The $1,500 buy-in Millionaire Maker event ended early this morning after 4 days of intensive play. The tournament drew a field of 7,190 entries, the 8th biggest live tournament in poker history, and 32-year-old America poker pro Jason Dewitt received $1,065,403 and his second gold bracelet for being the last man standing - while runner-up Garrett Greer (also from USA) received $1 million as a "consolations prize".
"It's hard to get through these big fields," DeWitt acknowledged. "I usually play just No-Limit and Pot-Limit and they draw the biggest fields. So, it's not surprising that it would take so long to get back here again. I mean, these fields are so big. To win a tournament with a 7,000-player field is just insane. It's just incredible.
He added, "It helped that I got lots of good cards. When I'm dealt good cards, it's easy to be the aggressor. I also didn't make any big mistakes. But it's easier when you keep getting dealt good cards."
Winner information (from wsop.com):
Name: Jason DeWitt
Birthplace: Mishawaka, IN (USA)
Age: 32
Current Residence: San Diego, CA (USA)
Marital Status: Engaged
Children: None
Profession: Poker Player (former grocery bagger)
Number of WSOP Cashes: 20
Number of WSOP Final Table Appearances: 7
Number of WSOP Gold Bracelet Victories (with this tournament): 1
Best Previous WSOP Finish: 1st (2010)
Total WSOP Earnings: $2,557,482
Personal Facts: DeWitt's two WSOP victories have been worth $818K and $1.065 million.
FUN FACTS (from wsop.com):
Since there were two starting days, re-entry was optional. There were 5,479 unique (one-time) entries.
There were 1,711 duplicates (two entries).
The ages of participants ranged from 21 to 92. The eldest player in the field was Norman Spivock.
The average age of participants was 39 years.
The country breakdown of participants was 5,804 Americans and 1,386 players from elsewhere. The top five nations represented included - United States, Canada, Great Britain, Australia, and Germany.
The field broke down by gender, as follows: 95.6 percent male / 4.4 percent female
All players started the tournament with 7,500 in chips. At the end of the tournament, the winner had all 53,025,000 in chips.
Through the first 15 events of the 2016 WSOP, overall numbers are up from 31,412 entries (2015) to 38,933 (this year).
Prize money is also up by an event larger margin. At this point last year, $27,493,490 had been awarded. Total prize money this year increased to $34,119,350.
source: http://www.wsop.com/news/2016/Jun/7760/JASON-DEWITT-IS-A-MILLIONAIRE.html
