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Just six days after bagging up a chip-leading stack in the World Poker Tour Seminole Hard Rock Poker Showdown main event, Bin Weng has incredibly made his way to make another WPT delayed final table, and is again sitting atop the leaderboard. Weng’s most recent run to the final table saw him navigate his way through a field of 612 entries in the 2023 WPT Choctaw $3,800 buy-in main event to make the final six. He has locked up $81,700 in this event, with a shot at the title and the top prize of $400,740.
The WPT Choctaw final table is set for May 26, one day after Weng is scheduled to play out the WPT Seminole Hard Rock Poker Showdown finale. That $3,500 buy-in tournament drew 2,290 entries, which resulted in a top prize of $1,128,250. If Weng were able to convert his chip lead into the title in both events, he would walk away with more than $1.5 million.
Both final tables will be held at the HyperX Arena located in Luxor Hotel & Casino in Las Vegas.
This marks the third time that Weng has made a WPT delayed final table. His first came in 2020, when he made the final six in the WPT Borgata Winter Poker Open. It ended up taking more than a year for that event to finally crown a champion, due to delays resulting from the COVID-19 pandemic. Weng ultimately finished fifth for $187,900, which accounts for the majority of his $331,000 in career earnings on the WPT.
Weng currently has nearly $3.2 million in total recorded tournament earnings to his name. Much of that has been won so far in 2023, as Weng has made four final tables and won two titles this year, including taking down ‘The Return’ $5,300 buy-in event at Borgata for $1,000,000 and the World Series of Poker Circuit Horseshoe Las Vegas for $227,344. Weng currently sits in ninth place in the Card Player Player of the Year race standings before adding any of the points from his two WPT delayed final tables.
Weng ended day 3 of the WPT Choctaw main event with 8,800,000 in chips, good for 88 big blinds. The 40-year-old was among the big stacks throughout most of this event, which was held at the Choctaw Casino & Resort in Durant, Oklahoma and featured two starting flights followed by two days of combined-field action.
The second-largest stack belongs to WPT champion and WSOP bracelet winner Jared Jaffee. The 42-year-old poker pro based out of Las Vegas has 7,225,000 (72 big blinds). Jaffee has more than $6 million in recorded tournament earnings, including a career-best payday of $405,428 earned for his victory in the 2014 WSOP $1,500 mixed-max event. His WPT title came in 2013, when he topped a field of 358 entries in the WPT bestbet Jacksonville Fall Poker Scramble for $252,749.
Nebraska’s Mike Vanier sits in third place on the leaderboard with 5,300,000 (53 big blinds). The 43-year-old has more than $1.3 million in prior tournament earnings including a runner-up finish in the 2022 WPT Venetian main event for $595,000.
Dojie Ignacio’s 4,225,000 will be good for 42 big blinds when play resumes in Las Vegas later this month. The Bedford, Texas resident’s top cash came when he finished sixth in a $450 buy-in event during the Card Player Poker Tour Choctaw series back in 2014 for $6,296. He is set to dramatically increase his career tournament earnings with his deep run in this event, having locked up at least $81,700 by making the final six.
Two-time WPT champion Erkut Yilmaz sits in fifth chip position with 3,150,000 (32 big blinds). The 46-year-old Philadelphia resident has nearly $2.2 million in career earnings, with nearly half of that being secured in WPT events. Yilmaz won the 2018 WPT Borgata Poker Open for a career-best payday of $575,112. Just over six months later, he took down the WPT Rolling Thunder main event for another $303,920. In a few weeks he will take a seat in Las Vegas with a shot to become just the eighth player in history to win three or more WPT main event titles.
Rounding out the final table is Rusty Farrin with 1,900,000 (19 big blinds). The 39-year-old Arkansas resident has already guaranteed himself the largest score on his poker resume by making it this far. Prior to entering this event, his top cash was a runner-up finish in a RunGood Poker Series $180 buy-in event for $4,601.
When play picks back up on May 26 there will be 24:13 remaining in blind level 27 (50,000-100,000 with a 100,000 big blind ante).
Here is a look at the chip counts for the final six:
| Rank | Player | Chips |
| 1 | Bin Weng | 8,800,000 |
| 2 | Jared Jaffee | 7,225,000 |
| 3 | Mike Vanier | 5,300,000 |
| 4 | Dojie Ignacio | 4,225,000 |
| 5 | Erkut Yilmaz | 3,150,000 |
| 6 | Rusty Farrin | 1,900,000 |
The remaining payouts that are up for grabs are as follows:
1st: $400,740 & a seat in the WPT World Championship
2nd: $261,000
3rd: $192,000
4th: $143,000
5th: $107,000
6th: $81,700
Photo credits: World Poker Tour / Drew Amato.
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