5 Big Hands from the Final Episode of Game of Gold - Maria Ho Claims Victory

Chad Holloway PR & Media Manager

Dec 11, 2023 4 min read Last updated Dec 12, 2023

Cates Flushes Arieh from Finale
England Runs into Two Big Hands
Holz and Cates Off to the Races
Yoh Viral Goes for Gold
Cates vs. Ho for the Title

On Friday, December 8, GGPoker’s hit show Poker After Dark: Game of Gold released its 12th and final episode.

In the finale, the final six players participated in one last sit-n-go playing 50-minute levels with the blinds at 10,000/20,000/20,000. Seats were chosen based on chip stacks, which in turn were based on the number of gold coins earned throughout the competition.

Here is how the final table stacked up:

Seat	Player	Big Blinds
1	Dan Cates	109 BB
2	Josh Arieh	220 BB
3	Fedor Holz	195 BB
4	Kyna England	81 BB
5	Yoh Viral	239 BB
6	Maria Ho	261 BB

The button was randomly drawn and ended up on Josh Arieh and action was soon underway, complete with Daniel “Jungleman” Cates in full leprechaun character.

Here’s a look at the five big elimination hands from the Game of Gold finale.

Cates Flushes Arieh from Finale

Despite starting the match second in chips, Arieh was stuck in reverse right out of the gate and eventually fell to the short stack. With the blinds at 20,000/40,000/40,000, he had 830,000 and raised to 80,000 under the gun with the J♠9♠. Cates defended his big blind with the A♣8♣ and it was heads-up action to the flop of 7♥J♣5♦.

Arieh made top pair and bet another 80,000 after Cates checked. The leprechaun called and the 2♣ turn gave him a flush, which he checked. Arieh bet 200,000, Cates called, and the 6♣ completed the board on the river.

Cates coyly checked his flush and Arieh moved all in for 470,000. Cates quickly called and Arieh became the first casualty of the final table officially finishing in sixth place.

“I had a lot of fun. This was really cool. I would love to do this again,” Arieh said of the experience.

England Runs into Two Big Hands

In Level 4 (30,000/60,000/60,000), Fedor Holz raised to 130,000 under the gun with the Q♠Q♥ and a short-stacked Kyna England jammed for 1.6 million from the cutoff with the A♥4♥. Maria Ho then looked down at the A♦K♥ in the small blind and just called.

Holz also called and the flop came down Q♦8♦J♦. Ho had the nut flush draw and a gutshot to Broadway, and she checked to Holz, who had flopped top set. He bet 600,000 and Ho called to create a side pot headed to the 2♥ river, which was a brick for her.

She checked for the second time and Holz upped his bet to 1.35 million. Ho stuck around to see the river, which was the 10♥ giving her a straight. She came out firing to the tune of 1.8 million and Holz hit the tank using several gold coins to buy more time.

“Absolutely insane,” he said while contemplating what to do. Eventually, Holz made the call and discovered the bad news. That hand resulted in Ho taking a big chip lead while England bowed out in fifth place.

Player	Count	Big Blinds
Maria Ho	14,510,000	181 BB
Daniel Cates	3,710,000	46 BB
Yoh Viral	2,760,000	34 BB
Fedor Holz	1,120,000	14 BB

Holz and Cates Off to the Races

In Level 5 (40,000/80,000/80,000), Cate raised to 160,000 from the button and then called when Holz jammed for 1.1 million from the small blind.

“Time to gamble,” Cates said with a leprechaun accent.

Fedor Holz: A♠10♥
Daniel Cates: 9♥9♣

The 2♦K♣5♥ flop didn’t do Holz and favors and neither did the 6♣ turn. He was looking to spike the river to stay alive, but that didn’t happen as the useless 4♦ peeled off to send him out the door in fourth place.

“I would play another season,” Holz shared. “I’m a bit disappointed, but let’s part tonight.”

Check out our review of GGPoker here!

Yoh Viral Goes for Gold

With the blinds at 40,000/80,000/80,000, Ho raised to 170,000 from the button holding the 8♠7♣ and Cates three-bet to 580,000 out of the small blind with the Q♣10♣. Johan "Yoh Viral" Guilbert then jammed for around 1.2 million from the big with the A♥6♥, Ho folded, and Cates called the additional 510,000.

“There is no pay jump,” Yoh Viral explained when Cates questioned his jam.

Yoh Viral was a 55% favorite, but not after the J♠K♣5♣ flop gave Cates both open-ended straight and flush draws to go with two live cards, which made him a 68% favorite. The 10♥ turn gave Cates the lead, and he held when the 5♦ paired the board on the river.

Yoh Viral hugged the remaining two players and wished them luck before exiting stage left.

Cates vs. Ho for the Title

Ho and Cates squared off in heads-up play, and it was reminiscent of their match from the heads-up round. Ho dispatched Cates in that battle, and in the final one, she was starting with a chip lead of 15.25 million to the 6.85 million of Cates.

The two jostled back and forth for a while, and during that time Cates closed the gap and was only down by less than a million. In Level 7 (80,000/160,000/160,000), Ho looked down at the K♣8♠ and raised to 320,000, which Cates three-bet to 1.15 million with the Q♦7♦.

Ho called and the flop came down 9♦2♣7♣. Cates flopped a pair of sevens and continued for 800,000, and Ho called once again with her backdoor straight and flush draws. The 4♣ turn kept her flush hopes alive, and she bet 2.7 million after Cates had checked.

Cates called and it was off to the river, which was the 3♣ giving Ho the flush. Cates was first to act and he picked a bad time to bluff moving all in for 6.1 million. Ho took off her shades, looked at the board, and then called to officially win Game of Gold Season 1!