Bill Hays & Lucky Linc Looking for Big Payday at Next Week's WPT World Championship
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The World Poker Tour (WPT) Season 20 culminates at Wynn Las Vegas with its $10,400 buy-in, $15 million GTD WPT World Championship from December 12-20.
A tournament of this size with a $15 million dollar guarantee will attract its fair share of high-profile poker players, and will also be a televised event. Its field will also be filled with satellite winners and qualifiers as the Wynn, WPT, and ClubWPT have all been running special promotions awarding passports and entries into the championship tournament.
ClubWPT awarded its final qualifier a passport into the championship on November 13th. The winner of each satellite won a $12,000 Passport to the WPT World Championship. The passport included the tournament buy-in, as well as a hotel and travel stipend.
Click here to see a list of qualifier and satellite opportunities!
76-Year-Old Bill Hays Making His Way from Tennessee
Back on June 5, William “Bill” Hays became the fourth player to win a seat into the WPT World Championship via ClubWPT. The 76-year-old from Jackson, Tennessee is married with two grown children and is the process of selling his janitorial and a temp service companies. The hope is then to move to the Gulf Coast.
“I play poker several times a month at the Horseshoe Casino in Tunica, Mississippi,” Hays told PokerNews. “I have been a Diamond Member of ClubWPT for about two years and enjoy the site very much.”
Now, Hays will look to follow in the footsteps of another famous Tennessean who turned a satellite entry into a big payday in Las Vegas – 2003 WSOP champ Chris Moneymaker!
Dan “Lucky Linc” Lincoln is Checking Two Things Off His Bucket List
On August 14, 60-year-old Dan Lincoln of Bridgewater, Massachusetts won his seat to the WPT World Championship by playing on ClubWPT.
One of seven boys, Lincoln graduated from West Bridgewater High School in 1981 and currently works in a commercial HVAC company.
“I have a girlfriend of over 30 years her name is Donna,” Lincoln told PokerNews. “They call me ‘Lucky Linc’ because been lucky in life.”
Lucky Lin began playing poker as a teenager with his six brothers and other friends. He’s been a member of ClubWPT for five years.
“I do well at ClubWPT,” he said. “I receive checks regularly from them.”
Despite his success online, he’s never been to Las Vegas, which he says is on his bucket list. In fact, so is playing in a WPT Main Event, meaning he gets to check two things off in one fell swoop.
“I have played in a few local tournaments and done well. I won a seat in this year’s WSOP Main Event, which is one of my biggest accomplishments.”
As for poker pros he’d like to meet, Lincoln mentions Phil Hellmuth, Doyle Brunson, Vanessa Rousso, and Daniel Negreanu.
“But I would not like them on my table, at least not on the first day,” he clarified. “Let me get my feet wet first.”
Lincoln will be joined by one of his brothers in Vegas, who will hopefully cheer him all the way to victory!
Learn More About the Subscription-Based ClubWPT here!
ClubWPT Qualifiers Thus Far for WPT Wynn
| Date Qualifier | Player | City | State |
|---|---|---|---|
| 5/14/2022 | Drew Rautenberg | Medfield | MA |
| 5/28/2022 | Bruce Ramoth | Selawik | AK |
| 5/29/2022 | Quran Cruse | West Hartford | CT |
| 6/5/2022 | Bill Hays | Jackson | TN |
| 6/12/2022 | Anthony Greene | Penfield | NY |
| 6/19/2022 | Michael Ensey II | Gun Barrel | TX |
| 7/3/2022 | Jason Kilby | Wakeman | OH |
| 7/10/2022 | Philip Aleman | Staten Island | NY |
| 7/10/2022 | Kurt Carlson | Golden | CO |
| 7/17/2022 | Ronald "Tigar" Penepent | Cleveland | TN |
| 7/24/2022 | Sepideh Moghaddam | Bellaire | TX |
| 8/7/2022 | Joseph Giannone | Citrus Heights | CA |
| 8/14/2022 | Dan Lincoln | West Bridgewater | MA |
| 8/28/2022 | William Haines | Superior | CO |
| 8/28/2022 | Albert Cohen | Mount Dora | FL |
| 9/4/2022 | Richard Jaros | North Anson | ME |
| 9/11/2022 | Mike Robinson | Lone Star | TX |
| 9/18/2022 | Timothy Robins | Lincoln | NE |
| 9/25/2022 | Stacey Breslin | Lakemoor | IL |
| 10/2/2022 | Jerry Tucker | Florence | KY |
| 10/9/2022 | Charles Ralston | Hot Springs | AR |
| 10/16/2022 | Joseph DiTommaso | Concord | NH |
| 10/23/2022 | Bob Bacon | Overgaard | AZ |
| 10/30/2022 | Richard Hill | Paso Robles | CA |
| 10/31/2022 | Mark Symons | Byron Center | MI |
| 11/6/2022 | Steve Hohn | Fort Worth | TX |
| 11/13/2022 | Peter Espitia | Los Angeles | CA |
The televised WPT World Championship at Wynn Las Vegas main event takes place at Wynn Las Vegas and is the culmination of a larger multi-tournament festival that runs December 1-20, 2022. Click here for more details on the Wynn Winter Open.
Did You Know the World Poker Tour is Online?
The launch of WPT Global means that poker players around the world now have the chance to win their way to WPT events, win prizes and enjoy exciting games such as Poker Flips. As one of the world's largest cash game poker networks, WPT Global is available in over 50 countries and territories around the world.
WPT Global offers a large deposit match bonus: 100% on deposits up to $1,200 (using any payment method). New players depositing a minimum of $20 automatically receive this match bonus which is unlocked in $5 increments (credited straight to the cashier) for every $20 of rake contribution.
Both tournaments and cash games count towards bonus unlocking; new players have 90 days from the date of first deposit to unlock and claim their full bonus amount.
Listen to more about the WPT World Championship on the new PokerNews Podcast!
*Images courtesy of Dan Lincoln.
