199 entries provided a prize pool of just over two million dollars, with $409,822 for first place.
Before the finals, we were shown a list of the most successful GG Millions participants. Artur Martirosyan topped the list.
The Final Table:
- Simon Mattsson (Sweden) – 66 bb
- Juan Pardo (Andorra) – 55 bb
- Tamas Adamski (Austria) – 54 bb
- Joao Vieira (Brazil) – 45 bb
- Max Buschmann (Austria) – 39 bb
- Kelvin Kerber (Brazil) – 36 bb
- Andrey Derzhipilsky (Ukraine) – 32 bb
- Paul Hong (New Zealand) – 27 bb
- Alexander Tkachev (Austria) – 15 bb
Juan Pardo’s resume is impressive: 38 GG Millions final tables! However, the GG bookmakers still favored Simon Mattsson. They’re both legends, after all!
The Seating Arrangement:
Commentating on the tournament alongside Jeff Gross is Octopi Poker founder and CEO Victoria Livschitz.
She only started playing and studying poker seriously during COVID-19, but her career already boasts over three million in winnings, even though she has never won more than $170,000 at once. Relative to the buy-in, Victoria’s most successful tournament was the traditional $800 Venetian Deepstack Showdown, which she won in January of this year for $50,044.
In short, she’s not some random rich woman who occasionally shows up at high roller tournaments, but more of a seasoned grinder with a solid theoretical foundation.
A cool mix-up in the very first hand!
Andrey defended the big blind and called a fairly large half-pot continuation bet with ace-high and backdoors. On the turn, his opponent checked, and Andrey, somewhat surprisingly to the commentators, bet a third and was called. Whether this was a bluff or protection for his hand isn’t so clear, but the all-in on the river, which completed a flush, leaves no doubt.
Tamas thinks for a while, but doesn’t find a call.
The New Zealander calmly folds. It’s time to get used to the fact that almost everyone plays like this with stacks in the 20s.
In the old days, folding a pair in late position with a stack just over 20 big blinds was the mark of a super-tight old man.
People who succumb to the temptation to make a random bluff out of position against an elite player and the chip leader don’t make it to the final table. Pardo limped a weak ace and now folds it peacefully to a raise.
“Looks like a good spot for a squeeze,” says Victoria.
Pardo reraises to 420,000. Buschmann quickly folds, and Vieira has a tough decision. After thinking it over, he calls.
- Flop (1,117,500):
Vieira checks. Pardo, without hearts, decides not to complicate his life and checks after him.
- Turn:
Both players make obvious checks.
- River :
But even this card fails to breathe new life into the hand. Vieira, understandably, checks, and Pardo quickly checks back, clearly pleased with the outcome.
Adamski spins against Vieira.
But he’s got the wrong guy: Joao, after thinking for a moment, goes all-in! His opponent immediately folds.
Buschmann, with tens, enters behind Pardo’s open from a free position.
On a continuation bet of a quarter of the pot, tens hit the muck.
Pardo opens K7s. Vieira defends the big blind and sticks with third pair on an ace-high flop against a quarter-pot bet.
Once called, Pardo immediately loses interest in the hand.
Fold on the river.
A very small 3-bet sizing, a very beautiful hand... But Paul Hong, as we’ve already seen, lives by the motto “fold, save your money.” Here, too, he folds.
The theme continues almost immediately.
Even smaller sizings, even more aggressive positions, even shallower stacks. And the solution is the same: fold!
Tkachev, with 13 blinds, doesn’t open-fold his eights, but min-raises them. Joao, in the big blind, has a tough call (well, no).
He goes all-in. Tkachev immediately calls, as if he’s lured his opponent into a trap. There’s a certain inconsistency here... Vieira wins the all-in and immediately becomes the new chip leader.
Kerber min-raises KQo from the hijack. Pardo calls from the small blind with nines, and leads the flop. Kerber calls.
- Turn:
GTO Wizard recommends mixing checks and mid-sized bets. Pardo once again demonstrates that he’s not a fan of barreling today, quickly checking.
The machine also, oddly enough, suggests checking for Kerber quite often, 37% of the time. The solver expects the sizing to be small.
The Brazilian bets a third of the pot, hinting that he’s not interested in committing his entire stack. A fold is completely out of the question, both in the solver world and in Pardo’s mind. Juan calls. Interestingly, the solver offers a small check-raise 12% of the time!
