Andrew Wilson Finally Wins the Final Hand to Claim His First Major Live Tournament Title with a WPT Victory

2022 Seminole Hard Rock ‘N’ Roll Poker Open
Seminole Hard Rock Hotel & Casino
Hollywood, Florida
$3,500 WPT RRPO Championship
$2,000,000 Guaranteed
Entries:  1,541
Prize Pool: $4,931,200
November 25-30, 2022

WPT Rock 'n' Roll Poker Open Champion Andrew Wilson
WPT Rock ‘n’ Roll Poker Open Champion Andrew Wilson

After two second-place finishes for WSOP bracelets in the past few years, Andrew Wilson has broken thru with a major victory in a live tournament, defeating Josh Kay in an epic heads-up battle on Wednesday night to win the WPT Rock ‘n’ Roll Poker Open Championship.

“It feels pretty incredible,” said Wilson, who overcame a field of 1,541 entries to win $785,800. “I picked the right moment to finally come out on top. It’s going to take a little while to sink in, but it’s what I’ve been going for ever since I first started playing.”

This was one of the toughest WPT final tables in a long time, with half of the seats filled with WPT champions — defending RRPO Champion Gediminas Uselis, two-time WPT champ Chad Eveslage, and three-time WPT champ Brian Altman.

“As far as WPT final tables are concerned, I think this is definitely one of the tougher ones that I’ve been a witness to,” said Wilson. “All of these guys have had so much success live, and I assume they’ll continue to do so in the future. Especially since they play these stops over and over again, and they continually show this level of success.”

Wilson began the six-handed WPT Final Table with a massive lead, holding 43% of all the chips for a stack worth 167 big blinds.

Wilson had a big chip lead for most of the final table, eliminating short-stack Robel Andemichael in the first 10 minutes (click here for details), and knocking out defending champion Gediminas Uselis within the first half hour (details here).

Brian Altman was sent home in fourth place, but this time it was Kay who scored the knockout. (Click here for details.) Three-handed play continued for more than an hour and a half, but eventually Eveslage found himself on the wrong end of an aces-vs.-jacks cooler against Wilson, and Eveslage was out in third place. (Click here for details.)

“You had to fight for every pot,” said Wilson, “because these guys weren’t going to just roll over.”

Josh Kay
Runner-Up Josh Kay

Wilson began heads-up play with a 3-to-1 chip lead over Kay, but then Wilson won a massive pot to increase his lead to 10-to-1. (Click here for details.) Wilson had been on one of the hottest WPT Final Table runs we’ve ever seen, and there was no reason to think it would change.

But it did.

Shortly after that, Wilson got about as close to a WPT title as you can get. Down 10-to-1 in chips, Kay got it all in preflop with Jc8h, only to see Wilson turn over QhJh. Kay was dominated and facing elimination.

But the board came 7d6d6hAc7h, forcing a chopped pot with two pair on the board and an ace kicker. Even though he was saved by the river, Kay was still down 10-to-1 in chips. But that chopped pot seemed to give him new life.

Everything had been going right for Wilson, and then suddenly everything started going wrong. Over the next 20 minutes, Kay won three straight all-ins to take the lead.

Thanks to the great blind structure, they were still incredibly deep — Kay had 115 big blinds to Wilson’s 78 big blinds, so this wasn’t a simple shove fest. The heads-up battle would continue for another hour or so, and the momentum went back and forth between them.

Kay made some impressive moves at this final table, but in the final hand (click here for details), Kay picked the wrong spot to make a stand when Wilson was showing strength with a big preflop reraise. After a flop of 10h7d4c, Wilson bet, and Kay moved all in with 8s7h for middle pair.

Wilson snap-called with KhKd, and the kings held up for Wilson to win the title, the trophy, and $785,800.

“It’s surreal,” said Wilson. “I was in England watching the World Cup. I was of two minds of whether to stay in England and carry on watching the World Cup with my friends, but I had already taken a month-long break from poker. I decided to kickstart myself since I was going to play the WPT at the Wynn, so I thought this would be a great stop to come to for the weather and the great field. One singular bullet [buy-in] later, it’s been quite the decision.”


