Las Vegas, NV (December 20, 2022) – Stephen Song outlasted a field of 5,430 entrants to be crowned Champion at the inaugural WPT® Prime Championship at Wynn Las Vegas, claiming the grand prize of $712,650.
“Honestly, it’s incredible. There were so many points in this tournament where I was under 10 bigs from Day 2 until the end of the tournament,” said Song. “You have to run insane to win a 5,400-person field, there’s no getting around that. Just super blessed to have my friends and family here.”
The $1,100 buy-in tournament more than doubled the $2 million dollar guarantee, building a total prize pool of $5,267,100, and paid out the top 677 finishers.
“The overwhelming turnout allowed the Prime Championship to set the tone for what turned out to be an electrifying festival,” said WPT CEO Adam Pliska. “Congratulations to Stephen for capping off yet another amazing story in our 20th anniversary season.”
The final table, featuring the top six finishers, was filmed for television at Wynn Las Vegas and will air in early 2023 on Bally Sports. Lara Eisenberg was the runner-up, earning $481,500, Young Eum placed third for $354,000, Alon Messica placed fourth for $265,000, Albert Nguyen placed fifth for $200,000, and rounding out the final table was Giorgii Skhulukhiia who placed sixth for $153,000.
Other notable players to cash were Tom Middleton (11th place), Kathy Liebert (13th place), and WPT Champions Jared Jaffee (17th place) and Taylor Black (18th place).
Along with the first-place cash prize, Song also received a Rockstar room package from Virgin Voyages ($8,000 value) for his World Poker Tour® success. The other five final tablists received a Sea Terrace room package ($2,400 value).
The WPT Prime Championship had a record-breaking turnout with 5,430 entrants, which surpassed the previous Prime record by 4,380 entries. The prize pool of $5,267,100 also blew the previous Prime record out of the water, tallying a prize pool larger than all 2022 Prime events combined.
The WPT Prime Championship served as an exclamation point for the 2022 WPT Prime season. Launched in May, WPT Prime stopped in a total of six different countries including Vietnam, Australia, Cambodia, Spain, Taiwan and the United States.
The success of the Prime Championship has generated great anticipation and excitement for WPT Prime 2023 which has already announced stops in Paris, Australia, Cambodia, Amsterdam, Slovakia, Vietnam and Italy.
All photos from WPT Prime Championship can be accessed via our Flickr page.
For more information regarding this and all World Poker Tour events, visit WPT.com.
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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 20th season, which airs on Bally Sports in the United States. Season XX 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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