GGPOKER

Aliaksei Boika Wins Second Super MILLION$ Title for $335,000

The Belarussian professional Aliaksei Boika won his second GGPoker Super MILLION$ title this week as he conquered a final table including some of the most well-known online poker stars in the world. Coming from behind in heads-up play, he triumphed after a superb display of aggression and dominance at just the right time.

How the Final Table Shaped Up 

In yet another extremely well attended game, this week’s GGPoker Super MILLION$ was a huge one, with the top five players all winning six-figure prizes. This week’s prize pool was a whopping $1.65 million with a top prize of $335,380 and included players such as Mike ‘Sir Watts’ Watson, Aliaksei Boika, Simon Mattsson, and Benjamin Rolle taking part in a thrilling denouement. Watson took the chip lead into the final table, as he began with 83 big blinds in an attempt to finally win an event that has thus far eluded him.
A little behind him was Boika, who was going for a second title with 72 big blinds. ‘Lucky Ming’ (52BB), ‘Tedwina Slowsby’ (47BB), two-time former champion Simon Mattsson (46BB), and previous winner ‘Mr-Doberman’ (45BB) all comprised the middle order. Short stacked at the start, ‘VeryMerry’ (27BB) and ‘H Madani’ (15BB) were both going for their second wins, while Benjamin Rolle was firing for his third title with 27 big blinds.
When play began, it took some time, nearly 45 minutes, for the stacks to be put at risk, but eventually, Jeff Gross in the regular presenter seat and Mike Jozoff as the guest co-commentator were able to describe the first bust-out. ‘H Madani’ was all-in with ace-queen and was called by ‘Lucky Ming’ holding ace-king. The better hand held with ease as a king arrived on the flop and the field was reduced to eight as the lone German player cashed for $47,911 in ninth place.

Rolle Hits the Rail 

Russian player ‘Mr-Doberman’ was out next, losing his stack to exit in eighth place for $61,104. All-in pre-flop with king-jack, he lost out to Boika’s king-queen and the field was down to seven. It wasn’t long before the next player left for the rail too, with Thai player ‘Tedwina Slowsby’ moving all-in with ace-queen and ‘Lucky Ming’ was priced in to call with king-ten.
The flop came 4-4-4 which might have looked nice but didn’t help ‘Lucky Ming’, nor did the nine on the turn. A king on the river changed everything, as it took out the Thai player and sent the winning player into second position on the leaderboard behind Mike Watson.
A bit later, a huge hand when play was six-handed that had ramifications for multiple players. ‘VeryMerry’ was all-in with ace-jack of hearts and Watson called it off with pocket tens. Mattsson, perhaps feeling ICM was the better part of valor, folded pocket queens, and when the cards were flipped, the runout of J-8-3-Q-7 with only two hearts doubled ‘VeryMerry’ where it would have eliminated him had Mattsson made the call.
Benjamin Rolle although being short stacked, had more chips than Mattsson and took out the Swede with an ace-queen against ace-ten and all the chips committed before the flop. After the turn, both players needed to hit their opponent’s lower card to make a Broadway straight, but it didn’t come and Mattsson left with $99,391.
Out next was Rolle. Shoving from the small blind with a suited jack-queen, he was called by ‘Lucky Ming’ with ace-queen after the initial raiser Watson got out of the way. Rolle was dominated and defeated when the board fell 8-6-2-6-4. Rolle, so tantalizingly close to getting back into the game, was out in fifth for $126,761.

Watson Dramatically Busted Before Boika Comeback

Mike Watson was busted in a sensational hand where viewers could play along and guess what hand was held by ‘Lucky Ming’. Watson’s hand of pocket eights was there for all to see, and he hit gold on the flop of Q-8-3 as he flopped middle set. The turn of a deuce and river of a five saw all the chips go into the middle, and incredibly, ‘Lucky Ming’ held ace-four for a runner-runner straight. Watson, just three places from finally winning a Super MILLION$ was out for $161,668 instead.
‘Very Merry’ lost to ‘Lucky Ming’ too, calling off his stack with king-queen, as ‘Lucky Ming’ shoved pre-flop with his new favorite hand, ace-four. The board of T-7-2-8-3 sent the Mexico-based player home in third place for $206,187. It also gave ‘Lucky Ming’ a mammoth chip lead heads-up, with his stack of 14 million chips way ahead of Aliaksei Bokia holding 2.4 million.
Reaching the final duel took less than two hours, but winning it took another 30 minutes, as the Belarussian Boika bullied his way into a slim lead, winning a series of pots where he pressured with the best hand. Often, ‘Lucky Ming’ got away from more serious trouble, but each fold cost him chips.
Boika’s lead was better than three to one when ‘Lucky Ming’ shoved with pocket nines and Boika called it off with ace-eight. No ace came on the K-7-4 flop and the queen on the turn set ‘Lucky Ming’ poised for a double up that would have seen him almost level. An ace on the river changed all that, however, giving Boika the win, over $335,000 for his efforts after a stunning last-gasp victory.
You can watch all the action with Jeff and Mike at the Super MILLION$ final table right here.https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f8gXyrvOOp8

2023 Week 13                                             2023 Week 15

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.