Dario Sammartino Takes Down 2021 GG Spring Festival Event H-23: $25,500 Super High Rollers ($508,448)
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The 2021 GG Spring Festival has crowned another champion and it's a very familiar face that joined the winner's circle. Italian poker prodigy Dario Sammartino topped a field of 88 entries in Event H-23: $25,500 Super High Rollers the biggest slice of the $2,200,000 prize pool. Sammartino defeated Yuri Dzivielevski in heads-up to claim $508,973 for his efforts, Dzivielevski had to settle for a consolation prize of $391,973.
Heading into the nine-handed final table, Sammartino was in the middle of the pack with 36 big blinds while Dzivielevski was second in chips, trailing only Mike Watson. However, when all was done after nine and a half hours total duration, it was the Italian that had accumulated all the chips.
GGPoker ambassador Anatoly Filatov finished in third place for a payday of $302,180. The remainder of the final table line-up reads like the who-is-who of the high stakes circuit. Watson bowed out in 4th and other finalists included Christian Rudolph, Nick Petrangelo, Mikita Badziakouski, Joakim Andersson, and Joao Vieira.
Final Result GGSF Event H-23: $25,500 Super High Rollers
| Place | Winner | Country | Prize (in USD |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Dario Sammartino | Italy | $508,448 |
| 2 | Yuri Dzivielevski | Brazil | $391,973 |
| 3 | Anatoly Filatov | Russia | $302,180 |
| 4 | Mike Watson | Canada | $232,957 |
| 5 | Christian Rudolph | Austria | $179,591 |
| 6 | Nick Petrangelo | United States | $138,451 |
| 7 | Mikita Badziakouski | Belarus | $106,735 |
| 8 | Joakim Andersson | Sweden | $82,284 |
| 9 | Joao Vieira | Portugal | $63,434 |
Out of a field of 88 entries, the top 13 spots were paid and the last player to bust without anything to show for was Austria's Thomas Muehloecker. Among the players that cashed but fell shy of the final table were David Peters, Stephen Chidwick, Bert Stevens, and Adrian Mateos.
The Action of the Day
The third $25,500 high-stakes showdown of the festival started with three full-ring tables and it didn't take long for the first major pots to pour in. Ronny Kaiser lost the majority of his stack set under set against Bert Stevens and became the second casualty of the day. Andras Nemeth was the first to run out of chips, and it was Stevens who collected them all.
During the registration period, the late entries and re-entries boosted the field to more than 50 entries. Several players took multiple shots at glory and left empty-handed. Among them were Isaac Haxton, Fedor Holz, Sam Greenwood, Tuesday's two-time champion Lev "LevMeAlone" Gottlieb, Seth Davies, Timothy Adams, and Timothy Nuter.
Down to the final two tables, Wiktor Malinowski was eliminated in a three-way all-in in which Yuri Dzivielevski escaped from the same fate when his kings cracked the aces of Bert Stevens. Michael Addamo was the next to bust as Mike Watson turned on the heat. It was also the Canadian that was responsible for the bubble to burst, as Watson knocked out Thomas Muehloecker in a flip with nines versus ace-king.
It only took a few minutes after that to reach the final table and Watson continued his ride atop the leaderboard by knocking out Joao Vieira and Joakim Andersson. Some speed bumps followed along the way for Watson, and it was Dziviekevski who rose to the occasion. Mikita Badziakouski lost the remainder of his short stack to the Brazilian, who also claimed the last few blinds of Nick Petrangelo and felted Christian Rudolph thereafter.
Watson suffered several setbacks and the biggest blow came when his aces were cracked by the ace-seven of Sammartino. The three-handed play saw the stacks almost even at some point before Sammartino assumed control. Filatov found no help with a dominated pair and the heads-up duel with Dzivielevski lasted all but nine hands.
That wraps up the live updates for this event but the PokerNews live reporting team will provide coverage of highlight events throughout the entire GG Spring Festival.