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There’s a new member of the WPT Champions Club after California poker pro Shawn Daniels defeated Harvey Castro on Wednesday to win $257,600 and the World Poker Tour (WPT) Rolling Thunder title.

The $3,500 buy-in no-limit hold’em tournament, which attracted 404 entrants, played down to just six on Tuesday. Those still standing returned to action a day later at the Thunder Valley Poker Room in Northern California for the final table, which was livestreamed on the WPT’s YouTube channel.

Afriat Comes Up Short Again

No one was playing for more at the final table than Eric Afriat. That is because the Canadian poker pro, with three Main Tour titles, was just one win away from tying Darren Elias with the record of four WPT wins.

Afriat entered the final table third in chips and would do some laddering up after Benjamin Primus busted in sixth place ($53,000), David Ha went out in fifth place ($69,000), and Paul Richardson was eliminated in fourth place ($91,000). But the end of the road was nearing for the record-typing hopeful as his stack had dwindled down to less than 10 big blinds.

WPT Rolling Thunder Final Table Results

Afriat went out in the same position he began the day in — third place. It paid $122,000, bringing live tournament earnings to nearly $6 million, according to The Hendon Mob. The deep run was his third top three finish in a World Poker Tour event the past year. He remains one shy of Elias.

Afriat’s elimination led to a heads-up match between Daniels and Csstro, both seeking their first WPT title. Castro, the chip leader at the start of the day, held better than a 2-1 chip advantage when play began. But it took little time for the pendulum to swing the other way.

Things got even worse for Castro, who is just 23 years old, when his opponent check-raised a full house on the river, setting the trap for Castro who obliged with a massive bet — about one-third his entire stack — with king-high. The lead had grown to over 5-1 in favor of Daniels.

On the following hand, Daniels limped with A*♣K♥, again setting the trap for Castro, who had J♣7♣, to move all in. Daniels snap-called and the board ran out J♦9♦6♠4♥10♦*, and just like that the start-of-day chip leader was back in business, albeit still trailing by a sizable amount.

The match would continue for quite some time as Castro battled back to even up the score. They’d get it all in preflop with Castro holding Q*♠10♠* against A*♣5♣. The board came 5♥7♦8♣6♣7♥*, a monster pot for Harvey, which left his opponent with just seven big blinds.

Castro would then suck out to double up back to around 15 big blinds, trailing only 2-1 in chips. Moments later, Castro jammed from the button with J*♣9♦* and was looked up by A*♠6♦. The young poker player would suck out once again as the community cards came out 5♦7♦5♥Q♥9♥*, and he had taken over the chip lead.

The luck reversed directions on the next hand when Daniels hit a straight against two pair. A full double-up would occur, and the chip lead once again changed. They’d get it all in shortly after, and the hand ended up in a chop. It was getting to a point where it seemed like the match might never end even though less than 40 big blinds were in play.

Daniels, a World Series of Poker (WSOP) bracelet winner, would finally put him away, however, when he turned trips to beat queen-high. Castro received $165,000 for second place, and the new member of the WPT Champions Club earned $257,600, bringing his career live tournament earnings over $3 million.

*Images courtesy of the World Poker Tour.

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