From Las Vegas Local to World Champion: Qui Nguyen Wins 2016 WSOP Main Event
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After a 103-day hiatus, the 2016 World Series of Poker Main Event final table concluded with a performance defined by relentless aggression.
Las Vegas resident Qui Nguyen, sporting his signature raccoon hat and a "gambler's" intuition, outplayed a field of 6,737 to claim the gold bracelet and $8,005,310.
He defeated Gordon Vayo heads-up after the pair played for several hours, with Vayo eventually settling for second place and over $4.6 million.
2016 WSOP Main Event Final Table Results
| Position | Player | Country | Prize |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Qui Nguyen | United States | $8,005,310 |
| 2 | Gordon Vayo | United States | $4,661,228 |
| 3 | Cliff Josephy | United States | $3,453,035 |
| 4 | Michael Ruane | United States | $2,576,003 |
| 5 | Vojtěch Růžička | Czech Republic | $1,935,288 |
| 6 | Kenny Hallaert | Belgium | $1,464,258 |
| 7 | Griffin Benger | Canada | $1,250,190 |
| 8 | Jerry Wong | United States | $1,100,076 |
| 9 | Fernando Pons | Spain | $1,000,000 |
Final Table Action
The final table opened with legends Todd Brunson and Carlos Mortensen delivering the "Shuffle Up and Deal." Qui Nguyen signaled his intent on the very first hand, four-betting start-of-day chip leader Cliff Josephy to seize early momentum
While the two big stacks did get involved in the action, most others waited while Fernando Pons, the short stack, was holding on for dear life.
Despite seemingly as cool and collected as ever, Pons eventually busted in the 16th hand of play. Just after the blinds had gone up, Pons shoved all in from the button for 4,625,000, the equivalent of almost eight big blinds and was called by Josephy. Pons was ahead with A♦6♣ against the K♥J♣ of Josephy, but a king on the flop spelt the end for the Spaniard.
The next three hours of play were dominated by the bigger stacks. Eventually, Jerry Wong found a premium hand in J♥J♠ and four-bet all in. However, he ran directly into the Q♥Q♦ of Vojtěch Růžička. The board offered no relief, and Wong was the second to exit.
Minutes later, the other short-stacked player hit the rail. Griffin Benger suffered a complete lack of good cards, winning only a single hand the entire day before he made his exit in seventh place for $1,250,190. In his last hand, Gordon Vayo raised to 2.2 million and Benger moved all in for his last nine big blinds with A♠9♠. Vayo called holding pocket tens, and while the flop brought a nine, that was all the help Benger would get and he was off to the rail.
While the initial plan had been to play down to six players, ESPN and the WSOP decided to play on for a little longer to see if one more player would bust.
In the final hand of Day 1, Kenny Hallaert raised with A♣Q♣ and was met with a three-bet from Nguyen. Hallaert shoved for 35 big blinds, but Nguyen snap-called with A♠A♥. Hallaert flopped a Queen, but the A♦ on the turn left him drawing dead, sending Nguyen into Day 2 with a massive lead.
Day 2: Five-Handed Play
Day 2 was one of the shortest in WSOP history but featured some of the tournament's most exciting moments.
It wouldn't be short-stacked Michael Ruane as the first elimination, after he secured an early double through Nguyen. Instead, Růžička was involved in the pot of the tournament that would ultimately contribute to his demise.
He three-bet pre-flop and fired three massive barrels on a board he completely missed, holding only Ace-King high. Gordon Vayo, holding a flopped set of Eights, stoically called all three streets. The 108-million chip pot left Růžička with less than one big blind and was eliminated on the very next hand by Nguyen.
Despite the early double, Ruane couldn't maintain the pace and was next to be eliminated. In his final hand, Ruane shoved with K♥Q♥ and was called by Nguyen’s A♥J♠. A board of blanks sent the New Jersey pro to the rail, setting up the final three-way showdown.
Day 3: Three-Handed Play
The final session was a volatile battle between the final three players.
Right in the first hand, Josephy doubled through Nguyen. Wearing a hat and sunglasses for the first time this tournament, Josephy successfully five-bet shoved with ace-queen as Nguyen called with ace-four. The latter was drawing dead by the time the turn came out and Josephy started stacking.
While the first hand of the final day was a dream coming true for Josephy, the fifth hand of play would be the complete opposite. The nightmare for Josephy started with him raising and getting called by Vayo. Nguyen squeezed and both Josephy and Vayo wanted to see a flop and called.
The flop came king-three-deuce rainbow and Nguyen bet just shy of 10 million. Josephy and Vayo called. A four hit the turn and Vayo and Nguyen checked before Josephy bet 21 million. Vayo shoved for 75 million and Nguyen folded before Josephy eventually called. Vayo showed a set of threes and Josephy raised his arms in the air, realizing he had just a single out with his set of deuces. A blank on the river resulted in a monstrous 200 million stack for Vayo while Josephy was left with just eight big blinds.
On the very next hand, Josephy doubled through Nguyen and repeated that feat not much later, this time with a suck out, to get back to the stack size he had started the day with. While Josephy had "his" chips back and seemed composed, in the end, he would still be next to go. He lost a big pot against Nguyen when he tried to bluff him off of top pair unsuccessfully. The remainder of his stack went in minutes later, getting it in with queen-three against the king-six of Vayo. Both paired up on the flop and as the turn and river blanked, Josephy had to say his goodbyes.
Heads-Up Play
With that, the tournament was down to heads-up play and the bundles of cash were brought out to the table.
| Player | Chip Count | Big Blinds |
|---|---|---|
| Gordon Vayo | 200,300,000 | 125 |
| Qui Nguyen | 136,300,000 | 85 |
Vayo led, but not for long. What followed was as entertaining a heads-up match as any. Vayo and Nguyen played as fast paced as before. Nguyen even snap shoved a couple of times.
While the cards were not initially favoring Vayo, the commentary team over on ESPN wondered out loud why he was playing so passively in certain spots. He folded the better hand more than once and seemed hesitant to bet even when he made his hand. In the meantime, Nguyen chipped away at his opponent time and time again, only to ultimately double him up every single time, failing to find the knockout blow.
One of the most intense hands for the two got all the chips in the middle on a queen-high board. Nguyen had by far the best hand with ace-queen while Vayo had just queen-five for top-pair with not much of a kicker. Vayo, once again, put his arm around Nguyen and together they awaited their fate. Spades on the turn and river made Vayo a miraculous runner-runner flush and the two gladiators went back to their corners to fight on.
While the two were jovial and friendly with each other as soon as all the chips were in the middle, there were still decisions to be made and the atmosphere was tense. Nguyen looked cold-blooded when putting Vayo to the ultimate test, staring at his opponent without any emotion from behind his sunglasses and trademark raccoon hat. Vayo's body language gave away his emotions and the commentators and railbirds on Twitter said he didn't look happy to be where he was.
Eventually, Vayo was grinded down again and made a stand. He pushed his last 18 big blinds with jack-ten suited over a button raise by Nguyen only to get called by the dominating king-ten. Vayo flopped a double gutshot, but his draw would fail to complete. After blanks on the turn and river, Vayo made his exit in second place, good for $4,661,228.
Nguyen, the self-proclaimed gambler born in Vietnam but now living in Las Vegas, is now the new World Series of Poker champion and he took home $8,005,310. Nguyen said he would donate a portion of his winnings to the Wounded Warrior Project, a military and veteran charity service organization empowering injured veterans and their families.
With original reporting from Frank Op de Woerd. Winner photo courtesy of Jayne Furman, WSOP.com
