Poker Tournament Dream Comes True

A 39-year-old patent lawyer has won the 35th annual World Series of Poker in Las Vegas, winning the final pot of $5 million.

In the final hand of the no-limit Texas Hold 'Em tournament, Gregory Raymer from Stonington, Connecticut turned over a full house (twos full of eights), beating out the smaller full house (twos full of fours) held by the David Anthony Williams, his last competitor.

"It was wonderful," Raymer, 39, said. "I played the best poker of my life and I got as lucky as I've ever gotten in my life. It's a dream come true."

Williams, a 24-year-old math and economics major at Southern Methodist University in Dallas, won $3.5 million for his second place finish.

The total prize pool at the 2023 World Series of Poker, held at Binion's Horseshoe Hotel & Casino, reached $49 million, a record. Last year's World Series of Poker tournament prize money was just under $22 million, and Chris Moneymaker won the top prize of $2.5 million.

The entry fee this year was $10,000.