How This Poker Coach Turned $210 Into $147,411
Imagine turning a $210 buy-in into $147,411 without even having to leave the house.
That’s exactly what Upswing Lab coach and popular Twitch streamer Hristivoje “ALLinPav” Pavlovic accomplished this week.
Despite entering the final table in last place with just 13.1bb, Pav put on a short stack master class, navigating every difficult spot to earn the biggest payday of his career.
This article will show you 6 sick hands that tell the story of his final table run.
Let’s dive in.
Note: Want to learn how Pav does it? Access his exclusive training content in the Upswing Lab! I’ll talk more about this at the end of the article.
Tournament Background
Tournament Name: GG Poker Global Million$ Mystery Closer
Guarantee: $5,000,000
Buy-In: $210
Total Entries: 27,085
Final Table Payouts:
1st – $202,962.70
2nd – $148,794.04
3rd – $109,281.42
4th – $80,262.42
5th – $58,950.28
6th – $43,298.22
7th – $31,803.12
8th – $23,360.75
9th – $17,160.50
Final Table Starting Stacks:
83.3bb – PatrickSPM
77.9bb – Zoe Torres
71.6bb – riverdreamer
62.3bb – A Piekazewicz
37.4bb – JohnSmith336
33.7bb – Cr33pyBlackGuy
27.5bb – AKallin123
16.5bb – SUPERUSER007
13.1bb – ALLinPav
Hand #1: Pav Goes All-In With Pocket Eights
After folding the first few hands of the final table, Pav remained the short stack with 10.2bb as he was dealt Pocket Eights in the Lojack. You can see all of the stacks here:
Pav raised to 6.5bb, leaving 3.7bb behind. This is effectively an all-in — he’s obviously committed himself at this point.
The Small Blind then raised all-in and the Big Blind folded. Pav made the call and saw his opponent turn over As Ks.
The board ran out Td 9d 9c 6c 4c to secure a massive double-up for Pav.
Pretty standard stuff there. You gotta win your flips to succeed in tournaments!
Hand #2: Pocket Queens Facing A Raise
The next hour went by fast as Pav got involved in a few small pots.
His stack hovered between 8bb and 20bb and during this time, two players were eliminated, which means Pav had locked up another $14,000 or so.
You can see the following stack distributions for Pav’s next big hand:
The Hijack raised 2bb and Pav looked down at Pocket Queens in the Cutoff. Pav jammed all-in for his remaining 8.5bb.
The Hijack made the call with Pocket Fours and the board ran out Kd 7s 2d Ad As as Pav doubled to 19.2bb.
Good timing for the ladies on that one!
Hand #3: Pav 4-Bet Jams Pocket Eights
A third player was eliminated, leaving just the final 6 players with the following stacks:
Pav raised with his Pocket Eights to 2bb from the Cutoff. The Button 3-bet to 5.5bb. Pav 4-bet all-in for 20bb effective and the Button folded, bringing Pav’s stack to 27.6bb.
That simple but effective play boosted Pav’s stack by about 40%!
Hand #4: Pav Plays A Multiway Pot 5-Handed
Down to 5-handed now, with each player having locked up $58,950.
At this point, Pav found himself third in chips with the following stacks:
He picked up Ac Qc in the Hijack and raised to 2bb. Interestingly, both the Small Blind and Big Blind called, so we got to see a rare multiway pot vs the two players that had Pav covered.
The flop came Ad Kd 7h and the action checked to Pav, who c-bet 2bb into 6.6bb. Only the Big Blind called.
The turn came the 6d and both players checked.
On the river 2h, the Big Blind block bet 1bb into 10.6bb. Pav debated raising for value, but decided to take the more conservative path given the ICM pressure of the situation.
After Pav called, the Big Blind showed Kh 8h and Pav scooped the 12.6bb pot.
Hand #5: Big Stack Open Jams & Pav Has A Decision
Another player was eliminated just a few hands later, which saw play get down to 4-handed.
This created a unique ICM situation as you can see how close the stack sizes were between the three smallest stacks:
With just about 4bb separating the three smallest stacks, the big stack in the Cutoff decided to put max pressure on, jamming all-in for 22.1bb effective.
Pav looked down at Ah Qh and called for his remaining 17.9bb. Both blinds folded, and Pav saw the good news as he had the Cutoff’s As Jh offsuit dominated.
The board ran out Qd 9c 7h Tc 6d and Pav locked in a massive double-up.
Hand #6: Pocket Aces At The Perfect Time
This one seems too good to be true. Play remained 4-handed and you can see the stack sizes here:
The shortest stack Cutoff raised to 11bb, leaving 1.6bb behind. The Button folded and Pav went all-in with his Pocket Aces.
The Cutoff called with Ac 9d and the Kc 6d 5d provided quite the sweat.
But luckily for our hero, the turn was the 3s and the river the 7s to secure the knockout for Pav and bring us down to 3 players.
Making The Deal
With the previous elimination, Pav secured a six-figure score with $109,281.42 locked up.
They played just one more hand before the players agreed to a 3-way ICM deal with the following payouts:
- 1st – A Piekazewicz ($178,851.60)
- 2nd – ALLinPav ($144,491.04)
- 3rd – AKallin123 ($137,695.52)
They played out the tournament for the remaining bounties, and Pav ended up with a massive score of $147,411.04. Truly an incredible sum for a $210 buy-in tournament.
Would You Have Played Any of These Hands Differently?
Let us know in the comments.
If you want to see a full replay of the final table, you can check it out on Pav’s Twitch channel here.
Note: If you want to learn Pav’s strategies and tactics, check out the Upswing Lab training course. In the Lab, Pav has 4 advanced learning modules that cover the following topics:
- MTT Sampler Platter (2 hours and 43 minutes)
- Bounty Tournament Strategy (3 hours)
- Blind vs Blind in MTTs (4 hours and 28 minutes)
- Key ICM Concepts (2 hours 45 minutes)
In addition to these 4 modules, Pav also has 38 Play & Explains where he reveals much more about his strategies than he could ever reveal in a stream. Get instant access to it all inside the Upswing Lab.
