Sami Kelopuro Wins Again; Take Down Super MILLION$ For $408,406

Finnish superstar Sami Kelopuro is in the middle of a massive heater. Kelopuro is an elite poker player who is running hotter than the sun. That is a deadly combination, one that yields amazing results.

One such result happened on February 16 when Kelopuro staged an epic comeback.

The Super MILLION$ takes place over two days. Day 1 saw 202 players enter, only the final table of nine survived. Kelopuro sat down at the final table in seventh-place having never finished higher than seventh in this event. That was about to change.

Guillaume Nolet was the first start out of the door. Nolet entered the final table with a healthy stack, but nothing went right during the first hour of play. His exit hand summed up his evening.

Nolet raised to 132,000 with Ad-Qc during the 30,000/60,000/7,500a level. Bert Stevens three-bet to 384,000 with As-9s and called when Nolet pushed all-in for 986,837. The five community cards fell 3s-Td-Th-8c-9c to bust Nolet.

Eighth place went to one of the two Russians at the final table, Aleksei Barkov. He only had 4.5 big blinds when he open-shoved with Kc-7c from the button. The 2020 WSOP Main Event champion Damian Salas called with Ac-Qc in the small blind. A board reading 6s-3s-5c-5h-9d and Barkov busted.

Kelopuro Busts Former Super MILLION$ Champion

Former Super MILLION$ champion Stevens fell in seventh-place at the hands of Kelopuro. Stevens lost all but half a small blind when his Ks-Qd lost to the Qh-Qs of “dimisag”. His Qd-Td proved no match for the Ah-Jd of Kelopuro on the very next hand.

The Finn put his foot firmly on the gas and sent Adrian Mateos to the showers. Kelopuro min-raised to 200,000 with Ac-Kh and called when Mateos jammed for 770,790 with Ad-Td. Mateos, a three-time WSOP bracelet winner, crashed out courtesy of the 6s-4s-Jc-9h-7c board.

Fifth-place and $144,393 went to Arsenii Malinov who bluffed off his stack to Kelopuro. The hand started with Kelopuro limping in from the small blind with 6h-6c. Malinov checked with Ah-5c, and the flop fell 6c-4s-4c. Kelopuro led for 120,000, Malinov raised to 360,000, and the Finn called. Both players checked the 7s turn leading to the 5s river. Kelopuro fired a 683,100 into the 1,035,000 pot. Malinov opted to push all-in for 2,032,280, Kelopuro called, and Malinov crashed out.

Satellite Winner Busts in Fourth; Kelopuro With a Huge Lead

dimisag qualified for this $10,300 buy-in tournament via a $1,000 satellite. That satellite investment swelled to $187,255 after his exit in fourth place. The action folded to dimiasg on the button, and he raised all-in for 8.5 big blinds with Ad-Qh. Salas called with Ah-Th and won when the board ran 3h-9h-Jd-Kc-6h.

Darren Elias crashed in third, at the hands of Salas. Elias won the first Super MILLION$ of 2021 but narrowly missed out this time. He open-shipped his 13 big blind stack into the middle with 4c-4h. Salas looked him up with Ah-9s, and the coinflip was on. Elias’ hand remained best on the Ts-Td-5h flop but fell way behind on the Ad turn. The Qs river completed the board and confirmed Elias’ demise.

Salas held a narrow chip lead over Kelopruo going into heads-up but the Finn is a heads-up specialist. A huge pot went the Finn’s way when he turned a straight when Salas turned a set. Game over soon followed.

Kelopuro min-raised to 320,000 with Ks-Jd, Salas called with Kd-8c, and the flop fell Kh-Jc-4d. Salas check-raised a 160,000 continuation bet to 320,000. The Finn called. The turn brought the Td into play, and Salas led for 275,600. Kelopuro moved all-in, and Salas called off his last 1,520,460 chips. Salas collected $314,924 for his runner-up finish, and the champion walked away with $408,406.

Super MILLION$ Final Table Results

Place	Player	Country	Prize
1	Sami Kelopuro	Finland	$408,406
2	Damian Salas	Argentina	$314,924
3	Darren Elias	Canada	$242,839
4	dimiasg	Cyprus	$187,255
5	Arsenii Malinov	Russia	$144,393
6	Adrian Mateos	Mexico	$111,342
7	Bert Stevens	Mexico	$85,856
8	Aleksei Barkov	Russia	$66,204
9	Guillaume Nolet	Canada	$51,050

Matthew Pitt

If it’s something you can play online for real money, chances are Matthew knows a bit about it. He’s been writing about slots, craps and poker for the better part of the last decade. He’s written for PokerNews, PartyPoker and many other respected online gambling websites during the last nine years.

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