Another Day, Another Millionaire; Kainalu McCue-Unciano Wins the WSOP Monster Stack
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A new millionaire has been crowned at the 50th Annual World Series of Poker in Event #50: Monster Stack - $1,500 No-Limit Hold'em. Kainalu McCue-Unciano rose to the top through a field of 6,035 to capture his first ever WSOP gold bracelet after defeating Vincent Chauve in a back and forth heads-up match.
"This is the biggest final table I've ever been at, and I just tried to not think about how much money I was playing for."
It took five long days of poker to earn himself a cool $1,008,850. Coming into the tournament, McCue-Unciano's largest cash was just over $75,000 with nearly $500,000 in career earnings. After today, the Hawaiian will top both of those numbers, and he was at a loss for words after the win. "It feels great! This is the biggest final table I've ever been at, and I just tried to not think about how much money I was playing for."
Upon winning the final hand, the Hawaiian rail burst into cheers, and there was no escaping the biggest smile in the room from McCue-Unciano. "I've got the best support behind me. My girlfriend is always there when I need her. My friends are just as stoked as I am." McCue-Unciano got a little choked up when asked what it meant to win a bracelet for his state of Hawaii. "Everyday I told myself that I would do it. It's just an unreal feeling," as he took a little pause to gather his thoughts. "It's only kicking in slowly; it's a crazy feeling."
"Everyday I told myself that I would do it. It's just an unreal feeling."
When asked about his plans for the rest of the summer, McCue-Unciano said he would definitely be back to play in some more events. "I'll be playing the Main Event for sure. Definitely gonna be playing in some bigger events. Gotta get some more bracelets!"
But for now, he'll be taking a little break from the Rio confines to enjoy some time with friends. "We're heading to Disneyland tomorrow for a few days. It's gonna be a little more fun now," he laughed.
Event #50: Monster Stack - $1,500 No-Limit Hold'em Final Table Results
Position | Player | Country | Prize |
---|---|---|---|
1 | Kainalu McCue-Unciano | United States | $1,008,850 |
2 | Vincent Chauve | France | $623,211 |
3 | Gregory Katayama | Canada | $461,369 |
4 | Bart Hanson | United States | $344,079 |
5 | Benjamin Ector | United States | $258,516 |
6 | Igor Yaroshevskyy | Ukraine | $195,687 |
7 | Bryan Kim | United States | $149,247 |
8 | Andre Haneberg | Germany | $114,694 |
9 | Javier Zarco | Spain | $88,817 |
Event #50: Monster Stack - $1,500 No-Limit Hold'em Final Table Action
There was no shortage of action on the final day as things got started with a bang in the very first hand. The start-of-day chipleader Benjamin Ector ran a triple-barrel bluff against Gregory Katayama who called him down with a set of sixes for all of his chips. That dropped Ector down to one of the shorter stacks for the time being.
Igor Yaroshevskyy came into the day with just over ten big blinds and was unable to pick up any hands in the early going. He eventually moved all in for seven big blinds on the button with king-four suited and was called by McCue-Unciano's ace-three off in the small blind. The former Main Event final tablist was unable to find any help on the board and was the first casualty of the day in sixth place.
Despite finding a small double up, Ector was unable to stay alive much longer. McCue-Unciano shipped all in on the button with jack-eight suited as one of the big stacks and Ector called it off with pocket sevens in the small blind. McCue-Unciano flopped a pair and flush draw and wrapped things up with a flush on the turn to eliminate start-of-day chipleader Ector.
Bart Hanson was left on the short stack with four players remaining, and he too had trouble picking up any good hands. He eventually got all of his chips in the middle with a dominated ace against Katayama. Hanson turned a straight draw, but the river was no help to quickly bring the field down to three players before the first break of the day.
Once the players returned, Chauve became a bystander as the two big stacks continued to battle in monster pots against each other. Chauve's wish came true when McCue-Unciano and Katayama clashed in a monster pot. McCue-Unciano rivered a straight against Katayama's top set for the largest pot of the tournament by far. That dropped Katayama down to one of the shortest stacks while McCue-Unciano took a monster chip lead against his two opponents.
