Circuit Update

Nick Yunis Breaks Through At WPT bestbet Scramble
By Erik Fast
Nick Yunis has cashed for millions of dollars on the live tournament poker circuit, but until recently, all of his largest scores had been consolation prizes. While he had several six-figure windfalls on his résumé, they had come in events where he fell just short of the title.
That all changed when the Chilean player emerged victorious from a field of 361 entries in the World Poker Tour bestbet Scramble $5,000 main event.
After securing the win to add his name to the Mike Sexton WPT Champions Cup, Yunis collected a career-high payout of $315,791. He now sits with nearly $2.1 million in recorded scores to his name.
“I still can’t believe it. I’m like, ‘Am I dreaming?’ I’ve been playing for so long and I always wanted to accomplish this… a major title,” Yunis told WPT reporters.
This tournament featured a $1 million guarantee that was surpassed by more than $642,000 by the time registration closed at bestbet Jacksonville. The top 46 finishers made the money in this event, with bracelet winner Raj Vohra (41st), WPT champion Josh Reichard (30th), WSOP main event champion Joe McKeehen (17th), WPT champion and three-time bracelet winner Tony Dunst (16th), bracelet winner Francis Anderson (8th), and two-time Circuit ring winner T.K. Miles (7th) all running deep.
The final day began with three-time WPT champion Eric Afriat out in front of the remaining six contenders, having added to his lead when his K-J outran Miles’ A-Q in the final hand of day 3. Afriat extended his advantage even further when he eliminated Dion Jagroo in sixth place ($71,000).
A couple of orbits after that knockout, Nicholas Funaro went for a multi-street bluff with nine high in a battle of the blinds, only to get picked off by Yunis’ two pair. Funaro, the younger brother of two-time bracelet winner Frank Funaro, earned $93,000 as the fifth-place finisher.
A similar hand led to the downfall of Joe Jordan in this event. He also attempted a multi-street bluff against Yunis, who this time had an even stronger hand with a flopped full house. He was left with just a handful of big blinds and was soon sent packing in fourth place ($123,000).
Yunis overtook the lead early in three-handed play, winning a big pot with a rivered king-high straight to edge ahead of Afriat. He then pulled off a river bluff shove to force Afriat off the best hand, leaving the Afriat short in the process.
Afriat was well positioned to score a much-needed double-up when he got all-in with pocket kings leading the pocket nines of recent WPT Prime Playground championship winner Yunkyu Song. The board came down 9♣ 7♣ 6♣ 5♠ 3♥ however, and Song’s top set sent Afriat home just a few spots shy of earning a record-tying fourth WPT title.
For now, Darren Elias remains the tour’s only four-time main event champion.
Heads-up play began with Yunis holding roughly a 2:1 chip lead over Song. The two agreed to a deal at one point that redistributed the remaining prize money a bit, setting aside $33,000 and the title to play for.
Song managed a double-up after getting quite short, but was still at a big chip disadvantage. He slid down to just over 11 big blinds ahead of the final hand. Yunis shoved from the button with K♠ 3♥ and Song called with K♣ 5♣ from the big blind. The flop came down K♥ J♦ 4♣ to give both players top pair. The 7♣ turn added a flush draw to Song’s outs for another double-up. The river brought the 3♦ to improve Yunis to two pair, bringing the tournament to a close.
This runner-up showing gave Song his largest payday yet of $252,059, growing his career tournament earnings to more than $1.4 million. He also earned 1,000 POY points for what was his 10th final-table showing of the year. With 4,804 total points, Song is now ranked 23rd in the 2024 POY race presented by Global Poker.
Player Payout (POY)
1 Nick Yunis $315,791 (1,200)
2 Yunkyu Song $252,059 (1,000)
3 Eric Afriat $165,000 (800)
4 Joseph Jordan $123,000 (600)
5 Nicholas Funaro $93,000 (500)
6 Dion Jagroo $71,000 (400)
7 Timothy Miles $55,000 (300)
8 Francis Anderson $42,500 (200)
9 Vimal Reddy $33,500 (100)

