Super MILLION$ Main Event $10,300, $10M Gtd.
Day 2 Completed
Super MILLION$ Main Event $10,300, $10M Gtd.
Day 2 Completed
The final table of the 2021 GGPoker Super MILLION$ Week $10,300 Main Event has been set. Eight players out of a field of 976 entries remain to battle for the lion's share of the $10 million guarantee. They have all $299,366 locked up for the efforts but two seven-figure prizes will be awarded and the winner can look forward to a payday of $1,242,332.
Best-positioned for a life-changing victory is the UK's Ben Ward, who currently resides in Mexico. Ward ended the day with 18,432,514 in chips but two contenders are hot on his heels including Sebastian "Weizen" Gaehl (17,715,410) and 2019 WSOP Europe Main Event champion Alexandros Kolonias (17,300,410).
Krasimir Yankov sits in the middle of the pack with a stack of 14,986,851, well ahead of all remaining finalists. Shankar Pillai (9,323,230), Thomas Muehloecker (7,179,571), Javier Gomez (6,633,140), and Benjamin "Geraaaard" Chalot (5,674,092) round up the final table line-up. China's Wei Zhao bowed out in the final hand of the night and collected $244,811 for his 9th place finish.
Rank | Player | Country | Chip Count | Big Blinds |
---|---|---|---|---|
1 | Ben Ward | United Kingdom | 18,432,514 | 61 |
2 | Sebastian "Weizen" Gaehl | Germany | 17,715,410 | 59 |
3 | Alexandros Kolonias | Greece | 17,300,410 | 58 |
4 | Krasimir Yankov | Bulgaria | 14,986,851 | 50 |
5 | Shankar Pillai | United States | 9,323,230 | 31 |
6 | Thomas Muehloecker | Austria | 7,179,571 | 24 |
7 | Javier Gomez | Spain | 6,633,140 | 22 |
8 | Benjamin "Geraaaard" Chalot | France | 5,674,092 | 19 |
*big blinds are based on the rollback to level 38 with blinds of 150,000-300,000 / ante 35,000
After getting through their respective starting days, 121 players returned for Day 2 and they were aiming to secure a slice of the $10 million guarantee. Among those who came up short of that goal were a host of big names such as Timothy Adams, David Yan, Blaz Zerjav, Aleksejs Ponakovs, Ami Barer, GGPoker ambassador Fedor Holz, Isaac Haxton, Jason Koon, and Kristen Bicknell.
Holz first lost most of his chips with king-ten suited versus pocket tens and Dario Sammartino then got there with king-queen versus ace-king. There was no happy end for Sammartino either, as he came up a few spots short of the min-cash. The money bubble then burst in a classic flip as Dimitrios Farmakoulis failed to hold up with pocket fives versus ace-ten.
As soon as the min-cash of $31,012 was secured, the all-in showdowns kept coming at a rapid pace. The 2020 WSOP Main Event champion Damian Salas was among the first to cash, others such as Matthias Eibinger and Wiktor Malinowski received the same payout.
During the frantic post-bubble period, barely any minute passed without an all-in and call. Ludovic "Gr4vyB04t" Geilich and Bert Stevens, who had chopped Event #30: Super High Roller $25,500 the previous night, were involved into the thick of the action once more. Stevens soared to the top when he doubled through Chi Zhang in the biggest pot of the tournament until then.
GOOD VIBES ONLY!!! #whitemagic
— giraf ganger (@Girafganger7)
Down to the final three tables, Geilich and Stevens were still on track for another massive payday. Joakim Andersson and Michael Addamo were the first big names to fall then and a short-stacked Geilich saw his hopes vanish when tens were cracked by the jack-ten suited of Alex Foxen. Other familiar names of the international poker circuit such as Isaac Baron, Daniyar Aubakirov, and Christian Jeppsson missed out on the final two tables.
Stevens was left short after several clashes with Krasimir Yankov and eventually bowed out in 16th place when ace-king was cracked by ace-jack suited. Joao Vieira made a deep run once more but had to settle for 14th place. As the action towards the final table bubble became tense, Alex Foxen ran with ace-queen into ace-king. Ole Schemion also got it in with a dominated ace-jack as Alexandros Kolonias prevailed with the superior ace-king suited.
Wei Zhao, who was left short in a previous all-in showdown, then busted during the last ongoing hand of the night and that set up an eight-handed final table. While he may have missed out on the official final table appearance, Zhao made the massive big pay jump to nearly double Schemion's $126,425 payday.
The final eight players will determine a champion on the live-streamed final table on March 9 at 6 p.m. UTC. Cards-up coverage and commentary will be available on a security delay of half an hour on the GGPoker.tv Twitch channel. The PokerNews live reporting team will be back then to provide all the key hands until a winner is crowned.
Remaining Payouts
Place | Prize |
---|---|
1 | $1,242,332 |
2 | $1,000,991 |
3 | $818,576 |
4 | $669,403 |
5 | $547,414 |
6 | $447,657 |
7 | $366,078 |
8 | $299,366 |
Player | Chips | Progress |
---|---|---|
Ben Ward | 18,432,514 | |
|
||
Sebastian "Weizen" Gaehl | 17,715,410 | |
Alexandros Kolonias | 17,300,410 | |
|
||
Krasimir Yankov | 14,986,851 | |
Shankar Pillai | 9,323,230 | |
|
||
Thomas Muehloecker | 7,179,571 | |
Javier Gomez | 6,633,140 | |
Benjamin "Geraaaard" Chalot | 5,674,092 |
While the hand on the other table was finished, the cards were already dealt and Wei Zhao moved all-in for 865,921. Ben Ward called out of the small blind and Thomas Muehloecker also filled up from the big blind.
