Poker Tournament Thunder Valley
Curchack is the April 2018 WPTDS Thunder Valley Champion, earning $130,000 and a $3,000 package as the Thunder Valley champ heading to Canada at the end of the year for the WPTDS Season Championships. Get Email Updates from The Poker Room Dan Ross - Hold'em Live Updates at 5:14 PM. 16 September 2019 (Lincoln, Calif.) - The first of two World Series of Poker Circuit stops at Thunder Valley for the 2019/2020 season came to an end on Monday evening. There was a total of 13 points-earning ring events and all the events drew 3,279 entries creating a total prize pool of $1,686,710. Poker Tournaments Thunder Valley an opportunity to win real money or prizes. The games are intended for Poker Tournaments Thunder Valley an adult audience. Practice or success at social casino gaming does not imply future success at 'real money gambling'. .Thunder Valley Casino does not charge for text messages. However, standard and other charges may apply from your wireless provider. I certify that I am 21 years of age or older; and I understand that a valid state or federal issued I.D. Is required to obtain my Thunder Rewards Card.
The 2019 World Series of Poker (WSOP) Circuit Thunder Valley wrapped up on Monday with the stop’s $1,700 No-Limit Hold'em Main Event, a tournament that attracted 608 entrants and generated a $921,920 prize pool.
Tran outlasted a field of 47 entries, including WPT Raw Deal host Tony Dunst heads-up, and took down the WSOP Circuit Thunder Valley $3,250 High Roller title for $49,035. The win marks the second.
After three days of play, Thomas Kornechuk, a 57-year-old software engineer, made a name for himself by capturing the title for $193,439, his first gold ring, and a seat into the 2019 Global Casino Championship. In the process, he stopped defending champ Brett Murray from going back-to-back, sending him out the door in second place.
It was hard work paying off for Kornechuk, who just started taking poker seriously.
'I've followed a few different coaches. I've studied a lot of scenarios with them. I've read books about mental preparedness, specifically poker. And I've tried to apply that,” he told WSOP officials after the win. 'My game plan was to be conservative as much as possible, and apply pressure when I saw openings to do so. I was looking for a couple of tells that I saw. I attacked those. I think that's what changed for me.”
WSOPC Thunder Valley Main Event Final Table Results
| Position | Player | Hometown | Prize |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Thomas Kornechuk | Auburn, Washington | $193,439 |
| 2 | Brett Murray | Santa Rosa, California | $119,644 |
| 3 | Jeremy Joseph | Buffalo, New York | $87,488 |
| 4 | Yifu He | Sunnyvale, California | $64,921 |
| 5 | Tony Bracy | West Sacramento, California | $48,847 |
| 6 | Chris Tham | San Francisco, California | $37,259 |
| 7 | Ryan Jaconetti | Las Vegas, Nevada | $28,813 |
| 8 | Paul Richardson | San Ramon, California | $22,586 |
| 9 | Paul Camby | Guernville, California | $17,943 |
| 10 | Paul Chai | Santa Clara, California | $14,443 |
The top 62 Main Event finishers made the money including former LFG Podcast guestValentin Vornicu (13th - $11,722), Craig Varnell (23rd - $6,881), Matt Affleck (40th - $3,592), Ricky Guan (45th - $3,592), Randy Lew (50th - $3,270), and Ping Liu (57th - $3,012).
WSOPC Thunder Valley Main Event Final Table Action
According to updates from the event, Kornechuk got off to a hot start at the final table by eliminating Paul Chai in tenth place. It happened when Chai jammed from late position with queen-nine suited and Kornechuk woke up with aces in the small blind. The pocket rockets held and Chai had to settle for $14,443 in prize money.
Kornechuk then dispatched Paul Camby in ninth – the result of the latter’s sixes failing to win a flip against the former’s ace-queen – and then notch his next knockout with six remaining. That is when Chris Tham got it in with king-jack and failed to get there against Kornechuk’s Big Slick suited.
Kornechuk wouldn’t earn another knockout until the final one. It happened in Level 34 (100,000/200,000/30,000) when Murray got his short stack all in with the and was behind the of Kornechuk. The board ran out and Murray took home $119,644 for his runner-up finish.
It was a great performance for Murray, who in September of last year won the WSOPC Thunder Valley Main Event for $151,145. Amazingly, he came up just one spot shy of defending that title.
WSOPC Thunder Valley Side Event News
Also winning a 2019 Global Casino Championship seat was Adam Dunkle, a 45-year-old general contractor out of Clovis, California. He did so after winning the Casino Champion title with 115 points. That included topping a 103-entry field to win Event #3: $400 NLH for $10,197 and his first career ring.
Prior to that he finished fourth out of 1,522 runners in Event #1: $400 NLH The Opener for $29,940, and after placed runner-up in Event #9: $400 No-Limit Hold'em for $7,995.
Also doing well at the stop was Stephen Song, who bested a 74-entry field to win the $3,250 High Roller for $75,480. It marked his second gold ring and gave him 50 points on the Global Casino Championship leaderboard, which moved him into first place with 265 points on the season.
“I was grinding pretty hard to get a [Global Casino Championship] seat, but at this point, I have locked one up,” said Song. “These [WSOP Circuit] stops are great, especially ones with high rollers. Small field tournaments are way more fun because you get to make the FT way more often.”
Here’s a look at all those who won rings at the Thunder Valley stop.
