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Wednesday, December 7, 2016 4:24 PM Local Time
Bell Gardens, Ca. (December 7, 2016) — Sohale Khalili has been playing poker tournaments professionally for about a decade, but a live tournament win has eluded him throughout his career.
That changed on Wednesday afternoon after he topped a field of 109 entries to earn $16,345 and his first Circuit ring in the $580 no-limit hold’em. The 31-year-old has had countless wins online and several deep runs in WSOP Bracelet events at the Rio for much more money, but the win at the Bicycle Hotel and Casino plugs a hole in his poker resume.
“A win is a win,” said Khalili after the victory. “I have a 12th, I have a 19th, I have two deep runs in the [WSOP] Main Event. I’ve got an online bracelet, but I don’t think I’ve had an outright live win. So yeah, it feels great.”
Khalili has the typical poker story for most pros his age. He’s a product of the Moneymaker boom and jumped into playing poker with his friends in high school and college. He hopped online during his time as a history major at UCLA and never looked back.
“I did that and paid my way through college,” said Khalili of his online poker exploits. “So I did that and it paid more than a traditional job, so I stuck to it. I’ve been playing poker ever since.”
Khalili never held an office job and has been supporting himself playing poker for his entire adult life, but that didn’t stop him from keeping his options open.
He finished his undergraduate degree at UCLA in history and continued his education by getting his masters at the University of Southern California. He doesn’t plan on having to use those credentials, but he likes to be prepared for anything that comes his way.
“I did it just in case,” said Khalili. “But why would I do that when I have this. Why would I work a traditional job and answer emails all day and work in a cubicle, when I can travel the world and play poker.”
Khalili spent most of his poker career playing online and after Black Friday, he headed north of the border to continue his online career in Vancouver, Canada. He spent his time playing heads-up sit n’gos and multi-table tournaments.
“I’ve played cash [games] maybe three or four times in my life,” said Khalili. “I only play tournaments and high-stakes heads-up. That’s it.”
About a year ago, however, Khalili came back to the United States. He didn’t want to be outside the country anymore. He made his way back to the Los Angeles area and has been playing live tournaments ever since.
Wednesday, December 7, 2016 3:45 PM Local Time
Matthew Violette (left) vs. Sohale Khalili (right)
The chip leader at the outset of the day's action, Chaunhao Zhang, has been eliminated in third place of the $580 no-limit hold'em. Zhang earns $7,195 for his finish and leaves Sohale Khalili heads-up against Matthew Violette. Khalili holds a massive 5:1 chip lead as they start heads-up play.
The runner-up will take home $10,105 and the winner will earn a Circuit ring and $16,345. Here is a look at rough chip counts from the final two players:
Sohale Khalili - 1,000,000
Matthew Violette - 290,000
Wednesday, December 7, 2016 1:05 PM Local Time
Cards are back in the air for the final day of the $580 no-limit hold'em with six players remaining and blinds of 3,000/60,000 with a 1,000 ante.
Wednesday, December 7, 2016 12:40 AM Local Time
Chaunhao Zhang
After 15 scheduled levels of play, the $580 no-limit hold'em has wrapped up for the day and Chaunhao Zhang is leading the final six players still in contention for a Circuit ring. Zhang started the final table as the chip leader and did nothing but extend his lead as they played the last level and a half of the day.
Zhang finishes the day with 385,500 and has a commanding lead over the rest of the field. Matthew Violette is his closest competitor and he finished the day with 281,500. Rex Clinkscales is still alive and searching for his second career ring after securing his 57th career Circuit cash.
The final six players will come back on Wednesday at 1 p.m. to play down to a winner. Everybody remaining is guaranteed a cash of at least $2,925, but the winner will walk away with the ring and $16,345. Complete chip counts can be found in the "Reports" above.
Tuesday, December 6, 2016 11:18 PM Local Time
Vincent Moscati was eliminated in 11th place and the final 10 players in the $580 no-limit hold'em are redrawing for seats at the unofficial final table of 10. There is about 10 minutes left in level 17 with blinds of 2,000/4,000 with a 500 ante. Play will end for the night at the end of level 18.
Chaunhao Zhangis the chip leader of the final 10 players with 225,000 in chips. Everybody is guaranteed a cash of at least $1,140, but the winner is set to take home $16,345 and a Circuit ring.
Here is a look at the seating arrangement and chip counts for the final 10 players:
Seat 1: Rex Clinkscales - 142,000
Seat 2: Matthew Violette - 95,000
Seat 3: Sohale Khalili - 181,000
Seat 4: Ed Alikhani - 104,500
Seat 5: Chaunhao Zhang - 270,000
Seat 6: John Alvarez - 90,000
Seat 7: Charlie Nguyen - 170,000
Seat 8: Randall Stern - 27,500
Seat 9: Todd Duplantis - 11,000
Seat 10: Don Smith - 225,000
Tuesday, December 6, 2016 4:17 PM Local Time
If you're in the state of Nevada, but want to get closer to the
Pacific Ocean and take your shot at a WSOP Circuit Main Event title,
don't miss out on the satellites running online on WSOP.com.
The players on the Nevada-only site, have a shot to win a seat into
the $1,675 no-limit hold'em main event for as little as $3. Running from
December 3-8, players can buy directly into the satellites for $30 or
take a shot at a $3 super satellite. Winners of multiple seats can be
used for re-entry into the main event or they can receive $1,675 in
tournament tickets.
The main event at the Bike runs from December 10-13 with Day 1A on December 10 and Day 1B on December 11.
Tuesday, December 6, 2016 3:47 PM Local Time
The players are back from their second break and level 7 has started with blinds of 200/400 with a 50 ante. Late registration and re-entry is closed and the field is finalized with 109 entries, which generates a prizepool of $54,500. The cage is calculating the payouts and they will be released shortly.
There are 72 players remaining and the top 12 players will take home a payday. A min-cash is worth $1,140, but the top spot takes home $16,345. A complete look at the payouts can be found in the "Prizepool" tab above.
Tuesday, December 6, 2016 1:35 PM Local Time
The players are back from their first break and the blinds are 100/200 with no ante. There are currently 86 entries with about two hours left in re-entry and late registration. Here's a look at the structure for Day 1:
Tuesday, December 6, 2016 5:07 AM Local Time
The first event of the series that doesn't have a $365 buy-in kicks off on Tuesday. The $580 no-limit hold'em gets cards in the air at noon and here are the details:
- Players start with 10,000 in tournament chips
- Day 1 is scheduled for 18 levels
- Levels 1-12 are 30 minutes, before switching to 40-minute levels for the rest of the day
- There are 15 minute breaks after levels 3 and 6, 10-minute breaks after levels 9 and 15, and a 45-minute dinner break after level 12
- Late registration and re-entry is open until the start of level 7 (~3:30 p.m.)
- Players who survive the day will return on Wednesday to play down to a winner