Tyler Payne Wins 2022 bestbet Winter Open Main Event

Tyler Payne helped himself to the largest live poker tournament score of his career by taking down the $2,000 Main Event of the 2022 bestbet Winter Open. The final event of the series at bestbet Jacksonville, Florida, drew in 387 entrants that created a $692,730 prize pool. Tyler of North Carolina outlasted them all and got his hands on $140,058.

Only the top 49 finishers received a slice of the prize pool, so spare a thought for 50th place finisher and bubble boy Justin Zaki. Zaki was all-in after paying the big blind and antes and had his hopes pinned in Ah-9h. He found himself against Th-7d of Jonathan Dokler, which improved to a pair of tens on the Js-Ac-6s-Ts-Kd board.

Payne Leads The Way At The Eight-Handed Final Table

Eight players made it to the end of Day 2 and reached the official final table. Payne lead the way with 2,240,000 but Raymond Leone, with 2,210,000, was hot on his heels.

Warren Sheaves’ time at the final table was short-lived because he busted in eighth place. Sheaves raised to 420,000 with Kh-Th during the 20,000/40,000/40,000a level, leaving himself only 5,000 behind. Payne three-bet all-in for 3,100,000 with Qc-Qh, and Sheaves called all-in. No help arrived for Sheaves, and he crashed out with $17,673 to show for his efforts.

Matt Maudlin busted out almost immediately after Sheaves left the table. Maudlin was the runner-up in this tournament last year but had to make do with $22,595 seventh-place prize money this time around. He open-shoved for only 250,000 with Qd-9d, and Payne looked him up with Ah-Qh. Payne improved to a flush by the river of the 3s-Kc-8h-4h-6h board.

WSOP Circuit champion David Dibernardi saw his tournament end in a sixth-place finish worth $29,262. Again, he was short-stack with only seven big blinds, so took a chance with Kc-6s. Unfortunately, Adam Wells called with the superior Ac-7s. The dealer spread the 3h-Jc-Qd-3c-Ad onto the table, and Dibernardi fell by the wayside.

The final five became four when Payne won a coinflip against Gavin Munroe. Payne raised all-in after Munroe limped in, and Munroe called with Ah-Jc. Payne showed 9h-9c, which flopped a set and sent Munroe to the cashier to collect a career-best $38,333.

Champion Elect In Control

Winners of poker tournaments tend to run hot while playing well, which is a deadly combination. This was the case in this event.

Payne sent Ryan Hohner home in fourth for $50,986 and Wells to the rail in third for $68,574. Hohner three-bet all-in with Kh-Js and Payne opened with 6h-6c, and was called. The board ran void of kings and jacks, and Hohner headed for the exits.

Wells committed the last of his stack with As-Qs and ran into the champion-elect’s dominating Ad-Kd. Both players turned an ace, but Florida native Wells could not fins a queen to go with it.

Those two eliminations gave Payne a 5,930,000 to 3,745,000 chip lead over Leone. Leone finished second in a $1,100 buy-in tournament at this casino in 2017. Indeed, he finished second this time around.

The final hand on the battle between North Carolina and South Carolina happened with 30,000/60,000/60,000a blind. Payne limp-called a 480,000 bet from Well. Both players checked the 7c-2c-Ac flop, leading to the 2h landing on the turn. Wells said nothing as he moved all-in for 3,250,000. Payne was equally as silent as he considered his options before calling with Ad-8d. Kd-Js is all Wells could muster, meaning he was drawing dead. The inconsequential 3c completed the board, busted Wells, and left Payne to become a poker champion.

2022 bestbet Winter Open Main Event Final Table Results

Place	Player	Home Town	Prize
1	Tyler Payne	Fayetteville, North Carolina	$140,058
2	Raymond Leone	Charleston, South Carolina	$96,369
3	Adam Wells	Tallahassee, Florida	$68,574
4	Ryan Hohner	South Plainfield, New Jersey	$50,986
5	Gavin Munroe	Montgomery, Alabama	$38,383
6	David Dibernardi	Youngstown, Ohio	$29,292
7	Matt Mauldin	Columbia, South Carolina	$22,595
8	Warren Sheaves	Asheville, North Carolina	$17,673

Brad Johnson

You name the game, and you can bet your bottom dollar that Brad has either played it or placed a wager on it! Brad calls himself a natural gambler, and someone who gains as much enjoyment from writing about the crazy game of poker as he does playing it.

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