Stephen Song Wins World Series of Poker Circuit Grand Victoria Main Event

Stephen Song is just 28 years old, but he has already accomplished several massive milestones on the live tournament circuit. The Greenwich, Connecticut native has both a World Series of Poker bracelet and the first-ever World Poker Tour Prime Championship trophy on his proverbial mantlepiece. Now, thanks to a big win this week, Song is also a four-time WSOP Circuit champion. His latest ring was earned in the 2023 WSOPC Grand Victoria Casino $1,700 buy-in no-limit hold’em main event. He defeated a field of 652 entries to secure the title and the top prize of $183,508.

“It’s actually been on my bucket list for a while, actually, to win specifically a [WSOP] Circuit main event. I have played a lot of these and gotten close a few times but never won one of these before,” Song told Poker.org live reporters on site after coming out on top.

This was the sixth-largest recorded score yet for Song, with his top payout being the $712,650 he received as the winner of the aforementioned WPT Prime Championship in 2022. He now has nearly $5.9 million in career earnings to his name.

Song’s latest win on tour also came with 840 Card Player Player of the Year points. This was his first title and fourth final-table finish of the year. With 2,064 total points and nearly $434,000 in to-date POY earnings, he now sits inside the top 200 in the 2023 POY race standings presented by Global Poker.

This event played out from Nov. 16-20 at the Grand Victoria Casino in Elgin, Illinois near Chicago. The 653-entry turnout resulted in a $987,780 prize pool, with the top 80 finishers making the money.

Lee Rzentkowski held the lead going into the final day, with Song in second chip position among the remaining five contenders. Song scored the first knockout, with his pocket queens holding against the J-9 suited of Svetlozar Momtchilov (5th – $46,748). Rzentkowski also won a big pot with pocket queens. His overpair remained best facing the pocket fives of Timothy Mulroy (4th – $62,039).

Two-time bracelet winner Tom Koral’s run in this event came to an end when his J-10 was unable to come from behind against the pocket kings of Rzentkowski. Koral flopped an open-ended straight draw, but Rzentkowski improved to kings full by the river to lock up the pot. Koral earned $83,365 as the third-place finisher, growing his lifetime earnings to nearly $2.8 million in the process.

Heads-up play began with Song holding 15,180,000 to Rzentkowski’s 10,900,000. Rzentkowski was able to battle his way into the lead for a bit, but Song soon regained control. The final hand saw all of the chips go in on a 7625K board with Song holding 98 for a nine-high straight, which bested the 62 two pair of Rzentkowski.

Rzentkowski earned $113,415 as the runner-up finisher. This was the second-largest score on his tournament resume, behind only the $145,006 he was awarded as the winner of the 2022 Mid-States Poker Tour Riverside stop in Iowa.

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

Photo provided by WSOP.

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