Val Vornicu Goes Back-to-Back to Win Record-Extending 12th WSOPC Ring
One day after winning his record 11th World Series of Poker Circuit gold ring, which broke a tie with Maurice Hawkins, Valentin Vornicu extended his lead by going back-to-back and shipping ring No. 12.
Vornicu topped a field of 349 entries to win the Harrah’s New Orleans Event #3: $365 Single Day NLH Re-Entry for $24,084. That followed his victory over a 1,340-entry field in Event #1: $365 NLH Re-Entry for $64,205.
“What is there to say?” Vornicu said after the win. “Right now, I’m just super tired and super happy. Also, is this real? Is this real?”
I’ve never won back-to-back tournaments. Definitely not live. Maybe online, but usually after I win a tournament live, the next one I play I just bust before the first break.
Because of his Event #1 win, Vornicu late registered the single-day tournament.
“I came in with like one level to go,” he said. “One bullet again and quickly rose my stack. In one level I think I had four times the average. I think I had close to that the whole tournament.”
Vornicu began the final table as the chip leader but hit some roadblocks. He doubled up four opponents and found himself as a short stack. Fortunately for him, he rebounded when he made the nut flush with a suited ace against Joshua Lowing, who had the second nut flush.
With two wins, the 34-year-old Vornicu is now a favorite to win the Harrah’s New Orleans Casino Championship title, which comes with a seat into the 2018 Global Casino Championship. Vornicu already has enough points on the leaderboard to secure a seat in that tournament, so for him, it’s now about the bragging rights.
“I think every grinder is rooting for me to win Casino Champion because then there is another spot opening up for points [in the 2018 GCC],” said Vornicu. “And the last five years, I usually get in by winning a Main Event or Casino Champion. Only once I got in with points.”
Others to cash the tournament were WSOPC Horseshoe Baltimore High Roller champ Blake Whittington (15th - $1,502), 2013 WSOP National Championship winner Jonathan Hilton (16th - $1,249) and Ricky Meyers (24th - $898).
Final Table Results
| Position | Player | Hometown | Prize |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Valentin Vornicu | San Diego, CA | $24,084 |
| 2 | Joshua Lowing | Pensacola, FL | $14,887 |
| 3 | Andrew Mousmoules | Chapel Hill, NC | $10,861 |
| 4 | Kien Tran | N/A | $8,056 |
| 5 | [Removed:321] Shahlaei | New Orleans, LA | $6,068 |
| 6 | Michael Horchoff | River Ridge, LA | $4,641 |
| 7 | Jerry Monroe | Columbus, GA | $3,602 |
| 8 | Sley Sanchez | New Orleans, LA | $2,835 |
| 9 | Justin Brassieur | Lake Charles, LA | $2,264 |
Lead photo courtesy of WSOP Circuit live updates
