Joey Weissman Wins Inaugural BetMGM Poker Championship Main Event

The first-ever BetMGM Poker Championship $3,500 no-limit hold’em main event was held from June 23-25 at the ARIA Resort and Casino in Las Vegas. The million-dollar guarantee was surpassed when 343 entries were made, building a final prize pool of $1,097,600 that was paid out among the top 44 finishers.

In the end, the lion’s share of the prize money was awarded to Las Vegas resident Joey Weissman. The World Series of Poker bracelet winner emerged victorious with the title and the top prize of $224,236. The score increased his career tournament earnings to more than $4.3 million.

Weissman was also awarded 720 Card Player Player of the Year points for the win. This was the Florida native’s first title and fourth final-table finish of the year. With 1,346 total points, he now sits in 118th place in the 2022 POY rankings sponsored by Global Poker.

A number of tournament stars made deep runs in this event, only to fall short of the final table. Among those to cash were bracelet winner DJ Alexander (41st – $6,256), three-time bracelet winner Norbert Szecsi (39th – $6,586), four-time bracelet winner Michael Gathy (22nd – $10,208), POY contender Isaac Kempton (18th – $14,269), and two-time bracelet winner Shankar Pillai (14th – $16,464).

Joe Kuether and online qualifier Benji Felson were among the early casualties on the final day. Weissman then knocked out bracelet winner Michael Wang in dramatic fashion, hitting a royal flush on the river with the same card that gave Wang a full house. Check out a video replay of the hand from the PokerGO broadcast of the action below:

ROYAL FLUSH pic.twitter.com/QkMldFOBMQ

— BetMGM Poker (@BetMGMPoker) June 27, 2022

Wang earned $65,856 as the fourth palace finisher, while Weissman took a sizable lead into short-handed play. He was then able to eliminate Noel Rodriguez (3rd – $104,272) and bracelet winner Paul Hoefer (2nd – $159,152) to close out the victory. The German now has more than $2.3 million in career cashes, with his largest score being the $645,969 he secured as the champion of the 2015 $1,111 Little One For One Drop event at the series.

Here is a look at the payouts and POY points awarded at the final table:

Main image via a screenshot from PokerGO broadcast.

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