Travis Egbert made this one quick. He planned to win, but he had no interest in dragging out the biggest cash of his life.
It hasn't always been this easy, quick, and profitable.
On Day 2 of the $25,000 WPT Alpha 8 event, it took Egbert less than six hours to get heads up with Naj Ajez. The protracted deal discussion took longer than the heads up match.
When it was over, Egbert had the trophy and a deal adjusted first prize of $684,684. Ajez pocketed $600,000.
Egbert is only a couple months removed from his first WSOP Circuit Main Event ring, an affair that earned him more than $200,000, but took a long time to finish.
"This one's nicer," Egbert said after his victory. "Because of the money...and these bad ass trophies over here."
Quicker work, happier Egbert
A couple of months ago, Egbert got heads up for a WSOP Circuit Main Event ring. It took five hours to get to that point. Once he was only one player away from the Circuit ring, the heads up match took five hours to play out. Egbert prevailed, but he was nearly too tired to celebrate.
At the time he told PokerOrg, “It was frustrating, and it was mentally consuming because he was putting on a really good fight. Obviously, we played for a really long time, he just put on a good fight. It was tough. I had to get lucky a few times."
Thursday in Las Vegas, Egbert and his opponent Ajez immediately decided to strike a deal before starting to play. It got complicated once they started considering Player of the Year points, and ultimately that discussion took much longer than heads-up play.
Regardless, notching his biggest-ever win took Egbert only a fraction of the time it did in California.
"This took what, like, less than 30 minutes total? And Thunder Valley took five hours? So, this was nicer," Egbert said.
Watch Egbert and his badass trophy
Closing the year in style
Egbert began 2024 by winning two events on the WSOP Circuit and then put together 38 more cashes (including the Main Event ring) over the next twelve months.
As he packed up his things from the Alpha 8 table, Egbert looked across the room at the huge and growing $3,000 event that started today. With the run he's on, don't be surprised to see him in the chip counts for that event on Friday's Day 2.
The $25,000 Alpha 8 event booked 111 entries over its two days of play. Here's how the final payouts looked.
- Travis Egbert - $684,684*
- Naj Ajez - $600,000*
- Noel Rodriguez - $345,488
- Sam Soverel - $253,219
- Brock Wilson - $190,7816
- Jun Obara - $145,688
- Sean Winter - $115,8568
- Igor Kurganov - $94,350
*Reflects deal-adjusted payouts
*Alpha 8 photos courtesy WPT
