Arne Kern added $1.73 million to his previous career earnings of $28,000.
Arne Kern won the Millionaire Maker event (#21) at the 2018 World Series of Poker. The $1500 No-Limit Hold’em Millionaire Maker Event is one of the largest fields in the early stages of the 72-event World Series of Poker, because it has an affordable buy-in and the ability to win a million dollars for first prize.
The German beat a field of 7,361 players to win the $1,500 No-Limit Hold’em Millionaire Maker event. Kern’s previous tournament winnings totaled $28,000. Now the 28-year-old has a WSOP bracelet winner and nearly $1.2 million in earnings.
To win the biggest event of his life, Arne Kern mounted a come-from-behind victory. At several times in the latter stages of the event, Kern was on the verge of busting out of the competition. To win at the final table, Kern had to defeat several accomplished pros.
“At first I was short-stacking, playing pretty tight. I picked my spots. I waited until other players busted,” Arne Kern said after he accepted the grand prize of $1,173,223.
Tournament #21: The Millionaire Maker
At the start of the final table, Kern was sitting at the bottom with a stack of just 13 big blinds. He was able to double up early on with king-ten of spades against Michael Souza’s ace-jack. Though an ace flopped, the turn and river brought running spade cards for a flush, which scored the crucial double-up.
After that, Kern began a run through the final table competitors. He first eliminated British poker icon Barny Boatman, putting him out of the event in 7th place. Holding ace-jack, Kern hit a jack against Boatman’s ace-king.
Eventually, Arne Kern eliminated English player Sam Razavi, 2015 Main Event champion Joe McKeehan, and Justin Liberto.
Arne Kern v. Sam Razavi
In the final heads-up pairing, Kern and Razavi swapped chips back and forth for nearly two hours, making it a worthy heads-up match. 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 ended it in a flash.
Discussing the hand which cinched his victory, Arne Kern said, “I’m not very proud of that. I may have read the stack sizes a bit wrong, but it all worked out. It’s a dream come true.”
Sam Razavi in 2nd Place
Razavi finished the tournament in 2nd place and took home his largest tournament winnings yet, $724,756. Joe McKeehen took $538,276 for his third place finish. This is McKeehen’s second third place finish in this year’s tournament, so the 2015 champ appears to be playing some of his best poker in 3 years. McKeehan finished Event #3: $3,000 No-Limit Hold’em Shootout with a score of $101,766.
“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 talking about the former WSOP Main Event champion. During three-handed play, McKeehen was left running short when his pocket kings were outflopped by Razavi’s ace-eight and was eliminated shortly after that.
Liberto in 2nd Millionaire Maker Final Table
Justin Liberto is a WSOP history maker after managing to make the final table in the Millionaire Maker event for a second time. He finished 4th in the 2013 edition and took home more than $400,000. This time around, Justin Librerto was eliminated in 5th place, taking home $303,294, when his king-queen failed to face up to the ace-jack of Michael Souza. Throughout his career he has earned nearly $3,000,000.
Other final table contenders included Sean Marshall, who finished in 9th with $104,987. Marshall was the first to go after shoving pocket fives into Boatman’s pocket jacks. Ralph Massey finished in 8th place with $135,383 who ran ace-queen into pocket aces to bow out. Kern took out Boatman in 7th, when the young player truly started taking over the game.
Jack Oliver: Freeroll Player
Not all of the success stories at the World Series of Poker involve a WSOP bracelet. The underdog’s tale is one element the World Series of Poker offers which most other world-class competitive events cannot match. In most pro sports, the underdog still consists of a team of skilled professionals who exceed expectations. In poker, true amateurs ascend to the top of the poker ranks – at least for a short time.
Jack Oliver is one of those players. Mr. Oliver entered the Grosvenor Casino online tournament to just see what could come of it. Little did he know, it would take him all the way to the WSOP Millionaire Maker table. The casino’s online site offers a freeroll for students. Oliver was in a league with 100 other students that would play over the next several weeks.
Each week, Oliver kept advancing until he made it to the final eight players in the entire league. He then moved up to the UK Student Poker Championships located in Coventry. The second through eighth place players at that level took home cash prizes. First place received a $4,700 package to travel to Las Vegas for the opportunity to play in the WSOP Millionaire Maker. Oliver took home the win and headed to Vegas.
Biggest Event of His Life
Oliver was a part of 25 other qualifiers for the tournament. However, he is the only one in the group who is on a complete freeroll, meaning he had so far spent nothing to get to this level. The Millionaire Maker was by far the biggest event Oliver had ever played in.
Jack Oliver said, “I’ve never played a $1,500 tournament. My friends and I play poker a lot though. I even sold a bit of action to them as sort of like a rail a little bit, so they’re enjoying it.”
Oliver is a 23-year-old from St. Albans, England. He just finished school earning a degree in business management. Oliver said he has been playing poker for roughly six years and was ready to move to the next level and get more serious about the game.
Oliver managed to make it to the event’s second day but was eliminated late in the day leaving in 359th place and made a final score of $4,518 — which is not too bad for a tournament where had to put absolutely no money in to it. When Jack Oliver was asked what he was planning on doing with the money he said: “Play more poker.”
Remembering the ones who got him there, Jack Oliver then added, “My girlfriend might like to go on a holiday as well.”
