The WSOP has moved the final three tables to the streamed feature tables area, which means our live reporting will have to be delayed around 2.5 hours to match the stream, per the WSOP media guidelines. We apologize for the inconvenience.
Event #50: $1,500 Millionaire Maker
Day 4 Completed
The penultimate day of the Event #50: $1,500 Millionaire Maker began with 62 hopefuls returning, but the field thinned quickly as several of the overnight leaders struggled to hold their ground. The day ended with just nine players bagging their chips, and they will return at 3:30 p.m. tomorrow to fight for the $1,250,000 top payout at the World Series of Poker, running at Horseshoe and Paris Las Vegas.
It was Michael Monroig (73,900,000) who ended the night at the top of the counts after storming through the latter stages of the day. He saw to the elimination of Seiji Sasaki, which sparked his climb up the leaderboard, and he continued to build late into the night.
Joseph Baghdalian will return second in chips with 52,300,000 after dominating in a number of big pots throughout the night. He is closely followed by Joseph Liberta (46,400,000), who brings 31 big blinds into the final day. It wasn’t an easy ride for Liberta, but he found fortune in a few river spots that helped him build a stack.
| Seat | Player | Country | Chip Count | Big Blinds |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Garry Gurevich | United States | 13,000,000 | 9 |
| 2 | Bradley Gafford | United States | 25,500,000 | 17 |
| 3 | Alex Kim | United States | 32,700,000 | 22 |
| 4 | Michael Monroig | United States | 73,900,000 | 49 |
| 5 | Joseph Baghdalian | United States | 52,300,000 | 35 |
| 6 | Joseph Liberta | United States | 46,400,000 | 31 |
| 7 | Yifu He | United States | 15,100,000 | 10 |
| 8 | Halford Fairchild | United States | 24,700,000 | 16 |
| 9 | Jacob Gagnon | United States | 10,600,000 | 7 |
To reach the final table, the day was filled with eliminations, many coming from the Day 3 chip leaders. Bo Chen entered as the overall leader but suffered a major setback after getting tank called by Rob Kuhn in a hand that lasted over five minutes. The hit left Chen with a below average stack, and he was eliminated shortly after as the early pace claimed several big names. Second in chips Kunal Patni met a similar fate. The Indian pro got his final chips in with pocket threes but couldn’t hold, ending his deepest Millionaire Maker run to date early in the day.
Sasaki Seiji fared better than his fellow podium starters. He picked up momentum after trapping Jordan Meltzer when he turned a straight and check called a jam with the nuts, leaving Meltzer short. But Seiji’s path wasn’t without turbulence, as he took several subsequent tumbles before ultimately reaching the final three tables.
Meltzer also reached the final three tables after surviving elimination when he hit a runner-runner runout to stay alive. His comeback was short-lived, however, as he became the first elimination of the streamed portion of play, finishing 27th for $49,200, just missing the next pay jump.
A pair of WSOP Main Event final tablists were also in the mix with 27 remaining. Mark Newhouse, famous for his back to back ninth place Main Event finishes in 2013 and 2014, and Russell Rosenblum, who reached the 2002 Main Event final table, both made deep runs. Rosenblum was first to fall, busting in 21st place after getting ace ten in against Monroig’s ace king.
Newhouse’s day was turbulent from start to finish. He risked a large portion of his stack from the small blind with six three offsuit after open jamming into Halford Fairchild’s pocket queens. Although he managed to claw some chips back and reach the final two tables, he was eliminated shortly after in 16th place when he got his stack in with ace three but didn’t connect on the runout.
The eliminations leading up to the final table came quickly, with most players sitting around 25 big blinds for much of the day. Alex Kim secured his seat at the final table after hitting a backdoor flush on the river, leaving both Ryan Eriquezzo and Antony Rubin short. They were eliminated in consecutive hands, finishing 13th and 12th for $94,000 each.
It was Meng Dian Peng who hit the rail as the unlucky final table bubble boy, ending his run in 11th place. It was a brutal end for Jed Friedman who went from chip leading at the final ten, to slowly bleeding chips in the last level of the evening. He lost a big stack to Alex Kim, late into the night which ultimately saw to his demise. He ended up taking home 10th place for $118,000 and narrowly missing out on a return for the final day after getting it in good, but not holding against Monroig who flopped top pair.
| Place | Prize |
|---|---|
| 1 | $1,250,000 |
| 2 | $1,000,000 |
| 3 | $750,000 |
| 4 | $530,000 |
| 5 | $410,000 |
| 6 | $315,000 |
| 7 | $245,000 |
| 8 | $190,000 |
| 9 | $150,068 |
Play resumes at 3:30 p.m. local time tomorrow, with posts aligned to the stream. Action restarts at Level 40 with blinds at 1,000,000/1,500,000 and a 1,500,000 big blind ante. There will be 15-minute breaks after every two levels, and play will continue until one player remains.
As the Millionaire Maker moves toward its dramatic conclusion, stay locked in with the PokerNews live reporting team as we close in on crowning the next WSOP millionaire.
Action has come to an end with nine players returning tomorrow to play the final day of the event.
Stay tuned for a full day recap which will be posted shortly.
Jed Friedman opened to 3,000,000 from the hijack and Michael Monroig moved all in on the button. Action quickly folded back to Friedman, who made the call for his 25,200,000, and the players went to showdown.
Jed Friedman: A♥K♥
Michael Monroig: Q♥10♥
Friedman was ahead, but the 10♠6♠9♣ flop saw Monroig take the lead after flopping top pair.
There was no coming back on the 3♦ turn or 8♣ river, and Friedman just missed out on making the final day of the Millionaire Maker, taking home $118,000 and finishing in 10th place.
This hand was picked up on the flop of Q♥A♦10♣ with 8,500,000 in the middle.
Halford Fairchild checked out of the big blind before Joseph Liberta bet 2,400,000. Fairchild called.
The 6♠ turn led to another check from Fairchild. Liberta checked back.
Fairchild chose to bet 6,500,000 on the 3♠ river and was called by Liberta as Liberta took down the pot.
Jed Friedman raised to 3,000,000 from early position with A♣9♦ and Halford Fairchild called from his direct left with A♥8♥. Joseph Liberta moved all in with an unknown hand for 24,500,000, which saw Friedman and Fairchild quickly muck.
Jed Friedman raised to 3,000,000 from early position. Alex Kim decided to go all-in for 14,000,000 from the big blind. Friedman called to go to a showdown, with Kim at risk.
Alex Kim: A♠K♠
Jed Friedman: 9♥9♣
Kim hit his ace on the 6♣3♥A♣ flop.
The 7♠ turn was of no consequence.
Kim earned the double up on the 10♦ river to take a bite out of Friedman's stack.
Alex Kim raised to 3,500,000 from under the gun before Bradley Gafford shipped it for 8,500,000 total from the big blind. Kim called to put Gafford at risk.
Bradley Gafford: A♥K♥
Alex Kim: J♠J♦
The flop was big for Gafford as it came 4♣2♦K♣ to give him a pair of kings and take a commanding lead.
Gafford stayed ahead on the 4♠ turn, and improved to two pair on the A♠ river to secure the double up.
Joseph Baghdadlian raised to 3,000,000 with K♣10♠ from early position. Michael Monroig called from the cutoff with A♦J♦.
The 4♥2♦3♣ flop led to a check from Baghdadlian.
Monroig checked back to bring the 2♠ turn. Baghdadlian bet 2,500,000, which led to a call from Monroig.
The 5♠ river led to a bet of 5,500,000 by Baghdadlian on the river. Monroig snap-called with his straight to swipe the pot off Baghdadlian.
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