Once the action reached Christian Rudolph on the button, the Austrian resident jammed for 1,029,322 and he was looked up by chip leader Yuri Dzivielevski in the small blind.
Christian Rudolph:
Yuri Dzivielevski:
The flop was of no help and merely provided back door clubs as additional hope. Only a king would do after the turn and the river sent Rudolph out in 5th place for $179,591.
Dario Sammartino simply open-shoved from the button into the two shorter stacks behind. Anatoly Filatov folded but Mike Watson snap-called for a reason.
Mike Watson:
Dario Sammartino:
The flop gave Sammartino a pair of sevens. Nothing changed on the turn but the thunder struck twice on the river. Watson's run comes to an end in 4th place for a payday of $232,957.
Dario Sammartino opened the action with a raise to 300,000 out of the small blind and Anatoly Filatov moved all-in for 1,965,699 out of the big blind. The initial raiser wasted little time before tossing in calling chips.
Anatoly Filatov:
Dario Sammartino:
Neither player connected on the board and that spelled the end for Filatov in third place. He takes home $302,180 and Sammartino enters heads-up with a more than 3-1 lead over Yuri Dzivielevski.
Within the first eight hands of heads-up, no major chip changes took place as Dario Sammartino maintained his advantage. In the ninth hand, the Italian open-jammed out of the small blind. Yuri Dzivielevski called for the 1,872,783 he had behind.
Yuri Dzivielevski:
Dario Sammartino:
The flop immediately left Dzivielevski on the ropes as he needed running aces or diamonds to avoid elimination. It was all over on the turn to make the river a formality.
Dzivielevski eliminated by Sammartino
Yet another deep run for Dzivielevski resulted in a payday of $391,973 but it is Sammartino who walks away with the top prize of $508,448. A recap of today's action is to follow.
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.
Yuri Dzivielevski finished in second place
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.
flop was of no help and merely provided back door clubs as additional hope. Only a king would do after the 
turn and the 
river sent Rudolph out in 5th place for $179,591.
flop gave Sammartino a pair of sevens. Nothing changed on the 
river. Watson's run comes to an end in 4th place for a payday of $232,957.
board and that spelled the end for Filatov in third place. He takes home $302,180 and Sammartino enters heads-up with a more than 3-1 lead over Yuri Dzivielevski.
flop immediately left Dzivielevski on the ropes as he needed running aces or diamonds to avoid elimination. It was all over on the 
turn to make the 
river a formality.
