Through Amanda Botfeld's contest, PokerNews live reporter Liam Gannon won a seat into the upcoming, historic WPT World Championship at Wynn, the first ever $15 million guaranteed prize pool.
Gannon, a 23-year-old from the Chicago area, just might be the biggest poker fan in the world, and he's also one of our hardest working reporters. He first began live reporting at the 2021 World Series of Poker only a few years removed from high school. Since then, he's covered some of the biggest events in poker ... often in a suit or leather jacket.
Young Reporter Wins Contest
The poker enthusiast said he's "beyond grateful to have this opportunity" to compete in the $10,400 buy-in World Poker Tour event. He first submitted a video to Botfeld as part of a WPT Global contest.
Botfeld then chose the best deserving, and there were many great choices, and the winner was Gannon, who will receive a free seat into the WPT World Championship in December at the Wynn Resort in Las Vegas.
"There were so many great stories to highlight in this giveaway and I am extremely honored to get this seat thanks to Amanda and WPT Global," Gannon said.
Although he's just 23 years removed from the womb, the contest winner isn't exactly a newbie to the game of poker.
"I learned about poker as a golf caddy at LaGrange Country club when I was 14 years old," he explained. "This older kid named Jack Walsh actually kinda motivated me to get better at poker and by the time I was 16, I had started watching all poker content. I played my first poker tournament when I was 18 at Chicago Charitable Games."
What the Future Holds
While Gannon builds his professional resume, he's also taking undergraduate courses at College of DuPage, a small college in the Chicagoland area. He explained that he's working toward getting an associate's degree and plans to eventually transfer to a four-year program.
"Whatever my future holds, poker will be involved in some capacity. To what extent I am not sure, but I am certain I will remain in this world," Gannon said.
Although he isn't certain what he'll be doing in a decade, it's clear, as he said, that his path will in some way lead in the direction of the poker industry. His focus is on the now, and more specifically competing in the biggest poker contest of his life, and he's "never been so excited" for a tournament.
"I think of all of those late night streams I stayed up to watch of all of these $10,000 main events from around the world. Even just to be around tournaments with such huge prizes made me so ecstatic, but now to be playing it, my year has been made. It’s beyond epic and I’m thankful I have friends down there who will also be down there. I’m going to need to do more studying than I have ever done in my life to prepare for this tournament."
He won't be just competing for life-changing money in December. He'll be competing against some of the best players in the world. The World Poker Tour always attracts top pros, but this event, given the $15 million prize pool at stake, will likely bring out all the heavy hitters to Las Vegas.
As any experienced live reporter understands, tournament poker isn't easy, especially against tough competition. But he's confident in his abilities on the felt.
"I can’t be upset no matter what happens from this day forth," Gannon said of his upcoming WPT challenge. "I’m going to work hard to get better at my game and then play the tournament. Of course I would love to cash and then run deep(and I think I will), but no matter what happens, I’m just happy to be playing the biggest tournament I’ve ever playing. The experience and the love I’ve felt in this situation is worth a lot to me, even as epic as this WPT is."
As for why he shows up for his live reporting gigs dressed to the nines, he isn't a fan of hoodies and said he's "always enjoyed the suit and tie aesthetic."
We wish Liam the best in the WPT World Championship, but don't win too much money that you'll no longer need a job as a live reporter!
