We have a Main Event winner! BetGerogia.com — your home of Georgia sports betting updates and developments — has the story.
The World Series of Poker’s Main Event went from marathon to sprint in its final evening as Georgia’s Daniel Weinman won poker’s most coveted title and collected a record $12.1 million.
The starting field of 10,043, also a record for the Main Event, began July 3 with four starting days. After slogging through about two weeks of trimming the field to the final table of nine on Sunday, July 16, the three finalists, all Americans, arrived at Monday night’s three-way showdown for what was anticipated to be a grind.
Instead, the three competitors slugged it out in quick fashion. Monday evening took just 164 hands and about three hours. Weinman knocked out California’s Adam Walton early and it all ended when the final two, Weinman and Steven Jones Jr., got all the chips in the middle with Weinman holding the advantage with a better kicker.
King-Jack Wins $12.1 Million
With Weinman holding King-Jack and Jones holding Jack-8, the flop showed a Jack.
Weinman checked. Jones bet. Weinman check-raised. Jones called. Soon, all the chips were in the middle and Weinman’s King kicker held up through the Turn and River to give the poker veteran the title.
Jones, a Scottsdale, Arizona, real estate investor who started the night with a moderate chip lead, enjoyed a $6.5 million payday for second place. Walton pocked $4 million for third. Weinman’s $12.1 million jackpot eclipsed the 2006 Main Event record of Jamie Gold who won $12 million that year.
Where Did Weinman Come From?
Weinman, 35, has a background as a software engineer, specifically a full-stack web developer. He studied at Georgia Institute of Technology and more recently at Bloom Tech. The Main Event victory raised Weinman’s career poker earnings to more than $15.8 million.
Weinman was buoyed by a rail of several high-profile players, including Josh Arieh, a fellow Georgian who has six WSOP championship bracelets himself.
For Weinman, the Main Event title was his second WSOP bracelet. He won his first last year in a $1,000 Pot-Limit Omaha event for more than $255,000.
If the final three were handicapped, Weinman would have been the favorite. No one had an overwhelming chip advantage to start the evening and Weinman had more big tournament experience and more career earnings, over $3 million, than his two competitors. He was also the only one with a WSOP bracelet, and he also has major wins on the WSOP Circuit and two on the World Poker Tour.
As we wait for Georgia sportsbook promos to be made legal, we certainly hope anyone watching the WSOP enjoyed the event.
