More than 60 events have now crowned their champions at the 2019 World Series of Poker (WSOP), each getting their hands on a coveted gold WSOP. Three more millionaires were crowned last week, joining Stephen Chidwick, John Gorsuch, and Ben Heath in an exclusive club that has banked seven-figure prizes at this series.
Phil Hui Wins the $50,000 Poker Players Championship
The $50,000 Poker Players Championship is widely regarded as the toughest live poker tournament in the world, so winning it is high on the list of poker’s elite players. Phil Hui is the latest to take down this prestigious event, receiving a cool $1,099,311 in prize money as a reward.
Hui came close to winning a bracelet three times this series but ultimately fell short. A fourth-place finish in the $1,500 H.O.R.S.E. event saw Hui bank $63,860, with his seventh-place finish in the $10,000 Dealers Choice Championship adding $38,238 to his bankroll. A week before this epic victory, Hui finished third in the $2,500 mixed Big Bet event for $51,346.
According to reports, Hui was playing in $150 buy-in tournaments last August and he now has a huge financial boost following this impressive victory. Hui’s live tournament winnings currently weigh in at $2,979,262 and he is showing no signs of slowing down.
Kainalu McCue-Unciano Triumphs in the Monster Stack
The $1,500 buy-in Monster Stack attracted a massive crowd of 6,035 and it was Kainalu McCue-Unciano who outlasted them all to win his first WSOP bracelet and a monster-sized first-place prize of $1,008,850, by far the largest haul of his career to date.
McCue-Unciano’s previous largest score came in 2018 when he finished fourth in a $1,600 buy-in event in Las Vegas for $75,930. Now he has more than doubled his lifetime winnings, which stand at a cool $1,507,482.
Five days of action were required to whittle the field down to a champion. All but one of the nine players at the final table walked away with a six-figure prize, with Javier Zarco netting $88,817 for his ninth-place finish.
Third-place finisher Gregory Katayama of Canada hauled in a massive $461,369 before McCue-Unciano defeated France’s Vincent Chauve heads-up to bank the top prize, resigning the runner-up to a still welcomed $623,211 consolation prize.
Dash Dudley Swaps Cash Games For Tournaments
Michigan’s Dash Dudley primarily plays Pot Limit Omaha cash games but decided to buy into the $10,000 Pot-Limit Omaha Championship event at the 2019 WSOP with amazing results.
Dudley came out on top of a field of 518 of the world’s best PLO players to lock up his first bracelet and a gigantic $1,086,967 payout. Prior to this amazing result, Dudley had $643,431 in live tournament winnings, $116,215 of that total stemming from a victory on the Heartland Poker Tour back in August 2009.
British PLO specialist James Park was Dudley’s last opponent and would have been a worthy champion himself. Dudley got the better of the early exchanges and pulled ahead in the chip counts. The final hand saw all the chips go into the middle of the table with the flop reading Jc-6d-2c. Park held Qd-Jd-9s-5s but trailed Dudley who held Kh-Qh-Qc-Ts. The ace of hearts turn was followed onto the board by the ten of diamonds river, to hand the title to Dudley.
Seiver and Zinno Win More Bracelets
Sandwiched between the three new millionaires being crowned, two established pros banked bracelets. Anthony Zinno triumphed in the $1,500 Pot Limit Omaha Hi/Low event for $279,920 and what was his second WSOP bracelet, while Scott Seiver got his hands on the third WSOP bracelet of his career by winning the $10,000 Razz Championship, a result worth $301,421.
Recently crowned 2019 WSOP champions
Event | Champion | Prize |
---|---|---|
$1,500 NLHE Monster Stack | Kainalu McCue-Unciano | $1,008,850 |
$2,500 Mixed Omaha Hi/Low, Seven Card Stud Hi/Low | Yuro Dzivielevski | $213,750 |
$10,000 PLO Championship | Dash Dudley | $1,086,967 |
$800 NLHE Deepstack | Santiago Soriano | $371,203 |
$1,500 Razz | Kevin Gerhart | $119,054 |
$1,000 NLHE Double Stack Online | Jason Gooch | $241,492 |
$1,500 NLHE Super Turbo Bounty | Jonas Lauck | $260,355 |
$1,000 NLHE Tag Team | Ohad Geiger, Daniel Dayan, Barak Wisbrod | $168,395 |
$50,000 Poker Players Championship | Phillip Hui | $1,099,311 |
$600 NLHE Deepstack Championship | Joe Foresman | $397,903 |
$1,500 PLO8 | Anthony Zinno | $279,920 |
$400 NLHE COLOSSUS | Sejin Park | $451,272 |
$10,000 Razz Championship | Scott Seiver | $301,421 |
$1,500 Omaha Mix | Anatolii Zyrin | $199,838 |
$1,000 NLHE Championship Online | Nicholas Baris | $303,739 |