This is the central page for information about the ongoing WSOP Circuit series at Thunder Valley Casino. Check back here daily for updated schedule and results.
25 January 2022 (Lincoln, California) – Another successful World Series of Poker Circuit at the Thunder Valley Casino is in the books. The Circuit returned to the Thunder Valley poker room after a two-year pandemic break, and the Thunder Valley crowd showed up in numbers.
The first open ring event of the series was the $400 No-Limit Hold’em Opener. After a two-year hiatus, the Thunder Valley crowd was thirsting for some WSOP action, and the event drew a massive field of 1,338 entrants that generated a prizepool well over $400,000. Chun Hai Teng, a Tesla manufacturing worker out of China, ended up as the last man standing for a $70,359 payday.
11 out of 12 rings were awarded to first-time WSOP winners. The only familiar face was six-time ring winner, Scott Stewart. The WSOP Circuit phenomenon grabbed the sixth gold ring of his career after taking down Event #9: $3,250 No-Limit Hold’em High Roller.
The High Roller event attracted 69 entrants that generated a prizepool of $207,000, and Stewart earned $65,733 for the win. The Lakewood native won his first Circuit ring back in 2014, and despite all his success, he still has the hunger to achieve more, and will keep traveling around the U.S to compete on the WSOP Circuit scene.
The ladies stole the show in Event #6: $400 No-Limit Hold’em Knockout Bounty. The event drew a male-dominated field of 153 entrants, but when it came down to heads-up play it stood between Erica Bryan and Kristi Nguyen. Bryan knocked out five of her eight Final Table opponents, but Nguyen ended up taking it down after a heads-up battle that lasted over two hours. With the win, Nguyen earned her first WSOP gold ring and a seat in the Tournament of Champions.
The marquee event of the series, the $1,700 No-Limit Hold’em Main Event, drew a field of 587 entrants and a lot of familiar faces decided to show up. Two-time bracelet winner JC Tran came out for the Main Event and went on a deep run that lasted late into Day three, but eventually busted in 35th place.
Nine players remained at the start of the third day, and leading the pack was none other than the 2007 WSOP Main Event winner, Jerry Yang. Yang took down the WSOP Main event during the glory days of poker, and the former Main Event winner put on a great performance at the Thunder Valley Main Event and ended up in fourth place for a $57,772 payday.
But despite the star-studded starting field, El Salvador’s Victor Paredes was the last man standing after the last hand was dealt. The 34-year-old poker pro lost a heads-up match for a bracelet at this year’s World Series of Poker but got his revenge a few months later by taking down the $1,700 Thunder Valley WSOP Circuit Main Event.
An emotional winner broke down in tears after seeing his pocket-aces hold up during the final hand of the tournament, and explained his emotions in the winner interview.
“I had a second-place finish at the last world series and almost won a bracelet, and that was why I got so emotional here. I was so close to that bracelet and I thought that I’d never get another chance like that. This is a little redemption,” said the Thunder Valley WSOP Circuit Main Event Champion.
The successful series at Thunder Valley drew a total of 3,668 players, over $2,000,000 in prize money was awarded throughout the series, and a total of 12 rings were handed out over the 12 days of play.
Completed Events
Event #1: $400 Seniors Event - Bill Stephenson outlasted 206 entrants to earn $16,622.
Official Report | Winner Photo | Results
Event #2: $400 The Opener - Chun Hai Teng outlasted 1338 players to earn $70,359.
Official Report | Winner Photo | Results
Event #3: $400 No-Limit Hold'em - Farzan Rahman defeated 230 players to earn $17,965.
Official Report | Winner Photo | Results
Event #4: $400 Omaha 8 - Terry Giles defeated 150 entrants to earn $13,125.
Official Report | Winner Photo | Results
Event #5: $400 No-Limit Hold'em 8-Handed - Romeo Velasquez outlasted 174 entrants to earn $14,566.
Official Report | Winner Photo | Results
Event #6: $400 H.O.R.S.E. - Jason Mayer defeated 78 entrants to earn $7,965.
