Every attempt got a little better. Joseph Liberta went from 537th to 345th, to 195th, to first. That was the progression Liberta made in the $1,500 Millionaire Maker since he first cashed in the event at the 2013 World Series of Poker (WSOP).
The fourth cash proved to be the charm as the 13-year journey reached its conclusion. His moment of ascension occurred after his supporters called for a five, and it came in a big way as Liberta hit trip fives on the flop. It was an emphatic way to put an exclamation point on a championship run at the Horseshoe and Paris Las Vegas as a newly minted champion was crowned at the 2026 WSOP after Liberta conquered Event #50: $1,500 Millionaire Maker.
It was not an easy or short journey for Liberta, as he had to go through the biggest field so far this summer at the WSOP with 11,769 entries, which created a prize pool of $156,233,457. Liberta captured the first WSOP bracelet of his career and the biggest piece of the pot, taking home the $1,250,000 top prize.
Joseph Liberta
Liberta declined to do an interview with PokerNews after a long five days of play, as he left the stage area with his supporters after joining the WSOP champions club, but did talk to Jeff Platt in the afterglow of his millionaire-making moment.
"It's completely surreal. I've been here for a long time," Liberta said. "I'm just extremely grateful."
Liberta entered the heads-up match with the chip lead over Michael Monroig and used that lead to his advantage as he leaned on his opponent to push Monroig into a corner. Monroig managed to stage a brief rally when he doubled up, but the momentum did not last long as Liberta slammed the door shut to claim WSOP gold.
This easily represents Liberta's biggest single cash and nearly doubles his poker earnings in one swoop as the New Jersey native has now accomplished the greatest achievement of his poker career.
Yifu He was the first to fall at the final table at the hands of Michael Monroig after tumbling to just two big blinds. Garry Gurevich then got it in preflop and was called in two spots before bowing out in eighth place.
Jacob Gagnon was the next to go after he jammed on the button and was called by Bradley Gafford. Gagnon’s ace was dominated, but he managed to outflop his opponent by hitting his kicker. Unfortunately for Gagnon, the board went running cards to counterfeit his pair as he went out in brutal fashion at the hands of Gafford.
Alex Kim was the sixth-place finisher after he shoved over the top of an open from Monroig and was called. Monroig hit a pair on the flop to take the lead. Kim was unable to recover and was left with ace high to hit the rail.
Joseph Baghdadlian
Gafford left Joseph Baghdadlianwith crumbs before Baghdadlian got the last of his chips in against Liberta. Baghdadlian was unable to pull off the upset against Liberta’s big slick to see the payout desk in fifth place.
Halford Fairchild was the next to go when he shipped it from under the gun and was called by Liberta. Liberta flopped a full house to eliminate Fairchild in fourth place.
Liberta would claim another knockout; this time, it was Bradley Gafford. Gafford turned two pair, but that proved to be fatal, as Liberta hit his straight on the turn also. Gafford jammed on the river and was quickly called by Liberta to find out the bad news as he exited in third place.
Michael Monroig
The final knockout of the tournament came at the expense of Michael Monroig. Monroig watched his stack dwindle after getting a double up during the heads up match before getting it in good against Liberta. Unfortunately for Monroig, Liberta flopped trip fives to overcome his dominated hand preflop to bounce Monroig and claim the top spot.
That concludes the PokerNews coverage of the Millionaire Maker, but stay tuned for live reporting from the rest of the 2026 WSOP.
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