Event #37: $1,500 MILLIONAIRE MAKER No-Limit Hold’em

The 2022 World Series of Poker (WSOP) in its new home at Bally's and Paris Las Vegas has crowned a new champion as Bulgarian Yuliyan Kolev has won his second bracelet as he was the last player standing in Event #37: $1,500 Millionaire Maker No-Limit Hold'em. This is the second consecutive year Kolev has won a bracelet as just seven months ago the Bulgarian won his first in online Event #9: $777 Lucky 7's No-Limit Hold'em for $146,163.

That figure is dwarfed by winning this event, both in prestige and in prize money as Kolev has won the grand prize of $1,125,141 and his first live WSOP bracelet. Kolev beat a field full of bracelet winners as he outmaneuvered the 7,961 entrants over five days to claim the bulk of the $10,627,935 prize pool. It was not without adversity as in the final two tables Kolev lost a huge flip with ace-king against Raul Martinez's pocket sevens to go down to a single 25,000 chip with the big blind at 500,000. He managed to win with that chip to go back into contention before coolering Linus Richter with pocket eights vs Richter's pocket jacks.

Kolev was cheered on by a big rail, all of who were donning upside-down KFC buckets as hats in honor of a popular Bulgarian music artist.

Event #37: $1,500 Millionaire Maker Final Table Results

Many notables were in the field with Robert Mizrachi chasing his fifth bracelet. However Mizrachi was eliminated near the end of Day 3 in 27th place. Another bracelet winner, James Calderaro, was also eliminated near the end of Day 3 in 26th Place.

Kolev came into Day 5 second in chips with 49 big blinds and managed to secure the win with fairly smooth sailing as the Bulgarian was never all in and at risk.

Winner's Reaction

PokerNews asked about his win coming from a chip and a chair after losing the big pot against Martinez and Kolev said

"It was quite funny because I knew I'm not out of the tournament but I can't do anything with that stack (less than one big blind). I was thinking, let's observe what's going on at the other table so I folded two hands before the big blind hit me. Then I went all in from under the gun and won and then won the hand in the big blind then everything started from there."

When asked about winning his second WSOP bracelet and first live bracelet Kolev said.

"The feeling is much stronger because all of your friends are here. The pressure is much more."

When asked whether the strong rail presence helped his performance, Kolev said, "It makes me feel really really calm. It's really important for my friends to be around me when I got really far (in the tournament)."

Kolev also said he'll be playing more of the 2022 WSOP looking for a third bracelet.

Recap of the Day

The day started with Tyler Gaston putting the pressure on the rest of the table, but the first elimination could be credited to Kolev when Dominic Brazier shoved with queen-seven offsuit preflop for less than 10 big blinds into Kolev who called with jack-eight and hit two pair on the river, eliminating the American in fifth place for over $300,000.

His next victim was Yita Choong who called for his tournament's life with his pocket sevens and faced queen-four offsuit for Kolev. The Bulgarian player hit a queen on the turn and Choong was out in fourth place for nearly $400,000.

Gaston, the chip leader at the beginning of the day, was knocked out next. He held jack-ten and called in the big blind a raise from Oren Rosen who held queen-ten of clubs. All the chips went in the middle on a jack-high flop with two clubs. Gaston was ahead but a queen hit the river, giving a better pair to Rosen while the last American was sent packing in third place for $522,705.

The heads-up battle was a short affair and it was the pocket rockets that secured the win as Kolev three-bet with his aces and Rosen called with queen-jack offsuit. The flop came queen-high and the money got in the middle on the turn as Kolev's aces held for him to win his second bracelet.

Congratulations to Yuliyan Kolev for winning the 2022 WSOP Event #37: $1,500 Millionaire Maker!

Be sure to keep it with the PokerNews team all summer long for coverage of your favorite tournaments at the 2022 World Series of Poker.

Yuliyan Kolev raised to 4,000,000 with    and Oren Rosen found    to three-bet to 14,000,000. It was a fold for Kolev and Rosen racked the first pot of the heads-up match.

Yuliyan Kolev	112,900,000	-5,000,000
Oren Rosen	85,900,000	9,900,000

Oren Rosen raised to 4,000,000 with    and Yuliyan Kolev called in the big blind with   .

The flop came     and Rosen bet 4,000,000 with his second pair and Kolev called with a pair of threes.

The turn came the   and action went check-check.

The   was the river and action checked through securing Rosen the pot.

Yuliyan Kolev	117,900,000	-10,000,000
Oren Rosen	52,800,000	10,000,000

Oren Rosen saw    in his hands on the button and raised to 4,000,000. Yuliyan Kolev, with   , three-bet to 13,000,000. Rosen considered it for some time and eventually let it go.

Yuliyan Kolev	117,400,000	12,000,000
Oren Rosen	52,300,000	-5,000,000
Tyler Gaston	29,100,000	-7,000,000

The three remaining players are now on a 15-minute break before returning to the feature table.

Oren Rosen raised from the small blind to 4,000,000 with   . Yuliyan Kolev in the big blind made the call with   .

The flop came     and Kolev checked his option. Rosen bet his top pair for 3,300,000 and Kolev quickly folded as Rosen scooped in the chips.

Yuliyan Kolev	102,400,000	3,000,000
Oren Rosen	47,300,000	1,000,000

Tyler Gaston raised on the button with    and was three-bet by Oren Rosen in the small blind with   . Yuliyan Kolev looked down at    and went into the tank as he thought about the best play. He decided to fold and Gaston folded after for Rosen to take down the pot pre flop.

Yuliyan Kolev	107,400,000	-3,000,000
Tyler Gaston	49,600,000	-3,000,000
Oren Rosen	41,800,000	6,000,000

Tyler Gaston raised to 3,000,000 on the button and was called by Yuliyan Kolev in the big blind. Gaston had    while Kolev had   .

The flop came     and action checked through.

The   gave Gaston an open ended straight draw and he bet 3,200,000 when checked to. Kolev decided his hand wasn't good enough to continue as he made the fold.

Yuliyan Kolev	104,100,000	-4,500,000
Tyler Gaston	58,800,000	5,500,000

Action folds to Oren Rosen who called from the small blind with    and Yuliyan Kolev decided to check behind with    in the big blind.

The flop came     giving Kolev two pair and Rosen a pair of jacks. Rosen check-called Kolev's bet of 1,500,000.

The   was the turn and Kolev bet again once checked to, this time 5,000,000. Rosen went into the tank as he pondered his decision before checking his cards and making the fold as Kolev continued to chip up at the final table.

Yuliyan Kolev	96,600,000	2,000,000
Tyler Gaston	57,300,000	3,000,000
Oren Rosen	44,900,000	-5,000,000

Tyler Gaston raised to 2,500,000 with    on the button and Oren Rosen but Yuliyan Kolev made the call in the big blind with   .

The flop gave     and Kolev check-called Gaston for 2,200,000. Both checked on the   turn and a   appeared on the river, giving trips to Gaston. This time Kolev check-folded after Gaston bet 7,500,000.

Yuliyan Kolev	94,600,000	-5,900,000
Tyler Gaston	54,300,000	6,500,000
Oren Rosen	49,900,000	-600,000