Official Report | Winner Photo | Results
Event #7: $400 No-Limit Hold'em Knockout Bounty - Kristi Nguyen defeated 153 players to earn $9,326
Official Report | Winner Photo | Results
Event #8: $400 Monster Stack - Damion Underwood outlasted 379 players to earn $26,751.
Official Report | Winner Photo | Results
Event #9: $3,250 No-Limit Hold'em High Roller - Scott Stewart defeated 69 entrants to earn $65,733.
Official Report | Winner Photo | Results
Event #10: $1,700 MAIN EVENT - Victor Paredes defeated 587 entrants to earn $169,294.
Official Report | Winner Photo | Results
Event #11: $1,125 Knockout Bounty - William Northey defeated 131 entrants to earn $17,599.
Official Report | Winner Photo | Results
Event #12: $250 Series Finale - Nicolas Garcia outlasted 173 players to earn $8,874.
Official Report | Winner Photo | Results
About the Winners
Event #1: Bill Stephenson
Bill Stephenson took down the $400 No-Limit Hold'em Seniors Event at the Thunder Valley Casino World Series of Poker Circuit. Stephenson survived 206 entrants to earn $16,622 and his first WSOP Circuit gold ring. He also earns a seat in the Tournament of Champions, which will be held in Las Vegas in the summer of 2022.
Event #2: Chun Hai Teng
Chun Hai Teng has just won the first open event of the 2022 Thunder Valley Casino World Series of Poker Circuit. Teng survived a field of 1,338 entrants to earn $70,359 and his first WSOP Circuit gold ring.
Teng, a Tesla manufacturing worker from China, only plays poker recreationally, and the $400 Opener was a step up from his normally lower tournament buy-ins
“I never play $400 tournaments, and I have never played a WSOP event before, but I decided to play this one and it worked out. My wife told me she needed a new car so I decided to play,” Teng said after scoring the biggest win of his career.
After a two-year hiatus, the Thunder Valley crowd was thirsting for some WSOP action, and the event drew a massive field of 1,338 entrants that generated a prizepool well over $400,000. Day 2 started with 200 players but had lost over 25% of the field after less than an hour. Teng’s stack dwindled down halfway through the day, but he did not lose hope despite the adversity.
“I was very short a few times, but I never feel like I’m out. I’ve got a lot of confidence in myself, but I had a very short stack at one point. But that is when you must push, and that is what I did,” said the winner.
Event #3: Farzan Rahman
Farzan Rahman is the newest World Series of Poker Circuit Champion. The IT analyst from California defeated a field of 230 entrants in the $400 No-Limit Hold’em event that lasted over 15 hours. The event started early afternoon and did not reach a Final Table until past midnight. Rahman eventually found himself heads-up against San Jose’s Stephen Godfrey – a heads-up opponent that made Rahman work hard for his gold.
“He [Godfrey] was a great opponent. I was a little bit more aggressive than him, and I was more experienced than him playing heads-up. I was raising and going all-in a lot, and I was able to exploit his inexperience. But he was a great opponent,” Rahman explained.
After nearly three hours of heads-up play, Rahman was able to take it down to earn his first WSOP ring and a seat into the Tournament of Champions.
Event #4: Terry Giles
The $400 Omaha 8 event at the Thunder Valley Casino World Series of Poker Circuit concluded with Terry Giles as the last man standing. Giles outlasted 150 entrants to earn $13,125 and his first WSOP Circuit gold ring. He also earns a seat in the Tournament of Champions, which will be held in Las Vegas in the summer of 2022.
Giles, a recreational player from Columbus, GA, decided to play the one-day event after watching the World Series of Poker on TV. A decision he won’t regret.
“I have been an Omaha 8 player for decades, but I only play recreationally. I was watching WSOP on the TV and that inspired me, so I looked for Circuit Series online, found this one, and decided to go,” said the newest WSOP Circuit winner.
When asked to describe his feelings after the victory, he opened the box and reveal the WSOP gold.
“That’s it right there,” Giles said and pointed at the coveted ring. “I can go home and say that I am a WSOP champion - and that is a good feeling.”
