LittleMonk Turns Satellite Ticket Into Super MILLION$ Title
Dutch grinder "LittleMonk" is the latest in a long line of top poker players to become the GGPoker Super MILLION$ champion. The victory came with a bankroll-boosting prize of $298,113, which was made all the more impressive by the fact LittleMonk won their way into the tournament via a $1,050 satellite, massively increasing their Return On Investment (ROI).
Super MILLION$ Final Table Results
| Place | Player | Country | Chips |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | LittleMonk | Netherlands | $298,113 |
| 2 | Fabiano "MarkyAureilo" Kovalski | Brazil | $236,231 |
| 3 | Brunno Botteon | Brazil | $187,194 |
| 4 | Pandora-box | Hong Kong | $148,336 |
| 5 | Vicente Delgado | Andorra | $117,544 |
| 6 | Daniel Dvoress | Canada | $93,144 |
| 7 | Nikolaos Lampropoulos | Cyprus | $73,809 |
| 8 | Andrei "ostapb3535" Konopelko | Belarus | $58,488 |
| 9 | Konstantin Maslak | Russsia | $46,347 |
It did not take long for the final table to lose its first player. Konstantin Maslak sat down at the final as the shortest stack and was the first player out of the door. Maslak opened to 84,000 from a 642,377 stack under the gun with pocket tens. Former Super MILLION$ champion Daniel Dvoress called in the big blind with king-six of diamonds. Maslak flopped a set, but Dvoress flopped a flush. All the chips went into the middle and Maslak failed to improve to a full house.
Eighth place went to former Super MILLION$ winner Andrei "ostapb3535" Konopelko. Brunno Botteon opened to 80,000 in the cutoff with ace-four, and Konopelko defended his big blind with queen-deuce of clubs. Konopelko flopped a queen, and Botteon paired his four; Konopelko check-called a 64,000 continuation bet. The turn improved Botteon to trip fours, and Konopelko checked. Botteon fired a 184,000 bet, which Konopelko called. A five on the saw Konopelko check for a third time. Botteon set his opponent all-in, and was called. Game over for Konopelko.
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Cyprus' Nikolaos Lampropoulos was the next player to fall by the wayside. He was left with 21,000 chips at the 30,000/60,000/7,500a level when his kings lost to the ace-queen of Fabiano "MarkyAureilo" Kovalski. Lampropoulos managed to run his stack back up to 230,000 but loast with ace-jack versus Dvoress' jack-seven courtesy of a seven on the turn.
The last five-figure prize went to Dvoress, doing so during the 40,000/80,000/10,000a level. Dvoress opened with ace-jack of spades to 160,000, LittleMonk responded with a three-bet to 3,360,000 with ace-king of hearts, which more than covered Dvoress' stack. Dvoress called off the 999,573 chips he had behind and was shown the bad news. LittleMonk's hand remained true, and Dvoress bowed out.
Fifth-place and $117,544 went to the Andorra-based Spaniard Vicente Delgado. LittleMonk min-raised to 160,000 from under the gun with queen-eight, and Delgado call from the big blind with jack-ten. A queen-eight-ten flop was always going to see all the chips go into the middle. Delgado checked, LittleMonk continued for 174,300, and Delgado check-raised all-in for 927,312, which was snap-called. LittleMonk turned a full house and Delgado missed on the river.
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Next to crash and burn was Hong Kong's "Pandora-box" who ran out of steam in fourth. Pandora-box had just lost a substantial pot with pocket kings when he folded on the river with an ace on the board. The very next hand, Kovalski min-raised to 240,000 and called when Pandora-box ripped in their 1,215,480 stack. It was ace-five for the all-in player and ace-queen for Kovalski. A king-high board reduced the player count by one.
Heads-up was set soon after when Botteon ran out of steam. Blinds were 70,000/140,000/17,500a when Botteon made it 560,000 to go, leaving 556,354 behind. LittleMonk set Botteon all-in, and was called. Botteon revealed ace-nine of diamonds, LittleMonk king-queen offsuit, and a queen on the flop was enough for LittleMonk to progress to heads-up.
Kovalski held a substantial 10,148,300 to 4,951,700 chip lead over LittleMonk going into the one-on-one battle but a key hand flipped the contest on its head. LittleMonk min-raised to 320,000 with king-eight of diamonds, and called when Kovalski three-bet to 1,150,000 with ace-queen. The king-high flop saw Kovalski continue for 772,200 and LittleMonk rip in their 4,849,250 stack. Amazingly, Kovalski called with ace-high, and lost the 11 million chip pot.
The ball was firmly in LittleMonk's court now, and he got his hands on the title during the next level.
Kovalski opened to 200,000 with king-seven, Little money three-bet enough to set his Brazilian opponent all-in, and Kovalski called. LittleMonk showed pocket fives, which held as the board ran nine-high. Kovalski walked away $236,231 while the champion netted $298,113.
