WSOP Finalist Gordon Vayo Wins Oklahoma Tourney for $587k

The 2016 WSOP Main Event is due to resume on October 30th, when the tournament’s nine remaining competitors will compete for a huge first place prize worth $8 million. One of those finalists is Gordon Vayo, and ahead of the biggest event of the poker calendar, the 27 year-old San Francisco pro has just taken down another Main Event, in this case taking place at the WinStar World Casino and Resort in Thackerville, Oklahoma.
The $2,500 buy-in River Poker Series attracted a field of 1,054 players, and featured a guaranteed prize pool of $2.5 million. Amongst the notable pros then securing a paid money spot was Benjamin Zamani in 48th ($6,520), Brandon Steven in 27th ($9,843), Kevin Eyster in 16th ($17,555), Jacob Bazeley in 12th ($20,852), and Ray Qartomy in 10th ($25,038).
Starting the final table of nine in pole position, Gordon Vayo (A-A) then eliminated Chino Rheem (2-2) in 7th, before picking up 9-9 and doing likewise to Long Duc Nguyen (9-8) in 6th.
Following an hour more of play, the remaining five players decided to agree a deal which brought a premature halt to the action. At this stage, Gordon Vayo held around half the chips in play, which was then reflected in the payouts as he received $587,120 in prize money, with the rest of the money divided out as follows; Ben Ector ($344,826), Dean Bobel ($225,048), Layne Flack ($225,190), Grant Hinkle ($207,669). While Gordon Vayo could have won $1 million had he played on and finished the champion, the huge drop in money between first and second place of almost $775k was enough for all the remaining finalist to agree to the chop.
After being awarded the title, Gordon Vayo now boasts $1,561,834 in tournament winnings, to go with the $1,427,685 he has won online playing under the screen name Stlouis6. He is also guaranteed a minimum of $1 million for reaching the 2016 WSOP Main Event final table, although that amount is certain to increase as he starts the final table as the third biggest chip stack.
Final Table Results:
1: Gordon Vayo $587,120
2: Ben Ector $344,826
3: Dean Bobel $225,048
4: Layne Flack $225,190
5: Grant Hinkle $207,669
6: Long Duc Nguyen $70,054
7: Chino Rheem $54,288
8: Jeff Duvall $40,893
9: Daniel Fuhs $32,623