Topping the headlines once again was Swedish pro Niklas Astedt who conquered this week’s edition of the Sunday Five Million for a towering US$ 1,095,740.82, the largest festival payout to date. This was his fourth victory, the most by any player. Finland’s Sami Kelopuro won the Super High Roller for US$ 520K. Also proving their might were Jack Salter, China’s Chun Lei “judd trump” Zhou, Farid Jattin, and Stanislav “FreeZePeeDoe” Zegal, each with two wins. At the highlighted GGSF Super MILLION$ ME-H US$ 10,300, US$ 10,000,000 guaranteed, Day 1B concluded with Konstantin Maslak collecting the most chips to earn overall second rank. Day 1A’s Michael Watson still holds the top spot. Three starting days remain. We’ve got those stories for you and more.
Taking a look at the numbers, the GG Spring Festival 2021 is nearing its halfway goal. After ten days, it has paid out roughly US$ 73.5 million across 152 tournaments. If you are new to the scene, it is the biggest event this season with US$ 150,000,000 guaranteed across 336 tournaments.
The festival opened on April 4 and will run until April 25 inclusive. 185 tournaments remain with buy ins from just US$ 5 to a costly US$ 25,500. Time to join the hunt by signing up at host online platform Natural8. Exclusive promos and festival freebies for all members. You can read up on those perks at the bottom of the page.
And now for our GGSF Day 9 and Day 10 top stories.
Niklas Astedt wins the Sunday Five Million for US$ 1,095,740
No brakes for Swedish online pro Niklas Astedt who secured yet another incredible victory. Astedt outlasted the 202 powerhouse field of the H-41: $25,500 Sunday Five Million to collect a massive US$ 1,095,740.82. This first place payout was US$10K more than its first edition to slightly edge champion Natural8 player Guillaume Nolet as the single richest earner of the festival.
With this latest success, Astedt became the first player to take down four events. We’ve listed his other wins just below with the corresponding prize money. In total, Astedt has earned US$ 1,374,988.19 in first place payouts alone.
H-14: $1,050 PLO-NL Bounty – US$ 39,974.81
H-19: $2,100 Bounty [ 6 Max ] – US$ 98,807.81
H-25: $5,250 PLO-NL Bounty – US$ 140,464.75
On the macro view, the Swede beast has now accumulated US$ 9,603,115 million in the GG network and US$ 21,991,928 in PokerStars under the nickname “lena900”. In January 2020, Astedt was recognized as the biggest MTT online winner in history, a title he may still hold today.
Event recap
Recapping the H-41: $25,500 Sunday Five Million, the event was a two-day affair drawing 202 entries, enough to spill over the US$ 5M guarantee for a slightly larger US$ 5,050,000 prize pool. The top 27 players earned a cut starting with Nick Petrangelo who min-cashed US$ 49,062.66 though it wasn’t close to covering the five bullets he spent. Petrangelo’s loss was dwarfed by an even more determined heavy hitter, multi winner Lev “LevMeAlone” Gottlieb, who shelled out a mind blowing 9 buy-ins only to depart without any return. Day 1 closed with Astedt leading the final nine players, an advantage he held until the end.
On just the second hand, the ailing Wei Zhao (9th) was axed by the leader. Forty-five minutes later, Pedro Garagnani (8th) was crippled when his 
was outdrawn by Joao Vieira’s 
queen at the flop, then Astedt took the rest for his second victim. This was followed by a lengthy seven handed round, running nearly one hour before Astedt emptied out Sam Greenwood (7th). Shawn Daniels helped trim the field by booting Sami Kelopuro (6th) with 
holding over 
. Out next was David Yan (5th) who also met his end at the hands of Astedt. Daniels finished off Vieira (4th) for victim #2, and Astedt railed Jason Koon (3rd) to face Daniels at heads-up with a 50 bb advantage. Despite Daniels winning numerous pots, the lead was too much to overcome. Astedt closed it out with 
dominating 
on a board 
. Like Astedt, Daniels’s strong finish paid out a career high score US$ 821,689.32.
