Sheng Ye Wins Another Record-Breaking WPT Prime Event
The World Poker Tour (WPT) has broken another record. This time its Prime Gold Coast event attracted more than 1,200 players to create a prize pool worth AUD$2.2 million.
The WPT ended 2022 on a high with its World Championship in Las Vegas. Building on that success, the tournament bandwagon rolled into Australia’s Star Gold Coast on March 1.
The inaugural Prime Gold Coast in 2022 attracted 896 entrants. This year, the AUD$2,000 (USD$1,300) tournament generated 1,224 entries. Day 1A saw 270 players ante up inside one of Queensland’s largest casinos.
Interest steadily increased over the next two starting flights, with the number of entries hitting 435 and 519, respectively. That tipped the number of entries over the 1,200 mark, making it the biggest-ever WPT Prime event.
WPT’s Winning Run Continues
The benchmark for record-breaking success was only set in February this year. WPT Prime Paris became the organization’s biggest ever “non-championship” event when it attracted 1,071 entries.
That record stood for a month, which prompts the question, will the next WPT Prime break another record? It’s not impossible. However, it’s also fair to say that Australia is more of a poker hotspot than Cambodia, where the next WPT Prime event will occur from March 9 to 21.
That said, there’s no doubt the WPT is on a roll right now. Almost every event it’s held in recent months has surpassed expectations. So, even if WPT Prime Cambodia doesn’t break a record, the odds are that a healthy number of players will ante up.
Sheng Ye Was Unstoppable in WPT Prime Gold Coast Finale
As for the latest result, the WPT wasn’t the only winner in Australia. Sheng Ye came through the record-breaking field to take home the title and $253,843.
Ye led the final seven players and was heading for a comfortable win during the March 6 finale. However, as players fell by the wayside, Ben Richardson found some momentum.
Unfortunately for Richardson, that momentum wasn’t enough to dethrone Ye. Richardson couldn’t find a way past his opponent despite doubling up three times.
WPT Prime Gold Coast Result
- Sheng Ye - $253,843*
- Ben Richardson - $161,788
- Mo Haidary - $119,662
- Josh Foster - $89,396
- Anita Savage - $67,466
- Gary Lin - $51,439
- Slav Rypinski - $39,628
- Andreas Vasiliou - $30,847
*First prize includes a winner's package for the WPT World Championship.
WPT Prime Gold Coast eventually came to an end when Ye moved all-in from the button with Q♦ 2♥. A short-stacked Richardson called with A♦ 5♦ and it was off to the races. Richardson’s hand connected with the J♦ 6♠ 5♣ flop, but the Q♥ shifted things in Ye’s favor.
Richardson still had outs going to the river, but the 8♣ wasn’t one of them. With that, Ye picked up his first WPT Prime title to go along with the WSOP Circuit Gold Coast ring he won in November 2022.
While Ye is still celebrating his biggest payday to date, the WPT’s tournament team is on its way to Cambodia for what could be another record-breaking event.
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