WSOPC Thunder Valley Ring Winners
| Event | Winner | Entries | Prize |
|---|---|---|---|
| Event #1: $400 NLH The Opener | Ryan Grant | 1,522 | $86,644 |
| Event #2: $400 NLH Multi-flight | Gregory Fils | 237 | $13,630 |
| Event #3: $400 NLH Single Entry | Adam Dunkle | 103 | $10,197 |
| Event #4: $400 H.O.R.S.E. | Omar Mehmood | 62 | $7,162 |
| Event #5: $400 NLH 6-Handed (1 Day) | Erle Mankin | 113 | $11,184 |
| Event #6: $400 Omaha Hi-Lo 8 or Better | Eric Estoque | 101 | 10,000 |
| Event #7: $400 Monster Stack | David Valdez | 686 | $46.411 |
| Event #8: $250 Seniors | Mark Crusha | 154 | $8,318 |
| Event #9: $400 No-Limit Hold'em (1 Day) | Minh 'Danny' Nguyen | 140 | $12,937 |
| Event #10: $3,250 High Roller | Stephen Song | 74 | $75,480 |
| Event #11: $1,700 Main Event | Thomas Kornechuk | 608 | $193,439 |
| Event #12: $400 Pot-Limit Omaha (1 Day) | Kennii Nguyen | 106 | $10,295 |
| Event #13: $1,125 No-Limit Hold'em 8-Handed | Jarod Minghini | 135 | $37,782 |
The next WSOPC stop is already underway at Horseshoe Tunica. PokerNews will bring you a recap of the stop’s $1,700 Main Event upon its completion.
Photos courtesy of WSOP Circuit.
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World Series of Poker CircuitRelated Players
Thomas KornechukAdam Dunkle
Jaime Haletky has won the 2020 World Series of Poker Circuit Thunder Valley $1,700 buy-in no-limit hold’em main event. The 42-year-old mathematician based out of Morgan Hill, CA defeated a field of 487 total entries in the event to secure his first WSOPC gold ring and the top prize of $147,706. This was the largest score of his career, with his next two biggest paydays also having taken place at Thunder Valley Casino Resort.
“It feels great,' Haletky told WSOP reporters after emerging victorious from his third big final table at this venue. “I feel like the other [final tables] was a lot of luck, but I have really studied a lot these past two years to improve my game. Obviously this one was also luck, you can’t win without a lot of luck. I was really happy with how I played.”
Haletky came into the final day of action as the clear chip leader with 4,030,000, while five-time WSOPC ring winner Scott Stewart sat on the next largest stack with 3,105,000. It took only half an hour for the first elimination of the day to arrive. 2017 WSOP main event sixth-place finisher Bryan Piccioli got the last of his short stack into the middle with pocket deuces and was called in two spots. One of his opponents made a pair of eights by the river to secure the pot, sending Piccioli to the rail with $13,516.
Just a few minutes later, Bin Duan found himself all-in with ace-king up against the Q-9 of Stewart. A queen-high flop gave Stweart the lead and he held from there to knock Duan out in eighth place ($17,045).
Stewart scored his second elimination of the day with pocket nines, calling the all-in of Peter Pap after the two saw a six-high flop. Pap was behind with A-6, and he failed to improve any further on the subsequent streets. Pap took home $21,795 for his deep run in this event.
Haletky earned his first knockout of the day by busting Dann Turner. Turner got the last of his very short stack in with A-8. Haletky had called the preflop shove for just two blinds with 85 and made a full house by the river. Turner cashed for $28,251 as the sixth-place finisher.
The next elimination resulted from a classic preflop race situation. Marcus Laffen got his chips in with pocket nines and received a call from Marko Pantelic, who held A10. Pantelic spiked an ace on the flop to take a lead which he never relinquished. Leffen hit the rail in fifth place, earning $37,117.
Scott Stewart’s run in this event came to an end in heartbreaking fashion. Haletky four-bet all-in over the top of Stewart’s reraise preflop with AQ. Stewart quickly called for his tournament life with AA. Stewart was a 91.5 percent favorite to win the hand preflop, but a KJ8103 runout gave Haletky a straight. With that Haletky took a sizable lead into three-handed action, while Stweart was eliminated in fourth place ($49,418).
Marko Pantelic was the next to hit the rail. He found himself all-in with QJ up against the JJ of Adedapo Ajayi. The board was of no help, and Pantelic had to settle for $66,663.
With that knockout, Ajayi closed the gap to enter heads-up play with 7 million to Haletky’s 7.6 million. Haletky was able to get off to an early lead, though, and then managed to extend his advantage to roughly 2.5:1 by the time the final cards were dealt. In the last hand of the event, Ajayi raised to 180,000 from the button with AJ. Haletky three-bet to 600,000 holding 33. Ajayi four-bet all in for 3,950,000 and Haletky made to call. The board came down K9844 and Haletky’s threes were enough to lock up the pot and the title. Ajayi earned $91,009 as the runner-up.
Here is a look at the payouts and POY points awarded at the final table:
| Place | Player | Payout | POY Points |
| 1 | Jaime Haletky | $147,706 | 720 |
| 2 | Adedapo Ajayi | $91,009 | 600 |
| 3 | Marko Pantelic | 66,663 | 480 |
| 4 | Scott Stewart | $49,818 | 360 |
| 5 | Marcus Laffen | $37,117 | 300 |
| 6 | Dann Turner | $28,251 | 240 |
| 7 | Peter Pap | $21,795 | 180 |
| 9 | Bin Duan | $17,045 | 120 |
| 9 | Bryan Piccioli | $13,516 | 60 |
Thunder Valley Poker Tournament
Winner photo provided by WSOP.