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November’s Biggest WPT® Winners: Who Crushed, Who Climbed, and Who Heads to Wynn Hot

November sits in a strange spot on the poker calendar. The WPT® World Championship is just around the corner, big-name pros are picking their spots, and many recreational players are saving bullets for December.

Even so, a handful of players turned November into a launchpad.

From Australia to Florida to Jeju, these are the standout WPT® winners of the month, ranked by prize money and impact. Every score below came with more than cash. Each result also moved a player closer to the WPT® World Championship spotlight.

WPT® November 2025 Winners (Quick Overview)

PlayerWinChampionship
Connor Rash$315,530WPT® bestbet Scramble
Ángel GuillénAU$321,000WPT® Australia
Dylan Smith$200,000bestbet Scramble runner-up
Zengxiang Chen$94,000WPT® Prime Korea
Los JefesTeam Event ChampionsWPT® Australia

1. Connor Rash wins WPT® bestbet Scramble – $315,530

EventWPT® bestbet Scramble Championship
Venuebestbet Jacksonville, Florida
Buy-in$5,000
Entries327
Top prize$315,530* + $10,400 WPT® World Championship seat

* First-place prize includes the World Championship entry.

Connor Rash closed out November with the biggest WPT® payday of the month, winning the WPT® bestbet Scramble after a composed heads-up duel with Dylan Smith.

Rash began the final stretch with a big chip lead and never panicked when momentum swung. Smith doubled, then dragged several pots to close the gap. Rash responded with relentless pressure, shoving preflop again and again, forcing tough decisions and picking up pot after pot without a showdown.

The key hand came deep in Level 28. On a board of Ten–Seven–Five–Jack, Smith check-raised the turn and then moved all in for 7.5 million. Rash called with Nine-Eight for the jack-high straight and held to seal the title.

Beyond the money, this win puts Rash’s name on the Mike Sexton WPT® Champions Cup and books his seat for December’s WPT® World Championship at Wynn Las Vegas. He also did it against a final table that included Byron Kaverman and Jessica Dawley, which gives the result extra weight.

Rash has been a regular in mid-stakes Florida events for the past two seasons, and bestbet Jacksonville confirmed that this was the second-largest score of his live career. His win also extends a trend seen across recent WPT® stops where chip-leaders at the final table convert at above-average rates.

As a result, Rash walks into Wynn as one of the few players already battle-tested in a November WPT® final. He showed he can protect a lead, adjust when stacks change, and finish the job under pressure.

Connor Rash in a dark hoodie staring forward with chip stacks in front of him at a WPT® event.

Connor Rash posted one of the month’s strongest WPT® performances.

2. Ángel Guillén’s two-title heater at WPT® Australia – AU$321,000

EventsAU$5,000 Mad Max, AU$20,000 Super High Roller
VenueWPT® Australia, The Star Gold Coast
Combined winningsAU$321,000 + $10,000 WPT® World Championship seat
RoleWPT® Global Ambassador and captain of Los Jefes

Ángel Guillén put on the most complete performance of the month. The WPT® Global Ambassador captured two titles in 72 hours at WPT® Australia and led his squad, Los Jefes, to victory in the festival’s debut Team Tournament.

He first took down the AU$5K Mad Max, leaning on steady aggression and sharp live reads.

“Winning one tournament is hard enough. Winning two in the same series is a dream for any poker player,” Guillén said.

Running on three hours’ sleep, he returned for the AU$20K Super High Roller and closed that one out too, defeating teammate Sergio Barrios heads-up in what he called one of the “most magical moments of the series.”

On top of the AU$321,000 haul and World Championship seat, Guillén and Los Jefes crushed the Team Event leaderboard. The five-man squad posted five titles between them and finished with 3,605 points, far ahead of second place.

Los Jefes team breakdown:

PlayerPoints
Sergio Barrios1,440 points (2 titles)
Ángel Guillén1,225 points (2 titles)
Bernardo Crespo490 points (1 title)
Tomás Szwarcberg275 points
Diego Ponce175 points

Guillén also used the series to reinforce a message he has repeated for years. Solvers matter, but mindset and emotional control sit on top.

“Before diving into the technical side, players need to work on themselves. Mindset and emotional control are everything,”

Guillén’s two-win run is consistent with his record at previous WPT® stops. WPT® Australia staff noted that he has cashed every Gold Coast series he has attended since 2022. His deep experience at this venue adds context to how efficiently he closed both events.

Guillén leaves the Gold Coast with two trophies, a seat to Wynn, and momentum that any pro would envy. As a WPT® Global Ambassador and one of Latin America’s most respected players, he arrives in Las Vegas as a genuine contender, not just a fan favorite.

Ángel Guillén wearing sunglasses and a cap, sitting with arms crossed at a WPT® feature table.

WPT® Global Ambassador Ángel Guillén continued his hot run with another deep finish on the WPT® stage.

3. Dylan Smith’s $200,000 run in Jacksonville

EventWPT® bestbet Scramble Championship
Place2nd of 327
Prize$200,000

Runner-up finishes can sting, but Dylan Smith’s November deserves a spotlight.

