Chad Eveslage is on fire!
A month ago, he topped a 569-entry field to win the World Poker Tour (WPT) Five Diamond World Poker Classic at Bellagio for $1,042,300. He did so by defeating Steve Buckner in heads-up play.
It marked his second WPT title in as many years as in the summer of 2021 he bested 1,199 entrants to win the $5,000 WPT Venetian for $910,370.
On top of it all, Eveslage also captured his first World Series of Poker (WSOP) gold bracelet this past summer when he took down Event #8: $25,000 High Roller for a career-high $1,415,610.
Check out our feature profile on Chad Eveslage here!
Eveslage, who doesn’t do much self-promotion but recently appeared on the PokerNews Podcast, currently sits third on the WPT Season 20 Player of the Year leaderboard with 1,475 points behind the aforementioned Buckner (2,150 points) and Ray Qartomy (1,775).
However, Eveslage is one of six players remaining at the final table of the WPT Rock ‘n’ Roll Poker Open (RRPO) at Seminole Hard Rock Hollywood. The $3,500 RRPO Championship attracted 1,541 entries. The final table gets underway at 2 p.m. ET on Wednesday with Eveslage sitting second in chips. He’s guaranteed $167,000 in prize money and at least 425 POY points.
Eveslage needs to finish third or better to take the lead, while a fourth-place finish would put him just 25 points behind Buckner headed into the last stop of the season – the WPT World Championship at Wynn Las Vegas. If he can notch back-to-back Main Tour wins within the same season, he would become the third player to do it alongside Anthony Zinno (Season XII) and Darren Elias (Season XIV).
Remaining WPT RRPO Payouts
| Place | Prize | POY Points |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | $785,800 | 1,300 |
| 2 | $525,000 | 1,050 |
| 3 | $390,000 | 850 |
| 4 | $290,000 | 650 |
| 5 | $219,000 | 525 |
| 6 | $167,000 | 425 |
Move to Florida a Wise Move
Originally from Indiana, where he recently passed the late, great WPT legend Mike Sexton for second place on the state’s all-time money list with $6.7 million in earnings according to the Hendon Mob, Eveslage relocated to South Florida. It’s proved to be a wise decision as he’s had no shortage of success.
He won the $25,500 High Roller at the 2021 WPT Seminole Hard Rock Poker Showdown in Hollywood for $767,576 and is known for grinding juicy Florida cash games.
“Indiana doesn’t really have much as far as poker,” Eveslage previously told PokerNews. “Especially when I just moved down here, Florida was really popping. There (were) a bunch of really good cash games and stuff. And I didn’t really want to live in Vegas. So yeah, I just ended up settling on Florida. And I have some friends down here, too. So, it made sense.”
He added: “The credentials are nice because they give some validation to people outside the poker world, but the pros within the poker world know that it’s mostly just variance from the big tournaments. Over a long time, sure, there can be some patterns, but this heater I’m on right now, it’s not like the best poker players in the world are like, ‘Oh, Chad must be super sick.’ They realize it’s just (that I’m) running very good.”
Is This One of the Most Stacked Final Tables in WPT History?
Current WPT Season 20 POY Leaderboard
| Place | Player | POY Points | WPT S20 Earnings | S20 Cashes | WPT S20 Final Tables |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Steve Buckner | 2,150 | $1,038,500 | 4 | 2 |
| 2 | Ray Qartomy | 1,775 | $621,300 | 3 | 2 |
| 3 | Chad Eveslage | 1,475 | $1,060,825 | 3 | 1 |
| 4 | Naj Ajez | 1,425 | $316,169 | 3 | 1 |
| 5 | Mark David | 1,400 | $1,000,300 | 1 | 1 |
| 6 | Alexander Yen | 1,400 | $975,240 | 1 | 1 |
| 7 | Mike Vanier | 1,400 | $661,800 | 4 | 1 |
| 8 | Chance Kornuth | 1,350 | $511,300 | 4 | 1 |
| 9 | Robert Mizrachi | 1,300 | $894,100 | 1 | 1 |
| 10 | Darren Elias | 1,300 | $683,050 | 3 | 1 |
Did You Know the World Poker Tour is Online?
The launch of WPT Global means that poker players around the world now have the chance to win their way to WPT events, win prizes and enjoy exciting games such as Poker Flips. As one of the world’s largest cash game poker networks, WPT Global is available in over 50 countries and territories around the world.
WPT Global offers a large deposit match bonus: 100% on deposits up to $1,200 (using any payment method). New players depositing a minimum of $20 automatically receive this match bonus which is unlocked in $5 increments (credited straight to the cashier) for every $20 of rake contribution.
Both tournaments and cash games count towards bonus unlocking; new players have 90 days from the date of first deposit to unlock and claim their full bonus amount.
Listen to more about the WPT World Championship on the new PokerNews Podcast!
*Images courtesy of WPT/Drew Amato.
Executive Editor U.S.
Executive Editor US, PokerNews Podcast co-host & 2013 WSOP Bracelet Winner.