Darren Elias, the G.O.A.T. of the World Poker Tour, hosted his first event of the "End Boss" poker series in New Jersey, which takes place on the BetMGM/partypoker platform. He didn't come out on top in the $535 buy-in no-limit hold'em tournament, a $30,000 guaranteed event. But he ran deep, finishing in eighth place out of 89 players for a $1,446 payout.

"Cholie," on the other hand, was the true end boss on this evening, as he took down the tournament and the $13,906 prize, beating out "pay4medsch00l," who earned some med school money, to win the title. The runner-up received $7,787.

Off to a Huge Start

The first event of the series promised at least $30,000 in prize money would be awarded. When registration closed at Level 18, a total of $44,500 was in the pot, Suffice to say, Event #1 was a rousing success for BetMGM and its partypoker US platform.

Elias, the only four-time WPT champion, wrapped up his 2021 World Series of Poker and headed back home out East to compete against some local online poker players. The inaugural event final table results were as follows:

Elias will return on Wednesday for Event #2: $215 Pot-Limit Omaha 8-Max, which guarantees at least $20,000 in prize money. The tournament begins at 7 p.m. ET on the BetMGM/partypoker US platform. Players in Michigan and Pennsylvania will also compete in a similar tournament each day throughout the series, which concludes November 28.