This Week's Big Winner: Daniel Weinman Wins 2017 World Poker Tour Tournament Of Champions

Daniel Weinman won the second annual World Poker Tour Tournament of Champions, defeating Michael Mizrachi heads-up to secure the prestigious title and the first-place payout of $381,500.

The 29-year-old poker pro, who qualified for this event by winning the 2017 WPT Borgata Winter Poker Open, also earned a 2018 Audi S5 coupe, a pair of rose gold wireless Monster headphones, a Hublot King Power Unico Carbon watch, a custom poker table and more. All told, the additional luxury prizes that Weinman earned were worth another $150,000.

Weinman survived a field of 66 WPT champions, with every winner from this season earning their way in for free and champions from prior seasons able to buy in rake-free for $15,000. The tournament also featured $100,000 in added sponsor money.

Here are the five biggest hands that propelled Weinman to the win.

Tournament: WPT Tournament of Champions
Buy-In: $15,000
No. of Entries: 66
Prize Pool – $1,090,000
1st Place Prize – $381,500

The Action

The first major confrontation between Weinman and Mizrachi came with 13 players left in the tournament. Mizrachi raised to 10,500 in the hijack and Weinman moved all in for his last 122,500 in the cutoff. The blinds folded, and Mizrachi called with pocket nines. Weinman showed A Q, and connected immediately on the flop of Q 8 8. The rest of the board fell 4 7 and Weinman doubled up back into contention.

The Action

With 13 players still left in the tournament, Mizrachi raised from under the gun and Weinman called behind him. The flop came down K 8 6 and Mizrachi continued with a bet of 14,000. Weinman called and the turn was the J. This time Mizrachi checked, and Weinman bet 38,000. Mizrachi called and the river was the 6. Instead of checking again, Mizrachi bet 75,000. Weinman couldn’t make sense of the bet, and used two time extension chips as he went into the tank. Eventually, he made the call, turning over K Q. Mizrachi mucked and Weinman increased his stack to nearly 100 big blinds.

The Action

Three-handed, Mizrachi raised to 41,000 from the small blind and Weinman three-bet to 120,000 from the big blind. Mizrachi called and the flop came down A 10 9. Mizrachi checked and Weinman bet 70,000. Mizrachi called and the turn was the K. This time both players checked. The river was the 4 and Mizrachi bet 120,000. Weinman used a time extension chip before moving all in and Mizrachi asked for a count. As the action clock counts down, Mizrachi fails to make a decision and since he is out of time extension chips, his hand is automatically folded.

The Action

With the stacks pretty much even heads-up, Mizrachi limped in for 30,000 and Weinman checked his option from the big blind. The flop came down 10 6 3 and Weinman checked. Mizrachi bet 35,000 and Weinman called. The turn was the 6 and Weinman bet 60,000. Mizrachi called and the river was the 8. This time, Weinman checked, and Mizrachi bet 400,000. Weinman thought about it for a little bit and then moved all in. Mizrachi, who still didn’t have any time extension chips left, was given 30 seconds to make his decision. With five seconds left on the clock, he folded and flashed the 5. Weinman then revealed the 9 8 for a rivered pair of eights.

The Action

With the blinds going up, Mizrachi moved all in from the button for his last 22 big blinds. Weinman made the call with A 8, which was flipping against Mizrachi’s pocket fives. The flop was safe for Mizrachi, falling Q J 3, but the 8 on the turn gave Weinman the best hand. Mizrachi needed one of the two remaining fives in the deck to double up, but the 7 ended his tournament run in second place, good for $218,000. Weinman earned $381,500, along with a prize package worth nearly $150,000 including a 2018 Audi S5 Coupe and a Hublot King Power Unico Carbon watch.

Final Table Results

1. Daniel Weinman — $381,500
2. Michael Mizrachi — $218,000
3. Daniel Santoro — $133,525
4. David Ormsby — $95,375
5. Erik Seidel — $73,575
6. Dylan Wilkerson — $57,225
7. Stefan Schillhabel — $49,050
8. Jesse Sylvia — $43,600
9. Jonathan Jaffe — $38,150