Ravee Mathi Sundar has beaten Jesse Rockowitz, in heads-up action, to capture the first prize of $268,857, and prevent Taylor Paur from winning back-to-back titles at the World Poker Tour Rolling Thunder Main Event in Lincoln, California.
Ravee Mathi Sundar flew right under the radar this week, and the only time we heard the blip, he walked away with a World Poker Tour (WPT) title.
I must confess. During my recap of the recent $7,500 WPT Bay 101 Shooting Stars Main Event, I waxed lyrical about the virtues of Isaac Baron, Jacob Bazeley, Sorel Mizzi, Faraz Jaka, and the eventually winner Taylor Paur.
Do you notice something odd?
Of course you do.
WPT final tables have six combatants.
Who was the sixth?
It was a guy called Ravee Mathi Sundar. I had never heard of him, so I didn’t mention him. He finished 6/6. That’s right, I thought. Taylor Paur putting him in his place when the axe fell for the software engineer whom I presumed just got lucky to get through the pro heavy 708-player field.
Paur won that event for $1.2m. A player we would hear the name of for years to come. I had already forgotten the guy in sixth. Paur entered WPT Rolling Thunder. There was no talk of back-to-back titles for the man poker players like to love. Anthony Zinno had eaten that cake a week earlier. But after four days of competition, Paur headed into the final table third in chips with 114bb.
Could he do it again?
Were we going to see back-to-back WPT Main Event victories for the second time in a week?
Surely, not.
Would you Adam and Eve it, the invisible man from the Bay 101 Shooting Star final table, proved that the heat doesn’t just warm the cockles of the professional player, as he waltzed through a final table containing the likes of Rex Clinkscales and Harrison Gimbel to take the $266,857 first prize.
And what happened to Paur?
Sundar avenged his Bay 101 cut, by returning the favor sending Paur to the rail in third.
It must have been a truly remarkable few weeks for the team covering the WPT.
I’m sure it will make even better television when the shows finally air.
Final Table Results
1st. Ravee Mathi Sundar – $268,857
2nd. Jesse Rockowitz – $176,018
3rd. Taylor Paur – $113,154
4th. Harrison Gimbel – $83,818
5th. Rex Clinkscales – $62,864
6th. Jeff Griffiths – $50,291
The WPT has a deserved breather before returning to South Florida for the WPT Seminole Hard Rock Poker Showdown, with the Main Event held 16-22 April.
