Players Flock To Rounders Card Club For South Texas Poker Championship

The 2022 South Texas Poker Championship series was a major success. The poker tournament festival, which was held at Rounders Card Club in San Antonio, Texas, attracted nearly 3,200 total entries across its nine events, with more than $1.85 million in prize money awarded along the way.

The STPC $1,400 buy-in no-limit hold’em main event accounted for the largest chunk of that impressive total. With a final field of 932 entries, the marquee event of the series easily surpassed the $1 million guarantee to build a final prize pool of $1,165,000. After eight starting flights and two more days of action, the sea of players was narrowed down to just one player: Trung Pham.

The Texas resident earned $168,000 and 912 Card Player Player of the Year points for the win, the largest score yet on his tournament résumé. Pham now has nearly $1.5 million in recorded earnings to his name.

This was Pham’s third POY-qualified final-table finish of the year. With 1,136 total points, he now sits inside the top 400 in the 2022 POY race standings.

The final table was broadcast on Rounders Tonight. The day began with noted poker pro Jared Ingles in the lead and Pham in second chip position.

Anthony Cano (9th – $20,000) was the first to fall, with his K-10 running into the pocket jacks of Kaleb Harwell. Despite earning that knockout, Harwell was the next to hit the rail. He lost a classic race with A-K facing the pocket queens of Harwell (8th – $26,000).

Brian Buchhorn’s (7th – $33,600) pocket kings were cracked by the 5-4 suited of Pham, who made two pair. Jonathan Alfonso then lost a preflop coin flip with K-10 suited failing to outrun the pocket eights of Raja Sekhar (6th – $42,000).

Mauricio Solano got all-in with his K-J leading the K-10 suited of Ingles, but a ten on the flop turned the tables. Solano was unable to retake the lead on the turn or river and was knocked out (5th – $53,500).

Trung won a key all-in with pocket fives against the A-Q of Ingles during four-handed play to continue his surge up the leaderboard. Then, Raja Sekhar ran pocket nines into the pocket queens of Ingles (4th – $67,500).

The next big hand saw Pham shove from the small blind with K Q. Jose Alcala Soto (3rd – $85,500) called all-in from the big blind for around 6 big blinds with 8 7. The flop came down J 10 8 to give Soto a pair while Pham picked up an open-ended straight flush draw. The A on the turn gave Pham the straight and left Soto drawing dead.

Heads-up play began with Ingles holding just better than a 2:1 lead over Pham. After more than an hour of play, Pham had moved into the lead. The pair eventually agreed to pause the action in order to discuss a chop. They came to an agreement that saw Pham walk away with the title and the top payout of $168,000 as the chip leader, while Ingles was awarded $162,000 as the runner-up.

The score increased Ingles’ career earnings to more than $1.6 million. He had won the World Series of Poker Circuit Harrah’s Cherokee main event this spring for $300,736 and 960 POY points. With 2,070 total points, he is now the 123rd-ranked player on the POY leaderboard.

More South Texas Poker Championship Winners

This series ran from Nov. 7-21, with eight other champions crowned in addition to Pham. The festival kicked off with a $40,000 guaranteed $240 buy-in ‘Monster Stack’ no-limit hold’em event. The tournament drew a field of 254 entries to grow the prize pool to $74,000.

In the end, Edward Stanish emerged victorious with the title, the trophy, and the top prize of $14,750. The top 38 finishers made the money, with those finishing 15th or higher earning at least a four-figure payday. Stanish and runner-up Sandeep Vasudevan both cashed for five figures, with Vasudevan earning $10,300 for his second-place finish.

Next up on the agenda was a $300 buy-in 4-game big bet mixed event. The $10,000 guaranteed tournament attracted 51 entries to build a prize pool of $13,260. That prize money was ultimately split up among the top seven finishers, with the lion’s share going to eventual champion John George. George took home $4,800 as the winner. Incredibly, Sandeep Vasudevan finished in second place in this event just a couple of days removed from his runner-up showing in the kickoff tournament. He secured $2,900 this time around, bringing his total haul for the series to $13,200.

The $400 buy-in ‘Big Texas’ no-limit hold’em event ran from Nov. 10-14, with eight starting flights. The $300,000 guaranteed tournament drew a total of 1,180 entries by the time registration officially came to a close, easily surpassing the guarantee to create a final prize pool of $413,000.

The top 141 finishers made the money, with the largest share going to eventual champion Randy Chavez, who earned $60,000 for the win. This was the Texas resident’s largest recorded tournament score yet.

As with the main event, the final table of this tournament was live-streamed on Rounders Tonight! The top seven finishers all cashed for five figures, with runner-up Christopher Aguilar taking home $56,500 for his strong showing.

The fourth tournament on the schedule was a $400 buy-in ‘Big O’ event with a $15,000 guarantee. A total of 67 entries generated a prize pool of $23,450, with the top nine finishers making the money.

The final pot was scooped by Bret Atiyeh from Chattanooga, Tennessee. Atiyeh reportedly booked a last-minute flight just to play this five-card pot-limit Omaha eight-or-better event because he needed to use up some frequent flyer points that were about to expire. The decision proved to be a profitable one for Atiyeh, who caught a flight home the next morning with the trophy and $4,300 in prize money in tow.

With 91 entries, the $300 pot-limit Omaha event more than doubled its guarantee to create a final prize pool of $23,660. The tournament ended with a deal between Ashley King and Siyool Lee. King took home the trophy and the official win along with $5,299, while Lee banked the bigger payout of $6,201.

The $240 no-limit hold’em ‘Monster Stack’ also surpassed its $40,000 guarantee. With 206 entries, the prize pool expanded to $55,800, with the top 31 all making the money. Trey Mayers emerged victorious in the end, locking up the $12,500 top prize and the STPC trophy. This was the second-largest score of his career, and it brought his lifetime live tournament earnings to $47,981.

The next event was a unique $25 mystery bounty freeroll with $20,000 guaranteed. A total of 258 players qualified for this special event, building a final prize pool of $26,520. Dwayne Carreon captured the title and the top prize of $2,900. This was his second cash of the series, having placed 40th in the ‘Big Texas’ event for $1,300.

The only tournament on the schedule that got underway after the marquee main event was the $50,000 guaranteed $450 buy-in no-limit hold’em. With 152 entries, the final prize pool grew to $60,800. The top 18 finishers made the money, with Walter Rodriguez Ugarte securing $15,900 and the last trophy as the champion.

John George, who had won the big bet mixed event and placed fifth in the $240 ‘Monster Stack,’ earned $10,300 as the runner-up in this event. This brought his total earnings for the series to $18,440.

With that, the inaugural running of the South Texas Poker Championship officially came to an end. With thousands of entries and millions in prize money awarded, Rounders Card Club established itself as a force to be reckoned with when it comes to tournament poker in Texas.

If you are more interested in cash-game action than tournaments, Rounders Card Club also plays host to some of the biggest $1-$2 no-limit hold’em, $1-$3 no-limit hold’em, and $5-$5 Big O games in the country.

The venue is located at 3723 Colony Dr, Suite 101, San Antonio, Texas. Rounders Card Club has up to 35 poker tables available, alongside other amenities like a full-service restaurant bar & grill, golf simulators, a lounge area, complimentary drinks, a coffee shop, masseuse service, & plenty of TVs around the room. For more info head to the club’s official website (www.rounderscardclub.com), or check them out on their Instagram, Twitter, and Facebook pages. ♠