Hand #14: It folded to Tommy Nguyen in the small blind who surveyed short stack Michael Benko's stack before moving all in. Benko snap-called for his last 3,500,000.
Tommy Nguyen:
Michael Benko:
The flop came giving Nguyen top pair. As the turn came Benko turned to fist-bump Nguyen, saying "Nice hand." The river, however, was the giving Benko a four-card flush.
Hand #60: Tommy Nguyen moved all in from under the gun for around 11,000,000. It folded to Shyam Srinivasan in the small blind who called all in for 6,300,000.
Shyam Srinivasan:
Tommy Nguyen:
Srinivasan was ahead, but Nguyen flopped two pair on a flop. It wasn't all bad news for Srinivasan, however, as he had a flush draw. The turn and river bricked out and he was eliminated in seventh place.
Hand #71: The action folded to Michael Benko in the cutoff who ripped all in for 7,900,000 and James Carroll pushed all in over the top from the small blind. Chris Chong folded the big blind and the two hands were tabled.
James Carroll:
Michael Benko:
Carroll had a dominating lead heading to the flop of . The turn brought the giving Benko some chop outs, but the on the river secured the win for Carroll and Benko was eliminated in sixth place.
Hand #72: The action folded around to Chris Chong in the small blind who announced all in. Daniel Corbett was in the big blind and quickly made the call for his last 6,050,000 chips.
Chris Chong:
Daniel Corbett:
It was a race situation with Corbett holding the pocket pair. His nines were looking good on the flop of . The landed on the turn and the rail cheered for a higher card. The river brought the and Chong hit his king to eliminate Corbett in fifth place.
Hand #88: Tommy Nguyen opened to 1,700,000 from under the gun and Chris Chong shipped all in for around 11,200,000. Nguyen snap-called and the cards were on their backs.
Tommy Nguyen:
Chris Chong:
Nguyen held the hand that nobody could beat on the final table, ace-king, and was in a dominating position. The flop came and both players flopped a pair of aces with Nguyen still holding the better kicker. The turn was the and the river brought the . Nguyen held on to eliminated Chong in fourth place late into the day.
Hand #94: Francis Rusnak was sitting on less than ten big blinds and shoved all in for 6,800,000 on the button. Tommy Nguyen asked for a count from the big blind and then made the call.
Tommy Nguyen:
Francis Rusnak:
The flop came and Rusnak picked up a flush draw to go with his two overcards. The turn was the and Rusnak was down to one last card. The dealer burned and turned the on the river and Nguyen's pocket deuces held up to be the best hand, eliminating Rusnak in third place.
The final two players are taking a quick break before heads-up play begins.
Hand #127: Tommy Nguyen raised to 2,500,000 and James Carroll raised all in for 14,625,000. Nguyen snap-called.
Tommy Nguyen:
James Carroll:
With both rails screaming for cards the flop came . Carroll's rail were content for a sweat, calling for the deuce of diamonds, which would give Nguyen a flush draw.
The turn was the and the river was the with Carroll eliminated in second place for $640,916
Tommy Nguyen has become the ninth millionaire crowned at the 2018 World Series of Poker, after taking down Event #48: $1,500 No-Limit Hold'em MONSTER STACK for $1,037,451.
After a rollercoaster ride of emotions at the final table, Nguyen was nearly at a loss for words when asked what it felt like to win $1,000,000. "I dreamed of this and I always believed I could make it. I never doubted that I was going to win. I was just focusing on winning a bracelet. That was my goal when I came here."
That's a pretty lofty goal for someone who is making their first appearance at the World Series of Poker at the age of 28, but Nguyen has just been riding a hot streak. Nguyen won over $100,000 at a major poker tournament in Canada just two months ago and has used the money to enter events at the WSOP this year.
The final table featured a staggering nine all-ins featuring ace-king, with big slick emerging victorious seven times. Eventual winner Nguyen sent two players to the rail, and shortly before midnight here in Vegas, Nguyen's ace-king sent eventual runner-up James Carroll to the rail as the Canadian clinched victory.
Official Final Table Results:
Seat
Name
Country
Payout (USD)
1
Tommy Nguyen
Canada
$1,037,451
2
James Carroll
United States
$640,916
3
Francis Rusnak
United States
$475,212
4
Chris Chong
Singapore
$354,903
5
Daniel Corbett
United Kingdom
$266,987
6
Michael Benko
Canada
$202,327
7
Shyam Srinivasan
United States
$154,463
8
Harald Sammer
Austria
$118,802
9
Rittie Chuaprasert
United States
$92,061
Final Day Recap
The day began with 29 players, and David Cabrera Polop was the first casualty; failing to spin up the one ante he returned with. A steady stream of eliminations over the course of the first two levels brought play down to two tables just after the first break of the day, with James Carroll in the lead.
Carroll, along with Chris Chong and Daniel Corbett would tussle for the chip lead as the players headed off on dinner break ten-handed on the unofficial final table.
Once they returned it didn't take long to get down first to a final table and then to a final eight. First Jimmy Chen lost a flip with pocket fours to bust in tenth, and then in the very first hand of the final table Rittie Chuaprasert got his remaining chips blind-on-blind, only to be dominated and bust in ninth.
The final table had a number of major coolers, and Harald Sammer would fall victim to one. He moved in with ace-king only for Shyam Srinivasan to wake up in the big blind with queens. Queens held, and the Austrian would be eliminated.
Michael Benko would scoop a miracle four-card flush to double, despite shaking his opponent's hand and saying "Nice hand," before the river was even dealt, and there was a lull in proceedings until Srinivasan's exit in seventh. Once again, ace-king was involved, and Srinivasan's nines fell to Nguyen's big slick who flopped both an ace and a king.
At this point, it was Chris Chong who held the chip lead, but Nguyen was pushing him close. Benko was next to go at the hands of Carroll, as the latter started to work his way back into contention short-handed. Benko ran ace-ten into Carroll's ace-king and failed to improve.
Daniel Corbett would bust in the very next hand, as three players were eliminated in under half an hour. In the same all-in as earlier with Srinivasan, pocket nines against ace-king, it was a king on the river for Chong that ended Corbett's run in fifth.
Carroll and Nguyen continued to push, and, despite eliminating Corbett, Chong was pushed down the chip counts. Eventually, he fell at the hands of Nguyen with ace-five against, indeed, ace-king, and play was three-handed.
Nguyen was obviously here to play; bluffing eventual third-place finisher Francis Rusnak with eight-high before Rusnak lost a flip to bust in third. He then proceeded to grind down James Carroll, allowing him to double up once, before finishing it with none other than ace-king to end the tournament in style.
"I was actually supposed to graduate this year but I dropped a course in accounting to take poker more seriously," Nguyen said after his victory. Although he has been playing poker for around ten years, he admits he wasn't always a winning player. "I knew I wasn't a winning player but I was stubborn. Just in the last two years, I started winning more. I tried to fix my game and started learning more."
And learning more has subsequently meant he's started winning more, starting with his first ever WSOP gold bracelet.