This year's $1,500 buy-in Millionaire Maker event drew a field of 7,759 entries to create a $10,477,350 prize pool. The top 1,165 finishing players in this event received a slice of the massive prize pool and Canada's Pablo Mariz earned $1,221,407 as well as his first gold bracelet for the victory!
Mariz, 27, from Montreal, previous WSOP earnings were $64,300, so the money earned was life-changing to him. Now with a healthy bankroll he plans to play the entire series. Mariz hugged his best friend and playing partner after the victory and told reporters, "it was a dream come true. We come here every year, grinding small events hoping to hit something big and we finally did!"
OTHER NOTABLES:
Among those making deep runs and cashing in this year's Millionaire Maker were Farzad Banyadi (15th), Kevin O'Donnell (16th), Kenny Haellert (17th), Bob Bounahra (21st), Lisa Hamilton (26th), Jessica Dawley (30th), Matt Affleck (31st), Arkady Tsinis (35th), Joe Cada (42nd), and Bryan Piccioli (43rd).
Final Table Payouts (earned POY points in parentheses):
1st: Pablo Mariz, $1,221,407 (315.7)
2nd: D.J. Alexander, $754,499 (268.9)
3rd: Alex Farahi, $561,530 (243.7)
4th: Marc MacDonnell, $420,805 (221.3)
5th: Bryce Yockey, $317,544 (201.5)
6th: Yuriy Boyko, $241,303 (183.9)
7th: Jonathan Gray, $184,663 (168.2)
8th: Thiago Grigoletti, $142,323 (154.2)
9th: Hector Martin, $110,476 (141.7)
