Hrabec Resigns Watson to Another Super MILLION$ Runner-Up

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Nov 30, 2022 4 min read

History repeated itself in the GGPoker Super MILLION$ on November 29 as Roman Hrabec denied Mike Watson the victory. Back in March, Watson sat down at the Super MILLION$ final table with a colossal chip lead but ultimately finished in second place behind Artur Martirosian. On November 29, Watson went into the final table with more than twice as many chips as anyone else, yet still finished as the runner-up. Here's how the star-studded final table went down.

GGPoker Super MILLION$ Final Table Results

It took less than ten minutes of action to reduce the player count by one. Former Super MILLION$ champion "GoProWarrior" opened to 88,000 from early position during the 20,000/40,000/5,000a level, and the action folded to Andrii Novak on the button, and Novak called. The ace-eight-eight flop saw GoProWarrior continue for 84,300, and Novak call. GoProWarrior made it 359,680 to go on the turn, which was the three of diamonds, putting two diamonds out there. Novak raised all-in for 897,340, and GoProWarrior instantly called. Novak showed ace-queen, which was miles ahead of GoProWarrior's ace-jack, but a jack on the river flipped the hand on its head, and Novak busted.

Nikita Kuznetsov's run ended in an eighth-place finish during the 25,000/50,000/6,000a level. The action folded to "brino" on the button, and the Israeli open-shoved for 754,052. Kuznetsov tanked for 20 seconds or so before calling all-in for 243,434 in total from the small blind. It was pocket fours for Kuznetsov but a pair of tens in the hole for brino. A jack-high board sent Kuznetsov to the showers.

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Seventh place was decided shortly after Kuznetsov's demise, and it was Johannes "Hazes" Straver who finished in that spot. Watson min-raised to 120,000 from under the gun before calling the 1,231,652 three-bet shove Straver made from the small blind. Straver flipped over ace-four of hearts, while Watson held pocket nines. Watson flopped a full house, and extended his chip lead.

The first six-figure prize went to Jans Arends, whose quest to win the Super MILLION$ for the second time ended in a sixth-place finish. Arends busted at the hands of Watson in a battle of the blinds. From the small blind, Watson raised enough to put Arends all-in for his last 10 big blinds. Arends called off his stack with ace-deuce, and found himself against queen-eight. An eight on the river halted Arends in his tracks.

Israel's brino was the next player to fall, doing so during the 60,000/120,000/15,000a level. Brino was down to 793,514 chips after paying the small blind, so it was unsurprising to see them move all-in with pocket fours. Watson called with king-jack from the big blind, flopped a jack, and brino was no longer participating in the Super MILLION$.

The final four became three when GoProWarrior ran out of steam. Again, it was Watson that dealt the killer blow. Blinds were now biting at 80,000/160,000/20,000a, and GoProWarrior ripped in their 2,075,916 stack from the button, only for Watson to quickly call. GoProWarrior turned over king-nine, but was crushed by Watson's dominating king-queen. Watson flopped two pair, GoProWarrior busted, and Watson now held more than 10.9 million chips, with neither of his two remaining opponents holding three-million chip stacks.

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The rich became richer as the tournament moved into the heads-up stage. Watson min-raised to 320,000 on the button before snap-calling when "Joyeux" three-bet all-in for 2,596,302 from the small blind. The all-in player revealed a pair of threes in the hole, but Watson was sat there with pocket kings! Watson's cowboys held, and he took a three-to-one chip lead into the heads-up battle with Hrabec.

Hrabec doubled up when his lowly ten-trey somehow improved to a wheel straight with Watson pairing the ace of his ace-king, but he still trailed two-to-one. Hrabec then claimed the lead for himself when Watson limped in for 200,000, Hrabec raised to 700,000, and Watson called. On the five-four-nine flop with two hearts, Hrabec led for 462,500, Watson raised to 1,156,250, only for Hrabec to move all-in for 4,075,300 in total. Watson called with ace-five and was in big trouble against Hrabec's queens. The turn and river were both bricks, and the ball was now in Hrabec's court.

The final hand took place soon after, with Hrabec limp-calling the 700,000 raise from Watson. A six-jack-three flop saw Watson check-call a 462,250 bet. A king on the turn saw similar action; Watson check-calling a 1,100,000 bet. Watson checked again on the eight river. Hrabec bet enough to set Watson all-in for his 3,789,400 stack, and Watson could not find a fold. Watson showed nine-six, which was obliterated by the king-jack in Hrabec's hand.

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• Tags Andrii Novak Artur Martirosian GGPoker Jans Arends Mike Watson Roman Hrabec
• Related Players Mike WatsonJans ArendsAndrii NovakRoman HrabecArtur Martirosian