Harrison Gimbel, a 25-year-old poker pro from Jupiter, Florida, won last night the WPT Rolling Thunder $3,500 Main Event after a tough heads-up against two-time WPT champion Mohsin Charania that lasted 114 hands. Gimbel took $275,112 for his performance and had his name added to the WPT Champions Cup.
Despite his young age, Gimbel has achieved quite a lot in his career as a professional poker player. In 2010, he topped the field of the PCA $10,300 Main Event for a first-place prize of $2,200,000. Later that year, he collected $330,000 for winning the Fall Poker Open Championship $5,000 Main Event. Including last night’s victory, Gimbel’s live tournament winnings now amount to more than $3.7 million.
Of all 409 entries who took part in the tournament, the top 46 players scooped a share of the $1,308,800 prize pool. Day 4, the event’s final one, saw six players coming back at the tables of Thunder Valley Casino Resort to play down to a winner. The official six-handed final table kicked off with Russell Garrett as the chip leader. Gimbel was second in chips at the time when cards were thrown in the air.
It took 57 hands of play before the first elimination occurred. Derek Wolters was the first to leave the final table after he could not hold up against Gimbel himself. Wolters collected a payout of $54,970. Hafiz Khan was the next to go. The player took home the amount of $68,712 for his 5th place in the tournament.
Markus Gonsalves was busted a few hands later. His 4th place secured him with a payout of $91,616. It took about 30 more hands before another player hit the rail and the names of the two heads-up opponents became clear. Start-of-the-day chip leader Russell Garrett was eliminated in 3rd place, good for $123,682.
Thus, Mohsin Charania and Harrison Gimbel were the last men standing. The two players were almost even in chips at the start of the heads-up duel. And given their experience on the live circuit, the two-handed match promised to be quite exciting and action-packed. Chips swung back and forth for more than three hours and a total of 114 hands.
Hand #222 turned out to be Gimbel’s lucky one. Charania limped for 200,000 and Gimbel moved all in. Charania called, turning [Kh][Qh]. His opponent turned over [5h][4h]. The board ran out [Js][3s][2h][5d][5s] to secure Gimbel with the title.
Charania collected $192,132 for his runner-up finish. Last night, the player was denied the chance to join the elite roster of three-time WPT Main Event champions, a feat that few players can boast of. In fact, only three players in the WPT history have won three titles – Gus Hansen, Carlos Mortensen, and Anthony Zinno.
