Winning a World Poker Tour title is extremely hard. Winning two back-to-back is absurd, though a few have done it. Winning two on consecutive days may never happen. Although, Weng had a chance to do the impossible and we were all here for it.
After closing out last night's WPT Seminole final table for over $1 million by eliminating all five opponents, Bin Weng tried to do it again today. Things weren't so easy.
Like yesterday, he came into the WPT Choctaw final table at the HyperX Arena as the chip leader as well. The day may have started similarly, but the results were anything but the same.
Of course, in spite of chip leading both tables, the situations were very different. He only had a slight chip lead against Jared "Tuna" Jaffee. The collective experience of his opponents was greater. Whatever the ill-fated recipe, Weng couldn't recreate the magic we've all grown accustomed to this year.
Weng sat on Jaffee's left, yet it was Tuna getting the best of Weng in the early rounds. Weng couldn't make a hand, his bluffs were getting called, and he couldn't gain any momentum. He was involved in a flip with Mike Vanier early on with pocket tens against Vanier's ace-king suited. The river brought the nut flush for Vanier to get the double and take from Weng.
Watching on, it felt so wrong to see Weng lose an all in against a shorter stack. It honestly didn't happen very often before today. After losing that chunk, though, Weng never seemed to recover and get back to where he wanted to be.
He slipped down the leaderboard, losing small and medium pots during his descent while his opponents refused to bust around him. Soon near the bottom, he was able to lock up two pay jumps before eventually falling at Jaffee's hands in fourth place for $143,000.
Weng still holds excellent company
In the 21-year history of the World Poker Tour, only two other players have secured chip leads at back-to-back final tables. Paul Volpe, also from Philadelphia, was the first back in 2013. The second was the incomparable Darren Elias in 2018. Bin Weng in 2023 is the third.
Volpe couldn't convert either of his chip leads to a WPT title, finishing in second and third place, respectively.
Elias did win the first of his two tables in 2018 when he took down the WPT Bobby Baldwin Classic for his record-setting fourth title. Like Weng, he fell short of his second chance, falling in third place at the WPT Tournament.
With dreams of being the first to win a WPT title on back-to-back days, the cards didn't fall that way today. Still, Weng can hold his head high in light of his accomplishments. After winning $1,128,250 Thursday and $143,000 today, he adds even more to an impressive 2023 that has made him a household name to poker fans these past few weeks.
It's only May, and something tells me this isn't the last time we see Bin Weng at a final table this year.
Congratulations to Bin Weng for his back-to-back WPT final tables, a remarkable run. Your name is now on the Mike Sexton Champions Cup, no one can take that from you. Finally, thank you for keeping us all on the edge of our seats as we came along for the ride.
