Raminder Singh, a Florida-based player who tends to call himself a poker amateur, last night beat a plethora of former gold ring winners and even a WSOP Circuit Main Event champion to win his first gold piece and his career’s top payout.
Singh topped the field of the 2016/17 WSOP Circuit Palm Beach Kennel Club $1,675 Main Event to show that “amateur” is not a label he should be attaching to himself. Apart from the coveted piece of jewelry, the player also cashed $168,995 for his efforts.
Singh came out as the victor after a terrific performance at the ten-handed final table that was played on Monday. The finalists took six hours to determine the champion. Ten-handed play began with Sam Panzica as the chip leader. Singh was second in chips at that point but quickly gained momentum and improved his chip stack by eliminating two players quickly one after the other. In fact, the eventual winner was responsible for the greater part of eliminations that occurred during final table play.
The player kept a considerable lead over his opponents. He lost his momentum for a very short while, when Steven Stout, who turned out to be his heads-up opponent, emerged as a chip leader. Eventually, the two players entered the tournament’s final stage with Singh holding around two times more chips than his last remaining opponent.
Two-handed match lasted an hour or so and ended with a final hand that saw Stout going all in and Singh calling after several moments of consideration and a count. Stout turned over [Ks][6h] against his opponent’s [Jd][10h]. The board ran out [Ac][10d][8h][10c][Kc], boosting Singh’s hand with two more tens and securing him with the title. Stout received $104,483 for his second-place finish.
Including last night’s victory, Singh now has more than $700,000 in live tournament earnings. Last year, the player scored two other six-figure cashes, although none was as big as the one he collected at Palm Beach Kennel Club on Monday night. Overall, he has made 73 in-the-money finishes over the past decade, most of which at Florida casinos.
WSOP Circuit action is now moving to Las Vegas and Rio All-Suite Hotel & Casino where four gold ring events on the festival’s schedule have already kicked off.
