian home, which meant there would be no win for them this week.
Three-handed, ‘NN28’ (7.74m) and David Yan (7.70m) were way ahead of Astedt, who had a little over a million chips. The first hand of the final three had Yan shove with ace-deuce, which was called by Astedt holding king-queen. A board of J-4-4-4-5 sent play heads-up, with Yan having a slight advantage. Astedt – again third – cashed for $196,190.
Heads-up was a battle between the two biggest stacks at the start of play and the most dominant forces of the final table. Their clash for the title seemed inevitable, and so it proved, but there was no lengthy epic slugfest. Yan won some small ball pots to improve his marginal lead into almost a 3:1 advantage and then a 5:1 lead. ‘NN28’ wasn’t finished, winning after flopping a boat with pocket tens on a board of T-5-5-9-4. The board also gave Yan a queen-high flush that he could not get away from, giving a full double up to ‘NN28’.
The final hand was a spectacular one, with ‘NN28’ edging into a lead before a board of K-2-3-Q-6 fell. The final three cards of the board had all been clubs, and with 2.6 million chips in the pot, David Yan shoved for 6.8m more with just jack-ten, including the ten of clubs. ‘NN28’ only had 7m chips themselves, so the call was effectively all or nothing for the title. It was a tricky one for ‘NN28’ with king-queen for two pair, but the call was snappend, and it was all over. Yan cashed for $250,216 as NN28 won the top prize of $319,119.
Watch it all play out in exciting fashion right here:
| Place | Player | Country | Prize |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1st | ‘NN28’ | U.A.E. | $319,119 |
| 2nd | David Yan | New Zealand | $250,216 |
| 3rd | Niklas Astedt | Sweden | $196,190 |
| 4th | ‘Warska_’ | Austria | $153,380 |
| 5th | Duco Haven | Netherlands | $120,615 |
| 6th | Guillaume Nolet | Canada | $94,572 |
| 7th | A Piekazewicz | Brazil | $74,153 |
| 8th | Simon Mattsson | Sweden | $58,142 |
| 9th | Volodymyr Palamar | Ukraine | $45,558 |
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.