Plante Puts Down Roots Thanks to GGMillion$ Rockets

GGMillion$ Season 2025 Episode 32
This week’s GGMillion$ battle was red hot, with players from all over the world competing for a spectacular $304,000 top prize. With legends, previous winners, and first-time finalists battling it out, Jeff Gross was joined in the commentary box by American professional Mike Wasserman to bring the sensational action to life on GGPoker’s YouTube channel.
Pre-Match Betting Odds
Heading into the action, there were three favorites with considerably more chips than most. Canadian player Santiago Plante started with the chip lead on 91 big blinds, but at odds of 4.06, he wasn’t the only short-odds player backed by many via GGPoker’s betting odds. German player Dominik Nitsche has yet to win a GGMillion$ final table as he started this one with 80 big blinds and a slew of backers who were sure the drought would end at odds of 4.46.
We liked the 5.62 odds offered for the first of three Bulgarians at the felt, Krasimir Yankov started with 75 big blinds and looked a lock for a deep run. Behind him, the Hong Kong player ‘yyyyy96’ had 58 big blinds and was on offer at 8.02, but Dimitar Danchev’s experience at GGMillion$ final tables made him a better pick at 9.22 with 41 big blinds.
The lowest ranked of the three Bulgarians, Alex Kulev, had 27 big blinds and was priced at 9.78, while three short stacks were at long odds. Estonia’s Ottomar Ladva (24BB/12.54) was the best bet of those to run deep, with Israeli Ravid Garbi (15BB/25.72) and Viacheslav Buldygin from Russia (8BB/37.58) looking like outsiders at this final table.
Key Moments from the Felt
It took almost no time for the short-stacked players to start dropping, with Ravid Garbi the first to go. Ousted in ninth place for $43,459, Garbi, with ace-king, hit a king on the K-10-7 flop, but was well behind against the pocket tens of the chip leader Plante, who made a set at the same time. Soon, eight became seven, as Alex Kulev was out of luck. All-in with a dominating ace-queen, he lost to Yankov’s ace-jack when a jack fell on the flop, sending the Ireland-based Bulgarian to the rail with $55,427.
Yankov took the lead when he found pocket aces in a dream spot. Estonian player Ottomar Ladva had rebuilt from a rough start and thought he had the perfect opportunity to double up with pocket queens, but ran them into the Bulgarian’s rockets to go out in seventh for $70,690. Viacheslav Buldygin started in ninth place but laddered to sixth but busted for $90,156 in sixth. (1:15:00) On a flop of A-7-5, Buldygin rightly checked to Plante with ace-queen. The Canadian’s bet was immediately shoved on by Buldygin, following the advice of GTO Wizard, but Plante was on point too, calling to see two bricks land on turn and river.
Dominik Nitsche’s record at GGMillion$ final tables must make the German feel like he’s cursed, as yet again, he fell short of the win. Getting all of his chips into the middle with king-queen, he was right to call them off from the big blind, after Danchev’s shove with nine-five of diamonds. The flop was a cruel one, two fives landing for Danchev to hit trips, which eventually improved to a full house to send Nitsche home with $114,983 in fifth place.
Danchev was on fire, taking ‘yyyyy96’ out in fourth for $146,647 when jack-ten hit top pair against the Hong Kong player’s ace-queen. Soon, play was heads-up, when Yankov’s pre-flop shove with king-jack suited ran into Plante’s ace-king, the better hand prevailing easily when an ace hit the flop. Yankov, a little unlucky across the day, cashed for $187,030 in third.
The final battle saw Danchev start with a slight lead, and that remained the case for 40 minutes of tense heads-up action. That all changed in a hand where Plante had aces and Danchev held jacks on a dry board. The chips went in, and Plante’s rockets gave him an almost 9:1 chip lead. It was all over a few minutes later when Danchev put his tournament life on the line with the best of it, holding ace-six, only to be rivered cruelly by Plante’s jack-eight, a straight coming on the river to give the Canadian the win.
This Week’s GGMillion$ Results – September 16th, 2025
This week’s GGMillion$ began with Plante in the lead on 91 big blinds, but although he eventually saw it out, it was not easy as his pre-match odds implied. Last week’s winner, Jans Arends, won at better than double the odds (8.96 to 4.02), with Bulgaria’s Dimitar Danchev the biggest mover on the night, rising from fifth in the list overnight to finishing second for $238,533.
At the end of the night, it was the Canadian Plante who bagged the win for an eye-watering score of $304,218.
Place | Player | Country | Prize |
---|---|---|---|
1st | Santiago Plante | Canada | $304,218 |
2nd | Dimitar Danchev | Bulgaria | $238,533 |
3rd | Krasimir Yankov | Bulgaria | $187,030 |
4th | ‘yyyyy96’ | Hong Kong | $146,647 |
5th | Dominik Nitsche | Germany | $114,983 |
6th | Viacheslav Duldygin | Russia | $90,156 |
7th | Ottomar Ladva | Estonia | $70,690 |
8th | Alex Kulev | Bulgaria | $55,427 |
9th | Ravid Garbi | Israel | $43,459 |
Did Plante Push His Edge or Get Lucky?
Santiago Plante got the job done on Tuesday evening, but was the Canadian an impressive chip leader, or was he just lucky at the right times? There can be no doubt that he played some solid stuff on his way to heads-up, but let’s look at that crucial hand that effectively won the match for him.
It’s undoubtedly a great spot to wake up with aces heads-up when the other player has pocket jacks. The stacks being so even dictated that playing it slower than usual was advantageous. So was it right to go so far before Danchev eventually made the all-in move on the river?
Looking at the board texture, the flop of two queens and two diamonds is less than threatening to either man. While flush and straight draws never come, and the back door being nailed shut with the arrival of the offsuit seven on the turn, did Danchev need to shove? Possibly not. A strong half-pot bet might have been better. But if he makes that bet, any shove has to yield a fold. There are simply too many hands that beat him at that moment, and he’d have been left with a chip deficit of around 5:1 if that was the way the hand had played out. Alternatively, by betting as strongly as he did, he can force hands containing a nine to fold along with any flush or straight draws that didn’t get there.
Maybe Plante got a little fortunate at the wrong time, but the Canadian chip leader didn’t make any silly mistakes at the final table, either. Sometimes, combined with good cards at the right time, that is all it takes.
You can watch all the action on GGPoker’s YouTube channel with Jeff Gross and Mike Wasserman:
GGMillion$ Final Table Results
2025 Week 31 2025 Week 32
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.
* The pre-game pick is the sole opinion of the author. It in no way reflects or affects the outcome of the final table.