THE DAILY SCOOP – GGMillion$ Season 2024 Episode 32
GGMillion$ Won by ‘basjorke5’for $390,000
The latest GGPoker high roller winner took home $390,260 on a night of drama as ‘basjorke5’ won this week’s GGMillion$ title. There were nine online poker greats who made the final table, and, in the end, it was the aforementioned ‘basjorke5’ who impressed as regular host Jeff Gross and special guest co-commentator Andrew ‘Lucky Chewy’ Lichtenberger.
Bruno Won’t be King
Kicking off the action in the lead was Russian player Nikita Kuznetsov, who began with 91 big blinds, just a raise ahead of Austrian ‘basjorke5’ on 90 big blinds. A long way behind the two chip leaders was Roger Tondeur from Montenegro on 55 bigs, with Danish player Daniel Petersen (49BB) and the Spanish pro Juan Dominguez (37BB) trailing him. Brazilian player Bruno Volkmann began on 31 big blinds, with Ukrainian Andrii Novak (23BB), Belarussian Mikita Badziakouski (14BB), and, in the short stack, the Mexico-based American Corey Thompson (11BB) who needed to get off to a fast start.
Perhaps predictably, it was Thompson who was the first to bust, and it didn’t take him long to depart in ninth place for $55,751. All-in from the small blind with eight-five suited on the third hand, Thompson ran into Novak’s ace-six offsuit. An ace in the window was trouble for Corey and after a jack on the turn, he was drawing dead to the river, whereupon a ten heralded his departure from the virtual felt.
Next to go in eighth place was Bruno Volkmann as the Brazilian was unable to survive a brutal all-in where he had by far the best of it when the chips went in. Shoving pre-flop with ace-queen, ‘basjorke5’ got lucky when Volkmann called with the far superior pocket kings only for a board of A-Q-7-3-4 to land and destroy the South American’s chances of victory as he departed for $71,103.
Badziakouski’s Bad Beat
Mikita Badziakouski was the next player to go, as he got incredibly unlucky to bust in seventh for $90,684. Novak, with pocket Jacks, raised pre-flop and Badziakouski called with pocket aces. Then, on a flop of T-9-6, all of the remaining chips got into the middle. A four landed on the turn, changing nothing. Badziakouski almost in the clear, watched in horror as a jack fell on the river as the two-outer knocked him to elimination.
A blind-on-blind shove and call took place next as Juan Dominguez busted in sixth place for $115,656. All-in from the small blind with ten-four of clubs, the Spanish professional was called by ‘basjorke5’ with king-six of diamonds. A board of A-8-6-Q-J landed without a single club to take out Dominguez and boost Novak, who had been one of the short stacks when the final kicked off, up to third in chips with five remaining.
A little while later, Danish player Daniel Petersen was short enough to shove pre-flop with pocket fives for just under eight big blinds. He was called by ‘basjorke5’ with ace-seven, and the Austria-based player won the coin flip. A board of K-T-3-8-7 with four diamonds saw ‘basjorke5’ win with the nut flush to eliminate Petersen in fifth place for $147,504.
Kuznetsov Falls Just Short
With four players remaining, ‘basjorke5’ held most of the chips, with 10.68 million of them dwarfing his opponents, who between them had less than the leader. Roger Tondeur (3.42m) was the closest, with Novak (3.35m) and Nikita Kuznetsov (2.58m) significantly further behind.
Only 90 minutes into play, the action continued with little movement for the next 15 minutes, as ‘basjorke5’ lost some of his lead as everyone grabbed a piece of his stack. Novak made a brave move on a board of A-9-3-6-7 where all three cards on the flop were hearts. Novak had Q-8 with the queen of hearts, but his bluff was snapped off by ‘basjorke5’ with nine-seven for two pair and Novak cashed for $188,123.
The top three players heading into the final table were the top three players at the start of the final table. Continuing that theme for 40 minutes, it was the third-placed Roger Tondeur, whose exit for $239,927, came after all three players saw a flop of A-Q-9. Tondeur called a bet on the flop with ace-three, and repeated the action after a seven landed on the turn. On the river of a four, Tondeur shoved but ‘basjorke5’ had flopped two-pair with queen-nine and called it off to take out another opponent.
Heads-up, ‘basjorke5’ had 13.8 million chips to Nikita Kuznetsov’s 6.2m as the Russian looked to come back from behind to win his first-ever GGMillion$ title. Up against a possible repeat winner in ‘basjorke5’, however, that proved impossible as the Austrian player continued to increase their lead. Eventually, with less than 8 bigs, Kuznetsov’s snap-called the pre-flop shove with king-eight only to be met by the ace-seven of ‘basjorke5’. A flop of K-T-Q put Kuznetsov into the lead, and an innocuous three on the turn kept it that way, but the comeback was not to be. An ace on the river gave ‘basjorke5’ the win and a top prize of $390,260 as Kuznetsov, who had begun the final table just ahead of ‘basjorke5’, had to settle for a runner-up score of $305,997.
“He fought through a lot of adversity and applied pressure,” said Octopi Poker co-creator and poker legend Andrew Lichtenberger in his post-match analysis. “He bobbed and weaved appropriately and never took his foot off the gas.”
Watch all the action at this week’s GGMillion$ final table in the company of regular host Jeff Gross and ‘Lucky Chewy’ right here:
| Place | Player | Country | Prize |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1st | ‘basjorke5’ | Austria | $390,260 |
| 2nd | Nikita Kuznetsov | Russia | $305,997 |
| 3rd | Roger Tondeur | Montenegro | $239,927 |
| 4th | Andrii Novak | Ukraine | $188,123 |
| 5th | Daniel Petersen | Denmark | $147,504 |
| 6th | Juan Dominguez | Spain | $115,656 |
| 7th | Mikita Badziadouski | Belarus | $90,684 |
| 8th | Bruno Volkmann | Brazil | $71,103 |
| 9th | Corey Thompson | Mexico | $55,751 |
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.