Perry Shiao is the winner of the Monster Stack $1,500 No-Limit Hold'em event! Shiao, a 24-year-old poker dealer and part-time poker player, bested a field of 7,192 entrants over five days of play to lay hands on his first gold bracelet and the $1,286,942 first-place prize!
"I came out here to chase the dream," Shiao said afterward. "My birthday was the first day this tournament started. I couldn't have given myself a better birthday gift."
Despite being a millionaire now, Shiao will return to his job as poker dealer at the Seminole Hard Rock Casino in Hollywoord, Florida in a few days.
"I have to fly out tomorrow," he said. "I don't want to be late for my shift."
Shiao is the richest winner yet at the 2015 WSOP, but he hasn't figured out what he will do with all the money.
"I don't know what I'm going to do with the money. I haven't even thought about it yet," Shiao said. "I dreamed I might win, but I didn't realize the dream would be like this."
This was the third tournament at the 2015 World Series of Poker to rank among the top seven largest live tournaments of all time. The other two tourneys were the Colossus and the Millionaire Maker - both were larger than the Monster Stack event, which is the 7th largest poker tournament in history.
Winner info:
Name: Perry Shiao
Birthplace: New York, NY (USA)
Age: 26
Current Residence: Pembroke Pines, FL (USA)
Marital Status: Married
Children: None
Profession: Poker Dealer
Number of WSOP Cashes: 1
Number of WSOP Final Table Appearances: 1
Number of WSOP Gold Bracelet Victories: 1
Best Previous WSOP Finish: None
Total WSOP Earnings: $1,286,942
Personal Facts: Shiao speaks three languages - Mandarin, Taiwanese, and English
Fun Facts:
The gender breakdown was 6,767 males and 425 females (amounting to about 6 percent of the field).
The average age of participants was 40-years-old.
The oldest participant was 85-years-old.
This was the seventh-largest live tournament of all time.
Final table results:
