The World Series of Poker is held every summer in Las Vegas at the Rio All Suite Hotel & Casino. The event consists of several tournaments, the most prestigious of which is known as the Main Event It is actually a $10,000 buy in No Limit Texas Hold ‘Em tournament. In 2018, 7,874 players entered the field and over a period of 10 days dropped out one by one till only one player remained.

This was John Cynn, aged 33, from Indianapolis. He battled Tony Miles in the heads-up to win poker's world championship, $8.8 million in cash and the coveted WSOP bracelet. The one-to-one contest between Cynn and Miles lasted 199 hands and almost 10½ hours. It set the record for the most hands played heads-up to close out a WSOP main event. This year also set the record for the most total hands at a WSOP Main Event final table with 442 hands.

The final hand saw an interesting battle. Cynn raised to 9 million with Kc-Jc before the flop. Miles reraised to 34 million with Qc-8h and Cynn called. The flop came down as Kh-Kd-5h. Miles bet 32 million and Cynn called. When the turn showed 8d turn, Miles went all-in for 114 million. After thinking for a minute, Cynn dropped in his chips to indicate a call, and it was all over.

Cynn acknowledged that the prize money would be life changing. He said, “…practically, it's going to make things a lot easier -- things I want to do in life ... even to my parents, this is money that they never could've imagined.” But he added that the money will not change who he is as a person. Cynn pointed out that he does not need the money to be happy. This is something that all online casino players, and in fact all gamers, need to take note of. Enjoy playing and do not stake your happiness on winning big.

Nine players make the final table. Antoine Labat, who finished ninth, took home $1 million. Tony Miles in second place won $5 million. Among the notable players in the final table was Joe Cada, the winner of the 2009 WSOP Main Event. He added $2.15 million to the $8.57 million he won as the champion.

There are two other milestones that are generally recorded in the WSOP Main Event. The first is the last woman standing. Kelly Minkin won that honour after being eliminated in the 50th place. The last person to be in the cash was Dave Straus who finished 1182.