How I Won $700,000 In a High Stakes Poker Tournament!

After cashing out for the biggest poker

tournament win of my life, $62,000 dollars

it's time to put it all on the line and

raise the stakes. I'm buying in for

$25,000, my largest buy-in ever, for my

shot at a $10 million prize pool and a

whopping $1.9 million for first place. The

best poker players in the world are all

here, all ready to battle. The Triton

series here in Korea has drawn all the top

talent and lifting that final trophy is

the ultimate prize. Just a few hours

earlier, I fell short of the grand prize,

busting out in 22nd place, but that wasn't

enough. Only the final nine remaining

players make the final table. The

oppurtunity is there. The payouts are

massive, but so is the pressure. $25,000

is a lot of money to risk. I've sold no

action this entire series, and I'm having

second thoughts. Um, are you in the 25K?

Uh, I've just decided not to enter it

unless I, you know, feel better later. I

don't know. Okay. You don't feel great?

No, I feel good. But okay, you just want

to feel like feel it. Mhm. Okay. Okay. Two

more events. Yep. I'm thinking if I'm

going to do this one or not, bro. I should

. Yeah, definitely. At some point, making

a final table would be sick, right? So, at

some point, I just got to do that. As I

watch the final table from a distance, I

can't help but imagine myself still at my

seat, battling for millions of dollars one

last time before I fly back home to Texas.

I'm on the fence, so I recruit the

assistance of my good buddy Rampage to

help make my $25,000 decision. What's up

you guys? Wolf Gang and Rampage here

coming off of our really deep run here at

the first uh event here in Triton. Maybe I

do fire the 25K, but we're going to play

Croc. And if you guys don't know how Croc

works, basically like you touch the mouth

and one of the teeth is really bad and

then it closes. And if I'm the one who

loses and closes the mouth, I'm going to

go and play the 25K, even though I had no

intention on doing it. I'm rooting to win.

Let's go. Let's get you in there. We're

entering a tournament. Let's go. I head

over to the registration table to exchange

$25,000 from my player account for a seat

in the tourney. The tournament has been

running all day and only 161 out of the

391 entrances are left. Average stack is

436K and I'm sitting with 200K for just 20

big blinds. As I approach my table, I

immediately see that it's not going to be

easy. On my left is Alex Foxin and Ebony

Kenny. A little bit further is Dan Smith

and straight across from me is the one and

only Patrick Antonius. I'm nervous but

excited. If I can make it off this table,

I know I can win the whole thing. My table

might be tough, but nothing's tougher than

picking up the Cowboys for our very first

hand in the biggest poker tournament of my

life. Well, pocket aces would be better,

but back in Texas, the Cowboys are number

one. The blinds have gone up to 6K, 12k,

12K. I only have around 12 big blinds in

my stack, and I open it up to 24K from the

lowjack. I immediately get three bet by

John Noel Thorell from the cutoff, and he

makes it 80K to go. If you don't know who

Thor is, he's number one on the France

all-time money list and has over

$20 million in total live earnings. Even

though he has over 20 times more earnings

than me, my hand has to play itself here.

I jam my 12 big blind stack in the middle

and he puts in the call. Like two working

girls, the cards are on their backs. And

we see we're in an interesting spot here.

Kings versus threes. 81% chance to double

up here. Step one is get it in good.

Step two is hold. The dealer puts out the

flop 885 with two diamonds. The turn comes

the four of diamonds and the river seals

his fate. The seven of spades peels off

and just like that we win a 318k pot which

inches us just a little bit closer to

being average sack in the tournament. Even

though we just won a crucial hand, there's

still a sense of urgency as the blind

levels continue to go up fast. We're now

at the 15k big blind level and with 318K

in our stack, I have 21 big blinds to play

with. Real quickly, 64% of you guys that

watched the last video were not subscribed

. if you guys are enjoying this video so

far, please hit that subscribe button and

turn on the post notification bell to

make sure you don't miss a vlog in the

future. Just a few more hands go by before

we pick up our next big premium holding

ace queen offsuit. The action surprisingly

folds around to me in the small blind.

Usually the button or cutoff would have

put in a raise by now when it folds to

them, but actions on me in the small blind

. And before I decide what to do, I look

over at my opponent in the big blind,

Alex Foxin. He's the fifth best player in

the world according to the GPI ranking.

He has the 10th most amount of money in

the United States all time with over

$45 million in total live earnings.

