Season 2 of GGPoker flagship tournament begins with a $325,957 win for Ladva
Estonian chess grandmaster Ottomar Ladva knows his way around a high-stakes poker tournament table. Ladva proved his poker mettle in February’s partypoker MILLIONS Super High Roller, topping a roster of poker’s toughest competition on the way to a $525,089 payday.
Season 2 of the GGPoker Super MILLION$ opened with Ladva in a similar scenario. A lineup of high stakes tournament crushers stood between the player and a championship in poker’s most prestigious weekly tournament.
Ladva once again proved he was up to that task at Tuesday’s final table. Year two of the $10,300 buy-in Super MILLION$ High Roller began with the Estonia pro as the last player standing, sending a $325,957 payday the way of the Estonian superstar.
One week after a super-sized Super MILLION$ Anniversary event, GGPoker’s signature tournament returned to its familiar format. The $1.5 million guaranteed tournament saw Ladva top Igor Gofman (2nd - $254,559) in heads-up play.
Super MILLION$ Season 2, Event #1 final table results
| Place | Player Name | Playing From/Country | Prize |
| 1 | Ottomar Ladva | Estonia | $325,957 |
| 2 | Igor Gofman | Russia | $254,559 |
| 3 | Connor Drinan | Canada | $198,800 |
| 4 | Juan Pardo Dominguez | Spain | $155,254 |
| 5 | Adrian Mateos | Spain | $121,247 |
| 6 | ‘HaiFanFan’ | Uruguay | $94,689 |
| 7 | Roman Emelyanov | Estonia | $73,948 |
| 8 | Stoyan Obreshkov | North Macedonia | $57,750 |
| 9 | Thomas Muehloecker | Austria | $45,100 |
Ladva converts final table chip lead into Super MILLION$ win
Ladva and Gofman entered Tuesday’s final table as the top two chip stacks and the odds-on betting favorites to win this week’s Super MILLION$, according to PokerShares. Ladva and Gofman combined went into final table action with about half of the chips in play.
A win for either of the chip leaders was no easy feat, however, as the final table included some of the typical high roller tournament crushers that often take seats at the Super MILLION$ final table.
Much like his partypoker MILLIONS win in February, Ladva qualified for this week’s Super MILLION$ via satellite qualifier. He ended up spinning a $1,050 satellite entry into a $325,957 payday, with Season 2, Event #1 marking his first career final table appearance in the Super MILLION$.
The win pushed Ladva’s career earnings at GGPoker over the $3.1 million mark, and by now the player is certainly no stranger to poker success.
Gofman’s run was the surprise of this week’s tournament. The Russian player had only $93,274 in career GGPoker earnings coming into the event, and was making his first ever appearance in the Super MILLION$. Gofman came up just short of turning that first Super MILLION$ run into one for the record books.
Another final table finisher was Connor Drinan (3rd - $198,800), a player who is well familiar with Super MILLION$ success. The one-time Super MILLION$ champion made his third final table in the event and pushed his career GGPoker winnings to over $5.85 million.
Rounding out the top five were a pair of Spain’s finest players, including Juan Pardo Dominguez (4th - $155,254) and Adrian Mateos (5th - $121,247).
Places sixth through nine were filled out by ‘HaiFanFan’ (6th - $94,689), Roman ‘RRomashka’ Emelyanov (7th - $73,948), Stoyan Obreshkov (8th - $57,750) and Thomas Muehloecker (9th - $45,100).
Featured image source: YouTube
