In a marathon final table, Tony Sinishtaj was able to outlast Isaac Kempton to take down the championship of the 2022 Wynn Millions Main Event. In taking the title, Sinishtaj captured the first-place prize of over $1.6 million, while Kempton earned his own million-dollar payday. Finally, after starting the final table as the chip leader and holding court for much of the day’s play, Canada’s Vanessa Kade fell in fourth place, while 2019 World Series of Poker final tablist Alex Livingston survived to make the final three.
A Hard Day’s Night
When the players came to the table on Friday afternoon, no one knew they were about to embark on a 12-hour final table slog. Kade came to the final table with a slim lead over Livingston, while Sinishtaj lurked in the middle of the pack. Tony Tran and Sean Perry also were a part of the mix, with Michael Stembera, Roland Shen, a short stacked Neng Lee and Kempton rounding out the table.
Kade kept up the pressure in the early action and added to her lead after forcing Livingston into a fold only nine hands into the day’s play. On a 10-7-2-3-5 board, Kade put Livingston to a decision for his remaining chips and it was one that Livingston could not answer with a call. That hand allowed Kade to stack up over 12.2 million in chips, while Livingston dropped to just over 6.8 million and within the clutches of the pack chasing him and Kade.
Lee, with only 300K to start the day, battled admirably – for about seventeen hands. On Hand 18, he took his stand against Sinishtaj in a race situation, Lee’s pocket tens up against Sinishtaj’s Big Slick, only to see an Ace in the window of the flop. No tens would come to help Lee out as he left the Wynn Millions festivities with a ninth-place finish.
With Lee gone, Perry became the short stack and he would depart on the very next hand. Perry woke up to find pocket nines and pushed, only to find a cooler in Kempton’s pocket Kings waiting for him. A King on the flop virtually ended Perry’s tournament and, once the river blanked, Perry was drawing dead; he would leave in eighth place for a $202,908 payday.
After Perry’s elimination, the players settled in for an extended battle. The constant, however, was that Kade maintained the lead. Kempton would slip ahead of Kade for a bit but, after he doubled up Stembera on Hand 61, the lead reverted back to Kade.
One of the boldest folds of the tournament might have occurred on Hand 110. After Tran opened the betting, Sinishtaj called to see a Q-5-10 rainbow flop. A King peeled off on the turn, which saw Tran check his option to Sinishtaj and then pop an all-in after Sinishtaj bet 500K in chips. Pondering the possibilities, Sinishtaj was able to sniff out the story Tran was telling and folded his pocket Aces face up; Tran nodded admiringly as he courtesy-showed an A-J for the turned Broadway straight.
Sinishtaj Goes on the Offensive
The ability to find a fold on that very hand started Sinishtaj on the offensive. He would nearly triple his stack when, once again holding pocket Aces, he bested Stembera for a 6.2 million pot. Sinishtaj continued to march up the leaderboard, knocking out Tran in sixth place and Stembera in fifth, to go to the dinner break wi8th over eight million chips in his stack. He was still looking up at Livingston and Kade, however.
After dinner, Sinishtaj continued to push the issue, but he still could not solve the puzzle that was Kade. The duo would battle over dozens of hands, with Sinishtaj slowly grinding down Kade’s stack, before he captured the lead on Hand 251. It was a clash between this duo, Kade and Sinishtaj, which would eventually lead to the hand of the tournament.
In a blind versus blind battle on Hand 272, Sinishtaj limped in and Kade checked her option to see a 3♠ 2♣ K♠ flop. Sinishtaj check-called a bet from Kade and a Q♠ peeled on the turn. This seemed to wake up Sinishtaj, who put out 1.7 million in chips and Kade warily made the call. The Q♦ came on the river, setting up a range of possibilities, and it was Sinishtaj who took the bull by the horns with an all-in move that sent Kade into the tank. After several minutes, she made the call and saw the unwelcome news.
Sinishtaj turned up a 6♠ 5♠ for the turned flush, more than enough to run down Kade’s pocket Aces. After the chips were counted down, it was Kade who was the player at risk and she was out of the event in fourth place. Sinishtaj, meanwhile, picked up the massive pot and held more than half the chips in play (26 million) with only Kempton (11 million) and Livingston (6.6 million) standing in his way.
Three Handed Marathon
As if it were possible, Sinishtaj amped up his aggression and tried to put away his final two opponents. Kempton and Livingston would not go willingly, however, finding key doubles through Sinishtaj to drag him back to them. As the 325th hand of the final table was played, Livingston snatched the lead away from Sinishtaj.
The trio would play over 100 hands between each other before the next elimination took place. It came in a clash between Livingston and Sinishtaj, holding similarly sized stacks, with Livingston getting a bit frisky with a K-J against Sinishtaj’s Big Slick. The flop brought triple tens, not a terrible thing, but there was no saving Jack on the turn or river to keep Livingston from heading home from the Wynn in third place.
Heads-up play started with Sinishtaj and Kempton equal…22 million in chips for each man. It looked like it would be a drawn-out fight, but it was surprisingly concluded quickly. How fast? How about three hands.
After Sinishtaj edged out to a slight lead, the final had occurred. On Hand 383, Sinishtaj called a Kempton four bet of 5.6 million to see a 6-7-7 flop. Kempton fired again and Sinishtaj simply called the bet. It happened again on the turn six, this time with Kempton shooting a second bullet for 4.2 million. On the river King, Kempton paused for a second before announcing all-in and Sinishtaj nearly beat him into the pot with the call. Kempton put up a pocket pair of Jacks, normally good in a heads-up setting – unless you are up against pocket Aces, which is what Sinishtaj showed. With one swing, the tournament was over, and Sinishtaj was the champion!
1. Tony Sinishtaj, $1,655,952
2. Isaac Kempton, $1,093,314
3. Alex Livingston, $745,749
4. Vanessa Kade, $527,481
5. Michael Stembera, $390,053
6. Tony Tran, $304,161
7. Roland Shen, $244,541
8. Sean Perry, $202,908
9. Neng Lee, $171,280
