Congratulations to Niklas Astedt, Winner of GG Spring Festival H-41: $25,500 Sunday 5 Million ($1,095,741)
The 2021 GG Spring Festival has now sent another seven-figure payday to its latest champion as the H-41: $25,500 Sunday 5 Million has come to an end. Topping the 202 player field was Niklas Astedt who added $1,095,741 to his poker resume after putting on a clinic during the final table, besting some of the greatest players in the world.
This Sunday 5 Million broke the $5 million guarantee that was set, unlike the first that fell just shy which meant this was the biggest prize pool thus far, and players returned to a final day that would see all nine getting at least a six-figure score. Despite all the money up for grabs, it took just under two and a half hours for this action-packed tournament to complete.
A quick final table saw Astedt on the better end of most hands, dropping five en route to his victory which ended in a short heads-up bout with Shawn Daniels. Astedt had over double the chips of Daniels who quickly saw his stack shredded by the constant pressure of the eventual champion. Daniels finally took a stand with ace-rag, only to run into a bigger ace and the rest is history. Daniels had to settle for runner-up, taking home a respectable $821,689 for his efforts and Astedt was then crowned the champion, pulling in a seven-figure score for this feat.
Final Results of H-41: $25,500 Sunday 5 Million
| Place | Winner | Country | Prize (in USD) |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Niklas Astedt | Sweden | $1,095,741 |
| 2 | Shawn Daniels | United States | $821,689 |
| 3 | Jason Koon | United States | $616,180 |
| 4 | Joao Vieira | Portugal | $462,070 |
| 5 | David Yan | New Zealand | $346,504 |
| 6 | Sami Kelopuro | Finland | $259,841 |
| 7 | Sam Greenwood | Canada | $194,853 |
| 8 | Pedro Garagnani | Brazil | $146,119 |
| 9 | Wei Zhao | China | $109,574 |
Action of the Final Day
The final day kicked off with two players that took part in the last hand of Day 1 as Wei Zhao pushed his remaining stack in and was called by two players, Astedt being one of those to do so. Zhao landed a pair of nines but the jacks of Astedt sent him out the door. An unlucky runout sent Pedro Garagnani to the payout desk when his big slick fell to the ace-queen of Joao Vieira, leaving Garagnani short. He shoved the very next hand and Astedt finished him off.
An hour of seven-handed play went by before a fleury of eliminations occurred, sending Sam Greenwood, Sami Kelopuro, and David Yan to the sidelines. Greenwood found an ace in the blinds but could not overcome the sixes of Astedt. Daniels started to go on a run after that hand, opening from under the gun with pocket queens and Kelopuro then ripped ace-jack from the big blind. Daniels called and easily took down the pot to knock out Kelopuro.
A tough spot for David Yan happened shortly after when he opened for over half of his stack with a suited king-queen. Astedt called to see the jack-high flop where he elected to push Yan all-in and he obliged. Astedt tabled his pocket aces and Yan needed runner-runner to keep his tournament life going. A straight draw came to light on the turn but a bricked-out river dropped Yan from the event.
Astedt was constantly opening with just four left and Vieira took a stand, shoving from the small blind with queen-jack, only to find Daniels sitting in the big blind with ace-king. A clean board left just three and Astedt then put Jason Koon who called his stack in from the big blind.
Koon's jack-nine failed to survive against the ace-king of Astedt, eliminating him in third place. Astedt then sat with a monster chip lead during heads-up play with Daniels. It was a quick bout that saw Daniels put it in with ace-six and a snap-call from Astedt who held ace-ten ended the tournament, leaving Daniels to collect a runner-up prize of $821,689. Astedt scooped and was then dubbed the champion of this event, hauling in a massive seven-figure payday for his victory.
That wraps it up for the PokerNews coverage of this event, but tune for all of the high stakes GG Spring Festival action.