John Cynn and Tony Miles battled heads-up for 10 dramatic hours of poker.
John Cynn is the winner of the 2018 World Series of Poker Main Event at around 5am Las Vegas time. Ten hours into a heads-up match with Tony Miles, John Synn made an all-in call while holding three kings against Tony Miles’ pair of 8s.
The final hand began with John Cynn holding K-J suited. Tony Miles held a Q-8 offsuit, but made a 25-million chip raise pre-flop. When the flop came K-K-5, it gave John Cynn a dominant hand. It also gave Tony Miles a heart-flush draw, though Miles would need a heart on the turn and the river.
Tony Miles, who had been betting aggressively most of the night, made another 32-million chip raise. John Cynn made the call, but he took his time doing so. While he showed a strong hand to make the call, he betrayed hesitation to Miles.
When the river came an 8, it improved Tony Miles’ hand, but in the the worst possible way. Now holding a pair of 8s, Tony Miles made an all-in call. At that point, the poker tournament was all but over. John Cynn called for a chip count and slow-rolled “because he was tired”, but eventually made the decision to make the call.
By that time, Tony Miles knew he was dead in the water. He disgustedly showed his Q-8 and the crowd began to celebrate. Thus ended one of the longest WSOP Main Event final tables in recent memory.
WSOP Main Event Heads-up Play
All through the night, John Cynn and Tony Miles played heads-up Texas Hold’em to see who would win the 2018 World Series of Poker Main Event. Day 9 of the WSOP Main Event began with Tony Miles holding 238,900,000 in chips, John Cynn holding 128,700,000 in chips, and Michael Dyer holding 26.2 million.
Around 6:45pm Las Vegas time, Tony Miles eliminated Michael Dyer in 3rd place, giving him 202 million chips. The heads-up competition between Miles and Cynn has been a back-and-forth contest. Though Tony Miles held the chip lead at first, the two played smallball for several hours.
John Cynn took the lead for a time and at one point held a 3-to-2 chip leader (roughly 240-million to 160-million). Since then, Tony Miles has taken a small lead, with both players holding between 180 million to 210 million chips at various points.
Tony Miles’ All-In Bluff
The biggest hand of the night so far was an all-in bluff by Tony Miles. John Cynn folded the best hand in the pot after Tony Miles moved all-in holding 7-high.
Twitter erupted after the hand. The buzz involved John Cynn’s likely reaction after he learned (in the next break) the hand Tony Miles bet his tournament life on. Others said it would be WSOP Main history if Tony Miles went on to win the 2018 event, since John Cynn could have won with a single call.
John Cynn Calls on a 99 Million-Chip Pot
Later, Tony Miles appeared to take a commanding lead when he bet into a pot while John Cynn held a pair of 2s. After going into the river down, Tony Miles flipped a second Queen and had a 100% chance to win the pot.
The board showed a pair of Kings, though, so John Cynn had the possibility of holding K-K-K. Cynn called with 28 million in chips. Tony Miles ended the hand with a 100 million-chip lead.
John Cynn Takes the Chip Lead Briefly
Only 15 minutes later, John Cynn took the chip lead. He receive pocket fives, then flopped a third 5 to take a commanding lead in the hand. Tony Miles flopped a disastrous 9 to pair a hole card to give him false hope in the hand.
When a 3 on the river gave John Cynn a 5/3 full house, he pushed 46.5 million chips into the pot to push the pot to 116 million. Tony Miles called the 46.5 million and lost the hand. John Cynn suddenly held a 236 million-chip to 157 million-chip lead.
10-Hour Heads-up Showdown
The 2018 WSOP Main Event final table has been one of the longest sessions of world championship poker in years. The final table now has seen well over 450+ hands, while the battle between John Cynn and Tony Miles is reaching the 200-hand mark.
For most of that time, John Cynn has held the chip lead. From the 2-hour to 5-hour mark, Tony Miles showed a lot of aggression and put John Cynn under significant pressure. John Cynn’s cautious play negated a lot of Miles’ aggression over the next few hours, and he slowly built up a big lead.
10 hours into the heads-up showdown between John Cynn and Tony Miles, Cynn began whittling down Tony Miles chip stack to 100 million chips. On the last hand before the 10-hour mark, Tony Miles went all-in with king-queen offsuit, but John Cynn folded.
Cynn City: John Cynn Wins WSOP
About the time spectators and broadcasters began to think the event could go on until noon, the event was over. Tony Miles had battled back to have 180 million chips to John Cynn’s 213 million chips — almost even — but the final hand gave John Cynn triple kings.
Tony Miles unfortunately received a pair of 8s on the turn, giving him the impetus to move all-in. The killer 8 could not have come at a worse time, and within two minutes, the WSOP Main event was over. The poker world has a new WSOP Main Event champion, and it is John Cynn.
The 33-year old John Cynn, a resident of Indianapolis who finished in 11th place in the 2016 WSOP Main Event, won $8.8 million for 1st place in the World Series of Poker Main Event. Tony Miles, a 32-year old resident of Jacksonville, Florida, collected $5 million for finishing in 2nd place.
