By
Jerry Smith
Staff Writer Updated: 01/02/2020
Jerry’s greatest advantage is his extensive experience on the casino floor. His time as a casino manager taught him everything about what makes a player tick. Besides being a skilled poker player, he has deep knowledge of all live table games and gambling regulations in the US.
Griffin Paul after winning the WPT500., Photo by www.shutterstock.com
The World Poker Tour 500 being held at Los Angeles has finally come to a conclusion and Griffin Paul has emerged victorious. Griffin Paul beat 2,310 entries and cruised his way through to take home $174,850 in prize money. Closely following behind were Bradley Hinson who took home nearly $109,935 while Hoang Le came in third and won $81,125 in prize money. The World Poker Tour 500 was being held at the Gardens Casino. The championship started on December 14th, 2019 and concluded on January 5th, 2020 and had a $570 buy in.
Owing to the unlimited entries rule put in by the World Poker Tour, the final pool money stood at an exact figure of $1,155,000. While this rule does allow for more players to play and a larger pool of money, it has been previously criticized by legendary poker player such as Daniel Negreanu who claim that it ruins the game of the thrill. The win for Griffin Paul was truly not very easy owing to some pretty great poker players sitting at the final table with.
Back in 2015, Griffin Paul has previously won another WPT championship called WPT Seminole Hard Rock Poker Showdown. The South Californian native is only the second person to do so after Craig Varnell. He was only 22 years old when he won the WPT Seminole Hard Rock Poker Showdown and had then won $1,000,000. Along with the prize money, he had also then won a Hublot Oceanographic 4000 watch, gold Monster headphones, and a $15,400 seat into the season-ending WPT World Championship. Griffin Paul’s total career earnings are now nearly $1,668,767.
The WPT Seminole Hard Rock Poker Showdown’s final table back in 2015 was pretty tough and the cards being dealt were cruel but he kept a similar mindset for both the championships that he won. While the World Poker Tour 500 was tricky too, he found it much easier to cruise through the leaderboard this time. He mentioned that even though both championships were tiring, the adrenaline rush of having a chance to win kept kicking in from time to time allowing him to truly focus on the game with a renewed energy.
It feels great, but I approach both tournaments the same. I just play poker and see what happens. I think at the final table I started with the most in chips, but it was pretty close. It’s very tough staying focused, but I just try and breath and relax.
– Griffin Paul to WPT Reporter
While Griffin Paul went into the final table with nearly $10 million, Bradley Hinson wasn’t far behind standing at $9.3 million. Griffin Paul was well clear of many other players on the table, busting their cards and calling out their big blinds, however, Bradley Hinson was a tough nut to crack. As time passed, Griffin Paul carried out a double knockout to take the winning chances out of the hands of Bradley Hinson truly solidifying his chance of winning the World Poker Tour 500.
While the World Poker Tour 500 has concluded, the Gardens Casino is Los Angeles is set to see some more pretty exciting poker tournament. The next one lined up is World Poker Tour Gardens Poker Championship which will begin from January 9th, 2020 and conclude January 13, 2020. This four-day championship will have a total buy in of $10,000 and the registrations for it will remain open until the start of Level 11 (around 3:30PM) on Day 2.
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