Scott Seiver Named 2018 WPT Champion

This year’s WPT Championship marked the first time that American pro Scott Seiver final tabled at a World Poker Tour event. Through several days of solid play and sheer determination, Seiver transformed that honor into an even bigger one – this year’s WPT Championship title. Though 220 competitors paid the $25,000 entry fee to vie for this year’s Championship, a small handful of players consistently dominated the field for the majority of the tournament.

Scott Seiver was one of those dominant Championship contenders. Many poker fans had frequent chipleader Galen Hall pegged as the favorite to take it all, but ultimately the heads-up portion of the 2011 WPT Championship came down to Seiver and underdog Farzad Bonyadi. Throughout the tournament, Bonyadi just plain refused to die. Though he was frequently short stacked, he nevertheless managed to hang on until the very end. For being the top two players, both Seiver and Bonyadi will take home payouts of more than $1 million.

Until last night, Seiver lacked a WPT title, but that doesn’t mean the man is by any means a newcomer. Seiver’s Championship win marked his 26^th career live tournament cash and his fourth first place finish. Among his other top finishes is a WSOP bracelet from winning a big No Limit Hold’em event at the 2008 World Series of Poker. Until now that victory had the distinction of being Seiver’s biggest payout – good for $755,891.

This latest triumph will bring Seiver’s live tournament earnings total to close to $4 million and his lifetime earnings total (including online tournament wins) to close to $5 million. If the other pros haven’t been giving Seiver his dues, his dual status as both a WSOP and WPT Champion definitely designate him as a threat now.

Though Bonyadi may have been the underdog in this particular heads-up match-up, he’s also far from an amateur. In fact, if you’re not familiar with Bonyadi then it’s probably time to brush up on your poker history because he’s been posting cashes since 1994. In addition to owning three WSOP bracelets, Bonyadi’s live tournament earnings are comparable to Seiver’s, and he boasts of three first place finishes and an impressive 49 cashes.

Here are the official final table results for the 2011 WPT Championship:

Scott Seiver – $1,618,344

Farzad Bonyadi – $1,061,900

Galen Hall – $589,355

Roger Teska – $371,665

Tony Gargano – $278,749

Justin Young – $225,654

Now that the WPT’s biggest event has concluded for the season, all eyes are inevitably turning to the WSOP. The 42^nd annual World Series of Poker is scheduled to start on May 31 at its regular home in the Rio, but before that epic showdown begins the WSOP will host another important tournament in Las Vegas – the WSOP Circuit’s first National Championship, which will run from May 27-29.

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