The World Series of Poker is known for having some events with a huge player pool, but what took place this week was almost unprecedented. There were 18,409 entries into the $1,000 Mystery Millions Event, and that tournament was won by a player from Australia.
Not only were player competing for the $1 million top prize in this tournament, but there were also two $1 million bounties available. Malcolm Trayner was not able to pull the big $1 million prize, but he won the sixth-largest tournament in WSOP history.
There was a record set in this event as it produced the highest turnout of any tournament that had a buy-in of at least $1,000. This was the first ever gold bracelet won by Trayner, and it’s an event that will stick with him for a long time.
This tournament began with players competing in four flights, and that lowered the total prize pool in a hurry. There were just 18 players that made it to the final day of this tournament, and Trayner was not in a good position at that time.
A Great Run
When the action on the final day began, Trayner was actually outside of the top-10 in chip count. It didn’t take long for Trayner to make his move though, as he was the chip leader when it was time for the final table.
It was then at the final table that Trayner started to do his best work as he had the first elimination. Trayner sent Amir Mirrasouli home with a sixth place finish with a hand that won pre-flop.
There were other players at the final table that were being a bit more conservative, but Trayner just continued to push hard in order to keep the pressure on. He built up a 3.5:1 chip lead heading into heads up action, and it was Carson Richards that had the other seat at the table.
Richards was dealt some bad luck at the final table, but that misfortune allowed Trayner to continue to build up his big lead. Trayner has been busy playing big live poker tournaments, but this was easily his biggest cash of his career.
His previous best win had been just over $125,000, and he had never been close to winning a gold bracelet. Trayner is now the 26th player from Australia to win a gold bracelet at the WSOP.
Other Large Prize Pools
The largest number of tournament entries came all the way back in 2019 as there were over 28,000 players that signed up to compete in the $500 No-Limit Hold’em Event. That led to a prize pool of more than $13 million, and it was Femi Fashakin that took home the honor.
This is now the third straight year that a Mystery Millions event has finished in the top-10 in terms of the most players in a field. It’s very rare that players take home more than $1 million in a tournament outside of the Main Event, but these events always have a prize set at that number.