The flop brought and Ward bet small to force out Muehloecker.
Wei Zhao:
Ben Ward:
The turn left Zhao drawing dead and the river was a formality. Zhao has been eliminated in 9th place and receives $244,811 for the efforts.
All remaining eight players are now on break until the live-streamed final table on Tuesday, March 9. The final counts and a recap of today's action are to follow.
Player | Chips | Progress |
---|---|---|
Ben Ward |
18,432,514
1,481,842
|
1,481,842 |
|
||
Shankar Pillai |
9,323,230
-300,000
|
-300,000 |
|
||
Thomas Muehloecker |
7,179,571
-965,921
|
-965,921 |
Benjamin "Geraaaard" Chalot |
5,674,092
750,000
|
750,000 |
Wei Zhao | Busted |
Sebastian "Weizen" Gaehl raised to 800,000 from under the gun and Ole Schemion three-bet shoved from the cutoff for 4,350,400. The action folded to Alexandros Kolonias in the big blind who made the call while Gaehl got out of their way.
Ole Schemion:
Alexandros Kolonias:
The flop came to not help Schemion.
The turn was the for both of them to hit top pair for Schemion to hope for a jack to double or a five to split the pot.
Instead, the river completed the board with the to send Schemion out of the tournament in tenth place.
Player | Chips | Progress |
---|---|---|
Sebastian "Weizen" Gaehl |
17,715,410
1,100,000
|
1,100,000 |
Alexandros Kolonias |
17,300,410
5,270,400
|
5,270,400 |
|
||
Krasimir Yankov |
14,986,851
-1,550,000
|
-1,550,000 |
Javier Gomez |
6,633,140
-300,000
|
-300,000 |
Ole Schemion | Busted | |
|
Wei Zhao shoved from the small blind for 5,652,536 for Shankar Pillai to tank and then call for the 4,286,615 he had left.
Shankar Pillai:
Wei Zhao:
The board ran out for Pillai to hold and double up.
Player | Chips | Progress |
---|---|---|
Ben Ward |
16,950,672
2,950,000
|
2,950,000 |
|
||
Shankar Pillai |
9,623,230
4,486,615
|
4,486,615 |
|
||
Thomas Muehloecker |
8,145,492
-1,250,000
|
-1,250,000 |
Benjamin "Geraaaard" Chalot |
4,924,092
-850,000
|
-850,000 |
Wei Zhao |
965,921
-5,336,615
|
-5,336,615 |
Alexandros Kolonias' button raise to 800,000 was defended by Ole Schemion and the flop brought . Schemion checked to see Kolonias bet 676,500. The German check-raised to 2,153,000 only for Kolonias to move all-in for 7,647,010, forcing a fold from Schemion.
Player | Chips | Progress |
---|---|---|
Sebastian "Weizen" Gaehl |
16,615,410
150,000
|
150,000 |
Krasimir Yankov |
16,536,851
-100,000
|
-100,000 |
Alexandros Kolonias |
12,030,010
3,283,000
|
3,283,000 |
|
||
Javier Gomez |
6,933,140
-100,000
|
-100,000 |
Ole Schemion |
4,700,400
-3,053,000
|
-3,053,000 |
|
Alexandros Kolonias raised to 800,000 and Krasimir Yankov then called out of the big blind. Yankov went on to check-call for 676,500 on the flop and the turn was checked. Yankov bet the river for 3 million and Kolonias folded.
One hand later, Kolonias three-bet jammed and Sebastian "Weizen" Gaehl tanked for 50 seconds before folding.
Over on the other table, Shankar Pillai stole the blinds twice to maintain his short stack.
Player | Chips | Progress |
---|---|---|
Krasimir Yankov |
16,636,851
1,581,500
|
1,581,500 |
Sebastian "Weizen" Gaehl |
16,465,410
-1,795,000
|
-1,795,000 |
Ben Ward |
14,000,672
935,000
|
935,000 |
|
||
Thomas Muehloecker |
9,395,492
390,000
|
390,000 |
Alexandros Kolonias |
8,747,010
-291,500
|
-291,500 |
|
||
Ole Schemion |
7,753,400
-320,000
|
-320,000 |
|
||
Javier Gomez |
7,033,140
825,000
|
825,000 |
Wei Zhao |
6,302,536
-2,435,000
|
-2,435,000 |
Benjamin "Geraaaard" Chalot |
5,774,092
-1,185,000
|
-1,185,000 |
Shankar Pillai |
5,136,615
2,605,000
|
2,605,000 |
|
Level: 40
Blinds: 200,000/400,000
Ante: 50,000
Sebastian "Weizen" Gaehl raised to 770,000 and Krasimir Yankov three-bet to 2,855,000 in the small blind. Gaehl jammed for more than 14.7 million and Yankov folded.
Two hands later, Yankov opened to 700,000 and Ole Schemion called out of the big blind. The flop brought and Schemion checked. Yankov continued for 918,000 and earned a call to then check behind the turn. Schemion led the river for 862,000 and Yankov let go.
Player | Chips | Progress |
---|---|---|
Sebastian "Weizen" Gaehl |
18,260,410
3,475,000
|
3,475,000 |
Krasimir Yankov |
15,055,351
-4,608,000
|
-4,608,000 |
Alexandros Kolonias |
9,038,510
-660,000
|
-660,000 |
|
||
Ole Schemion |
8,073,400
1,883,000
|
1,883,000 |
|
||
Javier Gomez |
6,208,140
-400,000
|
-400,000 |