A lucky queen on the turn to bring his World Series of Poker Paradise to an end was the culmination of a lifelong dream and a goal that Johannes Straver set for himself over the last few years.
The Dutch high roller made it a point to play more live tournaments, dreaming of a moment like the one he experienced today when he took down the $10,000 GGMillion$ Championship, prevailing over a field of 532 players and defeating Jon Vallinas heads-up to win the $807,430 top prize and his first WSOP gold bracelet.
“It’s quite surreal. You never expect to just keep running through. For me, all the important all ins I just kept turning it and it kept falling my way. Very happy that I ended up winning it,” Straver said.
“It was a big goal. The last couple of years I tried to play more and more live tournaments. To win one is super nice.”
$10,000 GGMillion$ Championship Final Table results
| Place | Player | Country | Prize |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Johannes Straver | Netherlands | $807,430 |
| 2 | Jon Vallinas | Spain | $622,340 |
| 3 | Fabian Niederreiter | Germany | $479,890 |
| 4 | Arthur Conan | France | $370,040 |
| 5 | Wookuk Lee | South Korea | $285,340 |
| 6 | Abdelhakim Zoufri | Netherlands | $220,030 |
| 7 | Rui Neves | Portugal | $169,660 |
| 8 | Phil Hellmuth | United States | $130,830 |
| 9 | Marc Rivera | Philippines | $100,880 |
Straver had come close to WSOP glory before. He finished second in the $5,000 Freezeout at the 2022 WSOP. He’s also made the final table of the $50,000 High Roller each of the last two years. He already had more than $1.6 million in WSOP cashes; his win today is not only his largest career score but pushes him above $4 million in total earnings.
He enjoys the challenge of playing against the best players in the world, and he got that today. The final table was headlined by Phil Hellmuth, who was going for his 18th bracelet but ended up in eighth place. But competing against the likes of Hellmuth and the rest of this star-studded field is nothing new to Straver.
“It’s the next step for me to play in the highest buy-ins. This is what I want to do,” he said.
Straver was supported throughout the final table by a passionate group of supporters that included other high rollers, including Christopher Nguyen who jumped right onto his rail after busting the Super Main Event final table. Straver also took a moment to recognize the people who weren’t here, the friends he has around them that helped make him the player and now-champion he has become.
“In poker, you cannot do it alone. I’m very happy with all my friends, even the ones who aren’t here. A lot of people railing even in a horrible time zone for them. It’s very nice,” he said.
Day 3 Action
Day 3 began with 46 players out of a starting field of 532 returning at 10 a.m. to play down to a champion. Joao Simao was the first elimination of the day when he ran his sevens into Wookuk Lee’s nines. Hossein Ensan then called a preflop shove by Tetsuro Tomita, who hit two pair on the flop. Ensan picked up a flush draw but missed the turn and river as the 2019 Main Event champion was sent to the rail in 40th place.
Straver began his march to the title when he woke up with queens in a three-way all in to double off Igor Pihela and eliminate Jose Fernandes Scarano in 34th. Others sent to the payout desk included four-time bracelet winner Georgios Sotiropoulos (37th), Marius Gierse (36th), and Jesse Lonis (26th). Michael Soyza busted in 33rd when he made a full house and called all in for 1,200,000 on the river, but Abdulhakim Zoufri had rivered a better full house to win the massive pot.
As the field was reduced to the final three tables, start-of-day chip leader Taylor von Kriegenbergh lost a race with ace-king against Young Sik Eum’s nines to fall in 24th. Joey Weissman finished in 23rd, while Stoyan Madanzhiev got his last 2,200,000 in with queen-ten but was dominated by Straver’s ace-queen as the 2020 WSOP Online champion was eliminated in 20th.
Noah Schwartz lost a race to Arthur Conan to fall in 18th, while Main Event finalist Jason Sagle finished in 17th when he got his last 1,300,000 in with ace-ten but ran into Fabian Niederreiter’s ace-king.
Danilo Velasevic was all in for 2,200,000 with a flush draw, while Stoyan Obreshkov had flopped two pair. Obreshkov held on to scoop the massive pot and bust Velasevic in 15th. Obreshkov’s newfound wealth proved short-lived, however, as he called for 5,600,000 and was in a classic flip with ace-king against Straver’s queens. Straver held up to send Obreshkov out in 13th while taking a massive chip lead.
UFC veteran Colby Covington, who came to WSOP Paradise straight off headlining a card last Saturday, called off his last 975,000 with king-high but ran into Niederreiter’s full house to fall on the final table bubble. Straver led at the start of the nine-handed final table with 14,500,000, more than 5,000,00 ahead of his closest challenger, but all eyes were on Hellmuth in the middle of the pack as he continued his quest for number 18.
Marc Rivera, who made the final table of the PSPC held here at Atlantis Paradise Island Bahamas in 2019, was the first to fall as he jammed for 820,000 with jack-four. Niederreiter called with king-deuce and won the pot with his king to send Rivera to the rail in ninth. Hellmuth got two shoves through as he climbed up to nearly 4,000,000 before tangling in a three-way pot with Vallinas and Niederrieter. After all three players checked to the turn on a nine-high board, Hellmuth led out for 800,000 and only Vallinas called. Hellmuth then moved all in on the ace river for 2,500,000 and Vallinas went deep into the tank for several minutes.
“I’ll take this one, you take the next one,” Hellmuth said, but Vallinas wasn’t listening and eventually called with a rivered pair of aces. Hellmuth could only show a missed straight draw as his run ended in eighth place.
“What the f**k just happened?” Hellmuth lamented on his way to the exit.
Vallinas also took out Rui Neves, hitting the nut straight on the river to beat two pair and send Neves to the rail in seventh as he took the chip lead. Zoufri then moved all in for 1,400,000 on the button and was called by Niederreiter and Vallinas in the blinds. Vallinas bet out Niederreiter on the turn and showed a pair of queens, while Zoufri was left with only ace-high and was eliminated in sixth place.
Lee had his kings cracked by Conan’s ace-nine to finish in fifth place. Vallinas then moved all in from the small blind and Conan called for 10,000,000. Vallinas had him dominated with ace-eight against ace-seven. Conan picked up a flush draw on the flop but couldn’t connect on his way to a fourth-place finish as Vallinas moved up to 30,000,000.
Straver found himself the short stack at the start of three-handed play but picked up kings to double off Vallinas. He then won a race when he turned an ace against Vallinas’ pocket tens to double again. Vallinas held on with two pair against Niederreiter’s pair and flush draw to double as Niederreiter dropped to the short stack. Straver then moved all in from the small blind and Niederreiter called for 3,500,000. Straver turned a straight to win the pot and eliminate Niederreiter in third place.
Straver led 37,300,000 to 15,900,000 at the start of heads-up play. Vallinas won a big pot with a straight and took down the majority of small pots to move into the chip lead, but Straver jumped back in front when he forced out Vallinas with a 5,000,000 bet on the turn. Vallinas then limped in from the button and Straver raised to 4,000,000. Vallinas called and the flop came eight-high with two hearts. Straver continued for 3,500,000 and Vallinas moved all in for 19,000,000. Straver snap-called with a flush draw, while Vallinas had top pair. The queen on the turn gave Straver his flush and left Vallinas drawing dead as Straver secured the title.
The poker world descended on Paradise Island over the last ten days. While most will only leave with memories of the sandy beaches and tranquil pools, Straver waited right to the end to ensure he’ll always have this special moment to remember.
That concludes PokerNews coverage of the GGMillion$ Championship and the WSOP Paradise. Thank you for following along throughout the festival.
