Cynn City! John Cynn Wins 2018 World Series of Poker Main Event33-Year-Old Champion Earns $8.8 Million Two Years After Finishing 11th |
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Click to see recaps from previous days of the main event: Day 9, Day 8, Day 7, Day 6, Day 5, Day 4, Day 3, Day 2C, Day 2AB, Day 1C, Day 1B, Day 1A
John Cynn finished 11th in the 2016 World Series of Poker main event, earning $650,000 as a consolation prize for getting so close to the final table. While it could have easily taken a lifetime to get back, the Indianapolis-native took just two years to improve upon his finish and ultimately take down poker’s most prestigious event.
“To make 11th is insane on its own,” Cynn told WSOP reporters after coming out on top. “Then to win, that’s literally something that you dream of, but just never expect to happen. Right now I do feel pretty overwhelmed. All the emotions times ten.”
The 33-year-old earned $8.8 million for topping a field of 7,874, the second largest in WSOP history, and along the way helped to set a record for total hands played at a WSOP main event final table.
Check out how the action unfolded below.
The short-stacked Michael Dyer entered the final day of play with just 16 big blinds, a far cry from the 182 big blinds he had to start the final table. The 32-year-old wasted no time getting involved, shoving three out of the first four hands he was dealt.
Dyer got away with two more shoves before his final hand of the tournament. Tony Miles raised to 4,000,000 on the button and Dyer responded with a three-bet shove for his last 22,200,000 from the small blind. Miles made the call with A
J
, which had Dyer’s A10
dominated. The board offered Dyer a little sweat as it ran out Q
53JQ, but ultimately it wasn’t enough to keep him in the tournament. The Houston, Texas native earned $3.75 million for his third-place finish.
Meanwhile, Cynn had taken over the chip lead, only to give it back when Miles busted Dyer. Miles entered heads-up play with 203,500,000 to Cynn’s 190,300,000, each holding at least 119 big blinds.
With both players so deep, the action could have slowed to a crawl, but Cynn jumped out to a decent lead within a dozen hands. It wasn’t until a big bluff from Miles that the stacks evened up again.
Cynn raised the button and Miles called from the big blind with 75. The flop came down J43 and Miles check-called a bet of 4,500,000. The turn was the 3 and Miles checked again. Cynn bet 6,500,000, and Miles check-raised to 20,000,000.
Cynn called, and the river was the K. Miles shoved for 95,300,000 with just seven high, and Cynn went into the tank. Incredibly, Cynn held just 64 for a pair of fours, but he still went into the tank, suspicious of Miles’ bet. After about three minutes, Cynn eventually folded and Miles was given new life.
The two players then traded jabs for quite awhile, letting the blinds catch up before Cynn won a massive pot making a set of fives and ultimately a full house on a board of 953J3 against a pair of nines for Miles.
Miles was able to grind back to nearly even, and in fact, take back the lead. The two players would go on to battle heads-up for more than 11 hours. After 198 hands and several lead changes, Cynn still hadn’t been able to pull away.
Finally, just before 5 a.m. local time on Sunday morning, Cynn raised to 9,000,000 on the button, and Miles responded with a three-bet to 34,000,000. Cynn called and the flop fell KK5.
Miles continued with 32,000,000, and Cynn called. The turn was the 8 and Miles moved all in for his last 114,000,000. Cynn went into the tank before calling with KJ for trips, while Miles was drawing dead with Q8.
The inconsequential river card was the 4, and the 32-year-old who resides in Jacksonville, Florida was eliminated in second place, taking home the $5 million runner-up prize.
Here is a look at the final table results.
| Place | Player | Payout | POY Points |
| 1 | John Cynn | $8,800,000 | 3,300 |
| 2 | Tony Miles | $5,000,000 | 2,750 |
| 3 | Michael Dyer | $3,750,000 | 2,200 |
| 4 | Nicolas Manion | $2,825,000 | 1,650 |
| 5 | Joe Cada | $2,150,000 | 1,375 |
| 6 | Aram Zobian | $1,800,000 | 1,100 |
| 7 | Alex Lynskey | $1,500,000 | 825 |
| 8 | Artem Metalidi | $1,250,000 | 550 |
| 9 | Antoine Labat | $1,000,000 | 275 |
For more coverage from the summer series, visit the 2018 WSOP landing page complete with a full schedule, news, player interviews and event recaps.
Winner and heads-up photo courtesy of WSOP / Joe Giron.
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