Stephen Chidwick came in for a min-raise in the cutoff, and Mateusz Rypulak defended his big blind. On the flop Chidwick continued for 6M and Rypulak called. The players then checked through the turn and river, and Rypulak's was enough to take the pot from Chidwick's .
Jon Spinks made it 10M to go from the hijack with and Jacob Mulhern took a flop in the big blind with . The didn't offer much for Mulhern, and he folded to a bet of 8.5M.
Mateusz Rypulak made it 10M to go from the button with and both Jacob Mulhern with and Maria Lampropoulou with made the call in the blinds.
The flop came , Mulhern and Lampropoulou both checked and Rypulak fired 13M. Mulhern made a small raise to 29M total, and that was good enough to take the pot.
Maria Lampropoulou raised to 12.5M on the button with and picked up two flat calls out of the blinds with Jeremy Pantin with and the of Jon Spinks. The trio checked the flop and the turn.
Pantin then checked the river and Spinks bet 12.5M, which sent Lampropoulou into the think tank.
In what would turn out to be the biggest hand yet of the final table, the action folded around to Katie Swift on the button. She made it 11M to go with , and Mulhern defended his big blind with .
After being checked to, Swift continued for 8M on the flop, and she fired a second barrel on the turn after being called. Mulhern made the call again. It got really interesting on the river. Mulhern took the initiative betting 26M, and Swift went deep into the tank. First off she cut out chips for a raise, but ultimately she decided on calling instead, hoping to catch Mulhern in a bluff.
Mulhern turned over his measly pair of sixes and was very surprised as Swift's hand hit the muck. With that pot Mulhern has overtaken the chiplead at this partypokerLIVE Millions Main Event final table.
From the hijack, Stephen Chidwick moved all in for 61M and Katie Swift reshoved for 99.9M from one seat over to get everyone else out of the way.
Stephen Chidwick:
Katie Swift:
On the flop, Chidwick picked up some chop outs, but the turn and river improved Chidwick to a full house and he scored a full double up, leaving Swift as the far shortest stack.
A monumental pot at the MILLIONS Main Event final table saw Stephen Chidwick win from a losing position against Katie Swift when his ace-jack found two jacks to fill up against Swift's ace-king.
In the aftermath of such a game-changing hand, we spoke to three people as affected by the drama as anyone, Stephen's parents and close friend Max Silver. The two families are closer than most, from Broadstairs and Deal in Kent, a county nicknamed the 'Garden of England' for its stunning countryside.
"We live very near the Swift family in Kent," said Stephen's father Peter Chidwick. "Just 15 miles away."
When we asked if the Chidwicks had seen Stephen in action before on the rail, they told us that they got the closest they could.
"We were on our way to an EPT final in San Remo when he got knocked out before the final table." said Peter.
"We've had plenty of practice watching him live online and following the live updates." says Julie Chidwick, Stephen's mother. " But he was out before we got there."
Both parents were right on the rail (pictured) celebrating Chidwick's win in the most recent crucial hand against Katie Swift.
"It's nerve-racking, you don't expect him to get there." says Peter.
Max Silver is one of Stephen's best friends in poker and is right next the Chidwicks on the rail.
"I'd say [Stephen] is the most-feared player at the table. He definitely has the most live experience and is very tough to play against. Now he has chips, they could be really worried. When he was short, he couldn't really do too much but now he has chips, he can make a push to win small pots and try to dominate. It's hard to beat a man who's really good and really lucky. Right now, he's both."
Katie Swift moved all in for 37.9 million chips from early position and the action folded to Maria Lampropulos on the button. Her cards were not showing and she gave it plenty of consideration, then folded.
Jeremy Pantin then moved all-in from the small blind and Jon Spinks let it go in the big blind.
Katie Swift:
Jeremy Pantin:
The board ran out and Swift had been eliminated in 7th place for £100,000, while all remaining six players locked up £150,000 minimum.
Katie Swift's exit from the final table sees Maria Lampropulos as the last remaining female player, but Swift herself is proud of her efforts despite falling short in her bid to become MILLIONS Main Event champion.
"It was the hand before that was the pivotal hand. After losing that I was down, but still had 100 million chips and that's enough to recover. Then came the hand against Stephen."
Katie Swift's ace-king lost to Chidwick's ace-jack after being all-in pre-flop and it was obviously painful for the Kent based mum-of-one.
"It was tough, especially when my son's called Jack, and he's nine. It came nine-nine, jack jack! It is what it is; Stephen's not doing anything different there, he was short stacked. It plays itself, I've had times where I've done that to others, so it's fine. I can't moan about that. I had aces against a set of sevens and found a flush, so coming 7th in this tournament out of 7,000 isn't a failure."
Now she's gone, Katie can see another lady winning the title.
"Everyone on this final table is going for it now. Stephen could maybe have dominated, but I' hoping Maria will go for it, she's a lovely girl. They've all done well wherever they finish."
Jeremy Pantin made it 11M to go with from the cutoff and Stephen Chidwick wasted no time moving in for 146,500,000 out of the small blind with . Mateusz Rypulak in the big blind looked down and found the , and after a mandatory think, he shoved over the top for 192,300,000.
Pantin wanted nothing to do with it and made the fold, and it was heads up for the massive pot.
The flop was safe for Rypulak, so was the turn and river, and Rypulak raked in the pot while Chidwick headed for the rail.
With that run-out, the most decorated player of the final table is eliminated in 6th place, while the 23-year-old Rypulak has taken back the chiplead in the hunt for the £1 million first prize.