Final table payouts
1st Niklas Astedt – Norway – US$ 1,095,740.82
2nd Shawn Daniels – Canada – US$ 821,689.32
3rd Jason Koon – USA – US$ 616,180.06
4th Joao Vieira – Luxembourg – US$ 462,069.98
5th David Yan – New Zealand – US$ 346,503.74
6th Sami Kelopuro – Finland – US$ 259,840.87
7th Sam Greenwood – Canada – US$ 194,853.27
8th Pedro Garagnani – Brazil – US$ 146,119.22
9th Wei Zhao – China – US$ 109,574.22
H-49: $25,500 Super High Roller: SAMI KELOPURO
On his seventh final table appearance, Finland’s Sami Kelopuro overcame the 90 runners of H-49: $25,500 Super High Roller to land his first win. At the final showdown, Kelopuro defeated Wiktor Malinowski to drag in a handsome US$ 520,003.49 first prize, his largest takedown in the GG network. Also cashing in was USA’s Jason Koon, earning 5th place for US$ 183,673.09, his second SHR final table of Day 10.
The H-49: $25,500 Super High Roller tournament surpassed its US$ 2 million guarantee for a US$ 2,250,000 prize pool distributed among the top 13 places. It wasn’t until 3 handed when Kelopuro took the lead courtesy of a failed bluff by Yuri Dzivielevski who charged on every street with air against two pair. This loss in chips cost Dzivielevski to send the Brazilian pro shoving multiple times. Malinowski finished him off to face Kelopuro behind just 9 big blinds. Heads-up was dominated by the leader however Malinowski put up a good fight, doubling up twice. On the third all in called showdown it was Kelopuro shipping it with 
outdrawing 
on a board 
. Among his other deep runs were 4th at the H-16: $25,500 Super High Roller for US$ 236,296, 2nd at the H-24: $10,300 Thursday Thriller Bounty for US$ 123,256, and 6th at the H-41: $25,500 Sunday Five Million for US$ 259,840.87.
Two events for Jack Salter
England’s Jack Salter came out victorious at two events, the M-36: $105 Bounty Hyper [ 6 Max ] event on Day 7 and the M-49: $2,625 High Roller on Day 10. Of the two wins, the latter paid out the largest of US$ 151,386.25. Salter triumphed over 301 runners denying Michael Watson a second win at heads-up. Final hand was Salter 
, Watson 
, the board 
. Additionally, four happy stakers shared 66% of Salter’s winnings with Michael Zhang earning a profitable 55%.
Other multi winners
In addition to Jack Salter, more players were added to the pool of multi winners. Check out the list below.
Farid Jattin – Colombia – H-34: $1,050 High Rollers Main Event – US$ 79,771.42, M-45: $250 PLO-NL Turbo – US$ 13,471.72
Stanislav “FreeZePeeDoe” Zegal – Germany – M-02: $300 Sunday Marathon – US$ 52,751.79, H-48: $525 PLO-NL Bounty – US$ 27,856.65
Alfred Karlsson – Norway – L-45: $ $25 PLO-NL Turbo – US$ 2,428.37, L-48: $21 PLO-NL Bounty – US$ 2,536.47
For Asia, Chun Lei “judd trump” Zhou bumped up his stats to 15 cashes, reaching five final tables and closing out two. In Day 9, Zhou won the H-43: U$5,250 Bounty Hunters SHR for US$ 151,617.21 then on Day 10 the two-day H-44: $1,50 High Rollers Main Event for US$ 96,783.54. Other final table cashes were:
H-35: $10300 PLO-NL High Roller – 7th place – US$ 28,538.71
H-33: $5,250 PLO-NL Bounty – 5th place – US$ 39,314.29
H-25: $5,250 PLO-NL Bounty – 6th place – US$ 17,972.52
*H-41: $25,500 Sunday Five Million – 29th place – US$ 49,062.66
Other Notable Winners
H-50: $5,250 Half Price Super Tuesday
Guarantee: US$ 750,000
Entries: 222
Prize pool: US$ 1,110,000
ITM: 31 places
Winner: Benjamin Rolle – US$ 236,019.99
This event surged past its guarantee for a US$ 1.1 million prize pool. Rolle entered heads-up with an 11:1 advantage that Rafael “TheBigKid” Moraes was unable to overcome. Final hand was 
full house over 
trips on a board 
.
