The Wynn high roller series crowned four big-name winners over the weekend. The series was made up of four $10k buy-in no-limit hold 'em events, running daily from December 3rd to the 6th.
The series was relatively small with just 196 entries across the four events. But from an event co-ordinator's point of view that's a plus. At $500 rake a pop, that's just under $100k in revenue for hosting a few five or six table tourneys.
The events lured in a good range of pros, mostly Vegas locals, with notable pros filling all the top spots.
Wynn winners
The winner on Thursday was Martin Zamani a tournament pro with $2.5 million in live winnings and a smattering of WSOP final tables. He took $140,107 for winning, but had to beat out a bunch of pros like Alex Foxen, Sam Soverel, and Matthew Wantman.
Friday had the biggest field. Sean Winter ($179,200) was the man to take it down. To get there, Winter waded through another pool of sharks. Joseph Cheong, Adam Hendrix, and Matthew Wantman also made the final table. Not an easy crowd to beat.
Third up was the Saturday event. In first: Ray Qartomy ($150,000). Also cashing in at the final table were Brian Rast, Upeshka De Silva, and Matthew Wantman.
Sunday was thinner pickings. Just four players paid. Jared Jaffee up top ($119,600), Sean Perry in second, Brian Rast in fourth. Anon took third. But where, oh where, was Matthew Wantman?
Wantman was the real winner of the series. He won $225,400 for his three FT appearances. Once in 2nd and twice in 5th.
More courses for stake-horses
In 2019, the Aria hosted 33 high roller events. 2020 has been a very different year.
After being closed for most of the year, the Aria announced in November that they would run a three-event series from December 3rd to the 5th.
But God laughs when casinos plan. Time moved on and COVID moved back in. The Aria canceled the events and, seeing an opportunity, the Wynn franchise jumped in. The Wynn high roller events ran over the same period the Aria had planned. Gambling is a tough business.
These events were such a success that the Wynn is running daily $10k Friday to Sunday for the next two weeks.
This seems to have been a largely extemporized decision. The Wynn tweeted about the updated schedule "Additional $10,500 NLH High Roller single day events upcoming in December: 3 P.M. Thursday-Saturday 12/10-12/12 3 P.M. Thursday-Saturday 12/17-12/19 100,000 starting chips with 30-minute levels. Registration is available until the start of level 7."
So there will be plenty more live high roller action this month.
Featured image source: Twitter
