2019 World Series of Poker Circuit Thunder Valley

$1,700 Main Event
Day: 2
Event Info
2019 World Series of Poker Circuit Thunder Valley
Final Results
Winner
Winning Hand
109
Prize
$130,667
Event Info
Buy-in
$1,700
Prize Pool
$627,210
Total Entries
414
Level Info
Level
31
Blinds
60,000 / 120,000
Ante
120,000
Players Info - Day 2
Entries
96
Players Left
9
Players Left 1 / 414
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A Few Knockouts and Chip Counts at Table 2

Level 18 : 3,000/6,000, 6,000 ante

Bobby Pham opened to 12,000 from middle position and was three-bet all in by Daniel Henriks, who shoved his last 93,000 in from the cutoff. Eli Ross was on the button and went all in over the top, prompting folds from all remaining players.

Daniel Henriks: {10-Diamonds}{10-Hearts}
Eli Ross: {a-Clubs}{q-Clubs}

The two were off to the races with Ross out-legging Henriks as the board ran out {q-Hearts}{4-Diamonds}{7-Spades}{a-Hearts}{5-Diamonds}, leaving him with aces up to score the knockout.

Two hands later, Pham knocked out Simon Leung after Leung shoved his last few chips in preflop from the small blind with ace-ten. Pham called with ace-four and spiked a four to send Leung to the rail, prompting Table 6 to break as 45 players remain in the field.

Tags: Daniel HenriksEli RossBobby Pham

Kessler Ousts Tran

Level 18 : 3,000/6,000, 6,000 ante
Allen Kessler
Allen Kessler

Khoa Tran, short stacked and in early position, ended up in an all in preflop situation against Allen Kessler in the big blind. Kessler had Tran covered going to the showdown.

Khoa Tran: {q-Clubs}{q-Diamonds}
Allen Kessler: {a-Diamonds}{9-Spades}

Board: {k-Diamonds}{a-Spades}{4-Clubs}{10-Spades}{6-Hearts}

Kessler was behind preflop, but hit his ace on the flop. Kessler said he's only played three hands all day on Day 2, but he's still in the running as the eliminations keep coming on the penultimate day of the Main Event.

First Round of Payouts

Level 18 : 3,000/6,000, 6,000 ante

The following players finished in 55-63rd place ($2,532).

Nat Puts Opponents To the Test; Chip Counts from Table 6

Level 18 : 3,000/6,000, 6,000 ante

There was around 50,000 in the pot from preflop action on a board of {7-Diamonds}{8-Diamonds}{3-Hearts} and Soumitra Nagar checked from the big blind. Arish Nat was under the gun and checked as well, putting action on Bille Le, who was the final player in the hand out of middle position.

Le bet 23,000 and Nagar called. Nat then check-raised all in for over 200,000. Le went into the tank and took over a minute to determine his decision, which was to fold. Nagar took full advantage of Le's time in the tank to have already come to the same conclusion, quickly folding upon it becoming his turn to act.

Chip counts from Table 6 are as follows, with 50 players remaining in the tournament at present moment.

Tags: Arish NatBilly LeSoumitra Nagar

Liu Pushes Ross Out of the Pot

Level 18 : 3,000/6,000, 6,000 ante

With the board showing {2-Hearts}{k-Hearts}{7-Diamonds}{j-Clubs}, Eli Ross put in a bet for 40,000 from early position.

Calvin Liu reraised all in, putting his last 175,000 in the pot. Ross went into the tank for awhile before finally making an anguished fold.

Tags: Eli RossCalvin Liu

Recreational Player Randy Gil Nabs WSOP Gold in Event #3: $400 NLH Knockout

Level 18 : 3,000/6,000, 6,000 ante
Randy Gil
Randy Gil

The PokerNews Live Reporting Team is at Thunder Valley to live report action from both the $1,700 Main Event and $3,250 High Roller, but those are just a couple of the dozen gold ring events at the stop. As such, we thought we’d profile some of the preliminary tournaments and those who struck it big.

In Event #3: $400 No-Limit Hold’em Knockout, 142 entrants created a $32,660 prize pool. That was distributed to the top 22 players including Niv Decalo (10th - $578), Andrew Duffy (13th - $497), Brian Borst (19th - $404), and Kevin Weinmann (22nd - $383).

In the end, it was recreational player Randy Gil taking home the title, $8,762 in prize money, and his first gold ring.

“It feels good. It was a long day but it’s worth it. It means a lot because it is a WSOP Circuit ring. I finished second a few times before. It’s nice to finally break through and get first place,” Gil said after his win.

To claim victory, he had to defeat two-time ring winner Jasthi Kumar in heads-up play.

“He is a great opponent, he is tough,” Gil said. “You gotta be on your game when you play against him. He is a very good player, he has a lot of cashes, and he is very respected in the poker community. It was definitely nice to get it against him.”

Final Table Results

PlacePlayerHometownPrize
1Randy GilRoseville, California$8,762
2Jasthi KumarSan Ramon, California$5,413
3Denis LeeFremont, California$3,731
4Peter DirksenSan Francisco, California$2,636
5Daniel GuevaraN/A$1,912
6Chet SickleManteca, California$1,423
7Christopher VezzettiN/A$1,089
8Hakeem MashalDavis, California$857
9Roberto RosalesFontana, California$694

Tags: Randy Gil

Baby Flush for Chai

Level 18 : 3,000/6,000, 6,000 ante

Dustin Crump open raised to 16,000 from middle position, and Paul Chai called from the cutoff.

Both players checked the {9-Diamonds}{k-Spades}{7-Spades} flop. Crump bet 10,000 on the {a-Spades} turn, and Chai called.

Both players checked the {2-Spades} river, and that fourth spade brought in a flush for Chai, who showed {3-Spades}{3-Clubs}. Crump mucked {8-Clubs}{8-Diamonds}, and Chai took in the small pot.

Kowalk Ousted by Farnes

Level 18 : 3,000/6,000, 6,000 ante
Jeff Farnes
Jeff Farnes

Curtis Kowalk went all in from under the gun for what was totaled to be 45,000 and Jeff Farnes reraised to 100,000 from the hijack, clearing the way for the two to turn up their hands in preparation for the runout.

Curtis Kowalk: {a-Diamonds}{8-Diamonds}
Jeff Farnes: [8h8hs]

Kowalk's suited ace was in need of finding a pair or three more diamonds in order to stay alive. He was unable to do so as the board came {3-Diamonds}{9-Hearts}{7-Clubs}{k-Clubs}{5-Spades} and he found himself as the most recent elimination of the tournament as a result.

Tags: Curtis KowalkJeff Farnes

Minkin Adds a Small Pot

Level 18 : 3,000/6,000, 6,000 ante

Kelly Minkin opened to 15,000 from early position, and Jeffrey Griffiths called from the cutoff.

Minkin continuation bet for 16,000 on the {8-Hearts}{a-Spades}{8-Spades} flop, and Griffiths folded.

Level: 18

Blinds: 3,000/6,000

Ante: 6,000