Event #8: $1,500 Millionaire Maker No-Limit Hold'em
Day 1b Completed
2014 World Series of Poker
Event #8: $1,500 Millionaire Maker No-Limit Hold'em
Day: 1b
Event Info
Final Results
Event Info
Level Info
2014 World Series of Poker
Buy-in
$1,500
Prize Pool
$10,768,950
Entries
7,977
Level
37
Blinds
250,000 / 500,000
Ante
50,000
Andrew Seidman Leads Record-Breaking Millionaire Maker
Level 9
: 300/600, 75 ante
If you ever chat to someone who tries to tell you that interest in live poker tournaments is waning, point them in the direction of the PokerNews Live Reporting pages of Event #8: $1,500 Millionaire Maker No-Limit Hold'em from the 2014 World Series of Poker.
Then walk away smiling to yourself knowing that person is talking rubbish.
You see, this event is the second-largest World Series of Poker tournament ever run, attracting a mind-boggling 7,977 players over the two starting flights. The only WSOP event to surpass this massive total was the 2006 Main Event that saw 8,773 players, but they came through the doors over the course of several days, which makes today's event even more impressive.
Take a look at the table below that shows the five largest WSOP events in history.
| Event | Entrants |
|---|---|
| 2006 WSOP Main Event | 8,773 |
| 2014 WSOP Millionaire Maker | 7,977 |
| 2010 WSOP Main Event | 7,319 |
| 2011 WSOP Main Event | 6,865 |
| 2008 WSOP Main Event | 6,844 |
So large was the field that all three rooms of the Rio were packed to capacity, with the surviving players ending their night in the Amazon Room.
Bagging up the most chips at the close of play was the popular pro Andrew Seidman who turned his 4,500 starting stack into a tournament leading 137,700.
Seidman bought into Day 1a at 11:00 a.m this morning and busted from it at around 6:45 p.m. He then took advantage of late registration and entered Day 1b, but got off to a terrible start and was down to a mere 2,000 chips.
"I was down to 2,000 quickly," said Seidman, "Then I quadrupled up with 
vs 
vs vs 
!"
The man known in online poker circles as "BalugaWhale" continued to run well over the next nine one-hour levels including winning two large pots from Phil Laak: (1) hitting trip threes on the river and (2) "sucked out with 
vs ."
Another hand of note came when Seidman was priced in to call with 
in a huge pot, turned the nut flush and had an over-bet shove on the river paid off by a set of nines.
We wouldn't be lying if we said Seidman was running well, but that's only part of the story.
"I feel like I am playing awesome," said Seidman before explaining he built big stacks in the $1,000 No-Limit Hold'em at the start of the series and lost a crucial flip in the $1,500 Shootout.
Now that Seidman has bags of chips at his disposal he is going to be a nightmare to play against.
Joining Seidman through to Sunday's Day 2 included such luminaries as Jamie Kerstetter (33,000), former WSOP Main Event champion Joe Cada (20,100), Mohsin Charania (19,900), Amit Makhija (19,100), Taylor Paur (17,500), Jake Cody (15,400), Dan Kelly (13,700), Maria Ho (12,000), David Peters (11,700), and George Danzer (7,300).
Others weren't as fortunate and will have to enter a different event on Sunday if they want to continue with their quests to win a bracelet.
Stephen Chidwick, Zachary Korik, Bryn Kenney, Freddy Deeb, Phil Laak, Dominik Nitsche, Dave "Devilfish" Ulliott, Marvin Rettenmaier and Shannon Shorr being a small selection of stellar names who played on Day 1b but failed to progress.
Day 2 commences at 2:00 p.m. on Sunday afternoon and should see approximately 1,500-1,600 players return to the Rio. Prize pool information is not yet available, but as soon as it is, we will publish it on our payout pages.
Until Day 2, it is goodnight from the PokerNews Live Reporting team.
