From runner-up to champion: Marc Sen wins WPT Prime Liechtenstein

Ask any winner in this game and they’ll tell you poker is a game of constant improvement. If you’re not moving forward, you’re standing still, and if you’re standing still, you’re falling behind. It’s why so many successful players preach the importance of study, analysis and theory, as well as why our poker strategy section exists.

Winning players will also tell you to separate your play from your results; making better decisions will pay off in the long run, even if you don’t get the rewards right away.

That’s easier said than done, of course, even when it comes to Switzerland’s Marc Sen. The man who finished runner-up in last year’s WPT Prime Liechtenstein Main Event has just got one better and won the 2024 edition.

Improving from 2nd to 1st may be a small step up in results, but it’s a profound one. It also comes with approximately a quarter of a million dollars in first-place prize money, which is enough to make anyone feel like whatever they’re doing, they’re doing it right. And with two such strong performances back-to-back, it's hard to argue otherwise.

179 spots were paid, with $248K up top.

$1.6M marks 2nd biggest Prime prize pool outside Vegas

The Main Event prize pool of CHF 1,411,000 (Swiss Francs) equates to approximately $1,673,714 in USD, making this the second biggest WPT Prime prize pool outside the annual World Championship edition in Las Vegas. The biggest? This same event, last year.

Back then 1,644 entrants built a prize pool of CHF 1,644,000, and the appeal of live poker in the region shows little sign of diminishing, as 1,411 entrants paid the CHF 1,100 (approx. $1.3K) to compete at Grand Casino Liechtenstein this year.

Sen banked around $185K for his 2nd place finish in 2023, and on returning to the scene a year later once again navigated his way through the large field to reach heads-up play, this time against his countryman Leandro Dirlewanger.

Leandro Dirlewanger couldn't stop Sen from improving on last year's runner-up finish.

The heads-up phase lasted just 16 hands and saw Sen press home a chip advantage of 6:1 when play began. Dirlewanger doubled once but was unable to build any momentum, eventually calling off his last 11 big blinds with when Sen shoved from the button holding . The board brought nothing to change the situation, and Sen found himself on the right side of the winner’s hand shake this time.

For booking the win Sen took the CHF 209,120 (approx. $248K) up top, which includes a $10K seat in the WPT World Championship in December, while Dirlewanger won a career-best CHF 132,000 (approx. $156K) as runner-up. Scroll down for full final table results.

You can watch the entire final table below, courtesy of the World Poker Tour.

WPT Prime Liechtenstein Main Event - final results

^{Images courtesy of Spenser Sembrat/World Poker Tour}