In the grand annals of the World Series of Poker, there have been few more dominant performances than the one Ryan Hoenig just pulled off in Event #18: $10,000 Dealers Choice Championship.
Hoenig had the chip lead after Day 1. He was atop the leaderboard again after the second day. He had the lead on Day 3 when play was stopped early with three players remaining. And on the unscheduled Day 4, he ended with every chip in play on the way to defeating Dylan Smith heads-up to win his first WSOP bracelet and the $354,444 top prize.
“Crazy. Exhausting. So exhilarating, so fun. I just love these games. I love to play. It’s incredible,” the 31-year-old Fort Collins, Colorado native said following his victory. “I felt in my element. I just like the variety of the games. I’m excited to play every single game. Last year I skipped this event, actually, because I was a little unsure of some of the games. And this year, I was like, I’m ready for every game. The competition is incredible. Dylan is an incredible competitor. It went quick because I hit every hand, so that helps.”
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The win was a long time coming for Hoenig, who first fell in love with poker as a teenager but wasn’t ready to commit to it at the time. He decided to come back and devote himself to his first love, viewing the game as a way to satisfy his natural competitive instincts.
“I had it when I was a teenager. I had dreams of becoming a professional poker player, but I didn’t have the emotional capacity to deal with it at the time. So I actually quit poker for a few years and came back to it,” he said. “Always loved the game, but I came to it with a different mindset as an adult. Now I just want to win every time I play and I’m willing to win whenever possible. It’s an unreal experience."
Hoenig’s fairy-tale run over the last four days nearly didn’t happen. Late on Day 1, he made a big fold in Razz and was a short stack near the end of the night. He credits his coach, Jason Su, with putting him in the right mindset to come back, ultimately ending up as chip leader.
“Day 1, I made this fold in Razz. I was down to 11K. I had two bets left with like an hour and a half to go on the day. (Su) talks about willingness, that there is a discomfort that comes with the possibility of winning and success. I told myself when I was down to 11K that I’m willing to bag 300,000. I bagged 298,000,” he said.
Ryan Hoenig
In a 152-player field featuring some of the top names in poker with decades of experience playing mixed games, Hoenig is a relative newcomer. His first five-figure cash came less than two years ago. He then finished runner-up in the Pot-Limit Omaha Hi-Lo Championship at the 2023 WSOP and had 14 WSOP cashes before this event. His win today pushes his live earnings past $1,000,000.
Hoenig had to master 21 different poker variants to emerge as the winner, but said he was ready and prepared to battle in each one. “When I was 15, I fell in love with Omaha Hi-Lo. My first love that wasn’t a girl. So that was my entry into mixed games, and that’s still my favorite game, all the versions of it. And then when I jumped into each game, they kind of inform each other. I just love all the games now. I’m just ready. Whenever I see a new plaque in this tournament, I’m like, yeah, let’s go,” he said.
Day 4 Action
Hoenig, Smith, and Philip Sternheimer returned for an extra Day 4 today at 1 p.m. local time to battle for the bracelet. Hoenig was right where he was the entire tournament, atop the leaderboard with 4,995,000. Smith was in second with 2,220,000, while Sternheimer followed behind with 1,910,000.
On the first hand of the day, Hoenig hit a straight on the turn in Pot-Limit Omaha and got paid on a 400,000 river bet against Smith to quickly widen his lead. The next hand, again in PLO, he raised to 100,000 on the button and Sternheimer called.
Hoenig bet 75,000 on the flop and 350,000 on the turn as Sternheimer called down to the river. Hoenig then moved all in, and Sternheimer took several minutes, interrogating Hoenig the entire time, before calling for his last 1,100,000. Hoenig showed a flopped queen-high straight, and Sternheimer mucked a nine-high straight as the UK high roller was sent to the rail in third place.
Philip Sternheimer
Hoenig led Smith 7,650,000 to 1,400,000 at the start of heads-up. He then scooped a pot of Badeucy with an 8-7 and three-card Badugi to drop Smith to 1,000,000. Hoenig ramped up the aggression, taking down most pots with preflop and third street raises before Smith gave up on the river in a pot of Omaha Hi-Lo to leave himself with just 300,000.
Smith then got his last chips in as the game switched back to PLO. Hoenig ended up making a flush on the turn, and Smith was already drawing dead by the river as Hoenig locked down the title.
Dylan Smith
It promises to be the first of many. When getting ready to take his winner’s photo, Hoenig told the photographer to get used to him because he would be back. The competitive fire that burned within him, starting as a young man, continues to this day as Hoenig took his spot atop one of the most loaded fields on the WSOP calendar.
“I’m just ready to win every day. I was going to enjoy the experience, whatever happened. I love to play. I love the creativity of poker,” he said.
“I just get to be a version of myself. There is a picture of myself when I was a kid. I’m playing basketball with my uncles. I’m half their size and I have this serious look on my face like it’s the most important thing in the world. And I’m like that at the poker table. I maintain that very serious external presence, but inside, I’m just a kid dancing on the felt.”
That concludes PokerNews' coverage of the $10,000 Dealers Choice Championship. Stay tuned for more updates throughout the 2025 WSOP.
