The ushering in of the New Year has seen the online tables full to bursting and a fittingly exciting weekend of poker just transpired. GGPoker’s WSOPC and PokerStars’ New Year Series have boasted numerous six and seven figure prize pools, and one UK poker legend in particular enjoyed a fantastic week.
Talal Shakerchi, better known online as “raidalot”, has been plying his trade at the high stakes felt for decades now. Quiet and unassuming away from the tables, Shakerchi has racked up nearly $10 million in live cashes over the years, including an 8th place finish at PokerStars $25,000 Players Championship in 2019 for around $500k.
Online, he’s no slouch either, having blitzed his way to five SCOOP titles, including the 2021 SCOOP Main Event for just under $1.5M. His metronomic consistency shows no sign of abating, as this week demonstrated.
Here’s the round-up of the action.
GGPoker
GGPoker continues to post truly eye-catching tournaments and fields and this week was no exception. The $1,050 GGMasters High Roller pledged a million dollar guarantee, a promise it kept with room to spare as 1,132 players battled for supremacy.
The high calibre field saw a final table stacked with notable talent, including online star Chris Moorman, though the Brit had to settle for 7th place (27,976.02). Eventually, it was “Fearthereaper” who nabbed the trophy and $157,321.56 1st prize money, beating G Schroeder (2nd – $117,973.87) heads-up to kick off the new year in style.
Final table results below:
| $1,050 GGMasters High Roller $1M Gtd | ||
| Runners | 1,132 | |
| Prize Pool | $1,132,000 | |
| 1 | fearthereaper | $157,321.56 |
| 2 | G Schroeder | $117,973.87 |
| 3 | DDboom | $88,467.83 |
| 4 | don chimbo | $66,341.53 |
| 5 | Vasiliev 1987 | $49,749.13 |
The $1,050 GG Sunday HR ME $500k Gtd couldn’t quite match these numbers but with 704 runners, the $704,000 prize pool also smashed its guarantee.
Gabriel Madeiros (1st $99,214.01) and Linus Hjulstrom(2nd $95,469.51) reached the heads-up and cut a deal to flatten the structure slightly before Madeiros applied the finishing touches to collect the title.
Final Table results below:
| $1,050 GG Sunday HR ME $500k Gtd | ||
| Runners: | 704 | |
| Prize pool: | $704,000 | |
| 1 | Gabriel Medeiros | $99,214.01 |
| 2 | Linus Hjulstrom | $95,469.51 |
| 3 | Aleks Ponakovs | $64,560.17 |
| 4 | David Peters | $49,392.78 |
| 5 | OPPikachu | $37,788.74 |
The Super KICKOFF promotion on GG is a January series of high-stakes tournaments with massive guarantees – exemplified by the $1.5M Gtd opener, the $525 Super Kickoff Bounty Hunter HR.
A staggering 3,823 players sat down to vie for the trophy – and Sergei Denisov will have been delighted to find himself last man standing to collect the $150,289 first prize, with F Gaugusch missing out by a whisker as he finished runner up for $88,307.16.
Here are the results from the final table.
| #1: Super KICKOFF Bounty Hunters HR $525, $1.5M GTD | ||
| Runners: | 3,823 | |
| Prize Pool: | $1,911,500 | |
| 1 | Sergei Denisov | $150,289.73 |
| 2 | F Gaugusch | $88,307.16 |
| 3 | suroviy | $87,315.59 |
| 4 | Leonid Yanovich | $61,939.13 |
| 5 | EveryG | $29,739.56 |
The GGMasters $150k Gtd drew an even heftier field – 4,143 players going toe-to-toe for the top cashes. Bashka340 ultimately prevailed to win the $63,956 1st prize with Sweet Fang also putting in a successful shift that saw him net $47,957.39 for his runner-up spot.
Final Table Payouts:
| GGMasters $150, $500k GTD | ||
| Runners: | 4,143 | |
| Prize Pool: | $571,734 | |
| 1 | Bashka340 | $63,956.03 |
| 2 | Sweet Fang | $47,957.39 |
| 3 | II Bocconcino | $35,962.98 |
| 4 | Leesh-Amazing | $26,968.40 |
| 5 | Bernardo Rocha | $20,223.48 |
PokerStars Round Up
At PokerStars meanwhile, the New Year Series has been taking place and it was another week of success for Talal “Raidalot” Shakerchi. Just a week after celebrating victory in the $2,023 NLHE NYS Event 41-H for over $100,000, Shakerchi showed his Omaha prowess, landing a runner-up spot in the $2,100 PLO Event 84-H for $22,712.50.
This time though, he was pipped to the title, ADIBO claiming the spoils and $40,868.80 prize money for the win.
Full results below:
| NYS 84-H $125k Gtd PLO $2,100 PKO | ||
| Runners: | 60 | |
| Prize Pool | $125,000 | |
| 1 | ADIBO | $40,868.80 |
| 2 | raidalot | $22,712.50 |
| 3 | Grus/Snus | $11,423.85 |
| 4 | Nizkm9 | $9,195.07 |
| 5 | locomi | $6,102.27 |
Lex Veldhuis has built up a sizeable following on his Twitch stream over the years – his genial and open demeanor (as well as slick poker skills) forging a loyal audience.
He gave his supporters plenty to cheer about over the weekend, winning a New Year Series title of his own in the $215 PLO 6-Max Event 84-M (1st - $19,637).
Full results below:
| NYS 84-M: $215 PLO 6-Max PKO | ||
| Runners: | 484 | |
| Prize pool: | $100,000 | |
| 1 | Lex "L. Veldhuis" Veldhuis | $19,637 |
| 2 | SiiliSuhonen | $8,800 |
| 3 | Brummfix | $6,082 |
| 4 | lazutina | $5,999 |
| 5 | canabenol | $3,010 |
Lastly, in the NYS 86-H $1,050 $300k Gtd 6-Max, milanov888 (1st - $61,081.28) held off the stiff competition from SsickOne (2nd - $44,472.33) and €urop€ean (3rd – 32,397.68) to win a title himself and give his 2023 poker journey the perfect start.
Here’s the full final table results:
| NYS 86-H $300k Gtd $1,050 6-Max | ||
| Runners: | 326 | |
| Prize Pool | $326,000 | |
| 1 | milanov888 | $61,081.28 |
| 2 | SsicK_OnE | $44,472.33 |
| 3 | €urop€ean | $32,379.68 |
| 4 | 13santoy13 | $23,575.24 |
| 5 | Gobenni | $17,164.81 |
With multiple series running in parallel right now, there’s a surfeit of riches available to players online and many are taking full advantage in diving into these massive fields. GGPoker’s $10M Gtd Main Event is playing to a finish this evening, so there’s no sign the electric start to the year will end any time soon. We look forward to seeing what drama the next week brings.
