Las Vegas, Nevada (February 21, 2023) - The only thing better than winning your first WSOP Circuit Main Event title is defeating one of your poker idols in the process. After a long and competitive final table, it only took a matter of minutes for Bin Weng to defeat Alex Foxen head’s-up to win the first-ever WSOP Circuit Main Event held at the newly rebranded Horseshoe Hotel and Casino.
Finishing on top of a 833 player field full of some of poker’s best, Bin Weng continued his 2023 heater by winning his first WSOP Circuit title and the $227,344 top prize. While anyone would enjoy taking home over $227,000, it wasn’t about the money for Weng. Despite winning over a million dollars in a major tournament last month, Weng shared how today’s victory meant much more to him than his recent seven-figure score.
“This tournament meant a lot to me.” Weng shared. “I have won four or five titles, but never a WSOP tournament. Getting a ring means a lot to me, I’m kind of speechless right because I’m just so excited.”
Reflecting on his play during the tournament, Weng discussed the early setbacks he had to overcome to eventually come out as the winner.
“This was a roller coaster tournament for me,” Weng recounted. “I did not have a good start, I lost half of my stack early and had to get it back. Day two was definitely a roller coaster. My chip count was good at the beginning but at one point I lost A-J versus kings and was down to twenty big blinds.”
Losing the A-J versus pocket kings hand to the last woman standing of the Horseshoe Circuit Main Event Kultida Berman (24th for $8,165), Weng reflected on a pivotal hand where he was able to get some of his chips back.
“I had less than 20 big blinds against Kultida when she opened,” Weng said. “I jammed with pocket nines and she called with ace-king of diamonds. The flop came 10-J-2 with two diamonds. I don’t know how I dodged that whole board!”
Weng’s victory in the Horseshoe Circuit Main Event became even more special when he had the chance to play against one of his poker heroes Alex Foxen. Although Weng has faced Foxen in the past, having the opportunity to face him head’s-up for a Circuit Main Event title was a dream come true.
“Alex Foxen is one of my poker idols,” Wang said. “We are originally from the same area, Long Island. I just feel so thankful to take this down and get the chance to play with Foxen. He is one of the best players right now.”
Day Three Action
Before Wang could defeat Alex Foxen head’s-up to claim his title, there were plenty of other accomplished pros he had to play with throughout Day Three.
Some players of note that returned with Weng for Day Three of the WSOP Circuit Main Event included WSOP bracelet winners Jared Jaffee, Evan Sandberg, and Ryan Laplante, along with multiple-time WSOP Circuit ring winners Aaron Massey, Nick Pupillo, Aditya Prasetyo, and Anthony Huntsman.
WSOP Main Event final tablist Chino Rheem was also in attendance during Day Three as he added to his over $3,000,000 career WSOP winnings.
With the Day Three competition being incredibly stiff, it did not take long for eliminations to take place in the brand new Horseshoe poker room.
Coming in with a short stack, Chino Rheem moved all-in early with an offsuit ace and was bested by 6th place Circuit Main Event finisher Alex Condon.
Not too far behind Rheem on the way to the payout line was Aditya Prasetyo. Running his top pair into Alex Foxen’s turned full house, Prasetyo was eliminated in 12th Place ($17,681).
Before he could reach the final table, Ryan Laplante felt victim to Foxen’s aggressive big stack play when his fellow WSOP bracelet winner insisted on shoving into him from the small blind. Despite having A-Q to Foxen’s Q-7, a single seven on the flop ended Laplante’s campaign for a Circuit Main Event Title.
Final Table Action
Searching for his fourth career WSOP Circuit ring, Aaron Massey was denied when his A-K suited lost a flip to Anthony Huntsman’s pocket jacks. Jared Jaffee also fell victim to a lost flip when his pocket eights were defeated by a rivered ace benefiting third palace finisher Kenneth Mapoy.
While pocket jacks worked for Huntsman against Massey, they did not work for Nick Pupillo as his fish hooks would be bested by Foxen’s preflop shove with A-K.
The final table flips continued when Alex Condon shoved his A-7 from the small blind and was called by Weng who held pocket fives. Unable to get any help from the deck, Condon was eliminated in 6th place ($45,764).
The final table remained five-handed for quite some time before Weng broke the stalemate by eliminating Anthony Huntsman and his J-10 suited with his pocket kings. Finishing in 5th place, Huntsman took home $59,634.
After returning from dinner break and playing four-handed for an extended period of time, Kenneth Mapoy would be eliminated in fourth place running his pocket threes straight into Foxe’s pocket nines.
Although he came into Day Three as the overall chip leader, with a dwindling chip stack Evan Sandberg was forced to pick a spot when he moved all-in with A-2 offsuit. Looked up by Foxen who held pocket jacks, a third jack on the flop was all she wrote for Sandberg, who collected $104,505 for his third palace finish.
While the majority of the eliminations at the final table took quite some time to manifest, it only took two hands of head’s-up play for a new WSOP Circuit champion to be declared. Facing a preflop raise from Weng, Foxen three-bet from the big blind and got the call from his opponent. On the 4-5-8 rainbow flop, Foxen led out with a hefty bet and got the call. After leading out again on the turn and nailing two-pair with a king on the river, Foxen surely thought his K-5 offsuit was good, but little did he know Weng had flopped a straight holding 7-6 suited.
Making the easy snap call, not only had Bin Weng won his first career WSOP Circuit title, but he got to compete with one of his poker heroes in the process.
That wraps up our coverage of the Horseshoe WSOP Circuit event. Best of luck to poker players who plan on competing in the remaining events of the Horseshoe Casino Circuit series. Be sure to check out WSOP.com tomorrow, as we begin our coverage of the Harrah’s Cherokee WSOP Circuit Main Event.