Argentina’s Franco Spitale emerged triumphant in the $1,500 Millionaire Maker after seven days of gruelling play to bag a top prize of $1,250,125.
He outlasted a whopping field of 10,939 entries after eventually defeating Justin Carey heads-up at a final table where he was the only non-American.
Although Event #54: $1,500 Millionaire Maker No-Limit Hold’em had a modest buy-in, the enormous popularity of the tournament saw a prize pool of $14,603,565 to fight over.
At least one millionaire was guaranteed to be leaving the playing hall with the winner also qualifying for a free ticket to the WSOP 2024 Main Event.
Final Action
Ten players returned for the final table and Franco Spitale was in prime position with a healthy chip lead.
The action was as intense as expected but only four players fell by the wayside to leave six more returning for Day 5 — all of them eyeing up those seven-figure prizes up top.
Charles Kersey didn’t make his nine big blinds last too long after the bell rang. A single orbit was long enough to see him eliminated with a $289,630 prize.
Stephen Dauphinais was the man on the move at this point. Continued aggression saw him move up the leaderboard and then a fortunate flopping of a flush saw his queen-seven beat Harvey Jackson ace-king to send him home.
Paul Saso was next to leave the table after his stack whittled down to only two big blinds with no double-ups coming to help him out.
Three-handed play began with almost identical stacks, promising the fans a great fight. But it was Dauphinais and his extreme aggression which made the first run at glory.
It was all looking good until he picked his bluffs at the wrong time in a few spots which eventually saw his chips dwindle away to nothing. The $651,039 for third place was a nice consolation, however.
Justin Carey started heads-up play with a slender lead but Franco Spitale picked his spots at the right times and he soon began to stamp his authority on his American opponent.
The event ended when Carey limp-jammed pocket deuces which was called by Spitale’s ace-ten. The coinflip race saw some frayed nerves as Carey flopped a set but the ace turn gave the Argentine two pair.
When the river came down another ace, Spitale looked stunned but this quickly erupted into joy as he celebrated with his friends on the rail.
Event #54: $1,500 Millionaire Maker No-Limit Hold’em Final Table Results
| Place | Name | Country | Prize (USD) |
| 1 | Franco Spitale | Argentina | $1,250,125 |
| 2 | Justin Carey | United States | $1,001,169 |
| 3 | Stephen Dauphinais | United States | $651,039 |
| 4 | Paul Saso | United States | $500,109 |
| 5 | Harvey Jackson | United States | $376,469 |
| 6 | Charles Kersey | United States | $289,630 |
| 7 | Jason Hickey | United States | $224,270 |
| 8 | Alex Kim | United States | $174,800 |
| 9 | Owen Savir | United States | $137,150 |
| 10 | Adam Croffut | United States | $108,320 |
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