US poker professional Greg Merson emerged victorious from a 12-hour final session to claim the World Series of Poker's biggest title and a US$8.5 million first prize.
The win, after 399 hands were dealt, also gave Merson Player of the Year honours at the event in Las Vegas, a 61-event competition that concluded with the US$10,000 buy-in No-Limit Hold'em World Championship, otherwise known as the main event.
"I've played a lot of long cash games in my career, which helps you prepare for something like this, but this whole stage is something you can't ever really prepare for," Merson said.
He placed the champion's gold bracelet, worth US$150,000, on his mother's wrist.
He added: "I couldn't feel better for everyone who I'm sharing this victory with."
The main event was the fifth-largest live poker tournament in history, with a starting field in July of 6,598 entrants.