There are few tournaments the Swedish online poker legend Niklas Astedt has not won. The Super MILLION$ at GGPoker is one title that eludes him. Astedt has played in all 44 Super MILLION$ events but has never finished higher than second place. He goes into this week’s $25,500 buy-in GG Spring Festival $5 Million Gtd edition as the chip leader. Will Astedt finally get the proverbial monkey off his back?
Final Table of Event H-41: $25,500 Sunday 5 Million
| Position | Player | Country | Chip Count | Big Blinds |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Niklas Astedt | Sweden | 4,519,808 | 90 |
| 2 | Sami Kelopuro | Finland | 2,670,494 | 53 |
| 3 | Joao Vieira | Portugal | 2,475,464 | 50 |
| 4 | Shawn Daniels | United States | 2,296,836 | 46 |
| 5 | Jason Koon | United States | 2,188,452 | 44 |
| 6 | David Yan | New Zealand | 2,140,920 | 43 |
| 7 | Pedro Garagnani | Brazil | 2,075,793 | 42 |
| 8 | Sam Greenwood | Canada | 1,692,347 | 34 |
| 9 | Wei Zhao | China | 139,885 | 3 |
Big Blinds based on the final table roll-back to ensure an average of at least 40 blinds
Astedt sits down at what his 11th Super MILLION$ final table armed with 4,519,808 chips, enough for the title of chip leader and by some margin. The Swede only needs to finish sixth or higher to reclaim the lead in the Super MILLION$ all-time money list thanks to him having earned $1,939,119 from this tournament alone!
The ball is firmly in Astedt’s court when play resumes on the evening of April 13, but victory is far from assured because there are some incredible players in the chasing pack.
Who will win this week's Super MILLION$? Find out right here
Finland’s Sami Kelopuro is one of those stars hanging off the coattails of Astedt. Kelopuro won this event on Valentine’s Day and would love nothing more than to add a second title to his already impressive poker resume. Kelopuro needs to finish eighth in this tournament to show a profit because the Finn is in for five $25,500 bullets!
Joao Vieira has reached yet another Super MILLION$ final table, the sixth of his career. Like Astedt, Vieira has never won this event, in fact, he’s never finished higher than fourth. The Portuguese grinder has an opportunity to change that fact because he returns to the fray third in chips.
The in-form Shawn Daniels is the man occupying fourth place when the cards are back in the air. Daniels has cashed in 25% of the Super MILLION$ he’s entered, although this is the first time he has reached the final table. Daniels is in the middle of the pack and could be a dark horse at this star-studded final table, and definitely worth a small punt in the final table betting.
partypoker Ambassador Jason Koon is another player gunning for his first Super MILLION$ victory. Koon has only played in 13 of the 44 Super MILLION$ to date, but he’s cashed in seven of those, and this is his third final table spot. He finished fourth in July 2020, and that remains his deepest run in this event. Will that change today?
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One place below Koon in the chip counts is New Zealander David Yan. Yan has reached six final tables from his 12 Super MILLION$ cashes and has his fingers crossed he goes one place deeper than on January 24, 2021, when he finished second. Yan seems to bust from this tournament in fifth place, which would earn him a juicy $346,504 prize this evening.
Brazil’s Pedro Garagnani has reached back-to-back final tables and is gunning for glory. Garagnani was the runner-up in the April 4, 2021, edition, a result that saw his bankroll padded by $451,925. He sits down in seventh place, but does so with more than 40 big blinds at his disposal. Write of Garagnani at your peril.
The Super MILLION$ is Sam Greenwood’s nemesis tournament. He’s played in 33 of them to date, but this is only his third final table appearance. Greenwood was on the final table on February 21, 2021, and again on March 28, 2021. Those finales resulted in a sixth and eighth place finish respectively. We recall Greenwood ran particularly bad at his last Super MILLION$ final table, perhaps Lady Luck will be on his side tonight.
Wei Zhao brings up the rear and is almost guaranteed to be the ninth-place finisher. We are not being unkind to the Chinese star, but Zhao only has 2.8 big blinds in his stack. It is going to take a miracle to turn around his fortunes, but stranger things have happened.
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The Super MILLION$ is one of many tournaments selected for PokerNews Live Reporting duty. Our reporters already covered Day 1 and are on hand to being you awesome update throughout the tournament’s final table.
More than $1 million awaits the champion of this star-studded event. Will it be Astedt or someone else who reels in that seven-figure prize?
