Jeremy Kottler Wins 2021 Wynn Fall Classic $3,500 Championship ($643,267)

On Tuesday, the Wynn Fall Classic $3,500 Championship reached its conclusion. The tournament, which offered a $3 million guarantee, drew a 1,775-entry field over three starting flights generating a $5,724,375 prize pool.

After three days of intense play, it was poker pro Jeremy Kottler claiming the title and $643,267 in prize money. Prior to the victory, Kottler had $1,675,372 in live tournament earnings according to The Hendon Mob. That included a prior career-best $251,968 for finishing fourth in the 2013 Borgata Poker Open $3,500 Main Event.

Kottler, who has an economics degree from The Ohio State University, is a WSOP Online Circuit gold ring winner and recently finished in 37th place for $12,062 in last month’s Wynn Fall Classic $2,200 Mystery Bounty.

2021 Wynn Fall Classic Final Table Results

Day 3 saw 33 players, each guaranteed $27,860 in prize money, return to action, which came at a fast and furious pace. Among those to hit the rail before the final table were Michael Gathy (32nd - $27,860), Alex Foxen (31st - $27,860), Stanley Lee (23rd - $31,704), Matt Waxman (20th - $41,420), Valerie Novak (19th - $41,420), Brian Hastings (18th - $41,420), Day 1a chip leader Naor Slobodskoy (13th - $63,268), and Joel Wadsworth Jr (10th - $73,518).

A full list of the payouts can be found in the payouts tab.

Final Table Action

The final table was a deep-stacked affair so it was no surprise that it took a cooler for the first bust out to occur. It happened when Florin Pandilica four-bet jammed with two black kings only to see Shachar Haran call and roll over two red aces. The superior pocket pair held and Pandilica was out in ninth place for $86,381.

Start-of-the-day chip leader Taus Lilius was the next to go after flopping aces and tens with a king kicker only to have Tommy Tran get him with trip tens. Lilius became the first player to take home a six-figure score with $102,352 thanks to his eighth-place finish.

Two-time bracelet winner and online poker legend Chris Moorman exited in seventh place after three-bet jamming with ace-three suited and failing to overcome Tran’s pocket sixes. That hand was really the start of Tran’s ascent, though in the very next hand it was someone else scoring a knockout.

It happened when Thomas Eychenne three-bet jammed his short stack with pocket nines only to have Nguyen, the original raiser, call with pocket jacks. The fishhooks held and Eychenne made his way to the payout desk in sixth place to collect $153,127.

Not long after, Chris Smith check-jammed a flopped diamond flush draw and Tran called with top pair. Smith, who back in September won the MSPT Sycuan Casino $360 Regional Event for $33,149, failed to connect and had to settle for fifth place and $196,466 in prize money.

At one point Tran had nearly 50 million of the 71 million chips in play and seemed to have things well in control while Kottler was the extreme short stack. Fate had other ideas for both players as one-by-one Tran’s opponents double and he became stuck in reverse. Near the end of his tournament, he lost a flip with pocket fives to Nguyen’s ace-king, and not long after Nguyen used the same hand to finish him off, this time against the inferior ace-ten.

The final three players then worked an ICM deal that saw them all lock up $500K but leave money to play for — $22,634 for third place, $50,000 for second, and $100,000 for the winner along with the trophy. At the time, Kottler had climbed out of his hole to hold a slight chip lead

Nguyen proceeded to double with aces to the nine of Haran, who bowed out in third place shortly thereafter for $532,110. That allowed Nguyen to take a small chip lead into heads-up play, which turned into a back-and-forth affair.

After a couple of hours, it came down to a flip with stacks nearly even. Nguyen held pocket sevens and Kottler Big Slick. An ace on the flop sealed the deal for Kottler and sent Nguyen back to Canada as the runner-up.

Remaining 2021 Wynn Fall Classic Schedule