‘WPT WPO Championship’
Level 38 (400,000/800,000/100,000)
Total Entries: 1,171
Players Remaining: 1
Average Stack: 35,000,000
When the final card fell, there was no stopping Chris Leong’s supporters to break through the live streamed final table barriers to congratulate the newest World Poker Tour champion. That not stopping attitude was a recurring theme throughout the New Yorker run to the top of the poker world, as Leong outlasted a stacked field to claim not only his best career score but also his first career WPT title.
No matter the obstacle, no matter the situation, Leong found the right hands and cards at all the right moments and, when you break down the game of poker, that is what’s needed to win. That was what was needed to breakthrough here today but for Leong, this result, this victory, is a long time coming. After the fanfare and wild celebration ended, Leong talked about how he’s been waiting for a run like this, in a tournament like this.
Wait no further, as Leong put together the run of a lifetime to etch his name in the WPT Champions Cup, joining his good friend Asher Conniff on one of poker’s most prestigious pieces of hardware. In his closing interview, Leong talked about the support that his friends, who including Conniff are some of the best up and coming players on the East Coast, as they were there for him through every hand, every beat and every moment at this once and a lifetime final table.
Something tells us that this won’t be a once in a lifetime experience though. Chris Leong opened his 2016 with a World Poker Tour title, good for a $816,000 score and while he’ll certainly spend the rest of the night celebrating with that supportive cheering section, we imagine that this won’t be the last time we see him on poker’s biggest stage.
That concludes our coverage of this WPT final table and the BPO blog will now pick up coverage of Event 22, which is the final trophy event of the series currently playing down to a winner in the Event Center.