Event #5: Romeo Velasquez
Romeo Velasquez won the $400 No-Limit Hold'em 8-Handed event at the Thunder Valley Casino World Series of Poker Circuit. Velasquez outlasted a stacked starting field of 174 entrants to earn $14,566 and his first WSOP Circuit gold ring. He also earns a seat in the Tournament of Champions, which will be held in Las Vegas in the summer of 2022.
“It feels wonderful. I have always thought that I could win one of these, given the chance. I don’t play too many WSOP events, but I play a lot of smaller events in the Bay Area. I was lucky then, but now I am a much better player,” Velasquez said after winning his first WSOP ring.
The new WSOP champion is now hoping to keep the hot streak going in the Main Event that starts Saturday – if his wife let him.
“We were supposed to go to Hawaii this Saturday, but I asked her if we could delay the trip so that I could play the Main Event. When she refused I said ‘Can we delay it if I win a tournament’ and she said that I had to win one before we could discuss that, so now I’m going to go home and show her this ring,” Velasquez laughed.
Velasquez is playing phenomenal poker at the moment and the first flight of the Thunder Valley WSOP Circuit Main Event starts on Saturday. The Thunder Valley crowd can only hope that Ms. Velasquez holds strong, to avoid the red-hot champion at the Main Event felt.
Event #6: Jason Mayer
The $400 H.O.R.S.E. event at the Thunder Valley Casino World Series of Poker Circuit just concluded with one player remaining - Jason Mayer. Mayer, a travel agent from Roseville, CA, only play poker recreationally but decided to fire a bullet in his game of choice, H.O.R.S.E.
“I’m excited. Our home-games are always mixed-games so it’s exciting to get it [first ring] in this. We play mixed-games all the time, so it’s fun that I won the H.O.R.S.E.,” Mayer said after winning his first gold ring.
The one-day event got down to a Final Table after nine hours of poker action. The first player to hit the rail was Paul Damato for a ninth-place finish, and Aaron Perkins joined him shortly after. Mayer started the Final Table with a sizeable chip-lead and was able to use that to his advantage as the field dwindled down.
“I put a lot of pressure on the short stacks and continued to raise. The blinds were getting so big and I had plenty of chips so I was able to do that. In this game, if they don’t have it they will just fold. It’s insane how much you can pick up by just stealing blinds, and I was able to do that,” the Champion explained.
Event #7: Kristi Nguyen
The ladies stole the show in the $400 Knockout Bounty event at the Thunder Valley Casino World Series of Poker Circuit. Erica Bryan and Kristi Nguyen battled heads-up for over two hours before Nguyen could seal the deal and become WSOP Circuit Champion.
The one-day event held a good pace throughout the day, as the $100 knockout bounties incentivized more aggressive play. The event reach a Final Table after seven hours, with Nguyen in the middle of the pack with her 229,000 in chips. Her soon-to-be heads-up opponent, Erica Bryan, sat on a massive stack of 449,000 for the chip lead. Bryan continued to crush the Final Table, collecting five knockout bounties before the battle between the two ladies could begin.
“Once we starting playing heads-up I felt like I had a good chance. I had played with her all day and felt like I had a good read on her. I tried not to think about the ring or the $1 million freeroll, I just tried to play my game and focus on what I could control, and it worked out,” Nguyen said.
Event #8: Damion Underwood
After two days of poker action, the $400 No-Limit Hold'em Monster Stack at the Thunder Valley Casino World Series of Poker Circuit just concluded with Damion Underwood as the last man standing. Underwood outlasted a large starting field of 379 entrants that generated a prizepool of $124,070.
Outside of his job as a Police Sergeant for Stockton Police Department, Underwood also coaches his daughters U16 softball team. He was able to take the week off from his other duties to come play the WSOP Circuit at Thunder Valley, and his decision paid off.
“It feels pretty amazing, the field was huge so it’s pretty amazing,” said the happy winner after outlasting 379 entrants to earn the Monster Stack win.
After a short heads-up match, Underwood was able to take it down, and added $26,751 to his career earnings, coupled with his first WSOP Circuit gold ring and a seat in the Tournament of Champions, that will be held in Las Vegas in the summer of 2022.
