This Week's Big Winner: Arne Kern Wins 2018 World Series of Poker Millionaire Maker Event

The 2018 World Series of Poker $1,500 buy-in no-limit hold’em Millionaire Maker event drew a field of 7,361 total entries, the third largest field in the event’s six-year history. The strong turnout built a total prize pool of $9,937,350. In the end the lion’s share of that was awarded to Germany’s Arne Kern, who defeated a stacked final table to capture the $1,173,223 top prize and his first WSOP gold bracelet. This was the 26-year-old student and poker player’s biggest score of his career, being more than 40 times larger than any other live tournament cash he had previously made.

Kern came into the final day of this event in 11th chip position with 17 players remaining. Despite the massive field, there were plenty of recognizable names that made it to day 4 of this event, including Manig Loeser (17th place – $51,188), 2017 Colossus finalist Ralph Massey (8th place – $135,383), two-time bracelet winner Barney Boatman (7th place – $175,865) and 2015 WSOP $3,000 six-max no-limit hold’em champion Justin Liberto (5th place – $303,294).

Here are five key hands that propelled Kern to victory.

Tournament : WSOP Millionaire Maker
Buy-In: $1,500
No. of Entries: 7,361
Prize Pool: $9,937,350
1st Place Prize: $1,173,223

The Action

With 18 players left, Mackey moved all-in from the button for 275,000 and was met with an isolation shove from Kern in the small blind. Both players were short stacked and in desperate need of the pot. Mackey held Q 5, but he was behind to Kern’s A 3. The flop of A 10 8 made Kern more than a 95 percent favorite, according to the Card Player Poker Odds Calculator. The 6 on the turn left Mackey drawing dead. He pocketed $51,188 for his 18th-place finish.

The Action

With eight players left, Kern shoved from the cutoff for 2,090,000 and Souza called from the small blind. Kern showed K 10, which was drawing live but behind Souza’s A J. The flop came down 4 4 2, giving Kern a flush draw to go with his over cards and making him a slight favorite in the hand. The turn was an ace, pairing Souza, but it was the A, giving Kern a flush. Souza could still win with an ace or four on the river, but the 8 was a brick giving Kern a much-needed double.

The Action

With seven players left at the final table, Boatman moved all-in for his last 3,360,000 from under-the-gun. Kern came over the top and everyone else folded, letting Boatman reveal his A K. Kern was dominated holding A J, but the flop of A J 6 left Boatman needing help to survive. The turn was the 8, leaving Boatman drawing to just three outs. The river was the 6 and Boatman was eliminated in seventh place, earning $175,865. With that pot, Kern moved into second place.

The Action

After getting his pocket kings cracked by Razavi on the previous hand and losing the majority of his stack, McKeehen moved all in from the small blind for just over 3,000,000. Kern didn’t waste much time making the call of the short stack, holding J 9, which was live against McKeehen’s Q 3. The board ran out 9 7 5 A 2 and Kern’s pair of nines were enough to send the 2015 WSOP main event champion to the rail. McKeehen, who has developed a reputation for navigating his way through big fields, earned $538,276 for his third-place finish. Kern and Razavi entered heads-up play in a near tie with about 35 big blinds each.

The Action

Holding a 4:1 chip lead, Kern decided to move all-in from the button and Razavi snap called with A J. Kern was caught with just 4 2, but he was still drawing very much live to win the title. The flop came 8 3 3, giving Kern a flush draw to go with his live cards and improving his chances to a 53 percent favorite. The 5 on the turn gave Kern his flush, ending the drama before the meaningless 4 on the river. Razavi earned $724,756 for his runner-up finish, while Kern took home the title, the bracelet and the $1,173,223 first-place prize.

Final Table Results

1. Arne Kern — $1,173,223
2. Sam Razavi — $724,756
3. Joe McKeehen — $538,276
4. Michael Souza — $402,614
5. Justin Liberto — $303,294
6. Manuel Ruivo — $230,120
7. Barny Boatman — $175,865
8. Ralph Massey — $135,383
9. Sean Marshall — $104,987