$1M On Black, $500K In The Bank, And $100K To Charity: Stories From The $1K WSOP Mystery Millions NLHE

Jonathan Schiller Pulls The $1,000,000 Bounty

The $1K WSOP Mystery Millions NLHE drew a total of 22,811 entries, making it the fourth-largest field in WSOP history. All of the biggest Mystery Bounties have now been claimed. However, the tournament champion will still receive another $1 million.

The top Mystery Bounty was pulled by fantasy sports pro and recreational poker player Jonathan Schiller.

Right after the unforgettable moment, Schiller struggled to find the right words. He joked that he was going to put the entire $1 million on black. In reality, he said he plans to take a family vacation, pay off his debts, pay off his mortgage, and buy a new car.

Stephen McCarthy pulled the $500,150 Mystery Bounty. His plans were much simpler:

“Put it in the bank!”

Brian Smith pulled a $100,000 Mystery Bounty. He said he plans to donate the entire amount to the Purple Pansies Foundation.

Skye Chen Wins The $1K WSOP Ladies Championship ($194.6K)

The tournament set a new attendance record with 1,475 entries.

Skye Chen is a recreational player. She worked as a software engineer for 11 years before recently leaving the tech industry to travel and play poker. She mainly played cash games, starting at $1/$3 before moving up to $5/$10. Last night, she captured her first WSOP bracelet by defeating Aubrey Williams in a heads-up match that lasted two hours.

In her winner’s interview, Chen said she never believed a recreational player could win a WSOP bracelet.

Event #68: $1,000 Ladies No-Limit Hold’em Championship Final Table Payouts (1,475 entries)

Place	Country	Player	Prize
1		Skye Chen	$194,630
2		Aubrey Williams	$129,692
3		Lisa Teebagy	$93,149
4		Caitlin Comeskey	$67,735
5		Emily Spencer	$49,874
6		Victoria Ailloud	$37,192
7		Lisa Tan	$28,092
8		Lexy Gavin-Mather	$21,497
9		Jessica Teusl	$16,668

Taylor Atchison Wins The $1,500 Stud8 ($159,276)

This was Atchison’s first career cash in a Stud8 tournament and the biggest score of his career. Before this event, he had earned just over $57K in live tournament winnings.

He first learned limit games while playing home games with friends. These days, he plays just about every poker variant except No-Limit Hold’em.

Event #69: $1,500 Seven Card Stud Hi-Lo 8 or Better Final Table Payouts (647 entries)

Place	Country	Player	Prize
1		Taylor Atchison	$159,276
2		Daniil Fedunov	$106,162
3		Daniel Geeng	$73,068
4		Dave Stann	$51,217
5		Adam Owen	$36,574
6		David Bach	$26,618
7		Jeff Myers	$19,749
8		Alan Ledford	$14,945

Brazilians Win The Tag Team Event For The Second Straight Year

Last year, the $1K Tag Team title went to Samba Poker Team coaches Kelvin “Kelvin_FP:AR” Kerber and Peter Patricio. This year, their students and close friends Breno Drumond and Henrique Lessa took down the event.

Drumond and Lessa joined Samba Poker Team seven years ago. They became close friends, studied the game together, and traveled to poker series around the world. This victory fulfilled a dream they had shared for years.

At the final table, the Brazilian team came within one hand of elimination. A Japanese team opened the action, and the Brazilians shoved for just three big blinds. Surprisingly, the Japanese player folded.

Event #66: $1,000 Tag Team No-Limit Hold’em Final Table Payouts (1,375 teams)

Place	Country	Player	Prize
1		Breno Drumond – Henrique Lessa	$184,769
2		Ruka Yamauchi – Shotaro Murase	$123,119
3		Joseph Monaco – Gabriel Monaco	$88,058
4		Christine Brewer – Orson Young	$63,800
5		Tomas Szwarcberg – Sebastien Hetzel	$46,833
6		Ryan Franklin – Michael Zulker	$34,838
7		Jennifer Zewe – Vincent Moscati	$26,265
8		Victor Chong – Tyler Willse	$20,073
9		Michael Buchmiller – Russell Rosenblum	$15,554

Koji Fujimoto Defeats Nick Schulman Heads-Up In The $10,000 Limit 2-7 Championship ($256,181)

Eight-time bracelet winner Nick Schulman is one of the most accomplished players in 2-7 Triple Draw. Three of his bracelets came in the $10K 2-7 Triple Draw Championship. Only Billy Baxter has won more, with five.

Schulman lost heads-up to Koji Fujimoto, who captured his first WSOP bracelet. Fujimoto has been coaching poker players for the past year and hopes his victory will help mixed games grow in popularity in Japan.

Event #67: $10,000 Limit 2-7 Championship Final Table Payouts (176 entries)

Place	Country	Player	Prize
1		Koji Fujimoto	$392,478
2		Nick Schulman	$256,181
3		Tommy Hang	$172,064
4		Andrew Kelsall	$119,011
5		Justin Smith	$84,845
6		Todd Brunson	$62,404