Latvia’s Aleksejs Ponakovs lifted this week’s GGMillion$ $10k for a huge $321,152 payday, defeating Canada’s Pascal Lefrançois heads-up to bag his 5th such SHR title.
With 158 entries and a consequent $1,580,000 prizepool, the top 20 finishers from those who started out on the Sunday evening highstakes grind would make the money.
The min. cash was $20,980 (GGMillion$ reg Barak Wisbrod among those pocketing that sum) and by the time the final table was set (“spimodactyl” from Cyprus busting in 10th spot) that was bumped up to a guaranteed $45,878.
Yet another stacked final table and as usual it was livestreamed, with Jeff Gross in charge of the commentary, but some technical difficulties this week interfered with what is usually an excellent show. Nevertheless, the tournament itself was undisturbed.
It’s rare for Brazil not to be represented at the final table and this week and after Bruno Volkmann’s GGMillion$ takedown last week, it was Felipe Boianovsky’s turn to run deep.
It looked like the 2023 SCOOP Main Event winner, nicknamed “Lipe piv” would also get rid of one of his most serious challengers, Artur Martirosian, after the Russian shoved 35 bigs…
Second in chips, Boianovsky opened from the cut-off and snapped off Martirosian’s all-in…
Boianovsky: A♠ A♣
Martirosian: K♦ Q♦
The joy was short-lived, though, as the flop turned an 80:20 into more of a flip…
Flop: Q♠ 10♦ 9♦
…and the turn left the Brazilian with only two outs…
Turn: Q♥
…but the river blanked…
River: 7♠
Despite this setback, Boianovsky managed to ladder up a few spots before exiting in 5th spot for $121,384.
Martirosian is the undisputed #1 when it comes to GGPoker’s weekly SHR, boasting an incredible 10 victories, 40 final tables, 72 cashes and $8,242,834 in earnings.
He couldn’t add another title this week, though, having to settle for third spot, adding almost $200k to his bankroll.
Ponakovs, meanwhile, was looking to join a select bunch on five wins, including Wiktor Malinowski and Andres Nemeth. Standing in the way of the Latvian was Canadian pro Pascal Lefrançois.
With no deal-making allowed, it was played to the death, Ponakovs emerging triumphant and taking a spot in the GGMillion$ top 10 leaderboard.
Final table results
| 1 | Aleksejs Ponakovs | Latvia | $321,152 |
| 2 | Pascal Lefrançois | Canada | $251,810 |
| 3 | Artur Martirosian | Russia | $197,440 |
| 4 | Igor Popyk | Ukraine | $154,809 |
| 5 | Felipe Boianovsky | Brazil | $121,384 |
| 6 | Daniel Smiljkovic | Germany | $95,175 |
| 7 | “we_are_cookin” | Canada | $74,625 |
| 8 | Giya “GREPoker” Yakobishvili | Russia | $58,512 |
| 9 | Andrey Kotelnikov | Russia | $45,878 |
GGMillion$ All-Time Top 10
| Place | Player | Wins | FTs | Cashes | Earnings |
| 1 | Artur Martirosian | 10 | 41 | 73 | $8,440,294 |
| 2 | Michael Addamo | 7 | 23 | 34 | $5,103,752 |
| 3 | Ole Schemion | 6 | 25 | 47 | $5,887,403 |
| 4 | David Yan | 5 | 21 | 31 | $5,781,535 |
| 5 | Aleks Ponakovs | 5 | 28 | 46 | $5,308,489 |
| 6 | Wiktor Malinowski | 5 | 34 | 50 | $5,450,882 |
| 7 | Andres Nemeth | 5 | 16 | 31 | $2,651,188 |
| 8 | Niklas Astedt | 4 | 41 | 58 | $5,960,002 |
| 9 | Anatoly Filatov | 4 | 20 | 35 | $3,924,548 |
| 10 | Duco Haven | 4 | 12 | 26 | $3,273,753 |
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