Final Results:

PlaceFirst NameLast NamePrize Amount
1AndrewWilson$785,800 + $10,400 WPT World Championship seat
2Josh Kay$525,000
3ChadEveslage$390,000
4BrianAltman$290,000
5GediminasUselis$219,000
6RobelAndemichael$167,000
7EricBonin$129,000
8RyanDougherty$100,000
9TedMcNamara$78,500
10SteveKarp$78,500
11DenysShafikov$62,500
12Phong "Turbo"Nguyen$62,500
13JacobDolehanty$50,000
14DungNguyen$50,000
15JoeyDiPascale$40,500
16NicholasVerderamo$40,500
17AnthonyZinno$33,100
18DavidNowling$33,100
19MartinsAdeniya$33,100
20AndrewOstapchenko$33,100
21BadrImejjane$27,400
22MaxKingstone$27,400
23WillieWiggins$27,400
24MichaelStashin$27,400
25DennisRodriguez$22,900
26MichaelLee$22,900
27AristotelesNeto$22,900
28JasonMin$22,900
29JuanEndara$22,900
30EdwardHolyoke$22,900
31MikeVela$22,900
32KyleMerron$22,900
33NikitaKalinin$19,300
34BrockWilson$19,300
35RonaldMcMillen$19,300
36JeffTrudeau$19,300
37MichaelBelov$19,300
38RaymondRoberty$19,300
39JimCollopy$19,300
40PasqualeCaiazza$19,300
41GiovanniFazio$16,500
42BasarKirang$16,500
43JoonheeYea$16,500
44DimitryAgrachov$16,500
45JasonKlapman$16,500
46JakubPaulik$16,500
47MarkDickstein$16,500
48FrankFunaro$16,500
49GiuseppeIadisernia$14,200
50HosseinPezeshkan$14,200
51HiteshPatel$14,200
52JimmyBorn$14,200
53KevinHo$14,200
54AlexKeating$14,200
55DavidKahan$14,200
56DarrenElias$14,200
57MarcosExterkotter$12,450
58KevinEyster$12,450
59DavidShmuel$12,450
60JonathanAkiba$12,450
61MiguelCapriles$12,450
62JoshReichard$12,450
63ConstantinosPsallidas$12,450
64StewartChantler$12,450
65JeremyJoseph$11,000
66NateSilver$11,000
67LongNguyen$11,000
68ClemenDeng$11,000
69ArmandMatti$11,000
70AramOgnayan$11,000
71CangirElcin$11,000
72StephenTicsay$11,000
73CosminJoldis$9,800
74MatthewLeecy$9,800
75CharlesKassin$9,800
76AkashSeth$9,800
77RajaiWazwaz$9,800
78IgorTretyakov$9,800
79AlejandroGonzalez Olachea$9,800
80MarcelloDel Grosso$9,800
81ChanceKornuth$8,850
82JonathanRosa$8,850
83JulietHegedus$8,850
84ChristianHarder$8,850
85RajasekarGovindan$8,850
86AnastasiosKotsaris$8,850
87RomanPipman$8,850
88LeweThiesen$8,850
89AdilKhan$8,000
90LilyKiletto$8,000
91MichaelMiller$8,000
92MichaelWetcher$8,000
93DavidAronson$8,000
94AntonioLievano$8,000
95JuanMontoya$8,000
96SpencerChamplin$8,000
97DylanPoler$8,000
98PaulGellenbeck$8,000
99ScottWeidema$8,000
100RobertKessler$8,000
101MarcusStein$8,000
102GarrickYoung$8,000
103DhesikanAnanchaperumal$8,000
104RandySim$8,000
105SenthuranVijayaratnam$7,300
106MariaKonnikova$7,300
107UgisSteinman$7,300
108FawazSiddiqui$7,300
109AndrewArbogast$7,300
110AnesKovacevic$7,300
111LionelSabab$7,300
112JohnnyLandreth$7,300
113ChadHimmelspach$7,300
114BorisKravets$7,300
115TonySinishtaj$7,300
116ZacharyVuong$7,300
117DanaCaruso$7,300
118TamasLendvai$7,300
119AllenKessler$7,300
120ConnorRash$7,300
121DorianRios$6,750
122Christopher Frank$6,750
123JustinZaki$6,750
124TonyDunst$6,750
125RafaelFarah Jarufe$6,750
126AaronGunn$6,750
127AaronThivyanathan$6,750
128EliasNassif$6,750
129MichaelHooper$6,750
130NatashaMercier$6,750
131ScottRobbins$6,750
132PaulBalzano$6,750
133ChristopherBarton$6,750
134EthanYau$6,750
135ConradDe Armas$6,750
136Taylorvon Kriegenbergh$6,750
137DavidGillen$6,300
138MattheDavenport$6,300
139CaseyHatmaker$6,300
140EricSiegel$6,300
141DmitrySavelyev$6,300
142JosephCheong$6,300
143RyanRivers$6,300
144JohnMcDonald$6,300
145OnielMcCalla$6,300
146RyanRiess$6,300
147MikeChiappetta$6,300
148PaulSnead$6,300
149JeremyDrobushevich$6,300
150RayQartomy$6,300
151ByronKaverman$6,300
152TomGottlieb$6,300
153MichaelYehudai$5,950
154AlbertNguyen$5,950
155RogenChhabra$5,950
156DavidNathaniel Jr.$5,950
157DavidMcGowan$5,950
158JosephRossi$5,950
159T.K.Miles$5,950
160OsmanHadziosmanovic$5,950
161RobertLofaso$5,950
162EricYanovsky$5,950
163DonniePhan$5,950
164NicholasCarballo$5,950
165NohadTeliani$5,950
166DanielRezaei$5,950
167ShivaDudani$5,950
168TonyCousineau$5,950
169LannyVaysman$5,700
170SheldonGross$5,700
171RyanColton$5,700
172MichaelJozoff$5,700
173JohnHewett Fauver$5,700
174KevinMoynihan$5,700
175SantiagoSoriano Ramos$5,700
176BrandonCaputo$5,700
177EliyahuFriedman$5,700
178JaspalBrar$5,700
179ScottHeligman$5,700
180MichaelWang$5,700
181KahlilFrancis$5,600
182AdamCalabrese$5,600
183JebharPatterson$5,600
184JeremyAusmus$5,600
185RobertFrench$5,600
186MarcEvanier$5,600
187KevinOakes$5,600
188YashveenMudireddy$5,600
189DonaldDelancy$5,600
190ScottDavis$5,600
191RicardoEyzaguirre$5,600
192LandonTice$5,600
193FrankRiccordino$5,600

