An $880K River and Three Other Remarkable Spin & Go Jackpots

An $880K River Ends an 18-Minute PokerStars Spin & Go

Before the first hand, the special-edition game’s 240,000x multiplier produced a $1.2 million prize pool. Eighteen minutes later, Gwaugh1 had won the $1 million first prize.

This latest PokerStars jackpot brought together the UK’s “Gwaugh1,” Hungary’s “Kepes897” and Denmark’s “g3treal.” The 240,000x multiplier meant all three had already turned their $5 into at least $80,000 before the first hand was played. First would receive $1 million, second $120,000 and third $80,000.

The top multiplier in that special-edition $5 game had odds of one in 10 million and used a $1 million/$120,000/$80,000 payout structure rather than the standard current Spin & Go table.

Even after landing the rare multiplier, Gwaugh1 still needed to overturn a roughly 3-to-1 deficit in the final hand. A jack on the river completed his straight and ended the tournament.

And Gwaugh1 wasn’t even PokerStars’ first $5 millionaire this summer. Denmark’s “dillerfar19” hit the same jackpot on July 17, followed by Argentina’s “Anatsuk334” nine days later. Gwaugh1 made it three on August 12 — three 240,000x jackpots in just 27 days. Apparently, one-in-10-million events don’t always have the courtesy to spread themselves out.

Bastuguee Turns €1 Into €800,000 in Six Hands

Among publicly reported jackpot Sit & Go results, Bastuguee’s 2022 Winamax win remains one of the most extreme returns on a €1 entry.

“Bastuguee,” a 24-year-old seasonal kitchen worker from Toulouse, sat down in a €1 Expresso and watched the €1 million jackpot appear. His chances of landing in that particular game? Again, one in 10 million.

Six hands later, it was all over.

Bastuguee had won €800,000, while his two opponents collected the remaining share of the €1 million prize pool.

His reaction probably sums things up better than any calculation could. The young Frenchman was still working as a seasonal kitchen employee and found himself wondering what exactly he was supposed to tell everyone when he returned to work.

James Carmichael Finds $1 Million Behind a $5 Buy-In

Partypoker’s first SPINS millionaire arrived in 2019.

British recreational player James “James23C” Carmichael was a regular low-stakes player when he entered a $5 SPINS tournament alongside Mexico’s “elielalbiter” and Peru’s “nilverlobo” — then the multiplier stopped at 240,000x.

That created a $1.2 million prize pool, with $1 million waiting for the winner and $100,000 apiece for the other two players.

Carmichael eliminated nilverlobo before reaching heads-up against elielalbiter, where the final hand saw his king-nine of diamonds run into pocket sixes. A six on the flop gave his opponent a set, but an eight of diamonds on the turn completed Carmichael’s flush.

The tournament was finished on its 19th hand, and the low-stakes British player had become partypoker’s first SPINS millionaire.

Romain Opens a Winamax Account and Wins €800K Two Hours Later

Our final entry barely gave its winner enough time to become a Winamax player.

In June 2024, a 27-year-old Frenchman named Romain went to a friend’s house to watch him play poker. He bought a piece of his friend’s action and, after needing to settle up, created a Winamax account and deposited €50.

That could have been the end of the story.

Instead, Romain — playing as “Ara digne40” — used some of the money left in his account to play Expresso tournaments. In the early hours of the following morning, he decided on one last €25 Expresso before going to bed. Up popped the €1 million jackpot.

Nine hands and around six minutes later, Romain had won €800,000. His opponents took €120,000 and €80,000.

The whole thing happened less than two hours after his account had been validated, according to RMC Sport.

If anything, these four stories are a pretty good reminder that, every now and then, the random number generator becomes the leading man at the table.

Bastuguee needed €1 and six hands. Romain needed roughly two hours as a Winamax customer. Carmichael needed $5. And Gwaugh1 needed a jack on the river.

The river produced an $880,000 payout swing: $1 million for first instead of $120,000 for second. It completed one of the most valuable 18-minute Spin & Go victories on record.