After starting the day down nearly $30 million in chips, it took roughly an hour of play for Riess to take his first lead of the night when Farber folded at Riess’ bet to give him a $34-million chip lead.

After the chip standings leveled out over time, Riess threw another blow at Farber after a pair of jacks gave Riess a $134-million to $56 million chip lead.

Twenty-five hands later it appeared Riess would drive the nail in the coffin, as his pair of kings was going up against an up-and-down straight draw with two cards left to show. On the turn, Farber hit a nine to give him a straight (nine-king) and to keep the night going.

About 45 minutes later Riess called Farber’s all-in, and the board didn’t pair either of the two players, giving Riess the victory with an ace high to win the jackpot. His hundreds of fans sporting “Riess the Beast” T-shirts erupted in celebration for the newest poker champion.

The $8.3 million pot was the seventh largest prize awarded to first place in WSOP Main Event history.

The journey started after staying alive after the week-long start of the tournament in July, where the 23-year-old Riess punched his ticket to be one of nine members at the final table, or “November Nine.” The four-month hiatus proved to pay off for the Waterford Township native, as he turned his fifth-place beginning spot into a seat in front of a raucous crowd in Penn & Teller Theater at Rio Las Vegas Hotel and Casino.

Riess had the first knockout of the final table when his pair of kings topped professional poker player Mark Newhouse’s pocket nines. It was the first of four final table knockouts for Riess, who also delivered the final blow to third-place Amir Lehavot after Riess’ pocket tens trumped Lehavot’s pocket sevens.

Riess hours before he started playing on Tuesday:

This is going to be the best day of my li-ife

— Ryan Riess (@RyanRiess1) November 5, 2013