18 minutes of play was all it took for the UK player ‘Gwaugh1’ to transform a $5 tournament buy-in into $1,000,000.
The insane spin-up happened in a PokerStars Spin & Go tourney. Also known generically as lottery sit & go’s, the Spin & Go format sees three players compete for a randomised prizepool.
Usually winner-take-all, the prizepool can be anything from double the buy-in to a million dollars, with a random number generator (RNG) dictating the size of the prize according to predetermined odds.
The chances of a special edition $5 Spin & Go hitting the maximum million-dollar jackpot are 1 in 10,000,000; the same probabiility of guessing a seven-figure number on your very first try, having identical quadruplets, or being dealt pocket aces three hands in a row.
Incredibly, the win for ‘Gwaugh1’ marked the third time the jackpot was hit at PokerStars this summer.
Originally launching online, Spin & Go tournaments have also been played at live events.The $880K suck out
‘Gwaugh1’ defeated Denmark’s ‘g3treal’ and Hungary’s ‘Kepes897’ to win the once-in-a-lifetime (but thrice-in-a-summer) prize. All three players scored a big return, as the top prize multipliers reward all participants, with ‘g3treal’ bagging $80K and runner-up ‘Kepes897’ scoring $120K.
The crucial hand — pictured above — came about when ‘Kepes897’ got all their chips in the middle holding top pair, but with ‘Gwaugh1’ spiking the 
on the river to fill an inside straight and scoop the seven-figure payday.
A jack or a diamond were their only outs, making them close to a 3-to-1 underdog to win the crucial pot. Had they lost the hand, ‘Gwaugh1’ would have still been alive in the game, but with fewer than 1/3 of the chips in play they would have faced an uphill struggle to mount a successful comeback.
The lucky jack ensured they won the $1M first prize rather than the $120K awarded to the runner-up.
Lightning strikes for the third time this summer
The first Spin & Go millionaire of the summer was made in late July when ‘dillerfar19’ of Denmark — taking a shot at $5 spins instead of their usual diet of $0.50 games — made quads on the river to defeat their opponents ‘malakaio300’ of Brazil and ‘KuCoH’ of Belarus.
Then, just days later, ‘Anatsuk334’ of Argentina repeated the feat against Switzerland’s ‘StephanShakes’ and Ukraine’s ‘Grozovalra’. In each case, all three players scored at least $80K.
Feeling lucky? Spin & Go tournaments at PokerStars are available in hold’em and Omaha variants with buy-ins ranging from $0.50 to $1,000.
For advice on how to play them, check out our guide to Spin & Go tourneys at PokerStars on FanDuel.
Images courtesy of Rational intellectual Holdings Ltd.
