Bin Weng Defeats Alex Foxen Heads Up For World Series of Poker Circuit Horseshoe Las Vegas VictoryWeng Continues Hot Run To Start 2023 With His Second Tournament Victory Of The Year |
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Bin Weng – Photo Credit: WSOP Circuit
Bin Weng won the World Series of Poker Circuit main event in the wee hours of Feb. 22 at the Horseshoe Hotel and Casino in Las Vegas, Nevada.
The Philadelphia, Pennsylvania resident defeated a tough heads-up opponent in high roller Alex Foxen to claim his first WSOP Circuit ring. Weng was awarded $227,344 for his second-largest tournament score and first WSOP Circuit ring.
Weng continues a hot start to 2023 after winning The Return Poker Championship main event for $1 million at the Borgata Hotel and Casino back in early January. His career earnings now stand at $3,150,682, and Weng also climbed into second place in the Card Player Player of the Year standings with 2,880 points.
The $1,700 buy-in no-limit hold’em tournament had a prize pool worth $1,261,995 thanks to three starting flights that attracted a total of 833 entries. The top 125 players all cashed for at least $2,559 in prize money.
There were just 154 that returned for the second day of the tournament, and the field played down to 14 before the final day of the tournament on Wednesday.
The final table began after the first hour of play took out five players, and the first three players to fall were all talented players as Aaron Massey, Jared Jaffee, and Nick Pupillo hit the rail in succession during the first hour at the final table.
Four-handed play was the longest battle at the final table, and it stretched play close to midnight before the heads-up final began. Ironically, it then took just two hands in the final match to decide a winner.
In the final hand Foxen moved all in on a board reading 854AK with K5 in the hole, but Weng called to cover him holding 76 for a flopped straight.
“This tournament meant a lot to me. I have won four or five titles, but never a WSOP tournament. Getting a ring means a lot to me, I’m kind of speechless right because I’m just so excited,” Weng told WSOP Circuit reporters after the win. “Alex Foxen is one of my poker idols. We are originally from the same area, Long Island. I just feel so thankful to take this down and get the chance to play with Foxen. He is one of the best players right now.”
Foxen took home $140,512 for his runner-up finish, and his impressive career earnings stand at just over $28 million. Foxen is also now in 14th place in the Card Player POY standings with 1,726 points, as he continues to be an annual threat for the title.
Foxen first broke into the upper echelons of the live tournament regulars in 2017, ending the year in 19th place in the POY standings. Since then, he has managed five consecutive years of finishing inside the top 10, with his lowest year-end ranking in that span being eighth in 2020. The last two years he has finished fourth.
A few other notables with deep runs in the star-studded event included Ryan Laplante (10th), Aditya Prasetyo (13th), Chino Rheem (14th), Justin Pechie (16th), Michael Rossitto (17th), Trung Nguyen (20th), David Jackson (26th), James Collopy (28th), Qing Liu (40th), Anthony Spinella (45th), and Brian Yoon (46th).
Here is a look at the payouts awarded at the final table:
Place | Player | Earnings | POY Points |
1 | Bin Weng | $227,344 | 912 |
2 | Alex Foxen | $140,512 | 760 |
3 | Evan Sandberg | $104,505 | 608 |
4 | Kenneth Mapoy | $78,532 | 456 |
5 | Anthony Huntsman | $59,634 | 380 |
6 | Alex Condon | $45,764 | 304 |
7 | Nick Pupillo | $35,497 | 228 |
8 | Jared Jaffee | $27,832 | 152 |
9 | Aaron Massey | $22,061 | 76 |
The next WSOP Circuit event is already taking place at the Harrah’s Cherokee in North Carolina, and it runs until Feb. 27. The $1,700 buy-in main event begins on Thursday, Feb. 23. You can see the full schedule for the tournament series right here.