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After the longest heads-up battle in World Series of Poker Championship Event history, Illinois’ John Cynn was able to outlast Florida’s Tony Miles to capture poker’s World Championship in winning the 2018 WSOP Championship Event.

The Early Action

Coming to the three-man finale on Saturday night, both Miles (the chip leader) and Cynn were solidly in their positions. The man who was under risk from the start was the man who came to the final table on Thursday as the chip leader, Michael Dyer. Dyer, only on a 20 million stack to start the day, kicked off the festivities with two all-in moves that warned his competitors that he wasn’t to be messed with, despite being the short stack.

For some time, it seemed as if Cynn and Miles wanted to take each other out instead of the “shorty.” The duo would clash on several occasions, with the battle going back and forth, but it was inevitable that they would soon turn to Dyer. That occurred when Dyer picked up an A-10 on the button and shipped his chips, only to find Miles had woken with A-J for the call. Although the board would provide a Jack and a Queen to tease Dyer with a straight, it didn’t come home, sending Dyer to the rail in third place.

Hope You Brought Your Pillow

As we attempted to detail with our live blogging of the 2018 WSOP Championship Event, both Cynn and Miles had such deep stacks that it was going to take some time before a champion would be crowned. After Dyer’s departure, Miles had over 100 big blinds and Cynn had over 90, stack ratios that are normally only seen at the start of tournaments. Thus, that “take some time” turned out to be the longest WSOP Championship Event heads up match in history.

The poker played between the two men was at times stunning. At one point – and in one of the historic hands of the match – Miles moved all in for his tournament life holding complete air. The problem was that Cynn, who had connected for fourth pair on a board that also had flush and straight potential, really didn’t have the hand to be calling (even though he would win the tournament). At the end of his deliberations, Cynn couldn’t pull the trigger and Miles took the pot, much to his relief.

This is the way that the action went throughout the heads-up battle. One player would work their way out to a lead, only to turn it back over to their opposite number scant hands later. The twosome would swap the lead an astounding 11 times through the evening, with both at one point or another getting their opponent close to the felt but not quite finishing the job.

A Refreshing Change

What was stunning in the 11 hours that Cynn and Miles played together was the camaraderie and bonhomie that was very evident between the duo. At the table, they would battle it out tooth and nail for every chip available, but they weren’t cutthroat about it. They instead treated each other with a great deal of respect, joking back and forth as if they didn’t have a care in the world (when the worst you’re going to go home with is $5 million, then you probably don’t have a care). When there were breaks in the action, the two could be found commiserating with each other as they waited for the play to resume. It was refreshing to see such respect between the players – and let’s also applaud them for their pace of play, which was appropriately quick when necessary and “tank time” was kept to a minimum.

Unfortunately, there are no co-champions at the World Series of Poker. Eventually one man (or woman) must win every tournament that is played, whether it is Las Vegas, Rozvadov, or Melbourne (oh, WSOP Asia/Pacific, we hardly knew ye). The same goes for the 2018 WSOP Championship Event, which ended at roughly the time folks on the East Coast were waking up from their previous evening’s activities.

The End Comes For All (Especially in Poker Tournaments)

The final few hands were similar to how the entire battle between Cynn and Miles had proceeded. Miles, fighting back from a sizeable deficit, had been able to close to within 33 million chips when the final hand came down. On Hand 442, Cynn opened with a raise from the button and Miles three-bet the action to 34 million. Cynn made the call and the K-K-5 flop came out. Miles kept up his aggression, pounding in a continuation bet of 32 million, and Cynn called to see an eight on the turn. Miles pushed all in at this point and Cynn took a moment to think things over.

It was an unnecessary “tank,” as Cynn had the goods. He made the call and turned up a K-J for trip Kings, crushing the Q-8 of Miles (Kings up and drawing dead). Once the formality of the river being dealt was complete (a four, for the record), John Cynn was the victor and poker’s new World Champion.

John Cynn, $8,800,000
Tony Miles, $5,000,000
Michael Dyer, $3,750,000
Nicolas Manion, $2,825,000*
Joe Cada, $2,150,000*
Aram Zobian, $1,800,000*
Alex Lynskey, $1,500,000**
Artem Metalidi, $1,250,000**
Antoine Labat, $1,000,000**

(* – eliminated on Friday night)
(** – eliminated on Thursday night)

The 2018 World Series of Poker isn’t done yet, however!

While the Championship Event has been going on, there have been other bracelet events being played (you have probably heard by now that Phil Hellmuth picked up Bracelet #15 and Shaun Deeb won Bracelet #4). But the “Big One” is literally up next. The “Big One for One Drop,” the $1 million buy in tournament, will begin on Sunday  and be broadcast on ESPN2 (at 12:30AM Eastern Time Tuesday, with the final table broadcast later that day at 7PM). Everyone rest up, because the 2018 World Series of Poker is not quite over yet!

The post John Cynn Outlasts Tony Miles to Win 2018 WSOP Championship Event Title appeared first on Poker News Daily.

Welcome back to our third and final night of live blogging of the 2018 World Series of Poker Championship Event Final Table!

