2019 World Series of Poker Circuit Thunder Valley
John Richards was just seen at a seat in the tournament area, appearing to have bought in during the dinner break. Richards boasts a career earnings of over $800,000, including a third-place finish in Event #85: $3,000 Pot-Limit Omaha 6-Handed at the 2019 World Series of Poker for $187,670.
Level: 10
Blinds: 500/1,000
Ante: 1,000
Players are now on a 75-minute dinner break.
JC Tran opened to 2,000 from the hijack and received calls from players on the button and in the big blind. The three saw a flop of ![]()
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and the big blind checked. Tran threw out a T5,000 chip and announced a bet of 3,500. The player on the button quickly folded to put action back onto the big blind. He thought for almost a full minute and put in chips to call.
The turn came
and Tran put out a bet of 5,500, leaving about 6,600 behind. His opponent took another 10 seconds to think and decided he was convinced by Tran's story, sending his cards to the muck as a result.
Wilson Tolon bet the turn from the cutoff on a ![]()
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board, and Liz Sparks raised to 7,000 on the button.
Tolon made the call, bringing the
on the river. Tolon checked, and Sparks went all in for her last 10,600. The bet sent Tolon deep into the tank, but he eventually made the call.
Sparks triumphantly tabled her ![]()
, stood up from the table and celebrated. Tolon mucked, and the pot brought Sparks up to xxxx chips.
"I don't think you needed the king," said Joseph Crowley, seated to Sparks' left.
"But it helped," replied Sparks.

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The player on the button opened the actin with a raise to 2,800. Moments later, the small blind announced a call. Craig Varnell was in the big blind and took just a few seconds himself before reaching forward to cut out his stack of 27,200, receiving a green "All In" button from the dealer to go out with his chips.
The hijack thought for a bit and decided to fold. The cutoff quickly followed suit and Varnell saw the pot shipped his way.
Action folded around to the player in the hijack and he opened to 2,500. Paul Chai was in the cutoff and called. All remaining players folded and the two went to a flop of ![]()
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. Both players checked.
The turn came
and Chai's opponent checked to him again. He made a bet of 3,800 and got a fold, earning him the pot. Since chipping up a few hours ago, he has been maintaining his stack at around the 80,000-mark and remains above average in the counts as a result.
William Haley bet 6,000 in a three-way pot on a ![]()
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flop. Both Jarod Minghini and Tony Hoang folded, and Haley turned over ![]()
, showing the table his flopped two pair.
Those three players are seated at one of the toughest tables in the room at the moment, with Craig Varnell and Jesse Cohen also competing.