Orlando Vacation Allows Ryan Yu to Capture First WSOPC Gold Ring
PokerNews is in town to live report the $1,700 Main Event and two high roller tournaments here at the World Series of Poker Circuit at Hard Rock Tampa, but those are just three of the gold ring events that will have played out by the end of the series.
In Event #4: $1,125 No-Limit Hold’em, 227 runners created a $227,000 prize pool that was paid out to the top 35 finishers. Among those to cash were Justin Zaki (5th - $12,521), Ralph Massey (8th - $5,638), Loni Harwood (10th - $3,676), Brett Apter (11th - $3,676), Kevin Javier (25th - $1,866), and Zach Gruneberg (34th - $1,661).
In the end, Canada’s Ryan Yu beat Steven Richardson in heads-up play to win the title, $53,725 in prize money, and his first gold ring.
“I’m happy. It was fun. It was a nice little way to start the series,” said the 36-year-old Yu, who finished 36th in the 2019 WSOP Main Event for $261,430.
“I mostly just stay at home with my kid. I probably play poker eighty days out of the year. I don’t really follow the Circuit, it’s just when it’s convenient for me I guess. We were having a vacation in Orlando, we have a place in Orlando. They went home on Sunday, so I drove down on Sunday and decided to stay like a week later.”
Final Table Results
| Place | Player | Hometown | Prize |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Ryan Yu | Ontario, British Columbia, Canada | $53,725 |
| 2 | Steven Richardson | Berkley, Michigan | $33,204 |
| 3 | Steve Brite | N/A | $23,535 |
| 4 | Ronnie Day | Fairborn, Ohio | $17,001 |
| 5 | Justin Zaki | Tampa, Florida | $12,521 |
| 6 | Duff Charette | Ottawa, Ontario, Canada | $9,405 |
| 7 | David Dibernardi | Youngstown, Ohio | $7,208 |
| 8 | Ralph Massey | Chicago, Illinois | $5,638 |
| 9 | Mark Scacewater | Lake St. Louis, Missouri | $4,504 |