John Cynn winning the 2018 WSOP Main Event with a SLOWROLL? After Tony Miles has been showing up with a weak draw for all of his chips, can you ever even con.
It took over 10 hours of back-and-forth struggle, but John Cynn overcame Tony Miles in a heads-up match for the ages to win the 2018 World Series of Poker Main Event for $8.8 million, topping a field of 7,874.
The win completes a redemption story for Cynn, who bubbled the unofficial final table in the 2016 Main Event, just missing a chance to participate in the last November Nine when Gordon Vayo busted him in 11th place.
'Feels very different,' Cynn said, reflecting on the two results. 'I mean really neither is supposed to happen. To make 11th is insane on its own, and to win, that's literally something that you dream of but you just never expect to happen. Right now I do feel pretty overwhelmed.'
8 records for John Cynn. Find John Cynn's phone number, address, and email on Spokeo, the leading online directory for contact information. Indy's John Cynn claims World Series of Poker title, wins $8.8M Indianapolis resident John Cynn is the champion of the World Series of Poker no-limit Texas Hold 'em main event. Tony Miles, left, embraces first place finisher John Cynn after the World Series of Poker main event, Sunday, July 15, 2018, in Las Vegas. John Cynn is $8.8 million richer thanks to a huge win at the 2018 World Series of Poker Main Event, but he says he’s taking his time before spending a good chunk of his money — he’ll speak.
Now Cynn, who has about $300,000 in cashes outside of his two Main Event runs, has cemented a place in poker history and will have a banner adorning the walls of the Amazon Room for as long as the Main Event is still held here.
'I do like to think that I don't need the money to be happy, but at the same time it's practically going to make things a lot easier,' he said. 'Things I want to do in life, things for my family, and my parents. To my parents this is money that they could have never imagined. It'll definitely be life-changing.'
2018 WSOP Main Event Final Table Results
Place | Winner | Country | Prize (in USD) |
---|---|---|---|
1 | John Cynn | United States | $8,800,000 |
2 | Tony Miles | United States | $5,000,000 |
3 | Michael Dyer | United States | $3,750,000 |
4 | Nicolas Manion | United States | $2,825,000 |
5 | Joe Cada | United States | $2,150,000 |
6 | Aram Zobian | United States | $1,800,000 |
7 | Alex Lynskey | Australia | $1,500,000 |
8 | Artem Metalidi | Ukraine | $1,250,000 |
9 | Antoine Labat | France | $1,000,000 |
A heads-up match between Miles and Cynn seemed all but certain since they both came into the final day with a ton of chips while Michael Dyer Pa sports betting online. was short with under 20 big blinds. Dyer got shippy early but his opponents patiently waited, until Miles found the ace-jack and dominated ace-ten, holding up to get it heads-up less than 20 hands in.
What followed was a heads-up match that turned into a marathon — a test of endurance as much as it was skill. The players battled for over 10 hours across 199 hands, surpassing the highest recorded mark in a WSOP Main Event, set by Vayo and Qui Nguyen in 2016.
That match proved to be something of a snoozer, with Vayo stubbornly hanging onto a short stack and resisting almost any opportunity to play big-pot poker in hopes of small-balling his less-experienced opponent. Cynn and Miles turned in no such jab-fest. They threw haymakers throughout, trading the lead 11 times.
For all of the aggression, neither player had all that many chances to end the match. Early on, Miles overbet shoved the river on a bluff after missing a straight draw. But with three diamonds and a paired board sitting on the felt, Cynn couldn't find a call with just third pair.
On the 409th hand of the final table, a bizarre all-in pot unfolded wherein both players stuck it in with draws — Miles on an open-ender and Cynn with a gutter plus flush draw. Miles had Cynn high-carded, but as each had seven high on a queen-eight-five flop, a chopped pot looked likely if neither player got there. That's what happened as running jacks hit the board, keeping Miles in the event but denying him a possible double into nearly a 4-1 lead.
Finally, just shy of 5 a.m., nearly 12 hours after Day 10 kicked off, the 442nd hand proved to be the finale, and a strangely anticlimactic one. Cynn flopped trip kings and called a flop bet from Miles, who had three-bet preflop. Miles then shoved the turn after pairing his eight but was drawing stone dead when Cynn found a call after thinking briefly.
Cynn said the match was unlike any poker experience he's ever had, a surreal experience wherein the stakes he was playing for never entered his mind until the pressure cooker moments.
'It was kind of weird because you're playing heads up for the Main, but since we were playing for so long, at some point it just feels like poker,' he said. 'But then obviously when you're put in pressure spot or when all the money goes in, you realize you know what it's for. You can't compare that to anything else in poker.'
Both players had loud rails. While Cynn's fans, wearing white 'Welcome to Cynn City' shirts, celebrated, Miles' raucous, black-clad supporters, suddenly subdued, filtered to the outer edges of the stage. An emotional Miles joined them moments later after speaking to media, sharing hugs with each individual who stuck around to the finish.
Miles called the match a 'war.'
