Taylor Wilson, Michael Wang, and Eugene Lee Win Wynn Millions High RollersMore Than $2.6 Million In Prize Money Was Awarded Across The Three High-Stakes Tournaments |
|
The 2023 Wynn Millions series in Las Vegas is hosting 24 tournaments from Feb. 20 – Mar. 19. While the centerpiece of the series is the $3 million guaranteed $3,500 buy-in no-limit hold’em main event, the festival also included a trio of high-stakes, PokerGO Tour qualified tournaments that were held from Mar. 6-8 that ended up paying out more than $2.6 million.
The first of these three high rollers, which all sported $10,500 buy-ins, was a no-limit hold’em event. With 92 entries made by the time registration close, the top 11 finishers earned a piece of the $920,000 prize pool. The largest share was ultimately secured by Taylor Wilson, who topped a tough final table to earn the title and a career-high payday of $304,704.
This was Wilson’s second major cash of the year, having also placed sixth in the Lucky Hearts Poker Open main event at the Seminole Hard Rock Hotel & Casino Hollywood for $181,950. Wilson earned 540 Card Player Player of the Year points for this latest win, enough to move him into 77th place in the 2023 POY race standings, which are presented by Global Poker.
Wilson also earned 305 PokerGO Tour points for the win, enough to move him into 12th place in the overall standings for the 2023 PGT season. Aram Oganyan, who finished as the runner-up for $176,824 and 177 points, now sits in 15th place with two PGT cashes.
Other big names that made the final table included Cary Katz (7th), Chris Hunichen (6th), six-time bracelet winner and reigning Super High Roller Bowl champion Daniel Negreanu (5th), bracelet winner Andrew Lichtenberger (4th), and bracelet winner Joseph Cheong (3rd).
The second high roller of the trio was also a no-limit hold’em tournament. This one attracted one more entry than the previous event (93), creating a $930,000 prize pool. Two-time bracelet winner Michael Wang emerged victorious with the title and the top prize of $308,016. This was the third-largest score of his career. It grew his lifetime earnings to nearly $5.2 million.
Aram Zobian finished as the runner-up to Wang, earning $178,746 and 177 PGT points. This was already his third final-table finish of the year in a PGT event, having recorded a win and a fourth-place finish in a pair of PokerGO Cup events back in January. With 471 total points and $470,246 in PGT earnings, Zobian is now the second-ranked player in the 2023 standings.
He trails only Cary Katz, who secured his eighth PGT cash of the year with his second in-the-money finish of this series. Katz finished seventh in the first high roller for $37,444 and then third in this event for another $113,088. With 693 points and $889,532 in to-date earnings, Katz is the top-ranked player on the PGT leaderboard.
Marius Gierse recorded his fifth final-table finish of the year with a fourth-place showing in this event. The reigning Lucky Hearts Poker Open main event champion has 2,309 POY points, good for eighth in those rankings.
The third and final high roller of the series saw the game switch to pot-limit Omaha. With 77 entries, there was $770,000 up for grabs in the four-card showdown. Eugene Lee ended up with the biggest slice of the pie, earning $280,819 as the last player standing. This was the largest live tournament cash yet for Lee, who hails from New York.
2022 WSOP main event third-place finisher Michael Duek was awarded $161,700 as the runner-up in this event, while bracelet winners like Joao Simao (3rd), Sam Soverel (4th), and Jeremy Ausmus (5th) also made deep runs. Ausmus, a five-time winner at the WSOP, secured his eighth final-table finish of 2023 in this event, climbing into 25th place in the POY race as a result.
Below is a look at the final table results from each of these three high-stakes events.
2023 Wynn Millions $10,500 No-Limit Hold’em I
Place | Player | Earnings | POY Points | PGT Points |
1 | Taylor Wilson | $304,704 | 540 | 305 |
2 | Aram Oganyan | $176,825 | 450 | 177 |
3 | Joseph Cheong | $111,872 | 360 | 112 |
4 | Andrew Lichtenberger | $77,096 | 270 | 77 |
5 | Daniel Negreanu | $57,500 | 225 | 58 |
6 | Christopher Hunichen | $45,632 | 180 | 46 |
7 | Cary Katz | $37,444 | 135 | 37 |
8 | Ryan Brown | $31,648 | 90 | 32 |
9 | Vikenty Shegal | $27,600 | 45 | 28 |
2023 Wynn Millions $10,500 No-Limit Hold’em II
Place | Player | Earnings | POY Points | PGT Points |
1 | Michael Wang | $308,016 | 540 | 308 |
2 | Aram Zobian | $178,746 | 450 | 179 |
3 | Cary Katz | $113,088 | 360 | 113 |
4 | Marius Gierse | $77,934 | 270 | 78 |
5 | Michael Brinkenhoff | $58,125 | 225 | 58 |
6 | Jeremy Ausmus | $46,128 | 180 | 46 |
7 | Arthur Morris | $37,851 | 135 | 38 |
8 | Yifu He | $31,992 | 90 | 32 |
9 | Martin Zamani | $27,900 | 45 | 28 |
2023 Wynn Millions $10,500 Pot-Limit Omaha
Place | Player | Earnings | POY Points | PGT Points |
1 | Eugene Lee | $280,819 | 420 | 281 |
2 | Michael Duek | $161,700 | 350 | 162 |
3 | Joao Simao | $100,100 | 280 | 100 |
4 | Sam Soverel | $69,685 | 210 | 70 |
5 | Jeremy Ausmus | $53,130 | 175 | 53 |
6 | Brent Roberts | $41,888 | 140 | 42 |
7 | Jordan Spurlin | $34,111 | 105 | 34 |
8 | Kent Staahle | $28,567 | 70 | 29 |
Photo credits: Wynn Las Vegas, PokerGO.