Brandon Schultz Led 18, Then Ran Into a Wall at the Final Table

Brandon Schultz had 1,571,000 chips at two tables left in Event #449, more than anyone else in the $250 Daily Deepstack — and his entire tournament résumé before this event fit inside a rounding error.

$1,201. That's the lifetime tracked earnings for Schultz heading into this WSOP bracelet event at the Horseshoe. He topped the leaderboard when the field collapsed to 18, holding a stack that dwarfed the table. Wire-to-wire chip leads in $250 dailies are rare enough. Wire-to-wire chip leads from players with four digits in career earnings are something else entirely.

$1,201 — that's the lifetime tracked earnings for Schultz heading into this WSOP bracelet event at the Horseshoe.

The Final Table Flip

Then the final table formed — and Schultz wasn't at it. He busted in ninth, one seat short of the official eight-handed finale.

The new chip leader: Ian Martin, who bagged 2,580,000 at the redraw. Martin's own lifetime earnings? $664. The two biggest stacks across the last ten players of this event belonged to players whose combined résumés totaled less than $1,900.

George Ramirez ($2,060 lifetime) also busted on the bubble in tenth. Philip John Walker, a UK player, made the eight-handed table as well.

What's on Screen Now

The eight-handed final of Event #449 is playing down at the Horseshoe. Martin holds the lead with 2,580,000 — roughly 30% of the chips in play. No one left at the table has a bracelet, a ring, or five figures in lifetime cashes.

This is the $250 Daily Deepstack doing exactly what it was designed to do: putting first-timers under the lights with a WSOP title on the line. Schultz's run ended one elimination too early, but the story at the final table is the same — unknown names, tiny résumés, and real money on the felt.