Wanlop Phonphornwithoon Wins Gold in $400 Double Stack Turbo
The PokerNews Live Reporting Team is at Florida’s Seminole Coconut Creek to live report action from both the $2,200 High Roller and $1,700 Main Event, but is just one of a dozen gold ring events at the stop. As such, we thought we’d profile some of the preliminary tournaments and those who struck it big.
In Event #5: $400 Double Stack Turbo, 209 entries created a $68,970 prize pool. Among those to get a piece of it but fall short of the final table were Gil Aboodi (10th - $1,131), Eric Brewster (15th - $948), Howard Mash (22nd - $645), Steve Karp (25th - $596), and Jason Casten (32nd - $553).
In the end it was Wanlop Phonphornwithoon, a local restaurant owner, who finished as the last player standing to win the title for $16,720. It marked his first career gold ring.
“I feel really good. I tried many times and I finally got it,” Phonphornwithoon said after the win. “I ran really hot. I had a lot pocket pairs, flopped sets, turned a nut flush…Everything was going my way. It was unbelievable!”
Final Table Results
| Place | Player | Hometown | Prize |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Wanlop Phonphornwithoon | Coral Springs, Florida | $16,720 |
| 2 | Elliott Merlin | Plantation, Florida | $10,335 |
| 3 | Pasquale Caiazza | Davie, Florida | $7,285 |
| 4 | Irene Carey | Banner Elk, North Carolina | $5,239 |
| 5 | Robbie Beck | Houston, Texas | $3,845 |
| 6 | Raymond Grell | N/A | $2,882 |
| 7 | Ken Brosnahan | N/A | $2,207 |
| 8 | Stephen Vecchio | N/A | $1,727 |
| 9 | Yue Wang | Boca Raton, Florida | $1,382 |