Perry Paces Event #20: $1,500 No-Limit Hold'em MILLIONAIRE MAKER with 14 Coming Back for Final Day
Wednesday will reach the summit of Event #20: $1,500 No-Limit Hold'em MILLIONAIRE MAKER when a new champion will earn the lion's share of the $10,477,350 prize pool, becoming another millionaire through a single World Series of Poker event. There are 14 players still keeping their hopes alive, vying the whopping $1,221,407 first prize and the shiny bracelet.
Raphael Perry is pacing the remaining field with 7,765,000. Perry, who has a bracelet from the 2006 $1,500 Pot-Limit Omaha Event, stormed through the first half of the day, earning a giant lead. However, he didn't look to be a favorite to bag the lead at the end of the day. Perry gave up the pole position to Bryce Yockey at the end of Level 27 when he shoved all in with a bottom pair and a flush draw.
Yockey called with a top pair and survived his elimination to ascend to the top. "I haven't folded a pair at all this tournament, and I'm not starting now," he smiled after the hand which had catapulted him to the top.
Yockey then kept grinding and nobody could stop his rise until the penultimate hand of the day when he raced with ace-king against ace-king of spades of Kevin O'Donnell and Yuriy Boyko's queens. Boyko's hand remained the winner, sealing Boyko a huge pot to eliminate O'Donnell and hurt Yockey, who dropped his chip lead.
Meanwhile, Perry soared back atop the leaderboard as he knocked out Farzad Bonyadi in 15th place to wrap the day with 7,765,000, sneaking just ahead of Daniel Chan who has 7,585,000.
Despite losing the aforementioned big hand, Yockey remains in strong shape with 6,315,000, good for third place. Renowned for his mixed games skills, Yockey is a WSOP regular whose résumé boasts 26 cashes from the World Series. His 27th would be his biggest if he makes it to the top seven. Yockey has three WSOP final tables to his name so far, notching third, fourth and fifth places. His bronze medal from the 2011 WSOP $5,000 Pot-Limit Omaha Hi-Lo worth $180,180 stands as his career-best result.
Boyko is in fourth place with 5,300,000 in his bag after the amazing triple and Alexander Farahi rounds out the top five with 5,295,000. Jonathan Gray is on their heels with 5,160,000.
Chen Yu Hung, who sits in seventh, continues with his fabulous debut to the world poker stage. "This is my first WSOP event," he said during bagging, earning congratulations from his remaining opponents. Hung has 4,550,000.
Much more experienced WSOP grinder Kenny Hallaert was aiming for a remarkable hat-trick, looking for his third major final table at World Series of Poker. Hallaert had made it to the 2015 Colossus I finale and followed it with last year's appearance in the November Nine. "The money is obviously nice, but to make final tables of these three big tournaments would be something special," he said during the redraw for the last two tables. Hallaert eventually couldn't claim the hat-trick, falling shy of another WSOP final table. He exited in 17th place, banking $53,962.
Lisa Hamilton was the last woman standing in the field, leaving the tournament in 26th place for a $43,123 payday. Hamilton outlasted Jessica Dawley, who departed in 30th place worth $34,718. Matt Affleck was eliminated right before Dawley, earning the same prize. Other notables who finished their deep run during Day 3 were Joe Cada (42nd for $28,160), Bryan Piccioli (43rd for $28,160), Kevin Schulz (51st for $23,013), Brian Rast (75th for $13,147), Jonathan Karamalikis (78th for $13,147), Bertrand Grospellier (100th for $8,054), Andras Koroknai (106th for $8,054), Shawn Buchanan (125th for $8,054), Scott Margereson (128th for $8,054) and Tim Vance (136th for $8,054).
The final day will kick off Wednesday at 11 a.m. PDT. Tune to PokerNews for live updates from one of the largest tournaments of the summer as the MILLIONAIRE MAKER culminates on Wednesday.
Final Day seat draw and chip counts:
| Room | Table | Seat | Player | Country | Chip Count |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Brasilia | 1 | 1 | Dejuante Alexander | United States | 2,440,000 |
| Brasilia | 1 | 2 | Marc MacDonnell | Ireland | 2,357,000 |
| Brasilia | 1 | 3 | Empty | - | - |
| Brasilia | 1 | 4 | Ralph Perry | United States | 7,765,000 |
| Brasilia | 1 | 5 | Thiago Grigoletti | Brazil | 1,855,000 |
| Brasilia | 1 | 6 | Daniel Chan | United States | 7,585,000 |
| Brasilia | 1 | 7 | Empty | - | - |
| Brasilia | 1 | 8 | Hector Martin | United States | 2,910,000 |
| Brasilia | 1 | 9 | Senovio Ramirez III | United States | 3,520,000 |
| Brasilia | 2 | 1 | Empty | - | - |
| Brasilia | 2 | 2 | Empty | - | - |
| Brasilia | 2 | 3 | Bryce Yockey | United States | 6,315,000 |
| Brasilia | 2 | 4 | Alexander Farahi | United States | 5,295,000 |
| Brasilia | 2 | 5 | Brian Altman | United States | 1,015,000 |
| Brasilia | 2 | 6 | Chen Yu Hung | United States | 4,550,000 |
| Brasilia | 2 | 7 | Jonathan Gray | United States | 5,160,000 |
| Brasilia | 2 | 8 | Yuriy Boyko | Ireland | 5,300,000 |
| Brasilia | 2 | 9 | Pablo Mariz | Canada | 2,050,000 |