EVENT UPDATES
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Thursday, February 23, 2017 11:58 PM Local Time
Kenny Nguyen
2016-17 World Series of Poker Circuit
Season 13
Rio Hotel and Casino
Las Vegas, Nev.
Event #6
No-Limit Hold’em
Buy-In: $365
Total Entries: 329
Prize Pool: $98,700
February 22-23, 2017
Nguyen survived an up-and-down final table to emerge victorious.
Las Vegas, Nev. (23 February, 2017) — Kenny Nguyen won his second World Series of Poker Circuit ring Thursday afternoon, winning Event #6: $365 No-Limit Hold’em at the Rio Hotel and Casino in Las Vegas. He earned $23,196 for the victory. Nguyen’s first ring came almost six years ago. He’s comes close to a repeat performance several times – including three tournaments earlier this month at the Potawatomi Circuit stop in Milwaukee – and now has finally joined the club of multiple ring winners.
Nguyen came to Las Vegas with a particular plan, and put it into action in the first event he entered. “I really wanted to win this ring because I want to get into the [Global Casino] Championship this year,” he explained. “I made three final tables at the last Circuit stop, but I couldn’t finish up and win a ring. So this is my first event here. I flew out to Vegas and said, ‘let’s try to accumulate some points.’” He did just that, earning 50 points for the victory to move up the Circuit leaderboard.
Nguyen came into the final day with the chip lead, but had a roller coaster day that saw him drop to one of the shortest stacks before staging a comeback to win the event. “I felt pretty confident,” he said. “I think I have a lot of experience. In poker anything can happen, you know? But I came in and took two beats and I’m the short stack. I got it in with the best hand every single time. I had ace-king vs. ace-jack, and I had pocket tens and lost to pocket eights. My stack was getting low. So I started to try to ladder up in the money and wait for other people to make mistakes. A lot of people make mistakes in tournaments when the money gets big.” His strategy worked, and he walked away with the ring and over $23,000.
He defeated Greg Hartwick heads up to secure the victory. This was Hartwick’s second final table here at the Rio. He also finished third in Event #2.
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Event #6 was the sixth event to play to completion at the WSOP Circuit at the Rio. The $365 event drew a field of 329 players, generating a prizepool worth $98,700. The final 33 players finished in the money. Full results are available in the RESULTS tab, above.
Thursday, February 23, 2017 5:53 PM Local Time
Kenny Nguyen
Kenny Nguyen has just won Event #6: $365 No-Limit Hold'em for his second WSOP Circuit ring and $23,196.
He defeated Greg Hartwick heads up. Hartwick takes home $14,341 for his second-place finish.
Full results are available in the RESULTS tab, and a report on Nguyen's victory will be posted shortly.
Greg Hartwick
Thursday, February 23, 2017 4:58 PM Local Time
David Champion
David Champion has been eliminated in third place, earning $10,416.
Kenny Nguyen and Greg Hartwick are now heads up for the ring.
Thursday, February 23, 2017 4:34 PM Local Time
Stanley Webb
Stanley Webb has been eliminated in fourth place. He earns $7,694.
Thursday, February 23, 2017 3:26 PM Local Time
Henry Thiel
Henry Thiel has been eliminated in 5th place, earning $5,776.
Thursday, February 23, 2017 2:01 PM Local Time
Trevor Martin
Trevor Martin is the second elimination of the day. He finished in sixth place for $4,405.
Thursday, February 23, 2017 1:49 PM Local Time
Cody Pack
Four-time ring winner Cody Pack, who entered Day 2 as the short stack, has been eliminated. He earns $3,412 for his seventh-place finish.
Thursday, February 23, 2017 1:04 PM Local Time
The seven remaining players have taken their seats, and Day 2 is now underway.
Kenny Nguyen Starts Day 2 with the Chip Lead
Thursday, February 23, 2017 2:56 AM Local Time
Thursday, February 23, 2017 2:44 AM Local Time
The first 21 levels are in the books and Day 1 is complete of Event #6. Bagging as the chip leader is Kenny Nguyen. Nguyen had a monster last level and moved all the way from the final table short stack to the chip leader with seven players remaining. Cards will get in the air for Day 2 tomorrow at 1 p.m.
