Paur wins $1,000 No-Limit Hold'em title, $340,260 at WSOP

One of the wildest and most entertaining final tables in recent memory took place at the Rio All-Suites Hotel & Casino in Las Vegas when Taylor Paur, a 24-year old professional poker player from El Dorado Hills, Calif., dominated play during much of the final day and ended up winning his first WSOP gold bracelet and $340,260.

However, the real story of this tournament wasn't just the destination, but rather the journey to get there, which included an absolutely riveting conclusion.

Paur was pretty much coasting along during most of the final table. Most of the crowd was in speculation mode about who would finish as the runner-up, since the winner seemed a foregone conclusion. Yet Roy Weiss wasn't about to concede defeat.

Weiss played a brilliant strategy. It didn't work. That said, Weiss put Paur to the test and came up with what must be considered to be a masterful countermeasure versus a dangerously skilled, more experienced opponent.

Weiss, making his first WSOP in-the-money finish, seemed to conclude that he wasn't going to outplay Paur, acknowledged as an online savant with far more tournament experience. There's no shame in admitting a skill disadvantage and so Weiss, in a bold counter-strategy, decided to bombard his opponent with an all-out, take-no-prisoners approach that put Paur to the supreme test and made for a wildly entertaining finale.

Each time Weiss had what he considered to be a playable hand, he jammed. Paur reacted with a mix of shock, confusion, and at times – his own hyper-aggression. The heads-up duel became a dog fight between two fearless players who acted as though they had nothing to lose.

"I have never seen anything like it," said Paur. "I can't imagine anyone just going all in every single hand. I could not believe it. We came back from dinner and before that he was not even raising, except on the button. Then, all the sudden he's raising and moving all in. I said, 'Oh, so this is how he's going to play.' It was a bit of a surprise."

In the end, Paur prevailed. However, Weiss deserves more than just a passing reference for his part in a fabulously entertaining finale. It might not have been Weiss' intent to provide entertainment for the crowd, nor the thousands watching on the live stream. Yet, he deserves just as much of the credit for making what was a wonderfully memorable match.

Weiss collected $211,794 for second place, while Tai Nguyen was third for $147,220 and Alexander Barlow was fourth for $106,027. DJ Mackinnon (fifth), Phillip Hui (sixth), Daniel Idema (seventh), Ryan Austin (eighth) and Kyle Cartwright (ninth) also made the final table.

Phil Ivey, a nine-time gold bracelet winner, finished 14th, and Men “The Master” Nguyen, who ranks second on the all-time WSOP cashes list, finished 85th for his 77th career WSOP cash.

Tournament report modified from a report by WSOP Media Director Nolan Dalla, reprinted by permission.