JOHN CHASE LEADS THE FINAL TABLE OF THE THUNDER VALLEY MAIN EVENT

The final table of the Thunder Valley WSOP Circuit Main Event is set after the elimination of Wilton Alejandro in tenth place. Alejandro ran into the pocket queens of John Chase who flopped a set and sent him to the rail on the official final table bubble. He took home $14,088 for his deep run.

 

The final nine players bagged up their chips in anticipation of a 1:00 p.m. start on Monday, playing down to a winner. The next World Series ofPoker Circuit Main Event champion at Thunder Valley will take home $188,686 along with a diamond Circuit ring. The remaining nine players are guaranteed a payday worth $17,503 but all eyes are on the top prize.

 

This is the second ever stop on the WSOP Circuit at Thunder Valley and the Main Event blew the $500,000 guarantee out of the water. A new record was set with 599 entries and a prize pool of $898,500, paying out 63 spots in total. It's safe to say the addition of these two stops have been nothing but a success.


Here is a look at how the final nine players stack up heading into the final day:


Seat 1: Hafiz Khan - 1,885,000 (62 bb) Seat 2: Greg Guth - 1,735,000 (57 bb) Seat 3: Roland Shen - 645,000 (21 bb) Seat 4: Michael Scott - 1,140,000 (38 bb) Seat 5: John Chase - 2,140,000 (69 bb) Seat 6: Elisa Nakagawa - 2,080,000 (71 bb) Seat 7: Steve Michaelis - 1,300,000 (43 bb) Seat 8: Josh Prager - 370,000 (12 bb) Seat 9: Vijay Ramani - 675,000 (22 bb)


Thanks to the final elimination on Day 2, Chase took over the chip lead from Hafiz Khan, who held it for the majority of the day. He knocked out the final three players of the evening and will start with 2,140,000 on Day 3.  This is Chase’s first WSOP cash and consequently his first final table.

 

Elisa Nakagawa sits in second in chips with 2,080,000 after a whirlwind day. She built up her stack throughout the day, picking up aces against kings in timely fashion and then rivering two pair against Ryan Leung (13th - $11,483) late in the day.

 

Khan joins Chase and Nakagawa in the top three at the final table after finally relinquishing the chip lead very late in play tonight after doubling up Greg Guth on the wrong side of a flip. Khan started the day with the lead and within the first level had doubled his stack. He then hovered around 2-million for a good chunk of the day before ending with 1,885,000.


Day 2 started with 114 players and moved pretty quickly to the money where 63 players received the $2,938 min-cash. Erle Mankin stone bubbled when his aces got cracked by eventual 21st place finisher Khoa Tran. Tran flopped two pair and turned a boat to send Mankin home in 64th place. Mike Nelson, who amassed a huge stack early in Day 1B and bagged for Day 2 missed the money after a roller coaster ride. Notables that made it to Day 2 but did not make the money include Alex Greenblatt, Kevin O'Donnell, Randy Gil, Jordan Meltzer and Jason Gooch.


Lee Markholt (17th - $9,749) ran into the force of nature that is Elisa Nakagawa. She called Markholt’s shove with pocket sixes and flopped a set to crack Markholt’s kings, sending him home just shy of the final table. Charles ‘Woody’ Moore booked his 101st cash (22nd - $6,712) after entering the day with a top 15 stack. WSOP Colossus II champion Ben Keeline also made a deep run in search for more jewelry, but finished in 27th place for a score of $5,570.

 

Other familiar faces to make the money included Thomas Zanot (15th - $11,483), Ben Keeline (27th - $5,750), Kathy Stahl (28th - $4,987), Sean Yu (30th - $4,987), Kindah Sakkal (46th - $3,190), Tony Bracy (57th - $2,938) and Craig Gold (60th - $2,938).


The final table will start at 1:00 p.m. local time on Monday (previously scheduled for 12:00 p.m.) and will play until the newest WSOP Circuit champion is crowned. Follow all of the updates from the final table right here on WSOP.com.

 

Relive the Live Updates from Day 2