Stephen Winters Claims Victory in Event #20: Gladiators of Poker No-Limit Hold’em
A total of 20,647 participants entered the arena for Event #20: Gladiators of Poker No-Limit Hold’em, part of the 2024 World Series of Poker at Horseshoe and Paris Las Vegas, which generated a prize pool of $5,079,162.
When the dust settled from the competition, Stephen Winters emerged as the lone combatant to entertain the masses and claim victory.
Winters outlasted the enormous field and defeated Simon Britton in the first hand of heads-up play to secure a first-place prize of $401,210 and a WSOP gold bracelet, the first of his poker career. Britton takes home $253,300 for his second-place finish.
The win provided vindication for Winters, who might have seen himself as an underdog.
“I guess this is for the little guys,” Winters said. “I just play a few small tournaments each year, so it was exciting just to be relevant for once.”
Final Table Results
| Place | Player | Country | Prize (USD) |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Stephen Winters | United States | $401,210 |
| 2 | Simon Britton | United States | $253,300 |
| 3 | Quang Vu | United States | $192,030 |
| 4 | Brendon Herrick | United States | $146,450 |
| 5 | James Morgan | United States | $112,350 |
| 6 | Sung Pil Kim | United States | $86,710 |
| 7 | Steve Foutty | United States | $67,320 |
| 8 | Jordan Johnson | United States | $52,590 |
| 9 | Caleb Levesque | United States | $41,337 |
The accomplishment proved relevant, indeed, as the win cemented Winters’ place among a select group of poker players with WSOP bracelets.
He earned it by outlasting a vast field consisting of WSOP bracelet winners Men Nguyen, who fell victim to Winters near the end of Day 2, Shaun Deeb, Tamas Lendvai, Brett Shaffer, Daniel Heimiller, Mark Seif and Steven Wolansky, among other notable players.
Absorbing the enormity of what he just accomplished won’t be lost on Winters any time soon.
“This is a whole other crazy level,” he said.
Winters survived the zaniness of the tournament by staying grounded. While he didn’t have a rail of supporters present to cheer him on at the final table, Winters stayed in constant touch with his family throughout the tournament.
He received all the encouragement he needed from his wife and children. In fact, Winters called his family before his post-match photography shoot and allowed them to participate in his moment via FaceTime.
“It was fun to have my kids kind of railing me from home,” Winters said with a wide smile. “Like, every time I would report on how I was doing, they'd be like, ‘Oh, daddy, try to get a thousand, try to get in top 900, and then they kept setting bars and bars and bars, and it's just the whole thing [is] surreal to be at this point.”
In the meantime, Winters pointed out he was supposed to fly home Wednesday, a day after winning the Gladiators event, but the plans could be subject to change for the WSOP's newest bracelet winner.
“I don't know if I'll ever repeat this again, but I might play the Main [Event] now,” Winters said. “We'll see.”
Day 3 Highlights
A total of 14 players, all of whom were vying for their first WSOP bracelet, advanced to Day 3, with Britton as the largest stack (67,100,000) and Winters in second (64,975,000).
The bust-outs occurred in fast fashion between two tables to kick off the event.
Justin Ruth was the first to be sent to the rail in 14th place ($20,820) when his full house was counterfeited on the river by Steve Foutty’s bigger boat, much to the bewilderment of the players at the table.
Within minutes of Ruth’s exit, Quang Vu sent Petri Nikkinen packing in 13th place ($26,000) when Nikkinen’s ace-high failed to improve against Vu’s pocket fives.
Rami Hammoud was next to leave in 12th place ($26,000) when he pushed all in out of the big blind with an ace, only to discover he had run into Winters’ pocket kings on the button.
Britton eliminated Alain Macabulos in 11th place ($32,680) with pocket aces and then Mario Lopez exited in tenth place ($32,680) to officially set the final table.
Once there, Winters became an irresistible force and was responsible for five knockouts.
Winters eliminated Caleb Levesque in ninth place ($41,337) with two pair and then followed up by knocking out Sung Pil Kim in sixth place ($86,710) with a pair of queens. In the hand before sending out Kim, Winters decimated Kim’s stack when his pocket sevens beat out Kim’s ace-king.
Winters then eliminated Brendon Herrick in fourth place ($146,450), Vu in third place, and made quick work of Britton during heads-up play.
The Gladiators event champion’s win over Herrick and Vu, then the short-lived chip leader, propelled him atop the chip leaderboard. Winters’ ace-queen beat out Herrick’s ace-jack and Vu’s ace-five in a massive three-way all-in preflop pot, which ultimately sent 381,000,000 to Winters.
With the overwhelming chip lead, Winters needed just one hand to best Britton in heads-up play to leave him as the last Gladiator standing in the arena.
This concludes the live coverage from Event #20. Be sure to stay tuned to PokerNews for all of the action from the rest of the 2024 World Series of Poker.