Rio All-Suite Hotel and Casino is the proud host of the 49th edition of the World Series of Poker which is considered being one of the premium poker festivals on a global scale with an impressive history. One of the events which enjoy quite the popularity at the moment is Event #48: $1,500 No-Limit Hold’em MONSTER STACK which managed to attract a total of 6,260 entries over the span of its two starting flights and a winner was just chosen once Tommy Nguyen reached the throne and the $1,037,451 coming with it.
Every player registering for participation in the poker tournament was willing to go far and become the ninth millionaire of this edition of the WSOP. This explains the high interest towards entering the event and the overall mood at the poker tables which called for fast-paced action and motivation for winning. The increased interest towards the tournament was what guaranteed even larger cash prizes for the top positions on the official leader board of the 48th event.
Everyone interested in participation registered in the starting flight over the weekend in order to reserve a spot once the real race commences. The chip leader at the end of Day 3 Vitor Rangel climbed all the way from the 146th position at the beginning of the day to the first one with a chip stack of 8,920,000.
Rangel welcomed the surviving 29 players as the chip leader at the beginning of the Final Day of poker action. Over the span of the third day of poker action, another player climbed from the 34th position to the runner-up one and that was James Caroll.
Players Claim Generous Cash Payouts
He follows the chip leader closely with a chip count of 8,165,000. The last day of poker action was charged with anticipation and excitement as all remaining players have set their eyes on the prize. Tommy Nguyen commenced his race towards the throne as one of the players with shorter chip stack amounting to only 1,905,000, but this soon changed as the levels progressed and he witnessed more chips being added to it.
The first player to be eliminated so close to the official final table was David Cabrera Polop from Mexico who claimed a total of $28,841 for his deep run. From then on eliminations progressed with full force and the player pool was reduced to the final nine which were in for the big cashes. Rittie Chuaprasert was the first one sent to the rail with his cash payout of $92,061.
The action was rapidly leading to the official battle of three which was going to determine the eventual winner of the event. Participating in it were Francis Rusnak, James Carroll, and the winner Nguyen. Rusnak was sent to the third position on the official leader board and this granted him the fair share of the overall prize pool estimating to $475,212.
Heads-up duel was held between Carroll and Nguyen and resulted in only one millionaire. Carroll had to settle for the runner-up position and the $640,916 coming with it. Nguyen claimed his first WSOP gold bracelet, but not his first cash prize from the WSOP festival this summer.
The first one came at the Event #24: THE MARATHON – $2,620 No-Limit Hold’em where the Canadian player claimed a total of $4,435, whereas the second one was won at the Event #37: $1,500 No-Limit Hold’em where he bagged $2,641.
