A Big Summer of Vegas Poker Promised by World Series
The World Series of Poker got underway on Tuesday with its traditional curtain-raising $500 Casino Employees No Limit Hold’em tournament. Peter Thai, a table games dealer in California’s Parkwest Casino 580, won the competition and a $75,535 prize for overcoming 1,014 rival entries.
It was the third largest Casino Employees tournament in the history of the WSOP – last year the corresponding competition attracted 832 entries – and organizers suggested the entry was “an excellent indicator that this summer will be one of the biggest yet.”
The Hustler Casino hosted “the biggest pot in the history of televised poker” this week. ©GettyImages
“Summer” refers to the 95 Las Vegas casino-based and 20 online tournaments that make up the full complement of 2023’s World Series of Poker bracelet-bearing competitions. They will be awarded throughout June and up until July 18th.
$1 Million Sit Down Breaks Record
The first major competition of the 2023 World Series, the $25,000 Six-Handed No Limit Hold’em, drew an impressive 207 entries and produced the first $1 million-plus winner of the series. It was a Swiss player, Alexandre Vuilleumier, that collected the winner’s $1,215,864 prize.
However, this was not the biggest score of the week in North America. On Tuesday, in a live-streamed cash game in Los Angeles’ Hustler Casino, a $3.1 million pot was awarded to Tom Dwan.
The professional got the better of Wesley “Wes Side” Fei – a cryptocurrency investor who bet the flop, turn and river with Ace-high – when holding pocket Queens on an 8-high board. It was an astonishing hand and game. The minimum sit-down was $1 million, and Fei had bought in for $3 million.
Commentators quickly declared this showdown to be “the biggest pot in the history of televised poker.” Hours later, Fei would win a $2.2 million pot when cracking Queens with Ace-7. Nevertheless, he would finish the session with a $753,000 deficit. Dwan ended his day $1.6 million ahead.
Crazy Poker Win 4 Bodybuilder
Back in Vegas, one Brit has already won big playing poker this week. Zac Aynsley, a celebrity bodybuilder, model, and influencer boasting 1.4 million Instagram followers, netted a $354,742 jackpot when dealt a royal flush playing Crazy 4 Poker at Planet Hollywood Resort and Casino.
Better known as an online casino game, Crazy 4 Poker is a table game played against a dealer. Aynsley’s score was remarkable. Not only did he scoop a fabled progressive jackpot, but he had never played any form of poker in a casino before and was only in Vegas for a weekend holiday break.
Aynsley had played for less than an hour before the planets – and cards – lined up for him. Little wonder he declared: “God works in mysterious yet beautiful ways,” in an Instagram message posted after his windfall!
