The inaugural $10,400 Benefit Tens of millions Occasion on the 2025 Benefit Poker Traditional Tens of millions has formally concluded, with Boris Kolev rising above a proficient area of 212 entries to turn out to be the first-ever Benefit Tens of millions champion. Held contained in the gorgeous Benefit Royal Diamond Lodge On line casino & Spa, the distinctive occasion ended with Kolev capturing the coveted title and the huge $1,000,000 assured high prize.
Kolev, who started the ultimate desk third in chips, placed on a medical show to systematically dismantle his opponents on the best way to victory. In doing so, he turned the primary participant in Benefit Poker historical past to stroll away with a seven-figure payday. The Bulgarian professional made fast work of Mehdi Chaoui in a short heads-up battle to seal the title and etch his title within the report books.
This monumental win boosts Kolev’s profession match earnings to over $5,000,000, and marks the biggest rating of his profession—his first-ever seven-figure money—to go together with the 2 WSOP bracelets he is gained to this point.
Remaining Desk Outcomes
Winner’s Response
Moments after clinching the title, PokerNews caught up with the newly topped champion, Kolev, for his quick ideas.​
When requested about his emotions on successful the $1,000,000 prize, Kolev humorously pointed to his hoodie emblazoned with “extra money, extra issues” and quipped, “Nicely, now I’ve extra issues. With extra money comes extra issues. No, no, I really feel excellent—it is nice, clearly.”​
Reflecting on pivotal moments on the last desk, Kolev famous, “I began excellent, obtained quads early, and made loads of chips. Then, when there have been 4 folks left, the man [Kirichenko] determined to donate to me,” referencing a crucial hand the place Kirichenko referred to as Kolev’s river wager whereas each Chaoui and Lihacovs have been short-stacked.​
“I have not had this a lot enjoyable in a poker match in a very long time.”
Kolev additionally shared his admiration for the Benefit Poker venue, stating, “It is one of the best on the planet by far—one of the best venue, the lodging, the employees, the meals, the placement. No matter you need right here, it is right here. That is my favourite place.”​
Relating to the match’s distinctive construction, the place solely the ultimate desk obtained payouts, Kolev expressed enthusiasm: “I have not had this a lot enjoyable in a poker match in a very long time. Due to ICM over the previous years, it is advisable to fold, however right here everyone seems to be extra aggressive. I believe they need to make this match extra usually.”​
As for plans together with his newfound wealth, Kolev smiled and mentioned, “Hmm, poker possibly.”
Remaining Day Motion
The ultimate day of the $10,400 Benefit Tens of millions Occasion started with 30 hopefuls returning to battle it out for the title. With a singular payout construction that assured prizes just for the ultimate 9 gamers, everybody was nonetheless many knockouts away from locking up a payday.
It didn’t take lengthy for the sphere to shrink to 2 tables, with a number of notable names falling wanting the cash. Amongst these to hit the rail early have been fashionable vlogger Johan Guilbert, in addition to Nichan Khorchidian, Chady Ojeil, and Joseph Sabe, none of whom have been in a position to achieve sufficient momentum to a push for the ultimate desk.
As soon as play reached the ultimate 16, the strain ramped up as gamers had the $35,400 min-cash of their sights. A couple of brief stacks discovered themselves all in and in danger, and the bustouts got here rapidly. With 12 left, Rafael Aslanli climbed into the chip lead after making an incredible name to select off an enormous bluff from Andrey Pateychuk.
In the meantime, Kolev quietly continued to chip up. A key hand got here when he flopped a set in a three-way pot that resulted within the elimination of Natan Chauskin in eleventh place, additional cementing his place close to the highest of the chip counts heading into the bubble.
The bubble burst on the very first hand of hand-for-hand play, in heartbreaking trend for Oleg Semionov, the Day 1a chip chief. Semionov flopped a straight and was all in by the flip, however a coronary heart on the river accomplished the nut flush for Aleksandr Kirichenko, ending Semionov’s run only one spot wanting the cash. With that, the ultimate desk was formally set, and the remaining 9 gamers have been all assured a chunk of the $1,950,400 prize pool.
Remaining Desk Play
When the ultimate desk kicked off, Kolev sat third in chips, with Aslanli holding the chip lead. Regardless of being within the worst seat, on to Aslanli’s proper, Kolev got here out swinging, successful a three-bet pot with the chip chief on the very first hand.
A pivotal second for Kolev got here whereas 9 gamers remained. In a blind-on-blind conflict, Kolev turned quad queens and managed to get his river three-bet paid by Aslanli. The hand gave him the chip lead, which was a place he by no means relinquished. From that time on, Kolev regarded each bit the favourite to take the title.
The primary elimination got here when Pateychuk’s pocket kings held up towards Alexandr Lakhov, sending the Russian out in ninth. Moments later, Ali Al-Kubasi adopted in eighth, earlier than Pateychuk jammed from the small blind proper into Kirichenko’s massive pair. Not lengthy after, Chaoui obtained a fortunate runout to bust Maksim Shornikau in sixth.
With 5 gamers remaining, every had secured a six-figure rating. Kolev and Kirichenko have been neck and neck on the high, whereas Aslanli was steadily slipping. His downward spiral culminated in a brutal cooler, the place he picked up pocket jacks on the button and bumped into Kolev’s aces after a five-bet shove. Kolev snapped it off, and Aslanli hit the rail.
Whereas the opposite three gamers seemingly battled for second place, Kolev went on an absolute tear—elevating, three-betting, and going after pot after pot. The one one prepared to push again was Russia’s Kirichenko, who was nonetheless nicely forward of the remaining in second. After clawing again some chips, Kirichenko and Kolev clashed in what turned out to be the largest pot of the match. Kirichenko three-bet from the blinds after which check-called all the best way down, solely to face a shove on the river for his match life. After utilizing up all his time banks, Kirichenko tossed within the name—and obtained proven the dangerous information. Kolev had rivered the nuts.
With practically 90% of the chips in play, Kolev was firmly within the driver’s seat, leaving Romans Lihacovs and Chaoui basically battling for second place. Each managed a double by way of Kolev, and for a second, the tides appeared to show. However Kolev rapidly righted the ship, sending Lihacovs out in third after Kolev’s jack-four beat the pocket nines of Lihacovs to maneuver the match into heads-up.
The Large Heads-Up
This wasn’t your typical heads-up duel, as there was a staggering $700,000 distinction between first and second place. When play started, Chaoui was on life help, and his stack solely continued to dwindle. Finally, he referred to as off his final six massive blinds with a suited ace, solely to run into Kolev’s ace-queen. Chaoui picked up a sweat on the flop and switch, however the river got here clear for Kolev, leaving Chaoui to accept a runner-up end and a $300,000 payday.
Kolev wasted no time celebrating, heading straight to his mates and supporters after clinching the title and locking up a life-changing $1,000,000 because the 2025 Benefit Tens of millions Occasion champion.
That concludes our protection from the Benefit Royal Diamond Lodge On line casino & Spa—thanks for following together with PokerNews, and we’ll see you on the subsequent Benefit Poker journey.