It wouldn't be long after when Katayama stuck in his last five big blinds with jack-four from the small blind only to be called by Chauve's queen-jack. A queen on the flop all but ended Katayama's hopes who was forced to head to the payout desk in third place.
That left McCue-Unciano and Chauve to battle it out in a heads-up match that left both players on the edge of their seats. Going into the heads-up match with Chauve, McCue-Unciano held a commanding chip lead, but Chauve was able to double in just the second hand. The Frenchman continued to chip away and even took over the lead at one point.
The heads-up battle went on for over three hours with many twists and turns throughout. The blinds increased, and soon enough, they were both hovering around the thirty big blind mark.
McCue-Unciano opened up a massive lead after value betting third-pair on a paired board, and Chauve called with bottom pair. In the next hand, McCue-Unciano shoved all in with king-six suited, and Chauve quickly called off his eight big blinds with pocket tens. McCue-Unciano flopped two pair and made a full house on the turn to leave Chauve drawing dead.
That wraps up the PokerNews coverage from another event here at the Rio All-Suite Hotel and Casino, but there is still plenty of action going on so keep it locked here. You can follow along with the action in written form on PokerNews, but you can also watch it LIVE with the majority of final tables broadcasted via PokerGO. Sign up now!
In this Series
- 1 Aria Dealer Nicholas Haynes Wins WSOP $500 Casino Employees Event
- 2 Brian Green Cracks Kings, Beats Imsirovic, Wins First WSOP Bracelet
- 3 Derek McMaster Wins 2019 WSOP Event #4: $1,500 Omaha Hi-Lo 8 or Better for $228,228
- 4 Yong 'LuckySpewy1' Kwon Wins WSOP Online Bracelet, Hellmuth Fifth for First Summer Cash
- 5 Dan Zack Claims First Bracelet After Fantastic Comeback in WSOP $2,500 Limit Mixed Triple Draw
- 6 Ben Heath Wins His First Bracelet - Conquers WSOP $50,000 High Roller for $1.48 Million
- 7 Yuval Bronshtein Wins First Bracelet After 10 WSOP Final Table Apperances
- 8 Daniel Strelitz Claims First WSOP Bracelet and $442,385 in Event #11: $5,000 NLHE
- 9 Scott Clements Wins Event #10: $1,500 Dealers Choice ($144,957)
- 10 Jeremy Pekarek Wins Event #9: $600 No-Limit Hold'em Deepstack for First Gold Bracelet
- 11 Daniel Park Wins Event #12: $1,000 No-Limit Hold'em Super Turbo Bounty for $226,243
- 12 Alex Epstein Wins Event #8: $10,000 Short Deck for $296,277
- 13 Femi Fashakin Wins Largest-Ever Poker Tournament; BIG 50 Triumph Earns Him $1,147,449
- 14 Isaac Baron Captures Long-Awaited WSOP Bracelet in Event #16: $1,500 NLH 6-Handed
- 15 Backed by Insane Rail, Murilo Souza Wins $1,500 H.O.R.S.E. ($207,003)
- 16 Sean Swingruber Defeats Ben Yu, Wins First WSOP Bracelet in $10,000 Heads-Up
- 17 Brett Apter Wins First Bracelet in Event #17: $1,500 No-Limit Hold'em Shootout
- 18 Frankie O'Dell Wins His Third WSOP Omaha Hi-Lo in $10K Championship Event
- 19 Galfond, Bleznick, Zamani Fall Short as Josh "loofa" Pollock Wins Second Bracelet in $600 Online PLO Event
- 20 Eli Elezra Wins Fourth WSOP Bracelet and $93,766 in Event #20: $1,500 Seven Card Stud
- 21 Expecting Father Jorden Fox Conquers Event #22: $1,000 Double Stack to Win $420,693
- 22 Former Main Event Champ Jim Bechtel Wins $10K 2-7 Single-Draw for $253,817
- 23 Rami Boukai Wins 2019 WSOP Event #23: $1,500 8-Game Mix for $177,294
- 24 John Gorsuch Rebounds from 2 Bigs to Win 2019 WSOP Millionaire Maker for $1,344,930
- 25 Andrew Donabedian Turns $600 Into $205,605 Payday at 2019 WSOP
- 26 Michael Mizrachi Wins His Fifth Bracelet!