Day 2 Chip Counts
- Day 2 starts at the beginning of Level 22: 6,000/12,000 with a 2,000 ante
Results from Day 1 can be found above under the "Results" tab.
Thursday, February 23, 2017 1:55 AM Local Time
Two players hit the rail in quick succession to move the tournament directly from 11 players to the official final table of nine. The remaining players are all guaranteed at least $2,141 for reaching the final table. The winner will earn $23,196, a WSOP Circuit gold ring and 50 Casino Championship points.
Final table seating assignments and chip counts:
Seat 1: Stanley Webb - 215,000 (26 bb)
Seat 2: Josh Tharayil - 450,000 (56 bb)
Seat 3: Trevor Martin - 239,000 (29 bb)
Seat 4: Kenny Nguyen - 125,000 (15 bb)
Seat 5: Cody Pack - 243,000 (30 bb)
Seat 6: Greg Hartwick - 500,000 (62 bb)
Seat 7: Karel Kratochvil - 198,000 (24 bb)
Seat 8: David Champion - 224,000 (28 bb)
Seat 9: Henry Thiel - 980,000 (122 bb)
- 5 minutes remain in Level 20: 4,000/8,000 with a 1,000 ante
Thursday, February 23, 2017 12:37 AM Local Time
Cody Pack
The tournament has worked its way down to the final 16 players. One of the players remaining in Cody Pack. Pack is looking to win his fifth career gold ring and first of the season. The tournament will condense to one table once the field is reduced to 10 players.
Wednesday, February 22, 2017 10:36 PM Local Time
The money has just been reached. All players still left in the tournament are guaranteed a minimum payout of $589. There were two players eliminated simultaneously to burst the bubble, so they will split the 33rd place money of $589. Eight-time gold ring winner Valentin Vornicu is one of the two players splitting up the 33rd place money.
This is Vornicu's second cash of the series. He finished in 16th place for $1,099 in last night's turbo event.
Wednesday, February 22, 2017 8:45 PM Local Time
The field is down to 54 players in Event #6: $365 No-Limit Hold'em.
Two players still in the field are James Alexander and Kenny Nguyen. Both of them are coming off of strong performances in recent Circuit events. Alexander won Event #2: $365 No-Limit Hold'em here at the Rio yesterday for $18,744 and his first career WSOP Circuit gold ring.
This is Nguyen's first event of the Rio series, but he his coming of a strong performance at the Potawatomi (Milwaukee) Circuit stop from earlier this month. Nguyen made three final tables at the Potawatomi series and collected $49,152 in tournament earnings. He finished runner-up in the Casino Championship at Potawatomi.
James Alexander
Kenny Nguyen
Wednesday, February 22, 2017 6:04 PM Local Time
Tournament registration for Event #6 closed with 329 players entered. The prizepool totaled $98,7000 with $23,196 reserved for the winner. Besides the biggest cash prize, the winner will take home a WSOP Circuit gold ring and 50 Casino Championship points. The top 33 finisher will get paid and 33rd place is set to take home $589.
Final table payouts:
- The complete list of payouts can be found above under the "Prizepool" tab.
The tournament is down to the final 10 tables and final 86 players. Level 12 just started. After this level players will take a one-hour dinner break. Nine more 40-minute levels are scheduled for after dinner and then players will bag to end Day 1. The surviving Day 1 players will return for Day 2 tomorrow at 1 p.m. for the conclusion of the tournament.
Tuesday, February 21, 2017 6:54 PM Local Time
Tuesday, February 21, 2017 6:25 PM Local Time
Event #6: $365 No-Limit Hold'em - 12 p.m.
- Players start with 10,000 tournament chips
- Blinds begin at 25/50
- Registration remains open until the start of Level 9 (4:30 p.m.)
- Players are allowed one re-entry
- Levels 1-12 are 30 minutes long, levels 13-21 are 40 minutes long and all remaining levels are 50 minutes long
- There is a one-hour dinner break after Level 12
- Day 1 will last 21 levels
- Day 2 will begin Thursday at 1 p.m.