Championship: Andrew Wilson Wins! ($785,800); Josh Kay Finishes as Runner-Up ($525,000)

$3,500 WPT RRPO Championship
$2,000,000 Guaranteed | Payouts | Live Stream
Level 35:  300,000/600,000 with a 600,000 ante
Players Remaining:  1 of 1,541

Andrew Wilson
WPT Rock ‘n’ Roll Poker Open Champion Andrew Wilson

Josh Kay raised from the small blind to 2,200,000 with 8s7h, Andrew Wilson reraised to 7,000,000 with KhKd, and Kay thought for a while before he called.

The flop came 10h7d4c, Wilson bet 6,500,000, Kay moved all in for 24,300,000, and Wilson snap-called with his KhKd. Wilson turned over his 8s7h for a pair of sevens, and he needed to improve to stay alive.

The turn card was the Qd, the river card was the 2s, and Wilson won the pot — and the WPT title — with pocket kings.

Josh Kay finished as the runner-up, earning $525,000.

Andrew Wilson won the WPT Rock ‘n’ Roll Poker Open, earning $785,800. Wilson will get his name engraved on the one-and-only Mike Sexton WPT Champions Cup alongside every other WPT champion from all 20 seasons of the World Poker Tour. Wilson will also receive a $10,400 seat into the season-ending WPT World Championship, which begins in about a week in Las Vegas.

Congratulations to Andrew Wilson!

