THE DAILY SCOOP – GGMillion$ Season 2024 Episode 3
First GGMILLION$ Title Won by Moldovan Pavel Plesuv for $491k
This week’s GGPoker GGMillion$ was a monster, with a prizepool hitting an incredible $2.43 million. A buy-in of $10,300 saw some excellent players make the final table and in the end it was Pavel Plesuv, a regular at this final table, finally broke through and took down this weekly tournament title.
Ladva Loses Hope
Joining regular presenter Jeff Gross on commentary duties this week was Mike Wasserman and from the start, it was all action. Heading into the final table, Thai player ‘AMTten’ led the way with 66 big blinds, closely followed by Mexico-based Alex Garcia (65BB), Moldova’s Pavel Plesuv (61BB) and Ukraine’s ‘SmartM0ney’ (52BB).
Only a little further back was Anvar Muratov with 45 big blinds, who was followed by Ukrainian Vlad Martynenko (28BB), Hungary’s Gergely Kulcsar (23BB) and Estonia’s Ottomar Ladva (18BB) all chasing a route up the leaderboard. Trailing everyone was the short stack, Brazilian Pablo Silva, with just 7BB.
The bust-outs began almost immediately, as Ladva became the unlucky player to bust first. All-in pe-flop from the small blind with ace-four offsuit, Ladva was swiftly called by ‘SmartM0ney’ with pocket sevens. The flop of T-3-2 offered Ladva a little hope, with a straight draw and backdoor flush draw. A nine of hearts on the turn put the Estonian one card from the flush draw but he bricked the river with a ten of clubs and instead departed, cashing for $61,412 in ninth place.
Next to go was Silva, whose brave attempt to climb the ladder ended with his feet plummeting through the rungs. A board of A-T-6-4-2 saw Silva fold the best hand with only a pair of sixes and no clubs and a board showing four of them. Saving just three big blinds, they all went in from the small blind in the next hand. The jack-three suited was no good against ‘AMTten’s ace-five suited, a board of 8-5-5-8-A giving the latter a full house and sending Silva to the rail for $79,642.
Plesuv Starts to Rise
Ukrainian player Martynenko was the next player to bust as the opening hour of play at the final table closed out with his exit to Hungarian Gergely Kulcsar. All-in from under the gun, Martynenko had ace-ten but Kulcsar called it off from the big blind with ace-king and a board of A-3-2-5-9 ended Martynenko’s hopes, sending him home with $103,283 in seventh place.
Next, it was a Russian player whose hopes ended short of the podium places. Raising from first position with pocket tens, Anvar Muratov wasn’t put off by Pavel Plesuv’s re-raise from the small blind and three-bet shoved. The Moldovan needed to hit to take out Muratov and did so across a board that ran out A-K-4-A-4. It looked over by the flop and was over by the turn. Muratov cashed for $133,941 in sixth.
Early on in the final table, Alex Garcia had shared the lead with Pavel Plesuv, who had now rocketed to the top of the counts. That situation had changed by the time Garcia shoved when short with a suited ace-ten of spades. Plesuv called with king-queen and hit a king on the flop of K-J-4. Garcia was calling for either one of three aces or three queens in the deck to give him Broadway. Incredibly, a queen landed on the turn putting him back in the lead. Amazingly, another queen on the river changed things again, handing Plesuv a full house and sending Garcia to the rail for a score of $173,701 in fifth place.
Crazy End Sees Chips Fly
Four remained, and Plesuv had a strong lead on 8.2 million chips, leading over ‘AMTten’ (7.5m) and Kulcsar (6m), with ‘SmartM0ney’ a little way behind on 3.4m. The Hungarian player Kulcsar slipped to a lot less, calling off his stack correctly for 2.3 million when in the big blind holding AQ suited in spades. ‘SmartM0ney’ made a risky move with the king-deuce of hearts and was rewarded when the board of 9-4-2-5-4 sent Kulcsar home with $225,262.
Down to three, none of the remaining trio had ever won GGMillion$ before, and after a wild period where the chips constantly moved and every player took turns as the short stack and forcing some all-in action, ‘SmartM0ney had lost their lead. The chips had been split between both their opponents. ‘AMTten’ took out the Ukrainian when ‘SmartM0ney’ shoved with ace-ten and the Thai player’s king-six prevailed as a six hit on the river helping him reach heads-up with a big lead over Pavel Plesuv. ‘SmartM0ney’ left with $292,129 in third place.
Plesuv began heads-up at a 4:1 deficit and knew he needed to go on the attack in a big way. All-in with pocket fours, he was called for 5 million chips by ‘AMTten’ holding pocket threes and the board rewarded the bigger pair, Plesuv doubling up to around 40% of the chips in play. Top pair was no good for ‘AMTten’ when Plesuv made a crazy straight and the Moldovan suddenly had a slim lead. When ‘AMTten’ hit a J-T-7 with queen-jack in his hand, he moved all-in, Plesuv called with ace-jack and the Thai player needed either runner-runner straight cards or a queen. An eight on the turn helped him, with any nine or queen representing seven cards that could save him.
None of them came as the king river saw Pavel Plesuv win the GG MILLION$ at long last, claiming the $491,300 top prize and far more importantly the global bragging rights in the high roller community after finally winning the tournament he wanted to land.
Watch the fast-paced action from this week’s summit meeting of poker legends on GGPoker, brought to you by regular presenting host Jeff Gross and special guest co-commentator Mike Wasserman right here:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tcHPTirXh0w
| Place | Player | Country | Prize |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1st | Pavel Plesuv | Moldova | $491,300 |
| 2nd | ‘AMTten’ | Thailand | $378,844 |
| 3rd | ‘SmartM0ney’ | Ukraine | $292,129 |
| 4th | Gergely Kulcsar | Hungary | $225,262 |
| 5th | Alex Garcia | Mexico | $173,701 |
| 6th | Anvar Muratov | Russia | $133,941 |
| 7th | Vlad Martynenko | Ukraine | $103,283 |
| 8th | Pablo Silva | Brazil | $79,642 |
| 9th | Ottomar Ladva | Estonia | $61,412 |
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.