Can Anyone Catch Bin Weng? WPT POY Race Heats Up and the Bubble Bursts at Seminole
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The bubble burst on Day 2 of the $3,500 Main Event at the World Poker Tour (WPT) Seminole Hard Rock ‘n’ Roll Poker Open here in Hollywood, Florida and the top 181 players are guaranteed a min-cash of $5,700, down from the field of 513 players that started the day.
The field made the money in the opening salvo of hand-for-hand play when Kyle Julius eliminated Josias Santos at the midway point of Level 17.
Santos jammed his last 125,000 from early position and Julius called from the button before both players waited for the rest of the room to get out of the way. When all the hands were done, Santos turned over ace-queen and Julius showed pocket tens.
The board ran out with no help for Santos and an unnecessary ten on the river gave Julius tens full of deuces to send Santos to the rail on the money bubble. Julius dragged in the pot to hit the one-million chip mark as the evening entered its latter stages.
WPT RRPO Top Ten Payouts
| Place | Prize |
|---|---|
| 1 | $752,500 |
| 2 | $494,800 |
| 3 | $366,500 |
| 4 | $274,000 |
| 5 | $206,900 |
| 6 | $157,800 |
| 7 | $121,500 |
| 8 | $94,500 |
| 9-10 | $74,300 |
Players will now get down to the business of competing for the lion’s share of a $4,630,400 prize pool, and everyone has their eye on the top prize of $752,500.
Can Anyone Catch Bin Weng?
The 21st season of the World Poker Tour (WPT) is in the home stretch and catching Bin Weng will be very difficult.
Weng has had an incredible 2023 in WPT events with four cashes, two final tables, and one win. The two final tables alone would be impressive, but all the more impressive is that they were back-to-back at WPT Choctaw and the WPT Seminole Hard Rock Poker Series this past spring.
Find out how to win a $12,400 WPT Passport to December's WPT World Championship
Weng arrived at the Luxor in late May to play both final tables and he walked away with the win in the SHRP for $1,128,250. On the next day, he started the chip lead for the WPT Choctaw final table, but he bowed out in fourth place while Jared Jaffee went on to victory.
The points leader picked up his fourth cash of the season — the only non-final table for Weng — with a run to 22nd place at the WPT bestbet Scramble in Jacksonville.
WPT Player of the Year Leaderboard
| Rank | Name | POY Points | WPT Earnings | Cashes | Final Tables | Wins |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Bin Weng | 2,050 | $3,511,204 | 4 | 2 | 1 |
| 2 | Sridhar Sangannagari | 1,150 | $745,000 | 1 | 1 | 0 |
| 3 | Richard Lee | 1,100 | $550,267 | 1 | 1 | 1 |
| 4 | Jared Jaffee | 1,100 | $426,100 | 2 | 1 | 1 |
| 5 | Scott Eskenazi | 1,100 | $376,660 | 2 | 1 | 1 |
| 6 | Ky Nguyen | 1,000 | $376,030 | 2 | 1 | 1 |
| 7 | Fred Normand | 1,000 | $351,650 | 1 | 1 | 1 |
| 8 | Jeremy Joseph | 950 | $253,650 | 3 | 1 | 0 |
| 9 | Mitch Garshofsky | 900 | $550,000 | 1 | 1 | 0 |
| 10 | Martin Kozlov | 900 | $360,244 | 1 | 1 | 0 |
The Rest of the Pack
Far back in Weng’s rearview mirror is Sridhar Sangannagari, who was runner-up to Weng at the WPT Seminole Hard Rock Poker Showdown in the spring. Richard Lee is right behind Sangannagari in third place on the strength of his victory at WPT Australia, while Jared Jaffee has the same amount of points from his victory over Weng at WPT Choctaw.
Scott Eskenazi is tied with both Jaffee and Lee thanks to his victory at WPT Rolling Thunder and Ky Nguyen follows by just 100 points after his win at WPT Gardens. Tied with Nguyen is Fred Normand, who took down his first WPT win at the bestbet Scramble.
Jeremy Joseph, Mitch Garshofsky, and Martin Kozlov round out the top ten.
Normand remains in the field after the bubble of the WPT RRPO, while the rest of the pack will attempt to catch Weng at the WPT World Championship at Wynn Las Vegas in December. A victory by any of the previous winners this season could catch Weng if the leader fails to make a deep run at the Wynn.
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*WPT images courtesy of SHRP/Joe Giron.
Las Vegas-based PokerNews Live Reporting Executive, originally from Chicago, IL
