Nick Guagenti Defeats Keven Stammen To Win First Annual Queen City Classic Main Event
On Monday night, the first annual Queen City Classic Main Event came to a close from the Horseshoe Casino in Cincinnati, OH. The $1,500 buy-in Main Event attracted a field of 529 players and generated a prize pool of $714,150. Walking away with the top prize of $153,548 was hometown hero Nick Guagenti.
Queen City Classic Main Event Final Table Results
| Place | Player | Hometown | Prize |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Nick Guagenti | Westerville, OH | $153,548 |
| 2 | Keven Stammen | Coldwater, OH | $94,932 |
| 3 | Blake Barnes | Cincinnati, OH | $$69,351 |
| 4 | Jay Kelley | Cincinnati, OH | $51,412 |
| 5 | Thomas Elias | Fairfield, OH | $38,664 |
| 6 | Alex Yen | Lisle, IL | $29,494 |
| 7 | Kent Walter | Alliance, OH | $22,817 |
| 8 | Brandon Shane | Columbus, OH | $17,904 |
| 9 | Mark Weisser | Cincinnati, OH | $14,247 |
Guagenti's 2014 began with a roller coaster ride, but it was one caused by a shocking incident that struck the poker world. Guagenti was second in chips in the Borgata Winter Poker Open $2 Million Guarantee when it was cancelled, with his sights set on a big first-place payday. When the counterfeit chips incident took place, Guagenti was left wanting and expressed how upset he was on Episode #199 of the PokerNews Podcast. Now, things seem to be back on the upswing for this Ohio native.
First, Guagenti final tabled the massive 2,647-player opening event at the Queen City Classic, earning $6,448 for his ninth-place finish. Now, he capped off a great series with a victory in the largest event, bagging the single largest score of his poker career and pushing his live tournament earnings to nearly $650,000. Guagenti's previous biggest score was in 2012 when he final tabled the World Series of Poker Circuit Hammond Main Event, placing eighth for $49,075.
At the start of the final table, Guagenti was in pole position with 5.66 million of the 15.87 million chips in play, and he barely looked back. At the dinner break, four players remained with Guagenti holding 7.985 million in chips — or just over half of those available. It was then time for Jay Kelley to bust in fourth place and Blake Barnes to finish in third before Guagenti was set to take on Keven Stammen heads up for the title.
Stammen, a stout player in his own regard with a WSOP gold bracelet and $2.2 million in live tournament earnings, proved no match for Guagenti, though, even despite entering the duel with a slight chip lead.
"[Stammen and I] were talking about how much we wanted to win the tournament the other day," Guagenti told those at the Queen City Classic blog after the event. "Cash is good, but this is our area and we want to win."
Well, win was just what Guagenti did.
On the final hand, Guagenti check-raised all in on the turn with a straight. Stammen made the call for his tournament life with two pair and was unable to fill up on the river. For his effort, Stammen picked up $94,932 in prize money.
"A $1,500 tournament where you can get 500 people an hour and a half from my home — I’ve been waiting a long time for this," Guagenti added. "I do really well [in Ohio], so I have all the confidence in the world when I play these tournaments. I have final tabled five out of the last six tournaments I’ve played in Ohio."
*Data and photo courtesy of the Official Blog of the Queen City Classic.
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