GGPoker.com Event #70: $25,000 NLH POKER PLAYERS CHAMPIONSHIP, $10M GTD

The final table of Event #70: $25,000 NLH POKER PLAYERS CHAMPIONSHIP has been set after a lengthy bubble with Jason Koon claiming the chip lead with 7,863,055 in chips. This prominent event offered players a gargantuan guarantee of $10,000,000 and attracted 407 entries by the end of the registration period.

Koon is no stranger to the high buy-in tournament fields with over $31 million in live cashes according to The Hendon Mob and a plethora of online tournament wins. Koon started climbing up to the top of the counts and got there when there were only ten tables left and never really looked back.

Koon is joined on the final table by many more familiar names and faces like Shankar "Saquon" Pillai, Christian Rudolph, Aram "Pusha T" Zobian, Chris Hunichen, Aleksejs Ponakovs, Aliaksei "BladeRunner1" Boika, Paulius "ChickenBBQ" Plausinaitis, and Brunno Botteon.

The Final Nine Players at a Glance

From the Start to the Bubble

The tournament kicked off as expected but shortly after the start, some technical difficulties caused for all tournaments to pause their action with the cards to start flying again just after the first scheduled break of the day. By the time the registration period closed, there were 171 players left to battle it out for a spot in the top 55 as those spots would get paid at least $57,592.

It would take just over 2.5 hours before it was time for the bubble with 57 players left in the field. Dan Smith busted to Pillai when he called the shove of the latter with sixes. Pillai held ace-ten and found another ace on the flop to connect with. The bubble would end up lasting fifteen minutes as Michael Addamo three-bet shoved with ace-jack and was called by Ponakovs who held ace-king. The king-kicker came into play to burst the bubble.

Outbreak of Eliminations

After the bubble burst, the gust of eliminations started flying in. Within 50 minutes, 33 players busted with the bracelet winners like Davidi Kitai James Chen, Thai Ha, Kartik "Mandovi" Ved, David Peters, and Hun Wei Lee as some of the more notable names to leave the tournament.

Another 30 minutes later, the field had been reduced to the final two tables with Chris "nelanio" Ferguson, Jake Schindler, Stephen Chidwick, and Thomas Muehloecker all falling.

Battle for a Spot at the Final Table

Alexandru "Bot Marley" Papazian, Scott Seiver, Michel "CrossfireX" Dattani, Song "xuesong" Xue, "AntreVolt", and John "Hamburger!" Thrower all busted in quick succession to get the tournament down to the final table bubble.

That bubble ended up lasting forty minutes and even though Jack Salter doubled up once, in the end, his three-bet put him effectively all-in as he kept enough chips behind to pay one small blind. He made the call for the remainder with pocket eights, when Pillai put him at risk. Pillai held ace-jack and flopped top pair and even improved to trips on the river for a prettier picture.

When the players return on Saturday, August 29 at 6 p.m. UTC, they will battle it out for the top prize of $1,800,290 while they have already secured at least $154,416. They will resume play on Level 37 which features a small blind of 100,000, a big blind of 200,000, and a running ante of 25,000. The blinds will increase after every 30 hands.

This is what they are all still competing for:

The PokerNews live reporting team will be back again for the final table action so make sure to come back to see who will take this tournament down and add the coveted WSOP bracelet to their collection in addition to the first-place prize that comes with it and the WSOP Europe package here on GGPoker.

Shankar "Saquon" Pillai raised to 320,000 from under the gun and Jack Salter three-bet to 1,762,548 from the cutoff, keeping 80,000 behind. The action folded back to Pillai who four-bet to put Salter all-in who tanked for a while and then called for the rest.

Jack Salter:   
Shankar "Saquon" Pillai:   

The board ran out       for Pillai to flop top pair and improve to trips on the river to burst the final table bubble.

The nine remaining players will finish the final table next Saturday, August 29.

A recap is to follow.

Jason Koon	7,863,055	-340,000
Shankar "Saquon" Pillai	6,875,234	2,682,548
Aleksejs Ponakovs	3,883,951	0
Brunno Botteon	1,750,027	-160,000
Jack Salter	0	-2,182,548

Shankar "Saquon" Pillai min-raised to 240,000 first to act and was called by Aleksejs Ponakovs in the big blind.

The duo checked through the     flop and Ponakovs bet the   turn for 202,950, which Pillai called.

On the   river, Ponakovs checked and folded when facing a bet of 420,000.

