Lincoln, CA (January 23, 2023) – The World Series of Poker’s latest return to the Thunder Valley Casino Resort in Northern California may have collectively been its most successful series there yet.
The 12-day stop saw big turnouts all series long, capped by the 679-entry field in the $1,700 Main Event which was won by Oakland, California’s Bilguun Odgerel. From the $1,028,685 prize pool, which more than doubled its guarantee, Odgerel took home $195,194 for the win, which was by far his largest-ever WSOP score.
Odgerel defeated Brandon Zuidema heads-up, denying Zuidema his second career WSOP Circuit ring. “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,” said Odgerel after their match.
In all, 102 players collected a portion of the prize pool with many notables cashing including Angela Jordison (5th - $49,839), who entered the final table as the chip leader in search of her second Circuit ring of the series, Justin Lapka (23rd - $6,756), who finished 7th in the main event at the recent WSOP Circuit stop in Choctaw Durant, former WSOP Main Event final tablist Amir Lehavot (37th - $3,509), and now five-time WSOP Circuit ring winner Jarod Minghini (58th - $2,978).
From the first event onward, marquee names repeatedly filled the winner’s circle at Thunder Valley as the voice of the WSOP himself, Lon McEachern won his first-ever WSOP Circuit ring by taking down Event #1: $400 Seniors NLH.
Another notable player claimed victory in event #3: $600 No-Limit Hold ‘em, as 2022 WSOP Housewarming bracelet winner Henrieto Acain added his first Circuit ring to his WSOP jewelry collection.
A heartwarming story highlighted Event #6: $400 8-Handed No-Limit Hold’em, as Thunder Valley local Roberto Valdez won his first Circuit ring, then proudly displayed a card protector in his winners’ photo of his brother David, who passed away in April 2021 at the young age of 29.
David was a well-known crusher at Thunder Valley who earned three WSOP Circuit rings here along with many in-house tournament victories.
The mixed game community was well represented in this series as well, with plenty of marquee names throughout those fields, including Shirley Rosario who won Event #5: $600 Omaha 8 or Better for her first WSOP Circuit ring, while three-time WSOP bracelet winner Frankie O’Dell earned his fifth Circuit ring by taking down Event #7: $600 H.O.R.S.E.
Next in the list of marquee names to capture a ring was 2022 GPI female and mid-major player of the year runner-up Jordison, who kicked off her 2023 just as hot as her 2022, winning Event #10: $3,250 High Roller. The $86,579 she collected for first place sent her over the $1 million mark in career tournament earnings. As mentioned above, she then made a deep run to the final table of the Main Event as well.
Finally in Event #12: $1,125 Knockout 8-Handed, Jarod Minghini won his fifth Circuit ring. Minghini had recently won his fourth in the Harvey’s Lake Tahoe Main Event last October.
Thunder Valley Main Event Final Table Results:
1st place: Bilguun Odgerel - $195,194 + Seat into Tournament of Champions
2nd place: Brandon Zuidema - $120,643
3rd place: Casey Sandretto - $88,817
4th place: Narongsak Dhaijaichon - $66,145
5th place: Angela Jordison - $49,839
6th place: Kevin Vanderbeek - $37,999
7th place: Kenneth Baime - $29,320
8th place: Roman Shainiuk - $22,898
9th place: Jordan Griff - $18,104
OFFICIAL RING EVENTS
EVENT #1: $400 NLH SENIORS – LON MCEACHERN - RESULTS
EVENT #2: $400 NLH THE OPENER – GREGORY SIMON - RESULTS
EVENT #3: $600 NO LIMIT HOLD ‘EM – HENRIETO ACAIN - RESULTS
EVENT #4: $400 NO LIMIT HOLD’EM – RAMZI ZUMOUT - RESULTS
EVENT #5: $600 OMAHA 8 OR BETTER – SHIRLEY ROSARIO - RESULTS
EVENT #6: $400 NLH 8-HANDED – ROBERTO VALDEZ - RESULTS
EVENT #7: $600 H.O.R.S.E. – FRANKIE O’DELL - RESULTS
EVENT #8: $400 NLH MONSTER STACK – RICHARD PELOQUIN - RESULTS
EVENT #9: $600 NLH 6-HANDED – YOTAM SHMUELOV - RESULTS
EVENT #10: $3,250 NLH HIGH ROLLER – ANGELA JORDISON - RESULTS
EVENT #11: $1,700 MAIN EVENT – BILGUUN ODGEREL - RESULTS
EVENT #12: $1,125 NLH KNOCKOUT 8-HANDED – JAROD MINGHINI - RESULTS
EVENT #13: $400 NLH SERIES FINALE – JOSE ESPARZA - RESULTS
DIRECT LINKS
2022-2023 CIRCUIT SCHEDULE
2022-2023 CIRCUIT HOMEPAGE
All rings at Thunder Valley are furnished by Jostens, the official ring supplier of the 2022-23 WSOP Circuit season.
For more information about the WSOP Circuit, follow us on Twitter at @WSOP or visit WSOP.com.
For additional information please contact: Mike Patrick (WSOP Media Coordinator) at mikepatrick98@yahoo.ca