by Mario Alfonsi | Published on Jun 24, 2022 | Updated on Jun 24, 2022
Summary
- Yuliyan Kolev took down the 2022 WSOP Millionaire Maker event
- The Bulgarian won his second WSOP bracelet and $1,125,141
- He and his fans celebrated by donning KFC bucket hats
One of the top events that was scheduled to take place at the 2022 World Series of Poker (WSOP) was the Millionaire Maker event.
The event is popular because the winner is guaranteed to walk away with a 7 figure payout, a WSOP gold bracelet and an opportunity to go into the WSOP record books.
Some of the top names on the poker circuit took part in the Millionaire Maker event and the competition from the start to the finish was intense. The buy-in for this event was just $1,500 and it attracted a total of 7,961 players during a 5 day period. As the event played out, a couple of WSOP bracelet winners remained in the fray.
James Calderaro was looking to add to his WSOP bracelet collection while Robert Mizrachi was after his 5th bracelet. It wasn’t to be as Mizrachi was eliminated in 27th place and hot on his heels was Calderaro who also went out on Day 3 in 26th place.
The final table had a mix of players from around the world and one of them was Bulgarian player Yuliyan Kolev who won a WSOP online bracelet event in 2021 when he took down the $777 Lucky 7’s No-Limit Hold’em for $146,163.
Kolev showed the poker world that he could replicate his online poker skills at the live edition of the 2022 WSOP and ran through the competition to clinch the Millionaire Maker event and take home his second WSOP bracelet along with a 7 figure payout of $1,125,141.
Kolev Celebrates With KFC Bucket Hat
This was the biggest win in Kolev’s poker career and it boosted his total prize winnings to $2.8 million. Kolev was thrilled with his performance and celebrated in a unique manner along with his supporters by turning a KFC bucket into a hat and posing for pictures.
Kolev later told the media that wearing the KFC bucket as a hat was to honour a popular music artist in Bulgaria. Kolev said that he felt a lot of pressure at the final table because of his family and fans behind him and was happy that he could deliver on the big stage!
