Top two finishers each take home more than $1.2 million
Both the champion and runner-up in The Venom came away with seven-figure payouts, as the $7 million tournament wrapped up Wednesday on WPN.
The championship went to US player 'TRT-Vitor', who took home $1,394,821. That figure represents the biggest-ever payout awarded on WPN. Runner-up 'forrestranfar' out of Mexico came away with a $1,282,666 prize.
Those numbers came as the result of a deal between the top two finishers at the final table. After reaching the agreement, 'TRT-Vitor' and 'forrestranfar' played out the heads-up match for $25,000.
The final table saw $5.2 million awarded among the final eight players. The United Kingdom's 'Cachingaling' took third place for $836,352, while Austria's 'Way2eazy' earned fourth place for a $587,576 payday.
Other final table finishers included US player 'tayhaywill' (5th - $420,112), Croatia's 'freddy adu' (6th - $323,312), 'Bussjuugs' from the US (7th - $226,512), and Portugal's 'silskyer' (8th - $129,712).
The Venom crushes $7 million guarantee
The Venom played on the Winning Poker Network as a $2,650 buy-in, four-day tournament with a $7 million guaranteed prize pool. The winner's share guaranteed $1 million.
Player turnout and the final prize pool figures far exceeded those guarantees, however. The Venom drew 3,872 total entries, pushing the prize pool to $9.68 million, an all-time WPN record.
By the time the eight-handed final-table commenced, the first-place share sat at $1,542,024, with second-place also guaranteed a million-dollar-plus payday at $1,135,464.
The deal reached by 'TRT-Vitor' and 'forrestranfar' evened out those payouts for first and second, but both players still came away with seven-figure sums at the end of The Venom.
Tournament recap
The Venom featured four Day 1 flights, played from July 24 through August 2. The survivors from those flights returned for Day 2 Monday, grinding through 11 hours of play for the chance to advance to Day 3.
The Day 2 flights trimmed the field down to the final 64 players. The top 432 players in the field earned at least a min-cash of $4,840, while the 64 players that survived to Day 3 all clinched at least a $16,456 payout.
Tuesday's Day 3 action saw the field go from 64 to the final eight. Those eight players returned for Wednesday's final table, all guaranteed at least $129,712.
Final table action
'TRT-Vitor' and 'forrestranfar' went into four-handed play with dominant chip stacks, with 'Cachingaling' and 'Way2eazy' looking to spin up from shorter stacks.
The two shorter stacks battled each other in a hand that left 'Way2eazy' with just five big blinds. 'Way2eazy' open-shoved for 23 big blinds on the button, and got a call from 'Cachingaling' in the big blind.
The call committed the entire 18 big blind stack of 'Cachingaling', but the UK player doubled up after pocket jacks held up against the ace-ten offsuit of 'Way2eazy'. The following hand saw 'Way2eazy' hit the rail.
Ten minutes later, 'Way2eazy' put the entire 40 big blind stack on the line in an all-in preflop against 'TRT-Vitor', who entered the hand with 75 big blinds. 'TRT-Vitor' turned over pocket tens, while 'Way2eazy' tabled pocket sevens.
'Way2eazy' took the lead with a seven on the turn, but the set of sevens wasn't enough, as a river ten gave 'TRT-Vitor' a superior set.
The tournament paused at that point as the final two players negotiated the terms of the deal. When the agreement was reached, 'TRT-Vitor' and 'forrestranfar' played on for the remaining $25,000 in the prize pool.
The heads-up battle lasted for about 30 minutes. The final hand saw all of the chips go in the middle on a 3❤️6❤️7♦️ flop, with 'TRT-Vitor' tabling K❤️K♦️ against the A❤️5❤️ of 'forrestranfar'.
Looking for a heart, an ace, or a four, 'forrestranfar' found no further, as the turn T♠ and river J♠ clinched the hand, and the tournament, for 'TRT-Vitor'.