Event #9: Scott Stewart
Scott Stewart did it again. The WSOP Circuit phenomenon from Lakewood, CA, took down the $3,250 High Roller event to earn his sixth WSOP Circuit gold ring.
The win was Stewart’s sixth in his career, an accomplishment few other poker players have managed to achieve. His first win came back in 2014 and the game has evolved a lot since then, with modern poker players studying more than ever. When asked about his secret recipe, rather than studying, he attributes his success to his ability to read his opponents.
“You really have to evolve, if I look back at my first one in 2014 I had no idea what I was doing. Maybe a little bit, but not in the sense I do now. I don’t study, unfortunately, I’m not that guy, but I think I evolve with the game. 2014 is a cool story from Southern California, how my poker career got started, but coming from there to now, I’m a completely different player,” Stewart explained.
Despite his six rings and over $2,000,000 in live career earnings, the Lakewood native says that he still has the hunger to achieve more.
“A goal of mine has always been to win X amount of money. I was close to doing that in the Main Event and if I would have done that, I was going to retire and lay on a beach somewhere, but I’m always going to aspire to be better. I still love traveling, so I’m going to keep doing that. Maybe if I win eight million dollars, I’ll hang it up, but until then I’m going to travel around, drink some beers and have some fun.”
Event #10: Victor Paredes
Lincoln, Calif. (January 24 2022) - The final day of the World Series of Poker Circuit at Thunder Valley Main Event has come to its conclusion after about nine hours of final table play. Victor Paredes of Modesto, CA, emerged as the winner to earn his first ring, $169,294 and to get "get the monkey off of his back" by getting a win at what he considers his home casino.
"I have won a lot of tournaments but I have never won one here. Vegas, Reno,,, everywhere, except here, which doesn't make any sense because it's only an hour and half away. So it's been frustrating. But to finally get it done at the Main Event is a huge relief and excitement". said Paredes following his win.
Event #11: William Northey
Northey, a retired navy veteran now earning his business degree, had only played a handful of tournaments up until today. After cashing the $1,700 Main Event, he decided to keep the ball rolling and entered the $1,125 Knockout Bounty. The event drew a competitive field, including eight-time ring winner Roland Israelashvili, and a ring winner from last year’s Thunder Valley Circuit, Michael Lin.
The field of 131 entrants was down to 19 remaining players when Day 1 concluded. Northey bagged a healthy stack of 336,000 at the end of the day, sitting at fourth place at the start of Day 2.
The field dwindled down to a final table four hours into Day 2. The 32-year-old steamrolled through the final table, and collected a total of seven bounties from his final table opponents. He eventually found himself heads-up against Justin Chan, a marathon heads-up match that lasted for almost three hours.
“Hat’s off to him [Chan], he is a phenomenal player and he literally made no mistakes. And a really nice guy as well,” said Northey, praising his opponent.
The Thunder Valley poker room was packing up, as all other events of the two-week long series were over, except the heads-up match between Chan and Northey. That is when Northey got all his chips in the middle and tabled two red sixes. A black six peeled in the window and the last remaining six in the deck followed.
Event #12: Nicolas Garcia
Nicolas Garcia becomes the last winner of the Thunder Valley WSOP Circuit after taking down the $250 Series Finale. The 54-year-old from Tampico, Mexico, outlasted a field of 173 entrants to earn $8,874 and his first WSOP Circuit gold ring. He also earns a seat in the Tournament of Champions, which will be held in Las Vegas in the summer of 2022.
When he is not playing poker, Garcia shares his time between dealing cards and coaching youth soccer. Luckily, he was able to get away for the weekend to fire the $250 Series Finale, a decision that paid off.
“I’m really happy. The last two years have been tough for me. I went through three surgeries that prevented me from playing poker, but I am happy I was able to play this one – now I’m back in business,” the winner said.
Garcia was relentless at the final table and busted six out of his eight opponents.
“Early I had pocket-aces, and someone pushed all-in with pocket-eights, and the aces held up I had a feeling it was going to be a good tournament right from the start,” said Garcia.