There’s not much that Bin Weng hasn’t done at the poker table over the course of 2023. Coming into December, he’d already banked three separate $1 million-plus paydays in big field No Limit Hold’em events, including $2.2 million for the WPT EveryOne for One Drop and $1.1 million for winning the WPT Seminole Hard Rock Poker Showdown in May.
When Weng came back out to Las Vegas for the WPT World Championship festival at Wynn, considering his back-to-back WPT final tables and a pair of Wynn trophies thus far in 2023, he was on the hunt for more. Weng entered seemingly every tournament at his disposal, but couldn’t put together a run – until he reached the $25,000 High Roller.
With a field of 194 entries, the tournament lined up a first-place payday of over $1.1 million. After reaching a single table of nine, Weng eliminated six out of seven players on the way down to heads-up play. That left him heads-up for the title with Thomas Boivin of Belgium, who has two major $25,000 side event titles and second place in a WPT World Championship online event on his resume.
After battling heads-up for hours, the pair elected to chop with the winner receiving one additional dollar and the trophy. Weng won the coinflip and the trophy, but most importantly locked down his fourth significant result of 2023 – a payday of $958,279.
Even amidst the seemingly endless list of accolades he’s accumulated over the last 12 months, Weng was emotional in the moments after the $25,000 High Roller wrapped up.
“I’m kind of speechless right now, I’ll be honest with you,” said Weng. “Because even though I have a few bigger scores in 2023, this is way different. This is the first one that’s a high roller, a $25K buy-in. I’ve been playing a few over the past couple of years and I never won one. It’s super tough, a lot of tough pros, and it does mean a lot to me.”
The trophy is Weng’s third of the year at Wynn Las Vegas and fifth career trophy at the venue.
“Wynn is always one of my favorites, a top-three favorite spot,” said Weng. “I always have a good experience and so many good memories. Structures are good, everybody is so nice here and I just love it all.”
The last remaining question is a big one. As he sits and waits to see if he’ll hold onto the lead in the WPT Player of the Year race, Weng is also in the driver’s seat in both the Cardplayer and GPI Player of the Year races as well. He’s been playing tournaments with buy-ins everywhere from $340 all the way up to $25,000 throughout 2023, and Weng clearly loves to play big fields no matter the stake or buy-in. So when asked if this was the note and the event he wanted to call his last of 2023, Weng shook his head and said he wasn’t done quite yet.
“This trip is going to be my last one for the poker in 2023,” said Weng. “There’s a few more events left for me to play this series, so I’m definitely gonna keep playing – just a few more events, then home before Christmas.”
After hitting the road hard this year, Weng would be entitled to a little rest and relaxation to enjoy the spoils of his work. And while he’ll enjoy the holidays, don’t count on Weng taking off much more time than that before he sets off on a 2024 campaign.
“I’ll take a week or two break, and then go from there.”