Event #21: $1,500 No-Limit Hold'em MILLIONAIRE MAKER

Picking his spots and staying patient. Germany's Arne Kern may have started Day 4 of Event #21: $1,500 No-Limit Hold'em MILLIONAIRE MAKER near the bottom of the counts, at the end of a long day he was the one that became a millionaire.

"At first I was short-stacking, playing pretty tight. I picked my spots. I waited until other players busted," the 28-year old German said after claiming the mouth-watering first-place prize of $1,173,223.

Kern's largest previous tournament score was just over $28,000. With one tournament, he's an instant millionaire and can call himself a WSOP bracelet winner.

Official Final Table Results

When the official final table was reached, Kern was dwelling at the bottom of the counts, sporting a stack of just 13 big blinds. He managed to double up early with king-ten of spades against the ace-jack of Michael Souza. Although an ace flopped, the turn and river brought running spade cards for a flush to score the pivotal double-up.

Kern didn't look back after that and rocketed up the counts after eliminating British poker icon Barny Boatman in 7th place. Holding ace-jack, Kern hit a jack against Boatman's ace-king and Kern's supporters in the Brasilia poker room erupted in cheers as their champion eliminated the two-time bracelet winner.

The German received the seven-figure prize and coveted bracelet after defeating England's Sam Razavi in a lengthy heads-up battle. It was a worthy heads-up match as the two swapped chips for nearly two hours. In the final hand of play, Kern moved all in with four-deuce of spades and Razavi snap-called with ace-jack. The flop brought a flush draw for Kern and the turn completed it, ending things on the spot.

"I'm not very proud of that" joked Kern when he was asked about the final hand of play. "I may have read the stack sizes a bit wrong but it all worked out. It's a dream come true."

There was no shortage of stories at the 2018 MILLIONAIRE MAKER final table, with those of 2015 Main Event champion Joe McKeehen, Justin Liberto and the aforementioned Boatman standing out.

McKeehen saw a deep run come to an end in third place; his second third place of the series after a deep run in Event #3: $3,000 No-Limit Hold'em Shootout ($101,766). McKeehen added $538,276 to inch closer towards the 11M mark in WSOP winnings.

"I tried to play tight when we got shorthanded and I know Joe McKeehen is a very dangerous player. I did not want to double him up," Kern said about the former world champion. During three-handed play, McKeehen was left severely short when his pocket kings were outflopped by Razavi's ace-eight, and he was eliminated just a few hands later.

Liberto made WSOP history becoming the first player to make the MILLIONAIRE MAKER final table twice. After finishing 4th in the 2013 edition, taking home more than $400,000, Liberto put on another impressive performance in this year's event. He was eliminated in 5th place when his king-queen failed to improve against the ace-jack of Michael Souza. Liberto took home $303,294 and has now earned nearly $3,000,000 throughout his illustrious poker career.

The day started with 17 players and German high roller Manig Loeser ($51,188) would become the first to bow out. The classic race with pocket queens against Manuel Ruivo's ace-king landed the wrong way for Loeser. Aaron Messmer, Jared Narzem, Enio Bozzano and Richard Dixon also saw their MILLIONAIRE MAKER dream shatter just before the final table.

For Michael Finstein (12th - $82,018), the tournament ended in brutal fashion. Finstein was all-in with ace-king against Ruivo's ace-queen and saw not one, not two, but all three queens roll off the deck to be dealt the infamous death by quads. Kelly Wolfe finished in 11th place after losing ace-king against McKeehen's pocket threes, and start-of-the-day chipleader Chad Hahn bubbled the final table with jack-ten versus McKeehen's pocket fours, who once again held up with a small pair.

At the final table, Sean Marshall (9th - $104,987) was the first to go after shoving pocket fives into Boatman's pocket jacks. Ralph Massey (8th - $135,383) ran ace-queen into pocket aces to bow out in hand #40, and Boatman (7th - $175,865) fell next with ace-king against Kern's ace-jack.

