Maria Ho Crowned Champion in First Season of "Game Of Gold"
The final episode of the poker show "Game of Gold" was released on the GGPoker YouTube channel. The first season of the GGPoker's show from the very premiere episode became one of the most important events of the poker year. During the first eight episodes, many interesting and unexpected events took place, which were closely watched by fans from all over the world. Now it's time to discuss the final few episodes, which included sad goodbyes, unique game formats and a tense final table with a fight for the championship title.
Nikita Luther's Team Elimination
Unfortunately, the bright team consisting of Ukrainian Olga Iermolcheva, streamer Lukas Robinson and captain Nikita Luther could not overcome the second round of the game and were eliminated from the show, despite Luther's powerful game. From the very beginning of the round, Olga understood the weakness of her team and did not radiate optimism about the final result:
When you have to play Charlie Carrel, David Williams and Andy Stacks heads-up on #GameOfGold pic.twitter.com/T0BMJlcKfl
— Barry Carter (@Barry_Carter) November 30, 2023
And from the very beginning of the round, everything turned out exactly as Olga expected – the team was on the verge of elimination. But captain Nikita Luther's confident performance brought hope back to the team, only to make the disappointment of the defeat even greater.
Indian Poker in the Third Round
The third round of the show was unexpected for the participants and the audience. Namely, the game that the organizers offered to play. Many believed that after two rounds of Hold'em, the producers of the show wanted to dilute the events with something else – Omaha, Short Deck or something like that. But no one expected that in the third round the players would compete in Indian poker.
This is a type of poker in which each player receives one card, which is kept at forehead level so that all opponents can see it. That way, you know all your opponents' cards, but you don't know your own. The goal is to stay in the game with the highest card. One round of trading is available in the game, and the main thing is not to fold the Ace in any case (in this case you lose 50% of your stack).
Woooow Crazy Game !! 🇮🇳 #gameofgold pic.twitter.com/1OAyKOLDSx
— YoH ViraL (@YoHViral) December 4, 2023
This format was new for almost all participants, so they had to understand the rules and nuances of the strategy already during the game. Jungleman, Kyna England and Johan Guilbert managed to adapt best to the new conditions. In fact, the latter should be grateful to luck, which was 100% on his side in this round.
Thus, after the third round, only six participants remained in the game:
Final and the Champion
The last, 12th episode of the show, became the final and longest. In two hours, the finalists in the classic format of the final table played for the title of the winner of the first season of "Game of Gold" and $456,000 in prize money. The chip leader before the start of the round was Maria Ho, whose stack was equal to 261 BB. But the main figure at the table was not her, but Daniel "Jungleman" Cates, who sat down to play in the image of a leprechaun (for this he prepared a special costume and even spoke with a suitable Irish accent).
The key hand of the final table and one of the most vivid poker moments was the 11M pot hand between Maria Ho and Fedor Holz. This mega confromtation and the course of Holz's thoughts can be traced in this video:
After this hand, Ho's stack became so large that she had more than all her opponents combined. Therefore, bringing the case to its logical end seemed like an easy task. But Jungleman did not agree with this, he played against Maria in heads-up and at one point even managed to level the stacks. However, Ho once again produced a stretch of near-perfect play and still managed to beat her opponent. As a result, she became the first champion of "Game of Gold". Now players and fans will eagerly await the second season, which, as the producers have informed, is already in the development stage.
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