Ivan Luca Leads the Way at His First GGPoker Super MILLION$ Final Table

Ivan Luca has not only reached his first Super MILLION$ final table at GGPoker but has done so as the chip leader. Luca, an Argentinian showing as residing in Russia, sits down at the star-studded finale armed with 2,485,438 chips, the equivalent of 82.3 big blinds.

This week's Super MILLION$ drew in a crowd of 114 entrants, a commendable effort considering most high-stakes regulars are currently in Las Vegas for the 2022 World Series of Poker (WSOP). However, it is evident that not every player who frequents $10,000+ buy-in online poker tournaments is grinding at the WSOP judging by how stacked the Super MILLION$ field was and still is.

Super MILLION$ Final Table Chip Counts

Day 1 ended on June 26 when Finland's "PokerPet" busted in tenth place. The Finn's elimination left nine superstars in the mix, each guaranteed $34,276 but only eight eliminations from a $247,727 score. Day 2 shuffles up and deals at 7:00 p.m. BST on June 28.

Luca is the man to catch going into the final table's action. Surprisingly, this is Luca's first Super MILLION$ final table appearance, so expect him to make the most of it. Should Luca finish fourth or better, he will more than double his Super MILLION$ winning tally.

Hong Kong's Chunlei Zhou sits down in second-place with 1,876,361 chips (62.5 big blinds). A relative newcomer to this massively weekly event, Zhou has played in 13 Super MILLION$ and cashed in almost 40% of them, with two of their cashes being final table appearances.

Third place when play resumes belongs to Yen-Liang "yao_poker" Yao, a Taiwan-based star who, like Luca, has reached the Super MILLION$ final table for the first time. Yao could be the dark horse going into the final table because they have 1,795,178 chips (59.8 big blinds) and an air of anonymity about them because they are not a regular feature in this event.

One finalist who everyone knows about is Michael Addamo, who returns in fourth place with 1,379,799 chips (46 big blinds). Addamo has triumphed in this tournament five times from 11 final table appearances, which is a phenomenal record. Victory today would see Addamo overtake Artur Martirosian and Niklas Astedt in terms of titles secured.

Super MILLION$ Final Table Payouts

Ukraine's Vlad Martynenko sits down at his second Super MILLION$ final table in the middle of the pack, his 1,312,266 chips (43.7 big blinds) placing him fifth. This is the second time Martynenko has reached a Super MILLION$ final table, and he knows a runner-up finish or better will double his winnings from this event. Five players bought 60% of Martynenko's action via the in-built staking software, with Christian Rudolph set to take home 59.4% of whatever Martynenko wins!

The remaining four players take their seats armed with less than one million chips, and with between 18 and 27 big blinds. Austria's Markus Prinz is the best placed of that quartet courtesy of his 811,666 chips (27.1 big blinds). Another player enjoying their first Super MILLION$ final table, Prinz will be going all out to make the most of this experience.

Wiktor Malinowski is one of the most successful players in this event, having reached 11 final tables and won two titles before today. The high-stakes Macau-based cash game specialist only has 605,218 chips (20.2 big blinds) at his disposal but if anyone can turn things around it is Malinowski.

Russia's Konstantin Maslak is the second-shortest stack going into the grand finale, his 595,326 (19.8 big blinds) earning them eighth place on the leaderboard right now.

Brazil's Lucio "WizardOfAz" Lima is the player bringing up the rear when the cards are back in the air. Lima has now cashed in three of the five Super MILLION$ he's entered, and now has his first spot at a final table. Lima's 538,748 stack is the equivalent of 18 big blinds, so he is short-stacked but not in immediate danger of having to shove all in or fold.