In the “old days,” when there was a live poker event like this – and televised – many in the industry would do what is called “live blogging.” Basically it was a way to watch the proceedings and inform the readers of what was going on in almost real time. You had to be stunned last night as Michael Dyer’s world came apart on him, so much so that he went from the penthouse (the chip lead) to being the REALLY short stack for the final three. John Cynn was one of the beneficiaries of Dyer’s fall, taking over the second slot, but it is Tony Miles who was the MAIN benefactor. It always seemed liked he had something to one up Dyer as he garnered a MOUNTAIN of chips on the way to tonight’s action.

It will be a long night…buckle in and get ready for a battle!

9:15PM (Eastern Time)

Glad to see Dyer come out firing, as if there was anything else he could do. The two all-ins to start the night tell Cynn and Miles that A) he’s not afraid of going out early, and B) that he’s willing to fire with anything. It will keep both of his opponents at bay as they weigh how to handle the former chip leader.

9:28PM

Miles has been playing outstanding poker, but there’s something that might be a bit worrisome about him. It was mentioned earlier at the final table (and just mentioned again by Norm Chad on the broadcast tonight) that Miles is a recovering drug addict. While it is great that he’s cleaned up and gotten sober, you’ve got to worry that the pressures of potentially being poker’s next World Champion could be overwhelming. He seems like he has it together (and was very low-key and soft spoken in an interview with Joe Stapleton, saying “he wanted to be World Champion” more than the money), so maybe it’s much ado about nothing.

9:46PM

Dyer has to love it every time that Cynn and Miles go at each other. Not to say that they should collude, but Cynn and Miles SHOULD be more interested in eliminating the short stack – Dyer – than knocking heads with each other. Every other tournament would be played this way, why shouldn’t the World Series of Poker Championship Event? (By the way, Cynn just took the lead over Miles).

9:54PM

You knew it was going to happen soon. Dyer had to push with that A-10 and Miles was definitely calling with the A-J. Dyer had a hell of a run, but the mojo ran a bit short.

Michael Dyer – Third Place – $3,750,000

10:00PM

This is the way heads up play will start:

Tony Miles, 203.5 million
John Cynn, 190.3 million

This is about as much as a toss-up as you can get. Cynn has been gathering momentum at the table tonight and has even chopped some chips from Miles. But Miles doesn’t seem to be fazed by Cynn’s momentum and instead seems to be very comfortable in the moment. This could be one of the longest heads-up matches in World Series of Poker history by the time we’re done with it.

10:28PM

Cynn was incredibly lucky to catch that straight on the end. But those are the hands that have to come home for you when you’re playing in a big tournament. Miles could have lost more on that hand, but he sniffed out the straight (or was it the flush?) and laid it down on the river.

And the price of poker goes up….1 million/2 million with a 300K ante.

10:44PM

Hate to repeat myself but, with two hour levels and the stacks as deep as this – Miles has 110 big blinds, Cynn about 87 – there’s not going to be huge plays. The twosome are going to be comfortable simply playing small pots back and forth, with the chip lead maybe going back and forth on occasion. It is the reason that the World Poker Tour actually CUTS the time of levels once it reaches heads up, so that they can get the tournaments done without it being a 12-hour event. That’s what we might be looking at tonight because the blinds aren’t going to start hurting these guys for a while yet.

The post Live Blogging the 2018 World Series of Poker Championship Event, Day 3: The Three Musketeers (Or One Mastodon and Two Mice) appeared first on Poker News Daily.

Also, make sure you update your Juniper kit quickly

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Welcome back to our second night of live blogging of the 2018 World Series of Poker Championship Event Final Table!

In the “old days,” when there was a live poker event like this – and televised – many in the industry would do what is called “live blogging.” Basically it was a way to watch the proceedings and inform the readers of what was going on in almost real time. Last night we did very well – that is, until the cellphone battery ran out! – but we’re back on a good, old fashioned laptop for Day 2 of the Final Table and we’re ready to take it from six to three players.

9:11PM (Eastern Time)

Dyer was a major thief during Thursday night’s play. As Tony Miles showed with his pocket Jacks there, it is important to play back and play back HARD against a chip leader who is getting frisky. That’s the only thing that will stop a serial chip thief from committing larceny.

9:16PM

In a blind versus blind situation, Aram Zobian didn’t have to make that move, but he was going to have to do something soon. Don’t know if an 8♦ 6♦ was really the spot to make that move (and against the chip leader Dyer), but give Zobian credit for having the chutzpah to push in and go down swinging.

Aram Zobian – Sixth Place – $1,800,000

9:30PM

That’s the second time now that Miles has been able to best Dyer in a pot. He’s slowly grinding his way up, although 66 million chips is nowhere near the monstrous 170 million stack that Dyer sits on. Could he be the challenger that can stop Dyer from a date with destiny?

9:40PM

With the short stack at the table, many people may be asking why isn’t Cada getting more active. To be honest, he’s not in desperate shape with his 26.425 million chips. That’s 26 big blinds, safe above the “push and pray” level he’d be at if it were 10 big blinds. The blinds will whip around that table quicker with the five-handed play, however.

9:56PM

Antonio Esfandiari in the analyst booth made an outstanding statement. These guys are playing quickly. They’re not sitting back and dwelling on a 9-3 for ten minutes and then folding. The hands are going to the muck quickly and hands are going across pretty rapidly – roughly 20 hands in 40 minutes. That’s pretty quick for a live tournament and ESPECIALLY the WSOP Championship Event.

The post Live Blogging the 2018 World Series of Poker Final Table, Day 2: And Then There Were Six… appeared first on Poker News Daily.

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