Schuyler Thornton Wins WPT World Championship For $2.3 Million

The World Poker Tour’s season is officially in the books with the conclusion of the WPT World Championship at Wynn Las Vegas.

All told, there were nearly 35,000 entries made across the 53-event schedule that ran from Dec. 2-22 in Sin City. That made for more than $59 million in total prize money, with nearly $18.3 million paid out in the marquee championship event alone. The $10,400 buy-in tournament finished with 1,865 entrants, making for a top prize of $2,258,856.

The huge sum was ultimately captured by Schuyler Thornton, who surged down the stretch to close out the win for his first WPT title and the largest tournament payday of his career. In fact, the multi-million-dollar windfall more than doubled the lifetime tournament earnings of the 36-year-old poker pro from Corpus Christi, Texas. He now boasts nearly $4.3 million in career cashes.

“I ran hotter than anyone could ever dream of running,” Thornton admitted after closing it out. “I had it every single time. I think I made one bluff. It was fortunate, but you’re allowed to run good. It’s not against the rules.”

Thornton doesn’t usually travel far for live tournaments, but had plenty of experience in online MTTs and live cash game streets to draw on.

“The combination of being used to final tables and ICM, along with experience in high-stakes cash games… the money didn’t bother me.”

This event played out from Dec. 13-21, with the $18,277,000 prize pool split amongst the top 233 finishers. Among the big names who ran deep were triple crown winner Mohsin Charania (70th), Asher Conniff (60th), Barry Shulman (55th), Filipp Khavin (50th), Sean Yu (49th), Ian Matakis (48th), John Hennigan (46th), Eugene Katchalov (43rd), Zach Vankeuren (37th), Eshann ‘Brown’ Bhalla (33rd), Jim Gilbert (12th), and Jared Jaffee (11th).

The final six were set on Friday, Dec. 19. After a day off, play resumed on Sunday, Dec. 21 with bracelet winner and WPT champion Soheb Porbandarwala in the lead and Thornton in second chip position.

Two-time bracelet winner Maxx Coleman was the first to go, running A♣10♥ into the A♠Q♦ of Thornton. Both players made trip aces by the river, but Thornton’s superior kicker earned him the pot and the knockout. Coleman cashed for $540,000 as the sixth-place finisher, the second-largest score of his career.

A similar scene spelled the end of rising tournament star Jeremy Becker. The former king of the Las Vegas daily tournament scene got the last of his stack in with A♦2♣ trailing A♥10♥ for Thornton. Once again the kicker played, and Becker was sent packing in fifth place for $710,000. He now has more than $4.1 million in lifetime cashes to his name.

Thornton’s knockout streak continued when Chad Lipton check-shoved the turn on a board of Q♥J♥4♦2♠ with J♣10♠. Thornton made the call with A♥Q♦, and it held as the 9♣ hit the river. Lipton was eliminated in fourth place for $940,000.

Porbandarwala was still out in front after Thornton’s elimination onslaught, while Jeremy Brown was left as the clear short stack heading into three-handed action. He hung around for a bit before running top pair into Thornton’s full house, exiting with a career-best $1,250,000 for third palce.

Thornton took a slight 3:2 lead into heads-up play with Porbandarwala, but the two only played a baker’s dozen pots before a champion was decided. First, they hashed out a deal to redistribute the prize money a bit. The final agreement locked up $2,098,456 for Thornton and $1,969,344 for Porbandarwala. That left $160,400 and the title to play for, along with a $10,400 seat into next year’s tournament.

Porbandarwala got a walk in the first hand, but it was all Thornton from there. He then won 12 hands in row, including a massive pot with a set of aces, to take down the tournament. On the final hand, Porbandarwala shoved with A♥6♥, only to run into Thornton’s A♦K♠. The king high flop ended any drama almost immediately.

This was Porbandarwala’s largest payday yet, increasing his lifetime haul to more than $5.1 million. He fell just short of earning his second WPT title, the first having come in December 2020 during an online series. The Connecticut pro also has 12 WSOP Circuit rings and a WSOP bracelet in his trophy case.

Aaron Johnson Scores Seven Figures With WPT Prime Win

There were nine events that finished with over a thousand entries during the series. The single largest field of the festival was the 9,876 turnout for the $1,100 WPT Prime Championship. The $5 million guarantee was very nearly doubled, with $9,579,720 paid out across 1,233 places.

Aaron Johnson emerged victorious in the end, closing out the win after striking a heads-up deal with Fernando Del Campo that assured both players a life-changing windfall.

What makes this particular achievement so impressive is that it isn’t Johnson’s first time navigating a massive, high profile, mid-stakes no-limit hold’em event. In 2024, Johnson got heads up in the WSOP Monster Stack event, only to fall one spot short of the title. That $732,329 cash stood head and shoulders above all of his other live tournament results, until this victory.

“I’ve had good runs, good years, and good results, but this one tops everything by far,” Johnson said. “Being a WPT event, being a gigantic event, it’s truly everything to me.”

This event ran for nearly two full weeks, from the first card in the air on Dec. 7 through the final hand on Dec. 20. After four starting flights, and three additional days of poker to reach the final six, there was a five-day hiatus before those six players returned to play out the tournament on a televised stage.

Bracelet winner Will Givens fell just short of the final table in seventh place for $191,000. 2021 WPT Venetian champion Qing Liu took fourth place for $430,000 and bracelet winner Safiya Umerova finished third for $575,000. Del Campo took home $942,480 as the runner-up thanks to the deal.

