It took some time, but finally, Thomas Muehloecker can call himself a GGPoker Super MILLION$ champion. At his ninth final table of the season, 12th of his career, Muehloecker survived the tough final table to capture his first career Super MILLION$ victory and the $311,933 first-place prize.

It had been a bit of a journey for the accomplished Muehloecker, who had made more Super MILLION$ final tables than any other player without taking one down. Even though he hadn’t won one prior to this week, he had plenty of accolades to show for his Super MILLION$ persistence. His career 22 in-the-money finishes brought him more than $2.2 million in earnings and landed him in the top 10 on the Super MILLION$ All-Time leaderboard.

But now, Muehloecker can rest easy knowing that he’s no longer on the list of the best players in the field without a title. And just like all of those other times when he didn’t win, this week’s final table was stacked with top-tier talent. Muehloecker started the day with the chip lead but was forced to face down tough competition including the likes of Elio Fox, Ottomar Ladva, Timothy Adams, and four-time Super MILLION$ champ Niklas Astedt.

It took nearly thirty minutes for the first player to hit the rail. With the blind at 20,000/40,000 (5,000 ante) a short-stacked Alex Kolonias moved all-in for his final five big blinds holding and was quickly called by Astedt on the button holding . The board ran out , shipping the pot to Niklas Astedt’s ace-high and ending Kolonias’ bid to mount a comeback in ninth place for $48,496.

The very next hand it was ‘Graf Tekkel’ who put himself at risk when he moved all-in from under the gun with his . It folded around to Timothy Adams on the button who woke up with and, after a few seconds, shoved his 20 big blind stack. Both of the blinds let go of their hands and ‘Graf Tekkel’ was looking to spike an ace to stick around. The flop came , bringing that ace, but also the case king, improving Adams to a set. The turn was the , leaving ‘Graf Tekkel’ looking for an ace to improve but the river came the ending the hand and ending the Russian’s run in eighth place for $61,199.

The blinds increased to 25,000/50,000 (6,000 ante) and despite earning the previous knockout, Adams remained the short stack at the table. Holding the , Adams put in a raise to 110,000 from the hijack. When it folded around to ‘MarkyAurelio’ in the big blind, the Brazilian three-bet to 325,250 with the . With 20 big blinds behind, Adams decided to four-bet ship his stack and was snap-called by ‘MarkyAurelio’. The flop put ‘MarkyAurelio’ ahead in the hand and left Adams looking for a nine to survive. However, the turn came the and the river was the eliminating Adams in seventh place for $77,231.

With the blinds at 35,000/70,000 (8,500 ante), Muehloecker opened from under the gun to 147,000 holding . When the action reached Astedt on the button, he three-bet to 412,000 with his . The blinds got out of the way and Muehloecker made the call. The pair took a flop of , giving Muehloecker top set which he checked over to Astedt. Astedt fired for 540,000 and Muehloecker simply called. The turn came the and Muehloecker checked it to the four-time Super MILLION$ champ again. Astedt, took a moment and went for it all, bluff-shoving his remaining 2 million in chips and was snapped off by Muehloecker’s set. Astedt was drawing dead to the river, finishing in sixth place for $97,462 while Muehloecker built a considerable chip lead with five left.

Later in the level it was a battle of two Estonians as Ottomar Ladva, with roughly 15 bigs, opened from middle position to 154,000 with and when it folded back to his countryman ‘ExVang’ in the small blind with the , he three-bet shoved his final 1.2 million. Muehloecker let go of his big blind and Ladva made the call, having just 646 in chips behind. The board ran out , never really giving Ladva’s pocket nines much of a sweat as ‘ExVang’ fell in fifth for $122,993.

Ladva, scored another double up through Meuhloecker when his pocket tens bested Muehloecker’s pocket fours just before he was about to strike again. The blinds rose to 50,000/100,000 (12,500 ante) when ‘MarkyAurelio’ raised to 200,000 on the button with his . From the small blind, Ladva shipped his 5.3 million stack holding the and after Fox folded his big blind, ‘MarkyAurelio’ called for his tournament. The flop came , giving Ladva middle pair along with straight and flush draws to improve while ‘MarkyAurelio’ needed help to survive. The turn changed nothing and when the hit the river, ‘MarkyAurelio’s day was done. The Brazilian finished in fourth place and collected $195,872.

Ladva surged to the chip lead with, Muehloecker right behind him. Fox was sitting in a distant third, with a stack of just over 10 big blinds. Three hands after ‘MarkyAurelio’ busted, Fox was looking to double up.

Muehloecker opened the button to 250,000 with the and after Ladva let go of his small blind, Fox shipped his final 1 million with the and Muehloecker quickly called. Fox was ahead preflop but all of that changed when the flop came bringing Muehloecker bottom pair. Fox needed a six or to pair the jack on the board to stick around. The turn came the , changing nothing. Finally, the completed the board, and Fox was forced to settle for third place and a $195,872 payday.

At the start of heads-up play, Muehloecker held a slight chip lead over Ladva. From the get-go, Muehloecker ran hot. He picked up key pots and went from a slight lead to extending it to roughly three-to-one.

On the final hand, it was a clash of big hands that helped Muehloecker to his first career title. With the blinds at 60,000/120,000 (15,000 ante) Muehloecker raised the button to 252,000 holding the and Ladva quickly three-bet to 888,000 with the . Muehloecker just called and the pair took a flop of keeping Muehloecker’s queens in the lead but giving Ladva a number of backdoor draws. Ladva led for 451,500 and Muehloecker put in a raise to 1.1 million. Ladva, with no time remaining, made the call leaving himself with just over 2 million and creating a pot of more than 4 million. The turn was the , and Ladva checked it to Muehloecker who put him to a test for the rest of his chips. Ladva decided on a call needing a club or an ace with one card to come. The river was the and Ladva wrapped up as the runner-up, good for $247,182 while Thomas Muehloecker finally added a Super MILLION$ win to his resume and locked up the first-place prize of $311,933.

Super MILLION$ Final Table Results – 11/30

1. Thomas Muehloecker – $311,933
2. Ottomar Ladva – $247,182
3. Elio Fox – $195,872
4. ‘MarkyAurelio’ – $155,213
5. ‘ExVang’ – $122,993
6. Niklas Astedt – $97,462
7. Timothy Adams – $77,231
8. ‘Gref Tekkel’ – $61,199
9. Alex Kolonias – $48,496