Bin Weng Wins 2023 Card Player Player of the Year Award

Bin Weng has been placing up outcomes on the reside event circuit since 2015. While Weng had turn out to be extra of an element on the scene lately, with back-to-back prime 100 finishes in the Card Player Player of the Year race in 2021 (thirty fifth) and 2022 (93rd), he got here into 2023 and not using a marquee victory to his identify.

That all modified this 12 months, as the 40-year-old Chinese-born participant based mostly out of Philadelphia reeled off six huge wins and 16 final-table finishes to win this 12 months’s POY race, offered by Global Poker, in dominant style. Weng’s prime 5 event scores had been all recorded in 2023, together with two huge wins in World Poker Tour occasions. Weng secured three million-dollar-plus victories over the previous 12 months, with the first coming simply over every week into the new 12 months. He didn’t simply begin robust, although. He additionally completed robust. Weng bookended his run with a $958,279 win in a high-roller occasion only a couple of weeks earlier than 2023 ended.

Weng’s $6,652,433 in whole cashes throughout 52 in-the-money finishes this 12 months account for practically 78 % of his total lifetime whole of $8,570,015.

All advised, Weng amassed 12,256 POY factors and greater than $6.4 million in POY earnings this 12 months. His 2,243-point lead over the second-place finisher (Isaac Haxton, 10,013 factors) in the closing standings was the second-largest margin in the previous 20 years of the race.

In current years the POY award winner has principally been one of the prime nosebleed-stakes event grinders who give attention to occasions with buy-ins of $25,000 or increased. While Weng did handle a number of huge runs in excessive rollers this 12 months, the majority of his deep runs got here at the ‘main event’ worth level. Of his 16 closing tables, 14 of them sported a buy-in of $10,500 or much less. As a consequence, the common buy-in of the occasions that he closing tabled was $6,519. All three of his seven-figure scores got here in occasions with buy-ins between $3,500 and $10,500.

Weng’s consistency this 12 months is made all the extra spectacular by the undeniable fact that he managed to battle his method by way of huge fields repeatedly. The common quantity of entries in the six tournaments that he gained this 12 months was 1,174.

The journey to this accomplishment started for Weng in the early 2010s. He was working in a restaurant after transferring to the US and noticed WPT closing tables on tv. It’s solely becoming, then, that the WPT was the tour on which Weng managed some of the most spectacular accomplishments throughout his red-hot run.

“It is my biggest dream to put my name on the Mike Sexton cup,” mentioned Weng in an interview with the WPT.

In 2023, Weng lived out that dream and lots of extra. Now, his identify has additionally been added to the prestigious checklist of Card Player POY award winners. Below we’ll take a better have a look at his standout 12 months on the reside poker circuit.

Off To A Fast Start

The Return Championship $5,300 buy-in no-limit maintain’em occasion at The Borgata was the first event of the 12 months to award a seven-figure prime prize. The occasion ran from Jan. 4-8, with an enormous discipline of 1,142 entries made by the time registration closed. The robust turnout resulted in a $5,538,700 prize pool, blowing away the $3 million assure.

After two beginning flights and three extra days of motion, Weng emerged victorious with the title, the $1,000,000 prime prize, and 1,920 POY factors. Weng overcame a closing desk that included two-time bracelet winner Justin Saliba and 2015 World Series of Poker fundamental occasion champion Joe McKeehn. Weng and eventual runner-up Sundiata Devore hashed out a heads-up deal to redistribute the remaining prize cash a bit, with Devore in the end taking dwelling $926,128 for his efforts when his A-Q was unable to return from behind towards Weng’s A-Okay.

Weng made one other closing desk in January, inserting fourth in a $600 buy-in turbo occasion at the Lucky Hearts Poker Open for $3,520 and 48 factors.

It would take one other month earlier than Weng managed one other POY-qualified rating. From a discipline of 833 entries in the WSOP Circuit Horseshoe Las Vegas $1,700 fundamental occasion, Weng emerged victorious with the title, his first gold ring, $227,344 in prize cash, and one other 912 factors.

Weng needed to overcome a troublesome closing desk, together with defeating bracelet winner and high-stakes common Alex Foxen heads-up.

“This tournament meant a lot to me. I have won four or five titles, but never a WSOP tournament. Getting a ring means a lot to me, I’m kind of speechless right now because I’m just so excited,” Weng advised WSOP Circuit reporters after the win. “Alex Foxen is one of my poker idols. We are originally from the same area, Long Island. I just feel so thankful to take this down and get the chance to play with Foxen. He is one of the best players right now.”

Weng’s early success put him amongst the prime contenders in the POY standings as winter got here to an in depth. What he achieved in the spring is what really solidified his standing as one of the gamers to beat on this 12 months’s race.

A Historic WPT Performance

In early May, Weng managed an unprecedented feat: making the closing desk of two WPT fundamental occasions as the chip chief in the span of a single week.

Weng began off by navigating a discipline of 2,290 entries in the WPT Seminole Hard Rock Poker Showdown $3,500 buy-in no-limit maintain’em fundamental occasion in South Florida. The large turnout resulted in the $3 million assure being greater than doubled, which meant a prime prize of $1.1 million for the eventual champion.

