Tyler Payne Outlasts 387 Runners to Win the 2022 bestbet Winter Open Main Event ($140,058)

Tyler Payne of Fayetteville, North Carolina beat Raymond Leone heads-up to win the $2,000 Main Event in the 2022 Winter Open at bestbet Jacksonville. The culminating event of the popular winter series attracted 387 runners to generate a $692,730 prize pool, from which Payne claimed $140,058 for the win.

It was the biggest score of Payne’s poker career and the win brought his career earnings to just shy of $400,000. Leone finished in second for $96,369, and Adam Wells was the bronze medalist after staying out of the way for most of the afternoon to ladder up to a $68,574 payday.

2022 Winter Open $2,000 Main Event Final Table Results

Place	Name	Hometown	Prize
1	Tyler Payne	Fayetteville, North Carolina	$140,058
2	Raymond Leone	Charleston, South Carolina	$96,369
3	Adam Wells	Tallahassee, Florida	$68,574
4	Ryan Hohner	South Plainfield, New Jersey	$50,986
5	Gavin Munroe	Montgomery, Alabama	$38,383
6	David Dibernardi	Youngstown, Ohio	$29,292
7	Matt Mauldin	Columbia, South Carolina	$22,595
8	Warren Sheaves	Asheville, North Carolina	$17,673

Winner’s Reaction

Payne began playing poker around the age of 18, and he quickly discovered the range of skills required to be successful. He studied early and often, looking for ways to master the game.

But the lion’s share of credit, he says, goes to his wife and young son. Payne’s son turns two years old in just a few days, and he’s excited to get home and share the win with his family.

“If support won these tournaments, I would have a lot more,” Payne said in his post-win interview. “They’re my biggest fans.”

The champ will spend some time enjoying the win, but he’s just as excited to get back to the felt with his newly minted bankroll.

“I’ll be at the WSOP this Summer,” he says about his near-future.

As for the WSOP Main Event?

“It’s more than likely at this point.”

Final Table Highlights

Payne fell behind early, but quickly chipped back into the lead when he spiked the river for a full house and left Gavin Munroe with crumbs. Munroe turned it around right away with a double through Warren Sheaves that left Sheaves on the ropes.

It wasn't long before Sheaves hit the rail in eighth place after he ran his king-ten into the pocket queens of Payne.

The eliminations picked up at a brisk pace, and Matt Mauldin was out next when he couldn't improve his suited queen-nine against Payne's ace-queen. David Dibernardi was happy to see two players eliminated before him, and he quickly found a double through Munroe before Wells left him on the ropes. Dibernardi was finally eliminated in sixth place when he shoved with king-six and got called by Well's ace-seven.

Munroe found his spot with ace-jack, but he was out in fifth place when Payne woke up with pocket nines and Munroe couldn't hit his overcards. Payne continued his torrid streak of eliminated with Ryan Hohner, who hit the rail in fourth when his king-jack couldn't catch up to pocket sixes.

Wells was the remaining short stack, and it wasn't long before he found a chance to shove with ace-queen. Unfortunately, Payne had ace-king, and the champ's streak of successful run outs continued as Wells hit the payout window in third place.

2022 bestbet Winter Open Main Event runner-up Raymond Leone

It was down to Leone and Payne, and Payne held the lead thanks to his string of knockouts. Heads-up play continued for nearly a level, but the big moment came when Leone bluff-shoved with king-jack and sent Payne into the tank. After several minutes, Payne looked up Leone with a pair of aces and sealed the tournament victory. It was a fast final table that wrapped up play in just three hours.

The conclusion of the Main Event officially wraps up a very successful 2022 Winter Open at bestbet Jacksonville. Here are the results from the other 10 events:

2022 Winter Open Results

Event	Entries	Winner	Hometown	Prize
Event #1: $560 NLH	740	Daniel Kusnerak	Newton, North Carolina	$62,223
Event #2: $260 H.O.R.S.E.	80	Neill McNeill	Charlotte, North Carolina	$1,127*
Event #3: $360 NLH w/ $100 Bounties	228	Lisa Buck	Orange Park, Florida	$6,794*
Event #4: $160 NLH	179	Mark Marcellus	Jacksonville, Florida	$5,338
Event #5: $360 Monster Stack	238	Casey Jarzabek	Thorold, Ontario, Canada	$13,324
Event #6: $260 NLH Turbo w/ $50 Bounties	94	Jarrod Stokes	Lake City, Florida	$3,146*
Event #7: $320 NLH Ladies Event	64	Aja Owens	St. Augustine, Florida	$3,009*
Event #8: $1,000 NLH	163	Tony Boas	Jacksonville, Florida	$34,304
Event #9: $360 Pot-Limit Omaha	63	Daquon Wilson	Charleston, South Carolina	$5,150*
Event #10: The bestbet 500	200	Michael Jagroo	Orlando, Florida	$20,035
*- Denotes chop deal