Joseph Spanne Wins First Major Title in $3,500 Wynn Millions Championship for $397,319
Despite the tournament being shortened by a whole day, things went according to plan for Joseph Spanne, who captured his first major poker title at the $3,500 Wynn Millions Championship hosted by Wynn Las Vegas. Defeating a field of 694 entries, Spanne pocketed $397,319 for his efforts, the largest win of his poker career.
Things got started way back in February, almost a week ago, with three starting flights that created a prizepool of over $2.2 million to play for. One of the marquee events this spring in the Las Vegas area, the tournament attracted all of the biggest local names and even some from around the globe. Originally scheduled to finish one day later, tournament organizers adjusted the schedule based on the pace of play and the final table of nine players returned earlier today to compete for the title.
Albeit a California native, the majority of Spanne's recent results have been right here in Las Vegas. This victory will also push his total career tournament winnings into the seven-figure mark. It was a rollercoaster of a ride for Spanne who entered the day as one of the short stacks but quickly got things trending in the right direction. After picking up the chip lead earlier on, Spanne saw things slipping away at one point but then went on a tear to win many of the final hands of the tournament.
In heads-up action with Chahn Jung, Spanne got paid with a rivered straight which left Jung on just a few big blinds. Just moments later, Spanne limped on the button with pocket jacks and waited for Jung to flop an inferior pair. All of the chips went in on the flop and Jung was unable to improve, sending the victory to Spanne. When asked for any words after his victory, Spanne refused to give any comment.
Final Table Results
| Place | Player | Country | Prize |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1st | Joseph Spanne | United States | $397,319 |
| 2nd | Chahn Jung | United States | $271,245 |
| 3rd | Quang Vu | United States | $200,955 |
| 4th | Alexander Farahi | United States | $148,953 |
| 5th | Adam Walton | United States | $110,283 |
| 6th | Ernest Bush | United States | $81,836 |
| 7th | Jeff Madsen | United States | $61,168 |
| 8th | Gregory Rankich | United States | $46,647 |
| 9th | Ryan Tosoc | United States | $36,313 |
Final Table Action
Just nine players returned to the felt for the final day and it was Jung who held a comfortable lead over the rest of the field. Things appeared to be going according to plan when the two short stacks in Ryan Tosoc and Gregory Rankich were eliminated in the early going. However, Jung hit a major speed bump when he got caught bluffing and sent a big chunk of his chips to eventual third-place finisher Quang Vu.
That changed the dynamic of the table as things seemed to mellow out for an extended period of time. That was until Jeff Madsen and Adam Walton got into a classic flip situation with Walton coming out on top, leaving Madsen with just a single chip. Climbing all the way back to a reasonable chip stack, Madsen finally met his match when he was up against Jung's ace-king in the big blind.
Ernest Bush entered the final table second in chips but couldn't get anything to go his way on the final day. Bush saw his chip stack completely depleted over a couple of hours and finally took a spot with a suited ace. Unfortunately for him, Spanne was holding a pocket pair and Bush couldn't find the help required to stay alive. Walton was next on the chopping block in a blind vs blind confrontation with Vu. Walton had a pocket pair but Vu paired his king on the flop to take the lead and never looked back.
Seeing all of the action unfold in front of him, Alexander Farahi was happy to sit back and watch as he continued to ladder up. However, with just four players remaining, Farahi was unable to hide any further. He picked up two suited broadway cards and his last few big blinds were in the middle. It was not meant to be as Spanne flopped a bike with his ace-rag and Farahi hit the rail in fourth place.
The chips were pretty evenly distributed amongst the final three players until Spanne and Jung collided in just one of their many crucial pots. Both players looked down at pocket pairs but it was Spanne's pocket kings that earned him a double up and the chip lead. It appeared that Vu happened to draw the short straw from the deck, as he continually saw chips evaporating from his stack. Despite a valiant effort to stay in contention, he eventually bowed out to Jung in third place.
With Spanne and Jung left to fight heads-up for the title, the levels were reduced to half the time length which seemed to stir up the action. The momentum swings were happening just as often as the button was moving it seemed. Both players exchanged the chip lead on numerous occasions but it was Spanne who finally pulled ahead in the last few hands of the tournament. On their first all-in encounter, the tournament abruptly ended with Spanne in the winner's seat.
That concludes the PokerNews coverage for this event, but stay tuned for future events being hosted at the Wynn Las Vegas.