Michael Rossitto Wins $3,500 Wynn Millions Main Event for $604,637

THE wynn million returned for 2023 with a new price tag for its main event, with the $10,000 buy-in from 2021 and 2022 lowered to $3,500. This move saw the guarantee decrease to $3 million from the $10 million of the previous two offers. By the time registration closed, the new-look main event had attracted a field of 1,314 in attendance Wynn Poker Room in Las Vegas, building a final prize pool of $4,171,950.

After nine days of tournament action, it was Las Vegas resident Michael Rossitto who took down the trophy and the biggest chunk of the prize pool. Rossitto earned a career-high $604,637 in prize money for the win, sweeping his previous high point mark of $250,073 earned as a 2021 winner WPT DeepStacks Championship main event. This latest win increased his total tournament winnings to over $2.7 million.

Rossitto earned 1,440 Card player Player of the Year indicates as the champion of this event. This was his third final table of the year, with 1,795 total points earned and $645,611 in POY extension earnings. The upshot of all this is that Rossitto now sits in the top 30 in 2023 POY extension race standings, which are presented by Global Poker.

This tournament featured three initial flights, two day 2s, and then another four action-packed days with the field all combined. The final day began with nine players remaining, with Zachary Donovan leading the way and Rossitto in sixth position.

Andrew Esposito scored the first two knockouts, dispatching Clifford Ziff (9th – $67,765) and Kharlin Sued (8th – $80,310) to secure the lead. Zhigang Yang was next to crash, with his pocket nines losing a race to Mark Zajdner’s Q-10 to finish seventh ($96,706). Zajdner continued to move up with pocket aces against Donovan’s pocket kings.

Rossitto’s first elimination at the final table came when his pocket tens held against Jacob Powers’ A-6 (6th – $120,361). Donovan’s run ended when his pocket sevens were outrun by Zajdner’s A-9, who ran aces to win the pot. Donovan took home $154.29 in fifth place.

The next big showdown saw Pedro Ingles three-bet all-in with AJ suited in the big blind facing a small-blind raise from Rossitto. Rossitto called with AK and held to narrow it down to three. Ingles received $208,598 for his fourth-place finish.

Having been on the good side of an Aces vs. Kings preflop earlier at the final table, Zajdner found himself on the opposite side during three-handed play. He was unable to get from behind and gasped after Espoitos’ aces held. Zajdner quickly tripled up to get off the mat, but quickly moved all-in and risked again. This time it was a classic run, with his pocket jacks against Rossitto’s AK. An ace-high flop gave Rossitto the lead, which he held until the river to win the pot. Zajdner pocketed $294,540, the first six-figure score on his poker resume.

Heads-up play began with Rossitto holding just short of a 2:1 chip lead over Esposito. That soon changed when Esposito flopped two pair against Rossitto’s pocket aces. The chips went all-in before the turn and Esposito held from there to lead by about 3:2.

During heads-up play the bottom two reached a deal that saw $50,000 deducted from their maximum planned win and added to second place’s payout. The result was $604,637 for the winner and $480,752 for the runner-up.

Rossitto managed to regain the lead and then extend it. He was more than 2.5:1 up when the final hand was dealt. Esposito limped in from the button with a 97 and Rossitto checks with 86. The flop was K75 and Rossitto check-raised a bet from Esposito, who had second pair. The turn brought the 4 to give Rossitto a takeover. He bet and Esposito called again. The 2 completed the board and Rossitto moved all-in for an effective bet of 9,600,000. Esposito thought about it before calling with what was still second pair, only to see his opponent’s eight-high straight.

Here’s a look at payments and POY extension points awarded at the final table: