It’s hard to miss Justin Lapka at poker tournaments who, at nearly 7 feet tall, towers over his opponents like few others before him. And yet, like many online pros who have made a couple million online, his success at live events have rendered him nearly invisible.
“Live’s been really frustrating for me. In my ten-year career, my biggest score was like the Main Event for $70k or something, and there have been times that I just wanted to give up playing live,” he told the WSOP. “There’s always been the bigger buy-ins and then I lose, lose, lose, come home, play online, and build it back up with smaller buy-ins, so coming here and winning this Main Event just kind of means the world.”
Lapka won the first Main Event of the World Series of Poker’s 2024/25 season at Choctaw for $252,282. It’s his largest score and pushes his lifetime tournament earning near the $7 million mark, according to PokerStake.
The $1,700 Choctaw Main Event attracted 1,017 entries who built a prize pool that easily surpassed its $1 million guarantee. Lapka defeated Gregg Merkow, who was also going for his third WSOP Circuit ring, heads-up.
The Minnesota native has won two WSOP bracelets and rings playing as “lappypoker.” He was obviously having a good time post-game, where photographers asked him to pose lounging across the poker table.
When asked if it was more fun winning in person, he laughed.
“Oh yeah, by far. When I win something online, nobody knows that anything happened and I just go eat food alone at some bar,” he said.
He also felt relieved that his experience and success he’s had while playing online translated on a large stage like a WSOP Circuit Main Event, and thinks people can learn through his journey.
“Honestly, I think the lesson here for myself or other people is just don’t give up. Keep putting the volume in, keep traveling, enjoy your experience when you’re traveling. That might be the most important thing, because the wins are just going to be so few and far between.”
Lapka said he nearly didn’t play at Choctaw. He instead planned to take a break at his family’s cabin in Minnesota to decompress after playing at the WSOP in Las Vegas, telling reporters “I wasn’t even planning on coming to Choctaw. A week ago, I was just planning to take time away from poker after the long grind and then just come to Minnesota.”
He’s still going, and hopes his friends and family will join him there for a celebration.
“It’s a really nice cabin. It fits my whole family. I was just inviting people, if I haven’t seen you in a year or two years or longer, just come. I want to just spend a good time with you guys, and this will make this cabin experience even richer,” Lapka said.
| Place | Player | Hometown | Payout (USD) |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Justin Lapka | Saint Paul, Minn | $252,282 |
| 2 | Gregg Merkow | Plano, Texas | $168,169 |
| 3 | Zak Baron | Dallas, Texas | $118,278 |
| 4 | Mack Khan | Bossier City, La | $84,475 |
| 5 | Kalyan Chivukula | Houston, Texas | $61,281 |
| 6 | Nicolas Splawn | Richardson, Texas | $45,165 |
| 7 | Derek Normand | Lake Charles, La | $33,828 |
| 8 | Tim Faro | Glen Burnie, Md | $25,754 |
| 9 | Kaleb Harwell | Houston, Texas | $19,936 |
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