What do you get if you combine the poker skill of Stu Ungar with the offbeat comedy of Zach Galifianakis? You get poker pro Scott Stewart. You know what you get when you add in a rowdy rail that includes a very lucky dog?
You get the 2024 WPT World Champion, a man who is now $2,563,900 richer. The only thing he owes now is thanks to Charlie the Double Doodle.
In a marathon heads-up match with England's Rob Sherwood that lasted nearly 100 hands, Stewart lost a massive chip lead and fell all the way down to ten big blinds. What looked like his match to lose was, in fact, almost the match he lost.
And then, after more than six hours of heads-up action, the players took a break, and when they returned, Stewart took a moment with what friends described as his "god dog," a Double Doodle owned by a couple of friends.
Stewart turned away from Charlie and toward Sherwood and said, "It's on now!"
If anyone thought it was a put-on, they were mistaken. Less than an hour after Stewart gave some love to a Double Doodle, he ended up with the double the chips he had, and eventually the World Championship.
"Penthouse suite tonight," Stewart said. "I know it's late, but there's no bedtime in Vegas!"
Stewart's father Frank was on the rail and said, "I couldn't be any more proud. (Scott's) got a lot of heart and is really smart. It's life-changing."
With a rowdy rail of supporters that could quote every Adam Sandler movie, knew every nearby bartender by name, and created custom shirts for the TV table, Stewart and his wild bunch were every TV producer's dream and every poker opponent's nightmare.
Pakman, ghosts, and arcade of hooligans
In its third year at the Wynn, the WPT World Championship had found arguably its best final table ever. It featured an up-and-coming grinder from LA, Eddie "Pakman" Pak and one of poker's top pros on a ghost tour of his Christmas past at the top of the counts. Chris Moorman was only one year removed from making the final table of this same event in 2024 and finishing a disappointing-to-him fourth place.
Though those stories topped the chip counts, Scott Stewart and his high comedy had been stealing the show in the World Championship for days. Just as likely to quote an Adam Sandler movie as he was to back-raise his opponent while pouring Budweiser down his gullet, Stewart embraced the role of crowd favorite. Even when a little bored during a long hand, Stewart just kept spinning.
Christian Roberts, Rob Sherwood, and Ryan Yu were the type of men who preferred to get it quietly. Their stacks were smaller, but as one would soon learn, anything could happen, and this time it was going to happen fast.
This was how the final table stacked up before the first hand of the day.
- Eddie Pak - 66,200,000
- Chris Moorman - 60,800,000
- Scott Stewart - 40,800,000
- Christian Roberts - 28,600,000
- Rob Sherwood - 25,600,000
- Ryan Yu - 17,200,000
Roberts, Yu blow exit doors off Wynn
With more than three million dollars at the top of the prize list, no one could have predicted the six-handed final table would only have three seats filled after the first hour of play.
Christian Roberts made his move first and ran into a giant, happy buzzsaw name Scott Stewart. After Roberts three-bet his 
, Stewart put him all-in, and Roberts decided to go with his hand. He made the call to see Stewart's pocket aces. Roberts flopped a flush draw but whiffed on the turn and river. Only minutes into the game, he was gone for $665,000.
No sooner had the players gotten settled back at the table, Ryan Yu, safely one ladder up, got pocket nines all-in against Pak's 
.
Pak flopped two pair, and by the river had a full house. In a game in which you gotta win your flips, Yu missed on his first try and finished in fifth for $875,000.
Repeat performance, no redemption for Moorman
An hour before the start of the final table, Chris Moorman spoke to PokerOrg and stated his goal plainly.
"Last year, I did my best and it just wasn't meant to be. The end goal this year is to get redemption," he said.
Moorman has seen more hands than most people you'll meet, so he knew anything could happen but hoped beyond hope he wouldn't have to see another picture with his face looking like this.
His opportunity for redemption came quickly. Within minutes of the final table starting, Roberts and Yu were already gone, and Moorman managed to get all-in versus Pak after a 
flop. Moorman had already doubled up Rob Sherwood, so Pak had him covered. Moorman held two queens to Pak's pocket tens.
That's when Pakman summoned the ghosts and invoked his one time, calling for the ten of clubs. And there it was, just as quickly as he asked for it. Moorman couldn't manage a queen or jack on the river. The ghosts once again had their way. Moorman earned $1,150,000 and another ghost for his unwanted collection.
Moorman managed a smile and said, "I'm going to have to final table next year now. It was an amazing ride, and I'll be back. Life is good."
A ghost of his own for Pakman
In a room so full of ghosts, it was only a matter of time before Pakman had to face his biggest foe.
But first, he, Stewart, and Sherwood made sure to smooth out the pain point of a bustout. It took only ten minutes for the players to negotiate a deal. Instead of playing for more than $3.1 million, they reworked the payout table to award $2,563,900 to the winner, $2.2 million to second place, and $2 million to third.
Pak took the longest to agree to the deal, but even his time didn't take long. His agreement worked in his favor. After defending his 
big blind to a raise from Stewart, Pak flopped a flush draw to Stewart's pocket jacks. The turn paired the board. The river filled in Pak's flush, but the diamond that did it was a jack. Pak called off his stack to see his flush beaten by Stewart's full house.
Pak left in third place for $2 million.
U-S-A! No...Stu-S-A!
Pak hadn't even left the room before Scott Stewart's rail realized what was about to happen. Their man was heads-up against England's Robert Sherwood. Chants of "U-S-A! U-S-A!" echoed through the Wynn convention center loudly enough to be mistaken for a soccer championship match. By the time all the heads-up TV prep had been finished, the rail had adapted its chant to STU-S-A! STU-S-A!
Where England might best a USA soccer team, Sherwood had a tough pitch in front of him. Stewart's wrecking ball approach to the final table had left him with most of the chips in play. Stewart held a 2-1 chip lead as he faced off against Sherwood. He didn't hold it.
Over the course of nearly 100 hands, Stewart struggled, at one point wondering whether Sherwood was playing perfectly or simply had it every hand.
If it was the former, Sherwood struggled after the last break of the night. A couple of missteps cost him a big lead, and then the big one cost him the title. With pocket sixes in his hand, he moved all-in over Stewart's open raise. The timing couldn't have been worse. Stewart held kings, the runout was clean, and Sherwood was left with almost nothing. Two hands later, Stewart was the champion. Sherwood left in the runner-up spot for $2.2 million.
Though Stewart could recall a lot of poker moments in the match he'll remember forever, the last thing he talked about before going off to celebrate was the rail behind him.
"There were like ten moments where I got to look back and my friends were there for me," he said. "They were incredible."
And one friend in particular – man's best, in fact – can take a big part of the credit.
For a complete accounting of the final table action and lots of behind-the-scenes coverage, visit our WPT World Championship final table Instant Live story.
2024 WPT World Championship final table results
- Scott Stewart -- $2,563,900*
- Rob Sherwood -- $2,200,000*
- Eddie Pak -- $2,000,000*
- Chris Moorman -- $1,150,00
- Ryan Yu -- $875,000
- Christian Roberts -- $665,000
*Amounts reflect a three-way deal
All photos courtesy WPT
