Ravee Mathi Wins 2015 World Poker Tour Rolling Thunder Main Event37-Year-Old Software Engineer Wins At His Second WPT Final Table In Less Than A Week |
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Just days after finishing sixth in the 2015 Bay 101 Shooting Star main event Ravee Mathi topped a field of 379 entries to win the WPT Rolling Thunder $3,500 no-limit hold’em main event. For the win the 37-year-old software engineer from Dublin, CA was awarded the $266,857 first-place prize and his first major tournament title.
Incredibly he was not the only player among the final six to make back-to-back final tables. Taylor Paur, who won the WPT Bay 101 main event late last Friday, joined Mathi back in the final six. Paur fell just two spots short of becoming the second-back-to-back champion of the year on the WPT after Anthony Zinno achieved that feat a few weeks ago, winning the WPT Fallsview Poker Classic and WPT L.A. Poker Classic.
Mathi came into the final table of six with the chip lead while Paur was just four big blinds behind him. Joining the two at the final table were several notable players including Rex Clinkscales (5th – $62,864), Harrison Gimbel (4th – $83,818) and Jesse Rockowitz (2nd – $176,018).
Mathi, Paur and Rockowitz battled three handed for just shy of 100 hands before Paur eventually succumbed in third place, taking home $113,154 and 600 Card Player Player of the Year points. With his previous win and another final table already under his belt Paur solidified his hold on the second-place spot on the Player of the Year leader board.
After the epic struggle between the final three there were only four hands of heads-up play. Rockowitz got the last of his short stack in preflop with the K9, limping in from the button and then shoving over a raise from Mathi, who quickly made the call with pocket jacks. The board ran out 103366 to secure the pot and the title for Mathi.
Rockowitz earned $176,018 and 750 POY points for his runner-up finish. The 900 points Mathi earned were enough to move him into 16th place in the overall standings when combined with his previous WPT final table points,
Here is a look at the payouts and POY points awarded to the official final table of nine:
Place | Player | Earnings (USD) | POY Points |
1 | Ravee Mathi | $266,857 | 900 |
2 | Jesse Rockowitz | $176,018 | 750 |
3 | Taylor Paur | $113,154 | 600 |
4 | Harrison Gimbel | $83,818 | 450 |
5 | Rex Clinkscales | $62,864 | 375 |
6 | Jeff Griffiths | $50,291 | 300 |
7 | Jordan Cristos | $41,909 | 225 |
8 | Samuel Panzica | $33,527 | 150 |
9 | Joe Kuether | $25,145 | 75 |
Photo courtesy of WPT / Joe Giron.