Brett Murray Wins 2018 WSOP Circuit Thunder Valley Main Event

The 2018 World Series of Poker Circuit Thunder Valley $1,700 no-limit hold’em main event drew a field of 464 total entries to easily surpass the event’s $500,000 guarantee and build a final prize pool of $702,960. The lion’s share of that money was awarded to eventual champion Brett Murray, who earned $151,145 and his third gold ring for the win. This was the largest payday of the Santa Rosa, CA resident’s live tournament career, surpassing the $135,980 he earned as the runner-up finisher in the 2018 California State Poker Championship main event. Murray now has $974,505 in lifetime earnings.

Murray entered the final day of the tournament as the chip leader with nine players remaining. He scored two knockouts early at the final table, and entered three-handed play as the chip leader with Viet Tran as the next largest stack. The two leaders battled back and forth for a while before Murray knocked out Adam Duong in third place ($68,264) to take a slight lead into heads-up play.

When the final hand was dealt Murray held the lead. On a flop of J83 Murray lead out for 800,000 only to have Tran move all-in over the top. Murray quickly called with the KK for an overpair. Tran held the 107 for a gutshot straight draw and backdoor flush draw. The 5 on hte turn left Tran needing a non-spade nine on the river. Instead, it was the Q that rolled off the deck to give Murray a flush for the win. Tran was sent home in second place, earning $93,444 for his strong showing in this event.

In addition to the money and the ring, Murray also earned 720 Card Player Player of the Year points as the champion of this event. This was his fourth final table finish and second title of the year, and it was enough to see him move into 84th place on the overall POY race leaderboard.

Here is a look at the payouts and POY points awarded at the final table:

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