Qui Nguyen is the 2016 World Series of Poker Main Event champion, earning his first WSOP bracelet. The 39-year-old, who hails from Vietnam but now lives in Las Vegas. beat American Gordon Vayo heads-up to secure a $8,005,310 payday. Nguyen started the final day with a big chip lead of 197.6m, with Vayo on 89m and Cliff Josephy on 50m. Vayo eliminated Josephy in third place and then had around 60% of the chips. However within half an hour, Nguyen had regained the lead and secured victory after a heads-up battle of over eight hours.
Nguyen’s previous biggest live tournament cash was just $9,029. The 2016 WSOP Main Event began back in July with 6,737 entrants, each of whom put up a $10,000 buy-in for a total prize pool of $63,340,268. The top 1,011 cashed. After playing for seven days, the field was whittled down to nine players – the 2016 November Nine – who returned on Saturday to play down to a winner.
1 – Qui Nguyen – $8,005,310
2 – Gordon Vayo – $4,661,228
3 – Cliff Josephy – $3,453,035
4 – Michael Ruane – $2,576,003
5 – Vojtech Ruzicka – $1,935,388
6 – Kenny Hallaert – $1,464,258
7 – Griffin Benger – $1,250,190
8 – Jerry Wong – $1,100,076
9 – Fernando Pons - $1,000,000
You don't have to wait until next July for the chance to play great tournaments in Las Vegas . The Venetian deepstack is running now (until November 24) and the WPT Five Diamond World Poker Classic starts on November 25. Or you could just head there for a great poker holiday!.