‘Elias becomes the first 2021 high-stakes poker tournament winner!’ (Image Source: images.unsplash.com)
Everybody hopes to start the New Year in style and Darren Elias has certainly done that after winning the first GGPoker Super MILLION$ to become the first 2021 high-stakes poker tournament winner. He scooped a whopping $448,842 for his first-place finish in this popular $10,300 buy-in tournament.
Not only will Elias be happy with the close to half a million he has already pocketed in 2021 but he will also be ecstatic with his performance. The final table contained nine players, each with impressive stacks. It could have gone either way in quite a few situations but Elias was able to navigate his way past each of them expertly.
Seth Davies was the first to crash out from the final table, something that will disappoint considering he started with the 6th largest stack. This was due to losing a huge hand with Aleks Ponakovs and then being eliminated soon after. Davies hit a straight on the turn and pushed all-in only for Enrico Camosci to call and subsequently complete a full house on the river.
It didn’t take long for the next casualty as Bert Stevens was shown the door just two hands later. With just 13 big blinds left, he pushed all-in from the button holding a K-Q. Rui Ferreira holding a pair of Jack’s three-bet all in for just over 2.6 million chips and the rest folded. A jack on the flop signalled the end for Stevens.
Before the break we would see two more eliminations. First, Ponakovs would succumb to a flush held by Camosci and then the pocket tens of Adrian Mateos were not good enough to save him from Ferreira who paired his ace on the flop.
Unfortunately for Ferreira, he would not last much longer himself. Ferreira lost a series of hands before pushing in pre-flop with a J-5. Astedt was quick to call with an A-J and there were to be no surprises from the community cards. Then, just missing out on the final three was Camosci who pushed all-in on the flop only to have run into the flopped trips of Astedt.
How Elias finished becoming the first 2021 high-stakes poker tournament winner
At this point, Elias had not eliminated a single player, but he was not far from eliminated the two most important. Holding A-Q, Elias bet twice the blinds which resulted in Barer shoving with 7-7. Barer led until a Queen landed on the river sending her home in a respectable third place.
Despite winning that hand, Elias was still the underdog with a stack almost half the size of Astedt. However, playing well and running good, Elias was able to close that gap and eventually take the chip lead. In the final hand, Elias came from behind with the A-7 when he landed an ace on the river which held to beat the pocket queens of Astedt. that wrapped up the tournament, confirming him as the first 2021 high-stakes poker tournament winner!
The Super MILLION$ Final Standings
- 1st: Darren Elias – $448,842
- 2nd: Niklas Astedt – $346,104
- 3rd: Ami Barer – $266,833
- 4th: Enrico Camosci – $205,795
- 5th: Rui Ferreira – $158,689
- 6th: Adrian Mateos – $122,366
- 7th: Aleks Ponakovs – $94,357
- 8th: Bert Stevens – $72, 759
- 9th: Seth Davies – $56,105
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