THE DAILY SCOOP – GGMillion$ Season 2024 Episode 33
Dominik Nitsche Denied GGMillion$ Title and $353,000
This week’s action on GGPoker has been red hot, and the GGMillion$ final table was another perfect example of how action-packed it has been. With nine of the best online poker players, a top prize of $353,673 was on offer as there was drama from the first card to the last. A stunning conclusion to the action saw the German 3-time WSOP bracelet winner Dominik Nitsche just miss out on the top prize after a cold deck ended dreams of glory in this week’s GGMillion$ finale, presented by Jeff Gross with Dan ‘Jungleman’ Cates in the co-commentator seat.
Top Players Leading the Way
The final nine were being steered to the action by the ironically named Canadian player ‘Come2Brazil’ with 68 big blinds, but there was no runaway chip leader. Moldovan poker professional Pavel Plesuv (58BB), German poker legend Dominik Nitsche (56BB), and perennial GGMillion$ crusher Israel’s Barak Wisbrod (51) were all in contention for the win.
Others to feature this week included Austria’s ‘EEweedm99’ (40BB), Bulgarian Alex Kulev (35BB), Ukrainian Andrii Derzhypilskyi (21BB), Belarussian Ilya Anatski (20BB), and Germany’s Leonard Maue (13BB), all of whom were hoping to get off to a fast start at the final table. One player who did the exact opposite was Derzhypilskyi, who, on the seventh hand of the evening, was all-in with queen-jack of clubs. He fell short to the chip leader, as ‘Come2Brazil’ holding the ace-king of spades saw a safe board of K-4-2-3-A play out as the Ukrainan busted for $50,524.
Out next was the Belarussian player Anatski, who shoved pre-flop with king-queen of spades and was called by Alex Kulev, who had raised almost all of Anatski’s stack-size with pocket eights. A flop of A-J-3 gave Anatski ten outs to chase on turn and river, but an eight on the turn reduced those outs to the four tens in the deck. A river of the deuce of clubs sent Anatski home for $64,437.
Maue Mauled, Kulev Crushed
There was an all-German showdown in seventh place as Alex Kulev opened with ace-jack, Dominik Nitsche – behind the laptop again – raised with pocket sixes and his compatriot Leonard Maue shoved for around 14 big blinds with ace-queen. Only Nitsche called it off and it was a coinflip. A board of K-6-5-6-2 more than helped Nitsche stay ahead as one German hit quads to eliminate the other for a score of $82,182.
Alex Kulev got short and when he picked up ace-eight with under five blinds. He raised pre-flop and was reraised by Nitsche with ace-king. The Bulgaria made the call but couldn’t survive, a clean board of 9-5-3-7-J helping the German to more easy chips while Kulev exited for $104,813. The top five starting stacks were the final five, but drama was to pounce and upset the order of the final runners.
Israel’s Barak Wisbrod has become accustomed to finishing in the upper echelons of the GGMillion$ leaderboard seemingly every week, and this week was no different. All-in with pocket nines pre-flop on the hand immediately after Kulev’s departure, Wisbrod’s hopes were crushed when Pavel Plesuv called with pocket tens and easily swiped aside another rival. The board ran out J-7-4-7-7 sending the Israeli home with a score of $133,676.
An Agonizing Fold
Down to four, Plesuv’s recent pots had given him the lead, with a pile of 8.75 million chips to his name. Behind him, only Nitsche, with 5.44 million, seemed likely to challenge, with Austria’s ‘EEweedm99’ at 2.39m and ‘Come2Brazil’ at 1.59m. While the Canadian player lasted for some time, they were next to go. ‘Come2Brazil’ got it in with a flush draw on the flop of 9-4-2 with two clubs while holding the queen-six of the same suit. Plesuv made the call with nine-three of diamonds for top pair. The board ran out 10-A, offering no help to the at-risk player, and the Canadian went home with $170,486 as play moved three-handed.
Plesuv was in great shape to challenge for the title, but on a board of Q-7-6-J-4 with three clubs, Plesuv bet big with five-eight for the straight. Nitsche shoved
“I think this a rough fold. I think this is a fold.” Said Dan ‘Jungleman Cates. Gross agreed that it was tricky.
“I’ve seen a lot of mystery hands, but this might be one of the best.”
Nitsche showed only the six of clubs for the rubdown. A few hands later, Plesuv was all-in with jack-nine of clubs only to lose to the ace-jack of ‘EEweedm99’ which flopped Broadway on the board of K-Q-T. Offsuit cards followed to send the Moldovan to the rail to collect $217,434 in third place.
Heads-up, Nitsche’s lead was stark, with his 12.8 million well ahead of his opponent’s 5.3 million. However, ‘EEweedm99’ pulled it back to almost level before a board of Q-6-5-K-J with four spades came, with the Austrian underdog holding pocket fours including the four of spades. Nitsche got away from it but he no longer had the lead.
Nitsche moved all-in soon after with ace-ten of spades, and ‘EEweedm99’ had an easy call with ace-jack of diamonds to go along with marginally more chips. A flop of 9-8-3 came safe for the Austrian. A jack on the turn made ‘EEweedm99′ the 81% favorite, and a deuce on the river handed him the title as Dominik Nitsche fell just short of glory in one of the cruelest ways possible.
Watch all the action in the company of Jeff Gross and legendary guest co-commentator Dan ‘Jungleman’ Cates right here:
| Place | Player | Country | Prize |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1st | ‘EEweedm99’ | Austria | $353,673 |
| 2nd | Dominik Nitsche | Germany | $277,310 |
| 3rd | Pavel Plesuv | Moldova | $217,434 |
| 4th | ‘Come2Brazil’ | Canada | $170,486 |
| 5th | Barak Wisbrod | Israel | $133,676 |
| 6th | Alex Kulev | Bulgaria | $104,813 |
| 7th | Leonard Maue | Germany | $82,182 |
| 8th | Ilya Anatski | Belarus | $64,437 |
| 9th | Andrii Derzhypilskyi | Ukraine | $50,524 |
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.