WSOP Paradise Main Event Winners

When it comes to hosting some of the world’s biggest poker events, the World Series of Poker (WSOP) manages to hit a home run every single time. 

Every year it seems the WSOP ups its game, with lucrative guarantees and a wide range of tournament formats. 

While keeping the excitement and spirit of poker alive and kicking, the brand has also helped give birth to some of the most memorable moments and iconic players in the game. 

As poker enthusiasts from all over the world prepare themselves for the highly awaited summer event, we wanted to take a closer look at the December series introduced by the WSOP in 2023. 

Back in 2023, the WSOP held its inaugural WSOP Paradise event. With 15 bracelet events and over $50 million in guarantee, the poker fest quickly became a fan-favourite among players. 

Held at the Atlantis Paradise Island in the Bahamas, this was the winter event that drew in thousands of poker players to the island’s beachy shores. 

Due to the resounding success of the first edition of the series, WSOP Paradise returned for its second edition in December 2024.

As usual the highlight of the series was the Main Event and the winners of the past two years did not disappoint. 

Not only that, but due to the overwhelming response to the first one, WSOP decided to raise the stakes in 2024 and announced the $25,000 Super Main Event with a $50 million guarantee. So, let’s take a look at the players that have managed to take home the Main Event title.

We’re starting off with the first WSOP Paradise $5,000 Main Event winner, a title that went to Stanislav Zegal after he defeated Michael Sklenicka on the final table. 

For the German-born poker player, this was a massive accomplishment given that it was also his first WSOP bracelet. 

He emerged victorious after beating a sea of over 3,000 entrants and going home with a whopping $2 million in winnings, taking home the largest chunk of the $15 million prize pool. 

This was also his biggest live tournament win to date. Prior to this, Zegal had made a number of smaller cashes in online poker events. Interestingly his entry into the WSOP Paradise Main Event started online by playing a $125 buy-in satellite tournament on GGPoker. 

After surviving the tournament, he went on to play in the $1,200 direct satellite tournament where he won a package to the Main Event. Once he survived playing Day 1 of the tournament online, he was soon on his way to play a live Day 2 where his journey would soon come to the most satisfying conclusion. 

After his victory, many began to note the similarities between the German poker player’s story and that of poker icon Chris Moneymaker. Like Moneymaker, Zegal was an underdog who fought his way to the top and beat all odds to become a WSOP Main Event champion. It should also be noted that both players started their remarkable climb through an online satellite.

As you can guess, Zegal did go back to play in the 2024 edition of WSOP Paradise, and while he wasn’t able to replicate his previous success, he managed to finish in 127th place at the $25,000 WSOP Super Main Event, walking away with $67,300 in prize money. 

Before this, he participated in the 2024 WSOP where he finished in 5th place at the $1,500 No-Limit Hold'em and went home with $148,480 in the bank. 

However, Zegal’s poker journey has just begun and we’re certain that the 2023 WSOP Paradise Main Event win has given him the right kind of motivation to aim even higher. 

Given the immense success of the first edition, the WSOP Paradise was back for a second time in 2024. Now, the stakes were even higher with the event’s Super Main Event promising a jaw-dropping $50 million in guarantee. 

In the end, the event found a winner in Chinese player Yinan Zhou who clinched his first WSOP bracelet and walked away $6 million richer. The 24-year-old player emerged victorious from a sea of 1,978 entries to take home the coveted title. 

Zhou beat Brazilian player Marcelo Aziz on the final table and sealed his win. With a final table consisting of top poker players like three-time WSOP bracelet winner Justin Bonomo, WSOP and European Poker Tour (EPT) champion Liv Boeree, and four-time WSOP bracelet winner Michale Addamo, Zhou’s win is nothing short of amazing. 

Mostly a cash game player, the Chinese national arrived at the Bahamas during the inaugural WSOP Paradise and tried his hand at the poker tournaments. 

Despite only cashing seven times in the past three years in live events, Zhou managed to rank on the 28th spot at the 2023 WSOP Paradise Main Event and cashed $72,200 in prize money. 

This performance must have been just enough to bring him back the following year, a decision that would soon put him on the spotlight for all the right reasons. 

After clinching the Super Main Event title at WSOP Paradise 2024, an excited Zhou commented that he was thinking about working on his game with an aim to be one of the top poker players in the world. 

Even before his win, Zhou was already living his dream by playing against his idol Justin Bonomo. Now, $6 million richer along with his first bracelet, there’s no stopping the 24-year-old player from making his mark in the game. 

The 2024 WSOP Paradise came to an end on 19 December 2024 and another great year of poker has wrapped up. While we are still quite away from the next edition of the Bahamas event, the series has given players a competitive platform to put their skills to test. 

Stanislav Zegal and Yinan Zhou are just the first ones in the long line of Main Event winners that will soon come out of this noteworthy poker series. As players gear up for another exciting poker season, we’ll be keeping our eyes and ears peeled for the next big WSOP champion.