Sturzeneker Takes Control as GGMillion$ Single Day Turbo Heads to Overtime

The penultimate bracelet event of the World Series of Poker Paradise played out at a blistering pace on Tuesday as Event #14: $25,000 GGMillion$ Single Day Turbo lived up to its name.

A total of 287 entries poured into the one-day affair, comfortably surpassing the $5 million guarantee and creating a $7,318,500 prize pool. By the time play wrapped up deep into the night, just six players remained, all with their sights firmly set on the $1,534,645 first-place prize and a WSOP gold bracelet.

While the top 44 players reached the money, the surviving six have already locked up $272,600, with significantly more at stake when cards go back in the air at 2 p.m. local time on Wednesday, December 17.

Sturzeneker Dominates Heading Into Final Day

Brazil’s Iago Sturzeneker will return in commanding fashion, bagging up 33,800,000 chips and standing as the only player with more than 20 big blinds when play resumes. With nearly half of the chips in play, Sturzeneker sits firmly in pole position for what would be by far the biggest result of his career.

Remarkably, Sturzeneker entered the event with just over $50,000 in live tournament earnings, but now finds himself six-handed in a WSOP bracelet event, holding a massive stack and momentum firmly on his side.

Chasing him down are a trio of well-known grinders. Ramiro Petrone, Eelis Parssinen, and Andrija Robovic all remain in contention, with Parssinen forced to adjust his travel plans in pursuit of a second bracelet. Originally scheduled to leave the Bahamas at 2 p.m., the Finnish pro will instead be hoping his short stack can take off at the final table.

In fifth place sits popular French poker personality Johan Guilbert. Now considering himself a retired pro due to his business ventures, Guilbert is making his first WSOP final table appearance since finishing runner-up in the 2024 $2,500 No-Limit Hold’em Freezeout.

At the bottom of the counts is Michael “Texas Mike” Moncek, who endured a reversal late in the night. The two-time bracelet winner held the chip lead until the final hand, where a bluff was picked off by Sturzeneker, leaving Moncek facing a steep climb in his hunt of a third bracelet.

Play resumes on Level 27 with blinds at 400,000/800,000 and an 800,000 big blind ante.

Seat Draw & Chip Counts

Seat	Player	Country	Chip Count	Big Blinds
1	Iago Sturzeneker	Brazil	33,800,000	42
2	Andrija Robovic	Serbia	5,800,000	8
3	Johan Guilbert	France	3,700,000	4
4	Ramiro Petrone	Argentina	13,300,000	17
5	Eelis Parssinen	Finland	12,300,000	15
6	Michael Moncek	United States	2,900,000	4

Action of the Day

Before late registration closed, the tournament felt like a high-stakes lottery. Bullets were fired rapidly, stacks fluctuated wildly, and tournament lives were lost just as quickly. Eighty-four players reached the dinner break, but that figure ballooned to 156 once the 72 max late entries joined the field.

Several poker icons took their shot at a last-minute bracelet. Daniel Negreanu exited well before the money, while Phil Hellmuth fell on the soft bubble. The 17-time bracelet winner attempted to steal the blinds with queen-jack, only to run into David Chen’s ace-ten, which held to eliminate Hellmuth two spots shy of the $55,500 min-cash.

Chen continued his strong run by bursting the money bubble in 45th, eliminating Bin Duan. Moments later, Robovic sent Marcilio Santos packing on the stone bubble, pairing his ace-jack to beat pocket fives.

The march toward the final table claimed several notable names, including Brandon Wilson, Nacho Barbero, Chino Rheem, and Viktor Blom, who bowed out in 11th. Mehdi Chaoui's exit in 10th set the nine-handed final table.

GG ambassador and streamer Denys Chufarin was the first to fall at the final table, losing to Sturzeneker as the Brazilian began to apply relentless pressure. Sturzeneker followed that up by eliminating Eric Yanovsky in eighth with pocket tens holding against king-queen, then completed a trio of final-table knockouts by dispatching Chen in seventh.

Moncek briefly wrestled control away from Sturzeneker with pocket kings, taking the chip lead as short stacks found timely chops and doubles to survive.

The night, however, ended with fireworks.

On the final hand, Sturzeneker faced a massive decision for nearly half the chips in play. After Moncek shoved for roughly three times the pot on the river, Sturzeneker made a gutsy hero call. Moncek revealed a busted straight draw, while Sturzeneker turned over top pair to reclaim the chip lead and close Day 1 as the clear favorite to finish the job.

Remaining Payouts

Place	Player	Country	Prize (USD)
1			$1,534,645
2			$1,043,400
3			$724,500
4			$512,800
5			$370,200
6			$272,600
7	David Chen	United States	$205,000
8	Eric Yanovsky	United States	$157,300
9	Denys Chufarin	Ukraine	$123,400