By Anthony Caruso III | Publisher
Early Sunday morning, John Cynn became the 2018 World Series of Poker Main Event Champion. He had to outlast runner-up Tony Miles in Las Vegas, Nevada to win the huge cash prize.
Cynn and Miles went heads up for nearly 11 hours before Cynn made Miles go All-In for the win. With the win, Cynn gets the grand prize of $8.8 million. Miles, the runner-up, takes home a cool $5 million.
Todd Miles hugs first place winner John Cynn after Cynn won the grand prize (Photo by the Associated Press)
Todd Miles hugs first place winner John Cynn after Cynn won the grand prize (Photo by the Associated Press)
In addition to the payout, Cynn also wins the Main Event bracelet. His name will also go down in history, as the World Series of Poker Main Event Champion.
“The money is very significant, but I do like to think that I don’t need the money to be happy,” said Cynn. “But at the same time, practically, it’s going to make things a lot easier — things I want to do in life … even to my parents, this is money that they never could’ve imagined. It’s definitely going to be life-changing.”
Cynn and Miles lasted through 442 hands of the final table. They played nearly 200 hands against each other, according to the Associated Press.
With the $8.8 million on the final table, Cynn defeated Miles with a queen of clubs and an eight of hearts. Then, in the community of cards, the cards went king of hearts, king of diamonds, five of hearts, eight of diamonds, and four of spades.
There were 7,874 players, who either gambled $10,000 to play in the tournament, or they were able to earn a seat through winning satellite tournaments, which gave the players lower buy-ins. This was the 49th-year of the tournament.
Instead of a November Nine this year, the event organizers let the players continue to play during the nearly two-week tournament. Of the nine players, who reached the final table, they were all guaranteed to receive $1 million.
Final Table
Place Name Prize
1st John Cynn $8.8 million
2nd Todd Miles $5 million
3rd Michael Dyer $3.75 million
4th Nicolas Manion $2.825 million
5th Joe Cada $2.15 million
6th Aram Zobian $1.8 million
7th Alex Lynskey $1.5 million
8th Artem Metalidi $1.25 million
9th Antoine Labat $1 million
