GGMillion$ Won by ‘Sir Watts’ as Mike Watson Stars in Late Show
The Canadian poker legend Mike ‘Sir Watts’ Watson took down this week’s GGMillion$ event on GGPoker for over $390,000 as some of poker’s finest gathered to battle for glory and bragging rights on GGPoker. Regular host Jeff Gross was joined in the commentary box by the Greek poker professional Alexandros Theologis. With over $3.6 million in winnings and an online WSOP bracelet in the 2021 $25,000-entry event, as well as some large cashes in other WSOP and Triton events, Theologis was a vibrant voice on the action as a dramatic final table played out.
Early Action Trims the Field
As play began, there was a very even chip distribution across the leaderboard. Russian pro ‘RRomashka’ led with 70 big blinds, but they were closely followed in the chip counts by Chris Nguyen of Germany on 68 bigs. Another German, Leon Sturm (57BB) was next in the rankings, followed by British player Andrew Wilson (52BB), who was just behind the leaders at the final table.
Other big names followed in the counts, with Canadian powerhouse Mike ‘Sir Watts’ Watson (50BB) starting as the middle pin and Romania’s Ilia Cabaniuc (34BB) next in line. Two Russians were a short distance behind, with Vladimir Minko (27BB) marginally ahead of Aleks Borovkov (26BB). The short stack was an American playing from Canada, as Leo Taffe (17BB) started play with the most catching up to do.
The first player to bust was the Russian Borovkov. He got it all in on the third hand with jack-nine after a flop of J-9-8 with two spades only to be called by ‘RRomashka’. Borovkov was ahead, but ‘RRomashka’ had the nut flush draw with ace-five of spades. The meaningless king of clubs fell on the turn, but the six of spades camel on the river to send Borovkov home in ninth place with $55,751.
Leo Taffe had laddered one place and got a much needed double-up when his ace-eight flopped trips against the ace-three of Leon Sturm. Down to less than 10 big blinds, Taffe was ahead when he moved all-in in a few hands later with ace-ten and was called by the German Chris Nguyen, holding an offsuit king-queen. This time, luck wasn’t on the American’s side. The flop came down safely with 9-9-2, which was followed by a meaningless eight on the turn. Unfortunately, a king popped on the river, devastating the American and sending him to the virtual rail with $71,103.
All-German Clash Sees Nguyen Win
With seven left, an all-German clash from early positions made sure only one player from the country would remain in the final six. Leon Sturm four-bet shoved with pocket sevens and was called by his countryman in the next seat Chris Nguyen with ace-king offsuit. A board of T-5-2-4-3 gave Nguyen a wheel straight as players reacted with a series of stunned avatars, and the field was trimmed to six, with Sturm taking away $90,684 for his deep run.
Romanian player Ilia Cabaniuc cashed for $115,656 in sixth place after getting his chips in when well behind. He moved all-in with ace-ten in a 3-way race against the ace-jack of ‘RRomashka’ and the jack-queen of spades for Chris Nguyen. The two bigger stacks checked it down to the river as the board ran out K-7-7-9-T to give Nguyen a straight and another massive pot, putting him clearly out front with a big lead.
Andrew Wilson had begun the night with a stack that could challenge for the win but left it all behind in fifth place for $147,504. All-in with pocket nines, he ran into the pocket jacks of Vladimir Minko. The poker gods were in fine form but chose to not spare the British player, as a board of K-T-7-Q-Q gave him the hope of either a straight or flush draw with the turn card, but dashed that hope on the river with a second queen.
Cowboys Shot Down with Rockets
That last pot for Minko made him a big favorite with just four players remaining. He held a solid chip lead, sitting behind just over 9 million chips. Closest to him was Mike ‘Sir Watts’ Watson, with 6.48 million. The two players at the bottom of the chip counts were Nguyen (2.4m) and ‘RRomashka’, the original chip leader, who had just 2.1 million chips remaining.
There was a lot of movement in the next level, as ‘RRomashka’ went from zero to hero, and there was a huge flush over flush which helped recovere Minko at the expense of Watson. The Canadian then got fortunate, winning with ace-seven against the pocket tens of the Russian player ‘RRomashka’.
As the clock closed in on three hours of gameplay, four still remained, but a frantic final 15 minutes would complete the action. Nguyen was the first to misstep, going all-in and at risk with ace-ten of diamonds against the pocket kings of Watson. The last remaining German couldn’t catch up, cashing for $188,123 in fourth.
Elementary My Dear Watson
Soon after, Watson bet ‘RRomashka’ off a pot where the Russian rightly folded second pair, which had the unwanted side effect of leaving the overnight leader very short. Just a few hands later, Watson woke up with pocket aces in a dream scenario for both him and the super-short ‘RRomashka’, as Minko had pocket kings. Minko five-bet all-in only to see the bad news as Watson snapped it off. The aces held against the kings across a ten-high board to send play heads-up with Watson holding a nearly 18:1 lead, and Minko cashed for $239,927 in third.
Heads-up began with a swift double-up for ‘RRomashka’, but soon after, it was all over. The Russian was a stranger to fortune when he shoved with pocket nines, and Watson called with king-deuce. A deuce on the flop added some outs, but it was a king on the river that landed to end it all. One of Canada’s finest taking the title and $390,260, the overnight leader having to settle for $305,997 as runner-up.
Watch all the thrilling action on GGPoker in the company of Jeff Gross and Alexandros Theologis right here:
GGMillion$ Final Table Results
| Place | Player | Country | Prize |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1st | Mike Watson | Canada | $390,260 |
| 2nd | ‘RRomashka’ | Russia | $305,997 |
| 3rd | Vladimir Minko | Russia | $239,927 |
| 4th | Chris Nguyen | Germany | $188,123 |
| 5th | Andrew Wilson | United Kingdom | $147,504 |
| 6th | Ilia Cabaniuc | Romania | $115,656 |
| 7th | Leon Sturm | Germany | $90,684 |
| 8th | Leo Taffe | United States | $71,103 |
| 9th | Aleks Borovkov | Russia | $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.
