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Squid Game: The Challenge Finale Sees (SPOILER) $4.56 Million Richer

So who was left standing in the finale of Netflix's Squid Game: The Challenge - Player 287/Mai, Player 451/Phill or Player 16/Sam? Spoilers!

Earlier today, we learned that Netflix's Squid Game: The Challenge would be returning for a second season (and already looking for folks to apply). Of course, the timing couldn't be better considering that in only a few hours, Player 287/Mai, Player 451/Phill, and Player 16/Sam would be competing to the be last one remaining – besting 455 other players for $4.56 million. And that's exactly what the three of them did – and when the smoke cleared, we had a winner. But who? We're throwing on the "MAJOR SPOILERS AHEAD!" sign and throwing down an image spoiler buffer before the big reveal.

After the three don their tuxedoes and settle in for a nice steak dinner, Player 16/Sam has just enough time to creep out the other two players before the trio is challenged to a game of chance involving three buttons. If you get green, then you get to move on – and choose who goes with you. If you get gray, it's a push. But if you get red, then you're gone. Considering how Player 16/Sam came across during the dinner, Player 287/Mai (who went first and got gray) & Player 451/Phill won this round in more ways than one. From there, we move on to… Rock, Paper, Scissors? Yup – with the winner of each round getting the opportunity to pick a key to see if it opens the safe housing the prize. If it does? You win! If it doesn't? Then you continue round after round, key after key, until we have a winner. After a whole bunch of rounds didn't yield a winner, Player 287/Mai would eventually select the key that opens the safe containing the reality competition series' equivalent of the "Wonka Golden Ticket."

Squid Game: The Challenge – Get to Know Player 287/Mai

Long before her journey on Squid Game: The Challenge, Mai's life had always been about beating the odds. Born in Vietnam, Mai came to the United States as a refugee when she was just 8 years old. Since then, Mai has continued to use the difficult memories to remind herself "to be strong," propelling her through single parenthood, a 20-year career in the Navy, and now, the competition of a lifetime. Along the way, Mai makes friends — and a few rivals as well. During the Dorm Test of allegiance, she "breaks the chain" agreed upon by other women players in the game by choosing to save her friend Chad (Player 286). She and Chad became close early on, along with a few other players, including Figgy (Player 033), Brownie (Player 258), and Cookie (Player 285) — adding Mai "Mai Tai," the group coined themselves "The Snack Pack."

But arguably her biggest clash in the competition is with Ashley over a disagreement about what Mai describes as "selfish" behavior during Glass Bridge. Because Mai questions Ashley's "character," Mai tries and fails to eliminate her in a subsequent game of dice, only to isolate herself from some of the remaining players in Episode 9. Ultimately, the 55-year-old immigration adjudicator is able to leverage suspicions about her gameplay during Circle of Trust, in which she makes the surprise decision to eliminate her ally Roland (Player 418) instead of one of her foes. "This game is all about self-preservation," she says in Episode 9. "I have to do what I have to do to survive." If she wins the prize money, Mai dreams of purchasing a home to spend her retirement in and donating to causes she cares about.

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