Four days of competition come to a close with Shawn Daniels defeating Harvey Castro heads-up for the win in the 2025 WPT Rolling Thunder Championship at TVPokerRoom inside Thunder Valley Resort in northern California.
Daniels receives $229,000 – including an entry in the 2025 WPT World Championship this December.
Daniels had a huge rail throughout final table play – including his parents who drove in to cheer him on all afternoon long, and current WPT World Champion Scott Stewart, a longtime poker friend.
Final table play ran some seven hours, with the heads-up match between Daniels and Castro taking a bit more than three hours.
Daniels came out of the gate firing away at the final table, his mom commenting from the audience that he didn’t really need to play every single hand, but he was running well and keeping his five opponents off-guard.
Castro, meanwhile, began final-table play with a sizable chiplead, and he kept building towers as the day went along. Following the early eliminations of Ben Primus (6th, $53,000) and David Ha (5th, $69,000) Castro moved into four-handed play with Daniels, three-time WPT Champion Eric Afriat and former WSOPC TVPokerRoom Main Event champ Paul Richardson, and had his three challengers covered.
Daniels eliminated Richardson in 4th ($91,000), and Afriat (3rd, $122,000) to move heads-up against Castro.
Castro begin with a 2-1 chiplead, only to see Daniels flip the stacks without ever being all in and called.
Once with the lead, Daniels went back to that intense pressure he used early at the final table to eventually have a 6-1 lead over Castro. A series of double-ups began at that point, Castro eventually drawing even, and the duo agreed to alter the original payouts. Each player locked up $193k and left about $35,000, the title and an entry in the 2025 WPT World Championship to play for.
Castro ran best early on once the ‘save’ took place, but Daniels scored as massive double, leaving Castro critically short, a position he never recovered from, eventually falling in second place ($193,600).
Family and friends poured onto the livestream stage once Daniels turned trip Sixes on the final hand, locking up the win. Stewart, Jarod Minghini, Jesse Rockowitz and Daniels’ Dad all cheering, his Mom quietly crying tears of joy just a bit off to the side.
“I did it Mom, I won, I’m so glad you are here,” said Daniels as he soon found his Mom hugged her in celebration.
Daniels and I go back into the early 2010’s, and shared a challenge very early in this championship. Legend has it that if Shawn buys me a beer while in a poker room, he immediately begins to SunRun and demolishes chip towers within reach.
Four days ago, he bought a beer during Level 2, we apologized to the rest of the field, as teh tournament winner had been determined.
Moments after securing the win, he walked over to me and simply said, “I held up my end of the bargain.”
Here is the Official Order of Finish
WPT CHAMPIONSHIP – FINAL RESULTS
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.
