Las Vegas, NV (July 16, 2023) – WPT® Champion Jonathan Jaffe was crowned champion of the second World Poker Tour® tournament hosted in partnership with the One Drop Foundation™: WPT Alpha8® for One Drop at Wynn Las Vegas. Jaffe defeated fellow WPT Champion Taylor von Kriegenbergh heads up Sunday evening, claiming the grand prize of $1,537,600.
“Feeling good,” stated Jaffe after his victory. “I’m still going to wait before I process the win very much; I’m still kind of in poker mode and just going through the motions right now, but I know I will feel good.”
“Congratulations to Jonathan on his momentous victory, and thank you to all the players who entered in support of the One Drop Foundation,” said WPT CEO Adam Pliska. “The funds raised will ultimately aid many communities in need. We cannot wait to return to the beautiful Wynn Las Vegas to raise even more with the Big One for One Drop in December.”
The $111,000 buy-in event, and return of the Alpha8 brand, drew a field of 45 entrants. A prize pool of $4,612,500 was generated, which awarded a payout to the top seven finishers. The charitable portion of each buy-in netted $315,000 in total, benefitting both the One Drop Foundation and the Wynn Resorts Foundation.
For his runner-up finish, von Kriegenbergh earned $1,042,100. Other final-table cashers included WPT Champion Dan Smith (3rd place – $701,700), Aleksejs Ponakovs (4th place – $485,200), Michael Lim (5th place – $350,100) and Iaron Lightbourne (6th place – $273,200). Isaac Haxton bubbled the official final table, but still walked away with $222,600 for his seventh-place finish.
Next up on the World Poker Tour is WPT Korea. The festival began on Saturday, July 15. Three marquee events make up the schedule, the KRW 3,400,000 WPT Korea main event, another WPT Alpha8 for One Drop, boasting a KRW 170,000,000 buy-in, and the KRW 17,000,000 WPT High Roller.
All photos from WPT Alpha8 for One Drop at Wynn Las Vegas can be accessed via the WPT Flickr Page.
For more information regarding this and all World Poker Tour events, visit WPT.com.
Note: The $10,500 WPT EveryOne for One Drop at Wynn Las Vegas, which concluded Friday, July 14, generated a total of $335,200. In a previously issued press release pertaining to this event, it was stated the full sum went to the One Drop Foundation. However, the amount was split between two foundations: the One Drop Foundation and the Wynn Resorts Foundation.
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About the World Poker Tour®
World Poker Tour® (WPT®) is the premier name in internationally televised gaming and entertainment with brand presence in land-based tournaments, television, online, and mobile. Leading innovation in the sport of poker since 2002, WPT ignited the global poker boom with the creation of a unique television show based on a series of high-stakes poker tournaments. WPT has broadcast globally in more than 150 countries and territories, and is currently producing its 21st season, which airs on Bally Sports in the United States. Season XXI of WPT is sponsored by ClubWPT.com. ClubWPT.com is a unique online membership site that offers inside access to the WPT, as well as a sweepstakes-based poker club available in 43 states and territories across the United States, Australia, Canada, France, and the United Kingdom. WPT also participates in strategic brand license, partnership, and sponsorship opportunities. For more information, go to WPT.com.
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About the One Drop Foundation
The One Drop™ Foundation is an international philanthropic organization created by Cirque du Soleil and Lune Rouge founder Guy Laliberté with the vision of a better world, where all have access to living conditions that allow empowerment and development. Its mission is to ensure sustainable access to safe water, sanitation, and hygiene for communities facing extreme barriers through innovative partnerships, creativity, and the power of art. Together with its partners, the One Drop Foundation deploys its unique Social Art for Behaviour Change™ approach designed to promote the adoption of healthy water, sanitation and hygiene-related behaviours and empower communities. For this to be possible, the One Drop Foundation creates novel fundraising initiatives supported by a visionary community of partners and donors. The One Drop Foundation is celebrating 15 years of turning water into action, with projects that will soon have improved the living conditions of more than 2.7 million people around the world.
About Wynn Las Vegas
Wynn Resorts is the recipient of more Forbes Travel Guide Five Star Awards than any other independent hotel company in the world and in 2023 was once again honored on FORTUNE Magazine’s World’s Most Admired Companies list. Wynn and Encore Las Vegas consist of two luxury hotel towers with a total of 4,748 spacious hotel rooms, suites and villas. The resort features approximately 194,000 square feet of casino space, 20 signature dining experiences, 14 bars, two award-winning spas, approximately 513,000 rentable square feet of meeting and convention space, approximately 174,000 square feet of retail space as well as two showrooms, two nightclubs, a beach club, and recreation and leisure facilities, including Wynn Golf Club, an 18-hole championship golf course. For more information on Wynn and Encore Las Vegas, visit press.wynnlasvegas.com.