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John Cynn Wins 2018 WSOP Main Event After Record Setting Heads-Up Battle

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Poker’s newest World Champion has been crowned. After the longest heads-up battle in the history of the Main Event, John Cynn defeated Tony Miles to become the 2018 WSOP Main Event Champion.

Michael Dyer tried to make a comeback but ended up finishing third place, leaving Cynn and Miles to play for the bracelet. The pair put on a heads-up clinic en route to playing more than 10 hours and 199 hands before Cynn was able to grasp the championship bracelet.

Michael Dyer Unable to Comeback – Finishes Third

Michael Dyer had an incredible roller coaster run at this final table. Starting as a monster chip leader with ten left and then taking a monster lead into play with six left, it is hard to believe that he was the short stack when play started Saturday.

Dyer had just 26.2 to start play, which was just 16 big blinds. Not having time to sit back and wait for monsters, Dyer put his chips to risk regularly in an attempt to get some action. He was eventually able to get some action, but at the worst time possible.

Dyer was all-in pre-flop with Ah-10d but ran into As-Jh for Tony Miles. Mile picked up a pair of jacks on the turn, but Dyer also picked up a Broadway draw. The river blanked both players and Michael Dyer was out in third-place.

After his elimination, Dyer told PokerNews that he “played the game that got him there” and was happy with his decisions, even if they were wrong. He also told reporters that he prefers to play online poker and it is easier than playing live.

Dyer walks away from the final table $3.75 million richer and says he’s ready to go back to work now that the final table is over with.

See more of his bustout interview from PokerNews below:

After Dyer’s elimination, John Cynn, and Tony Miles headed into heads-up play for the bracelet. Miles started with the chip lead, holding 203.5 million to 190.3 million for Cynn. Little did we know that we would be in for the longest night in Main Event history.

Heads-Up Last 199 Hands

Due to the structure of the event, if the final two players enter heads-up with deep stacks, play can go for a long time. The 2016 Main Event set the record for the longest heads-up match between Gordon Vayo and eventual winner Qui Nguyen. It’s a bit ironic that the 2016 Main set the record considering that Cynn fell in 11th to eventual runner-up Vayo.

This time around, Cynn seemed determined to take down the title and started playing the best poker of his life in order to accomplish that goal. He and Miles put on a clinic of how to play heads-up for the world title as both held the chip lead multiple times.

After a while, it was Cynn that was retaining the lead and put himself into a huge lead multiple times. Miles never gave up despite showing obvious signs of fatigue. After 198 hands, it appeared that no end was in sight as the pair still had more than 40 big blinds each.

Just when it seemed that we would have to flirt with 2.5M/5M blinds, the event came to a dramatic conclusion. The pair were just 8 big blinds apart when the penultimate hand commenced. After a 9 million raise from Cynn, Miles three-bet from the big blind for 34 million. Cynn called along to see a flop of Kh-Kd-5h.

Miles made a continuation bet of 32 million and one could sense this might be the final hand. When the turn fell the 8d, Miles moved all-in for 114 million and it was Cynn’s turn to make a decision for his tournament life.

It ended up that the decision was not that difficult as he made the call and turned over Kc-Jc for trip kings. Miles showed Qc-8h for kings and eights and discovered he was drawing dead. The river 4c was meaningless and John Cynn began celebrating as the newest World Champion of Poker.

Cynn’s Run to Championship One of the Greatest Stories in WSOP History

Back in 2016, John Cynn finished 11th in the WSOP Main Event. Many players that finish short of the final table are often forgotten by the majority of the public unless they do something later that forces us to revisit past scores.

When Cynn made his deep run this year, the story was whether he could make the final table. As the final table approached, most of the world was focused on Joe Cada and Michael Dyer. Then the focus shifted to Tony Miles.

All along, Cynn continued to play his game and endear fans around the world as he steadily chipped up and put himself in contention for the bracelet. In the end, he completed a remarkable journey that saw him become the 2018 WSOP Main Event Champion two years after falling ever so short of the final table.

John Cynn wins the 2018 World Series of Poker Main Event for the championship bracelet and $8.8 million in prize money. He will certainly be the type of ambassador the game needs for the next year and it will be a pleasure to follow his career in the future.

Photo Credit – @888poker on Twitter

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