The WPT Gardens Poker Championship is one of the most prestigious events on the World Poker Tour calendar. The tournament, which has a buy-in of $5,250, attracts some of the best players in the world to compete for a coveted WPT title and a seat in the 2023 WPT World Championship at Wynn Las Vegas.
The 2023 edition of the WPT Gardens Poker Championship kicked off on May 15 at The Gardens Casino in Hawaiian Gardens, California. The event featured two starting flights and three more days of action before reaching the six-handed final table on May 25. The final table was then paused and will resume on May 30 at the HyperX Esports Arena at Luxor Las Vegas, where the players will battle it out for the top prize of $357,380 and the WPT Mike Sexton Champions Cup.
The final table is headlined by WPT Ambassador Brad Owen, who is one of the most popular poker vloggers and content creators in the industry. Owen, who has over 1.1 million subscribers on YouTube, will be making his first major tournament final table appearance in the WPT Gardens Poker Championship. He will start the night in third place with 3,350,000 chips, behind only Ryan Salunga and Ky Nguyen.
Salunga is the chip leader with 7,275,000 chips, and he is also a newcomer to the WPT main tour scene. He won his entry to the event through a $600 satellite, and he is looking to turn that into a life-changing payday. Salunga is a registered nurse who has been working in the field for 14 years, and he mainly plays cash games and smaller tournaments in California.
Nguyen is the second in chips with 4,500,000, and he is no stranger to the WPT final tables. He finished fourth in the 2022 WPT Rolling Thunder for $113,440, and he also has a WSOP Circuit ring to his name. Nguyen is a professional poker player who was born in Vietnam and moved to the US when he was 12.
The other three players at the final table are Chris Lee, Josh Lachman, and Michael Zulker. Lee is a WSOP bracelet winner who has over $1.6 million in live tournament earnings. He will start the final table in fourth place with 2,900,000 chips. Lachman is the oldest player at the table at 52, and he is a recreational player who owns a construction company. He will begin the night in fifth place with 1,800,000 chips. Zulker is the shortest stack with 1,175,000 chips, and he is a former professional poker player who now works as a software engineer.
The final table of the 2023 WPT Gardens Poker Championship will be streamed live on PokerGO on May 30 at 4 p.m. PT. The players will resume the action with the blinds at 50,000/75,000 and a 75,000 big blind ante. The winner will not only take home the lion’s share of the $1,225,000 prize pool, but also a Hublot Big Bang Steel watch, a Baccarat Crystal BELUGA Highball Set, and a custom-framed photograph courtesy of IMPDI.
