Thomas Kornechuk wins WSOPC Thunder Valley for $193k

Kornechuk, hailing from Auburn, Washington, started taking poker seriously in recent times. After his win, he said, “I’ve followed a few different coaches. I’ve studied a lot of scenarios with them. I’ve read books about mental preparedness, specifically poker. And I’ve tried to apply that. My game plan was to be conservative as much as possible, and apply pressure when I saw openings to do so. I was looking for a couple of tells that I saw. I attacked those. I think that’s what changed for me.”

Kornechuk defeated California’s Brett Murray in heads-up and denied him his second WOSPC Thunder Valley ME win, having won it previously in September 2018 for $151,145. Kornechuk got off to a good start in 10-max Final Table by eliminating Paul Chai in 10^th place who had to settle for $14,443 in prize money. Kornechuk then kicked Paul Camby out at 9^th place for $17,943.

Kornechuk wouldn’t eliminate a player again till heads-up. The final hand of the tournament happened at Level 34 with blinds at 100k/200k/30k. The short stack of Murray was shoved pre-flop with 4c 3s. With the eventual champion packing 7d 4h, the board ran 8d 4d 9s 7h 2d making two pairs for him. Murray had to settle for $119,644 as runner-up prize.

Kornechuk has nearly doubled his previous earnings with this win, which is also his biggest live win, and will be looking to convert this significant prize money into more upcoming tournament wins and cashes. Other side-event winners in the series were Adum Dunkle and Stephen Song. Both won a sat into the 2019 Global Casino Championship.

Final Table Pay-outs:

1. Thomas Kornechuk – $193,439
2. Brett Murray – $119,644
3. Jeremy Joseph – $87,488
4. Yifu He – $64,921
5. Tony Bracy – $48,847
6. Chris Tham – $37,259
7. Ryan Jaconetti – $28,813
8. Paul Richardson  – $22,586
9. Paul Camby – $17,943
10. Paul Chai – $14,443

Keep reading GutshotMagazine.com for tournament updates and results from around the world and for your daily dose of general poker news.

Check out our online poker rooms section, where you can read reviews on the biggest and best poker rooms in the country, while also taking advantage of their bonuses and promotions. Check out these top poker rooms HERE.