Joakim Andersson Wins MILLIONS Online 6-Max PKO Championship

The final two MILLIONS Online events crowned their champions on January 3, with both victorious players boosting their bankrolls significantly. Joakim Andersson triumphed in the $2,100 6-Max PKO Championship for more than $150,000 while Guillaume Diaz won the $320 Closer for more than $56,000.

Andersson’s victory came after outlasting 584 opponents in his $2,100 buy-in event. Only 87 of those starters progressed to the Day 2 on January 3, each of them finding themselves in the money.

Some of poker’s elite players joined Andersson on Day 2. They included Mike Watson, Jans Arends, Sebastian Sikorski, former MILLIONS Online Main Event champion Benjamin Chalot, Isaac Haxton, Niklas Astedt, and Christian Rudolph. Cash they did, but they all fell shy of the final table.

Final Table Set

Pascal Lefrancois, winner of the $25,500 Super High Roller last week, finished this tournament in seventh-place, the first casualty of the final table. With bounties included, Lefrancois walked away with more than $21,000 for his efforts.

Ales Matyasko of the Czech Republic and Vikanty Shegal of Canada were the next pair of players who fell short of the victory. Matyasko busted 15 opponents on the way to finishing sixth, so his $18,920 main prize pool payout was boosted by an impressive $19,375 worth of bounty payments.

Recent WPTWOC Main Event champion Rok Gostisa crashed out in fourth for a combined $49,406 before Alexander Stacey’s impressive run ended in a third-place finish worth $76,606 to the Englishman.

Heads-up pitted Andersson heads-up against Fabio Luongo. Luongo bagged $141,030 for a sixth-place finish in the MILLIONS Online Main Event, and another $116,023 when he busted from this event in second-place. Andersson, one of the best tournament players on the planet, kicked off the new year with $150,929 score.

MILLIONS Online #09 6-Max PKO Championship Final Table Results

Place | Player | Country | Bounties | Prize
1 | Joakim Andersson | Malta | $70,459 | $80,470
2 | Fabio Luongo | Canada | $35,671 | $80,352
3 | Alexander Stacey | United Kingdom | $22,037 | $54,569
4 | Rok Gostisa | Slovenia | $13,269 | $36,137
5 | Vikanty Shegal | Canada | $9,062 | $24,477
6 | Ales Matyasko | Czech Republic | $19,375 | $18,920
7 | Pascal Lefrancois | Canada | $7,843 | $13,501

Diaz Defeats MILLIONS Online Closer Field

Guillaume Diaz gets to call himself a MILLIONS Online champion after the UK-based French star defeated a 1,135-strong field in the $320 buy-in Closer event.

This event showed how prestigious the MILLIONS Online is to players around the world. Just look at some of the 169 players who navigated their way through the shark-infested waters into Day 2.

Fabio Luongo, Stevan Chew, Pavel Plusev, Kenny Hallaert, Joao Simao, Anton Wigg, Joakim Andersson, and Fabio Sperling were just a selection of stars who saw a return on their $320 investment.

All but two of the seven finalists secured a five-figure prize: Daniel Smiljkovic and Vojtech Skalak being those players, although they did scoop $6,605 and $8,806 respectively.

Mathias Siljander ($12,075), Aleksandr Shepel ($17,801), and Julio Chia (26,145) came up short in their quest of becoming a MILLIONS Online champion. Chia’s demise left Diaz heads-up against Russian grinder Viacheslav Zaslavskii, and Diaz got the job done. Diaz netted $56,023 for this win, leaving Zaslavskii to console himself with a most respectable $38,493.

MILLIONS Online #10 Closer Final Table Results

Place | Player | Country | Prize
1 | Guillaume Diaz | Canada | $56,023
2 | Viacheslav Zaslavskii | Russia | $38,493
3 | Julio Chia | Peru | $26,145
4 | Aleksandr Shepel | Russia | $17,801
5 | Mathias Siljander | Finland | $12,075
6 | Vojtech Skalak | Czech Republic | $8,806
7 | Daniel Smiljkovic | Austria | $6,605