GGPoker ambassador Anatoly Filatov entered the final table of the 51st edition of the GGPoker Super MILLION$ with the chip lead and left it with his first Super MILLION$ title and the $325,957 first-place prize.
It was Filatov’s third trip to a Super MILLION$ final table in his 32 times playing the event and, in order to take it down, he was forced to face off against another line-up of high-caliber pros. The final nine included high-roller circuit regulars David Peters and Isaac Haxton as well as three players who were all returning to the final table for the second week in a row – Joakim Andersson, Elio Fox, and last week’s champ Brazilian Bruno Volkmann.
Starting the day as one of the shorter stacks, Elio Fox was down to his final 10 big blinds just 15 minutes into the final table. After David Peters opened to 80,000 with at 20,000/40,000 (5,000 ante), Fox moved all-in holding . When the action folded back to Peters, he made the call and the pair watched as the board ran out , shipping the pot to Peters and sending Fox out in ninth place for $45,100.
It took nearly 45 minutes for the next player to fall when #4-ranked Bruno Volkmann open-shoved from the small blind holding and Juan Dominguez made the call for his final 15 big blinds with . The flop came keeping Dominguez in the lead. The turn brought Volkmann some additional straight outs but it was the that awarded him the pot and eliminated Dominguez in eighth place for $57,750.
A short-stacked Isaac Haxton put in a raise to 120,000 with only to be shoved only to be three-bet by Joakim Andersson holding . Everyone folded back to Haxton who shipped his final six big blinds. Andersson, who barely had Haxton covered, made the quick call. Haxton paired his ace on the flop, and held on through the turn and river. Haxton found a much-needed double while Andersson was left with just over one big blind. Two hands later Andersson shipped under the gun with and ran it into the of ‘UncleToni’ who eliminated him in seventh place for $73,948.
Even with the double, Haxton, who started the day third in chips, remained at the bottom of the chip counts. From the button he opened to 132,000 at 30,000/60,000 (7,500 ante) with . Volkmann defended his big blind with and the pair took a flop. Both players checked to see a turn, keeping Haxton in the lead with his pair but bringing in an open-ended straight draw for both. Volkmann led out and Haxton made the call. The river was the , giving Volkmann a higher straight. After taking a few seconds, Volkmann shipped and Haxton snapped-called to see he’d been cooled off and eliminated in sixth place for $94,689.
Three hands later, Volkmann was back at it. He put in a min-raise to 140,000 with and when it folded to David Peters in the small blind, Peters moved all-in for 1,559,067 with . Sergei Denisov folded his big blind and Volkmann made the call with the dominating hand. The board ran out sending Peters out in fifth place for $121,247.
Just two hands later Filatov picked up under the gun and made it 140,000 to go at 35,000/70,000 (8,500 ante). Volkmann folded his button and ‘UncleToni’ three-bet shipped for just over 1,000,000 with . Filatov quickly called and the flop came . Everything changed when the hit the turn, giving ‘UncleToni’ a set and a stranglehold on the hand. But Filatov spiked one of his final two outs when the hit the river and ‘UncleToni’, who won his $10K seat in a $1K satellite, was out in fourth place collecting $155,254 for their deep run.
Three-handed play lasted nearly forty minutes as Filatov wrestled the chip lead away from Volkmann and Denisov, saw his stack going in the wrong direction. After Volkmann raised the button holding , Denisov three-bet for the bulk of his stack with , leaving himself just 2.5 big blinds behind. Volkmann wasted no time in shipping and Denisov committed the last of his chips. Volkmann’s pocket jacks held through the runout and Denisov took home $198,800 for his third-place finish.
This made back-to-back weeks that Bruno Volkmann reached heads-up play. However, this week there would be no off-the-felt chop discussions.
Filatov, with the chip lead, needed just three hands to lock up his first GGPoker Super MILLION$ title. On the button Filtov min-raised to 200,000 with which brought a three-bet to 745,225 from Volkmann with . Next thing you know, Filatov shipped, Volkmann called and the pair were flipping with all the chips in the middle. The flop came out , giving Volkmann top pair. The turn was the bringing additional flush outs for Filatov. The was one of those outs and Volkmann was forced to settle for second place this week, adding another $254,559 to his Super MILLION$ totals, sending his winnings north of $2 million.
Super MILLION$ Final Table Payouts (6/1)
Anatoly FIlatov – $325,957
Bruno Volkmann – $254,559
Sergei Denisov – $198,800
‘UncleToni’ – $155,254
David Peters – $121,247
Isaac Haxton – $94,689
Joakim Andersson – $73,948
Juan Dominguez – $57,750
Elio Fox – $45,100