$15 Ticket Turned Into $142k - Poker Hobbyist Wins Big

[Tero]

According to Finnish poker news site Nettipokeri a poker hobbyist Giedré Valgemäe turned a 15 dollar satellite ticket into a handsome amount in GG Masters 1 000 000 GTD, last Monday.

Valgemäe lives in Estonia and is a working mother of two. She has had some small winnings in the past but nothing compared to this.

After winning the ticket only after two hands she started the tournament with 50 blinds and played tight basic poker. She claims to have been slightly under the influence of alcohol but yet managed to grow her stack into 250 blinds during the first hour of her play.

All she wanted was to make ITM and go to bed because she had to work the next day.

But things kept evolving and Valgemäe felt nervous going into day 2 of the tournament.

- I was really nervous because I didn't believe in myself.

Yet, chips continued to flow her way. When heads-up came she started to believe that she can actually win it.

The fun part? She had only 21 Euros (about 25 dollars) on her poker account when she bought the ticket.

Valgemäe's Instagram page

 

[Like2Play2]

Congratulations to her,
What an incredible story. it can give hope to a lot of people out there.

 

[Navin Sarabjeet]

Very well played.
Congrats to her on her amazing win.

 

[5TR8 FLUSH]

This is an incredible story, congrats to her. She can take year off work or payoff a house with that money.

 

[NotADonk]

According to Finnish poker news site Nettipokeri a poker hobbyist Giedré Valgemäe turned a 15 dollar satellite ticket into a handsome amount in GG Masters 1 000 000 GTD, last Monday.

Valgemäe lives in Estonia and is a working mother of two. She has had some small winnings in the past but nothing compared to this.

After winning the ticket only after two hands she started the tournament with 50 blinds and played tight basic poker. She claims to have been slightly under the influence of alcohol but yet managed to grow her stack into 250 blinds during the first hour of her play.

All she wanted was to make ITM and go to bed because she had to work the next day.

But things kept evolving and Valgemäe felt nervous going into day 2 of the tournament.

- I was really nervous because I didn't believe in myself.

Yet, chips continued to flow her way. When heads-up came she started to believe that she can actually win it.

The fun part? She had only 21 Euros (about 25 dollars) on her poker account when she bought the ticket.

Valgemäe's Instagram page

Awesome !
But, does anybody know how much tax she will have to pay on her winnings ?

 

[Tero]

Awesome !
But, does anybody know how much tax she will have to pay on her winnings ?

Most likely nothing
Estonia is part of EU and GGPoker has a Malta licence.

 

[Vallet]

It was the golden ticket of happiness. When the chance came, she jumped at the opportunity. The more such things are covered, the more ordinary players realize that anything is possible in this life.

 

[moraeskvmi]

Awesome !
But, does anybody know how much tax she will have to pay on her winnings ?

I dream too much, I would like to pay this tax, for now we keep trying.

 

[WrongUsername]

cool gg the poker dream is still alive for some ppl

 

[LUKADONCICMVP]

cool history to hear about it hope someday I will do same

 

[diffidaticonnoi]

Unbelievable

 

[Tero]

 

[puzzlefish]

The way it reads, it is almost as if it was just meant to be, isn't it? 🤔

 

[valeski 28]

This is a poker player´s dream come true.Thanks for posting this

 

[ratbat615]

i would love to see her hand history . i would pay to see.

 

[Tero]

i would pay to see.

How much

**************************
On the other hand... is this the kind of news what we really want to see?

I mean we are so grown accustomed to the narrative where these more or less known pros brag about their victories in social media, and they 'just happen to be' a coach on some poker training platform behind a paywall, and the holy wisdom is locked up there.

It kind of breaks the illusion of the "unreachable" poker knowledge what we all crave to find when the truth is actually much more simpler.

 

[renisundernet]

Amazing story very relatable but to a much bigger scale. Congratz.

 

[AnotherIndian]

Nice story, Hope the same stuff happens to me

 

[shanest]

love to hear stories like this.

 

[Nandabio81]

Congratulations for the mother, I'm sure the money will be well spent.

 

[ch1r4q]

Wow that's quite an acomplishment, congratulations to her!

 

[Rosylly]

She claims to have been slightly under the influence of alcohol

That's the key part! Drunken master never fails to deliver.

On a serius note, poker gives opportunities, just don't stop and keep going, 15$ to 142k is CRAZY!

 

[Brigistul]

Nice news! You deserve a beer! 👍

 

[Fallenglory]

That is inspiring, great story. Hope to play live myself again next year. I mean online is pretty good, but nothing get's the blood more going if you can see your opponent in the eyes.

 

[Garik777]

OMG🏆🤑👍