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Michael Wilklow Wins WSOP Event #1 Mystery Millions
Michael Wilklow’s poker moment in the sun arrived in the best event for anyone playing $1,000 events - the Mystery Millions. Taking it down for $1m up top, Wilklow defeated the popular Costa Rican professional Michael Acevedo heads-up to win the bracelet at the Horseshoe Las Vegas.
WSOP Mystery Millions Final Table Results
| Year | Tournament | Top Prize | Prize |
| 1st | Michael Wilklow | United States | $1,000,000 |
| 2nd | Michael Acevedo | Costa Rica | $563,350 |
| 3rd | Daniel Strelitz | United States | $429,950 |
| 4th | Yu Hsiang Huang | Taiwan | $329,940 |
| 5th | Elliott Kampen | United States | $254,590 |
| 6th | Wesley Fei | China | $197,550 |
| 7th | Linda Ngo | United States | $154,140 |
| 8th | Jeffrey Hong | United States | $120,950 |
| 9th | Michael Marks | United States | $95,551 |
Check out the biggest highlights from the WSOP Event #1 here:
A Millionaire at 23
It wasn’t just the winner who took home $1,000,000 in the Mystery Millions, course. Not one but two top bounty prizes of a cool million were on offer on Day 2, and as it happened, it didn’t take long for both of them to go. Just under an hour into Day 2, Jeff Platt invited the 23-year-old Tyler Montoya onto the stage and he ripped open the envelope to reveal seven figures.
“WSOP, baby, a millionaire at 23. Let's go!” he shouted to the adoring - OK, disappointed - field “If you're a stripper at the strip club, you should be working tonight!”
The second winner of poker’s equivalent of the ‘golden ticket’ from Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, Thomas ‘PaigowKing’ Zanot, got his ticket saying he’s ‘rather be lucky than good’, accepting the bounteous goodness, shaking Jeff Platt’s hand and returning to his seat. Incredibly, the popular player won a $6.4 million Pai Gow payout in 2023 in Las Vegas, then called this bounty win earlier on X! Here’s how he won it:
https://twitter.com/pokerorg/status/1929338527495467403
With 20 players remaining in the hunt for the win, George Tatalovich (77.6m) led the field, with Daniel Strelitz (52.2m) and Michael Acevedo (34.6m) hovering around the upper limits. After a brilliant run, last year’s winner Malcolm Trayner won $31,820 in 28th place, while Stephen Song (23rd for $39,180) also won big money for the entry fee that will go towards future buy-ins this series.
Players Race to Final Showdown
There were some very big names in contention with two tables remaining in the tournament, but pre-flop confrontations brought down the numbers. Demarco Howard busted in 20th when his pocket sevens were shot down by the ‘cowboys’, Daniel Westphal’s pocket kings.
Soon, the final nine were set when the overnight leader busted in 10th place. George Tatalovich was all-in with another pocket pair, this time sixes, but he couldn’t hold against the king-queen belonging to Hsiang Huang as paint landed to propel the former chip leader to the rail just as the final table cameras were being lined up.
As the final table reached five players, both Strelitz and Acevedo were still in contention and with both seasoned pros in the mix, it made it that much harder for Wilklow to win. Dogged in the extreme, however, he not only took out Strelitz in third place for $429,950 before defeating Acevedo for a score of $563,350 as runner-up.
Stunning Heads-Up Win Crowns Magical Mystery Week
In the final hand, Wilklow’s queen-jack hit gold on the A-Q-Q-J-T board and even better, Acevedo had the ‘misfortune’ of making a Broadway straight with ace-king. The Costa Rican called off his stack with Broadway to lose to a turned full house and it was all over.
After winning the tournament of his life, Wilklow’s first-ever WSOP bracelet seemed to stun him as much as it did the watching poker public. Beating the Costa Rican professional Acevedo heads-up led to a life-changing moment for Wilklow, as he turned four figures into seven across a week he’ll never fogrget.
“I’ve never felt more focused than today,” Wilklow revealed after victory. “In the past, when I’ve played the Main Event, I remember feeling very tired on Day 3. Today was different. Before the day started and during the breaks, I was reviewing my heads-up notes just in case [I reached that stage], and I was glad that I did.”
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