The 2022 World Series of Poker (WSOP) has concluded and Pennsylvania’s Benjamin Kaupp has secured the final bracelet after taking down the Tournament of Champions for a career-best $250,000. Kaupp, who takes home his first bracelet, defeated Raul Garza after a brief heads-up battle to resign the runner-up to a $150,000 conslation prize.
The Tournament of Champions was exclusively available to the 570 bracelet and Circuit ring winners from the 2022 WSOP season. A total of 470 players entered the freeroll in an attempt to win a piece of the $1,000,000 prize pool.
Kaupp qualified for the Tournament of Champions after winning a $215 WSOP.com PA Circuit event for $14,954. He now takes home more than 15 times that as he adds a second piece of WSOP hardware to his arsenal.
“It doesn’t feel real yet. It just hasn’t sunk in quite yet. Before this tournament (started), I was going to be just happy to cash.”
“I’ve just been grinding online for the last couple of years, taking it pretty seriously,” he said. “I play a lot of the Circuit events online … I didn’t really play poker for a while until the last couple of years when it was legal in Pennsylvania again.”
WSOP Tournament of Champions Final Table Results
| PLACE | PLAYER | COUNTRY | PRIZE (IN USD) | |
| 1 | Benjamin Kaupp | United States | $250,000 | |
| 2 | Raul Garza | United States | $150,000 | |
| 3 | Ryan Messick | United States | $100,000 | |
| 4 | Robert Cowen | United Kingdom | $75,000 | |
| 5 | Ali Eslami | United States | $50,000 | |
| 6 | Gregory Wish | United States | $37,500 | |
| 7 | Yuliyan Kolev | Bulgaria | $27,500 | |
| 8 | Eric Bensimhon | France | $20,000 | |
| 9 | Gianluca Speranza | Italy | $15,000 | |
| 10 | Jonathan Woof | Canada | $11,400 |
