2021 Wynn Summer Classic: Soon-to-be Father Andrew Moreno Wins $10M GTD Wynn Millions For Career-Best $1.46 Million

The $10 Million GTD Wynn Millions was dubbed the poker tournament of the summer, and it boiled down to a climactic finale on Saturday with Andrew Moreno (cover image) coming out on top of a record 1,328-entry field to win $1.46 Million. Entering the final table with the third shortest stack, Morena did exceptionally well to walk away with the title after striking a three-way deal with the start-of-day chip leader Clayton Maguire (runner-up for $1.44 Million) and the former EPT and Aussie Millions champion Toby Lewis (3^rd for $1.23 Million)!

The timing of the win couldn’t have been better for Morena. He is married to former PokerNews hostess Kristy Arnett, and the couple is expecting their first child soon.

“I’m grateful above all else,” Moreno said, after the win, admitting, “I think just declaring what I wanted to do was really important to me because I believed in myself and I wanted to hold myself accountable … I’m just so shocked it happened so quickly.”

Moreno was referring to his social media post before the event.

He posted: “In April, I decided to I wanted to really focus on playing and studying live poker tournaments. I created two main goals for myself. The first was to move my career earnings to over $1 million dollars. I accomplished that with my most recent win at the Venetian $1,100 buy in where I bested a field of 637 players and took home $127,740.

The second goal I have this year is to get that illusive 7 figure cash I’ve been chasing. To help me accomplish this, I secured a tournament coach (wishes to remain nameless) that I am very excited about working with. A special thank you to Kristy Moreno. We’re such a great team together. I’m beyond grateful to share in parenthood with you. See you soon little man. Oh, and by the way, you’ve already cashed in a tournament and been in a winner’s photo with your parents. So please remember we are cool when you’re a teenager.”

It took a grueling 11 hours of tournament play on Saturday for Morena to strike off his second goal of winning the “elusive 7 figure cash.” The final day`s play was anything but easy, and if anyone would have given Morena odds for winning, chances are he would have bet money on a few bigger stacks on the final table. He started out seventh in chips on the nine-handed final table with a lot of play left to unfold.

The win more than doubled Moreno`s live tournament winnings that now stand at an impressive $2.51 Million.

Moreno’s wife Kristy took to Twitter, sharing that following the victory, Moreno woke up the next morning to ask if it was a dream!

His first words this morning, "Was it a dream?" @Amo4sho pic.twitter.com/7DORHtUytC

— kristyarnett (@KristyArnett) July 4, 2021

Wynn Poker retweeted Arnett’s tweet, confirming that it wasn’t!

Hi @KristyArnett . To be safe, we checked with surveillance. Confirmed not a dream. #WynnMillions https://t.co/YptytxQBos

— Wynn Poker Room (@WynnPoker) July 4, 2021

Moreno intends to continue playing through the WSOP until his son is born before going on a long break.

Meanwhile, the action continues at the series for another week before the dust settles on July 13. The $1.50 Million GTD $1,600 Mystery Bounty ran its fourth and final starting flight on Monday. Three more events now remain on the tap, including a $1 Million GTD $3,500 NLH, a $500K GTD $500 NLH, and a $100K GTD PLO $500 Bounty.

The final table was led by the Day 4 chip leader, Clayton Maguire (11,925,000).

Final Table Chip Counts

1. Clayton Maguire – 11,925,000
2. Julian Milliard-Feral – 8,350,000
3. Salim Admon – 7,720,000
4. Jaime Cervantes – 7,575,000
5. Toby Lewis – 4,980,000
6. Joe Kuether – 4,420,000
7. Andrew Moreno – 2,825,000
8. Philip Shing – 2,740,000
9. Lion Yiming Lee – 2,695,000

Final Table Recap

The final table was off to a slow start, and it took 53 hands before Lion Yiming Lee lost his tournament life after running king-queen into Julian Milliard-Feral’s pocket sevens.

Twenty-four hands later, poker pro Joe Kuether was eliminated by Jaime Cervantes in eighth place.

Toby Lewis shifted gears by busting Jaime Cervantes and Philip Shing in seventh and sixth place, respectively.

By the time the players got up for the dinner break, France’s Julian Milliard-Feral had become short-stacked, and he busted shortly after the play resumed.

Soon, Morena started climbing his way. First, he won a massive pot against Salim Admon with pocket queens vs. pocket nines that resulted in Admon falling out in fourth place.

The three finalists quickly shook hands on a deal that saw them each lock up seven-figure scores, keeping 10% of the prize pool in play for the eventual winner. This meant the winner would pocket an additional $313,000, and the runner-up would get an extra $100,907.

Toby Lewis missed out on the extra cash as he fell in third place to the start of the day chip leader Clayton Maguire.

Moreno took a head start early in the heads-up play by doubling up through Maguire. The final hand came not too long after that with Maguire moving all-in with ace-king against Moreno’s ace-queen that hit trips on the board, handing Moreno the title and the extra $313,000!

Moreno was all praises for the organizers after the tournament. “It was probably the best event I’ve ever played as far as the structure and the room. The floors listen to the players a lot, and there was always an open-ended conversation. Everything about the tournament was pristine.”

Final Table Results (USD)

1. Andrew Moreno – $1,460,106*
2. Clayton Maguire – $1,443,757*
3. Toby Lewis – $1,235,204*
4. Salim Admon – $619,160
5. Julian Milliard-Feral – $456,629
6. Philip Shing – $360,140
7. Jaime Cervantes – $289,361
8. Joe Kuether – $240,302
9. Lion Yiming Lee – $202,765

*denotes a three-way deal

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