A round-up of some of the bigger winners on the live tournament circuit this week including action from the World Poker Tour, and the World Series of Poker.
Guo Liang Chen is the latest member of the World Poker Tour (WPT) Champions Club after burning some serious rubber on his way to becoming the last man seated in the WPT Borgata Poker Open.
The event attracted poker players like a garden full of rose bushes attracts bees. 1,132 entrants created a prize pool of $3.6m, easily surpassing the $3m guarantee put up by the hosts.
Chen is not a household name. His highest score before this event was a smidgen over $6,000 for winning a side event at the WPT National Korea last year (he also finished 11th in the Main Event).
From Korea to the States, and Chen now owns $789,058, and a seat in the season-finale Tournament of Champions (TOC). He can also fly back east in style after the WPT’s latest sponsor JetSmarter awarded him with a $5,000 private jet membership.
The main draw at the final table was Cliff Josephy. The legendary Johnny Bax is still waiting to win his first WPT title after finishing fifth, but it’s another big score for a man who has been on a little bit of a roll since finishing third in the 2016 WSOP Main Event for $3.4m.
Jia Liu also deserves a shout out. In February, he finished fourth in the WPT Borgata Winter Poker Open, and went one better in this one, finishing third.
Final Table Results
1. Guo Liang Chen – $789,058
2. Gregory Weber – $471,059
3. Jia Liu – $288,071
4. Matt Parry – $240,965
5. Cliff Josephy – $199,294
6. Thomas Paul – $161,247
Other stars of the game who went deeper than the Mariana Trench included Erik Cajelais (23rd). Nick Pupillo (37th), and Shaun Deeb (43rd).
World Series of Poker Circuit News
It’s been a profitable month for Nick Pupillo.
As you can see, he finished 37th in the WPT Borgata Poker Open, but poker players are only interested in the top three places, and Pupillo banked two in September.
The first came on the 5 Sep, when he finished second to Marshall White out of 3,570 entrants in the $600 No-Limit Hold’em Kick-Off Event, as part of the WPT Borgata Poker Open earning $217,535. Then on the 22 Sep, Pupillo bested a field of 528 entrants to capture the $170,286 first prize in the World Series of Poker Circuit (WSOPC) Main Event in Thunder Valley. Also in that same festival, JC Tran defeated 58 entrants to win the $2,200 High Roller.
Main Event Results
1. Nick Pupillo – $170,286
2. Dann Turner – $105,281
3. Casey McCarrel – $76,911
4. Paul Richardson – $57,016
5. Jed Hoffman – $42,879
6. Paul McAffrey – 32,710
7. Glenn Larson – $25,304
8. Steven Tabb – $19,855
9. Roque Quiambao – $15,800
High Roller Results
1. JC Tran – $43,500
2. William Givens – $26,912
3. Edward Lewis – $17,632
4. Jasthi Kumar – $12,180
5. Jeffrey Soffer – $8,932
6. Brett Murray – $6,844
With Thunder Valley, a distant memory the WSOPC moved into the Seminole Hard Rock in Florida and began with a bang. Niovel Alvarez topped a field of 1,612 entrants in the $500k Guaranteed $580 No-Limit Hold’em Re-Entry event to take down the $135,022 first prize. Before his win, Alvarez had only ever won $1,142 playing live tournament poker.
Final Table Results
1. Niovel Alvarez – $135,022
2. Gil Aboodi – $83,751
3. Scott Sanders – $62,255
4. Nagui Yassa – $46,974
5. John Maghetta – $35,843
6. Jordan Meltzer – $27,565
7. Ruslan Dykshteyn – $21,585
8. Vytautas Semaska – $17,031
9. Matyas Csiszar – $13,589
