Tommy Nguyen has become the ninth millionaire crowned at the 2018 World Series of Poker, after taking down Event #48: $1,500 No-Limit Hold'em MONSTER STACK for $1,037,451. After a rollercoaster ride of emotions at the final table, Nguyen was nearly at a loss for words when asked what it. The 2018 WSOP $1,500 MONSTER STACK was once again a big success. The tournament drew 6,260 entrants, which created a giant prize pool worth $8,451,000. Tommy Nguyen successfully navigated through this field to win the first-place prize of $1,037,451. The Canadian had only $195,851 in live tournament winnings before the WSOP began this summer.

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As one might imagine, WSOP $1,500 No-Limit Hold’em MONSTER STACK proved a popular draw and attracted a huge field of 6,260 players, resulting in a massive prize pool worth $8,451,000. After it kicked-off at the Rio All-Suite Hotel & Casino last Saturday, five days of intense action then ensued, at the end of which Canada’s Tommy Nguyen overcame his last opponent, online pro James Carroll, to take down a career first winner’s bracelet.

Tommy Nguyen had just $195,851 in live tournament earnings going into The Monster Stack event, of which $167,918 was accounted for by an 8th place finish at this year’s C$5,300 MILLIONS Main Event. Following a famous victory that now pushes his total winnings to $1,233,302, the 28-year-old Ontario resident commented:

“I don’t know. I’m just taking it all in right now. I dreamed of this and I believed I could make it. I came for a bracelet and I got it. I just final tabled the millions event not too long ago in Montreal. It gave me a chance to come here. I took my shots. I felt really good. I played really good.”

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Event #48: $1,500 No Limit Hold’em – Monster Stack featured 939 money places. Amongst the recognizable pros then seeing a return on their buy-ins was Jackie Glazier in 188th ($5,885), Nam Le in 153rd ($6,794), Vladimir Geshkenbein in 34th ($28,841), Aditya Agarwal in 27th ($35,819), and Steve Billirakis in 11th ($71,880).

After the final table of nine was set, James Carroll (A-8) eliminated a short stacked Rittie Chuaprasert (A-7) in 9th, while Shyam Srinivasan (Q-Q) sent Harald Sammer (A-K) to the rail in 8th. The latter’s celebrations were short lived, though, and soon after Nguyen’s A-K held this time to end Srinivasan’s (9-9) tournament hopes in 7th place.

Living up to its premium status, Carroll’s A-K hand then saw off Michael Benko (A-10) in 6th, while Chris Chong’s A-K did likewise to Daniel Corbett (9-9) in 5th. Next, Nguyen’s A-K hand was subsequently good enough to eliminate Chris Chong (A-5) in 4th, and after Nguyen (2-2) saw off Francis Rusnak (K-7) in 3rd, heads-up play began between Nguyen and Carroll for the title, with a massive $396,535 separating first and second place.

Tommy Nguyen vs James Carroll

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Nguyen began heads-up holding a roughly 5-to-4 chip lead, which subsequently stretched to a commanding 6-to-1 by the time the deciding hand was played. In the hand in question, Nguyen was all-in holding A-K to Carroll’s K-2, and continuing its winning ways, the hand held on a J-8-4-J-Q board to secure the win for Nguyen. In total, there were nine all-ins at the final table featuring A-K, with big slick holding its own on seven of those occasions. Nguyen used A-K to bounce at least two of his opponents from the contest, and following his victory, said that he used to hate A-K but now loves it.

Nguyen’s Hendon Mob page shows that he booked one live cash for $453 back in 2008, and three for $6,772 in 2017. This year already, however, he has amassed an incredible $1,226,077 in winnings from five events, and as he later explained:

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“I was actually supposed to graduate this year but I dropped a course in accounting to take poker more seriously. I knew I wasn’t a winning player but I was stubborn. Just in the last two years, I started winning more. I tried to fix my game and started learning more.”

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Final Table Results

1: Tommy Nguyen $1,037,451
2: James Carroll $640,916
3: Frank Rusnak $475,212
4: Chris Chong $354,903
5: Daniel Corbett $266,987
6: Michael Benko $202,327
7: Shyam Srinivasan $154,463
8: Harald Sammer $118,802
9: Rittie Chuaprasert $92,061