Sunshine, ocean adventures, top-notch food, non-stop entertainment, and parties galore. Plus, enough cash games and tournaments to satiate even the most voracious poker player’s appetite.
But enough about what you may have missed out on personally during WPT Voyage. Over the course of just five nights of tournament action, 20 trophies were awarded onboard Virgin Voyages’ Valiant Lady, including a brand new WPT Main Tour champion in Aram Oganyan and a new WPT Prime champion in Gregory De Faria.
It was a good trip for WPT Champions Club members, industry figures, and amateur poker enthusiasts alike. So as you take a break from the FOMO you may be feeling after scrolling through all of the photos and videos other people took during their time on WPT Voyage, here are five poker things you may have missed out on as well.
WPT Prime Crushes Guarantee With Massive Day 1C Wave
The WPT Voyage Prime Championship was on a healthy pace to clear its $500,000 guaranteed prize pool after two starting sessions. Then came Day 1C, when 560 players entered the action and cleared that guarantee all by itself. The WPT Prime Voyage Championship brought out a heavy volume of champions and notables, as well as first-timers and recreational shot-takers. All told, there were 968 entries and a total of $968,000 to play for.
WPT Champions Club members Jared Jaffee, Jesse Sylvia, Eric Afriat, Dylan Wilkerson, and Darryl Fish were each in the mix on Day 2 with the $155,400 first-place prize in their sights. 2023 WPT Prime Championship winner Calvin Anderson was in the field as well, with 2014 WSOP Main Event champion (and WPT Champions Club member in his own right) Ryan Riess getting all the way down to the final two tables.
Riess and Darren Rabinowitz went out simultaneously eliminated on the final table bubble, leaving eight title hopefuls. When the last card of the tournament hit, making a heart flush, Gregory De Faria celebrated along with a boisterous rail of his countrymen. De Faria, who also earned a seat to the 2024 WPT World Championship at Wynn Las Vegas as part of his prize, is the first-ever Brazilian-born WPT Prime Champion, and the first Brazilian player to win a major live WPT-branded event since 2017.
WPT Champions Club Members Turn Out in a Major Way
If you thought there were a lot of WPT Champions Club members in contention for the Prime title, that’s nothing compared to the final 37 in the mix on the Main Tour side. A staggering 10 of 37 in the money in the WPT Voyage Championship had already claimed WPT titles, including Dan Sepiol, who was after his second win in less than four months after winning the 2023 WPT World Championship at Wynn Las Vegas.
Sepiol was, however, the only former champion to make the final table. He eventually fell short, in fifth, and after some deal-making and coin-flipping, Aram Oganyan broke through for his first title after falling just short on several different occasions in the past.
The two headlining tournaments weren’t the only instance of champions cashing in on WPT Voyage. Taylor von Kriegenbergh took down the opening turbo No Limit Hold’em event of the trip, and then came back a few days later to take second in the $25,000 Super High Roller to bank over $227,000.
Behind Brian Battistone, who more than doubled his career live tournament earnings in winning said Super High Roller, and von Kriegenbergh, were two more high-profile WPT alumni in third and fourth – four-time WPT champion Darren Elias, and 2022 WPT World Championship winner Eliot Hudon.
Women Raise Their Flags Throughout WPT Voyage
From night one on, it was clear that the proportion of women on board WPT Voyage was significantly higher than what you might see at most tournament stops. What became even clearer once tournament action began was that most weren’t there just to enjoy a vacation – they came to play.
At one point during the WPT Prime Championship, an open event, six of the seven players at one table were women. Similar instances popped up in a variety of other events as well. Kasey Lyn Mills made the final table of the WPT Voyage Championship, and Allison Hollander did the same in the WPT Prime Championship.
The finale to the trend predictably popped up during the Ladies Championship, which drew 230 entries. That tournament was eventually won by rising star Caitlin Comeskey, who claimed her victory and celebrated amongst what was an ebullient rail of supporters during the closing stages of the event.
Industry Figures Hold Court in Mixed Games
When it comes to mixed game action, there were opportunities on WPT Voyage for non-Hold’em players as well. There was a $660 Omaha Hi-Lo tournament and a $660 H.O.R.S.E. event on the schedule, and both were ultimately won by players who spend the majority of their time on the opposite side of the action. WPT Executive Tour Director Matt Savage claimed the trophy in the Omaha event, the only tournament he played onboard, and after a lengthy final table the H.O.R.S.E. title was claimed by a longtime bestbet Jacksonville staple, Jesse Hollander.
Mixed games were also represented amidst the cash action at WPT Voyage, with Robbie Strazynski’s limit $5/$10 menagerie of non-Hold’em games filling up a table each night of the trip.
WPT Pajama Meetup Game Kicked Off One-of-a-Kind Poker Experience
When the Valiant Lady pulled out of the Port of Miami, the countdown to international waters began. It was because that invisible line represented the moment that cards could go into the air, and almost everybody on board was chomping at the bit to get into the action.
With three tournaments and a Pajama Meet Up Game on the docket, lines stretched seemingly as far as the length of the boat. The first-ever WPT Voyage had to work out a couple of kinks as demand continued to grow, but patience was seemingly at an all-time high as beverages flowed and the logjam slowly dissipated.
That vibe carried forward for the rest of the trip, as unique rules and circumstances based on location and timing led to creativity when building out schedules and trying as much as possible to cater to players’ needs.
As players satiated their voracious appetite for action, most sported their evening best – from animal onesies to silk, poker-themed to group costumes the celebratory pj’s were all over the spectrum. Vince Van Patten, Tony Dunst, Lynn Gilmartin, Andrew Neeme, the Royal Flush Crew, and a host of others mingled with the players amidst another wild night of cash games.
You can find a full list of tournament winners from WPT Voyage at The Hendon Mob.