Jason Koon	8,203,055	912,750
Shankar "Saquon" Pillai	4,192,686	-490,800
Aleksejs Ponakovs	3,883,951	-1,125,450
Jack Salter	2,182,548	165,000
Brunno Botteon	1,910,027	538,500

Aleksejs Ponakovs raised to 240,000 from under the gun and was called by both Jason Koon and Brunno Botteon in the blinds.

The flop came    , it was checked to Ponakovs who continued with a bet of 225,000 which only Koon check-called.

They both checked through the   on the turn to the   on the river. Koon bet 431,250 for Ponakovs to raise it up to 1,186,725 for Koon to fold.

Jason Koon	7,290,305	-911,250
Aleksejs Ponakovs	5,009,401	1,196,250
Shankar "Saquon" Pillai	4,683,486	-15,000
Jack Salter	2,017,548	-15,000
Brunno Botteon	1,371,527	-255,000

Aleksejs Ponakovs limped in from the cutoff and Jack Salter completed his small blind while Jason Koon opted to check his big blind.

The flop came    , it was checked to Ponakovs who bet 119,625 which only Koon called.

The turn was the   and Koon check-called the 376,750 continuation-bet of Ponakovs.

The river completed the board with the  , Koon checked for the last time. Ponakovs bet 1,084,555 for Koon to take some time before opting to fold.

Jason Koon	8,201,555	-421,375
Shankar "Saquon" Pillai	4,698,486	25,000
Aleksejs Ponakovs	3,813,151	671,375
Jack Salter	2,032,548	-237,500
Brunno Botteon	1,626,527	-37,500

The action started with a min-raise to 200,000 by Shankar "Saquon" Pillai from under the gun and Jack Salter, fresh off his double up, three-bet to 580,000 from one seat over. Out of the big blind, Aleksejs Ponakovs four-bet jammed for 2,249,276.

What followed was a quick fold by Pillai and Salter needed some consideration to come to the same conclusion.

Jason Koon	8,622,930	-12,500
Shankar "Saquon" Pillai	4,673,486	-212,500
Aleksejs Ponakovs	3,141,776	880,000
Jack Salter	2,270,048	-592,500
Brunno Botteon	1,664,027	-62,500

John "Hamburger!" Thrower raised to 200,000 from the cutoff and was called by Jason Koon in the big blind. The flop brought     and Koon went for the check-raise from 157,500 to 493,500. Thrower moved all in for 1,679,420 total and Koon made the call.

John "Hamburger!" Thrower:   
Jason Koon:   

Koon's top pair was in dire shape and things got worse on the   turn, as he now needed one of the two remaining eights in the deck. Sure enough, however, the   appeared on the river and Thrower was eliminated in 11th place for $126,773.

Jason Koon	7,795,430	2,291,920
Shankar "Saquon" Pillai	6,713,510	-287,500
Aleksejs Ponakovs	2,686,776	187,500
Brunno Botteon	1,839,590	-36,937
Jack Salter	1,337,524	-187,500
John "Hamburger!" Thrower	0	-1,966,920

The eleven remaining players have gone for another 6-minute break.

Shankar "Saquon" Pillai raised to 200,000 from the button and Jason Koon defended his big blind.

The flop came    , Koon check-called the 173,250 bet of Pillai.

The turn was the   and Koon checked again. Pillai bet 600,000 this time and was called.

The river completed the board with the   and they both checked. Koon taled    for the wheel to scoop the pot as Pillai held    for two pair.

Shankar "Saquon" Pillai	7,438,510	-646,600
Jason Koon	5,591,010	1,060,600
Aleksejs Ponakovs	2,686,776	-91,000
Brunno Botteon	1,969,027	63,500
John "Hamburger!" Thrower	1,549,420	107,500
Jack Salter	1,137,524	-494,000

Within two hands the entire stack of "AntreVolt" has vanished and they had to settle for 13th place and a payday of $126,773.

First up they lost most of their chips with    against the    of ChickenBBQ" in a preflop all in when the board ran out      .

One hand later, "AntreVolt" jammed from under the gun for the last few blinds and were called by Christian Rudolph in the big blind.

"AntreVolt":   
Christian Rudolph:   

Rudolph flopped top pair and the open-ender on     and remained in the lead on the   turn and   river.

Chris Hunichen	5,546,024	-202,500
Aram "Pusha T" Zobian	4,285,440	359,833
Christian Rudolph	3,915,938	819,406
Aliaksei "BladeRunner1" Boika	3,461,026	92,704
Paulius "ChickenBBQ" Plausinaitis	3,119,305	1,339,676
AntreVolt	0	-2,539,786