2018 MILLIONS North America News

Event 6 was the closing event of the MILLIONS North America 2018, the MILLIONS Finale. The event was designed for high rollers who wanted to redeem themselves from the Main Event, or anyone looking for big-money action. The 126 entries that were accounted for easily surpassed the $1,000,000 guarantee that was attached to the tournament, and made up some very interesting prizes.

The Finale brought together the who’s who of the MILLIONS participants. Notables were on every table, and it is no surprise that after 3 days of high-level poker, the final table grouped some of the best tournament players on the poker scene.

Philippe D’Auteuil and Josue Sauvageau, two of Québec’s most experienced poker pros, Chance Kornuth, a player with countless wins in his resume, and Manig Loeser, Germany’s finest, to name just a few, faced each other in what can only be described as a grueling marathon. Day 3 started at 1:00pm and after the final table was formed around 7:00pm, nearly 10 more hours of poker was played, despite the players’ decision to half the levels at about 1:30am, when the ICM chop was agreed by the final five after lengthy deliberation.

Sauvageau was the first to bust after the deal was struck, and was followed by his friend Philippe D’Auteuil. Loeser took 3rd, and the heads-up match was set. Timothy Reilly was soon a 2 to 1 favorite, but that changed quickly when Reilly, after check calling a few streets, fired 18M on the river. When Sklenicka shoved, the fold was instant.

The 2 to 1 lead had swapped hands, and after playing a few small pots, Reilly slipped again. He fired huge on the river with nothing but queen high, and was called correctly by a second pair. After that, Reilly only had a few chips left, and lost them in the pre-flop standard showdown pictured below.

After a poker excursion of nearly 16 hours, Michael emerged champion. Congratulations to both finalists!

Our MILLIONS Finale Champion:  Michael Sklenicka – $242,370 and the dazzling MILLIONS Trophy

Runner-up:

Last hand of play:

 

Event 5 was a 2-Day-1 event that featured a $1,100 buy-in and an amazing $1,000,000 guarantee. The MILLIONS Turbo, the official name of the tournament, is a reference to the 30-minute levels that ran through the whole event. Today was Day 2, the final day of the tournament, and 140 qualifiers were assembled in the main hall.

A constant race for the lead was noticeable throughout the day. It started with Andrew Neeme, who was 4th biggest stack to start off the day and got eliminated in the early levels when his queens met Griffin Benger’s aces. That’s when Benger started distancing the rest of the field. From that point, he maintained his stack and managed to stay in the top 5 all the way to the end.

Shaun Deeb was also a huge player leading up to the final table. In the later stages, he was playing the majority of his hands and relied on his skills to make that work. Ruben Perceval also appeared on the final with a massive stack, resulting from all-around great play, as usual.

These three players were among the biggest stacks when the final table was formed, but that table featured many experienced players, and their domination was less palpable. Perceval victimized Deeb when he cracked his kings with a set of jacks found on the flop. Deeb was out in 6th, and Perceval fell in 4th at the hands of David Shao. At that point, Griffin Benger had about half the chips in play, but Shao was on his way up. After Dylan Maille-Thibault’s elimination in 3rd, Benger and Shao had equal armies facing each other.

The duel lasted over an hour and a half, and it was hard fought, to say the least. Shao gobbled a few small pots and never looked back. The last hand saw Shao and Benger get in a pre-flop raising war that eventually had Benger all-in and at risk. See the run out below.

David Shao was crowned champion of the MILLIONS Turbo and pocketed $157,500 for his amazing performance.

Congratulations!

The MILLIONS Turbo Champion: David Shao – $157,500 and the stunning MILLIONS Trophy

Runner-up: Griffin Benger – $137,500

Last hand of play:

After that astonishing check-raise bluff, Taylor had about an 80-20 chip advantage, but Darryll was again showing his class as a player and working hard to narrow the gap. He had taken back a few points when the final hand in the event occurred.

Darryll was on the button and raised to 45M holding . Taylor put together a 3bet to 140M holding . Darryll made the call.

Flop: .

Taylor was first to act, and bet 130M – and found a raise all-in from Darryll Fish. Taylor made the call as quickly as humanly possible… and the bad news was revealed to Darryll. All Taylor would have to do is fade three Queens or two Nines to take the championship!

Turn: – a terrible card for Darryll! Now making two pair was no longer good enough – he’s have to hit a Nine for a full house!

River: – two pair for Darryll, but counterfeit by the turn – no good!

And just like that, Taylor Black was the winner!

MILLIONS North America Main Event Champion: Taylor Black, $1,400,000

2nd place: Darryll Fish, $1,200,000

The dealer arranges the final all-in and call for the final runout