In a record-breaking year for poker’s most prestigious tournament, Alaska’s Adam Hendrix has reached the final table of the World Series of Poker Main Event, outlasting 9,800 players in a grueling week of high-stakes competition.
Hendrix, already a well-known figure on the professional poker circuit, returns to the table with 48 million in chips and a guaranteed payout of at least $1 million. The final nine players will battle for the title of World Champion and a life-changing top prize of $10 million.
Joining Hendrix at the final table are notable poker names including three-time WSOP bracelet winner Michael Mizrachi, 2016 finalist Kenny Hallaert, and Leo Margets, one of poker’s most respected European pros.
Hendrix, who grew up in Alaska and honed his skills in both No-Limit Hold’em and Pot-Limit Omaha, has amassed $8.2 million in live career earnings prior to this event, according to The Hendon Mob Poker Database. Known for his composure and adaptability, Hendrix has been among the chip leaders through most of the tournament, steadily climbing the leaderboard each day:
- Day 1b: 184,500
- Day 2abc: 321,500
- Day 3: 360,000
- Day 4: 855,000
- Day 5: 3,650,000
- Day 6: 6,900,000
- Day 7: 33,900,000
- Final Table Start: 48,000,000
Hendrix’s deepest previous WSOP run was a runner-up finish in 2017 in a $1,500 PLO8 event, leaving him still chasing his first gold bracelet. Hendrix started playing poker as a child at his grandmother’s house in Homer — playing against family and friends.
In an extraordinary twist, fellow Alaskan Joey Padron also made a historic run, finishing 10th for a payday of $750,000. Padron was part of the final 12 players before being the last to exit on Day 8. He almost made the final table It is exceptionally rare to see two players from Alaska — let alone from the same city — reach this advanced stage of the world’s most difficult poker tournament.
As for Hendrix, he may be the first Alaskan to make the Final Table since Perry Green in the 1990s. Only a couple of hundred players entered back in those days, while this year it’s nearly 10,000 entries.
The final table will resume Tuesday evening at the Horseshoe Las Vegas, with poker fans around the world tuning in to watch Hendrix attempt to become the first Alaskan to win poker’s most coveted title. His parents are flying in from Alaska to join him; his father is John Hendrix, owner of HEX/Furie oil and gas company.