Fast track to Step tournaments
The first tournament of his trip was special in its own way – it was a $10 Step tournament with just 14 players and a simple goal: to finish first and win a $108 ticket.
A few hours later, he used the ticket for another Step tournament.
In the second tournament, 44 players competed for a seat in the next tournament, and he entered using a ticket he had earned in the previous tournament.
Only the top four players could qualify for the next round, which added extra pressure.
72oooo wasted no time in finishing in 1st place after just 31 minutes and earning a ticket to the next round.
Once again 72oooo succeeded – after 85 minutes of play he secured the second ticket.
The next level raised the stakes even higher: the buy-in for the next tournament was USD 1 050, and the competition was for a ticket to one of the most prestigious online tournaments ever held, with a buy-in of USD 10 000.
Only 24 players took part in this tournament, and only the top two players could qualify for the next round.
Once again, 72oooo used his concentration and determination to finish in the top two players after just one hour of play.
Within hours of the start of the $10 satellite tournament, 72oooo was already registered to play in the prestigious GGMillion$ High Roller.
Within hours of the start of the $10 satellite tournament, 72oooo was already registered to play in the prestigious GGMillion$ High Roller. This impressive route was confirmed by GGPoker themselves on their social networks: $10 โ $108 โ $1,050 โ $10,000.
Facing the toughest opponents
The GGMillion$ High Roller attracts the best players. 72oooo that was a whole different level of competition.
Having overcome the previous stages, he now had to face his toughest challenge yet.
a group of seasoned professionals, who had amassed hundreds of thousands and some millions of dollars in winnings, awaited 72oooo.
The final table was full of familiar faces, including Bernhard Binder, who has won more than $10 million in major tournaments, and Aram Oganyan, one of California's top tournament players, with more than $8 million in live tournament winnings.
Players from all over the world – Russia, Brazil, Germany and Panama – gathered at the final table. It was a large number of experienced and talented players.
Despite the odds, 72oooo had already proven that he could hold his own in the company of players of this calibre.
The outsider at the final table
Making it to the final table was a huge achievement in itself.
However, 72oooo came to the final table as a clear outsider.
He had the smallest chip stack of the remaining 8 players.
In addition, GGPoker odds had him as a precarious favourite at 22:1.
Many players would expect to be knocked out early at this stage of the tournament.
However, 72oooo remained patient and picked his spots carefully.
As the players started to fall, 72oooo soon saw an opportunity to eliminate Brazilian Lucas Rocha and reduce his opponents to 5 players.
It was this elimination that seemed to change the course of his game.
A spectacular ending and a huge win
Things changed very quickly after that. 72oooo became the chip leader, extending the journey from the 4-player stage to a one-on-one duel.
He amassed a massive chip stack of over 12 million when no other player had more than 4 million.
This was a dramatic turnaround for a player who recently had the smallest stack.
After reaching a one-on-one duel, he had an extremely strong chip advantage – more than half of the total chips on the table.
The deciding hand was played almost immediately after the duel began.
72oooo had 4โ 4โฆ against Calitox's Aโ Tโฆ.
All the chips were in the pot and the table cards were Qโฃ7โฆ2โ 2โฆ8โฃ.
A pair of pocket fours remained as the winning hand.
With this victory, 72oooo completed one of the most impressive performances in GGPoker history, turning a $10 satellite tournament into a $411,843 win in less than 24 hours.
It's a story that reminds other players why they play poker in the first place.
