One of the marquee events of the 56th World Series of Poker has reached its final day of play as the $1,500 Millionaire Maker will crown its champion on Wednesday.
Not one but two players will claim the seven-figure score that the event is named after, with the winner taking home $1,255,180 while the runner-up earns what will be a bittersweet $1,012,320.
Seven players remain in contention for the title with $245,430 locked up so far, but those huge prizes, the bracelet, and the glory will all be earned by one of these seven players.
Seat 1: Jesse Yaginuma, USA (2nd — 55.7M chips)
- Career tournament earnings: $2,648,817
- Career highlights
- 3 WSOP bracelets / 1 WSOP Circuit ring (all online)
- 3rd in 2013 WPT LA Poker Classic ($429,810)
In terms of WSOP bracelets, Yaginuma is the most decorated player left in the field, with three to his name, all won online between 2022 and 2024. Yaginuma also has a well-decorated live resume, with several wins in Atlantic City, including a WPT Heads-Up event in 2009 and a career-best score at the LA Poker Classic in 2013.
Jesse Yaginuma
Seat 2: Josh Reichard, USA (1st — 84.3M chips)
- Career tournament earnings: $5,017,898
- Career highlights
- 16 WSOP Circuit rings
- Won 2024 WPT Hard Rock Poker Showdown ($839,300)
- MSPT Hall of Fame
While Reichard may be running out of fingers and toes to adorn with WSOP Circuit rings, having won 16 of them, his wrist remains barren — he's never won a bracelet.
He’s had a couple of close calls, with a runner-up finish in the 2023 Mini Main Event and a 9th-place finish in this very event in 2019. Reichard says having another shot at a bracelet in this one has been on his mind.
“When I was starting to get deep in this event, it felt like a chance for a do-over on the 9th, a chance to run it back and see if I can close it out this time. A bracelet is the one major thing in poker I don’t have, so that makes me want it more, for sure.”
Josh ReichardSeat 3: Jonah Labranche USA (4th – 35.1M chips)
- Career tournament earnings: $725,680
- Career highlights
- 1 WSOP Circuit ring
- Won 2022 Fall Mayhem Series Main Event in Round Rock, Texas ($227,561)
Since a breakthrough six-figure score in 2022, Labranche has parlayed that win into a successful tournament career, earning another half million dollars in the nearly three years since.
His result in the Millionaire Maker will be a new high score regardless of how Wednesday’s final seven plays out, but a win would nearly triple his career tournament earnings.
Jonah LabrancheSeat 4: Alejandro Ganivet ESP (6th — 29.4M chips)
- Career tournament earnings: $48,283
- Career highlight: 13th in 2025 WSOP $3,000 6-Max ($33,282)
Ganivet’s Hendon Mob profile is the most modest of the remaining seven, with his result in this tournament already worth over seven times his previous best career score, which came just over a week ago here in Las Vegas.
Prior to this summer, the Spaniard had just over $10,000 in career tournament earnings since his first recorded result in May 2022, but it’s been a WSOP to remember for him, with a potentially life-changing result ahead on Wednesday.
Alejandro GanivetSeat 5: Jeffrey Tanouye, USA (5th – 31.9M chips)
- Career tournament earnings: $1,405,371
- Career highlights
- 3rd in 2018 WSOP $1,500 Closer ($278,774)
- 2nd in 2022 $3,300 Venetian Deepstack ($181,657)
- 20th in 2015 WSOP $1,500 Millionaire Maker ($45,275)
Any tournament resume with well over a million dollars in recorded earnings is to be respected, but a signature win has eluded Tanouye, with his biggest scores coming in near misses, including a deep run in this event in 2015.
Tanouye’s biggest payday that came with a win was in a $300 Wynn tournament in 2023 for just over $10,000. Victory on Wednesday would change that narrative in a huge way.
Jeffrey TanouyeSeat 6: Jacques Ortega, BRA (3rd — 37.7M chips)
- Career tournament earnings: $196,999
- Career highlight: 180th in 2024 WSOP $10,000 Main Event ($60,000)
One of those unmistakable and rowdy Brazilian rails will be out in full force on Wednesday to support Ortega as he chases a prize that would massively eclipse his career earnings to this point.
Along with a huge monetary score, Ortega is seeking his first-ever trip to the winner’s circle in a Hendon Mob-recognized tournament, having never placed better than 3rd.
A victory on Wednesday would be an incredible way to add that distinction to his tournament resume.
Jacques OrtegaSeat 7: James Carroll, USA (7th – 24M chips)
- Career tournament earnings: $6,171,192
- Career highlights:
- Won 2014 WPT Bay 101 Shooting Star ($1,256,550)
- Won 2019 WPT Seminole Hard Rock Poker Showdown ($715,175)
- 2nd in 2018 WSOP $1,500 Monster Stack ($640,916)
Along with Reichard and Yaginuma, Carroll brings a tremendous amount of success and experience to the final seven, with the most career tournament earnings of any of the final seven, along with a pair of WPT titles and a laundry list of accomplishments.
Like Reichard, though, a WSOP bracelet has eluded Carroll, with a runner-up Monster Stack finish seven years ago the closest he’s come to WSOP glory in Las Vegas.
James CarrollPlay resumes at 4pm PT on Wednesday, with PokerGO streaming at 5pm. Blinds will be 600,000/1,200,000 (1,200,000) when play resumes, and we will continue until a champion is crowned.
Join us then for continuing coverage of one of the biggest events on the WSOP schedule.