Holding aces earlier, Ruivo was now the one to face aces as he shoved his pocket nines into Razavi's aces to finish in 6th ($230,120). Liberto's second MILLIONAIRE MAKER run ended next (5th - $303,294), before Souza busted in fourth ($402,614). It was another ace-king versus the pocket queens of Razavi, and Souza couldn't catch up.

After McKeehen's elimination in third, Kern and Razavi played a lengthy heads-up battle of 62 hands and a span of nearly two hours, and it was all over after exactly 250 hands at the final table when Kern made his flush on the turn.

That concludes the PokerNews coverage of Event #21: $1,500 No-Limit Hold'em MILLIONAIRE MAKER. Congratulations to Arne Kern, who can now call himself a millionaire!

Hand #243: Sam Razavi raised to 2.4 million from the button and won the pot uncontested.

Hand #244: Arne Kern raised to 1.9 million from the button, Razavi folded, and Kern took the pot.

Hand #245: Kern got a walk in the big blind.

Hand #246: Kern raised to 1.7 million from the button and Razavi called. The flop came     and both players checked. The turn brought the  , Razavi checked, Kern bet 1.8 million, Razavi folded, and Kern took the pot.

Hand #247: Kern got a walk in the big blind.

Hand #248: Kern called from the button and Razavi checked his option. The flop came    , Razavi checked, Kern bet 800,000, Razavi folded, and Kern took the chips.

Hand #249: Razavi called from the button and Kern checked his option. The flop came     and Kern check-called a bet of 1 million from Razavi. The   hit the turn and both players checked. The   fell on the river, Kern bet 1.4 million, Razavi folded, and Kern took the pot.

Hand #234: Arne Kern raised from the button and won the pot uncontested.

Hand #235: Sam Razavi raised to 1.8 million from the button, Kern folded, and Razavi won the pot.

Hand #236: Kern called from the button, Razavi raised to 2.8 million, and Kern called. The flop came     and Razavi bet 2.5 million. Kern folded and Razavi took the pot.

Hand #237: Kern got a walk in the big blind.

Hand #238: Razavi got a walk in the big blind.

Arne Kern	40,200,000	7,200,000
Sam Razavi	15,100,000	-7,200,000

Hand #220: Arne Kern raised to 1.8 million from the button and won the pot uncontested.

Hand #221: Sam Razavi raised to 2.4 million from the button, Kern folded, and Razavi took the pot.

Hand #222: Kern called from the button and Razavi checked his option. The flop came     and Razavi check-called a bet of 800,000 from Kern. Both players checked the   turn and   river. Razavi tabled    and his hand was good enough to win the pot.

Hand #223: Kern got a walk in the big blind.

Hand #224: Kern called from the button, Razavi raised to 2.6 million from the big blind, and Kern called. The flop came    , Razavi bet 2.7 million, and Kern folded.

Hand #225: Razavi called from the button and Kern checked his option. The flop fell     and Kern check-called a bet of 800,000 from Razavi. Both players checked the   turn. The   hit the river, Kern bet 2.8 million, and Razavi folded.

Hand #211: Arne Kern got a walk in the big blind.

Hand #212: Kern called from the button, Sam Razavi raised to 2.4 million from the big blind, and Kern folded.

Hand #213: Razavi raised to 2.4 million from the button and Kern called from the big blind. The flop came     and Kern checked. Razavi bet 2 million, Kern check-raised to 5 million, and Razavi called. The turn brought the   and Kern shoved, putting Razavi to a decision for his stack. He called to put himself at risk and the two players tabled their hands.

Arne Kern:   
Sam Razavi:   

Razavi had the lead with trips and Kern needed to make a straight on the river in order to win the pot and end the tournament. After the   hit the river, Razavi took the pot to double up.

