Mike Leah, George Tomescu Among Latest Big Winners in WPT World Championship Festival
The $40 million guaranteed World Poker Tour (WPT) World Championship event hasn't even begun, but there's already been a number of big winners during the series at Wynn Las Vegas.
On Monday, the largest guaranteed prize pool in poker history kicks off, and everyone in the poker world is talking about it. But before looking ahead to that historic event, we look back to honor those who've performed at a high level, winning Wynn replica trophies over the past few days.
Canadian Leah Takes Down 8-Game
Mike Leah, one of the top Canadian tournament grinders ever, won yet another tournament this past week the $2,200 8-Game. Doing so paid him $78,841, bringing his career cashes over $8.2 million, according to The Hendon Mob.
As is the case with most mixed game events, the champion had to defeat a difficult final table to come out ahead. Matthew Vengrin (seventh place for $10,950), David "Bakes" Baker (fifth place for $18,688), and Dzmitry Urbanovich (fourth place for $25,258) all reached the final table.
Leah defeated Luigi D'Santoro, a Pennsylvania native with minimal live tournament results, heads-up to win the title. The runner-up received $48,676 as a consolation prize, a career-best score. Leah, a World Series of Poker (WSOP) bracelet winner, added another piece of hardware to his trophy case. He had to beat out a field of 146 entrants to secure the top prize out of the $291,000 pot.
$2,200 8-Game Final Table Results
| PLACE | PLAYER | PRIZE | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Mike Leah | $78,841 | |
| 2 | Luigi D'Santoro | $48,676 | |
| 3 | Caleb Shumard | $34,018 | |
| 4 | Dzmitry Urbanovich | $25,258 | |
| 5 | David "Bakes" Baker | $18,688 | |
| 6 | Alan Myerson | $14,016 | |
| 7 | Matthew Vengrin | $10,950 | |
| 8 | Jon Turner | $8,833 |
Lisa Costello Wins WPT Ladies Championship
Tomescu with a Massive Score
The $1,600 Mystery Bounty at Wynn attracted a huge field with 3,421 entrants all chasing the $500,000 first place prize, along with the mystery bounties that came with it. At the end of the day, however, nobody could outlast George Tomescu, who won a total of $564,202, including bounties, the biggest share of the $3,215,740 prize pool.
Much like every other event during the series thus far, the guarantee $2 million was smashed. Tomescu, a Romanian pro with just $280,000 in prior live tournament cashes, beat Jiacong Zhang ($324,347) heads-up at the very end. Both players went home with life-changing money, as did Jack Hardcastle in third place ($249,61) and fourth place finisher Matthew McEwan ($192,754).
$1,600 Mystery Bounty Final Table Results
| PLACE | PLAYER | PRIZE |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | George Tomescu | $564,202* |
| 2 | Jiacong Zhang | $324,347 |
| 3 | Jack Hardcastle | $249,761 |
| 4 | Matthew McEwan | $192,754 |
| 5 | Todd Turoci | $148,507 |
| 6 | Fausto Valdez | $113,136 |
| 7 | David Levy | $85,014 |
| 8 | Dany Fuhs | $62,463 |
| 9 | Ubaid Habib | $44,396 |
*Indicates prize won includes mystery bounties.
Larson Wins Seniors Event
The $1,100 Seniors No-Limit Hold'em event at Wynn brought in 146 players aged 55 and above. One of those individuals is David Larson, who was the best of the bunch. Larson, a local player, received $141,385 for winning the tournament, a large chunk of the $780,850.
Renyong Hu was the runner-up, which paid $92,548. George Heim took third place for $71,182, while Scott Buller claimed fourth place for $55,784. Larson now has over $1.9 million in career live tournament cashes, and this is his largest score ever.
| PLACE | PLAYER | PRIZE |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | David Larson | $141,385 |
| 2 | Renyong Hu | $92,548 |
| 3 | George Heim | $71,182 |
| 4 | Scott Buller | $55,784 |
| 5 | Larry Gerek | $43,279 |
| 6 | Lawrence Greenberg | $32,941 |
| 7 | Ryan Biggar | $24,580 |
| 8 | Ira Friedman | $18,241 |
| 9 | Juli Black | $13,059 |
Remaining WPT World Championship Schedule
| Dates | Tournament | Buy-In | Guarantee |
|---|---|---|---|
| Dec. 12-21 | WPT World Championship | $10,400 | $40,000,000 |
| Dec. 12-13 | HORSE Championship | $1,100 | $100,000 |
| Dec. 13 | Pot-Limit Omaha | $1,100 | $100,000 |
| Dec. 15 | No-Limit Holdem Turbo ($500 Bounty) | $1,100 | $100,000 |
| Dec. 16 | No-Limit Holdem Progressive Bounty (PKO) | $3,000 | $500,000 |
| Dec. 17-18 | Limit Omaha/8 Championship | $1,100 | $100,000 |
| Dec. 17-20 | No-Limit Holdem | $3,000 | $3,000,000 |
| Dec. 17-18 | No-Limit Holdem High Roller | $25,700 | |
| Dec. 18-19 | WPT Big One for One Drop | $1,000,000 | |
| Dec. 19-23 | No-Limit Holdem | $1,600 | $2,000,000 |
| Dec. 19-20 | Seniors High Roller (50+) | $10,000 | $500,000 |
| Dec. 19 | No-Limit Holdem 6-Max | $3,000 | $500,000 |
| Dec. 20-21 | Dealers Choice Championship | $3,000 | $200,000 |
| Dec. 20-21 | WPT Alpha8 | $50,000 | |
| Dec. 21 | Pot-Limit Omaha | $10,500 | |
| Dec. 22 | No-Limit Holdem | $1,100 | $200,000 |
| Dec. 23 | No-Limit Holdem | $1,100 | $100,000 |
Multiple Big Winners Already Crowned in WPT World Championship Festival
WPT World Championship Festival Winners to Date
| Tournament | Entries | Prize Pool | Winner | Prize |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| $600 NLH $1M Gtd | 4,960 | $2,554,400 | Michael Rossitto | $366,698 |
| $600 Omaha 8-or-Better | 152 | $78,280 | John Cernuto | $20,073 |
| $10,500 NLH 8-Max | 77 | $770,000 | Ian Bradley | $240,625 |
| $1,100 PLO/NLH | 376 | $364,720 | Martin Kozlov | $74,373 |
| $1,100 Seniors NLH Championship | 805 | $780,850 | Dave Larson | $141,385 |
| $1,600 Mystery Bounty | 3,421 | $3,215,740 | George Tomescu | $564,202 |
| $2,200 8-Game | 146 | $291,000 | Mike Leah | $78,841 |
| $1,100 Ladies Championship | 457 | $443,290 | Lisa Costello | $85,297 |
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