- River:
Pardo checks. Kerber bets about 2/3 of the pot, leaving himself the second-lowest stack if he loses. Pardo is a really bad bluffcatcher, but his opponent's line doesn't convince him. Would Kerber bet the turn with ? He only reps , Right?
After thinking for quite a while, Juan finally folds.
Once again, Paul Hong, with a very small stack, tries to play a nice connector and see a flop.
Max Buschmann is thinking it over in the big blind with eights... Hong might simply never show up with a weaker pair! Nevertheless, the Austrian moves all-in and, of course, takes the pot.
All this time, Mattsson had been playing Pardo with the utmost respect and strictly according to his cards. And then, just once, he crossed the line with a bluff three-bet!
The commentators agree that the 4-bet should be small, almost a min-click, something like 790,000. Buschmann agrees and bets 735,000. The hand doesn’t drag on.
Andrey opens bigger than the min-raise to deny Hong an easy resteal, but his timing is off. The New Zealander moves all-in and doubles up, though he still remains in dead last.
Are AJo's good enough to compete with 25 big blinds in late position?
Andrey shows discipline and folds fairly quickly.
Kerber opens AQo, gets called by an active Vieira and squeezed by Mattsson, and responds with a click 4-bet for a third of his stack.
Mattsson moves all-in and Kerber folds.
It’s frustrating to 4-bet a third of your stack and then fold to a shove! Of course, folding is almost always correct, but ending up on the losing end of a cooler is also frustrating.
In one of the following hands, Kerber defends the BB with K6o, flops second pair, but, unexpectedly for the commentators, folds to a continuation bet of a third of the pot.
Coolers, as we know, come in pairs. Do we really need them?
The pot is limped, and Hong can’t get his entire stack in postflop, even though he’s not exactly deep... but at least he didn’t lose to a straight flush! Vieira thinks for a moment, but can’t fold. And Hong, who was recently the shortest, continues his sharp rise.
A dramatic clash of the chip leaders.
Raise 154,000.
3-bet 678,000.
4-bet 1,260,000.
5-bet 1,842,000 from Simon Mattsson. A clickback that seems to leave room for a fold.
Vieira goes all-in and gets called. He's already got open-ended on the turn, but the river doesn't bail him out. And so we say goodbye to João, and Mattsson gets over a hundred blinds!
Having consolidated his lead, the Swede begins to open any hands. Once he had to fold to an all-in (from ), but in this spot, they don’t put him all-in...
...which means you can shove all in for yourself!
Adamski throws away his cards.
Here's Buschmann calling the chip leader's raise! With jacks, in position, he's not shoving.
Both players follow the computer's lead and check their hands (which is perfectly logical). Only then does Buschmann deviate from the optimal line and check again.
River –
The solver still likes the check, but Mattsson bets 168,300. On the river, he makes the same small bet that Buschmann missed on the turn. An easy call, even though the strict GTO Wizard advised being greedy and putting in a small raise!
Undeterred, Mattsson opens the pot in the next hand. Buschmann clearly believes he’s struck gold and calls. Pardo, in the big blind, also decides to join his companions.
But with a hand completely unrelated to the board, and against two strong opponents, the Swede immediately throws in the towel. Buschmann bets a quarter of the pot, and no one wants to play with him.
Derzhipilsky is dealt tens and aces in two hands in a row, but min-raises from the shortest stack from UTG+1 and UTG convince people: everyone folds.
Mattsson then open-raises twice in a row, with KQo and A2o, and in the second of these hands he manages to fold out a couple of stronger hands for the first time. After this, with 98o under the gun, he decides to take a break, reasonably expecting that he won’t be given the blinds and antes three times in a row.
Pardo opens ATo, checks a low, coordinated flop (on which he has two overcards and a gutshot). On the turn, his opponent, who defended the BB, bets a third. Juan snap-calls:
Kerber hesitates for a moment, but then makes the right decision and moves all-in. His opponent doesn’t even try to pretend he wasn’t stealing and folds immediately.
Hong opens AKo, continuation bets the BB on a two-card flop, checks the turn and then repeats, and faces a decision on the river.
A quarter of the pot from Buschmann is clearly not enough to scare Hong. He calls quite quickly and finds out that he was only ahead preflop.
An inspired Buschmann moves all-in from the small blind into the short-stacked Adamski in the next hand. One Austrian holds J7s, but the big blind has two kings. The chips move clockwise, and Adamski suddenly finds himself second in chips!
Hong also gets a little revenge, opening nines from second position and shoving 22 big blinds all-in over Mattsson’s three-bet. The Swede folds KQo.