'He's gonna be a great champion and I'm really happy for him,' he said. 'After the disappointment of losing — which is there is some, I'm gonna be honest — subsides, I'm sure I'll be very happy that I'll be able to help my family and do some traveling and stuff I wanted to do for a long time. It truly is a blessing to be here. I ran way above average just to get to this spot and I'm very grateful.'
Cynn and Miles shared a rapport throughout the match, and Cynn was complimentary as expected in the aftermath.
'Tony is an amazing guy,' Cynn said. 'I truly belive that from my conversations that we've had at the tables. He plays really well. I think he adjusts well. He put me in a lot of tough spots.
'I probably had to adjust during that match three, four, five..I don't even know how many times. And it seemed whenever I would adjust, he would adjust right back. I definitely ran amazing against him.'
As for where he goes next and what he's going to do with $8.8 million, Cynn declined to commit to anything. Some Main Event champions go the ways of Pius Heinz and Peter Eastgate, all but disappearing into the ether, objects of trivia and idle musings for poker fans and industry observers. Some, like Joe McKeehen and Ryan Riess, stay entrenched as top competitors and graduate on to bigger buy-ins.
At least for the immediate future, Cynn's comments indicate he's closer to the former camp. His only goal, he said, is happiness. And while $8.8 million doesn't guarantee that, it certainly opens up many options for the 33-year-old.
'I'm pretty exhausted,' he said. I think every day somehow you get more exhausted, but also a little bit sharper just because your adrenaline keeps you going, and I think at this point my adrenaline is definitely going.
'I think I'm going to try and let my emotions die down before I decide to do anything crazy [with the money]. Probably just get away and disappear somewhere for a while I think sounds nice.'
Past 10 Main Event Champions
Year | Entries | Champion | Country | Prize |
---|---|---|---|---|
2018 | 7,874 | John Cynn | United States | $8,800,000 |
2017 | 7,221 | Scott Blumstein | United States | $8,150,000 |
2016 | 6,737 | Qui Nguyen | United States (born in Vietnam) | $8,005,310 |
2015 | 6,420 | Joe McKeehen | United States | $7,683,346 |
2014 | 6,683 | Martin Jacobson | Sweden | $10,000,000 |
2013 | 6,352 | Ryan Riess | United States | $8,361,570 |
2012 | 6,598 | Greg Merson | United States | $8,531,853 |
2011 | 6,865 | Pius Heinz | Germany | $8,715,638 |
2010 | 7,319 | Jonathan Duhamel | Canada | $8,944,310 |
2009 | 6,494 | Joe Cada | United States | $8,547,042 |
In a surprising redemption story, John Cynn has rebounded from an 11th place finish in 2016 WSOP to win the most prestigious trophy from the event in 2018.
Cynn outplayed Tony Miles to take home the Main Event bracelet and a total of $8.8 million (£6.6 million) in prize money. The last day went for nearly 11.5 hours, consisting of over 422 hands of poker played, including 199 hands of heads-up between the two players. According to WSOP, the epic match is the longest heads-up contest in the history of the WSOP Main Event.
John Cynn
…to win, that’s literally something that you dream of, but just never expect to happen… Right now, I do feel pretty overwhelmed. All the emotions times 10.– John Cynn, WSOP Main Event Winner
Miles, who finished in second place to Cynn, took home a very respectable $5 million (£3.8 million) in prize money. Cynn had a lot of high praise for his opponent, calling Miles “an amazing guy”.
“We’ve been playing next to each other for quite a while now. He plays really well, I think. He put me in a lot of tough spots. Not just hand wise, with his strategy. I probably had to adjust three, four, five, I don’t know how many times. And it seemed like whenever I would adjust he would adjust right back. It was cool because we had moments where we were really going after each other. And we had moments of dead pots.”
John Cynn has won the 2018 World Series of Poker Main Event ©WSOP
Cynn’s last attempt at the trophy in 2016 was much less fortunate, as he missed a spot in the top ten by a whisker, also missing the opportunity to take home the minimum prize money of $1 million for the 10th place prize. The 2018 event, however, was his ultimate victory. Boasting a total of 7,874 players, this year was the second biggest WSOP Main Event in the competition’s history, only shadowed by the 2006 event. The numbers were culled over a week of playing, before the final top ten was confirmed in a stunning victory for Nic Manion, who eliminated Yueqi Shu from the table and leaving Antoine Labat short-stacked.
The table also saw the return of 2009 WSOP Main Event champion, Joe Cada, who was the first person to win a championship and then find a seat at the table a second time since Dan Harrington in 2004.
John Cynn Blo
Final Table Prizes (in USD):1 – John Cynn – $8,800,0002 – Tony Miles – $5,000,0003 – Michael Dyer – $3,750,0004 – Nicolas Manion – $2,825,0005 – Joe Cada – $2,150,0006 – Aram Zobian – $1,800,0007 – Alex Lynskey – $1,500,0008 – Artem Metalidi – $1,250,0009 – Antoine Labat – $1,000,000