Eliot Hudon Takes Down WPT World Championship for $4.1M

Posted on: December 21, 2022, 07:05h. 

Last updated on: December 21, 2022, 02:17h.

Erik Gibbs Read More
Expertise: Asia Pacific Gaming, Gaming Business, Global Gaming.

After three initial flights and six days of competition, the $10,400 World Poker Tour (WPT) World Championship has come to an end. Eliot Hudon, a poker player out of Canada, topped a field of 2,960 entries to pocket $4,146,400 as the winner.

Eliot Hudon
Canadian poker pro Eliot Hudon poses with his winnings. He took down the WPT World Championship, winning $4.1 million following a record turnout. (Image: PokerNews)

The last six players gathered at Wynn on Tuesday to determine who would emerge victorious. Benny Glaser came in as the chip leader ahead of Hudon, giving him an advantage as the action got underway.

The tournament was one of the largest on record, and the final table will go down in the record books as well. It only took two and a half hours to play 55 hands before Hudon collected the tournament’s final pot and added his name to the Mike Sexton WPT Champions Cup.

Still Reeling

Before his enormous win, Hudon had racked up only around $211K in live tournaments, according to Hendon Mob. Of that, $113,800 came from a single cash in the WSOP Main Event in November of last year.

Because of the turnout for the event, the WPT World Championship’s initial guarantee of $15 million reached just over $29 million. As the final six settled in for the last run, they all knew large paydays were waiting.

That led to a flurry of activity with two of the chip leaders – Glaser and Hudon – getting into it early. Glaser went all-in preflop with A-J, with Hudon easily calling with his K-K.

The board didn’t provide Glaser with any help, and Hudon raced into the lead. From there, the two began wiping out the rest of the table on their way toward an eventual showdown.

Along the way, Colton Blomberg, Frank Funaro, and Adam Adler all hit the rail, each taking home at least $1 million. That left Jean-Claude Moussa battling Glaser and Hudon.

Because of his earlier bad luck against Hudon, Glaser wasn’t in a great position. His stack was dwindling, but he wasn’t going to give up. He bounced back when his pocket queens held up against Moussa’s A-2. Hudon then delivered the death blow to the Massachusetts poker pro.

In his final hand, Moussa moved all-in with A-3 off-suit and got called by Hudon, who held 5-6. When the flop came 4-3-2, Hudon held the winning straight. Moussa was relegated to a third-place finish for slightly more than $2 million.

The Final Blow

Hudon had clear control as he and Glaser began their heads-up battle. However, Glaser fought back and built up his stack until the final hand. Just when he thought he was gaining ground, everything fell apart.

Hudon entered what would turn out to be the final hand by limping in with 7-4. Glaser checked holding Q-J while in the big blind, and the flop came out 8-6-2. Glaser held two over cards, while Hudon was looking at a possible straight if he could pick up a 5.

Glaser checked and Hudon applied some pressure with a small bet. A 9 on the turn gave Glaser a gut-shot straight draw of his own, so there was no way he was going to exit.

The four-time WSOP winner checked again and Hudon came out with a sizable bet. Glaser then check-raised him to over three times his bet. It would be a fatal move. Hudon called, and the river brought the one card Hudon needed – a 5.

With no other way to win unless his queen was actually good, Glaser decided to bluff his way through the pot. He moved all in, not realizing that his opponent had the hand locked with his straight. Hudon didn’t waste any time calling, and the game was over.

It wasn’t a bad day for Glaser, despite not taking the win. He picked up $2.8 million, which adds to the $73,496 he pocketed for a second-place finish in the $3,000 8-Game Mix event a few days earlier. To date, the UK poker pro has accumulated over $6.4 million in live earnings since his first cash in 2013.