Event #12: $1,675 No-Limit Hold'em MAIN EVENT

Nick Pupillo, WSOP Circuit Thunder Valley Main Event Champion

Fresh off a runner-up finish in a major tournament just last week, professional poker player Nick Pupillo takes down the first ever World Series of Poker Circuit Main Event at Thunder Valley for $170,286. The newly-crowned champion has also won himself a seat into the 2018 Global Casino Championship along with his second-career gold Circuit ring.

The 25-year-old native of Illinois is the oldest of seven children, now living in Gilbert, Arizona. A lot of his time is spent traveling the poker circuit but comes from a big family. “I try to get family time in Arizona, and I’ve got a girlfriend” he explained. Outside of poker, Pupillo enjoys playing basketball and playing video games with his brother.

Just last week, Pupillo finished as runner-up in a major tournament for his biggest-career cash worth $217,535. He also made a few Circuit final tables this year, including a runner-up finish early in the year. When asked about finally closing out Pupillo said, “It feels great. It’s been a a while, I think 2016, since I won a tournament. So it feels awesome.”

An impressive trait coming from Pupillo is that he displayed razor-sharp focus while on the final table. When talking about how he maintains this on a regular basis, Pupillo explained, “I’ve had a lot of ups and downs in my career. I struggled with, like, money management and stuff like that, but things are turning around. Better now.” The pro explained how he used to take Adderall but is sober now. When asked how he prepares for tournaments now he said, “Just getting good rest and staying sober and stuff like that is very important.”

Pupillo may have just flown in from Atlantic City, but he says this (Thunder Valley) is one of the better stops and he enjoys playing the WSOP Circuit Main Events. The pro plays cash games but focuses on tournaments since this is where he has had the most success.

The champion came in to the final table with 1,190,000 chips and quietly made his way to three-handed play while runner-up Dann Turner steamrolled his way to the chip lead. Pupillo eventually made a big call with pocket deuces following a shove from Casey McCarrel (3^rd place), who ended up holding nine-high. The board was scary with several draws but Pupillo held on to go into heads-up play almost even.

Pupillo found himself on the ropes after Turner won several big pots, but he found some key spots to double-up and eventually finished the job with ace-six over Turner’s ace-five. Turner flopped a five, but the river was a miracle six and Pupillo locked up the win. The newly-crowned champion took the liberty of setting up his own impressive display of chips for his first tournament win in over a year and was all smiles.

This was the first ever WSOP Circuit stop at Thunder Valley Casino Resort and certainly won’t be the last. Another stop is scheduled in January 2018, and Pupillo is now the inaugural Main Event champion.

The $500,000 guaranteed Main Event attracted 528 entries across two starting flights and paid out 54 spots for a prize pool of $792,000. Some of the notable players to make the money included Jed Hoffman (5^th), Steven Tabb (8^th), Woody Moore (11^th), Tony Bracy (16^th), David Rosenbloom (26^th), and Sean Yu (47^th).

Dann Turner checks the     flop and Nick Pupillo bets 200,000. Turner calls. The turn is the   and Turner check calls another 425,000.

The river is the   and Turner checks. Pupillo bets 1,200,000 and Turner doesn't take too long to call. Pupillo shows the winner with   . Turner mucks and is now below 1,000,000.

Nick Pupillo - 9,800,000
Dann Turner - 780,000

Dann Turner raises to 225,000 and Nick Pupillo three-bets to 650,000. Turner four-bets to 1,450,000 and Pupillo wastes no time putting in a five-bet shove. Turner folds and Pupillo takes over the chip lead.

Nick Pupillo - 6,500,000
Dann Turner - 4,100,000

Nick Pupillo makes it 180,000 preflop and Dann Turner calls. The flop is     and Turner checks. Pupillo bets 200,000 and Turner raises to 575,000. Pupillo then reraises, making it 1,200,000 to go. Turner calls.

The turn is the   and Turner checks quickly. Pupillo goes all in for his remaining 1,560,000 and Turner folds.

Pupillo is now over 4,000,000 and has bridged a big portion of the gap between the two players.

Dann Turner - 5,800,000
Nick Pupillo - 4,700,000

Dann Turner raises to 180,000 and Nick Pupillo calls. The flop is     and both players check. The turn is the   and Pupillo leads for 200,000. Turner calls.

The river is the   and Pupillo checks. Turner bets 1,600,000 and Pupillo takes a few moments before folding.

Dann Turner - 8,700,000
Nick Pupillo - 1,900,000

Dann Turner raises to 200,000 and Nick Pupillo reraises to 600,000. Turner calls and the flop comes    .

Pupillo leads for 475,000 and Turner calls. They check the   on the turn and the   on the river. Turner wins the hand with a pair of nines holding   .

Dann Turner - 6,600,000
Nick Pupillo - 3,900,000

Casey McCarrel
 

Nick Pupillo raises to 240,000 from the small blind and Casey McCarrel moves all-in for 1,510,000 from the big blind. Dann Turner gets out of the way on the button and Pupillo does some quick counting before deciding to call.

McCarrel is at risk with   , flipping against Pupillo's   .

The flop comes     and McCarrel picks up some more outs should the board double pair. The turn is the   to give McCarrel an open-ended straight draw. Pupillo stands up and says, "King. King of hearts." Even better for Pupillo, the   hits the river to give him a boat and McCarrel heads to the rail in 3rd place.

Dann Turner - 5,600,000
Nick Pupillo - 5,000,000
Casey McCarrel - Eliminated

Dann Turner opens to 130,000 and Nick Pupillo shoves all in for 1,605,000. Turner calls with   . Pupillo has   .

The board runs out       and Pupillo doubles up.

Nick Pupillo - 3,280,000
Dann Turner - 6,000,000

Jed Hoffman

Jed Hoffman goes all in with    and Dann Turner calls on the button with   . Paul Richardson debates calling going all in for a little bit more, but decides to fold what he says is pocket eights.

The board runs out       and Turner hits an ace on the river to eliminate Hoffman in fifth place.

Dann Turner - 6,100,000
Jed Hoffman - Eliminated