Brent Hanks Defeats Gavin Griffin to Win 2013 California State Poker Championship
On Sunday night, the 2013 California State Poker Championship wrapped up with the conclusion of the $2,080 Main Event. After attracting a field of 258 players and creating a prize pool of over $500,000, 2012 World Series of Poker gold bracelet winner Brent Hanks added $117,760 to his pocket for taking home the title.
Final Table Results
| Place | Player | Hometown | Prize |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Brent Hanks | Las Vegas, NV | $117,760 |
| 2 | Gavin Griffin | Ladera Ranch, CA | $82,640 |
| 3 | Daniel Park | Arcadia, CA | $53,160 |
| 4 | David Mallka | Los Angeles, CA | $39,340 |
| 5 | Dong Tao | Laguna Niguel, CA | $29,530 |
| 6 | Jesse Martin | Northboro, MA | $23,620 |
| 7 | Babken Vardanyan | Burbank, CA | $19,620 |
| 8 | Ramzi Srour | Burbank, CA | $15,720 |
| 9 | Zhong Chen | Riverside, CA | $11,760 |
After Day 1a of the event, Ernest Avanesian led the way with 191,000 in chips and 18 players remaining. After the completion of Day 1b, it was Levi Berger who had topped the remaining 46 players from that flight with 184,000 in chips. Other notables making Day 2 were Mimi Tran, Jeff Madsen, Barry Greenstein and Eric Baldwin, although none of those players managed to make it to the money.
The money was reached with 27 players remaining, and everyone had locked up a minimum of $4,150. Bobby Suer was first to cash, hitting the rail in 27th place, and then a bit later, Day 1a chip leader Avanesian busted out in 18th for $6,010. Berger, the Day 1b chip leader, finished in 12th place and took home $8,610.
When the final 10 players joined at one table, Hanks held the chip lead with 1.3 million. Daniel Park, the eventual third-place finisher, was in second place with 854,000, then Jesse Martin sat in third with 739,000. Another WSOP gold-bracelet winner, Gavin Griffin, was the short stack with 163,000.
Griffin was able to mount a comeback and make it down to heads-up play against Hanks. Griffin had made a nice little run by busting Dong Tao in fifth place, David Malka in fourth place and then Park in third place, but in the end, he couldn't overcome Hanks for the victory.
On the final hand of the tournament, Griffin moved all in with the A♥6♦. He was up against the dominating A♠9♣ of Hanks, and the board ran out 7♥7♠4♠9♦A♣ to seal the deal. For his runner-up result, Griffin earned $82,640.
With the victory, Hanks earned the third largest score of his career and pushed his career live tournament earnings to over $1.4 million.
Photo courtesy of LAPCnews.com.
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