Astedt Leads Day 1 of GG Spring Festival H-41: $25,500 Sunday 5 Million with $1,095,741 Up for Grabs Tomorrow
The 2021 GG Spring Festival has now seen the first day of the H-41: $25,500 Sunday 5 Million come to an end after the final table of nine was reached. Leading the last nine into the final day is Sweden's Niklas Astedt who managed to navigate his way through the 202 entry field and compile a monstrous 4,519,808 stack, which is well in front of any other runner left in contention.
Sami Kelopuro is the closest behind the leader after finishing a rollercoaster day with 2,670,494. The bubble was just around the corner when Kelopuro used their "one time" on a hand versus Timothy Nuter who held big slick against the jacks of Kelopuro. A king landed on the flop and by the time a turn came around it was all but lost for Kelopuro until an unlikely johnnie landed on the river, giving him a complete double thanks to his set of jacks and he put his newly acquired chips to good use, ending second on the leaderboard.
Joao Vieira (2,475,464), Shawn Daniels (2,296,836), and Jason Koon (2,188,452) round out the top five. Koon saw himself with just a few big blinds throughout the final two tables but managed to find a run of good cards with his biggest chip increase coming when his king-jack bested the dead man's hand that was held by Amichai Barer who took an exit in eleventh place.
David Yan (2,140,920), Pedro Garagnani (2,075,793), and Sam Greenwood (1,692,347) all have healthy-sized stacks with the only odd-man out being Wei Zhao who will only be carrying 139,885 into the final day. Zhao took a chip lead flip during the very last hand of the night with his pocket jacks versus the ace-queen of Astedt who hit on the flip. Zhao was left with just a few blinds and will now have to try and string together a few hands in hopes of taking down the $1,095,741 first-place prize.
Final Table of Event H-41: $25,500 Sunday 5 Million
| Position | Player | Country | Chip Count | Big Blinds |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Niklas Astedt | Sweden | 4,519,808 | 90 |
| 2 | Sami Kelopuro | Finland | 2,670,494 | 53 |
| 3 | Joao Vieira | Portugal | 2,475,464 | 50 |
| 4 | Shawn Daniels | United States | 2,296,836 | 46 |
| 5 | Jason Koon | United States | 2,188,452 | 44 |
| 6 | David Yan | New Zealand | 2,140,920 | 43 |
| 7 | Pedro Garagnani | Brazil | 2,075,793 | 42 |
| 8 | Sam Greenwood | Canada | 1,692,347 | 34 |
| 9 | Wei Zhao | China | 139,885 | 3 |
Big Blinds based on the final table roll-back to ensure an average of at least 40 blinds
Action of the Day
The highly anticipated Sunday 5 Million had a second crack at breaking the guarantee after falling just two entries short last time. This time around was a success as 202 runners showed up, just sliding by the guarantee by two entries as a $5,050,000 prize pool was accumulated. It was announced that the top 27 were to find at least a min-cash of $49,063 with the eventual champion taking home an outstanding $1,095,741 for their victory.
By the time the late registration period had ended a field of just 62 remained and it was a familiar face in the lead. Guillaume Nolet was sitting atop the leaderboard with over a million and looked in a prime position to find back-to-back Sunday 5 Million final tables after already winning last week. He was close but a cold run of cards lead him to an exit in twelfth place.
As the field started to whittle down and the money approached there was one player, in particular, that was looking to score a cash. Lev "LeveMeAlone" Gottlieb shot nine bullets during this event but still managed to come up short of the money. Some other players that had a bad day, shipping a few buy-ins without cashing includes Michael Zhang, Matthias Eibinger, Mikita Badziakouski, Michael Addamo, Stephen Chidwick, and Justin Bonomo.
Once the bubble was reached it was none other than Kelopuro taking the role of executioner. "xyzpoker" four-bet jammed with ace-king of clubs and Kelopuro snapped with pocket queens. A queen on the flop was good enough to cement the pot for Kelopuro, sending "xyzpoker" out as the inevitable bubble. All players were then guaranteed money and an onslaught of eliminations came next. It was not long before just two tables were left to battle it out.
Juan Pardo Dominguez and Ole Schemion found themselves in the same boat. Both had incredible starts to the day but saw their stacks disappear, exiting the final two tables first. GGPoker ambassador Wiktor Malinowski hung on with his short stack for a while before putting it in with ace-eight, only to run into the queens of Zhao. Nolet saw his hopes of back-to-back victories shatter when his ace-three failed to overcome the ducks of Garagnani, taking an exit in twelfth.
Barer tried his luck with the same hand Malinowski busted with and it again proved to be a fail as Koon made quick work of him, eliminating Barer in eleventh place. Finishing off the Day 1 eliminations was fan-favorite David Peters who pushed his ace deuce into the big slick of Daniels. Peters failed to hit and was dubbed the official final table bubble boy.
The final day will begin at 18:00 GMT and play will not halt until a winner has been crowned. All remaining players have $109,574 locked up but all eyes will be on that monstrous $1,095,741 first-place prize that is set out for the eventual champion of this event.
That wraps it up for the PokerNews coverage of Day 1 but tune in tomorrow to find out who the champion of the second Sunday 5 Million will be.