Luigi "shadinho94" Shehadeh Runs Away with the Day 1a Chip Lead in the Super MILLION$ Main Event
The Super MILLION$ Week kicked off at GGPoker with a bang on Sunday with seven events, each guaranteed at least a $1 million prize pool, as part of the 30-event schedule taking place from Feb. 28 to March 7 including Day 1a of the Global MILLION$ $10,300 Main Event.
The festival guarantees at least $30 million in prizes with $10 million slated for the Super MILLION$ Main Event alone.
The massive Main Event guarantee could be just a place holder if Day 1a is any indication as the first of the four opening flights in the Main Event attracted 307 entrants to contribute $3,070,000 for nearly 31 percent of the guarantee.
By the end of the day, which featured 22 blind levels of 20-minutes each, just 41 of the players survived with Italy's Luigi "shadinho94" Shehadeh, playing at GGPoker under a Tunisian flag, easily ending Day 1a as the chip leader after parlaying his 100,000 opening stack more than 27-fold into a 2,705,791 in chips.
Shehadeh is no stranger to big events with more than $900,000 in live cashes according to The Hendon Mob. His success at GGPoker is double that with nearly $1.8 million in cashes heading into tonight's Day 1a.
Shehadeh was in the chip lead for the final few blind levels and this was even before he won a massive pot against Alexandros Kolonias where both players got their big stacks in the pot in with a full house. Shehadeh's full house was better and Kolonias, who was sitting pretty at the time, was unable to advance on Day 1a into Day 2.
While Shehadeh may steal the headlines as the runaway Day 1a chip leader, several other players bagged at least seven figure stacks including Pavlo Vekslar (1,617,522), Adrian Mateos (1,563,606), Stoyan "UncleToni" Obreshkov (1,453,081), Benjamin "Geraaaard" Chalot (1,420,915), Jason Koon (1,303,951), Ole Schemion (1,265,515), and Vicent Bosca Ramon (1,235,557).
Other players virtually bagging above average stacks included Sami Kelopuro, Bert Stevens, Sebastian "Weizen" Gaehl, and Ben Ward with other notables including Matthias Eibinger, Joao Vieira, Jorma Nututinen, Joakim Andersson, Connor Drinan, Andras Nemeth, Dan Smith, Marius Gierse, Damian Salas, Timothy Adams, and Samuel Vousden also advancing.
Not everything worked out for many of the players in the Day 1a field including for GGPoker Ambassador Fedor Holz. Near the end of the day, Holz called off with king-queen and was left with crumbs after Stoyan "UncleToni" Obreshkov got there with ten-eight suited. Holz was unable to mount a comeback and will have to re-enter on Day 1b (March 2), Day 1c (March 6), and/or Day 1d (March 7) to have a chance to advance to Day 2.
Top Ten Stacks of Day 1a
| Place | Player | Country | Chips | Day 2 Big Blinds |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Luigi "shadinho94" Shehadeh | Italy | 2,705,791 | 135 |
| 2 | Pavlo Veksler | Ukraine | 1,617,522 | 81 |
| 3 | Adrian Mateos | Spain | 1,563,606 | 78 |
| 4 | Stoyan "UncleToni" Obreshkov | Bulgaria | 1,453,081 | 73 |
| 5 | Benjamin "Geraaaard" Chalot | France | 1,420,915 | 71 |
| 6 | Jason Koon | United States | 1,303,951 | 65 |
| 7 | Ole Schemion | Germany | 1,265,515 | 63 |
| 8 | Vicent Bosca Ramon | Spain | 1,235,557 | 62 |
| 9 | EL TZOGADOR | Israel | 907,609 | 45 |
| 10 | Sami Kelopuro | Finland | 898,170 | 45 |
Day 1b Next
The tournament will resume with Day 1b on March 2 at 6 p.m. GMT (1 p.m. EST). Two more opening flights will take place at the same time on March 6 and March 7 with all surviving players advancing to Day 2 on March 8.
Surviving opening flight players will then battle it out on Day 2 on Monday, March 8 at 6 p.m. GMT (1 p.m. EST) and conclude when just nine players remain. Randy "nanonoko" Lew and Kevin "RotterdaM" van der Kooi will host a live stream of the final table when it kicks off the following day at 6 p.m. GMT (1 p.m. EST) at the GGPoker YouTube channel.
This dynamic duo will also be commentating on the final table of another big event in the $2.5 million guaranteed Event #6: $25,500 Super High Roller on March 2 at 6 p.m. GMT (1 p.m. EST).
Of course, the PokerNews Live Reporting team will also be on hand to cover these events and more, so be sure to stay tuned.
