Recreational player – Steven Spunt outlasted a strong field of 547 entrants to win the WSOP Circuit Bicycle Casino Main Event title. With this win, the 58-year-old from Southern California joined the elite club of WSOP Circuit Main Event champions. He was crowned the winner of the $1,700 Main Event at the Bicycle Casino in Bell Gardens, California for his second WSOP Circuit gold ring.
Steven Spunt must be very happy with his spectacular performance as he managed to turn his $1,700 buy-in into a whopping first-place prize of $174,055. Spunt has been in a good form over the past several weeks. He entered the Main Event at the Bike fresh off a good run in Las Vegas where he took part in another major series and ran pretty deep in two of the poker tournaments.
Spunt’s Tournament Journey
Spunt entered final day as 11th in chips among 13 survivors from a field 547 entries. He ran so well as the day progressed that he finally emerged as the chip leader. The player got a decent start and went on to double up and then score back-to-back eliminations, busting Alexander Furahi (12th – $12,995) and Viet Vo (11th – $12,995) to take the chip lead into the unofficial 10-handed final table.
However, the final table was not an easy road for Spunt. He faced several bad beats that brought up his chip stack down. However, he kept cool and calm looking for right spots to chip up. Eventually during the three-handed play, Spunt managed to regain the lead over his two remaining opponents.
Spunt’s 8d 7s won against pocket fours of short-stacked Jason Bral and the latter was eliminated in fourth place ($58,405). Later, David Lambard’s Ac 10s won against pocket tens of Steven Forman, who went out in third place ($78,710). Lambard took the lead into heads-up with Spunt.
Lambard began applying pressure on his last surviving competitor to accumulate chips. However, Spunt put up a good fight and doubled up quickly. He regained the lead and never looked back.
The name of the champion finally became known just a few hands later. His heads-up mate – Lambard moved all-in with his Ks Kh and Spunt called with his As 9c. The board ran out 7s 6s 9s Js 10c, giving a flush to both players. However, Spunt’s flush was better and he won the coveted title. Lambard collected a payday of $107,640 for his runner-up finish in the Main Event.
Final Table Results:
1st: Steven Spunt – $174,055
2nd: David Lambard – $107,640
3rd: Steven Forman – $78,710
4th: Jason Bral – $58,405
5th: Marcos Exterkotter – $43,495
6th: Craig Varnell – $33,520
7th: Vincent Moscati – $25,920
8th: Ian Steinman – $20,320
9th: Jorge Leiva – $16,145