In the next hand Mattsson attacks Hong’s min-raise again.
This time Hong has less will to resist.
Things haven’t been going well for Pardo postflop for a while now, but here he has a chance to get all his chips in before the flop. A min-raise with 14 blinds, an all-in called, and a double-up.
Derzhipilsky defends the big blind with deuces against a raise from the Brazilian under the gun. On a low and relatively coordinated flop, Kerber bets a quarter of the pot, and Andrey calls.
But on the turn, the stubborn Brazilian continues to press, and then you have to give in. Not the most intuitive board for barreling with – maybe that’s why it works!
A cooler setup? Not for Hong. The New Zealander folds with a steady hand. Pardo reraises to 420,000. Mattsson also quickly folds. A three-bet against a short stack: Juan is clearly not joking. For the same reasons, Andrey doesn’t attempt an ambitious all-in, but makes a workmanlike fold.
Hong’s tightness starts to worsen again: 21 blinds, two nines, and it takes him less than a second to fold.
Buschmann is dealt jacks for the third time at this level and can min-raise with them for the first time. It doesn’t seem like the loosest position, four-handed, but Kerber, in the small blind, almost immediately shoves all-in with QTs.
The flop is a queen. The turn is a jack. After a bit of a nervous tumble, Buschmann retains his place in the tournament, leaving his opponent with 11 blinds.
Pardo raises to 660,000.
“So, do you call?” Jeff asks.
“I’m sure the only option with jacks is to call,” says Victoria.
Adamski calls.
- Flop (1,605,000):
It seems like a check with all hands, but GTO Wizard advises leading with a small sizing 8% of the time, and Adamski, as if consulting an electronic cheat sheet, bets 341,000.
The machine strictly demands a call from Pardo, but that’s not actually difficult. The call follows.
- Turn (2,287,500):
SPR ~1. Adamski checks. With aces, you can play any way you like: the Wizard usually bets a medium size, but he also checks quite often, 30%. And from time to time, he even goes all-in.
Pardo checks behind. He’s in position, and if he’s destined to play for stacks, it won’t be difficult to do so.
- River:
Adamski bets a third of the pot (and a little less than a third of his own stack). Pardo takes a long time to think and, instead of going all-in, simply calls!
An unexpected amnesty for Adamski, who is left with another 14 blinds.
"An extremely cautious line from Juan," Victoria says. "Check the turn, call the river..." It seemed like he really didn't want to bust.
The interesting stack distribution prompts Mattsson to consider, and then go all-in.
The players in the blinds take turns thinking and folding.
The blinds keep rising. At the next level, Derzhipilsky has only five blinds left, and he puts most of them in the middle, attacking with pocket eights. Everyone folds.
In the next hand, Kerber, also under 10 big blinds, raises 2/3 of his stack with AQo. Buschmann, in the big blind, contemplates a play with sevens.
“We’re going, right? There should be smaller pockets in there,” Jeff says.
“And losing won’t be a big disaster,” Victoria agrees.
However, Buschmann chooses the hard way and makes the call!
- Flop (1,605,000, effective stack 413,834):
There's no scary ace on the flop, and Buschmann goes all-in. Kerber calls with a slight underdog and catches a king on the river.
Mattsson goes all-in again, and still no one is willing to resist.
The Swede continues to pour it on, but now he’s got a premium for variety, and three players in the early positions have certain grounds for a resteal. Buschmann makes the move first, three-betting and calling the all-in. He wins the coin flip.
In the next hand, Mattsson doubles up Kerber as well: sevens against AQs, and the Brazilian immediately catches a queen on the flop.
Without doing anything for the entire level, Pardo becomes the leader of the final.
Adamski, with 12 blinds, makes a good fold with eights. The heavily armed Buschmann limits himself to the blinds and antes.
It looks like Adamski has a great hand to realize his equity: call, see the flop...
Instead, he goes all-in. Oh, these modern MTTs!
After some hesitation, Kerber calls and wins!
The remaining six players are guaranteed six-figure prizes.
With nothing better to do, Pardo limps 95s and fires three barrels into the wounded Mattsson.
“Wow, that’s poker!” Jeff Gross exclaims. “But these guys, they’re not afraid of anything! I wouldn’t be surprised if we see a call now!”
“But still, the ten without a kicker has lost a lot of its appeal,” Victoria cools his enthusiasm.
And indeed, Mattsson, after thinking for a bit, gives in.
Andrey moves all-in from the button. Hong calls in the big blind, sees a ton of outs, but luck isn't on his side.