Follow PokerNews Live Coverage of Five Events
PokerNews will not only be live reporting the Main Event from start to finish but also four other huge events at the dedicated GGPoker Super MILLION$ Hub as follows:
| Date | Time (GMT) | Event | Buy-in | GTD |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Feb. 28 | 6 p.m. | Super MILLION$ Main Event Day 1a | $10,300 | $10,000,000 |
| 7 p.m. | Event #4: Sunday High Rollers ME Day 1 | $1,050 | $1,000,000 | |
| 8 p.m. | Event #6: Super High Roller Day 1 | $25,500 | $2,500,000 | |
| March 1 | 6 p.m. | Event #4: Sunday High Rollers ME Day 2 | - | $1,000,000 |
| March 2 | 6 p.m. | Super MILLION$ Main Event Day 1b | $10,300 | $10,000,000 |
| 6 p.m. | Event #6: Super High Roller Day 1 | - | $2,500,000 | |
| March 4 | 7 p.m. | Event #17: High Roller | $10,300 | $1,000,000 |
| March 6 | 6 p.m. | Super MILLION$ Main Event Day 1c | $10,300 | $10,000,000 |
| March 7 | 6 p.m. | Super MILLION$ Main Event Day 1d | $10,300 | $10,000,000 |
| 8 p.m. | Event #30: Super High Roller | $25,500 | $2,500,000 | |
| March 8 | 6 p.m. | Super MILLION$ Main Event Day 2 | - | $10,000,000 |
| 9-Mar | 6 p.m. | Super MILLION$ Main Event Final Table | - | $10,000,000 |
GGPoker Super MILLION$ Week Schedule
| Date | Time (GMT) | Event | Buy-in | GTD |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Feb. 28 | 5 p.m. | Event #1: GGMasters High Rollers | $1,050 | $1,000,000 |
| 5:30 p.m. | Event #2: Bounty Hunters HR Main Event | $525 | $1,000,000 | |
| 6 p.m. | Super MILLION$ Main Event Day 1a | $10,300 | $10,000,000 | |
| 6:10 p.m. | Event #3: PLO High Roller | $10,300 | $1,000,000 | |
| 7 p.m. | Event #4: Sunday High Rollers ME | $1,050 | $1,000,000 | |
| 7:30 p.m. | Event #5: Sunday 500 Special Edition | $5,250 | $1,000,000 | |
| 8 p.m. | Event #6: Super High Roller | $25,500 | $2,500,000 | |
| March 1 | 5:30 p.m. | Event #7: Bounty Hunters HR Special | $525 | $200,000 |
| 6 p.m. | Event #8: Monday Main Event | $1,050 | $400,000 | |
| 7 p.m. | Event #9: Bounty | $2,100 | $600,000 | |
| March 2 | 5:30 p.m. | Event #10: Bounty Hunters HR Special | $525 | $200,000 |
| 6 p.m. | Event #11: Super Tuesday | $1,050 | $500,000 | |
| 6 p.m. | Super MILLION$ Main Event Day 1b | $10,300 | $10,000,000 | |
| March 3 | 5:30 p.m. | Event #12: Bounty Hunters HR Special | $525 | $200,000 |
| 6 p.m. | Event #13: Wednesday Main Event | $1,050 | $500,000 | |
| 7 p.m. | Event #14: PLO | $5,250 | $250,000 | |
| March 4 | 5:30 p.m. | Event #15: Bounty Hunters HR Special | $525 | $200,000 |
| 6 p.m. | Event #16: Thursday Thriller | $1,050 | $500,000 | |
| 7 p.m. | Event #17: High Roller | $10,300 | $1,000,000 | |
| March 5 | 5:30 p.m. | Event #18: Bounty Hunters HR Special | $525 | $200,000 |
| 6 p.m. | Event #19: Friday Main Event | $1,050 | $250,000 | |
| 7 p.m. | Event #20: Short Deck High Roller | $10,300 | $250,000 | |
| March 6 | 5:30 p.m. | Event #21: Bounty Hunters HR Special | $525 | $200,000 |
| 6 p.m. | Event #22: Saturday Main Event | $1,050 | $300,000 | |
| 6 p.m. | Super MILLION$ Main Event Day 1c | $10,300 | $10,000,000 | |
| 7 p.m. | Event #23: Mini Super MILLION$ | $108 | $250,000 | |
| 7 p.m. | Event #24: Bounty High Roller | $5,250 | $500,000 | |
| March 7 | 5 p.m. | Event #25: GGMasters High Rollers | $1,050 | $1,000,000 |
| 5:30 p.m. | Event #26: Bounty Hunters HR Main Event | $525 | $1,000,000 | |
| 6 p.m. | Super MILLION$ Main Event Day 1d | $10,300 | $10,000,000 | |
| 6:10 p.m. | Event #27: PLO Bounty | $5,250 | $500,000 | |
| 7 p.m. | Event #28: Sunday High Rollers ME | $1,050 | $1,000,000 | |
| 7:30 p.m. | Event #29: Sunday 500 | $5,250 | $500,000 | |
| 8 p.m. | Event #30: Super High Roller | $25,500 | $2,500,000 | |
| March 8 | 6 p.m. | Super MILLION$ Main Event Day 2 | - | $10,000,000 |
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