THE DAILY SCOOP – Super MILLION$ Season 2023 Episode 4
‘TouchSomeGrass’ Wins Super MILLION$ for $1.3 million
This week, the GGPoker Super MILLION$ returned and in a dramatic conclusion, gave one player their first-ever title in the tournament series as well as a WSOP circuit ring. After an epic four-hour finale, it was the Austrian player ‘TouchSomeGrass’ who banked the top prize of $1.35 million, as the Austrian-packed final table played out in dramatic fashion.
Early Elimination Precedes Lengthy Stand-Off
Play started tight and tense but exciting. Phil Gruissem, the German high roller, was Jeff Gross’ special guest, with the legendary player admitting his return to poker in January was partly inspired by having his own stable of players. His co-commentary was on point throughout the broadcast, especially when discussing his instinctive play.
Some intuitive poker took place on the felt, with one fine example that cost the first player their seat at the table. Hungarian player Andras Nemeth shoved for ten big blinds with ace-six of spades, and he was called by Russian professional Anatoly Filatov with pocket nines. The flop of 4-3-2 was a worry for Filatov, giving Nemeth a wheel straight draw, but a nine on the turn didn’t help him, only improving Filatov’s hand to top set. A king on the river did nothing to change Nemeth’s chances and he left in ninth place for a cash of $169,257.
There was a long time before anyone else busted. The final table took just over four hours to complete, didn’t see another eviction for two hours. The lack of eliminations was affecting every player at the final table except the runaway chip leader, ‘TouchSomeGrass’, who had accumulated 36 million chips, good for 72 big blinds. Everyone else had a lot fewer, with five players sitting with less than 20 big blinds. The shortest of these stacks, ‘HansBadReg’ who started the day as chip leader, went out in eight when his pocket sevens lost to the chip leader’s queen-ten when a jack spike on the river to fill in a gutter ball straight, eliminating the Chinese player for $219,384.
Filatov and Rudolph Miss Out
Almost two rotations later, Anatoly Filatov shoved for three big blinds with ace-ten but was dominated by the Bulgarian, Alex Kulev, with ace-queen. The initial raiser ‘Hazes’ folded his pocket eights. The board ran out clean as the Bulgarian busted the Russian as he earned $284,414 for the work.
Six players remained, as ‘TouchSomeGrass’ was no longer the only one in control. The chips balanced over the next while with ‘TouchSomeGrass’, ‘Hazes’ and Alex Kulev trading the majority of chips back and forth, all three hovering in the 25-30 million chip range. More than 30 minutes later, with just 5 bigs remaining, ‘Overpaid’, the lone Canadian, was unable to live up to their nickname when he went all-in with ace-ten. ‘TouchSomeGrass’ held queen-nine of diamonds. A queen on the flop did the damage needed. A meaningless ten on the turn only provided false hope for the Canadian, who slid out in sixth place for $368,734.
Five remained, and ‘TouchSomeGrass’, who had regained the chip lead on the last hand, was determined to keep their foot on the gas. Pushed to the test by German Chris Rudolph, who shoved from the small blind with king-three, ‘TouchSomeGrass’ called with ace-five and was rewarded when the board came out J-6-2-Q-2, allowing the ace-high hand to play. Rudolph cashed for $478,085 but missed out on the final four.
Coming up just short of the podium was ‘gebgeb’, another Austrian. All-in with king-seven on the river of a board showing K-K-5-4-8, ‘gebgeb’ had the second best hand behind the king-queen of ‘Hazes’. The almost 50 million chip pot went to ‘Hazes’ as he took the chip lead. The at-risk player ‘gebgeb’ cashed for $619,894.
Kulev Falls Late in Double Bid
With the only remaining former winner, Alex Kulev, sitting shortest with about half of either of his opponents’ stacks, the Bulgarian chose to move all-in. Three-bet shoving with king-jack from the small blind, he ran into the pocket aces of ‘Hazes’. The turn came down offering hope in the form of a gutshot to Broadway but failed to materialize on the river. Kulev’s 3rd place finish was worth $803,798. The two players remaining had their sites set on seven-figure sums. ‘Hazes’ held the chip lead with 59 million chips over ‘TouchSomeGrass’ holding 46 million. The heads-up confrontation lasted 40-minute during which the lead changed on multiple occasions.
The two players were almost level when ‘Hazes’ woke up with pocket kings and over the top of a raise from ‘TouchSomeGrass’ with ace-five, ‘Hazes’ three-bet and then snap-called the four-bet shove. The flop of 7-5-5 immediately gave ‘TouchSomeGrass’ the better hand and with a jack on the turn and queen on the river, almost all the chips were sitting in front of ‘TouchSomeGrass’.
“Ace-five versus kings for all the money!” said Phil Gruissem on the commentary, and a few hands later, it was all over, jack-nine beating queen-ten, giving ‘Hazes’ $1,042,292 and ‘TouchSomeGrass’ the top prize of $1,351,651 and the World Series of Poker circuit ring in style.
You can watch the final table in full right here with regular host Jeff Gross and special guest commentator Phil Gruissem:
GGPoker Super MILLION$ March 21st, 2023 Final Table Results: |
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| Place | Player | Country | Prize |
| 1st | TouchSomeGrass | Austria | $1,351,651 |
| 2nd | Hazes | Austria | $1,042,292 |
| 3rd | Alex Kulev | Bulgaria | $803,798 |
| 4th | gebgeb | Austria | $619,894 |
| 5th | Chris Rudolph | Germany | $478,085 |
| 6th | Overpaid | Canada | $368,734 |
| 7th | Anatoly Filatov | Russia | $284,414 |
| 8th | HansBadReg | China | $219,384 |
| 9th | Andras Nemeth | Hungary | $169,257 |