A champion has been crowned in the $10,400 buy-in World Poker Tour World Championship (WPTWC) on Saturday, and his name is Scott Stewart.
The newest member of the WPT Champions Club defeated Rob Sherwood heads-up to win $2,563,900, while the runner-up secured $2,200,000. It took almost no time on Day 6 for fireworks to ensue at the final table. Two players busted in the first two orbits, and another went out moments later.
Chris Moorman didn't win, but his run is a major part of this tournament's story. The British poker star finished fourth in the WPT World Championship for the second straight year, one of the most impressive accomplishments in World Poker Tour history. But his elimination was an absolutely cruel way to go out.
| Place | Player | Prize |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Scott Stewart | $2,563,900 |
| 2 | Rob Sherwood | $2,200,000 |
| 3 | Eddie Pak | $2,000,000 |
| 4 | Chris Moorman | $1,150,000 |
| 5 | Ryan Yu | $875,000 |
| 6 | Christian Roberts | $665,000 |
The final day's action started with a flurry of notable hands within the first orbit. Scott Stewart picked up aces in one of the first hands of the day. He got in his chips preflop with the rockets and was up against the shorter stacked Christian Roberts, who had ace-queen. Roberts had a chance to crack the aces, flopping a flush draw, but ultimately exited in sixth place for $665,000 after the turn and river failed to give him the check mark.
Five became four on the next deal. Ryan Yu three-bet jammed pocket nines over an open but ran into Edward Pak's Big Slick. The ace-king flopped two pair and improved into a full house on the turn to leave Yu drawing dead. Yu's exit netted him $875,000 and kicked off the seven-figure payouts.
Sherwood doubled up the very next hand after his queens held against Moorman's sixes. The Englishman, who made the WPTWC final table for the second year in a row, took a huge hit and tumbled down the counts.
https://twitter.com/Moorman1/status/1870654437376799195
Moorman looked like he was going to rebound shortly after. In a three-bet pot on a J-J-7 flop, Moorman got his chips into the middle with queens and was called by Pak, who had tens. But a ten peeled off on the turn to put Pak in front. No miracle arrived on the river, and the online poker legend departed in fourth place, the same position he was eliminated in last year.
Moorman received $1,150,000 for his efforts, about $850,000 less than a year ago. The 2014 WPT LA Poker Classic champion now has $10.2 million in live tournament cashes, according to The Hendon Mob.
The final three players agreed to flatten the payouts after Moorman's elimination. First place was originally slated to pay $3,138,000, but the remaining players wanted to lower the variance.
Getting to three took little time, but getting to two from three lasted about three hours. That third place finisher, who was paid $2 million, was Pak after calling an all in with a queen-high flush against the jacks-full Stewart held.
Heads-up play would then begin with Stewart holding a slightly-better-than 2-1 chip advantage, which he would extend to nearly 7-1 at one point. He appeared to be on the verge of finishing off the tournament when he moved all in with queens against ace-jack, but an ace on the flop kept Sherwood around.
Sherwood continued to chip up and before long had nearly caught up to his opponent. The two would battle for hours, and Sherwood would not only eventually take over the chip lead, but grab a considerable advantage.
The tides would turn the other way, however, and after more than five hours of a grueling heads-up battle, Stewart got his stack in with pocket kings against pocket 6's, and the best hand held. That left Sherwood with crumbs, and he'd be eliminated in second place two hands later.
Stewart, who had a boisterous rail cheering him on with chants of "Stew-S-A" throughout the marathon final table, joins Eliot Hudon (2022) and Dan Sepiol (2023) in the growing list of WPT World Championship winners. He now has nearly $5.5 million in live tournament cashes, and a life-changing and career-defining victory.
*Images courtesy of the World Poker Tour.