- 27 Stephen Song Battles To Capture First Bracelet and $341,854 in Event #28: $1,000 No-Limit Hold��em
- 28 "Silent Assassin" Thomas Cazayous Wins the WSOP $3K Six-Max for $414,766
- 29 Greg Mueller Wins His Third Bracelet, Takes Down WSOP $10,000 H.O.R.S.E.
- 30 Luis Zedan Wins 2019 WSOP Event #30: $1K PLO for $236,673; Will Donate 35% to Charity
- 31 Roman Korenev Wins 2019 WSOP Event #26 for $477,401 After "Marathon" Battle
- 32 Australian Robert Campbell Wins Maiden WSOP Bracelet in $1,500 Limit 2-7
- 33 Upeshka "gomezhamburg" De Silva Wins His Third Bracelet in WSOP Online Event
- 34 Howard Mash Wins First Bracelet and $662,594 in WSOP Seniors Championship
- 35 Adam Friedman Goes Back-to-Back in WSOP $10,000 Dealer's Choice Championship
- 36 David Lambard Claims First WSOP Bracelet in Event #36: $3,000 NLH Shootout
- 37 Salt Lake's Robert Mitchell Wins Event #37: $800 No-Limit Hold'em Deepstack ($297,537)
- 38 Joseph Cheong Breaks Through, Wins $1K Double Stack for $687,782
- 39 Ismael Bojang Wins WSOP Gold Bracelet and $298,507 in 10th 2019 WSOP Cash
- 40 Hennigan Wins Sixth Bracelet in $10,000 Seven Card Stud, Negreanu Second
- 41 Dan 'centrfieldr' Lupo Wins $500 WSOP.com ONLINE No-Limit Hold'em Deepstack for $145,274
- 42 Aristeidis Moschonas Turns Chip-and-a-Chair into Event #42: $600 Mixed NLH/PLO Deepstack Win
- 43 Michael Blake Wins Event #39: $1,000 Super Seniors No-Limit Hold'em, Shulman Second
- 44 Loren Klein Wins 4th Bracelet in 4 Years; Claims $127,808 in Event #43: $2,500 Mixed Big Bet
- 45 Asi Moshe Captures Third WSOP Bracelet in $1,500 No-Limit Hold��em Bounty
- 46 Stephen Chidwick Captures First WSOP Bracelet in Event #45: $25K PLO High Roller for $1,618,417
- 47 Ari Engel Wins His First WSOP Bracelet and $427,399 in Event #48: $2,500 No-Limit Hold'em
- 48 Luke Schwartz Latest To Win First Bracelet, Triumphs in $10K 2-7 Championship
- 49 South Korea's Jiyoung Kim Wins 2019 WSOP Ladies Championship for $167,308
- 50 Jason "TheBigGift" Gooch Does It; Wins $1,000 WSOP.com Online Event!
- 51 Brazil's Yuri Martins Dzivielevski Captures First Bracelet and $213,750!