Partial Chip Counts at the End of Day 1b (full)
Level 9
: 300/600, 75 ante
| Player | Chips | Progress |
|---|---|---|
|
137,700 | -12,300 |
|
93,600 | 93,600 |
|
64,500 | 53,500 |
|
33,300 | 3,300 |
|
29,400 | 5,400 |
|
20,100 | 12,100 |
|
19,900 | -1,100 |
|
19,100 | 10,600 |
|
17,500 | 6,000 |
|
13,700 | 11,500 |
|
|
13,000 | 2,000 |
|
12,000 | -12,500 |
|
11,700 | 4,900 |
|
7,300 | -4,700 |
Monkey Style and Special Mention
Level 9
: 300/600, 75 ante
On the table of Taylor Paur there was apparently one player all in for his tournament life with 
against pocket eights and the flop delivered 
. Running tens saved Robert Reyna, if we can believe his hand writing on the bag though. He also had a cow hat on and a self-described monkey style.
And then we just had Chris "disco" Lythgoe from Bolton in the UK walk by, who bagged up 17,100 and played his very first WSOP event. Can't really say no to a British accent.
Trio Of Bustouts
Level 9
: 300/600, 75 ante
As play draws to a close, the tournament has lost three big names in Bryn Kenney, Stephen Chidwick and Zachary Korik.
| Player | Chips | Progress |
|---|---|---|
|
Busted | |
|
Busted | |
|
Busted |
Six Hands To Go
Level 9
: 300/600, 75 ante
The first starting flight drew the last six tables and thus Day 1B will play as many hands before all remaining players then bag and tag for today. All players are also reminded to pass on their green chips to the chip leader at the table to buy them off before play concludes.
Lewis Short, Korik Shorter
Level 9
: 300/600, 75 ante
Jordan Lewis defended his big blind against a cutoff raise to 1,650 and both players checked the 
flop. Lewis then bet 2,200 on the 
turn and moved all in after the 
river. The cutoff called both bets and showed 
as winning hand in the showdown to double through for 7,975 on the river.
Zachary Korik has even less chips left, he jammed with ace queen into aces and is down to only five big blinds. We 66 tables left now in the Amazon room from what it looks like.
| Player | Chips | Progress |
|---|---|---|
|
|
11,000 | -24,000 |
|
|
3,100 | -8,100 |
Wendeen Folds
Level 9
: 300/600, 75 ante
Wendeen Eolis not only faces George Danzer but also Jason Wheeler on her table. In the latest hand there was a raise from under the gun plus one and a three-bet all in as well as a second all in, with the latter having her covered. Eolis ended up tank folding out of the big blind and saw the coin flip 
versus 
produce the 
. "It was the right fold," she whispered to Danzer.
And just like this, ten tables in the orange section have been broken up in less than half an hour.
| Player | Chips | Progress |
|---|---|---|
|
|
6,900 | 1,600 |
Betting Tokens
Level 9
: 300/600, 75 ante
Some big names are chipping up nicely, others not so much.
| Player | Chips | Progress |
|---|---|---|
|
49,000 | 32,000 |
|
27,000 | 16,000 |
|
26,200 | |
|
|
24,000 | 4,000 |
|
15,000 | 5,900 |
|
14,800 | 3,300 |
|
|
14,600 | |
|
13,500 | -11,500 |
|
|
12,000 | -7,000 |
|
9,000 | -500 |
|
|
7,250 | |
|
|
6,800 | -4,200 |
|
6,050 | -5,150 |
|
Busted |
ONE TIME not
Level 9
: 300/600, 75 ante
We heard a loud scream from a player and arrived at the table to see John Beauprez with 
and the pocket queens of the opponent already mucked. His rival apparently pledged to the dealer and this fired back in truly evil way when the dealer fanned the 
flop. Both had almost the same stack and the opponent with 23,525 was covered by less than 1,000 chips.
One hand later, Beauprez three-bet to 3,500 after a raise to 1,500 but could not connect with the board and saw his ace king suited lose to 
on a checked down board.
| Player | Chips | Progress |
|---|---|---|
|
45,000 | 45,000 |