Millionaire Maker - $1,500 No-Limit Hold'em (Event #19)

The 2019 World Series of Poker Event #19: $1,500 NL Millionaire Maker was the largest in history with 8,809 runners, which over the course of five days was reduced to just one. John Gorsuch completed an epic comeback being down to less than two big blinds seven handed to win the tournament for $1,344,930 and his first gold bracelet.

The win came at just the right time for the 42-year-old, who for the past 15 years started and grew a company in Washington DC. It was associated with the Department of Defense, and two years ago he decided to sell, a process that took until May 31 of this year to complete. He sold his house, moved home to Florida, and bought an RV.

"I started a company and had over 100 people with $15 million in revenue, and this is still the biggest day of my life," he said after the win. "I'm a millionaire. I need to call my financial advisor and CPA. The CPA literally just emailed two days ago about my second-quarter estimates. Now I need to re-estimate my second quarter."

While Gorsuch had more than $450K in earnings before the event, the victory actually marked his first win on HendonMob.

"I've not won an outright tournament since maybe 2013, a small bar-type tournament," he said. Gorsuch then credited an earlier experience from the 2019 WSOP his success – specifically the first round of the Shootout Event where he played, and ultimately lost, a three-hour heads-up match.

He learned to be patient, pick his spots, and fight to the end. Now, he's got seven-figures to show for his resilience. That money will be put to use both in the short and long-term. For the former, he can now help out with plans for January 2021 cruise to celebrate his parent's 50th wedding anniversary.

"I think now I'm just going to pay for everything. I'm definitely upgrading on that trip," he said while adding he intends to help them with an addition to their house while upgrading his own fifth wheeler. As for the long term, the win will likely influence how serious he takes poker.

"I'm a poker player for right now," he said. "Poker is awesome. I can play poker all day, all night long. This kind of helps figure out whether or not I want to keep doing it. I don't play cash stakes at all. You've got to run good in tournaments otherwise your cash flow dries up quick if you don't supplement it with cash [games]."

Final Table Results

Final Table Action

Day 5 saw six players return to action and from the get-go it was the Kazuki Ikeuchi show. He started off by eliminating Cory Albertson in sixth place after getting it in with a double gutter against the nut flush draw. Ikeuchi was behind but managed to pair the river to steal the pot.

Not long after, Josh Thibodaux made an ill-timed bluff as he three-bet all in on the turn drawing dead when Ikeuchi held kings full of tens. That gave Ikeuchi a 112bb stack while his three opponents had under 10 bigs each.

Vincas Tamasaukas bowed out in fourth place losing king-six to Lokesh Garg's king-jack, and Garg would follow him out the door in third after running ace-four into Ikeuchi's ace-jack suited.

By that point, Gorsuch had closed the gap a bit and then doubled into the chip lead after a big hand where his top set of kings held against a diamond flush draw. Gorsuch's fearless style saw him whittle Ikeuchi down before the final hand played out.

The chips went in on the turn when Gorsuch spiked two pair with queen-seven against the pocket rockets of Ikeuchi. The river was a brick and Ikeuchi had to settle for second place and $830,783 in prize money.

It marked the second year in a row Ikeuchi came close to capturing a bracelet as last year he and two partners finished second in Event #55: $1,000 NLH Tag Team for $36,202 apiece.

As for Gorsuch, he was left to take the winner photo sporting a full Dallas Cowboys ensemble.

"Tell Jerry if he wants to put me up in the suite for a game, preferably an NFC Championship game, I'd love that," he said. "If I can win a bracelet they can win it."

Hand #146: John Gorsuch raised to 4 million and Kazuki Ikeuchi called to see the     flop. Ikeuchi check-called a bet of 6 million and then both players checked the   turn as well as the   turn. Gorsuch tabled the    and claimed the pot.

Hand #147: Ikeuchi opened for 5 million and Gorsuch called to see a     flop. Both players checked and did the same on the   turn. Both players checked the   river and Ikeuchi won it with his   .

Hand #148: Gorsuch limped, Ikeuchi checked his option, and both players checked the     flop. Ikeuchi bet 3 million on the   turn and Gorsuch raised all in. Ikeuchi folded.

Hand #149: Ikeuchi limped, Gorsuch raised all in, and Ikeuchi folded.

Hand #150: Gorsuch folded and gave Ikeuchi a walk.

Hand #151: Ikeuchi limped and Gorsuch checked his option to see a     flop. Gorsuch checked and called when Ikeuchi bet 2.5 million. The   turn paired the board and both players checked to see the   river. Gorsuch opted to bet 10 million and Ikeuchi folded.

Hand #152: Gorsuch limped and folded when Ikeuchi moved all in.

Hand #140: Kazuki Ikeuchi got a walk.

Hand #141: Ikeuchi raised to 4 million and was called by John Gorsuch. Both players checked to the turn on a board reading     , and then Gorsuch bet 4 million, taking down the pot.

