Kazuki Ikeuchi Returns as Final Day Chipleader in Event #19: Millionaire Maker - $1,500 No-Limit Hold'em
Today is the fifth and final day of play in Event #19: Millionaire Maker - $1,500 No-Limit Hold'em, and as the event's title declares, someone is going to leave here today an instant millionaire. It remains to be seen if it will be start-of-day chipleader Kazuki Ikeuchi, or one of his five fellow tablemates Cory Albertson,Lokesh Garg, Joshua Thibodaux, John Gorsuch, or Vincas Tamasauska who will be crowned the newest WSOP champion. But after the last card is dealt, one of those players will have turned their $1,500 entry into over $1.4 million and a shiny new WSOP gold bracelet.
The Millionaire Maker event, which started four days ago, had a total of 8,809 entries, but by the start of play on Day 4 that number was down to just 34, and at the end of the day’s play that number would be only six. Included in the 28 players that returned were 888 Ambassador Ana Marquez, who was eliminated one spot shy of the final table, and Joshua Reichard, who started the day as the chipleader, but became the first elimination of the final table. Reichard was then followed by Fabian Gumz in 8th place and Bob Shao, who was eliminated in 7th place, just missing the live-streamed final table.
The final six players will line up as follows when play resumes in just under two hours time on the Main Stage here at the Rio All-Suite Hotel & Casino in Las Vegas at 12 noon local time.
| Seat | Player | Country | Chip Count | Big Blinds |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Cory Albertson | United States | 57,475,000 | 48 bb |
| 2 | Lokesh Garg | United States | 28,800,000 | 24 bb |
| 3 | Kazuki Ikeuchi | Japan | 60,750,000 | 51 bb |
| 4 | John Gorsush | United States | 23,450,000 | 20 bb |
| 5 | Joshua Thibodaux | United States | 26,975,000 | 22 bb |
| 6 | [Removed:174] | Lithuania | 22,600,000 | 19 bb |
After the final six players take their seats at the table on the main stage, play will resume with a small blind of 600,000 and big blind of 1,200,000, with an ante of 1,200,000 and about 28 minutes left in level 40. Pokernews will be there from when the first card hits the felt until the last card is dealt and someone is made a millionaire. Let's find out who takes home the bracelet.