Daniel Evans of Chico, Calif., is the champion of the 2013 Ante Up NorCal Classic main event, topping Jon Turovitz of Sacramento, Calif., in a live-streamed final table that took less than two hours to complete at Thunder Valley Casino Resort in Lincoln, Calif.
Evans’ pocket kings held up against Turovitz’s flush draw to earn the title and the $60,000 top prize. Turovitz won $40,575 for second. Evans will also appear on the cover of the January issue of Ante Up Magazine and gets a personalized tour champion jacket.
"I’m playing good in tournaments now," said Evans, who took 22nd in Event #3 of the Ante Up NorCal Classic and finished 10th in the World Series of Poker Circuit main event in Lake Tahoe this month.
"It’s nice to be able to travel on weekends finally," said Evans, who recently quit his job in a Chico cardroom. "It’s pretty much the first time I’ve had the opportunity to travel."
The cash was the largest for Turovitz, who is a cash game player.
"I’ve only played about 15 live tournaments in my life, and only five in the last three years," he said.
Brenden Osborn, who came into the final table as the chipleader with 334,000 more units than Evans, who was second in chips, dispatched three of the final seven players before he and Evans got it all in in a battle of the big stacks. Evans spiked a queen on the flop with his Ace-Queen to eliminate Osborn, who had Ace-King, and take a commanding chip lead entering heads-up play. Turovitz doubled through Evans once, but it wasn’t enough.
Look for complete coverage of the Ante Up NorCal Classic in the January issue of Ante Up Magazine. Ante Up will be back at Thunder Valley in August for the Ante Up World Championship.
Evans is pictured here with Ante Up publisher Scott Long and Thunder Valley Director of Poker Operations Ben Erwin.
ENTRIES 213 PRIZE POOL $250,000
1 DANIEL EVANS CHICO, CA $60,000
2 JON TUROVITZ GRANITE BAY, CA $40,575
3 BRENDON OSBORN LANCASTER, CA $27,500
4 AMIT SEHGAL WALNUT CREEK, CA $20,000
5 KIRK REXFORD RANCO CORDOVA, CA $15,000
6 TOM SEGO PALO ALTO, CA $12,000
7 NING GARCIA SACRAMENTO, CA $10,000
8 ROY ARMSTRONG ROCKLIN, CA $8,125
9 SEAN BURSON MIDDLETOWN, CA $6,250
10 ERIK WATKINS SANTA ROSA, CA $4,375
11 THAI NGUYEN ROSEVILLE, CA $4,375
12 MICHAEL JEN SAN JOSE, CA $4,375
13 KEN JORGENSEN RANCO CORDOVA, CA $3,750
14 SHAHIN SHOJAEYAN NEWARK, CA $3,750
15 IVIN ARQUIZA VALLEJO, CA $3,750
16 DEL MODLIN FOLSOM, CA $3,125
17 GZIM KRAJA SAN JOSE, CA $3,125
18 BARBARA KEARNEY LODI, CA $3,125
19 DANIEL VICTRIANO MATHER, CA $2,600
20 ERKLIT YILMAZ SACRAMENTO, CA $2,600
21 ANTHONY RECCHIA SACRAMENTO, CA $2,600
22 N/A
23 CHRIS HINCHCLIFF OLYMPIA, WA $2,250
24 DAVID LANG ELK GROVE, CA $2,250
25 MICHAEL POSTLE SACRAMENTO, CA $2,250
