WSOP Day 30: Jesse Yaginuma Pulls Off Comeback of the Ages

It took a full five days of intense action for the field of 11,996 entries to play down to a single winner, culminating with a thrilling heads-up battle.

The other bracelet awarded last night was to Aaron Cummings for pulling off an incredible back-to-back victory in Event #63: $1,500 2-7 Lowball Triple Draw.

Jesse Yaginuma Defeats James Carroll to Win Millionaire Maker

Event #53: $1,500 Millionaire Maker is one of the most gruelling events you will see played out at the Horseshoe and Paris Las Vegas.

With a guaranteed seven-figure prize from the outstanding $15,924,690 prize pool, it’s easy to see why this event has become a favourite.

Coming into the Day 5 finale, seven players still had a shot at the title, but it was Josh Reichard who was running away with it, holding more than one third of the chips in play.

Jesse Yaginuma, a holder of three WSOP Online bracelets, was in second place, with the top two having a comfortable lead.

It took over two and a half hours for Alejandro Ganivet to make his exit from the feature table but that was enough for the action to really step up a notch.

For now, Yaginuma was just keeping his powder dry as Reichard dispatched another player in Jonah Labranche to leave only five players remaining.

He wasn’t done with that, though, because after a brief lull he turned it up a further noche and knocked out both Jeffrey Tanouye in fifth and Jacques Ortega in fourth.

It really looked like it was his event to lose at this point, but now it was Yaginuma’s turn to shine, and shine he really did.

James Carroll was his first victim, paying off a timely double-up, and then Carroll got the chips back after the break, doubling up against Reichard.

Reichard open-jammed A♠ 6♠ and Carroll snap-called with 8♦ 8♣. The board ran out 8♠ 3♥ J♦ 3♠ K♣ and everything was close between the top two with Yaginuma still trailing with close to a 3-1 deficit.

About three quarters of an hour later, Josh Reichard came unstuck, much to the delight of Jesse Yaginuma.

Reichard opened to 5,000,000 on the button and Carroll came back over the top for 20,300,000 from the small blind.

Reichard jammed for 106,300,000 and Carroll didn’t waste any time before calling.

Reichard flipped over3♥ 3♣, no doubt a fantastic sight for Carroll for who turned over J♦ J♣.

The 10♥ 9♣ 2♣ flop was no help for Reichard, and nor were the turn and river of Q♠ 8♥ bumping him out in third place with a   $702,360 prize.

The players were now sent on a 25-minute break while the table was prepared for the heads-up showdown. The rail didn’t expect a great deal, so they were no doubt thrilled by what transpired.

Jesse Yaginuma was staring at a 9-1 chip deficit and so had no option but to play it cool and maintain a healthy level of caution.

Slow and steady was the way forward and it worked to perfection, with the vast majority of pots won by Yaginuma coming in a pre-flop exchange.

The lead finally changed hands when Carroll raised to 9,000,000 on the button with 6♠ 5♣ and Yaginuma called with Q♠ 7♠.

The dealer rolled out a flop of A♦ 4♠ J♦ and Yaginuma check-raised over a 15,000,000 bet to 34,000,000. Carroll pondered shortly before pitching his hand into the muck.

Less than 20 minutes later it was all over. Yaginuma’s Q♠ 3♦ overcame Carroll’s A♣ 10♣ to end the event.

Yaginuma was clearly delighted but also mentally exhausted after his win, saying:

“Thrilled but tired. It’s a long tournament. It feels great. I mean, everyone always calls my old bracelets fake bracelets. You know, that’s to be argued. 

But it feels great to have a live one. It was, it was long. I mean, like I said, the tournament was a week, and you gotta avoid a lot of minefields when you’re going through 12,000 people. I actually got 22nd in the [Mystery] Millions. 

I had 19,000 people earlier in the series, so I didn’t think I would get a chance to make a deep run in such a big field again. But I was extremely fortunate.”

The final two players might have been happy after the event was over, but it turns out that many other were not. As of tonight, the final results are under investigation following accusations of chip dumping from Carroll to Yagimuna because of a Club WPT promo where he would win an extra million dollars if he won the event.

Event #53: $1,500 Millionaire Maker Final Table Results

Aaron Cummings Goes Back-to-Back in Event #63: $1,500 2-7 Lowball Triple Draw

Winning back-to-back bracelets is an amazing feat, but doing it for your first two is unheard of.

Aaron Cummings took down this event last year and then returned this week to fight off his 634 rivals to claim the same accolade again.

He beat Travis Erdman heads-up to claim the bracelet and a $157,172 prize on a day where it took a while for the action to heat up.

After a couple of hours, the final table was formed with start of the day chip leader Hideki Nakamura busting out in eight place.

Erdman led the way and Cummings was right behind him for most of the way as the field gradually thinned, including a bust out by two-time bracelet winner Nathan Gamble.

Heads-up started off level but Erdman was fast out of the blocks, quickly building a 3-1 lead. But Cummings put together that run which is mandatory to win limit tournaments, eventually overwhelming his opponent with a run of trip nines on three occasions!

Cummings told reporters:

“I definitely thought about [going back-to-back]. But it’s still a long battle to get there. I was a little short coming into the day, so I knew it was going to be tough. But obviously there’s a chance. The people are always great. That’s why I play it. It’s always fun and the people are what makes it fun.

“In this game, I feel like you just have to play the hands the best you can and let the chips fall where they fall.

“One of my old friends has this quote, which is perfect for this. He says ‘It’s like déjà vu all over again’ And that’s all I’ve been thinking about for the last 15 minutes. Everything’s identical, it’s just crazy.”

Event #63: $1,500 Limit 2-7 Lowball Triple Draw Final Table Results

Erick Lindgren Leads Michael Mizrachi in $50,000 Poker Players Championship

The action in the $50,000 Poker Players Championship is starting to heat up nicely.

Erick Lindgren, one of the old school faces from the pre-Black Friday era, has been making his presence felt over the last few years and looks to be in great form at the WSOP 2025.

Lindgren is leading the way in a tougher than tough field, and just look who is chasing him. That’s none other than three-time winner of this event Michael Mizrachi.

Who do you fancy wants this more? Lindgren has two bracelets but hasn’t won one since 2013. Mizrachi, on the other hand, has six bracelets and would love to be the outright most successful player in this event.

Brian Rast won in 2011, 2016, and 2023, while Mizrachi won in 2010, 2012, and 2018.

Phil Hellmuth is now in the top ten chip counts. We all know how hard he’ll be pushing to win that record 18th bracelet.

Other notable players still in the mix are Mike Matusow (694,000) Benny Glaser (682,000), having a crack for four bracelets in four weeks,  Jeremy Ausmus (345,000), and Daniel Negreanu (317,000), last year’s winner.

Event #66: $50,000 Poker Players Championship Top Ten Chip Counts

Mark Patrickson

Professional Poker Journalist

Mark Patrickson is a poker journalist with over ten years of experience. He writes for VIP-Grinders.com, sharing his deep knowledge of poker. He creates interesting content about poker strategy, trends, and news for poker fans worldwide. [more]