Yaginuma Overturns 9:1 Deficit to Win Millionaire Maker & 4th Bracelet

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Jun 25, 2025 5 min read Last updated Jul 02, 2025

After five action-packed days and a staggering 11,996 entries, Event #53: $1,500 Millionaire Maker at the 2025 World Series of Poker has crowned its newest champion. Jesse Yaginuma battled through one of the summer’s biggest fields to capture the $1,255,180 top prize and his first live WSOP gold bracelet, adding to his trio of online titles.

The Maryland native came into the final day second in chips and stayed composed throughout a high-pressure finale that featured the likes of Josh Reichard and Jonah Labranche. But it was James Carroll who proved to be Yaginuma’s biggest obstacle, both in experience and in chips, by the time they reached heads-up play.

Yaginuma began the final duel facing a daunting 9-to-1 chip deficit, which grew to 16-to-1 at one point. But he never panicked. A combination of well-timed aggression, sharp reads, and key double-ups helped him claw his way back into contention. What followed was one of the most memorable comebacks of the summer, as Yaginuma turned the tide and sealed the win in front of an energetic rail inside the Horseshoe and Paris Las Vegas.

Already a three-time WSOP Online bracelet winner, Yaginuma now has his first piece of live WSOP hardware and the biggest share of the $15,924,690 prize pool. With another seven-figure score added to his poker resume, he joins the elite club of Millionaire Maker champions in unforgettable fashion.

Event #53: $1,500 Millionaire Maker Final Table Results

Winner’s Reaction

"Thrilled but tired," said Yaginuma when asked how he was feeling moments after the win. "It's a long tournament."

With three WSOP online bracelets already to his name, Yaginuma was proud to finally capture one on the live stage. "It feels great. I mean, everyone always calls my old bracelets fake bracelets. You know, that's to be argued. But it feels great to have a live one."

I mean, everyone always calls my old bracelets fake bracelets. You know, that's to be argued. But it feels great to have a live one.

His journey through the massive field was anything but easy. "It was, it was long. I mean, like I said, the tournament was a week, and you gotta avoid a lot of minefields when you're going through 12,000 people. I actually got 22nd in the [Mystery] Millions. I had 19,000 people earlier in the series, so I didn't think I would get a chance to make a deep run in such a big field again. But I was extremely fortunate."

Starting the day second in chips, Yaginuma balanced both strategy and ambition. "You know, I mean, I think it's a mix. You know, you definitely want to ladder up, but I mean, I definitely want to get the bracelet, and it feels good to get it."

He found himself in a massive hole during heads-up play against Carroll, trailing heavily in chips. "It kind of feels like a freeroll. Like, you don't really expect to win, but you hope for the best and do what you can, and sometimes it works out."

It kind of feels like a freeroll.

Looking ahead, Yaginuma plans to stay busy in Las Vegas. "I'm going to play. I might take a day or two off, but I'll play a lot of the rest of the tour events. Looking forward to the Main Event coming up. And yeah, it should be, it should be fun."

As for how he plans to celebrate the biggest win of his career? "We don't have anything specific, but I'm sure we should at least have a good time tonight, so I'll figure it out."

Yaginuma Claims Bracelet Number Four

Yaginuma stayed out of the way in the early goings while Reichard dispatched Alejandro Ganivet and Labranche in seventh and sixth places, respectively. Reichard continued his elimination rush by knocking out Jeffrey Tanouye in fifth and Jacques Ortega in fourth.

With the majority of the chips in Reichard’s possession, it seemed to be a battle for second, but Yaginuma finally started his charge to the title when he doubled through Carroll. Yaginuma had committed his stack with ace-four and was way behind the ace-nine of Carroll. However, Yaginuma flopped a flush draw and turned it to lock up the pot.

As Carroll edged his way into the chip lead, Yaginuma, who was the shortest stack at the time, laddered up to second after the elimination of Reichard, who had a huge rail with him. Reichard opened with pocket threes and then four-bet shoved after Carroll three-bet with pocket jacks. A clean runout later and Reichard was out in third.

Overcoming the Deficit

After an unscheduled break of around 25 minutes for the players to prepare for heads-up play, the game got underway with Yaginuma at a nine-to-one chip deficit. Yaginuma was extremely cautious early on in the duel and even folded top pair to a single bet from Carroll with just eight big blinds behind.

It was a slow chip-up for Yaginuma, who appeared to have impeccable timing and had shoved his way back to a nine-figure stack without seeing many flops. Yaginuma then took the chip lead when he check-raised with just six-high and no draw, forcing a fold from Carroll.

From then on, it was all Yaginuma. The pressure never stopped and Carroll seemed like he had no answer. In the last hand of the night, Yaginuma got his queen-three in the middle against Carroll’s ace-ten, and a queen on the turn was enough for Yaginuma to win the pot and the tournament.

Stay with PokerNews throughout the summer as the 2025 World Series of Poker continues to unfold. From bracelet winners to Main Event dreams, keep it right here for the latest hands, chip counts, and stories as they happen.

• Tags WSOP World Series of Poker James Carroll Jesse Yaginuma WSOP 2025
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• Related Players Jesse YaginumaJames Carroll