The next big video poker player in the poker world is now in the hands of the best poker player out there.
For those who don’t know, we recently posted an article about Andrew “Wink” McKeown who is currently ranked #16 in the world at the time of writing this article.
The next step in his journey to the top of the world will be to face off against some of the biggest names in the industry in a tournament at the MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas.
As such, we decided to compile the top 5 players to face in the biggest poker tournament in the land.
The first of the players to appear in this article is none other than the reigning WSOP Champion, Andrew “The King” McLean.
Although this was a difficult challenge for McLean, his victory in the last WSOP World Series of Poker (WSOPWPP) has made him one of the most sought after players in the game.
He has amassed a massive $20 million prize pool over the last two years which has helped him to make his way up the rankings.
However, McLean has been playing a lot of poker at the same time and is currently one of only three players in history to win every single WSOP event.
McLean was ranked #11 in the WSOPWMP last year after a tough run at the top in the 2017 season.
The biggest challenge for the 26 year old was to play with players like Justin “Pokey” D’Agostino, John “Lucky” Stokoe and Nick “Sully” Stogliansky.
Although McLean’s performances were a little disappointing, he was able to put together a good run at both the WSAP and the WPPPs, earning him the #6 seed in the WPT in 2017.
McLean went on to take the WSAPS and won the first WSOPB event of his career at the event.
Unfortunately for Mclean, he lost the next two events and was forced to play against a top seeded player from another major poker event.
This is where things get interesting.
Mclean has now qualified for the next major tournament at The Big House 6, where he will play off against one of his former WPT competitors, Brian “The Butcher” Patek.
The fact that Pateck is ranked in the top 20 is pretty cool considering that he only reached the top 15 in 2017 after playing a ton of online poker.
Pateks big win at the WSMP in 2017 was a little over the top for a player of his caliber.
However this will be his first big tournament and McLean will need to make the most of his skills if he wants to make it out of the top 8.
Patek’s first big event will be at the 2018 World Series, where the winner will receive $1.5 million and a trip to Las Vegas for the 2018 WSOP.
Patedk has been a consistent performer in the big time, but his win at The WSOP last year was his best performance to date.
Patelyk was able do well at the 2017 WSOP because he had a great tournament schedule which included two tournaments in the US, the WSFP and the WSBC.
Pates win at WSFP put him on top of a field that included Justin “Lunatic” Sorenson, Justin “Tiger” Cepeda, and John “Buck” Rolfe.
Pateredk also played some online poker in the year after WSOP and had some good performances there, so he is definitely in a good position to qualify for the WSAS in 2018.
The next big player to be mentioned is David “The Axe” Haddock.
Haddock has been dominating the WSPT circuit for the last couple of years.
He is ranked #8 on the list at the moment and won all of his events.
Haney played well at WSOP 2017 and finished in the #1 spot, but he lost to the likes of John “Jadinko” Buhl, J.J. Daugherty, and Scott “The Devil” Semenza in the final round of play.
Hiding behind a huge $25,000 payday from the WSPP, Haney did not qualify for The Big Houses 2018 event but has the ability to do so this year.
Haddock has a lot going for him in terms of the WSIP.
He will be playing a top seed in his first major tournament since 2017.
His biggest challenge will be competing against some top players who are ranked higher than him.
The two biggest threats to Haddock are former WSOP champion John “Curtis” Haney and top seed Scott “Bud” Suman.
If Haddock can put together some big performances at both tournaments, he will be in a great position to be the WSAT’s number one seed.
The last player