Chris Audrain Nabs First Gold Ring in Event #8: $400 Monster Stack

PokerNews is in town to live report the $1,700 Main Event here at the World Series of Poker Circuit Ameristar St. Charles, but that is just on gold ring event that will have played out by the end of the series.

In Event #8: $400 Monster Stack, 214 runners created a $70,260 prize pool that was paid out to the top 33 players. Among those to cash were Austin McCormick (7th - $2,257), Alicia Beatty (10th - $1,178), Todd Sladek (13th - $993), Jerod Smith (18th - $857), Craig Welko (20th - $758), John Gallaher (22nd - $688), and Keith Heine (26th - $640).

In the end, 33-year-old Chris Audrain defeated MSPT champ Michael Esquivel in heads-up play to win the title for $16,585 and his first gold ring.

“I came into Day 2 as the short-stack so I didn’t feel the greatest, but I knew I if could get the double I could run it up,” he said after the win. “I am just going to try to get as many points as I can and win the player of the series. We’ll see what happens.”

Final Table Results

Place	Player	Hometown	Prize
1	Chris Audrain	O Fallon, Missouri	$16,585
2	Michael Esquivel	Clarendon Hills, Illinois	$10,250
3	Kirby Brewer	Columbia, Illinois	$7,270
4	Neil Patel	St. Louis, Missouri	$5,261
5	Paul Fehlig	St. Louis, Missouri	$3,885
6	Rodney Clanton	Maryland Heights, Missouri	$2,930
7	Austin McCormick	Ballwin, Missouri	$2,257
8	Timothy Reedy	Saint Ann, Missouri	$1,777
9	Gabriel Burlacu	St. Louis, Missouri	$1,430