World Series of Poker -- Benny Chen Wins Historic Millionaire Maker Event

A total of 6,343 entrants bought into the $1,500 buy-in re-entry event at this year’s World Series of Poker, creating a total prize pool of $8,563,050. The tournament was named the Millionaire Maker, and after four days of play, the winner was indeed made a millionaire.

Benny Chen, a 32-year-old former online pro who now works as a restaurant manager, banked $1,199,104 and his first career WSOP bracelet. He became the 26th player to earn a seven-figure payday at the WSOP outside of the main event and more than quadrupled his career earnings.

Chen defeated commercial airline pilot Michael Bennington heads-up for the title, along with a final table full of notables such as Joe Kuether, Chris Hunichen and Dan Kelly. He became one of three Canadian bracelet winners of the 2013 series, joining Charles Sylvestre and Michael Malm.

Chen has made deep tournament runs before, but this was the first time he was able to put it all together for such a large payday.

“I had played quite a few tournaments before, but every time I got deep, I’d lose races or get into tough spots,” he said. “This time, everything went well for me. Last night, I only slept a few hours. So, it was definitely on my mind, but all my friends who are here got me mentally prepared and kept me motivated. That helped a lot.”

The Millionaire Maker is now ranked as the eighth largest live poker event in poker history.

Here is a look at the final table results.

For complete coverage of the summer poker festival, check out our WSOP landing page.

Photo Credit: Joe Giron/WSOP

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