Event #6 of the $150 million guaranteed WSOP Winter Circuit series at GGPoker was one of the most eagerly anticipated on the schedule. The $1,500 Merry MILLIONAIRE MAKER featured a $5 million guaranteed prize pool where the eventual champion was guaranteed to take home at least $1 million!
Soufiane “no bueno” Jaloulate of Morocco was the last man standing, and he banked a gold WSOP Circuit ring plus $1,046,929 in cash. Only 508 of the 4,205 entrants made it through to Day 2. Each had their eye on the seven-figure top prize, but only one of them would walk away with such a prize.
All but one of the nine players at the final table turned their $1,500 investment into at least six figures. Nicolas “Mcdanadinho” Coppini was that player, although he cannot be too disappointed with the $74,146 he collected for finishing ninth.
Shyngis Satubayev was the next to fall, his eighth-place finish coming with $103,817 before Dutchman Tom Vogelsang crashed out and reeled in a $145,364 score.
The pay jumps expanded at an alarming rate as the $1 million+ top score became evermore realistic for the remaining players. Thailand’s “l2ut” fell in sixth for $203,539, “twoacealice” had to make do with a $284,998 fifth-place prize, while Poland’s “Psychdelica” busted in fourth for $399,057.
Heads-up play was set when Istvan “Wohooooooooo” Briski ran out of steam in third place. Briski banked $558,765, and is likely to have made a noise similar to his alias when that sum landed in his GGPoker account.
The heads-up duo of Jaloulate and Fabian “lordof0513” Schmidt struck a deal to make busting in second place more bearable. The deal meant Schmidt got his hands on an $831,257 consolation prize, while Jaloulate became the Merry MILLIONAIRE Maker champion, an accolade that came with $1,046,929 and that all-important WSOP Circuit ring.
From Zero to Hero: Israel’s Corenkas Bags $1.1M WSOPC Prize
#6: $1,500 Merry MILLIONAIRE MAKER Final Table Results
| Place | Player | Country | Prize |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Soufiane “no bueno” Jaloulate | Morocco | $1,046,929* |
| 2 | Fabian “lordof0513” Schmidt | Austria | $831,257* |
| 3 | Istvan “Wohooooooooo” Briski | Austria | $558,765 |
| 4 | Psychdelica | Poland | $399,057 |
| 5 | twoacealice | Austria | $284,998 |
| 6 | l2ut | Thailand | $203,539 |
| 7 | Tom Vogelsang | Netherlands | $145,364 |
| 8 | Shyngis Satubayev | UAE | $103,817 |
| 9 | Nicolas “Mcdanadinho” Coppini | Brazil | $74,146 |
*reflects a heads-up deal
Arruda Becomes a WSOP Circuit Ring Winner
A WSOP Winter Series edition of the $1,050 GGMasters HR Freezeout drew in 1,226 players that created a prize pool weighing in at $1,226,000. Some $464,602 of that sum was shared among the final four finishers, who struck a deal and each locked up six-figure sums.
Huidong Gu, Karolis “Internecik” Sereika, Kai “mackmoney” Penzersinski, Pedro “ODDj0b” Doro, and Oskar “brudi030” Prehm all busted on after another, and secured payouts worth between $16,993 and $53,739. After realizing they would all book a $100,000+ score, the remaining four players made a deal that did exactly that.
Argentina’s “Betlafea” reeled in $102,014 for their fourth-place finish, Hao-Shan “Whirlwind” Huang booked a $120,262 prize for third, with “Yabba Dabbo Doo” receiving $115,970 after losing heads-up to William Arruda, who scooped $126,356 and the event’s WSOP Circuit ring.
#5: $1,050 GGMasters HR Winter Freezeout Final Table Results
| Place | Player | Country | Prize |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | William Arruda | Brazil | $126,356* |
| 2 | Yabba Dabba Doo | Montenegro | $115,970* |
| 3 | Hao-Shan “Whirlwind” Huang | Japan | $120,262* |
| 4 | Betlafea | Argentina | $102,014* |
| 5 | Oskar “brudi030” Prehm | Austria | $53,739 |
| 6 | Pedro “ODDj0b” Doro | Brazil | $40,298 |
| 7 | Kai “mackmoney” Penzersinski | Germany | $30,219 |
| 8 | Karolis “Internecik” Sereika | Austria | $22,661 |
| 9 | Huidong Gu | Georgia | $16,993 |
*reflects a four-way deal
Huge WSOP Winter Circuit Scores Through First Four Ring Events
More WSOP Winter Circuit Champions Are Incoming
Six GGPoker players have now become WSOP Winter Circuit champions, and more are incoming over the next few days.
Event #7: $1,500 Pot-Limit Omaha Championship crowns its champion on December 14. Only seven of the 369 starters remain in the hunt for the $108,318 top prize, and it is Austrian Dorel Eldabach who leads them back into battle at 6:00 p.m. GMT.
December 15 at 6:00 p.m. GMT sees #8: $320 “Santa’s Sled” Ultra Deepstack Turbo Bounty start and play to a thrilling conclusion, while December 18 sees the Go Stage of #9: $100 Jingle Bells FLIP & GO NLH take place.
Good luck to everyone involved.