Sam Razavi	42,100,000	21,300,000
Arne Kern	13,200,000	-21,300,000

Hand #207: Sam Razavi limped in and Arne Kern raised to 2,000,000. Razavi folded and Kern took the pot.

Hand #208: Kern raised to 1,300,000 and Razavi called. They saw a flop of     and both players checked. The turn was the   and Razavi bet 1,500,000. Kern called and both players checked the   river. Razavi turned over his    for top two pair and Kern mucked.

Hand #209: Razavi limped and Kern checked. The dealer fanned the     flop and both players checked. The turn was the   and again they checked. The river was the  , Kern bet 1,500,000 and Razavi folded.

Hand #210: Kern limped, Razavi raised to 2,600,000 and Kern folded.

Arne Kern	34,500,000	-100,000
Sam Razavi	20,800,000	0

Hand #198: Arne Kern raised to 1,300,000 and Sam Razavi called. They saw a flop of     and Razavi checked. Kern bet 1,100,000 and Razavi called. The turn was the   and both players checked. The river was the   and Razavi checked to Kern who bet 2,000,000.

Razavi called, Kern showed    for just ten high and Razavi took the pot with a six high flush holding   .

Hand #199: Razavi limped in and Kern checked. The dealer spread the     flop, Razavi bet 700,000 and Kern folded.

Hand #200: Kern raised to 1,300,000 and Razavi called. They saw a flop of     and Razavi check called a bet of 1,100,000 from Kern. The turn was the   and Razavi checked. Kern bet 4,000,000 and Razavi called. The   hit the river and Razavi checked to Kern who moved all in for 19,800,000. Razavi folded and Kern took the pot.

Arne Kern	34,600,000	400,000
Sam Razavi	20,800,000	-300,000

Hand #189: Arne Kern raised to 1,300,000 and Sam Razavi called. They saw a flop of     and Razavi led out with a bet of 1,000,000. Kern called and the turn was the  . Razavi checked, Kern bet 4,500,000 and Razavi folded.

Hand #190: Kern raised to 1,300,000 and Razavi called. The dealer fanned the     flop, Kern continued with a bet of 1,100,000 and Razavi folded.

Hand #191: Razavi raised to 1,700,000 and Kern folded.

Hand #192: Kern raised to 1,300,000, Razavi reraised to 3,700,000 and Kern folded.

Arne Kern	34,200,000	7,200,000
Sam Razavi	21,100,000	-7,200,000

Hand #186: Joe McKeehen raised to 1,300,000 and Sam Razavi moved all in from the big blind for 14,100,000. McKeehen snap called turning over    and Razavi showed   .

Razavi stood up from his seat "Come on ace of diamonds in the window" he shouted. The dealer spread the     flop and Razavi got just the card he asked for spiking his ace to take the lead.

The turn brought the   and the   hit the board. Razavi rail began to cheer as he scored the massive double up leaving McKeehen with just five big blinds.

Hand #187: McKeehen got a walk in the big blind.

Sam Razavi	28,700,000	17,800,000
Joe McKeehen	3,100,000	-16,600,000

Hand #176: Joe McKeehen limped in from the small blind and Arne Kern checked from the big. They saw a flop of     and McKeehen bet 600,000. Kern raised to 1,600,000 and McKeehen called.

The turn was the   and both players checked. The river was the  , McKeehen fired out a bet of 2,200,000 and Kern folded.

Hand #177: Kern raised to 1,600,000 from the small blind and Sam Razavi folded his big blind.

Hand #178: Kern raised to 1,300,000 and Razavi moved all in for 10,100,000. Kern folded and Razavi scooped the pot.

Hand #179: McKeehen limped from the small blind and Kern checked from the big. They went heads up to the    , McKeehen checked and Kerns small bet took the pot.

Arne Kern	24,800,000	-5,200,000
Joe McKeehen	19,700,000	6,900,000
Sam Razavi	10,900,000	-1,600,000