Phil Bertram Tops WSOP Circuit Choctaw Main Event
By Ryan Lucchesi
Phil Bertram picked up his first WSOP Circuit gold ring in November at Choctaw Casino. The victory in Oklahoma gave Bertram $237,307 in prize money for the largest score of his career and his first win on any tour.
Although he took home a professional-sized payday, Bertram has been playing poker just as a hobby for the last decade.
“I had an awesome week, and I’m just super glad I made it this far,” said an excited Bertram. “A recreational player can win.”
The $1,700 buy-in event saw a field of 944 entries over two starting flights. The top 140 entries all scored a min-cash worth $2,294.
A total of 106 players returned for day 2, and just the final eight remained after 12 hours of play. Michael Perrone held the chip lead when the final day of play began, and Bertram was right behind him in the standings. Bertram kept the momentum going when he sent Benjamin Anderson home in eighth and busted Vincent Rubianes right behind him. Lawrence Wayne fell next in sixth place.
Zak Baron then went on a strong run that saw him take out Vincent Pratt and Robert Peacock to take the chip lead going into three-handed play. Bertram got back some ammo to work with by eliminating Perrone before the heads-up final began.
The chip advantage still stood at nearly 3:1 in favor of Baron when heads-up began, but the stacks had all but flipped when Baron got all in preflop with K-Q suited, and Bertram had him covered holding A-7 suited. The board gave Bertram trip sevens along with the big win.
Player Payout (POY)
1 Phillip Bertram $237,307 (912)
2 Zak Baron $158,217 (760)
3 Michael Perrone $110,000 (608)
4 Robert Peacock $78,345 (456)
5 Vincent Pratt $56,538 (380)
6 Lawrence Wayne $41,509 (304)
7 Vincent Rubianes $31,013 (228)
8 Benjamin Anderson $23,587 (152)
9 Will Pengelly $18,268 (76)

Arian Kashani Wins UKIPT Nottingham
By Erik Fast
Arian Kashani sure feels at home playing poker at Dusk Till Dawn Nottingham. The Iranian player has now recorded his two largest live tournament scores at the venue, with his most recent triumph being a win in November’s UK and Ireland Poker Tour Nottingham £1,100 main event.
Kashani walked away with $254,394, blowing away the $90,493 he banked as the runner-up in the WSOP International Circuit England main event under the same roof last spring. He now has nearly $640,000 in career earnings to his name despite only lodging his first live cash in 2020.
This event drew 1,282 entries, besting the £1 million guarantee by more than £230,000. The final prize pool sat at $1,555,630 when rendered in US dollars, with the top 193 finishers all earning a share.
WSOP bracelet winner Christopher Brammer bowed out in third place for $113,400 when his shove was looked up by Philip Joyce. Joyce flopped the nut flush and Brammer headed to the payout window to collect his fifth six-figure score.
Heads-up play began with Kashani holding more than a 3:1 chip lead over Joyce, but a double up evened out the stacks. The two paused the action to mull over a possible deal, but ultimately decided to play on. Joyce overtook the lead and began to pull away, but Kashani doubled up with pocket fives against pocket threes to move back in front again.
In the final hand, Kashani min-raised on the button with K♦ Q♣ and then called the 22-big-blind shove of Joyce, who held 10♥ 9♥. The 9♣ 6♥ 4♦ flop gave Joyce top pair and the lead, but the 4♣ and 8♣ on the turn and river completed Kashani’s flush, bringing the event to an end.
Player Payout (POY)
1 Arian Kashani $254,394 (960)
2 Philip Joyce $158,760 (800)
3 Christopher Brammer $113,400 (640)
4 Parminder Kandola $87,192 (480)
5 Michael Casson $67,637 (400)
6 Yannik Seabrook $52,038 (320)
7 Justin Tsui $40,018 (240)
8 Nathan Slater $30,782 (160)
9 Daniel Rudd $23,663 (80)