1st:  Andrew Wilson  –  $785,800 + $10,400 WPT World Championship seat
2nd:  Josh Kay  –  $525,000
3rd:  Chad Eveslage  –  $390,000
4th:  Brian Altman  –  $290,000
5th:  Gediminas Uselis  –  $219,000
6th:  Robel Andemichael  –  $167,000

Josh Kay
Runner-Up Josh Kay

Championship: Josh Kay Doubles Up; Andrew Wilson Still Leads 2-to-1

$3,500 WPT RRPO Championship
$2,000,000 Guaranteed | Payouts | Live Stream
Level 35:  300,000/600,000 with a 600,000 ante
Players Remaining:  2 of 1,541

Josh Kay
Josh Kay

Andrew Wilson moved all in from the small blind with 2s2h, and Josh Kay called all in for 12,800,000 with Kd7h. Kay needed to improve to stay alive.

The board came KsQs8d5hJd, and Kay paired his king on the flop to win the pot and double up in chips, cutting Wilson’s lead to about 2-to-1.

Josh Kay  –  26,200,000  (44 bb)
Andrew Wilson  –  50,800,000  (85 bb)

And here are the remaining payouts:

1st:  $785,800 + $10,400 WPT World Championship seat
2nd:  $525,000

Championship: Andrew Wilson Leads 5-to-1 Over Josh Kay at the Break

$3,500 WPT RRPO Championship
$2,000,000 Guaranteed | Payouts | Live Stream
Level 35:  300,000/600,000 with a 600,000 ante
Players Remaining:  2 of 1,541

Andrew Wilson
Andrew Wilson

Level 34 came to an end, and the players took a 10-minute break. When they return, the blinds will increase to 300,000-600,000 with a 600,000 ante.

Here are the official chip counts from the break:

Andrew Wilson  –  64,800,000  (108 bb)
Josh Kay  –  12,200,000  (20 bb)

And here are the final table payouts:

1st:  $785,800 + $10,400 WPT World Championship seat
2nd:  $525,000

3rd:  Chad Eveslage  –  $390,000
4th:  Brian Altman  –  $290,000
5th:  Gediminas Uselis  –  $219,000
6th:  Robel Andemichael  –  $167,000

Championship: Andrew Wilson Doubles Thru Josh Kay on the River to Take a 4-to-1 Lead

$3,500 WPT RRPO Championship
$2,000,000 Guaranteed | Payouts | Live Stream
Level 34:  300,000/500,000 with a 500,000 ante
Players Remaining:  2 of 1,541

Andrew Wilson
Andrew Wilson

Josh Kay raised from the small blind to 2,700,000 with Kc7h, Andrew Wilson reraised to 6,500,000 with 9h9d, and Kay called.

Both players checked to the river on a board of AdQd10c2s9c. Wilson checked, Kay moved all in, and Wilson snap-called all in for about 25,000,000 with 9h9d for a rivered set of nines.

Kay showed his Kc7h for king high, and Wilson won the pot with his set to double up in chips.

Andrew Wilson  –  62,500,000  (125 bB)
Josh Kay  –  14,500,000  (29 bb)

And here are the remaining payouts:

1st:  $785,800 + $10,400 WPT World Championship seat
2nd:  $525,000

Championship: Josh Kay Doubles Thru Andrew Wilson on the River to Take the Lead

$3,500 WPT RRPO Championship
$2,000,000 Guaranteed | Payouts | Live Stream
Level 33:  200,000/400,000 with a 400,000 ante
Players Remaining:  2 of 1,541

Josh Kay
Josh Kay

Andrew Wilson completed the small blind to 400,000 with 10d8h, Josh Kay raised from the big blind to 2,200,000 with Ad2d, and Wilson called.

The flop came Ah7h3c, Kay bet 1,600,000, and Wilson called.

The turn card was the 4d, Kay checked, Wilson bet 5,800,000, and Kay called.

The river card was the 6c, Kay checked, and Wilson used one of his Time Chips to tank for nearly a minute before he moved all in.

Kay thought for a while before he called all in for 13,200,000 with Ad2d for a pair of aces. Wilson turned over 10d8h for a ten-high bluff, and Kay won the pot to double up in chips.

