Women continue to shine in poker. The Indian-origin Manju Gera has created big headlines by winning the WSOP Circuit Thunder Valley $400 H.O.R.S.E. tournament. The player beat a tough field of 74 entries at Thunder Valley Casino Resort to claim the top prize $8,303 and her first gold ring.
While Gera had never cashed in a WSOP Circuit tournament before this at Thunder Valley, she is a very experienced poker player. Mixed games are her specialty and she showed her expertise during the $400 H.O.R.S.E. tournament. The player had to battle it hard with some tough notables, including Howard Andrew, Vince Burgio, David Diiorio, who is more of a poker celebrity in the region, and defending champion Steve Lustig, who won the H.O.R.S.E. ring at the same venue last winter.
As mentioned, the event drew a total of 74 entries and created $24,420 prize pool, which was distributed among the top eight finishers with a min-cash of $976. Gera enjoyed a terrific run and eventually went on to win the tournament. She entered the final table as the chip leader with 240,000. She maintained her chip lead all the way down to heads-up against Steve Lustig.
Lustig was eyeing his second gold ring from the series, after earning his first one early this year at the same host venue and in the same event. However, it was not meant for him to score a back-to-back wins. The player had to settle for the consolation prize of $5,137 for his runner-up finish.
Final Table Payouts:
- Manju Gera- $8,303
- Steve Lustig – $5,137
- Vince Burgio – $3,382
- Bruce Hoyt – $2,367
- David Diiorio – $1,754
- Daniel Huseman – $1,372
- Allen Kessler – $1,129
- Howard Andrew – $976