Alex “FutureofMe” Kulev is living proof that hard work, dedication, and intense studying pays off for poker players. The Ireland-based Bulgarian’s recent rise to stardom has been nothing short of meteoric. On November 8, 2022, Kulev thoroughly enjoyed the fruit of his labor; he took down the GGPoker Super MILLION$ for a career-best $538,138.

This massive prize is the latest in a long line of six-figure hauls for Kulev. In February 2022, Kulev won the $1,050 Sunday High Rollers Main Event for $116,779, and followed that up with a win in the $2,100 Mystery Bounty in April 2022 for $285,414. August saw Kulev bank $142,995 and $161,016 scores in the WSOP Online at GGPoker, before scooping $180,383 in the $10,300 Thursday Super HR in late September 2022.

Never mind the future being bright for Kulev; the present is pretty rosy.

GGPoker Super MILLON$ Final Table Results

Andorra-based Kenneth “Forrest_Li” Edberg was the first finalist to find himself with fresh air where his chips once stood. Edberg busted after min-raising to 140,000 with ace-queen from the button, and seeing Pedro Garagnani three-bet to 577,500 from the big blind with pocket tens. Edberg shoved for 2,577,943 in total, and Garagnani called. The flip went Garagnani’s way, courtesy of a king-high board.

Thailand’s “crush t0ads” busted in eighth and collected the tournament’s last five-figure prize. Again, it was a coinflip that reduced the player count. Garagnani raised to 154,000 with ace-king from late positon, crush t0ads three-bet to 455,000 from the cutoff with pocket jacks, only for Garagnani to four-bet enough to set crush t0ads all-in. crush t0ads called all-in and lost to a king on the river despite flopping a club flush draw.

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Seventh place went to Finland’s Niko Soininen during the 50,000/100,000/12,500a level. Soininen open-shoved from the button for 911,456, and Garagnani looked him up with pocket nines in the small blind. The five community cards provided little in the way of drama, Soininen busted, and Garagnani saw his stack swell to more than 12.6 million, almost four-times as many chips as anyone else.

The next bust out did not involve Garagnani but was the end result of two other Brazilians clashing. From under the gun, Pablo Silva, a former Super MILLION$ champion, min-raised to 240,000 with ace-king before calling the 1,341,238 shove from Rodrigo Sirichuk, which was made with pocket jacks. An ace on the flop and another on the turn sent Sirichuk to the rail.

Ole Schemion‘s wait for a third Super MILLION$ victory continues because he busted from this final table in fifth. Schemion lost all but six big blinds when he attacked the blinds with ace-four, and Kulev woke up with pocket aces. The rest of Schemion’s stack went into the middle of the virtual felt with king-four after Aram Oganyan set him all-in in a battle of the blinds with the lowly ten-seven. Oganyan spiked a seven on the flop, and Schemion was out of the door.

The Super MILLION$ was guaranteed to crown a new champion when Silva bowed out in fourth. Silva committed his last nine big blinds with queen-jack from the small blind, and Kulev called with ace-four. Neither player paired either of their hole cards, and Kulev’s ace-high scooped the pot.

Heads-up was set when Oganyan was eliminated at the hands of Kulev, who was now by far the chip leader. Kulev raised enough to set both opponents all-in, doing so with the queen-ten of clubs from the button. Garagnani folded jack-ten, but Oganyan called with the dominating king-queen of diamonds. Oganyan’s hand remained best on the eight-high flop, but a jack on the turn gave Kulev outs to a straight. The nine on the river was one of those outs, and Oganyan bowed out in third place.

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Kulev held a monster lead over Garagnani going into heads-up, his 24,609,471 stack dwarfing the 2,990,529 of Garagnani. Unsurprisingly, the one-on-one battle was short-lived. Indeed, it lasted a single hand.

Garagnani moved all-in with eight-seven, Kulev called with suited ace-four, and caught an ace on the turn to leave his opponent drawing dead. Garagnani fell in second-place and banked $414,961, leaving Kulev to collect a career-best $538,138, much to the delight of Marius Gierse, who bought 29% of his action via the in-built staking software, thus netting Gierse a cool $156,060.