David Gunas, a 24-year-old poker professional from South Boston, Massachusetts, topped the field of the WSOP Circuit Seminole Hard Rock Hollywood $365 No-Limit Hold’em Monster Stack event for his first gold ring from the series.
The player also cashed $28,379 from the tournament. Gunas was really close to winning his first piece of WSOP Circuit gold in late-August when the series were hosted by Foxwoods Resort Casino. However, the player eventually finished second in a $365 buy-in event back then.
Gunas has been playing poker since teenager. He had previously worked in sales for a very short while. Then, he devoted his time and attention to poker and has been playing the game professionally. Gunas prefers cash game action, but he may become more active on the tournament scene now as he is a one-time gold ring winner.
The $365 Monster Stack
The event was a single re-entry one and attracted 430 participants to the tables of Seminole Hard Rock Hollywood. The massive interest in the tournament created a prize pool of $129,000. Payouts were set for the top 45 finishers and the bubble burst sometime after the dinner break on Day 1.
By the time organizes called it a day, the event’s field was reduced to just 22 survivors. The players were led by Florida-based player Carlos Loving. Loving has been frequenting the Seminole Hard Rock casino venues around Florida for quite some time. The player is a three-time Seminole Hard Rock Poker champion and a two-time WSOP Circuit gold ring holder.
Loving maintained one of the largest stacks among his fellow competitors for the greater part of the day. However, he emerged as the chip leader on one of the final hands played for the day and thus headed the chip counts chart for Day 2.
Loving remained somewhere near the top on Day 2. The player eventually finished fifth for a payout of $7,175.
The tournament’s unofficial final table of ten was set after Las Vegas-based player Jessica Dawley hit the rail in 11th place. That final table of participants featured some really tough players, but Gunas proved the toughest of them all, after he remained in contention until the very end.
The eventual winner faced local player Bryce Mcvay. However, while Mcvay had more WSOP Circuit cashes recorded under his name, it was not for him to win last night. His share of the prize pool totaled $17,538, which was not a bad payday for running deep in the Monster Stack.
The $365 buy-in was the third on the schedule of the WSOP Circuit’s Seminole Hard Rock stop. A total of four gold ring events have already been completed at the host casino, which means that there are eight more gold rings up for grabs. The festival will run through October 2, when the name of the $1,675 Main Event winner will become clear.
