Is Shannon Shorr any good?
Shorr, a young and accomplished veteran of the game, leads the final 22 in the $25,000 buy-in WPT Alpha8 field at the Wynn. When the day began, at least one member of the field might have questioned just how good its participants were. Shorr is in the best position to answer that question at the end of Day 1. With fewer than two dozen players remaining, Shorr leads the field.
Before dealers dealt the first cards, at least one high roller was offering a hot take.
'“I don’t really think there's anyone in this tournament that’s good," Sam Laskowitz said. He might have been joking. It was impossible to tell in the moment.
"I like playing the biggest stuff with the most money up top," said the pro with $2.7 million in live earnings as he sat down to play the WPT World Championship $25,000 Alpha8 event.
He was probably joking. After all, all around him, many of the bigger names in the game were sitting down. He probably wouldn't have said it seriously with people like Andrew Moreno, Brad Owen, Ethan 'Rampage' Yau, and Jeremy Ausmus in earshot. They would likely beg to differ, as would Dan Sepiol who not only won the 2023 WPT World Championship, but also last summer’s version of Alpha8, the Alpha8 Trifecta for $672,200.
But, hey, where are all the good players, right, Sam?
All jokes aside...
It's been fun and games here this week with $5 million freerolls, booths full of flying money, and luxury car giveaways. As we enter the home stretch of the WPT World Championship festival, it's down to brass tacks and one big $25,000 buy-in event.
Gone are the Willy Wonka flutes, silly mushroom hats, and pageantry of other events at the WPT World Championship. The show for the Alpha8 crew is all in the cards and prize pool. Eight-handed tables, eight time bank chips, and $787K up top.
“I live in Vegas, and this is my preferred price range," said Jeremy Ausmus, a PokerOrg Player Advisory Board member. "The fields here at the Wynn, they’re always really, really good for these high rollers.
Last year, Ren Lin (who nearly final-tabled the Super Main Event down in the Bahamas this week) triumphed in the inaugural 2023 Alpha8. This year, with Lin out on an island, somebody else will have a shot at a big payday.
“I look forward to playing this event to get a chance to play with some of the best players in the world, but hopefully not too many,” Max Sharpe said.
That probably wasn't a joke, even if it sounded like one, and even if Sharpe didn't finish the day with chips.
Low-stress $25,000 tournament?
Most of the people who buy into a $25,000 event have long shed the worry and stress that accompanies major events. Eric Cloutier is one of them.
He said, “I like to play poker. It’s relaxing, away from the family a little bit, and my vacation, so I’m having fun.”
Cherish Andrews had a slightly different take on the matter, maybe one a little closer to what we heard from Sam Laskowitz.
Andrews took down the $2,2200 NLHE 6-Max earlier this year in the Wynn Millions Poker Series in Vegas for more than $180,000. She said she normally skips the high rollers.
"I would normally be playing the $3K, but because a lot of the high rollers are in the Bahamas, the field was a lot softer than usual," she said.
That plan didn't quite work out. She busted on Day 1.
"I thought I was winning in it. I fired, and it did not work out, but that’s okay," she said.
The Laskowitz Test
As the day began, Andrew Moreno wasn't far away from Sam Laskowitz and maybe... just maybe... heard Laskowitz chirp, “I don’t really think there's anyone in this tournament that’s good."
Moreno said the Alpha8 event is a good proving ground.
“I think a lot of guys in this field, myself included. really feel the most sense of purpose when we’re really testing ourselves," Moreno said. "I’ll speak for myself, but I really test myself against other good players... and I’m always wondering how I’d play against Sam Laskowitz.”
The Survivors
All of the above analysis happened before the first cards were in the air. By the end of the night, this was how the field shook out.
- Shannon Shorr - 2,890,000
- Naj Ajez - 2,355,000
- Thomas Boivin - 1,685,000
- Igor Kurganov - 1,570,000
- Nicholas Seward - 1,425,000
- Travis Egbert - 1,330,000
- Sean Winter - 1,040,000
- Ed Sebesta - 900,000
- Jun Obara - 875,000
- David Stamm - 830,000
- Kitson Kho - 775,000
- Joe McKeehen - 760,000
- Noel Rodriguez - 745,000
- Brian Rast - 715,000
- Sam Soverel - 695,000
- Zachary Grech - 635,000
- Lars Kamphues - 625,000
- Dylan Smith - 595,000
- Brock Wilson - 525,000
- Alexandros Kolonias - 450,000
- Xiaoyao Ma - 400,000
- Justin Chu - 285,000
The final 22 in the Alpha8 field return at 12pm PT Thursday. The top 13 get paid. How many of them are any good? We'll know that by the end of the day.
*All photos courtesy of WPT
