’szagos’ may not have been the most well-known name in this week’s GGPoker Super MILLION$, but after outlasting a final table that included three former Super MILLION$ champions and taking home the $258,592 first-place prize, the Hungarian will now certainly be on the high-roller radar.
Even though ‘szagos’ had a healthy third-place stack to start with, former champs Anatoly Filatov, Artur Martirosian, and Isaac Haxton were all still in contention to try and capture their second title. Add to that, Thomas Muehloecker playing in his fourth Super MILLION$ final table and Russia’s Sergei Denisov holding the chip lead, ‘szagos’ had a tall task at the start of the day.
It was 45 minutes into play when the first player was felted in a clash of huge hands. With the blinds at 15,000/30,000 (3,500 ante) ‘Goldo’ opened to 72,000 with 
and when the action folded back to ‘jerbi9999’ in the small blind with 
, they put in a three-bet to 285,000. ‘Goldo’ promptly four-bet shoved his entire stack and ‘jerbi9999’ quickly called with their tournament as risk. The board ran out 
keeping ‘Goldo’s pocket aces in the lead the whole way with little drama and ‘jerbi9999’, who started the day fourth in chips, finished in ninth place for $35,779.
The measured pace of play continued as eight-handed play went on for another 45 minutes. The blinds moved up to 25,000/50,000 (6,000 ante) when former Super MILLION$ champ Anatoly Filatov opened from the cutoff to 100,000 with 
. Thomas Muehloecker folded his button and Hungary’s ‘szagos’ shoved all-in from the small blind for more than 1.1 million with 
. Artur Martirosian got out of the way in the big blind and Filatov called putting his tournament life on the line. The flop came 
givine Filatov top two pair and leaving ‘szagos’ looking for a king or a ten to complete the straight. The turn came the 
keeping Filatov in control. However, the river was the 
and ‘szagos’ makes a straight sending Filatov out in eighth for $45,815.
Four hands later, Muehloecker moved all-in from under the gun for 11 big blinds with 
and, once again, ‘szagos’ picked up a big hand and made the call holding the 
. Though dominated preflop, ‘szagos’ quickly became the overwhelming favorite when the flop came 
bringing them top pair and the nut flush draw. The 
turn changed nothing and the 
river ended Muehloecker’s day in seventh place, good for $58,665.
With the blinds up to 30,000/60,000 (7,500 ante) the action folded to Sergei Denisov in the small blind. The start-of-the-day chip leader, who was now fifth in chips, completed the small blind with the . ‘Goldo’, in the big blind, made it 216,000 to go holding 
. Denisov didn’t take long and stuck his final 20 big blinds in the middle and was quickly called by ‘Goldo’, who had Denisov covered. The race was on and the board ran out 
giving ‘Goldo’s pocket nines the hand and eliminating Denisov in sixth place for $75,120.
Martirosian was gridning a short stack. A very short stack. With fewer than two big blinds left the dangerous Russia pro was looking for the right spot. Three hands after Denisov was eliminated, Martirosian was forced to make his move. After ‘Goldo’ raised to 144,000 under the gun with Martirosian, in the big blind, stuck in a total of 172k with . ‘Goldo’ put in the extra chips and the pair saw a flop of 
, bringing Martirosian open-ended straight draw outs. The turn took some of those outs away and left Martirosian needing one of the four nines in the deck to survive. However, the river came the 
, giving ‘Goldo’ a full house and leaving Martirosian, who started the day sixth in chips, to ladder one spot to fifth and a $96,189 payday.
Brazil’s Belarmino Souza made his way into the tournament on a satellite win and was already in line for a massive bankroll boost. So when play got to four-handed, with the blinds at 40,000/80,000 (10,000 ante), he picked his spot to try and get off the short stack and get back into the thick of things. After ’Goldo’ completed the small blind, the big blind Souza shipped his 12bb stack with . But ‘Goldo’ was holding another huge hand and made the snap-call with the 
. The flop came 
, keeping ‘Goldo’s pocket jacks ahead. The turn was the 
, bringing Souza open-ended straight outs to go along with his overcard. But the missed for Souza and sent him out in fourth place for $123,168.
The chips evened out during three-handed play between ‘szagos’, ‘Goldo’, and Isaac Haxton. ‘Goldo’ started to make some moves that didn’t work out and after losing a big hand to Haxton, the aggressive player was the next to exit. The blinds were at 50,000/100,000 (12,500 ante) and ‘Goldo’ opened to 240,000 on the button with the . Haxton folded his small blind and ‘szagos’ three-bet to 730,000 with and ‘Goldo’ called. The flop came 
and ‘szagos’ led out for just over 386,000 and ‘Goldo’ made the call. The turn was the and ‘szagos’ bet again, this time for 580,313. ‘Goldo’ then raised to more then 1.3 million, leaving himself with four big blinds behind. After taking some time ‘szagos’ raised enough to put ‘Goldo’ and his king-high all-in. ‘Goldo’ made the fold but was eliminated three hands later in third place for $157,714.
‘szagos’ held a slight chip lead over Haxton when heads-up play began and as the two battled, the Hungarian opened up an overwhelming chip advantage. After winning multiple pots in a row, Haxton was down to fewer than 10 big blinds at 70,000/140,000 (17,500 ante) when he open-shipped his stack holding and was called by ‘szagos’ and their 
. The flop came 
and when the 
hit the turn, Haxton was drawing dead to the the river. Haxton, denied another Super MILLION$ title, settled for $201,950 as the runner-up and ‘szagos’ earned their first Super MILLION$ win and the $258,592 first-place prize.
Super MILLION$ Final Table Payouts (7/20)
- ‘szagos’ – $258,592
- Isaac Haxton – $201,950
- ‘Goldo’ – $157,714
- Belarmino Souza – $123,168
- Artur Martirosian – $96,189
- Sergei Denisov – $75,120
- Thomas Mueloecker – $58,665
- Anatoly Filatov – $45,815
- ‘jerbi9999’ – $35,779