THE DAILY SCOOP – Super MILLION$ Season 2023 Episode 3
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Ravid Garbi Wins Latest Super MILLION$ Final Table for $323,000
This week’s stunning Super MILLION$ final table, hosted by the Voice of GGPoker, Jeff Gross and guest commentator, Antonio Esfandiari, saw decisive drama, an early exit for the only former winner, and a climactic finish that would make the WSOP Main Event proud. German player Christoph Vogelsang had no chance to slow play as he lost out heads-up after just a few hands, leaving Ravid Garbi to claim his first win in the Super MILLION$.
Early Levels See Astedt Fall
The action got underway with only one man having previously won a Super MILLION$ title, and he was quite the player to stand in the way of his opponents. Niklas Astedt, playing under the alias ‘Lena900’, is quite the online phenomenon and came into the final table with a slightly below-average stack of just 34 blinds, he was short, but not the shortest. As play got underway, the Brazilian player Pedro Padilha was the man in front, holding 92 big blinds, with his countryman Rodrigo Sirichuk joining him in the ranks with 35 big blinds.
The first player to leave the action was Cypriot Christodoulos ‘P0t RippeR’ Christodoulou. He moved all-in on the turn of a board showing J-5-2-A while holding ace-five. Rodrigo Sirichuk called with jack-seven for a flush. ‘P0t RippeR’ didn’t improve on the river and was sent home with $46,169.
In a final table surprise just five hands later, Astedt busted out, crashing out in eighth in a very unlucky fashion. Getting it all-in pre-flop with pocket queens, Astedt fell to Ravid Garbi’s ace-queen as the board ran out 9-9-5-K-A scuttling the Swedish superstar, with the Israeli sending him to the rail for a score worth $58,882 that would be of little consolation.
Boika Bounces Out
The remaining seven players continued to play, passing chips around the table for over an hour before Belarusian Aliaksei Bokia was eliminated. Boika was bounced after shoving all-in with ace-ten of clubs on a rainbow Q-9-2 flop. Called by Ravid Garbi with king-nine of the same suit as Boika’s. The offsuit six on the river was not the card Boika needed, and he slid out of contention in seventh for $75,097.
The bust-outs came thick and fast and Rodrigo Sirichuk was the next victim, shoving from the button with ace-ten only to run into Garbi’s pocket queens. A board of K-T-7-5-7 sent Sirichuk home and the Brazilian pinged up the ‘crying’ emoji as he settled for a score of $95,777, the last five-figure prize of the event.
Suddenly, the chips were flying. Two hands later, Barak Wisbrod decided he’d laddered for long enough and got it in short-stacked but with two live cards. His five-four of hearts was in horrible shape pre-flop as he was up against the pocket sevens of ‘tacofiesta’, but on the A-J-9 flop with two hearts, he was suddenly hopeful for a flush. The six on the turn was not a heart and the river paired him with an insignificant five. Wisbrod was out, cashing for $122,152 and narrowly missing out on the final four.
Garbi Goes for the Gold
With four players remaining, it looked like it was already Garbi’s to lose. The Israel-based player had a monster stack of over 9 million chips – 90 Big Blinds – with ‘tacofiesta’ the closest to him with 2.5 million chips. Christoph Vogelsang was just behind ‘tacofiesta’ with nearly 2.4 million while the overnight chip leader, Pedro Padilha, was in the short stack with a fraction under 1.9m. Play continued through the rest of the level and the next, 60,000/120,000, while the chips bounced back and forth between the players until level 35 and blinds of 70,000/140,000.
That situation changed quickly as soon as the new level hit. On the third hand, the former chip leader Padilha got it all in with Q-J against Garbi’s suited 5-3. The flop came down A-T-A giving Padilha the head, but it was the 5 on the turn that doomed him and the river 3 offered no help. The overnight leader Padilha was out of the tournament in fourth having earned $155,789 for his efforts.
It was ‘tacofiesta’ who was next to depart, busting to Garbi in an important pot just 4 hands later. The Mexican shoved pre-flop with ace-six off-suit, only to be called by pocket eights belonging to Garbi. The Israeli stayed ahead on the T-9-5 flop, which came in clubs, putting Garbi on a flush draw. A seven on the turn gave Garbi an open straight draw and ‘tacofiesta’ a gutshot with an 8. ‘tacofiesta’ was drawing to just five outs on the river and missed them all. A blank three landed, sending him to the rail for $198,690.
Garbi Gets the Gold
Heads-up, Ravid Garbi’s stack of 11 million was well ahead of Christoph Vogelsang’s pile of 4.8 million, but no one was ruling out the German pro.
“I never beat the guy in one hand. He’s such a good player.” special guest co-commentator Esfandiari said about Vogelsang earlier in the show.
“The hoodie is not what I’d call good for poker, but it’s hard to argue with the results – he gets it done.” agreed regular host Jeff Gross, the Voice of GGPoker.
Vogelsang bluffed some of that stack away not long after getting to heads-up leaving himself short-stacked. And in less than 10 minutes, it was all over. Vogelsang having jack-five managed to see a board of Q-J-9-5, giving him a hidden two pair.
Vogelsang got it all in on the turn only to discover the bad news, he was being crushed by Garbi’s flopped straight. The four of spades on the river announced Garbi as the winner. He claimed his first ever Super MILLION$ title and the top prize of $323,184. The German professional was left to collect the runner-up prize of $253,404 as Gross lost out to Esfandiari on a side bet to leave dinner on the regular host.
You can watch all the action from a frenetic final table right here:
GGPoker Super MILLION$ 7th March, 2023 Final Table Results: | ||||
Place | Player | Country | Prize | |
1st | Ravid Garbi | Israel | $323,184 | |
2nd | Christoph Vogelsang | Germany | $253,404 | |
3rd | ‘tacofiesta’ | Mexico | $198,690 | |
4th | Pedro Padilha | Brazil | $155,789 | |
5th | Barak Wisbrod | Israel | $122,152 | |
6th | Rodrigo Sirichuk | Brazil | $95,777 | |
7th | Aliaksei Boika | Belarus | $75,097 | |
8th | Niklas Astedt | Sweden | $58,882 | |
9th | Christodoulos Christodoulou | Cyprus | $46,169 | |
