A Big Summer of Vegas Poker Promised by World Series
The World Series of Poker got underway on Tuesday with its traditional curtain-raising $500 Casino Employees No Limit Hold’em tournament. Peter Thai, a table games dealer in California’s Parkwest Casino 580, won the competition and a $75,535 prize for overcoming 1,014 rival entries.
It was the third largest Casino Employees tournament in the history of the WSOP – last year the corresponding competition attracted 832 entries – and organizers suggested the entry was “an excellent indicator that this summer will be one of the biggest yet.”
“Summer” refers to the 95 Las Vegas casino-based and 20 online tournaments that make up the full complement of 2023’s World Series of Poker bracelet-bearing competitions. They will be awarded throughout June and up until July 18th.
$1 Million Sit Down Breaks Record
The first major competition of the 2023 World Series, the $25,000 Six-Handed No Limit Hold’em, drew an impressive 207 entries and produced the first $1 million-plus winner of the series. It was a Swiss player, Alexandre Vuilleumier, that collected the winner’s $1,215,864 prize.
However, this was not the biggest score of the week in North America. On Tuesday, in a live-streamed cash game in Los Angeles’ Hustler Casino, a $3.1 million pot was awarded to Tom Dwan.
The professional got the better of Wesley “Wes Side” Fei – a cryptocurrency investor who bet the flop, turn and river with Ace-high – when holding pocket Queens on an 8-high board. It was an astonishing hand and game. The minimum sit-down was $1 million, and Fei had bought in for $3 million.
Commentators quickly declared this showdown to be “the biggest pot in the history of televised poker.” Hours later, Fei would win a $2.2 million pot when cracking Queens with Ace-7. Nevertheless, he would finish the session with a $753,000 deficit. Dwan ended his day $1.6 million ahead.
Crazy Poker Win 4 Bodybuilder
Back in Vegas, one Brit has already won big playing poker this week. Zac Aynsley, a celebrity bodybuilder, model, and influencer boasting 1.4 million Instagram followers, netted a $354,742 jackpot when dealt a royal flush playing Crazy 4 Poker at Planet Hollywood Resort and Casino.
Better known as an online casino game, Crazy 4 Poker is a table game played against a dealer. Aynsley’s score was remarkable. Not only did he scoop a fabled progressive jackpot, but he had never played any form of poker in a casino before and was only in Vegas for a weekend holiday break.
Aynsley had played for less than an hour before the planets – and cards – lined up for him. Little wonder he declared: “God works in mysterious yet beautiful ways,” in an Instagram message posted after his windfall!