The GGPoker Super MILLION$ has been a thorn in the side of Niklas Astedt since the very first edition of the weekly high stakes tournament. Astedt had never won the event in 43 previous attempts, but he got the job done on April 13, and walked away with a colossal $1,095,741.
GG Spring Festival H-41: $2,500 Sunday 5 Million Final Table Results
| Place | Player | Country | Prize |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Niklas Astedt | Sweden | $1,095,741 |
| 2 | Shawn Daniels | United States | $821,689 |
| 3 | Jason Koon | United States | $616,180 |
| 4 | Joao Vieira | Portugal | $462,070 |
| 5 | David Yan | New Zealand | $346,504 |
| 6 | Sami Kelopuro | Finland | $259,841 |
| 7 | Sam Greenwood | Canada | $194,853 |
| 8 | Pedro Garagnani | Brazil | $146,119 |
| 9 | Wei Zhao | China | $109,574 |
The Super MILLION$ took on a different name this week because the tournament is part of the $150 million guaranteed GG Spring Festival schedule. Make no mistake, however, that this event was the Super MILLION$; perhaps the temporary name change is all that was required for Astedt to win?
Day 1 took place on April 11 and saw the 202 starters cut down to a final table of nine. Astedt held the chip lead going into the final table, but his eight opponents refused to allow him to have everything his own way.
It did not take long for the final table to lose a player because Wei Zhao sat down with a meager three big blinds. They went into the middle with king-nine against the pocket jacks of Astedt and failed to get there.
Garagnani Shot Down By Bad Beat
Another 45 minutes passed before the next elimination was confirmed. Pedro Garagnani lost all but a small blind when his ace-king lost to the ace-queen of Joao Vieira. Garagnani's micro stack went into the middle of the felt with six-deuce and lost to the king-queen of Astedt.
Seventh place and $194,853 went to Sam Greenwood. He busted during the 50,000/100,000/12,500a level when Astedt raised to 220,000 on the button with pocket sixes before calling Greenwood's 15 big blind shove from the small blind. Greenwood held ace-four, and busted when the board ran out king-high.
More than a quarter of a million dollars went to Sami Kelopuro when he crashed out in sixth. Shawn Daniels raised to 220,000 under the gun with pocket queens, Kelopuro three-bet all-in for 15 big blinds from the big blind with ace-jack. Daniels called, his queens held, and Kelopuro was done.
Kelopuro's seat had not even gone cold when David Yan's exit was confirmed. Yan committed his 10 big blinds with king-queen of clubs, but Astedt woke up with pocket aces. The board was kind to Astedt's aces, and Yan headed for the exits
Uncharacteristic Jam By Vieira
Portugal's Vieira was the next player to bite the dust; Vieira walked away with $462,070. Astedt min-raised with five-trey of hearts for 320,000, Vieira responded with a three-bet all-in for 2,835,505 with queen-jack of hearts from the small blind, only to see Daniels call the all-in with ace-king from the big blind. Astedt, obviously, ducked out of the way. Neither player improved with all five community cards in view, so Vieira busted.
Jason Koon's tournament ended soon after to send the tournament into the heads-up stage. he busted at the hands of Astedt who raised enough from the small blind to set Koon all-in for his 1,342,517 chips, and Koon called. It was jack-nine for Koon, ace-king for Astedt, and a king on the river sent Koon to the showers.
Astedt held a more than two-to-one chip advantage over Daniels going into heads-up. The pair battle for a while before Daniels disconnected. Astedt sat out and waited for Daniel to return, and it was on the first hand back that Daniels busted.
Daniels open-shoved 15 big blinds with ace-six and Astedt called with the dominating ace-ten. Astedt's hand remained best, meaning Daniels was the runner-up, a finish worth $821,689. Astedt won his first Super MILLION$ title and a whopping $1,095,741.
