The third WSOP Paradise bracelet to be handed out came at the end of a mammoth three-day spectacular. The GG MILLION$ weekly tournament costs $10,300 to play and usually takes place on GGPoker. This week, however, the setting was something very special, as the event cost $25,000 and formed part of the WSOP Paradise schedule out in The Bahamas. Coming out on top for a massive $2.7 million top prize was the Austrian player Samuel Mullur.

Over 500 Entries Fill Up the Field

The WSOP Paradise events that have taken place so far have been incredibly popular and not just with players, as more and more poker fans have utilized the PokerStake WSOP Paradise staking page to play a part in proceedings whether they are on Atlantis Island or not. A total of 533 players meant that a prizepool of $13,325,000 awaited anyone who could play their way into the money places.

Once play reached the final table of nine, some huge players in world poker had reached the last table in the tournament, including the 2020 WSOP Hybrid Main Event winner, Damian Salas. Of the nine, the first player to leave was the popular high roller regular Renat Bohdanov. The Ukrainian player moved all-in on the penultimate day with but he couldn’t hold against Daniel Smiljkovic who had . The board of sent Bohdanov home with $208,300 and officially wrapped the penultimate day of action.

Once play resumed with eight on the final day, Matthew Stumpf busted with the same hand as Bohdanov. Shoving from the small blind with his own , Stumpf was dominated also, as Smiljkovic once again scored an elimination, his prevailing when the board of played out. Stumpf headed to the rail with $267,500 to collect as the German player further boosted his chances of the ultimate bracelet win.

The Matador Takes Fatal Hit

Seven remained, and everyone at the table except the player who busted next got a massive boost. Adrian Mateos isn’t just a multiple WSOP bracelet winner, but a player who is regarded by his peers as one of the best professionals in the world. All-in for his final eight bigs, Mateos needed to hold with against the player with all the momentum – Daniel Smiljkovic. The German’s needed help and didn’t get much on the flop, but the added four more outs to the six he was chasing and a completed a runner-runner Broadway straight. Mateos had cashed for $349,400 but missed out on the biggest prize.

Coinflips were starting to become more and more important and Samuel Mullur won the first of his at a vital time. All-in with , Mullur needed to hit in order to survive against Klemens Roiter’s . The flop of didn’t help him, but the turn did and after a came on the river, Mullur was right back in the race. Roiter span up his micro-stack on a couple of occasions but eventually, Mullur’s hit against his and the Austrian was out for $463,700 in sixth place.

The Lithuanian player Arunas Sapitavicius was the next player to bust, cashing for $625,400 in fifth place. All-in with , he lost to Mullur’s as the eventual winner’s pocket pair held through the board. That pot and the others he had recently won left Mullur clear at the top of the leaderboard with 90.8 million chips, the Austrian looking invincible on his path to glory.

Champion Eliminated, Fedor’s Prodigy Triumphs

With four players remaining, Mullur’s three opponents didn’t have two-thirds of his stack between them. It was looking like a march to glory for Mullur, who hails from the same stable as many other big names, learning his game under the tutelage of Fedor Holz and his Pokercode team.

The 2020 world champion Damian Salas must have had high hopes of another major WSOP win when the final table – and indeed the final four – sat down. Instead, however, he missed out on the podium places when he was all-in with and couldn’t overtake his caller, actor Frank Brannan, with . An eight-high board was of no assistance to Salas and he slid out of contention for a fourth-place cash worth $856,800.

It was the initial aggressor at the final table, Daniel Smiljkovic, who busted next. All-in with , he was behind Brannan’s and stayed that way through the board to give Brannan 46.9 million chips going into the heads-up. As Smiljkovic went off to collect $1,192,300 for finishing third, Mullur had the chip lead, with 86.3 million chips.

In the early stages of the heads-up, Mullur kept Brannan at arms length, but when the chips were roughly 3:1 in Mullur’s favor, an all-in where the eventual winner had the best of it went against him, Brannan’s dominated overcoming Mullur’s when a queen landed on the turn. Brannan had briefly taken a marginal lead, but Mullur took charge again and when his was all-in on a board of , Brannan used a time bank to call with and was wrong to do so.

Re-establishing his 3:1 lead, Mullur saw it out this time, as Brannan’s shove with was an easy call for Mullur with and the kings held again, a beautiful flop of followed by a turn that sent his rail into raptures. Winning by far the biggest prize of his poker career to date, Samuel Mullur was the toast of The Bahamas.