Event #6: $1,500 No-Limit Hold'em MILLIONAIRE MAKER

It began on Saturday with 6,343 entrants across two starting flights, creating the largest single-day starting field in World Series of Poker history. Fast forward four days, 35 one-hour levels, 6,432 eliminations, and only one player remains standing. Benny Chen is the sole survivor, earning $1,198,780 for his historic achievement.

Day 4 began with 10 players remaining and Chen was atop the leaderboard, but that position would change countless times over the course of the 195-hand final table. Bracelet-winner Dan Kelly notched the first two eliminations, sending Joe Kuether to the rail in tenth place and eliminating Theron Eichenberger in ninth place, to take the lead from Chen. Following Robert McVeigh's elimination in eighth place, Chen was in sixth place out of the seven remaining players.

When Upeshka Desilva exited in in seventh place, Chen was back to second in chips. Chris Hunichen fell in sixth place and seven hands later, Kelly met his demise as well.

Chen was second in chips with four players remaining, despite not having any eliminations under his belt thus far. Four-handed play lasted 95 hands with each player exchanging turns as both the chip leader and the short stack. Finally, on Hand #175, Justin Liberto fell at the hands of Chen. Three-handed play only lasted 12 hands before Chen dispatched of Jonathan Gray in third place.

With a roughly 3:1 chip lead to begin heads-up play, Chen sealed the deal on the eighth hand of the duel. After Michael Bennington limped on the button, Chen raised from the big blind. Bennington clicked it back before Chen re-raised all in. Bennington called for his tournament life with   , well behind Chen's   . The board rolled out      , locking up the victory for Chen.

Congratulations to Chen for his historic accomplishment! We hope you enjoyed our hand-for-hand coverage of this final table, and urge you to follow our coverage for the remainder of the summer as more bracelets are awarded. For now, good night from Las Vegas!

Hand 193: Michael Bennington limped his button and Benny Chen checked his option. They checked to the river of a       board where Chen bet 700,000. Bennington called, but mucked when Chen tabled    for fives full of nines.

Hand 194: Benny Chen limp-folded his button and Michael Bennington raised to 1.2 million.

Hand #187: After Bennington opened for 800,000, Chen called in the small blind, and Gray re-shoved for approximately 5.5 million. Bennington got out of the way, and Chen made the call with   , but he was dominated by the    tabled by Gray.

The five board cards would decide each man's destiny, and when the flop fell    , fate was in Chen's corner. His supporters in the stands exploded in excitement, but their hoots and hollers were quieted at the sight of the  , as Gray picked up a club flush draw to improve his chances. Both players craned their necks to watch the dealer burn and turn the decisive last card.

River:  

The black card made everybody in the room catch their breath, but the spade was a blank for Gray and he was eliminated courtesy of a bad beat.

Jonathan Gray

0

-4,275,000

Hand #169: Bennington's 600,000 raise from the button earned him the blinds and antes.

Hand #170: Liberto went for a walk in the big blind.

Hand #171: Feeling his Wheaties after the walk, Liberto open-shoved all in from the small blind and took down another pot.

Hand #172: Bennington raised his small blind to 650,000, Chen called, and the two checked the board of      through the turn. When the river came  , Bennington checked a third time, and Chen made an all-in bet which won him the pot.

Hand #173: Bennington kept at it, raising to 600,000 from the button and scooping the blinds and antes.

Hand #174: Chen raised his button to 600,000, and Liberto came along for a flop of  . After Liberto checked, Chen studied the board and the pot before firing a bet of 450,000. Liberto did his own statue impression, staring silently into the ether before making the call. On the   turn, both players opted to tap the table. and the   arrived on the river. Two more checks and Chen's   , and the pocket pair was good.

Hand #160: Liberto raised his button to 600,000, Bennington called from the small blind, and the flop fell    . Both players checked to the   turn, and the action repeated through the   river. Liberto's    proved to be the winner, as Bennington held only the lowly   .

Hand #161: Liberto's opening raise of 600,000 was met with an three-bet shove by Chen, which earned him the pot.

Hand #162: Chen raised his button, making it 600,000 to play, and the action folded around making it two in a row for a short-stacked Chen.

Hand #163: Chen kept up the aggression, raising to 600,000 from under the gun, but he finally met resistance in the form of a reshove by Gray. Chen mucked and the pot was pushed Gray's way.

Hand #164: Gray popped it 750,000 from under the gun, and Chen came along to see a flop of    . After Chen checked the action, Gray responded in kind by tapping the table, and the   turned. Chen elected to lead out on fourth street, firing 825,000 and staring silently at the table. Gray reached towards his stack and cut out enough chips for a call, bringing the   on the river. This card caused Chen to deliberate for thirty seconds while riffling a stack of purple T100,000 chips. Eventually, he used those chips to bet 1.35 million, and Gray quickly looked him up, but Chen's    for the flopped nuts proved to be the winner.

Hand #165: As tournament staff colored off some of the orange T5000 chips, we missed a brief and uneventful pot.

Hand #166: Gray's open-shove from the small blind claimed the antes.

Hand #167: Liberto tried the same trick, moving all-in from the small blind, and he took the pot without a contest.

Hand #168: Action folded around to Bennington in the small blind, and he raised to 850,000. Chen called and the flop of     was checked by Bennington. Chen fired a bet of 675,000 forward, Bennington popped it to 2.1 million, and Chen insta-folded.

Hand #153: Bennington bumped it up to 600,000 holding the button, and Gray came along to see the flop of     hit the table. Gray checked to Bennington, and then called the doctor's 1 million chip bet. On the   and   river, both players checked it down and Bennington's    was the winner.

Hand #154: Gray moved all-in from the small blind, adding the antes to his stack.

Hand #155: Gray raised his button to 750,000, folding the blinds and claiming their chips.

Hand #156: With momentum on his side and the chip lead to boot, Gray raised for a third hand in a row, making it 750,000 to play from under the gun. Chen called to defend his big blind, and the flop of     was checked around. On the   turn, Chen fired 650,000 into the pot, and Gray matched the wager. The   arrived on the river, and Chen again led out, this time for 850,000, and Gray pondered the mysteries of life for a minute before electing to call. He could not beat Chen's    for top pair, and the intricate chip trading dance here at the final table continued.

Hand #157: Liberto raised to 605,000 from under the gun, but folded to Gray's three-bet ship.

Hand #158: On the button, Chen raised to 600,000, but folded when Gray again shipped his entire stack into the middle to force an all-in decision.

Hand #159: Chen opened for 600,000 from under the gun, and Bennington came along. The flop fell    , drawing oohs and ahhs from the rail, but Benningto check-folded to Chen's 450,000 c-bet.