Chess Grandmaster Ladva Turns $530 Into $525K

Ottomar Ladva was determined not to be merely a pawn among kings and queens when he entered the $25,500 buy-in MILLIONS Online 6-Max Super High Roller event. The Estonian chess grandmaster swept through the field like a rook before becoming king of the tournament and banking $525,089.

Amazingly, Ladva qualified for this massive Super High Roller for only $530! He bought into a $530 satellite and won a $2,650 satellite ticket, which he then turned into a $25,500 seat. That $530 investment is now worth $525,089!

MILLIONS Online 6-Max Super High Roller Final Table Results

Place | Player | Country | Prize
1 | Ottomar Ladva | Estonia | $525,089
2 | Justin Bonomo | Canada | $327,468
3 | Jason Koon | Canada | $212,835
4 | Bujtas Laszlo | Hungary | $152,275
5 | Aleksejs Ponakovs | Estonia | $114,839
6 | Brock Wilson | Mexico | $90,589
7 | Ami Barer | Canada | $75,781

Day 2 began with 11 players in the hunt for the title but Rok Gostisa sat down with by far the shortest stack. Gostisa managed to chip up but lost a key all-in hand against Ladva.

Finnish sensation Samuel Vousden and Aliaksei Boika busted out before Giuseppe Iadisernia crashed out in eighth place to set the official final table.

All but two of the finalists saw a six-figure prize wing its way to their partypoker accounts. Ami Barer’s tournament ended in a seventh-place finish worth $75,781. Barer open-shoved for 15 big blinds with and lost the coinflip against Laszlo Bujtas’ .

Start of the day chip leader Brock Wilson then fell in sixth place for $90,589. Wilson improved to a pair of tens on the river, but Bujtas had turned a straight with his . Laszlo set his opponent all-in, Wilson looked him up and headed to the exits after making an expensive second-best hand.

Aleksejs Ponakovs got his hands on the tournament’s first six-figure prize, namely $114,839. Ponakovs ripped it in for a shade over eight big blinds from the small blind with and Ladva made the call in the big blind with . Ponakovs flopped an open-ended straight draw on the board. The draw not only missed but Ladva improved to a full house.

Laszlo earlier one a key coinflip to bust Barer, but found himself on the wrong side of one when it mattered. His failed to connect with the board and lost to the of Justin Bonomo.

Team partypoker’s Jason Koon finally ran out of steam in third place, a finish worth an impressive $212,835. Koon was extremely short stacked at the time of his ext hand. He’d just paid the 500,000 big blind and was left with 228,979 chips. They went into the middle with when Bonomo set him all-in with . Koon caught a five on the flop but the turn and river came running spade to send Koon to the rail.

Bonomo held a 47,092,837 to 22,907,163 chip lead going into heads-up but Ladva manoeuvred his way in front. The final hand saw all the chips go in on the board, Ladva with and Bonomo holding the . The river was checkmate for Ladva, sending Bonomo home in second-place for $327,468 and leaving Ladva to scoop the $525,089 top prize.