M-40: $1,050 High Rollers Main Event [ 2 Day Event ]
Guarantee: US$ 1,000,000
Entries: 1,183
Prize pool: US$ 1,183,000
ITM: 170 places
Winner: Jamil Wakil – Canada – US$ 170,809.64
H-51: $1,050 Deepstack Bounty Turbo
Guarantee: US$ 100,000
Entries: 236
Prize pool: US$ 236,000
ITM: 35 places
Winner: Alex Foxen – USA – US$ 41,677.40
L-47: $25 Forty Stack
Guarantee: US$ 50,000
Entries: 4,124
Prize pool: US$ 94,852
ITM: 683 places
Winner: CLVT – Vietnam – US$ 10,559.74
Featured Events – underway
One of the largest guaranteed events of the festival is the US$ 10 million guaranteed GGSF Super MILLION$ ME-H with buy-in at US$ 10,300. Unlike the other highlighted events, this one only has five starting days scheduled. Day 1A and Day 1B have already concluded, three more entry days available leading up to Day 2.
Cumulative Entries: 487
Cumulative Day 2 qualifiers: 61
Day 2: April 19 @405am HKT
Day 1A chip leader: Michael Watson – Canada – 1,921,636
Day 1B chip leader: Konstantin Maslak – Russia – 1,690,980
Top 10 in chips
At the GGSF Headliner-M: US$ 400 buy-in featured events, both NLHE and PLO-NL entry days have been ongoing. Multiple heats are offered per day leading up to Day 2 on April 19. To date, 2,489 have entered the NLHE and 744 for the PLO-NL. The NLHE has a US$ 2,5 million guarantee, the PLO-NL offers a one million dollar guarantee.
Open: GGSF Headliner-M: US$ 400 NLHE, US$ 2,500,000 guaranteed
Open: GGSF Headliner-M: US$ 400 PLO-NL, US$ 1,000,000 guaranteed
Upcoming Featured Events
Dates: April 19 to 26
GGSF Main Event-H: US$ 1,500 NLHE, US$ 10,000,000 guaranteed
GGSF Main Event-H: US$ 1,500 PLO-NL, US$ 2,000,000 guaranteed
Event Promos
Series Leaderboard Update
The festival is now into Week 2 of the Series Leaderboard. A total of 100 players will earn a share of T$ 300,000. The High Tier awards T$ 150,000 to the top 20 in points, the Medium Tier awards T$ 100,000 to the top 30 in points, and the Low Tier awards T$ 50,000 to the top 50 in points. The week ends on April 19. Currently, China’s “judd trump” leads the High, Canada’s Tim “BeardOilGuy” Rutherford leads the Medium, and Norway’s Alfred Karlsson leads the Low.
Exclusive Natural8 Promos
For players signed up on Natural8, expect plenty of GGSF freebies. Throughout the series, Natural8 will be giving away GGSF tickets via their hourly freerolls, VIP Club Freerolls, GG Masters Freerolls, and First Deposit Freerolls. For N8 players that participate in any of the GGSF 2021 events, you gain entry to exclusive Natural8 GGSF Flipouts with each entry beefing up your stack. Flipouts happen every Saturday on April 10, 17, & 24, with one flipout for each of the three tiers. Prizes per Flipout: US$ 10,000 (High) / US$ 5,000 (Medium) / US$ 2,000 (Low).
Another exclusive promo is the US$ 50,000 GGSF LiveX Sponsorship. In order to land this special promo, you’ll need to overcome a mountain of players and win the GGSF Main Event-H: US$ 1,500 NLHE, US$ 10 million guaranteed event. The sponsorship includes:
12 months LiveX Crew Sponsorship
US$ 15,000 Las Vegas Package ($10,000 to cover your buy-ins and $5,000 for expenses)
US$ 35,000 for live event sponsorships over 12 months
Stay tuned to Somuchpoker as we continue to bring you recaps on the ongoing Natural8 – GGSF festival.
Tricia David
Tricia David has long experience as a recreational poker player and has been covering poker events since 2010 for numerous outfits in Asia. She spent one year working part time with Poker Portal Asia then became editor and lead writer for all event coverage of the Philippine Poker Tour (PPT). Under the PPT, she overlooked content for their website, and produced live updates on all their events. In addition, she served as the live and online events website content writer for the Asian Poker Tour. Currently, she does live events reporting in Asia for online news site Somuchpoker and is also one of their news contributors.
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