Konstas Comes Back From Last To Win The GGOC Super MILLION$ Championship
Ioannis Angelou Konstas took his seat at the GG Online Championship edition of the $10,300 Super MILLION$ at GGPoker with the shortest stack. His 1,853,092 chips were the equivalent of 18.5 big blinds, but he managed to not only not finish ninth but go all the way and become a Super MILLION$ champion for the first time.
Konstas' impressive comeback and victory came with a $735,448 payday. Let us see how the final table action went down.
116-H: $10,300 Super MILLION$ HR Championship Final Table Results
| Place | Player | Country | Prize |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Ioannis Konstas | Ireland | $735,448 |
| 2 | Nick Maimone | Canada | $567,108 |
| 3 | Lev "LevMeAlone" Gottlieb | Mexico | $437,300 |
| 4 | Rafael "BruxoR10" Caiaffa | Brazil | $337,204 |
| 5 | Benjamin Rolle | Austria | $260,020 |
| 6 | Daniel "Tourmination" Petersen | Austria | $200,502 |
| 7 | Francisco Benitez | Uruguay | $154,608 |
| 8 | Joao Vieira | Brazil | $119,219 |
| 9 | Eder "BlueMoon" Campana | Brazil | $91,931 |
It took the best part of an hour for the first player to bust, and Eder "BlueMoon" Campana was that unfortunate player. The action folded to Lev "LevMeAlone" Gottlieb in the cutoff and he moved all-in for 13.5 big blinds effective. Campana called off his eight big blind stack on the button, and both blinds folded. Gottlieb flipped over queen-six, with Campana showing ace-ten of diamonds. A six and a queen landed on the flop, and another queen appeared on the turn. Campana bowed out in ninth for $91,931.
Joao Vieira's wait for a Super MILLION$ title continues because he was the eighth place finisher. The blinds were 70,000/140000/17,500a, when Francisco Benitez opened to 420,000 in late position with ace-king. Nick Maimone jammed for 5,475,347 from the cutoff also with ace-king, only for Vieira to call off his 4,941,014 stack on the button with ace-queen. Benitez called off the 60,306 chips he had behind. Vieira couldn't find any of his outs and crashed out in eighth for $119,219.
Benitez was unsurprisingly the next player eliminated because he only had six big blinds even after doubling in the Vieira bust-out hand. Benitez raised to four big blinds under the gun, leaving himself a solitary big blind and an ante behind. Benjamin Rolle called on the button, only for Konstas to squeeze all-in for a shade under nine big blinds. Benitez called, as did Rolle. It was ace-nine for Benitez, who was in a world of pain against Rolle's ace-king and the pocket queens of Konstas. The queen held, Konstas almost tripled up, and Benitez walked off with the $154,608 seventh-place prize.
The final six became five on the hand after Benitez' demise. Rafael "BruxoR10" Caiaffa min-raised to 320,000 under the gun with king-queen, Daniel "Tourmination" Petersen responded with 960,000 three-bet with ace-jack, which was essentially all in because it left Petersen with only 700,078 chips. Gottlieb called on the button with ace-king, and Caiaffa folded. The rest of Petersen's micro stack went in on an eight-high flop, and Gottlieb called. No help arrived for Petersen and he had to make do with a $200,502 payout.
Rolle was third in chips going into five-handed play but he was the next player out of the door. Rolle lost all but a handful of chips when his ace-nine lost to Maimone's queen-eight courtesy of the board four-flushing. He then committed his last 1.5 big blinds with seven-six and lost to Gottlieb's ace-ten. $260,020 made its way to Rolle's account.
Gottlieb then added to his chip lead by claiming the stack of Brazilian Caiaffa. From the small blind, Caiaffa open-shoved for nine big blinds with pocket sixes, and Gottlieb called with king-ten. A king on the turn sent Caiffa home with $337,204 to show for his efforts.
Heads-up was set when Gottlieb went from hero to zero in the space of a few hands. First, he lost a chunk of his tournament-leading stack when his ace-nine lost to Maimone's ace-king, which put Gottlieb down to less than 20 big blinds. He then dropped to two blind blinds, which went into the middle with jack-three. Konstas sent Gottlieb to the rail after making a heart flush. Gottlieb collected $437,300.
The chip stacks were relatively even going into heads-up but the players had to play out the tournament because deal making is not permitted in the Super MILLION$! Everything seemed to go Konstas' way, as was evident by the final hand. Maimone min-raised to 1,200,000 with king-queen before making the call for the 8,086,995 chips he had behind when Konstas pushed all-in with ace-jack. A nine-high board resigned Maimone to the $567,108 second-place prize and left Konstas to win his first Super MILLION$ and a $735,448 payday.
