Eliot Hudon from Montreal, Quebec, Canada outlasted a record-setting field of 2,960 runners to win the 2022 World Poker Tour Championship at the Wynn Las Vegas for a score worth $4.1 million. Hudon outlasted a final table that included Benny Glaser, J.C. Moussa, Adam Adler, Frank Funaro, and Colton Blomberg.
You know it's a juicy tournament when everyone at the final table banked at least a seven-figure score. The Wynn in Las Vegas has a reputation of being one of the swankiest casinos in Sin City. There's something different about the Wynn, which derives its name from the legendary casino magnate, than the other properties on the Strip which makes it stand out from the rest. Las Vegas is a city that implodes and rebuilds constantly, so you rarely get to see an old building standing the test of time in the Nevada desert. Perhaps the Wynn will get knocked down 40 or 50 years from now and a new casino will take its place. But for now, the Wynn is considered the crown jewel of casinos on Las Vegas Blvd, so it's cool that the World Poker Tour selected the Wynn to host the 2022 WPT Championship.
The guarantee was not necessary in this case. The $2 million guarantee seems laughable considering the total prize pool more than doubled it at $4.1 million. The 2022 WPT Championship had a price tag of $10,400 and it attracted 2,960 players during three opening flights. That number set a record for total entrants, which in turn set a record for the prize pool and first-place prize. The prize pool was so deep that everyone at the final table won at least a cool million. Not too shabby, eh?
A total of 371 players got a cut of the $4.1 million prize pool. Tony Dunst finished in 371th place and earned a min-payout worth $8,700. Other notable players who went deep and cashed included... Bryce Yockey, Jason Gooch, Daniel Negreanu, Garett Greer, Brad Owen, ODB David Baker, Joni Jouhkimainen, Kyna England, Steve Grozz, James Carroll, Pat Lyons, Asher Conniff, Jeff Madsen, Kane Kalas, Scorr Margerson, Lynn Gilmartin, Kristen Foxen, Cary Katz, Markus Gonsalves, Michael Gathy, Chris Lee, Stan Lee, Marle Spragg, Justin Young, Erkut Yilmaz, Nick Yunis, Jean Gaspard, Aaron Massey, LoriAnn Persinger, Igor Kurganov, Brad Berman, Noah Boeken, Freddy Deeb, Brandon Cantu, Jeremy Ausmus, Ben Ludlow, Richard Seymour, Eric Baldwin, Adam Hendriz, David Coleman, Upeshka De Silva, Frank Kassela, Romain Lewis, Brett Murray, Jared Griener, Jeremy Joseph, Ryan Hughes, Alex Keating, Dan Smith, John Monnette, Mark Muchnik, Nick Binger, Jared Jaffee, Jake Schwartz, Matt Clark, Matt Vengrin, Timo Kamphues, Justin Liberto, Natasha Mercier, Anthony Zinno, Lisa Hamilton, Espen Jorstad, Tistan Wade, Tommy Tran, Ralph Perry, Matt Stout, Ben Yu, Kathy Libert, Andrew Neeme, Steve Z, Steve Buckner, Ema Zajmovic, Maurice Hawkins, Christian Harder, Brent Roberts, Frank Stepuchin, Kenny Hallaert, Noah Schwartz, Blair Hinkle, Willie Wiggins, Guy Taylor, James Mackey, and Kat Klassen
Lucas Foster bubbled the WPT Championship final table in seventh place, which paid out $704K. The final table at the Wynn included Benny Glaser, Frank Funaro, JC Moussa, Adam Adler, Colton Blomberg, and Eliot Hudon.
Glasser bagged the chip lead on Day 5 with 133.6M and Eliot Hudon was the only other threatening stack with 80.8M. Adam Adler held 27.2M, followed by Frank Funaro (21.1M), JC Moussa (19M), and short-stacked Colton Blomberg (14M).
It took only four hands before the two big stacks rumbled. Benny Glaser shoved with 
and Eliot Hudon woke up with Kh
. The pocket cowboys held up, and Hudon seized the lead with 157M, while Glaser slipped to 72M.
It took a mere 11 hands before the final table lost its first player Colton Blomberg. In a battle of the short-stack and a big stack. Blomberg made a valiant final stand with 
, but Glasser tried to pick him off from the big blind with Js
. Glasser dragged the pot with a runner-runner four-flush. Blomberg was flushed out in sixth place, which paid out a cool million.
A couple of hands later, Hudon had a bit of deju vu when he saw another pocket Kings dealt his way. His cowboys held up a second time. Frank Funaro went into battle with 
. He turned a Broadway gutter draw, but Hudon turned a set of Kings. Hudon rivered a full house, and Funaro never improved. Funaro hit the rail in fifth place and banked $1.3 million. With four to go, Hudon chipped up to 177M.
on Hand #39, Hudon took out another victim. Adam Adler chased a nut-flush draw with 
but lot to Hudon's 
. Judon won the pot with to pair when Adlet whigged on his flush draw. For a fourth-place finish, Adler earned a $1.6 million payday. With three to go, Hudon had 213M in chips compared to Glaser's 47M and JC Moussa's 35M.
A couple orbits later, Moussa bowed out in third place. He made a final stand with Ace-trey and Hudon called with 
. The poker gods blessed Hudon during his epic run at the Wynn. Of course, he flopped a straight to win the pot and knock out another player. Moussa took home nearly $2.1 million for his deep run.
With two players remaining, Glaser held 67.5M and trailed Hudon's monster stack worth 228.2M.
On the seventh hand of heads-up play, Hudon knocked out Glasser in a battle of 
vs 
. You can guess which hand Hudon held. It was just his day to shine. The board was 
and Glaser never improved despite leading preflop. Hudon won the pot and tournament with a nine-high straight.
British pro Benny Glaser won $2,830,000 for a runner-up finish, which is pretty outstanding all things considered.
Hudon won $4,136,000 for binking the 2022 WPT Championship at the Wynn. That's a sick score for a $10K event and heck of a way to cap off the year for the WPT.
2022 WPT Championship Wynn
Buy-in: $10,400
Entrants: 2,960
Prize Pool: $4.1 million
Payouts: 371
Final Table Results:
1 Eliot Hudon $4,136,000
2 Benny Glaser $2,830,000
3 J.C. Moussa $2,095,000
4 Adam Adler $1,608,000
5 Frank Funaro $1,301,000
6 Colton Blomberg $1,001,050