Definitely not someone to mess around

with. Even though we share the same first

name, our skill levels couldn't be further

apart. It's important against good players

to have a balanced strategy. Ace queen

offsuit from the surface seems like a 100%

candidate to put in a raise. But by

limping in for 15K, it keeps us balanced

and it might incentivize Alex to put in a

raise here, thinking he has a massive edge

on us and wants to play a bigger pot.

That's exactly what happens. He now

raises it up to 38K, putting the pressure

back over to me. Because I balanced in ace

queen offsuit, this is a perfect time to

jam my entire stack in. I have him covered

. He only has around 16 big blinds. So if

he calls it off here with pocket sevens,

I'm happy to get it in against a great

great player in a flip situation. But when

I come in for the jam, he snap folds. And

we made another 23k in the process by

limping in instead of raising. And just

like that, we find ourself in another

level jump up to the 20k big blind level

with 310k in my stack. I have around 16

big blinds. But crucial information, we

just found out that 63 players will make

the money. There's 110 players left and if

I hit that money bubble, we'll make

$415,000. We find ourselves in another

hand versus a super pro when Dan Smith

raises the cutoff up to 40k. you guys

probably have heard of Dan Smith because

he's third alltime in the US money list

with over 59 million in total live

earnings. Coupled with the fact he's

number 54 on the global poker index

ranking, this guy is someone to fear.

Stats aside, he's actually a very nice

guy and we share a common love of skiing.

But I'm going to try to take some chips

from him here when I put in the 40 from

the big blind. Let's take it to the

streets. The flop comes 107 deuces all

hearts. And with 110k in the middle, I

start with a check. I expect Dan to go for

a very small bet here on this monotone

board. And that's exactly what he does

when he fires out for 20k. Actions back

over to me. I have ace high. I have the

three of hearts in my hand. And both are a

good enough reason on their own to put in

the call. Ace high is going to be beating

a lot of his jack high king high holdings.

And when I put in the call, the turnout

comes the jack of diamonds, which isn't

exactly the best card in the deck. I'm

interested to see what he does when I

check it over to Dan. He might go for a

bet here, or he might check behind. And

luckily for me, we're going to see five

cards when he checks behind, which brings

in another heart on the river. We now have

the flush when the four of hearts peels

off. I think the best play is to check it

over to to Dan and call a bluff,

but he checks behind. I table the

flush and 150k much needed chips are

being added to my stack. With a little

bit of momentum, our chip stack is now up

over20 big blinds and I look down at the

ladies here in Korea and raise it up to

40k from under the gun. Uli jams the

button for 400k for exactly 20 big blinds,

and the action folds around to the

big blind. He looks like he's in a tough

spot, and you can see me continuously

check my cards. I can't believe my good

fortune. I have pocket queens here,

which is the third best hand ever created

And hopefully the big blind puts in more

money, so I can jam my 410k stack

in the middle and possibly get a triple up

But when he folds his cards, I double

check my hand yet one more time.

I don't wanna make a mistake here in my

biggest ever event. Put in the snap call

and we are off to see five cards. When

the cards hit their backs, we see were up

against King Jack of clubs, which is still

gonna win this one out of every three

times. So, even though I have a premium

hand, we still have to hold on, and my

heart goes into my stomach when I see a

King on the flop, but its followed by one

of our queens. Bang! We flop a set on a

King, Queen, five, two hearts board. The

turn comes the eight of clubs, sealing

his fate. And the six of hearts puts the

nail in the coffin. Uli is sent to the

rails and were taking down a massive pot

here. 850k, which is good for over 40 big

blinds. And now I finally have more than

average stack and definitely have a dream

of making the final table. Just like that,

the stakes increase yet again up to the

30k big blind level. I have 860k in my

stack, which is good for 29 big blinds.

And like I just said, average stack is 28

big blinds, so for the first time today,

I have an above average stack.

There's 93 players left. 63 make the money

and we have just entered the last level

of day one. Could I bag here in my biggest

ever 25k buy in and make it day 2? We're

about to find out. Remember when I told

you I was playing at the same table with

the legend Patrick Antonius? Well, his

chip stack has dwindled down to 125k, good

for around 4 big blinds. And now, all of

his chips are in the middle when he jams

all in from under the gun. Patrick

Antonius is someone who needs no

introduction. He has over $30 million in total