Eric Baldwin
The 2025 World Poker Tour World Championship at Wynn Las Vegas got underway on Dec. 2. The largest event of the first week of action was a $1 million guaranteed $800 buy-in no-limit hold’em affair. With 2,941 total entries made across five standard starting flights and one additional turbo option, the prize pool swelled to $2,043,995.
When the dust settled, it was two-time World Series of Poker bracelet winner Eric Baldwin posing with the trophy. Baldwin, a longtime Las Vegas resident, walked away with $247,318 as the champion. This was the sixth-largest score yet for the 43-year-old poker pro. He now boasts career earnings of more than $9.8 million after this latest triumph.
In addition to the title and the money, Baldwin also earned 600 Card Player Player of the Year points for the win. This was his first title and fifth final-table finish of 2025.
Plenty of big names joined Baldwin in making deep runs in this event, including Bin Weng (42nd), Matt Affleck (37th), Jeremy Becker (25th), Jessica Vierling (20th), Justin Lapka (14th), and Taylor Black (4th).
Shundan Xiao earned $211,213 as the runner-up. This was the second-largest score yet for the 2024 WSOP main event 28th-place finisher. Her deep run in the big dance last year came with $300,000 in prize money.
Final Table Results
| Place | Player | Payout | POY Points |
| 1 | Eric Baldwin | $247,318 | 600 |
| 2 | Shundan Xiao | $211,213 | 500 |
| 3 | Anthony Lewis | $176,886 | 400 |
| 5 | Taylor Black | $96,248 | 250 |
| 6 | Brandon Sunshine | $72,324 | 200 |
| 7 | Timothy Acker | $54,498 | 150 |
| 8 | Anze Smajd | $40,481 | 100 |
| 9 | Gheorghe Butuc | $28,965 | 50 |
Photo credit: Wynn Poker Room X account.
