'Unbelievable' – Josh Reichard breaks through on big stage at WPT Championship

But Reichard pays little mind to the WSOP Circuit ring race, where he has a front-row seat right behind the battle between Maurice Hawkins and Ari Engel for the all-time lead. He likes the rings and the money, but he’s not concerned about a poker legacy. 

He mostly cares about his family and his friends, and they care about him. It couldn’t have been more obvious when more than 100 people crammed into the HyperX Sports Arena at the Luxor in Las Vegas to scream for him.

Josh Reichard's rail of rowdy Midwesterners can compete with any country on the planet.

“It’s unbelievable just to know this many people care and love me. They want to see me do well and they’re willing to spend time and money to come see me and support me and make it so fun,” Reichard said in the post-win media scrum. 

The raucous rail wore shirts with Reichard’s face and the quote “ICM is for poor people” in honor of his willingness to go for it at any stage of the tournament. The champ lived up to his billing and when his rail told everyone they didn’t come for second, Reichard made it happen for them. 

The rail could have gone for another nine hours.

The major league win is a result of the confidence he’s shown throughout the last year and the comfort he has with doing hard things. Asked about his next challenge, Reichard said this was challenging enough and he just wants to try to do it again. As for a WSOP bracelet? “Yeah, a bracelet would work. I really want one. Those are nice.”

Forever modest and Wisconsin-like, Reichard talked about what a victory like this means to him. 

“It’s one poker tournament, so it doesn’t really matter, but it shows you belong.”

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Reichard chips up

It took 14 hands to get the first knockout and the tournament was down to five players when Kupin shoved around 20 big blinds with pocket tens. Smith — who entered the day with the chip lead — called and turned over before the board ran out with no luck for Kupin and he collected $176,000. 

Kupin’s elimination slowed the action and the leaderboard started to shuffle around. Queen took the lead for some time while Lonis and Tice jockeyed with relatively equal short stacks. Reichard held steady during all of this and chipped up over dozens of hands to take the lead before the next elimination.

Play continued five-handed until Hand 93, when Smith got it in with against Reichard’s . The board provided Reichard with four clubs and he eliminated Smith in fifth place for $230,000. 

Ice cold Jesse Lonis stayed red hot in 2024

Reichard moved above 50 million chips with the big pot and it started to look like everything was coming up roses for the Wisconsin native. Queen was in second and Tice was in third, while Lonis nursed a very short stack of fewer than 10 big blinds. 

Lonis fought back with a quick double through Reichard while Queen switched places with Tice on the bottom of the leaderboard. That set the stage for one of the biggest hands of the night. 

King takes queen

Queen moved all in for seven million before Reichard went over the top with a shove of the biggest stack. Not to be outdone, Lonis tossed in his 14 million from the big blind and it was a three-way tussle. 

Reichard and Queen matched ace-queens when the cards hit their backs and Lonis stood tall with ace-king. The board ran out and Lonis held to stack up 35 million chips while Queen stepped off the stage in fourth place for $305,000. Reichard surrendered a small chunk but he still held a lead over the Lonis and Tice when three-handed play began. 

Three-handed slugfest

Matt Berkey was on hand to watch Landon Tice set the tone for the summer.

A long final table with few fireworks gave way to a wild endgame. The big hand seemed to fire up the three young poker sharps and things turned spicy when Tice doubled through Lonis with pocket aces. The final three battled into the Level 36 break where Reichard had 52 big blinds ahead of Tice’s 40 and Lonis’ 24. 

The status quo changed again when Tice took the chip lead in a series of smaller pots that started to push Lonis toward the door. Lonis eventually got his last 14 big blinds in with but Reichard was there with to send him to the rail in third place for $410,000. 

The final two took a short break and sat down with a relatively slim margin separating them. Reichard held 62 big blinds to Tice’s 55 and he won the first three hands to take a firm grip on heads-up play. 

The chip lead continued to climb and Tice battled for a few orbits but the big moment came in Hand #166 when Reichard shoved and Tice called on the river with a board showing . Tice turned over for sevens and fours, but Reichard had to punch his ticket to the Champions Club.

The only time a Green Bay Packer fan is smiling about Cowboys.

^{Photos courtesy of World Poker Tour/Enrique Malfavon}