Murthy took home over $502,000 with his latest win
The 2024 $3,500 Wynn Millions Championship has concluded, with Neel Murthy securing the win after beating Chris Frank heads-up. It was an event that attracted players from everywhere and took the prize pool much higher than expected.
The event attracted 1,180 entries across three opening flights to smash the $3,000,000 guarantee. The top 151 players would split the $3,746,500 prize pool, with Murthy taking the $502,856 first-place prize after a heads-up deal with Frank, who took home $500,000.
Haim Gabay finished third, securing $301,369 after an extended three-handed battle, while Paul Lozano Martin (4th for $223,372) and Jesse Kandola (5th for $223,372) round out the top five players that returned for the finale on Day 5.
Murthy admits that he shouldn’t have made it to the final day, but a series of events on Day 4 set him up to gain a huge chip lead before the final table.
“I could have blown the entire tournament,” said the champion after the win. I check-raised king-queen for value on a queen-ten-four board. The turn was a five, and I led out before he went all in. I ended up making a fold that left me with between 10 and 15 big blinds.” Murthy isn’t sure if he was beaten, but he believed his opponent when they said they were holding five-four.
The victory earned Murthy his second-biggest career cash after his runner-up finish at the 2016 Asia Championship of Poker. He also finished 27th at the WPT World Championship in December to earn $159,200.
Murthy says he’ll also play at this summer’s World Series of Poker. “I haven’t played a full series in many years, and I don’t think I’ll play the whole thing, but I will definitely play more events than I usually do.”
