Tuiofu Hunkin – with $6,000 in career poker tournament earnings starting this year, saw that mark soar to $200,000 thanks to his second big score in three weeks as he wins the $500,000 Guaranteed WPTDeepStacks $1,100 Main Event at Thunder Valley Resort in northern California.
Hunkin won the $1,100 Bay 101 Shooting Star prelim mid-March for $50k as well, and started the year with a 19th-place finish at the WSOP Circuit at Thunder Valley.
The 678-entry field created a prize pool of $654,660, paying 85 places deep.
The Day 2 playdown to the final table ran far longer than most 40-minute-level $1,100’s do, so there was anticipation Monday’s final table may not be a very long day. Nobody, however, was prepared to see the final table last only three hours.
Here’s a look at our full tournament coverage, including the speedy final table, at ThunderValleyPoker.com
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.
