The 2023 World Poker Tour World Championship at Wynn Las Vegas kicked off late last week, and there have already been two winners decided in big events from the first few days.
The first was the $10,500 buy-in no-limit hold’em eight max tournament. With 77 entries, the prize pool grew to $770,000. The top nine finishers made the money, with the largest share going to eventual champion Ian Bradley. The Teesside, England resident earned $240,625 for the win.
This was Bradley’s second-largest recorded tournament score behind only the $515,000 he secured as the runner-up in a €2,200 buy-in side event at the 2022 European Poker Tour Barcelona stop.
Two-time bracelet winner Joao Simao finished second for $154,000, while WPT’s Brad Owen (3rd – $107,800) and WPT Global ambassador Ethan ‘Rampage’ Yau (4th – $77,000) also ran deep.
I got for $107.8k in the $10k event yesterday on my first bullet of the @WPT World Championship series. It’s my 2nd biggest cash ever, I can’t wait to make the vlog. Lots more events coming up. New vlog out today on YT today too, I’ll put a link below pic.twitter.com/Kvw5Mfb5oH
— Brad Owen (@TheBradOwen) December 4, 2023
The second huge tournament to wrap up was the $1,000,000 guaranteed $600 buy-in no-limit hold’em event. A total of 4,960 entries were made across the eight starting flights, surpassing the guarantee by over $1.5 million dollars.
Michael Rossitto emerged victorious in the end, securing $340,698 for the win. Like Bradley, this was the second-largest payday yet for Rossitto. His first was also earned at Wynn Las Vegas. He took down a $3,500 buy-in tournament at this year’s Wynn Millions festival for $604,637. Rossitto now has nearly $3.4 million in total tournament winnings to his name.
Rossitto also took home 660 Card Player Player of the Year points as the champion. This was his second title and seventh final table of the year, with more than $1 million in to-date POY earnings. As a result, he has climbed into 89th place in the 2023 POY standings presented by Global Poker.
Brian Barker took home $268,559 as the runner-up. This was his first six-figure payday on the circuit.
Here is a look at the payouts and POY points awarded in both events:
WPT World Championship $10,500 No-Limit Hold’em Eight Max
| Place | Player | Earnings | POY Points |
| 1 | Ian Bradley | $240,625 | 420 |
| 2 | Joao Simao | $154,000 | 350 |
| 3 | Brad Owen | $107,800 | 280 |
| 4 | Ethan Yau | $77,000 | 210 |
| 5 | Istvan Birizdo | $57,365 | 175 |
| 6 | Pavel Plesuv | $44,275 | 140 |
| 7 | Jim Collopy | $35,035 | 105 |
| 8 | Andrew Lichtenberger | $28,875 | 70 |
WPT World Championship $600 No-Limit Hold’em $1 Million GTD
| Place | Player | Earnings | POY Points |
| 1 | Michael Rossitto | $340,698 | 660 |
| 2 | Brian Barker | $268,559 | 550 |
| 3 | Lawrence Chow | $186,493 | 440 |
| 4 | Alexander Britton | $143,927 | 330 |
| 5 | Paul Hizer | $110,888 | 275 |
| 6 | David Wintersberger | $84,477 | 220 |
| 7 | Meraf Tedla | $63,479 | 165 |
| 8 | Florin Iacoban | $46,640 | 110 |
| 9 | Jai Davenport | $33,372 | 55 |
Photos provided by WPT.