Jeremy Lenz Triumphs At WSOP Circuit Grand Victoria
By Erik Fast
The WSOP Grand Victoria Casino $1,700 main event drew 757 entries, surpassing the $750,000 guarantee to create a prize pool worth more than $1.1 million. Jeremy Lenz walked away with the top prize of $194,977 and his first gold ring as the champion.
This was the largest live tournament score yet for Lenz, a resident of nearby Dakota, Illinois, who had just five recorded cashes totaling just over $16,000 prior.
There were six players still in contention when cards got in the air for the final day of this event, with WSOP Circuit Potawatomi winner Richard Bai in the lead. Bai added to his stack early after he flopped top set of kings against the middle set of queens held by Dana Bader Muse, a two-time WSOPC ring winner. Muse was unable to pull off the miracle after the chips went in on the flop and was knocked out in sixth place for $38,601.
The next elimination saw Caleb King run nines into the queens of recent bracelet winner Roland Israelashvili. The larger pair held and King settled for $50,350. Israelashvili continued to surge when he won a massive pot off Bai with quads. As a result, Bai was soon on the rail, earning $66,514 for his fourth-place showing.
Israelashvili slid down the leaderboard before ultimately busting at the hands of Cero Zuccarello. Israelashvili earned $88,976 as the third-place finisher, giving him $5.3 million in earnings. This was the 11-time ring winner’s 262nd cash in a WSOPC event.
Lenz held better than a 2:1 chip lead over Zuccarello when heads-up play began and continued to pull away until Zuccarello ran into his pocket aces to end the tournament.
Player Payout
1 Jeremy Lenz $194,977 (912)
2 Cero Zuccarello $120,506 (760)
3 Roland Israelashvili $88,976 (608)
4 Richard Bai $66,514 (456)
5 Caleb King $50,350 (380)
6 Dana Bader Muse $38,601 (304)
7 Ryan Johnson $33,405 (228)
8 Natan Lidukhover $27,013 (152)
9 Blake Borden $18,801 (76)

Maria Lampropulos Bests Largest Women’s Tournament Held Outside Las Vegas
By Erik Fast
The Women’s Winter Festival £100,000 guaranteed £400 no-limit hold’em main event drew 271 entries, making it the largest women’s poker tournament ever held outside of Las Vegas.
Maria Lampropulos, the 2018 PokerStars Caribbean Adventure main event champion and winner of the 2017 partypoker LIVE Millions Nottingham main event, added yet another title to her résumé, emerging victorious with the title and the top prize of £20,000 ($25,200).
The accomplished Argentinian poker player now has more than $3.6 million in recorded tournament earnings, including two seven-figure paydays for her wins in the previously mentioned marquee events. This places her inside the top 10 on the women’s all-time money list.
The impressive turnout for this event saw the top 44 finishers earn a piece of the six-figure prize pool. Among those that cashed were poker content star Caitlin Comeskey (37th) and PokerStars ambassador Jennifer Shahade (32nd).
Lampropulos survived to the final table with a middle-of-the-pack stack, but managed to navigate her way down to short-handed play. She then knocked out Lithuania’s Marta Porter to take a chip lead into heads-up play with Ann-Roos Callens of Belgium.
On the final hand, Lampropulos’ Q-5 outran the K-6 of Callens, making queens and tens with an ace kicker from the board to win the pot and the title. Callens earned $15,889 as the runner-up.
Lampropulos told reporters that she had a lot of fun in the event “with the girls” as “everyone had good vibes” and was eager to see the festival grow even larger in the future.
Player Payout
1 Maria Lampropulos $25,200
2 Ann-Roos Callens $15,889
3 Marta Porter $11,340
4 Franky Green $8,631
5 Lisa Roberts $6,653
6 Jennifer Steele $5,128
7 Kim Dockery $4,108
8 Celine Diot $3,440
9 Berivan Dag $2,873