Weng bagged up greater than 40 % of the whole chips in play heading into the delayed closing desk, which might play out a number of weeks afterward May twenty fifth at the HyperX Arena situated in Luxor Hotel & Casino in Las Vegas, Nevada.

Just six days after making that first closing desk, Weng cemented his spot at the WPT Choctaw $3,800 buy-in no-limit maintain’em fundamental occasion. This time round the discipline was made up of 612 entries, leading to greater than $400,000 up prime. While Weng did find yourself with the lead once more, WPT champion and WSOP bracelet winner Jared Jaffee was not far behind.

The WPT Choctaw closing desk would play right down to a champion the day after the SHRPS in Las Vegas, which meant that Weng must play huge closing tables on back-to-back days with greater than $1.5 million in potential prize cash to be gained.

In between making the WPT closing tables and enjoying them, Weng managed to make two closing tables at the Lodge Championship Series, together with a runner-up end in the $25,000 occasion there to none apart from Alex Foxen, who he defeated heads-up in the WSOPC fundamental occasion in Las Vegas months earlier. His two deep runs at that collection added 322 factors and practically $165,000 to his totals for the 12 months.

Weng transformed his first alternative into the title, closing out the win throughout a closing desk that lasted roughly 5 hours. He earned $1,128,250 as the champion and added his identify to the Mike Sexton WPT Champions Cup in the course of, and in doing so achieved one of his main poker objectives.

Wrapping up that closing desk comparatively shortly gave Weng practically 19 hours to relaxation and return with a shot at successful one other WPT title the following day. He in the end completed fourth in the WPT Choctaw, although, incomes $143,000 to extend his haul to almost $1.3 million throughout the two occasions. He additionally earned 630 factors, bringing his whole to five,505. That was good for second place in the POY standings at the time. Jaffee went on to safe the title.

Weng’s efficiency on this stretch set him as much as safe the WPT Player of the Year award. Of course, Weng was removed from completed racking up ends in 2023.

The Heater Continues

The summer time months are some of the busiest of the 12 months on the reside poker scene. Weng had a comparatively quiet June, with 5 cashes however no final-table runs throughout that month. He obtained again to his successful methods in July, although.

Wynn Las Vegas hosted a brand new collection that month that included the $10,500 buy-in WPT EachOne For One Drop $10,000,000 assured no-limit maintain’em event. With a large discipline of 1,676 entries, the assure was surpassed by greater than $6.2 million. The occasion additionally raised over $300,000 for the One Drop Foundation. After three beginning flights and two extra days of motion, that sea of gamers was narrowed to only six hopefuls. You can most likely guess about who bagged up the chip lead.

Weng transformed that benefit into his second WPT title of the 12 months, securing a career-high payday of $2,227,054 in consequence.

“I’ll be honest with you, I didn’t sleep all that well last night because I was too excited,” Weng mentioned after the win. “I don’t know what to say right now. I mean, I’m really, really happy for sure, and I’m really grateful right now for being this far in a short period of time.”

Weng overcame not solely a giant turnout but in addition a troublesome discipline. Among people who ran deep had been four-time WPT champion Darren Elias (nineteenth), two-time POY champion Stephen Chidwick (sixteenth), 2023 WPT Prime Championship winner Calvin Anderson (tenth), WSOP fundamental occasion sixth-place finishers Kenny Hallaert (ninth) and Tom Cannuli (sixth), three-time bracelet winner Dominik Nitsche (fifth), and Scott Baumstein (2nd).

The giant buy-in and discipline dimension on this occasion led to an enormous haul of 2,700 POY factors for Weng as the champion. This propelled him into the outright lead in the POY standings heading into the again half of the 12 months.

Closing Strong

Weng added 4 extra final-table finishes in August and September, with these 4 deep runs contributing one other 1,030 factors and $214,004 in POY earnings. The largest of these scores was a third-place exhibiting in a $10,100 buy-in occasion at the Poker Masters for $116,400 and 360 factors.

The subsequent time Weng posed for a winner picture, although, got here in the center of October. He outlasted a discipline of 860 entries in the $1,600 buy-in thriller bounty occasion at the Wynn Fall Classic for one more $159,078 and 912 factors. This fifth title helped Weng maintain far between himself and several other high-roller regulars who had been threatening his maintain on the prime spot in the POY standings.

Weng fell simply shy of one other title in mid-November, inserting second in a $2,500 buy-in occasion at the Fall Mini-Series at Borgata for $134,897 and 900 factors. He didn’t have to attend too lengthy to search out himself heads-up once more, although.

On Dec. 18, Weng earned his sixth and closing title of 2023. He beat out a discipline of 194 entries in the $25,700 buy-in excessive curler at the WPT World Championship Festival at Wynn Las Vegas, incomes $958,279 and 1,176 factors after placing a heads-up cope with Thomas Boivin.

This was the fourth-largest rating of Weng’s profession, bringing his lifetime earnings to almost $8.6 million. It was a becoming finale for a dominant efficiency on the reside felt in 2023.

Weng’s Top Ten Scores of 2023:

A have a look at the prime 20 in the closing 2023 POY race standings:

The Complete List of Card Player Player of the Year Winners:

World Poker Tour picture credit: WPT / Drew Amato. WSOP Circuit winner picture supplied by WSOP.