The WPT and fans of the series bid farewell to another successful season just a few days ago. As one could expect, Season XVI of the popular series was packed with quality poker action, awarded millions of dollars to thousands of players from around the world, and traveled across a number of exciting stops, with several of them being outside the United States.
The WPT concluded its latest season a few days ago with the WPT Tournament of Champions. Matthew Waxman outlasted a field of 80 former WPT Main Tour Main Event winners, some of whom being poker’s biggest stars. The player collected $463,375 for his excellent run and his ability to outmaneuver his fellow competitors.
To celebrate the end of the sixteenth season of the WPT, Casino News Daily looked through its 20 events to spot the players to have collected the largest payouts over the past year. More about them could be found below.
Ryan Tosoc – WPT Five Diamond World Poker Classic
Tosoc cashed the largest payout from the WPT during the series’ Season XVI. The player topped the massive 812-strong field of the WPT Five Diamond World Poker Classic $10,400 Main Event to collect the amount of $1,958,065.
The tournament’s large field generated a prize pool of $7,876,400. The top 81 finishers received a portion of the money, with min-cashes starting at $19,691. The event was played at Bellagio Resort & Casino in Las Vegas on December 5-10.
Aside from Tosoc, his runner-up Alex Foxen, too, collected a seven-figure payout from the major tournament. The player was awarded $1,134,202 for finishing second. Mike Del Vecchio finished third, good for a payday of $752,196, which, too, turned out to be among the biggest prizes to be scooped by a player during Season XVI.
Dennis Blieden – WPT L.A. Poker Classic
Blieden emerged victorious from the L.A. Poker Classic, known to be another particularly popular event on WPT’s calendar each year. The $10,000 buy-in event was played on February 24-March 1 at Commerce Casino.
Blieden collected $1 million from the tournament’s $4,681,035 prize pool. The player outlasted a field of 493 entries. It is also interesting to note that Blieden ran pretty well during the WPT Tournament of Champions that took place mere days ago at Aria Resort & Casino in Las Vegas. He was the Day 1 overnight chip leader to lead a very elite field into a second day of contention. Unfortunately, he was eliminated in 11th place to become the bubble boy, but still his performance and methodical approach to the game deserved to be paid a little bit more attention.
Guo Liang Chen – WPT Borgata Poker Open
Chen was the last man standing from a field of 1,132 tournament entries in the $3,500 buy-in Borgata Poker Open. The player collected $789,058 for outlasting that behemoth field.
The tournament ran September 17-22 at Borgata Hotel Casino & Spa in Atlantic City. Season XVI’s edition of the Borgata Poker Open Main Event ranked among the largest events to have taken place within the series over the years.
Aside from Chen, a total of 109 other players received a share of the prize pool that totaled $3,623,532. Minimum payouts started from $6,812. Greg Weber ($471,059) and Jia Liu ($288,071) were the other players to comprise the tournament’s podium.
Scott Margereson – WPT Seminole Hard Rock Poker Showdown
Margereson beat a massive field of 1,309 entries from all around the world to win $696,740 and a WPT Main Tour Main Event title, of course. The player was the past season’s Seminole Hard Rock Poker Showdown champion.
The popular spring tournament took place from April 13 through April 18 at Seminole Hard Rock Hotel & Casino Hollywood. As mentioned above, it drew quite a field of 1,309 contenders who generated a prize pool of $4,188,800. The money was split into payouts for the top 164 entries, min-cashes going from $5,860 upwards.
Art Papazyan – WPT Legends of Poker
Papazyan was crowned the champion of the WPT Legends of Poker Main Event last August. The player emerged victorious over a field of 763 entries to win the largest share of the $2,738,407. That largest share amounted to $668,692.
The tournament took place on August 25-31 at The Bicycle Hotel & Casino. A total of 81 players left it with a payout, min-cashes worth $7,135. The tournament’s top three was comprised of Papazyan, his runner-up finisher and poker legend Phil Hellmuth, who scooped $364,370, and third-place finisher and WPT J.C. Tran, whose share of the money amounted to $161,490.
The post Biggest World Poker Tour Season XVI Winners appeared first on Casino News Daily.