Smith navigated a tough final table and repeatedly fought back from short and medium stacks. He doubled through Rash with pocket fours against ace-seven, then dragged a key 6.15-million chip pot when his ten-seven made two pair and got paid on the river.

Heads-up, Smith traded momentum with Rash in a long, technical battle. He won several sizeable pots with well-timed river bets and aggressive lines, forcing the eventual champion to fold strong holdings and burn Time Chips.

The final all-in didn’t go his way, but the performance underlined his composure and creativity on a big WPT® stage.

Smith’s $200,000 score makes him one of the month’s biggest earners and signals a player comfortable in deep-structure finals. If he carries this form into December, he will be a problem in any field he enters.

Smith’s result also lines up with his online record. He has multiple five-figure scores on WPT Global and is known for strong final-table play. Tournament reporters in Jacksonville highlighted how often he made correct folds in marginal spots across the event.

Dylan Smith in a grey hoodie and cap making a bet at a WPT® table with the Seminole Hard Rock logo on the screen behind him.

Dylan Smith added another strong result to his growing WPT® résumé.

4. Zengxiang Chen wins record-breaking WPT® Prime Korea – ≈ $94,000

EventWPT® Prime Korea Main Event
FestivalJeju Poker Festival 2025
VenueLes A Casino, Jeju Shinhwa World Resort
Entries515 (largest WPT® Prime field in Korea)
Prize poolKRW 667 million
ChampionZengxiang Chen (China) – KRW 129,030,000 (≈ $94,000)

Jeju delivered one of the most important WPT® Prime stops of the year. The Main Event almost doubled its KRW 350 million guarantee, closing at KRW 667 million and setting a new attendance record for WPT® Prime Korea.

China’s Zengxiang Chen emerged from the 515-entry field to take the title and nearly $94,000.

The most striking detail: Chen has played live tournaments for only six months. After years of studying online strategy, he brought a disciplined, patient approach to a festival that united the Red Dragon Poker Tour, the K Poker Cup, and WPT® Prime.

Short-stack swings never rattled him. He stayed composed, waited for good spots, and closed the final with steady pressure. After lifting the trophy, he thanked his wife and called the title “one of the greatest glories” of his life.

Jeju’s growth rests on a clear WPT Global pipeline. Players could qualify for the Main Event starting from ¥33 satellites, step into ¥330 weekly finals, and win full packages. Chen’s win, and the festival’s numbers, show that the online-to-live bridge is working.

Chen’s breakout highlights Asia’s rising talent pool and shows how WPT Global satellites can turn a small online buy-in into a six-figure live result. It also proves Jeju is now a core stop on the WPT® calendar, not a side trip.

Jeju tournament staff confirmed that Chen entered through a ¥330 qualifying step, making him one of several satellite players who reached the final two tables. The Jeju stop continues to show above-average conversion rates for online qualifiers in APAC markets.

Zengxiang Chen smiling in a light hooded jacket with a tall stack of chips during the Jeju Poker Festival at WPT® Prime Korea.

Zengxiang Chen’s Jeju run secured him a place among November’s top WPT® winners.

5. Los Jefes dominate the WPT® Australia Team Event

EventWPT® Australia Team Tournament (new format)
Buy-inAU$2,000 per player (five-player teams)
Prize poolAU$24,000
Winning teamLos Jefes – 3,605 points, five titles

Money is one way to measure success. Pure dominance is another.

In the debut WPT® Australia Team Tournament, Los Jefes turned the new format into a showcase. While other squads traded small edges, the Mexican-led team surged clear, racking up five titles between them and building a points gap that Ángel Guillén described as “spectacular.”

For WPT Global, it was a dream result. An ambassador-led squad, built from experienced Latin American grinders, showed the format’s potential for both competition and entertainment.

Team formats are becoming a bigger part of the live-poker conversation. Los Jefes set the bar high in the first Australian edition, and their performance adds a new storyline heading into future WPT® festivals.

Los Jefes posing in sunglasses behind multiple WPT® Australia trophies, holding up four fingers on one hand and one on the other.

Los Jefes dominated WPT® Australia with a festival performance that stood out worldwide.

What November tells us heading into the WPT® World Championship

November didn’t deliver a long list of Main Tour stops. It delivered something sharper: a handful of clear storylines.

MomentumRash and Guillén both arrive at Wynn with fresh trophies and recent experience closing big final tables.
Rising regionsChen’s win and the record numbers in Jeju confirm that Asia’s WPT® footprint is growing fast.
Online to liveWPT® Global qualifiers continue to turn micro-stakes satellites into serious live opportunities, from Jeju to Las Vegas.
New formatsThe success of the WPT® Australia Team Tournament hints at more squad-based events in the future.

December now belongs to the WPT® World Championship at Wynn Las Vegas. The prize pools will be bigger, the fields deeper, and the spotlight brighter. But if November is any indication, the next wave of champions is already warming up.

All event statistics were confirmed against the official WPT® tournament reports, bestbet Jacksonville’s published results, WPT® Australia festival updates from The Star Gold Coast, and WPT® Prime Korea event data released by Jeju Shinhwa World Resort. Payouts, field sizes, and team-event points are taken directly from those sources.

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