Season XVIII of the World Poker Tour continued with the 2020 WPT Gardens Poker Championship that attracted 257 runners for their annual big tournament every January at the Hawaiian Gardens just outside Los Angeles. The 2020 WPT Gardens final table of six is set to resume on March 31, 2020 at the HyperX eSports Arena at the Luxor Casino in Las Vegas. Chance Kornuth bagged up the lead at the final table that also included Tuan Phan, Qing Liu, Straton Wilhelm, Jonathan Cohen, and Markus Gonsalves.
And then there were six from the Hawaiian Gardens. If you've ever dabbled in poker in Los Angeles, at some point you've come across the infamous Hawaiian Gardens. The cash games are something that must be experienced at least once in life... but make sure you got a lot of your bankroll handy because things can get a little crazy down there. The swings are huge because SoCal players have a ton of gamble in them. So, it's no surprise to see another wild and wacky stop on the World Poker Tour with the 2020 WPT Gardens Poker Championship at Hawaiian Gardens.
This year's $10,000 buy-in event featured 257 runners taking a shot at a WPT title and poker glory that included a mound of cash. Only the top 33 places paid out of the prize pool that fell short of $2.5 million. First place would earn $554,495 plus a freeroll into the season-ending Tournament of Champions at the Aria Casino.
Only 14 players were still alive at the end of Day 3. Chance Kornuth bagged up the lead with 14 to go with over 1.7 million. Markus Gonsalves was not far behind in second with 1.58 million, followed by Duey Duong with 1.47 million.
On Day 4, Jared Griener, Duey Duong, and Ali Imsirovic busted rather early. Imsirovic hit the road in ninth place when his Big Slick were ambushed by Tuan Phan's pocket Aces.
Sebastiaan de Jonge bounced when his Ace-Jack lost to Chance Kornuth's Queen-eight. Yup, that Queen-Ocho gets you every time. Sebastiaan de Jonge busted in eighth place, which set up the final table bubble with seven remaining.
Qi Hu bubbled in seventh place and the final table was set.
The delayed final six included Tuan Phan, Qing Liu, Straton Wilhelm, Jonathan Cohen, Markus Gonalves, and Chance Kornuth.
Chance Kornuth bagged up the lead once again with a shade under 3 million. Markus Gonsalves is second overall with 2.37 million, followed by Tuan Phan's 2M stack. Jonathan Cohen, the token Canadian at the final table, bagged up fourth overall with 1.6 million. The two short stacks are Qing Li and Stratford Wilhelm.
The final six will play out the final table at the end of March at the Luxor Casino in Las Vegas at the swanky HyperX eSports arena. The winner banks $555K plus a seat into the Tournament of Champions.
Notables who went deep in the 2020 WPT Gardens Poker Championship included... Qi Hu, Sebastiaan de Jonge, Duey Duong, Vlastimil Pustina, Lior Orel, Sorel Mizzi, Jared Griener, David Miscikowski, Albertin Hernandez, David Lambard, ODB Baker, Sam Soverel, Peter Park, Brendon Williams, Gal Yifrach, Jonathan Depa, Larry Berg, Randall Emmett, Dan Colpoys, Cole Sudeck, Byron Kaverman, Joe Cheong, David Peters, Hoang Le, Cory Albertson, and Larry Greenberg.
2020 WPT Gardens Poker Championship
Buy-in $10,000
Entrants: 257
Prize Pool: $2,467,200
Payouts: 33
Final Table Payouts:
1. $554,495
2. $359,650
3. $263,090
4. $195,085
5. $146,655
6. $111,795
1. Chance Kornuth 2,995,000
2. Markus Gonsalves 2,370,000
3. Tuan Phan 2,070,000
4. Jonathan Cohen 1,615,000
5. Qing Li 795,000
6. Stratford Wilhelm 435,000
