Cinco de Curchack!
Fives were the favored hand for Adam Curchack in the $400 buy-in multi-flight Mega Stack hosted here at Graton Casino & Resort as he continued the current heater he has been on these past few months at poker tournaments across Northern California.
Curchack had folded pocket fives in a hand when three players remained that would have resulted in flopped quad fives to end the tournament right then and there. But it ultimately didn’t matter, because he won the tournament about 30 minutes later when Curchack hit a full house with fives over fours to claim the victory.
“Oh my god, I folded pocket fives. I could have won the tournament earlier,” exclaimed Curchack when he was asked about the missed opportunity with the quad cincos. We responded, “Well the fives were just waiting for you in the end anyways right?” Curchack paused for a moment before saying, “Oh yeah, I could have won the tournament a half-hour earlier [laughs]. But they were waiting, yes.”
All of this business with the fives was fitting considering that yesterday was Cinco de Mayo, which commemorates the victory of the Mexican army over the French army in the Battle of Puebla back on May 5, 1862. The total turnout of 1,216 entries in this field made it the largest poker tournament ever hosted at Graton Resort & Casino. It was fitting for a hometown player to win the largest Battle of Graton ever hosted on the property.
“That’s awesome, OK cool, I appreciate knowing that. Graton is my hometown, I live 10 minutes away from here. I’ve been playing here since they opened 10 years ago. I love the proximity, and I love the room, and I love that they run tournaments here now. I hope they keep building it.”We caught up with Curchack after the win to get his thoughts on the victory. “It feels great, it’s been an amazing 2-3 [months]. Back in March I got second up in Thunder for $101k, and then I chopped the Battle of the Bay two weeks ago today over at Lucky Chances for like $53k. So to win this today is just unreal, it’s unbelievable. I can’t believe how I’ve been running, so I’m hoping it can carry into Vegas,” said Curchack.
He continued, “It’s really good right now, I think part of it is just knowing that it can come and go so easily. I’m just really grateful for what I’m experiencing right now, so I’m really happy about it. The summer is coming , it’s right here. If I can keep this going into Vegas that would be incredible.”
Curchack is a WPTDeepStacks champion, and now he is a RunGood ring winner as well. This current heater for Curchack began with his first six-figure score at Thunder Valley back in March (taking his career earnings well above $300,000), and he will continue to ride the wave here at Graton throughout the rest of the tournament series.
“I’m going to keep playing, I might come in and play the six-max tomorrow. Maybe, maybe not, I don’t know yet; but I’m definitely going to play the Main,” said Curchack.
He had a rocky start to the tournament, but refocused and then really closed strong as the perennial chip leader down the home stretch of the tournament.
“I fired two bullets on the first flight and played like absolute trash, and then I think I was just being a little arrogant in a $400 [buy-in] since I’ve been winning. Then I went in again the other day so I could play, and I was playing it like it was a $1,000 or $2,000 buy-in. I played my best game, and I bagged a decent stack, and I came into today feeling really good. And I ran it right to the end,” said Curchack to end the exit interview.
Dan is the founder of PokerLiveUpdates, a veteran poker tournament reporter who can be found wandering somewhat aimlessly through tournament arenas worldwide. As a founding member of FunTour2.0, he searches for the best in craft beer at all locations in the poker world.
