The MILLIONAIRE MAKER $1,500 No-Limit Hold’em or one of this year’s six major WSOP events was completed a few hours ago with part-time poker player Adrian Buckley from Colorado capturing not only his first-ever WSOP bracelet, but also his first cash in a Series event.
This year, the MILLIONAIRE MAKER attracted a total of 7,275 entries who created a prize pool of $9,821,250. In comparison, as many as 7,977 entries took part in the event last year and created a prize pool of $10,768,950.
Of all the players who entered the MILLIONAIRE MAKER this year, only the top 747 finishers scooped a portion of the money, with the payouts starting from $2,749. Buckley received the amount of $1,277,193 for topping the event’s field.
However, he faced some really tough competition on his way to the victory. The nine-handed final table included four former bracelet winners – Erick Lindgren, Justin Pechie, David Miscikowski, and Mike Sexton. Furthermore, Buckley entered the final day of the event with a total of 10 big blinds.
During the heads-up play against Spanish player Javier Zarco, the eventual champion had to overcome his chip disadvantage several times before capturing the bracelet. On what turned out to be the most critical hand in play, Buckley held two times less chips and was all-in against his opponent. Yet, he won the hand and thus, reversed the chip counts.
The chips swung back and forth for the next 20 hands, until the last one occurred. On Hand #208, Buckley raised to 2,000,000 and Zarco moved all-in. Buckley called and tabled [10c][10s]. Zarco, on the other hand, showed [6c][6s]. The board ran out [3h][Ks][Jh][Kd][2h]. Holding the lower pair, the Spanish player had to settle for $791,690 and a runner-up finish. This was Zarco’s second WSOP cash and the biggest one so far.
New York-based player Oliver Busquet finished 3rd in the event to collect his 24th WSOP cash of $589,569. Randy Pfeifer, yet another New York resident, took 4th place for $441,465, his biggest WSOP cash so far.
Mohammad “Sheddy” Siddiqui from Pembroke Pines, Florida was paid $333,038 for his 5th place. One-time bracelet winner David Miscikowski from San Diego, California finished 6th to collect $253,093.
Las Vegas resident Erick Lindgren, who holds two bracelets, took 7th place to be paid $193,675. The player won his first two pieces of WSOP jewelry in 2008 and 2013. His WSOP winnings currently amount to more than $3.4 million.
Justin Pechie, who won his only WSOP bracelet back in 2011, finished 8th to capture his 22th WSOP cash of $149,283.
Mike Sexton rounded up the final table to collect what turned out to be his 61st Series cash. The player was paid the amount of $115,890 for his 9th place. Apart from winning a gold bracelet back in 1989, the player also topped the field of the 2006 WSOP Tournament of Champions. In 2009, Sexton became a Poker Hall of Fame member.
