THE DAILY SCOOP – GGMillion$ Season 2024 Episode 9
Leonard Maue Wins GGMillion$ For Huge $304,000 Top Prize
This week’s GGMillion$ starred some terrific players as GGPoker welcomed Justin Bonomo, Oliver Weis, Leonard Maue, Andrii Derzhypilskyi, and Matthew Stumpf to the virtual felt. The weekly $10,300-entry tournament saw a thrilling conclusion pronounce Maue the master as the German dominated the final stages, taking out numerous opponents on his way to a victory worth over $304,000.
Leonard the Leader
German player Leonard Maue led the final table of nine with 81 big blinds at his sixth final table of the season. Behind the leader, Russian player ‘Espolon’ held 63 big blinds, with Oliver Weis (49BB), Ilya Anatski (38BB), Norwegian player ‘EvilDrake’ (36BB), Ukraine’s Andrii Derzhypilskyi (36BB), Daniel Petersen (21BB), Justin Bonomo (21BB) and Matthew Stumpf (19BB) all hoping this week would be their week.
The commentary team of regular host Jeff Gross and guest co-commentator Mike Wasserman barely had time to announce their credentials before Justin Bonomo was heading to the virtual rail. All-in with king-queen offsuit pre-flop on the sixteenth hand of the night, Bonomo, who has won the second most in poker history at the live felt, couldn’t hit against Weis’ pocket eights and the German sent him home for a score of $42,094.
Matthew Stumpf was also playing from Canada – his home country – and unfortunately for him, went out with the same hand as Bonomo. Exiting one place higher up in eighth for $53,900, Stumpf called off his stack on the turn of a board showing Q-T-8-8 with king-queen but was still wrong to do so, Oliver Weis having pocket kings which easily held through the three on the river to reduce the field to seven.
Maue Moves Through the Gears
Very quickly, seven became six in what was starting as one of the fastest GGMillion$ final table ever. Daniel Petersen moved all-in pre-flop with ace-three of clubs, only to be called by Leonard Maue with ace-queen, including the queen of clubs. A flop of Q-6-4 with no clubs was a disaster for the at-risk Petersen. A four on the turn and rivered queen sent him home with $69,018 on the back of Maue making a full house.
The Russian player ‘Espolon’ was the next to bow out, cashing for $88,376 as his king-queen offsuit lost, for the third time on an all in during this final table, to pocket nines when the board came 7-5-4-4-8 to give Oliver Weis another big pot. Espolon’s exit was followed by that of ‘EvilDrake’ as the Norwegian attempted an audacious bluff on the river of a Q-9-3-J-Q board.
Holding ace-ten, ‘EvilDrake’ shoved into Leonard Maue’s king-jack and the German chip leader made the crucial call to send play four-handed and the Norwegian home with $113,164. With four left, Maue held a strong lead with a stack just over 7 million. The rest of the field was a fair bit behind with Oliver Weis on 3.49 million, Andrii Derzhypilskyi holding 2.62 million and Ilya Anatski in the short stack with just 1.37 million.
Weis-Wash as Maue Makes MILLION$
A massive all-in pre-flop saw a match-defining bust-out in fourth place for Ukrainian player Derzhypilskyi for a score of $144,904. Looking down at pocket tens, Derzhypilskyi, holding the second biggest stack of the final four, four-bet all-in, only to discover he was well behind Maue’s pocket aces. The board ran out K-6-4-K-3 sending play three-handed with the German Maue in control of matters, having ownership of more than two-thirds of the chips.
Another all-in pre-flop virtually ended matters with two players remaining. An all-German affair saw Weis all-in with pocket kings, Maue was committed with more chips and pocket fours. A flop of 8-6-4 immediately set Weis into the last chance saloon. A five on the turn had him nearly drawing dead and a second five on the river saw Weis go down and out, losing in third place for $185,546.
It took less than 2 hours to get to heads-up play with Maue holding a convincing 5:1 chip lead. But it would be nearly an hour before the tournament finally ended as in the early stages Anatski was able win a few hands and dramatically balance the chips. The Belarussian even took the lead at one point, extending it to a 5:2 chips advantage before Maue grabbed it back, determined to deliver on a final table packed with promise. A full house for the German on the river saw Maue take back control and pocket aces on the next hand helped him re-establish a 2:1 lead.
By the final hand, Maue held over 85% of the chips in play which made for an easy call for Maue with queen-eight of clubs when Anatski pushed all-in, turning over pocket sixes. A flop of K-7-2 with no clubs changed nothing, nor did the ten that landed on the turn. But a queen on the river became the decisive card, giving overnight chip leader Leonard Maue a wire-to-wire win and the top prize of $304,226, while the runner-up Anatski cashed in second place for a cool $237,588.
You can watch all the GGMillion$ action as it happened right here:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XyvVoqpXls0
| Place | Player | Country | Prize |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1st | Leonard Maue | Germany | $304,226 |
| 2nd | Ilya Anatski | Belarus | $237,588 |
| 3rd | Oliver Weis | Germany | $185,546 |
| 4th | Andrii Derzhypilskyi | Ukraine | $144,904 |
| 5th | ‘EvilDrake’ | Norway | $113,164 |
| 6th | ‘Espolon’ | Russia | $88,376 |
| 7th | Daniel Petersen | United Kingdom | $69,018 |
| 8th | Matthew Stumpf | Canada | $53,900 |
| 9th | Justin Bonomo | United States | $42,094 |
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.