WPT Champions Club Member Griffin Paul Wins WPT500 Los Angeles

Griffin Paul (pictured) topped a field of 2,310 entries to win the WPT500 Los Angeles Main Event on Sunday at Gardens Casino. The Southern California native took home the top prize of $174,850, and trophies from both the World Poker Tour and Gardens Casino. His career earnings now stand at $1,668,767. Paul also joined Craig Varnell as the only other WPT Champions Club member to also win a WPT500 title.

“It feels great, but I approach both tournaments the same. I just play poker and see what happens,” said Paul when he was asked about how it felt to win a WPT500 and a WPT Main Tour event, and if he has different approaches to the different events.

“I think at the final table I started with the most in chips, but it was pretty close. I didn’t really have too many setbacks, it was all pretty smooth. Bradley ended up winning a couple of big pots, and he had a ton of chips, and we ended up going back and forth, and then slowly these other guys got knocked out,” said Paul about his journey through the final table.

“It was a long day, I’m pretty tired, but the adrenaline kicked in. It’s very tough staying focused, but I just try and breath and relax,” said Paul when he was asked about keeping his composure during the long WPT500 tournament days.

WPT500 Los Angeles Final Table Results
1st: Griffin Paul – $174,850
2nd: Bradley Hinson – $109,935
3rd: Hoang Le – $81,125
4th: Tim Tang – $60,510
5th: Huy Lam – $45,630
6th: Einav Shalom – $34,790
7th: Jaideep Sajwan – $26,820
8th: Andrew Wisdom – $20,910
9th: Matthew Witjas – $16,490

Action started out fast at the final table that started late on Sunday night. Matthew Witjas was eliminated in ninth place just minutes into play, and then Andrew Wisdom (eighth place) and Jaideep Sajwan (seventh place) were eliminated on the same hand.

The final female standing Einav Shalom was the next to fall a short time later in sixth place, and then it was Huy Lam who hit the rail in fifth place. The first and only double up at the final table was scored by Hoang Le a short time later.

The elimination of Tim Tang in fourth place kept the action moving before the first break in play. It wasn’t too long after play resumed before Le hit the rail in third place. That set up a final battle between Griffin Paul (31,550,000) and Bradley Hinson (14,575,000).

On the final hand, Hinson limped the button for 300,000 and Paul checked his option in the big blind.

The flop landed  and Paul checked to Hinson who bet 300,000. Paul called, and when the turn landed the , he led out for 1,200,000.

Hinson called, and the river landed the . Paul bet 3,700,000, and Hinson responded by moving all in for 10,700,000. Once the count was confirmed by the dealer for Paul, he called.

Hinson tabled his  for a busted flush draw, and Paul tabled his  for two pair to win the pot and he eliminated Hinson in second place for a $109,935 payday. Paul is the WPT500 Los Angeles champion, good for $174,850.

Congratulations to our new WPT500 champion – Griffin Paul!

That concludes our live coverage of the WPT500 Los Angeles Main Event. The WPT Main Tour will be back at Gardens Casino on Thursday for the WPT Gardens Poker Championship. Tune back in at that time to follow along with the tournament in live updates, chip counts, photos, and video from Southern California.