News

Lincoln, California (23 January 2023) - Bilguun Odgerel has defeated Brandon Zuidema to win his first WSOP Circuit ring by taking down the Thunder Valley Main Event for $195,194.

The win far surpasses Odgerel’s previous best WSOP payday of $5,569 that he won earlier in the series for a 15th place finish in Event #2: The Opener. In fact, according to the Hendon Mob, Odgerel’s win is worth nearly double his entire career tournament earnings.

“I’m ecstatic. It’s kind of hard to believe it right now. I’m grateful for the opportunity and I’m grateful that my family is here to rail me.”

Zuidema proved to be a formidable opponent heads-up as despite being down 2.5 to 1 to start play, he battled his way back into contention before Odgerel took control again, then finished him off with [8s,8d] against Zuidema’s [6h,6c].

“Brandon’s a really tough player. He’s a friend of mine. I knew it was going to be really tough, and I just tried my best to not give up my chips as best as possible and get the job done.”

The day began with a series of quick eliminations that saw Jordan Griff sent home in 9th place ($18,104), Roman Shainiuk in 8th ($22,898), Kenneth Baime in 7th ($29,320), and Kevin Vanderbeek In 6th ($37,399) all before the first break of the day.

The story entering the day was Thunder Valley High Roller Champion Angela Jordison entering as the chip leader, with her eyes set on a pair of Circuit rings in less than a week, but she ran very poorly, never increasing her stack, then dropping a couple million versus Zuidema, who disguised a flopped set and rivered full house with pocket sevens, then losing another big hand holding pocket sevens herself when Casey Sandretto rivered a straight against her, before finally being eliminated in 5th place ($49,839) holding pocket queens versus Zuidema’s ace-four and the eventual runner-up catching an ace on her.

Following the elimination of Narongsak Dhanjaichon in 4th place ($66,145), the pace of eliminations ground to a halt three-handed with over two hours before Sandretto, on under 10 big blinds, got it in against Odgerel, but his [kh,7h] fell in 3rd place ($88,817) to Odgerel’s [7d,5d] when the champion rivered a flush.

Odgerel then continued on to the title after about an hour of heads up play against Zuidema.

Along with the prize money and the ring, Odgerel also earns a seat into the WSOP Tournament of Champions, a $1 million freeroll this summer at the World Series of Poker in Las Vegas.

Thunder Valley Main Event Final Table Results

1. Bilguun Odgerel - $195,194
2. Brandon Zuidema - $120,643
3. Casey Sandretto - $88,817
4. Narongsak Dhanjaichon - $66,145
5. Angela Jordison - $49,839
6. Kevin Vanderbeek - $37,399
7. Kenneth Baime - $29,320
8. Roman Shainiuk - $22,898
9. Jordan Griff - $18,104