- 52 WCOOP Winner Jonas Lauck Secures First WSOP Bracelet and $260,335 in $1,500 Turbo Bounty
- 53 Santiago Soriano Wins $371,203 and First Bracelet in the WSOP $800 Deepstack
- 54 Dash Dudley Wins Event #52: $10,000 PLO Championship ($1,086,967)
- 55 Kevin Gerhart Dominates $1,500 Razz Final Table to Win First WSOP Bracelet and $119,054
- 56 Another Day, Another Millionaire; Kainalu McCue-Unciano Wins the WSOP Monster Stack
- 57 Israel's Team Geiger Wins WSOP $1,000 Tag Team Event
- 58 Joe Foresman Wins 2019 WSOP $600 Deepstack Championship for Nearly $400K
- 59 Anthony Zinno Wins 2019 WSOP $1,500 PLO Hi-Lo for 2nd Career Bracelet; Aims for POY
- 60 Phil Hui's Dream Comes True as He Conquers $50K Poker Players Championship for $1,099,311
- 61 Scott Seiver Wins $10,000 Razz Championship for Third WSOP Bracelet
- 62 Anatolii Zyrin Denies Yueqi Zhu Title Defense to Win WSOP $1,500 Omaha Mix Title
- 63 Sejin Park Claims First-Ever Open Event Bracelet for South Korea; Wins 2019 WSOP Colossus for $451,272
- 64 Nicholas "Illari" Baris Wins $303,739 in Massive WSOP.com ONLINE Championship
- 65 Nick Schulman Wins Third Bracelet in Event #65: $10,000 PLO8 or Better Championship
- 66 David ��ODB�� Baker Steamrolls $1,500 Limit Hold��em to Capture 2nd WSOP Gold Bracelet
- 67 Robert Campbell Wins His Second Bracelet of the Summer in $10K Stud Hi-Lo, Grabs POY Lead
- 68 French Pro Jeremy Saderne Wins 2019 WSOP Mini Main Event ($628,654)
- 69 From Working at In-N-Out Burger to Crushing Poker; Rick Alvarado Triumphs in WSOP Crazy Eights for $888,888
- 70 Brandon "DrOctagon" Adams Wins WSOP.com ONLINE High Roller for $411,560
- 71 High Roller Joao Vieira Wins First Bracelet and $758,011 in $5,000 6-Max
- 72 Juha Helppi Finally Does It: Finnish Poker Hero Claims First Bracelet in $10K Limit!
- 73 Susan Faber Wins First Bracelet in Event #71: $500 Salute to Warriors No-Limit Hold'em
- 74 Shawn "bucky21" Buchanan Wins His First Bracelets, Takes Down $800 WSOP.com ONLINE 6-Max ($223,119)
- 75 Danny Tang Wins $50,000 Final Fifty for $1,608,406: "I Want to go Down in the History Books"
- 76 Tu Dao Wins WSOP $3,000 Limit Hold'em 6-Max for $133,189
- 77 James Anderson Wins 2019 WSOP Little One for One Drop for $690,686
- 78 Denmark's Maximilian Klostermeier Wins First Bracelet in Event #78: $1,500 PLO Bounty
- 79 Shankar Pillai Takes Down 2019 WSOP $1,500 Bracelet Winners Only Event
- 80 Ivan Deyra's Dream Comes True; Wins Event #79: $3,000 No-Limit Hold'em ($380,090)
- 81 Boyhood Dream Achieved: Jerry Odeen Wins WSOP Bracelet for $304,793
- 82 Keith Tilston Wins 2019 WSOP $100K High Roller; Negreanu Finishes as Runner-Up
- 83 Tom Koral Wins Second Bracelet in Event #82: $1,500 NLH Double Stack ($530,164)
- 84 Taylor "Galactar" Paur Wins his Second Bracelet in $500 WSOP.com ONLINE Summer Saver
- 85 Abhinav Iyer Takes Down The Closer to Win His First Bracelet and $565,346
- 86 Alan Sternberg Wins $3,000 Pot-Limit Omaha 6-Handed for First WSOP Bracelet
- 87 Carl Shaw Defeats Tony Dunst to Claim First Bracelet & $606,562, Hellmuth Sixth
- 88 Anuj Agarwal Wins $10K 6-Max on Last Day of 2019 WSOP ($630,747)
- 89 Denis Strebkov Wins His First Bracelet and $206,173 Top-Prize in $3k H.O.R.S.E.
- 90 Hossein Ensan Wins the 2019 World Series of Poker Main Event for $10,000,000