The World Poker Tour crowned three new champions in Las Vegas. Jared Jaffee claimed a second WPT title when he won the 20233 WPT Choctaw for a score worth $400,740 after he outlasted a field of 612 players. Bin Weng banked over $1.1 million when he was the last player standing in the 2023 WPT Seminole Hard Rock Poker Showdown. Finally, Ky Nguyen aka Suited Superman shipped the 2023 WPT Gardens Poker Championship for a $357,380 score.
The WPT completed three delayed final tables in Las Vegas at the HyperX Arena at the Luxor for Season XXI, which featured a pair of first-time champions and a two-time champion. It took ten years, but Jared Jaffee joins an exclusive club of multi-winners on the WPT. Jaffee took down the WPT bestbet Jacksonville Fall Scramble in 2013 for a score worth nearly $253K, and he had to patiently wait a decade before he stepped into the winner's circle a second time.
The 2023 WPT Seminole Hard Rock Poker Showdown had a $3,500 buy-in and it attracted the second-biggest field in WPT history with 2,290 runners when it began in Florida. A total of 287 runners earned a cut of the massive prize pool worth $7,328,000. Bin Weng, a pro from Philly, made two delayed final tables. The SHRPS was the first one. He held a chip lead going into the final table that also included Rafael Farah, Naing Thu, David Mzareulov, Mitch Garshofsky, and Sridhar Sangannagari.
Sridhar Sangannagari and Weng were the last two standing, but Sangannagari was able to prevent Weng from fulfilling his destiny. Sangannagari banked $745,000 for a runner-up performance. Meanwhile, Weng won his first WPT title with a $1,128,250 payday for first place.
The 2023 WPT Choctaw had a buy-in of $3,800, which attracted 612 runners. Only the top 77 places paid out with over $400K set aside to the champion. Jaffee outlasted a final table of six that included Jared Jaffee, Dojie Ignacio, Mike Vanier, Bin Weng, Rusty Farrin, and Erkut Yilmaz.
Weng missed a rare chance to win two WPT crowns in Vegas in consecutive days. He was the chip leader in both the WPT SHR Poker Showdown and the WPT Choctaw, but his run at the WPT Choctaw ended in fourth place, which paid out $143,000.
Mike Vanier's bust out in third place set up a heads-up battle between Jaffee and Dojie Ignacio. Ignacio could not come from behind to defeat Jaffee, and he had to settle on a runner-up finish.
As the last player standing, Jaffee padded his bankroll with a first-place prize worth $400,740. Not too shabby, eh?
The $5,250 buy-in WPT Gardens Poker Championship began on the outskirts in LA and attracted 346 runners. They generated a prize pool worth $1.67 million, but only the top 44 places earned a piece of the prize money.
Brad Owen, Ky Nguyen, Ryan Salunga, Chris Lee, Josh Lachman, and Joey Deluca were among the final table of six. Owen bowed out in fourth place which paid out $125K. Chris Lee's elimination in third place for $169,000 set up a heads-up joust between Salunga and Nguyen. Whomever would be the last player standing, would win their first-ever WPT crown.
Ryan Salunga busted in second place, which paid out $230,000. Ky Nguyen won $357,300 for first place, which was a sick score for the cash-game specialist.
