Badziakouski the best of the best
A million-dollar buy-in tournament is not something that happens every day, and the history of this event only confirms its uniqueness. Since 2012, these days we've witnessed only the fifth Big One for One Drop event, and while it was the smallest (17 players), it still delivered top-notch poker and a multi-million dollar prizepool.
The last 6 players, led by Dan Smith, played for shares of the pool during the final day. The challenge for each and every one was certainly to survive the bursting of the $1,224,800 bubble, as prize money awaited the top four players. In the end, Indian businessman Santhosh Suvarna was not among them, and in the end, Nick Petrangelo was the biggest loser.
As is the custom in poker, there can only ever be one winner, and in this case the final heads-up was between Mario Mosboeck and Mikita Badzikouski. It was the Austrian who drew the short end of the stick, as he didn't make the K-J for his tournament life against Badziakouski's A-9 and had to settle for second place and a $4,663,950 payday.
The only undefeated player in the tough competition was therefore Mikita Badziakouski, who took home $7,114,500 for the feat. With this lifetime win, he has already increased his lifetime live winnings to the $50 million level, which puts him in 7th place globally between Daniel Negreanu and Isaac Haxton.
| # | NAME | COUNTRY | PRIZE |
| 1. | Mikita Badziakouski | BLR | $7,114,500 |
| 2. | Mario Mosboeck | AUT | $4,663,950 |
| 3. | Dan Smith | USA | $2,806,750 |
| 4. | Isaac Haxton | USA | $1,224,800 |
Anderson Champion of Record Prime
Three final tables three days in a row kicked off a huge WPT Prime tournament that saw 10,512 entries. The original $1,100 buy-in was eventually converted into a lifetime $1,386,280 prize by Calvin Anderson after he defeated Aaron Pinson in heads-up play. Anderson's road to the win was paved mainly by this cooler, which took place in the last three hands.
WHAT. JUST. HAPPENED 🤯
- WPT Prime (@WPTPrime) December 20, 2023
With 3 remaining in the @WPTPrime Championship and over $1.3 million up top - you won't believe what just happened!
Livestream - https://t.co/R3IczV2V9d pic.twitter.com/8z1Bb27I9q
The Main Event finale, as it should be
The final straw of the entire 3+ week long festival will be the Main Event final table tonight, featuring the last six players. If you're looking for quality and experience, you won't be disappointed - Andrew "Lucky Chewy" Lichtenberger, Ben Heath, Artur Martirosian and Chris Moorman will be playing for the championship!
| Seat | Name | Stack | BBs |
| 1. | Ben Heath | 36,700,000 | 31 bb |
| 2. | Andrew Lichtenbeger | 148,200,000 | 124 bb |
| 3. | Dan Sepiol | 34,300,000 | 29 bb |
| 4. | Artur Martirosian | 29,400,000 | 25 bb |
| 5. | Georgios Sotiropoulos | 46,200,000 | 39 bb |
| 6. | Chris Moorman | 88,300,000 | 74 bb |
The final table of the biggest-ever guarantee tournament kicks off at 1:00 pm our time, and once again we'll have a live stream ready for you. Each of the finalists is already assured of a $1,207,000 payout, but a $5,678,000 prize awaits the winner.
- $5,678,000
- $3,772,200
- $2,798,700
- $2,095,300
- $1,583,100
- $1,207,000
Source - WPT, PokerNews, Flick, YouTube, HendonMob
