In one of the fastest main events in recent memory on the World Series of Poker Circuit, Sean Yu emerged victorious to earn his first ring and $101,881 at Harrah’s Resort Southern California.
It played out so quickly the tournament ended a night early. There were still three players left when the event reached the point when play was scheduled to stop (Neil Scott, who finished third, Dan Stir, second, and Yu).
The tournament director gave the players the option of playing two more levels, and before the extra levels had concluded, Yu held all the chips.
Yu is a pro who recently started specializing in tournaments, a decision that’s paying dividends.
“I play mostly tournaments,” he said after his victory. “I used to play cash for many years and started playing tournaments only at the beginning of this year. This year has been phenomenal.”
Three WSOP bracelet-winners made the money. Brandon Paster finished ninth, Jordan Morgan was 29th and Eric Baldwin finished 30th. Bracelet-winners Josh Pollock, Brent Hanks, Robert Cheung and Howard “Tahoe” Andrew also were in the tournament. Former November Niner Soi Nguyen finished 24th. Bernard Lee, also famous for a deep WSOP main-event run, made Day 2 and ended 26th. The 283 entries generated a $424K prize pool as the top 30 were paid.
Event 2, a one-day $365 turbo, was Raad Farida’s first WSOPC win ($11,341). When the final table began, one of the most interesting stories involved Adam Sadick, who finished second in Event 1. That tournament ended at about 2 p.m. so he jumped into this event wound up playing two final tables in one day. He bowed out in fourth ($3,717).
Nyle Rock won his second ring exactly one year after his first, taking home $11,543. Before the final table began in Event 6 (six-max), Rock half-jokingly said Dec. 9 is a lucky day for him. He earned his first ring in the same room in an event that started on Dec. 9, 2013.
Other event winners: Event 1, Vincent Moscati, $14,275; Event 3, Scott Stewart, $33,926; Event 4, Jason Wortham ($9,542); Event 5, Travis Margers ($10,172); Event 7 (PLO), Steve Forman ($7,446); Event 8, Slade Crooks ($11,589); Event 9, Rohan Jain ($17,919) Event 11, Mike Sims ($8,551) and Event 12, Conrad Monica ($8,911).
The $250 seniors event went to Lorri Broda ($10,711).
— Email Kittie Aleman at anteupkittie@gmail.com.
