The 2019 World Series of Poker Circuit Thunder Valley $3,250 High Roller got a late-afternoon start time of 4 p.m. on Thursday. When the day started, just six players were registered. That number nearly tripled over the first two hours of play, and it reached a total of 35 entries by end of day.

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Mike Heshmati found himself atop the leader board upon the conclusion of Day 1, finishing the day with 172,500 in chips. Heshmati joined the tournament during the first two hours of play and chipped up slightly by the first break, taking his 40,000 starting stack to just over 46,000. That was only the beginning of his day, however.

As the day went on, he found himself over 60,000 moving into Level 9. He continued to build from there, eclipsing a six-figure stack shortly after the last level of the night. Less than two hours later, he found himself as the chip leader when eight hours and a dozen 40-minute levels of play had been completed.

Rounding out the top three include a few familiar faces to the Thunder Valley Poker room. Ian Steinman (157,000) and Noel Rodriguez (145,000) will enter the day second and third in chips, respectively.

Other notable players to find bags also happen to be well-known inside the venue. JC Tran (130,500) and Brett Murray (101,000) both will also enter Day 2 with six-figure stacks.

Top 10 Day 1 Chip Counts

The field is sure to grow before Day 2 begins at noon on Friday as late registration will remain open cards are in the air for the beginning of Level 13. Like Day 1, levels will last 40 minutes each and play will occur until a winner has been determined.

PokerNews will be on hand to provide live updates from both Day 2 of the High Roller and the upcoming $1,700 Main Event.

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JC Tran says he considers himself a 'washed-up pro,' but he was in top form this weekend en route to winning his third career World Series of Poker Circuit gold ring.

Tran outlasted a field of 47 entries, including WPT Raw Deal host Tony Dunst heads-up, and took down the WSOP Circuit Thunder Valley $3,250 High Roller title for $49,035. The win marks the second time Tran has won the event, and with the victory, the longtime tournament pro adds to a resume that includes more than $13 million in career earnings.

'I consider myself a washed-up pro. I still got it a little bit here and there.'

'I’ve always compared poker to golf. If you don’t play a lot, you can probably still get lucky, get a decent round here and there,' Tran said. 'That’s kind of where I’m at. When I had all my success, I played volume. I played prelims up to mains.'

'These, I kind of pop in and out. I consider myself a washed-up pro. I still got it a little bit here and there. Every now and then I pull a little nice, close run.'

Tran said that while he doesn't put in the volume he used to, he enjoys playing at Thunder Valley Resort, which requires just a 25-minute drive for Tran to the Lincoln, California venue.

Final Table Action

With eight places paid and the tournament running eight-handed throughout, the official final table was the cutoff point for getting paid in the High Roller.

Tran emerged victorious from a formidable lineup, including Dunst, who came up just short in his bid to win his first career WSOP Circuit ring. After a two-hour heads-up battle, the final hand came down to Dunst with ace-ten offsuit against Tran's pocket queens, with Tran's premium pair holding up.

'I actually haven’t had too many hours with Tony. He played really well,' Tran said. 'It came down to me having queens and he had ace-ten. Tony’s a great player, I have a lot of respect for him. He’s similar to me in some ways, he doesn’t play a ton of these tournaments, because he’s doing stuff with WPT and whatnot.'

Joshua Shaw (3rd - $19,779) was on the short stack for most of three-handed play, finally bowing out after his open shove with jack-nine suited came up short against Dunst's ace-king.

Other tough opponents at the final table included Noel Rodriguez (5th - $9,773), Dapo Ajayi (7th - $5,992), and Darren Rabinowitz (8th - $5,127).

The day began with 23 players in the hunt, with the money bubble bursting during Level 16, the fourth level of play on Day 2.

Big Names Come Out for the High Roller

In addition to the loaded final table, other notables coming through the Thunder Valley Poker Room for the High Roller included Brett Murray, Ian Steinman, Joe Kuether, Bryan Piccioli and Andreas Kniep.

Ajayi came into Day 2 as the chip leader and was near the top of the leaderboard for most of the day en route to the money finish. Steinman, one of the shortest stacks in the room coming into Day 2, was out early, as were Murray and Kniep.

Wsop Thunder Valley 2020

The 47 entries brought the total prize pool to $141,000.

PokerNews coverage of the WSOP Circuit here at Thunder Valley continues with the $1,700 Main Event, which you can follow here.

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