Las Vegas professional poker player Ryan Tosoc (27), who finished second in the World Poker Tour Five Diamonds main event last year for a cool $1.12 million, had another crack at the contest this year and made sure he took home the top prize and the respect that goes with this prestigious title.
Tosoc bested a record field of 812 top players to claim the 2017 main prize of $1.96 million in the $10,000 buy-in event, along with a $15,000 seat in the upcoming WPT Tournament of Champions.
It took five days of action to form Sunday’s final table of six; Tosoc had the second largest chip stack when the final table formed, and survived some tough and competitive poker to last through to the heads up, holding a 3 to 2 advantage against 26-year-old Alex Foxen.
The heads up stage lasted for almost 50 hotly contested hands, with Foxen taking the lead in the early stages, only to lose it back to a determined Tosoc. In the end Foxen was unable to overcome Tosoc’s skill, cards and chip advantage and had to be content with the runner up prize of $1.13 million.
Other final table cashes included:
Mike Del Vecchio $752,196
Sean Perry $504,090
Ajay Chabra $350,500
Richard Kirsch $271,736