Ryan Riess is the 2013 World Series of Poker Main Event Champion

The young American pro defeats amateur Jay Farber to claim the biggest prize in the game.

Once again a young professional has walked away with the biggest prize in poker, as 23-year-old Ryan Riess of Michigan defeats Jay Farber heads-up to become the 2013 World Series of Poker Main Event Champion for $8,361,570.

Nightclub promoter and amateur player Jay Farber could potentially have been another Moneymaker story in the making after coming into the heads-up match as chip leader, but Riess overcame his slight lead to leave Farber in second place for $5,174,357. 

Riess wore his opponent down heads-up and saw all the major pots go his way. Eventually a short stacked Farber was all-in with  and Riess looked him up with , and the board ran out  on his way to the $8,361,570 first prize and the title, much to the delight of his rail who were chanting "Riess the beast" all night. 

“This is a dream come true,” said Riess after the win. “Ever since I saw Chris Moneymaker win this event in 2003 I knew it was something I wanted to experience too. I’m surprised it came so quickly.”

So for the sixth year in a row it is a young professional player who has taken down the big one. Congratulations to our new champion Ryan Riess. 

WSOP Main Event
Place	Name	Prize
1st	Ryan Riess	$8,361,570
2nd	Jay Farber	$5,174,357
3rd	Amir Lehavot	$3,727,023
4th	Sylvain Loosli	$2,791,893
5th	JC Tran	$2,106,893
6th	Marc McLaughlin	$1,601,024
7th	Michiel Brummelhuis	$1,225,356
8th	David Benefield	$944,650
9th	Mark Newhouse	$733,224
Players: 1 (6,352) | Prize Pool: $59,708,800