Travis Egbert Tops 5-Hour Heads-Up Play Battle to Win WSOPC Thunder Valley Main Event
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The World Series of Poker Circuit (WSOPC) Thunder Valley Casino (Northern California) series ended on Monday. Travis Egbert of Windsor, CA was the lucky winner, taking home his third WSOPC ring of 2024.
Egbert's previous two rings were also won at Thunder Valley in January 2024 as part of the previous WSOPC season's Northern California leg.
The $1,700 buy-in WSOPC Thunder Valley Main Event attracted 812 entries, generating a $1,230,180 prize pool and putting $214,565 up top for Egbert to win.
Five Hours of Heads Up Play
Before Egbert could get his hands on the Main Event first-place prize, he had to fight his way through the final table for ten grueling hours against players like Brock Wilson and Colton Blomberg.
Around half of the ten-hour final table was spent on the head-up phase of the game alone. For five hours Egbert and Xiong Thao traded chips back and forth. Eventually — with blinds rising and the hour growing late — Egbert and Thao were forced to gamble, putting it all in on a coin flip.
“It was frustrating," Egbert told WSOP.com. "It was mentally consuming because [Thao] was putting on a really good fight. Obviously, we played for a really long time. [...] It was tough. I had to get lucky a few times.”
Thao won $142,540 for his second-place finish. For both players, their performance in this tournament represented a career-best cash.
WSOP Thunder Valley Main Event Final Table Results
| Place | Player | Prize |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Travis Egbert | $214,565 |
| 2 | Xiong Thao | $142,540 |
| 3 | Gregory Pincombe | $100,065 |
| 4 | Brock Wilson | $71,070 |
| 5 | Thomas Morris | $51,905 |
| 6 | Kirk Acevedo | $38,380 |
| 7 | Jared Smith | $28,640 |
| 8 | Colton Blomberg | $21,800 |
| 9 | Michael Rossitto | $16,875 |
History (Almost) Repeats Itself
The WSOPC Thunder Valley ran from September 18 to October 7, with 13 players winning rings across as many events.
Among the highlights of the series were Mehran Moeinzadeh winning the $2,200 High Roller Event and William ‘Skip’ Ferguson winning his third ring in the $400 Opener.
Perhaps the most notable story of the series was the Seniors Event where things almost shaped up for a rematch. Last year's winner and runner-up made it all the way to the final four in this year's edition of the Seniors Event.
Unfortunately, last year's runner-up Dennis Shirron busted in fourth, putting paid to that dream. Robert Garvin who won the event last year, then went on to take second place, falling just short of a back-to-back win and allowing William Suoja to win the ring this time around.
WSOP Circuit Thunder Valley Full Series Results
| EVENT | ENTRANTS | WINNER | PRIZE |
|---|---|---|---|
| Event #1: $400 No-Limit Hold'em - The Opener | 1,458 | William "Skip" Ferguson | $66,782 |
| Event #2: $400 No-Limit Hold'em | 277 | Ryan Awwad | $19,950 |
| Event #3: $600 Omaha 8 | 89 | Ed Smith | $12,715 |
| Event #4: $400 Monster Stack | 520 | Greg Feirman | $31,000 |
| Event #5: $600 H.O.R.S.E. | 79 | Ariel Shefer | $11,800 |
| Event #6: $600 Limit 2-7 Triple Draw | 65 | Yoshiaki Kasugahara | $10,255 |
| Event #7: $600 Pot-Limit Omaha | 123 | Man Pham | $16,055 |
| Event #8: $400 Seniors Event | 239 | William Suoja | $17,957 |
| Event #9: $1,700 MAIN EVENT | 812 | Travis Egbert | $214,565 |
| Event #10: $400 Thirty Thirty Accelerator | 184 | Bui Le | $14,405 |
| Event #11: $600 Big O | 88 | Joseph Genova | $45,320 |
| Event #12: $2,200 High Roller | 111 | Mehran Moeinzadeh | $58,150 |
| Event #13: $400 Series Finale | 86 | Ben Primus | $28,380 |