Josh Kay  –  46,000,000  (115 bb)
Andrew Wilson  –  31,000,000  (78 bb)

And here are the remaining payouts:

1st:  $785,800 + $10,400 WPT World Championship seat
2nd:  $525,000

Championship: Josh Kay Doubles Thru Andrew Wilson Again; Kay Up to 59 Big Blinds

$3,500 WPT RRPO Championship
$2,000,000 Guaranteed | Payouts | Live Stream
Level 33:  200,000/400,000 with a 400,000 ante
Players Remaining:  2 of 1,541

Josh Kay
Josh Kay

Andrew Wilson completed the small blind to 400,000, Josh Kay moved all in for 11,600,000, and Wilson used one of his Time Chips to tank for a while before he called with Kc9c.

Kay turned over Kh10c, and needed it to hold to stay alive.

The board came Qh4h3c7s8h, and Kay won the pot with his ten kicker to double up in chips.

Kay was down 10-to-1 in chips, but he is right back in the mix with a deep stack of 59 big blinds.

Josh Kay  –  23,600,000  (59 bb)
Andrew Wilson  –  53,400,000  (134 bb)

And here are the remaining payouts:

1st:  $785,800 + $10,400 WPT World Championship seat
2nd:  $525,000

Championship: Josh Kay Doubles Thru Andrew Wilson

$3,500 WPT RRPO Championship
$2,000,000 Guaranteed | Payouts | Live Stream
Level 33:  200,000/400,000 with a 400,000 ante
Players Remaining:  2 of 1,541

Josh Kay
Josh Kay

Josh Kay limped from the small blind for 400,000, Andrew Wilson raised from the big blind to 1,300,000, and Kay moved all in for 5,800,000.

Wilson quickly called with Ah5h, and Kay turned over 8s8d. Kay needed his hand to hold to stay alive.

The board came 9d6d2h5dQc, and Wilson paired his five on the turn to pick up additional outs, but improved no further. Kay won the pot with his pocket eights to double up in chips.

Josh Kay  –  12,000,000  (30 bb)
Andrew Wilson  –  65,000,000  (163 bb)

And here are the remaining payouts:

1st:  $785,800 + $10,400 WPT World Championship seat
2nd:  $525,000

Championship: All In and a Chop

$3,500 WPT RRPO Championship
$2,000,000 Guaranteed | Payouts | Live Stream
Level 33:  200,000/400,000 with a 400,000 ante
Players Remaining:  2 of 1,541

Andrew Wilson limped in from the button, Josh Kay raised all in for 6,200,000 from the big blind, and Wilson called after a few moments.

Kay:  Jc8h
Wilson:  QhJh

The board ran out 7d6d6hAc7h, giving both players the same sevens and sixes with an ace kicker to chop the pot.

Andrew Wilson  –  70,600,000  (177 bb)
Josh Kay  –  6,400,000  (16 bb)

Championship: Andrew Wilson Wins a Big Pot to Take a 10-to-1 Chip Lead Into a Break

$3,500 WPT RRPO Championship
$2,000,000 Guaranteed | Payouts | Live Stream
Level 33:  200,000/400,000 with a 400,000 ante
Players Remaining:  2 of 1,541

Andrew Wilson
Andrew Wilson

Andrew Wilson raised from the small blind to 700,000 with 5s4s, and Josh Kay called with 8d5c.

The flop came 9c5d4c, Kay checked, Wilson bet 1,300,000, and Kay check-raised to 3,700,000. Wilson called.

The turn card was the 7c, and both players check.

The river card was the 10s, Kay checked, Wilson bet 5,000,000, and Kay used at least one Time Chip to tank for a long time before he called with his 8d5c for a pair of fives.

But Wilson turned over his 5s4s to win the pot with two pair, fives and fours, knocking Kay down to 23 big blinds.

That was the last hand of Level 32, and here are the official chip counts heading into Level 33, with blinds of 200,000-400,000:

Andrew Wilson  –  70,000,000  (175 bb)
Josh Kay  –  7,000,000  (18 bb)

And here are the remaining payouts:

1st:  $785,800 + $10,400 WPT World Championship seat
2nd:  $525,000