Hermilo Vargas Wins WSOPC Monster Stack Event Again!

Last December, the WSOP Circuit made its first stop of the 2017/18 season at the Bicycle Casino in Los Angeles, with Hermilo Vargas taking down its $365 Monster Stack event for $71,195. In March, the tour then returned to the same venue, and this time around Vargas managed the impressive task once more, in the process adding a further $86,270 to his bankroll.
Vargas’ latest victory represents his biggest score to date, and moves his career earnings up to $643,076. Commenting later about how it compared to his other WSOPC win, the former taxi driver explained:
“I think this one is better for me because I never really got short stacked. The other one, I was short-stacked, and I got lucky a few times. This one, I was ok the whole final table.”
Whereas the first WSOPC ring Vargas captured came after navigating his way past 1,150 players, this stop Vargas had a bigger field of 1,317 players to contend with. Amongst the notable pros subsequently seeing a profit on their $365 buy-ins was Sean Yu in 70th ($1,260), Mike Shariati in 29th ($2,495), and Owen Crowe in 12th ($7,210).
Hermilo Vargas subsequently entered the final table second in chips only to Michael Itaev, with the duo eventually facing off against one another in the the heads-up phase of the competition. On the final hand, Vargas (Ah-5c) and Itaev (Qs-Jc) ended up all-in on an 8c-7s-5s-8s board, and after the river drew a blank for Itaev he had to be satisfied with a runner-up finish worth $54,450.
Meanwhile, Vargas claimed the title to become the first person to claim back-to-back wins at the Bicycle Casino’s $365 WSOPC Monster Stack event, after which he commented:
“At the beginning, it was a very tough table. I lost a few pots and I got down. Then, I just wait for some people to kill each other and then when it’s a short table, I start to play my game.”
Final Table Results
1: Hermilo Vargas $86,270
2: Michael Itaev $54,450
3: Alexander Farahi $40,000
4: Greg Gibson $30,150
5: Chen Yu Hung $22,840
6: Jose Marcal $17,515
7: Jason Nguyen $13,560
8: Romik Vartzar $10,600
9: Jon Peck $8,370
Ari Engel Wins 9th Ring
The WSOP Circuit’s latest stop at the Bicycle Casino runs throughout the whole of March, and one of the other tournaments which took place recently was its $365 Omaha Hi Lo 8 or Better event. One of the players taking part in the competition was Valentin Vornicu, who has 10 WSOP Circuit rings to his name, making him the current record holder.
A couple of accolades behind was perennial Canadian winner Alan Engel, with both players making it through to the $365 Omaha final table, together with Hollywood actor James Woods. While Vornicu then fell in 8th place, Woods managed to make it through to three-handed play, with Engel then eliminating him followed by Don Halpern to claim his 9th ring.
Alan Engel now boasts $5,458,190 in live career earnings, placing him at number 12 on Canada’s ‘All Time Money List’, with the country’s three top placed players including Daniel Negreanu ($36,546,095), Jonathan Duhamel ($17,884,103), and Mike McDonald ($13,275,943).
Final Table Results
1: Ari Engel $9,730
2: Don Halpern $6,010
3: James Woods $4,275
4: Frankie O’Dell $3,105
5: Jesse David $2,300
6: Darryl Mann $1,740
7: Donald Garrett $1,335
8: Valentin Vornicu $1,045
9: Todd Gonzalez $835
Other Winners
The WSOP Circuit Bicycle Casino offers a range of tournaments, with its lowest buy-in being the $75 FB No-Limit Hold’em $25K GTD event taking place on the 15th, and its highest the $4,300 Quantum Direct Buy-In starting on the 27th. Amongst the players already picking up rings so far is Britton Purvis who took down the $245 No-Limit Hold’em $50K GTD for $11,181; Gregory Gibson who claimed victory at the $365 No-Limit Hold’em $75K GTD for $24,705; Erich Karle who triumphed at the $240 No-Limit Hold’em $50 Bounty for $6,365; and Ryan Buckholtz who won the $365 No-Limit Hold’em event for $10,615.