Hand #142: Gorsuch called and Ikeuchi checked his option. On the     flop, Borsuch bet 2.5 million, which was enough to get a fold from Ikeuchi.

Hand #143: Ikeuchi called and Gorsuch checked. Gorsuch then check-folded after Ikeuchi bet 2 million on the     flop.

Hand #144: Ikeuchi got a walk.

Hand #145: Ikeuchi raised to 4 million and Gorsuch made the call. Gorsuch check-called the 2.5 million bet from Ikeuchi on the     flop, but folded to Ikeuchi's 10 million bet on the   turn.

John Gorsuch	166,600,000	-6,500,000
Kazuki Ikeuchi	53,900,000	6,500,000

Hand #128: John Gorsuch raised to 4 million, Kazuki re-raised all in and Gorsuch asked for an exact count. The dealer confirmed 35.4 million and Gorsuch folded.

Hand #129: Ikeuchi raised to 4.5 million and then folded to the 17 million three-bet for Gorsuch.

Hand #130: Gorsuch raised to 4 million, Ikeuchi raised all in and Gorsuch folded.

Hand #131: Ikeuchi raised to 4.5 million and was called by Gorsuch. Gorsuch check-called the 3 million bet from Ikeuchi on the     flop. Gorsuch then led out for 7.5 million on the   turn, but folded when Ikeuchi went all in.

Hand #132: Gorsuch raised to 4 million and got a call from Ikeuchi. Ikeuchi check-called the 3.5 mllion bet from Gorsuch on the     flop and both players then checked the   turn and   river. Ikeuchi tabled    and Gorsuch mucked his hand.

John Gorsuch	155,100,000	-28,000,000
Kazuki Ikeuchi	65,400,000	28,000,000

Hand #120: John Gorsuch raised to 5 million, Kazuki Ikeuchi then three-bet to 17 million and took down the pot.

Hand #121: Ikeuchi raised to 5 million, and this time Gorsuch three-bet to 17 million, getting a call from Ikeuchi. On the     flop, Gorsuch continued for 15 million and Ikeuchi made the call. Gorsuch then went all in for his remaining 47.8 million on the   turn and was called by Ikeuchi.

John Gosuch;   
Kazuki Ikeuchi:   

Gorsuch had flopped top set, but Ikeuchi had flopped top pair and the flush draw. The   river was safe for Gorsuch, giving him the huge double-up and chiplead.

Hand #116: Kazuki Ikeuchi received a walk in the big blind.

Hand #117: Ikeuchi limped from the small blind and then called when John Gorsuch raised to 6 million from the big. The     flop saw Ikeuchi check and Gorsuch bet 7 million. Ikeuchi called and the   appeared on the turn.

Ikeuchi checked, Gorsuch did the same, and the   completed the board on the river. Ikeuchi bet 13 million and Gorsuch thought long and hard before raising to 30 million. Ikeuchi folded and Gorsuch pulled in a nice pot.

Hand #118: Ikeuchi raised the button to 4 million and won the pot.

Hand #107: Kazuki Ikeuchi received a walk in the big blind.

Hand #108: Kazuki Ikeuchi moved all in from the small blind and John Gorsuch called off for 11.1 million from the big.

Gorsuch:   
Ikeuchi:   

Gorsuch was in big trouble but got lucky to take the lead on the     flop. The   turn and   river were safe for Gorsuch and he shipped a much-needed double.

Hand #109: Ikeuchi raised the button to 3.5 million and Lokesh Garg defended the big blind to see a     flop. Garg checked and called when Ikeuchi bet 3.3 million. When the   appeared on the turn, Garg checked for the second time and Ikeuchi bet 10 million. Garg folded and Ikeuchi won the pot.

Hand #110: Gorsuch raised the button to 4 million and Ikeuchi moved all in from the small blind. Gorsuch called off for 22.3 million total and the hands were turned up.

Gorsuch:   
Ikeuchi:   

The     flop have Gorsuch the lead and both the   turn and   river kept him there to give him another double.

Kazuki Ikeuchi	153,300,000	-30,600,000
John Gorsuch	55,000,000	40,600,000
Lokesh Garg	12,200,000	-300,000

Hand #103: Kazuki Ikeuchi received a walk in the big blind.

Hand #104: Ikeuchi limped the small blind and John Gorsuch checked his option from the big. The flop came down     and both players checked. The   turn saw Ikeuchi check and then fold to a bet of 2 million from Gorsuch.

Hand #105: Ikeuchi raised the button to 3.5 million and won the pot.

Hand #99: Joshua Thibodaux raised to 3.5 million under the gun and won the blinds and ante.

Hand #100: Vincas Tamasauskas moved all in for 12.9 million under the gun and won the pot.

Hand #101: Lokesh Garg moved all in for 12.5 million under the gun and won the pot.