Fabiano Kovalski finally has the one title that kept slipping away. The Brazilian, head coach of the Samba Poker Team, won the $10,000 GGMillion$ High Roller on GGPoker for $464,794, according to results reported on October 28, 2026. The win came in his 92nd appearance in the weekly flagship, after 91 earlier attempts, 11 final tables and two runner-up finishes. It is the kind of result that sounds like a feel-good story, but it also carries a useful lesson about how high-stakes online tournaments really work.
The Numbers Behind the Win
The two-day event drew 237 entries against a $2 million guarantee. Coverage from Spade Poker puts the final prize pool at $2,308,900, comfortably above the guarantee. First place paid $464,794, which works out to roughly 20% of the pool, a typical top-heavy structure for a field of this size.
GGMillion$ runs every Sunday on GGPoker, and the $10,000 buy-in version is the top rung of the ladder. Players who do not want to pay full price can qualify through $109 Step satellites, which is how many of the weekly field arrive. For anyone new to the format, our tournaments hub explains how guarantees, overlays and late registration interact, and our high stakes page lists where the biggest buy-ins are spread.
Final Table Payouts
The nine-handed final table paid as follows, per PokerListings and Spade Poker:
- 1st: Fabiano Kovalski (Brazil), $464,794
- 2nd: Jon Vallinas (Spain), $358,405
- 3rd: Hannes Jeschka (Germany), $276,368
- 4th: Laszlo Bujtas (Hungary), $213,109
- 5th: Dmitry Kravchenko (Ukraine), $164,329
- 6th: Andrii Derzhypilskyi (Ukraine), $126,715
- 7th: Alisson Piekazewicz (Brazil), $97,711
- 8th: Jessé César (Brazil), $75,345
- 9th: Emilien Pitavy (France), $58,099
Note the shape of that ladder. The gap between first and second is more than $106,000, while the gap between eighth and ninth is just over $17,000. Every elimination up the ladder is worth more than the last, which is why final tables at this level are played with such care.
How the Final Table Played Out
Kovalski started the final table with only the fifth-largest stack. Hungarian pot-limit Omaha specialist Laszlo "omaha4rollz" Bujtas held the chip lead early. The turning point came when Kovalski eliminated Bujtas after a five-bet shove: his ace-king suited ran into Bujtas's king-queen offsuit. Earlier, Kovalski had also beaten Bujtas's ace-five offsuit with pocket aces at four-handed, a hand that helped him build the stack he needed.
Fellow Brazilians Alisson Piekazewicz and Jessé César both reached the final table, and the Brazilian presence there reflects how deep the country's bench has become in online high rollers. Piekazewicz eliminated César, and Kovalski then eliminated Piekazewicz to take the lead.
Heads-Up Against Jon Vallinas
Heads-up began with Kovalski holding about 46 big blinds to Vallinas's 52, essentially an even match. The decisive hand arrived on a board of Q♦ 8♦ 5♥ 8♣ 6♦. Kovalski held 5♦ 4♦ and had made a river flush. Vallinas, holding K♣ 8♥ for trip eights, shoved the river for twice the pot, and Kovalski called almost instantly to take the title.
It is a nice illustration of a recurring river spot. Three diamonds on board and a straight possibility with the 5-6 meant Kovalski's flush, while not the nuts, beat nearly everything that would call a bet. Vallinas's shove with trips represented a polarised line that only works if the opponent folds a flush, and Kovalski had no reason to.
Why 91 Attempts Is Not a Failure
The headline number, 91 attempts without a win, sounds brutal. But 11 final tables in 91 starts is a final-table rate of about 12%, and that is extraordinary in a field where only nine of roughly 237 entries make the money-laddered final table in the first place. Reaching the final table at roughly one in eight attempts, and finishing second twice, is evidence of a very strong player, not a cold one.
In a winner-take-most structure, even the best players win a small fraction of the tournaments they enter. This is variance, not skill deficit. Kovalski's own history backs that up: earlier this season he won two titles at EPT Barcelona, including a €10,300 High Roller worth €727,280 and a €3,250 Mystery Bounty for €385,430, and PokerNews noted that his live earnings had passed $4 million. For the maths behind long losing stretches in big-field events, see our companion piece on variance at $10K buy-ins and our bankroll management guide.
What This Means for Players
There are three practical takeaways for regular tournament players, whatever their buy-in level.
First, final tables are the real KPI. If you measure your tournament results only by wins, you will go months or years without positive feedback. Final-table frequency, ROI over a large sample and ICM decisions are better indicators of whether you are playing well.
Second, short stacks win tournaments. Kovalski sat fifth in chips at the start of the final table. Players who understand ICM and the value of fold equity can climb from a mid-pack stack, particularly when a big stack like Bujtas is willing to gamble. The five-bet shove that eliminated the chip leader shows how a strong hand can win a big pot against a stack that is trying to apply pressure.
Third, the satellite route matters. Because $109 Step satellites feed the main event, a large part of the field is made of players who paid a fraction of the full price. That reduces the cost of variance for them and, for pros paying full price, increases the number of weaker opponents in the early levels.
The Samba Poker Team Angle
Kovalski is the head coach of the Samba Poker Team, GGPoker's Brazilian-flavoured squad. That context matters because Brazilian players have had an outsized influence on the GGPoker ecosystem for years, and three of the nine final tablists here hailed from Brazil. The win gives the team a headline result at a time when regional rivalries between Brazilian, Spanish and Eastern European grinders define the weekly high-roller leaderboards.
For readers interested in where to play these events, GGPoker is not available to US residents, but our US poker site guide and real money poker pages explain the legal alternatives. Players elsewhere can compare options on our poker networks page.
Bigger Picture: A Strong Month for GGMillion$
Kovalski's result is the latest in a run of notable GGMillion$ stories. Andy Wilson took the $10,000 event for $437,338 recently, and Gustavo Campos won it for a second time, earning about $416,000. Weekly guarantees of $2 million at this buy-in are normal now, and with 237 entries, the field clearly clears the guarantee. That is a healthy sign for the top end of the online market, which has faced questions about high-stakes liquidity in recent years.
The conclusion is simple. Kovalski did not find a new strategy or change his approach; he kept showing up with an edge and eventually the results matched. For anyone chasing a first big win, that may be the most reassuring headline of the week.
Results are as reported by PokerListings, Spade Poker and PokerNews. Always gamble responsibly and play only with money you can afford to lose.