Fabiano Kovalski Continues Hot Run With GGMillion$ Victory ($464,794)

Brazilian ace Fabiano Kovalski shone bright during the European Poker Tour (EPT) Barcelona festival, where he took down the €3,250 Mystery Bounty event for €331,430 and then won the €10,300 High Roller for a career-best €727,280. Kovalski has continued that hot form into the online arena because he is the latest superstar to win the $10,000 GGMillion$ at GGPoker.

This week’s GGMillion$ attracted 237 players to the GGPoker felt. They created a $2,308,900 prize pool that the top 25 finishers shared. Day 1 concluded with only nine players remaining, each guaranteed $58,099 for their efforts thus far, but nobody wanted to collect that sum because $464,794 awaited the champion.

Not only did the champion net almost half a million dollars, but they also received a $10,000 ticket plus a $10,000 GGMillion$ Live Paradise entry.

$10,000 GGMillion$ Final Table Results

Frenchman Emilien Pitavy busted in ninth place for $58,099 after a clash with Andrii Derzhypilskyi didn’t go to plan. Derzhypilskyi min-raised on the button with ace-queen of clubs and instantly called when Pitavy three-bet all-in from the big blind for 7.5 big blinds with the dominated ace-nine. Derzhypilskyi improved to an unnecessary flush, and Pitavy headed for the exits.

The next two eliminations saw Kovalski’s fellow Brazilians relieved of their stacks.

Short-stacked Jesse Cesar‘s ace-eight of diamonds lost to the ace-queen of fellow countryman Alisson Piekazewicz before Piekazewicz crashed out an hour later when his ace-deuce couldn’t get there against Kovalski’s pocket sevens despite flopping a deuce.

It may have taken two hours to lose three players, but it only took another hour or so for Kovalski to wrap matters up.

Derzhypilskyi fell in sixth for $126,715 after open-shoving 15 big blinds from the button with king-queen and losing to the suited ace-queen in Jon Vallinas in the big blind.

Fifth place and $164,329 went to Dmitrii Kravchenko, who overbet-shoved on the turn with ace-jack (with the jack of hearts) on a king-high board showing three hearts. Unfortunately for Kravchenko, Hannes Jeschka had turned a set of eights and made the call. An offsuit deuce on the river sent the pot to Jeschka and Kravchenko to the showers.

Start-of-the-day chip leader Laszlo Bujtas was the next player handing over their stack. Kravchenko’s seat hadn’t even gone cold when Jeschka min-raised on the button with ace-four. Bujtas three-bet all-in with ace-five for 14 big blinds, only for Kovalski to wake up in the big blind with pocket aces! Kovalski flat-called, Jeschka quickly mucked, and Kovalski’s pocket rockets held.

Heads-up was set as the three-hour mark approached. Jeschka ripped in a shade over 11 big blinds from the button with king-queen, Kovalski moved all-in with pocket sevens in the small blind, and Vallinas mucked king-queen of clubs, reducing Jeschka’s outs. An ace-high board was no help to Jeschka, and after finishing ninth last week, the Austrian bowed out in third for $276,368.

Vallinas held a 13,153,979 to 11,701,021 lead over Kovalski at the start of heads-up play. Kovalski edged in front then began forging a more than two-to-one lead for himself.

The final hand saw Kovalski limp with five-four of diamonds, Vallinas check his king-eight, and the flop fall queen-eight-five with two diamonds. Vallinas check-called a half-pot bet, leading to another eight landing on the turn.

Vallinas led out with a two-thirds bet, which Kovalski called. The six of diamonds landed on the river, gifting Kovalski a flush. Vallinas moved all-in for 6.4 million into a 3.2 million pot, and Kovalski almost immediately clicked the call button. Vallinas’s second-place finish earned him $358,405, while Kovalski banked $464,794 and the title of GGMillion$ champion.

Matthew Pitt hails from Leeds, West Yorkshire, in the United Kingdom, and has worked in the poker industry since 2008, and worked for PokerNews since 2010. In September 2010, he became the editor of PokerNews. Matthew stepped away from live reporting duties in 2015, and now concentrates on his role of Senior Editor for the PokerNews.