Derzhipilsky’s Ninja Poker continues! Mattsson moves all-in from the button with [CARD] [CARD], Andrey with six blinds calls in the BB with A8s, and doubles up!
Mattsson needs to do something about his aura. He’s losing all his all-ins!
Andrey’s situation is different. He moves all-in from the button. Hong calls in the big blind, sees a ton of outs, but luck isn’t on his side.
Not content with that, he limp-3-bets Kerber, and the Brazilian isn’t cold-blooded enough to 4-bet with T3o.
Now he's the chip leader!
In the nexIn the next hand, Kerber maneuvers very carefully, even limp-calling preflop from blind to blind. But if you’re condemned to the cooler, there’s no escaping your fate:
The Brazilian calls.
- Turn:
He leads with 545,000 – a quarter of the pot. Pardo calls.
- River:
The SPR is slightly above one. Kerber thinks for about half a minute and goes all-in. The call comes faster than the wind, and Pardo regains his recently lost lead.
Kerber is left with 233k, less than the big and small blinds combined. In the next hand, he doubles up with K7o against Mattsson’s J3o. Then comes another shove. Ultimately, the Brazilian reaches the big blind with a healthy stack by GG standards and can even see the flop, paying off a min-raise.
Kerber goes all-in on the flop, gets called, and realizes his 33% equity with a solid ten on the turn. Another double-up!
Buschmann resists the temptation and folds. Andrey calmly calls and flops a set on the board .
Continuation bet a quarter of the pot – call.
- Turn:
Both check.
- River:
Andrey bets about 40% of the pot. Pardo isn't showing any inclination to make hero calls in this final table and isn't planning on starting in the top five. He quickly folds and moves on to the next hand.
It seems like an unlikely time to make a move on Buschmann. However, the flop comes a deuce! Now the Austrian is straining his aura. He’s not overly ambitious: a chop will do.
Buschmann has two kings again. He raises to 459,000 in the big blind. But first, he has to get past the small blind. Kerber has only 5.5 big blinds and A8s. And... he folds.
Pardo defends and the flop gives him a pair.
- Flop (1,144,998):
Check – check.
- Turn:
Pardo bets a third. Buschmann calls without a spade.
- River:
Well, they almost repeated the last hand's success, but there’s not quite. Pardo sees no need to bluff and takes the showdown with his straight.
Kerber again saves his 5bb stack and folds Q9o from the button – by far the best hand of the three remaining in the hand.
Why does he do this? Here's why: in the next hand, Mattsson (with a 7bb stack) raises from the small blind and calls Buschmann's all-in. Yes, he has against , but three outs can also come, and a $30,000 pay jump won't survive on its own!
Mattsson, however, doubles down.
From the small blind, Kerber shoves three blinds with KTo, and Pardo calls with Q5o. A queen-jack flop gives the Brazilian an open-ender, but none of his many outs arrive, leaving four players at the table.
Buschmann moves all-in from the small blind with sevens for 13 big blinds. Derzhipilsky calls with AQo. His opponent flops a set and doubles up.
A couple of rounds of fairly intuitive steals and resteals, and the same players face off again in a preflop all-in from the blinds. Buschmann shoves A2o, Derzhipilsky calls with AJs, and flops both a jack and a flush draw. 98% equity right off the bat!
A double-up.
A couple of hands later, Buschmann gets it all in with K8o against Pardo’s A3s and finishes the tournament in a respectable 4th place for $187,931.
Mattsson finds a nice hand for a resteal.
After the blinds raised, the Swede was down to just 4 big blinds, so he shoved K5o from small. Andrey called with A6s and even flopped a six. Simon Mattsson took 3rd place and $243,717. He was arguably the most exciting player in this final table.
Andrey has a slight advantage over Pardo in HU – 11.3 million against 10.2 million.
In a limped pot after the flop checks, Andrey tries to steal chips by betting the turn and river with approximately the same sizing (as a percentage of the pot).
Pardo calls twice.
Despite the new blind increase, the effective stack isn't that small – 30bb. Go ahead and play... or get it all wrapped up in one hand?
Andrey calls, flops a flush draw, and bets a quarter when his opponent checks.
Pardo is determined: ALL-IN!
Derzhipilsky is 52% to win the all-in, but an offsuit four and six fall, ending the tournament instantly. Derzhipilsky takes second place and $316,062, while Juan Pardo Dominguez earns his fifth GG Millions victory and $409,882.
