button in SafariEvent #53: $1,500 Millionaire Maker
Day 1b Completed
2025 World Series of Poker
Event #53: $1,500 Millionaire Maker
Day: 1b
Players Left 1 / 11,996
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Final Table
Another 2,448 players bought into Event #53: $1,500 Millionaire Maker No-Limit Hold'em on Day 1b, taking the total attendance to 4,060 with two flights remaining. Only 496 of those Day 1b starters navigated through 11 levels at the Horseshoe and Paris Las Vegas, giving them every chance of becoming a millionaire here at the 2025 World Series of Poker (WSOP).
Atlanta's Jason Maeroff, fresh from a deep run in the $1,500 Monster Stack, bagged up 470,000 chips, which were enough to claim this flight's chip lead. Maeroff finished 597th in this event in 2019 and looks set to add another in-the-money finish to his Hendon Mob profile.
Japan's Tetsuma Ishizu (454,500) and Glenn Lanier (442,000) round out the top three places on the Day 1b leaderboard. Each will fancy their chances of going deep in this event following their impressive starts.
Day 1b Top Ten Chip Counts
| Rank | Player | Country | Chip Count | Big Blinds |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Jason Maeroff | United States | 470,000 | 188 |
| 2 | Tetsuma Ishizu | Japan | 454,500 | 182 |
| 3 | Glenn Lanier | United States | 442,000 | 177 |
| 4 | Peter Foldes | United States | 367,000 | 147 |
| 5 | Samuel Bekerian | United States | 366,000 | 146 |
| 6 | Jospeh Liberta | United States | 361,000 | 144 |
| 7 | David Fhima | France | 329,000 | 132 |
| 8 | Puneet Maheshwari | India | 318,000 | 127 |
| 9 | Mark Tornai | United States | 318,000 | 127 |
| 10 | Huanglin Wu | United States | 315,000 | 126 |
The Day 1b field was awash with household names and bracelet winners, with many progressing to Day 2. Among them were Stephen Song (279,000), Ryan Leng (274,500), Dejuante Alexander (254,000), Kenny Hallaert (253,000), Jonas Lauck (242,000), Josh Reichard (239,500), and Davidi Kitai (203,500), who all bagged top 70 stacks.
Lower down the counts you find such stars as Jake Schwartz (161,000), Loni Harwood (157,000), Leo Margets (151,000), Shannon Shorr (146,000), Daniel Sepiol (92,500), Ian Matakis (84,000), and four-time bracelet winner Georgios Sotiropoulos (24,500).
Day 1c shuffles up and deals at 10 a.m. local time on June 20, with entrants tasked with battling through 11 levels. PokerNews' traditional coverage begins on Day 2 on June 22.
Here are the end of Day 1b chip counts, as provided by the WSOP+ App.
| Player | Chips | Progress |
|---|---|---|
|
470,000
470,000
|
470,000 |
|
||
|
454,500
454,500
|
454,500 |
|
442,000
442,000
|
442,000 |
|
|
367,000
367,000
|
367,000 |
|
366,000
366,000
|
366,000 |
|
361,000
361,000
|
361,000 |
|
329,000
329,000
|
329,000 |
|
318,000
318,000
|
318,000 |
|
318,000
318,000
|
318,000 |
|
315,000
315,000
|
315,000 |
|
306,000
306,000
|
306,000 |
|
302,500
302,500
|
302,500 |
|
297,000
297,000
|
297,000 |
|
297,000
297,000
|
297,000 |
|
294,000
294,000
|
294,000 |
|
291,500
291,500
|
291,500 |
|
288,000
288,000
|
288,000 |
|
286,000
286,000
|
286,000 |
|
284,500
284,500
|
284,500 |
|
284,000
284,000
|
284,000 |
|
||
|
282,000
282,000
|
282,000 |
|
280,000
280,000
|
280,000 |
|
279,000
279,000
|
279,000 |
|
||
|
275,000
275,000
|
275,000 |
|
274,500
274,500
|
274,500 |
|
||
For two decades, Tom Goldstein was at the top of the legal world. He argued more cases before the United States Supreme Court than almost any private attorney and founded SCOTUSblog, a legal blog that quickly became the go-to source for Supreme Court analysis. He lectured at Stanford University and Harvard University and regularly appeared on national news programs.
But Goldstein had another life. When he wasn’t arguing before Supreme Court justices, Goldstein was flying to Hollywood or Hong Kong and winning or losing millions in ultra-high-stakes poker matches. He played heads-up against California businessmen and foreign gamblers, at one point allegedly winning over $50 million in just a few sessions.
Goldstein’s luck turned in January 2025 when the US Department of Justice a federal grand jury initiated a 22-count indictment accusing the attorney of failing to report millions in poker winnings and diverting law firm funds to pay his personal poker debts.
In a new PokerNews video essay, we take a look at the life of Tom Goldstein and the high-stakes poker game that led to his federal indictment.
| Player | Chips | Progress |
|---|---|---|
|
92,000 |
Have you heard about MyStack by PokerNews? It is a free-to-use tool built into the PokerNews website that puts you in control of your chip counts on our live reporting pages. MyStack directly connects you to PokerNews' live reporting pages, making you an even bigger part of the action in the events you play.
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| Player | Chips | Progress |
|---|---|---|
|
174,000 | |
|
|
||
Phil Ivey is starting to heat up at the 2025 World Series of Poker (WSOP), and he could be just one day away from capturing his 12th gold bracelet.
The Poker Hall of Famer, with 10 players remaining at the time of publishing, held the chip lead in Event #51: $25,000 Pot-Limit Omaha High Roller, a tournament with 489 entrants.
Bryn Kenney, who is closing in on $80 million in live tournament cashes, busted in 11th place ($134,007). The remaining players still have a shot at the $2,292,155 first-place prize, to be awarded on Friday.
| Player | Chips | Progress |
|---|---|---|
|
|
Busted |
No player has commanded more attention at the 2025 World Series of Poker (WSOP) than Martin Kabrhel, partly for his strong performance, but mostly for his antics.
The clock has been called on the Czech high roller more often this summer than the Paris Hotel parking garage attendant, and he's been yapping away so much at the poker tables that even Daniel Negreanu had enough during a recent final table appearance.
Regardless of my or your take on Kabrhel's behavior, he has people talking about poker. He's bringing attention to the 2025 WSOP, and many seem to be enjoying the Kabrhel video clips shared on social media.