Darren Elias And Brandon Wilson Shine In High Rollers

Four-time WPT main event champion Darren Elias, who is tied with Brian Altman as the tour’s all-time title leader, emerged victorious from a field of 89 entries in the first of two $25,000 high rollers at this series. He earned the largest share of the $2,225,000 prize pool, walking away with $631,800 as the champion.

Elias now boasts more than $15.7 million in career tournament earnings after this latest triumph. 2025 was quite the year for him, as he also finally broke through to claim his first WSOP bracelet this summer with a victory in a $888 online event during the summer, while finishing second in the $10,000 no-limit 2-7 event.

Thailand’s all-time money leader, Punnat Punsri, earned $277,125 as the third-place finisher. Punsri cashed for more than $11 million in 2025, with his largest payday being the $2.6 million he earned as the champion of a $125,000 high roller at the Triton Jeju in the spring. His lifetime earnings now sit at just shy of $32 million.

With four titles and 27 final tables, Punsri grew his Player of the Year point total to 10,540. He trailed current leader Jesse Lonis by just 147 points going into the final days of the competition. Check back next issue for a full breakdown of the POY race.

Brandon Wilson was one of the hottest players on the live tournament circuit in 2025 with 15 final tables and five titles. He earned his latest victory by besting 39 entries in the second $25,000 high roller for $341,250.

The win increased Wilson’s lifetime haul to more than $9.8 million, while growing his POY total to 7,868. That was enough to move him into seventh place in the overall standings. Wilson captured 14 of his 20 top scores in 2025, including his first two seven-figure scores.

The 50-and-over crowd got a high roller event of their own, with 93 players showing up for $10,000 buy-in senior event. Russia’s Maksim Paniak claimed the title and $217,011 for first, following a heads-up deal with seven-time bracelet winner Josh Arieh. Despite his senior status, Paniak is a newcomer to live tournaments, having recorded all of his cashes in the last two years.

The last big buy-in event was a $10,000 no-limit hold’em event, which drew 94 players for a $902,400 total prize pool. Clemen Deng found the winner’s circle, taking home $267,742. The win elevated Deng to 57th in the POY standings. The Portland, Oregon resident now has $5.6 million in career earnings.

Cliff Josephy, Viet Vo, And Eric Baldwin Headline Side Events

Cliff Josephy secured the third-largest payout of the festival as the champion of the $3 million guaranteed $3,000 no-limit hold’em event. The two-time bracelet winner formerly known as ‘JohnnyBax’ beat out a field of 1,544 entries to earn $700,157. That stands as the second-largest live result of Josephy’s career, behind only his third-place finish in the WSOP main event for $3,453,035.

With 3,284 entries, the $2 million guaranteed $1,100 no-limit hold’em event bested its target prize pool by nearly $1.2 million. The largest chunk of the $3,169,060 prize pool was ultimately awarded to Viet Vo. The four-time WPT final tablist walked away with $374,230 and the trophy. This was the second-largest score of Vo’s tournament career, trailing only the $593,140 he earned as the third-place finisher in the 2021 WPT Seminole Hard Rock Poker Showdown main event.

A $1 million guaranteed $800 buy-in event drew nearly as large of a field. 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 bracelet winner Eric Baldwin posing with the trophy. The former POY winner walked away with $247,318. This was the sixth-largest score for the 43-year-old poker pro, who now boasts career earnings of more than $9.8 million.

Kelly Becker defeated a field of 1,478 entrants in the $1,600 mystery bounty event with a $1 million guarantee, earning the $239,688 first-place prize and $7,000 worth of bounties. It well exceeded Becker’s previous best live result of $34,020.

Plenty of hefty bounties were handed out on the final day. Among the biggest beneficiaries was Luka Bojovic. The 2025 WSOP main event final tablist drew $100,000.

Antonio Alvarado Vargas hit a new high score back in August, taking down the MSPT Black Hawk main event for six figures. He more than doubled that result at this series, coming out on top of a field of 1,300 entrants in a $1,600 event with $307,794. The $1 million event bested its guarantee by almost $860,000.

Justin Arnwine earned himself the nickname ‘King of the Dailies’ by absolutely crushing small buy-in tournaments in his home state of Maryland. Arnwine won well over 100 different daily tournaments across the Maryland card rooms from 2019 through 2025, and then leveled up with a RunGood Grand Prix main event victory at MGM National Harbor in early November for $80,646.

Arnwine took another major step forward in his tournament career when he took down a $1,600 mystery bounty event for a career-best $259,670 payday. With 1,253 entries, the final prize pool for the event swelled to nearly $2.3 million.

This year’s $1,100 WPT Ladies Championship drew 445 entrants, smashing the $250,000 guarantee with a final prize pool of $429,425. Lily Lotfy came away with the title in the end, defeating Seina Asagiri heads-up for the win. Lotfy banked $82,636 as the last player standing.

Other notables who ran deep included 2025 WSOP $50,000 Poker Players Championship third-place finisher Esther Taylor (5th) and WSOPC ring winner Amanda Baker (3rd).

Richard Ashby Scores Two Wins

Richard Ashby built his bankroll online, but the English pro has live results dating back well over 20 years. He earned a unique distinction during this festival as the only player to win multiple titles.

Ashby showed off his mixed-game prowess, starting with an $1,100 pot-limit Omaha event that drew 237 players. He earned $47,728 and 264 POY points for that victory, in a tournament that spanned two days. The day after his PLO win, Ashby entered a $1,600 T.O.R.S.E. event and proceeded to win that tournament, too. Ashby outlasted a field of 137 entries on his way to a $52,896 payday.

• Photos by WPT