Marty Mathis beat Bruno Volkmann heads up to win the partypoker MILLIONS South America Main Event (partypoker photo)

Six days of poker in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil culminated in an 11-hour final table on Sunday night as American Marty Mathis overcame one of Brazil’s top-ranked online players in Bruno Volkmann to win the partypoker MILLIONS South America Main Event for $774,500.

One time Brazilian Series of Poker Sao Paulo and PokerStars Sunday Millions champion Caio Hey began the final table on the short stack and he was not able to make a major pay jump. Samuel Gagnon raised from the hijack with the 7s7c and Hey looked down at the 2h2d in the small blind and three-bet shipped his short stack. Gagnon called and Hey needed help to stay alive. The flop came JsQc7h giving Gagnon a set and before the turn even hit Hey began saying his goodbyes. The board completed with the 4h and the 9c as Hey made his way to the cashier to receive his $255,936 sixth place prize.

It took another hour and a half of action before the next player hit the rail. After a cutoff raise from Volkmann, the surging Mathis called from the button with the AhKh. Vlada Stojanovic then shipped his short stack from the big blind holding TsTc. Volkmann got out of the way and Mathis quickly called. The flop came 3h6hQd giving Mathis the nut flush draw to go with his two over cards. Stojanovic’s tens couldn’t hold as the 9h arrived on the turn, effectively ending the hand. Serbia’s Stojanovic picked up a career-high cash of $307,123 for his fifth place finish.

Four-handed play lasted for almost four hours before Volkmann found yet another victim. With blinds of 1,000,000/2,000,000, Gagnon raised to 4,500,000 from UTG with Qh7h and Volkmann called from the button with 4c4s. The flop came 8c7d3h and Gagnon checked and then called after Volkmann bet 5,500,000. The turn was the 4h and Gagnon checked again. Volkmann bet 12,500,000 and Gagnon called again. After the Kc river, Gagnon checked and Volkmann moved all in. Gagnon took some before calling all in only to see Volkmann show his turned set. Gagnon was out in fourth place for $370,000.

Following Gagnon’s elimination, the three remaining players came to terms on a deal. Volkmann, who had nearly half the chips in play at this point, ended up with the biggest cut, taking home $687,500. Mathis earned Mathis $662,500 and Matas Cimbolas pocketed $558,000 with an additional $212,000 going to the eventual champion.

Just 20 minutes later, Cimbolas was sent to the rail. Cimbolas raised to 5,000,000 from the button, Volkmann folded the small blind and Mathis defended his big blind. The flop came TcTs5s. Mathis check-raised Cimbolas’ bet of 4,000,000 to 11,100,000 and Cimbolas called. The turn was the 9s and Mathis bet 40,000,000. Cimbolas moved all in for 42,400,000 and Mathis called. Cimbolas tabled Ac5d but Mathis showed KhTh. The meaningless river was the 9s and Cimbolas, who finished runner-up at a World Poker Tour event just last week, was out in third place for $R2,232,000 ($558,000).

That pot gave Mathis 54.5% of the chips in play as heads up action began. A little less than an hour into heads up play, Volkmann doubled into the chip lead but in the two hours that followed, Mathis continued to work his way back into the top spot. With Volkmann down to just seven big blinds, the Brazilian moved all in with Qd2s and Mathis called with Qc8c. Volkmann couldn’t even find a chop on a AdJh3d7dTs runout to give Mathis the title and a career-high score.
Final Table Payouts

  1. Marty Mathis – $774,500
  2. Bruno Volkmann – $687,500
  3. Matas Cimbolas – $558,000
  4. Samuel Gagnon – $370,000
  5. Vlada Stojanovic – $300,000
  6. Hey Carlos De Lima – $250,000