Qui Nguyen win WSOP 2016 Main Event

An amateur player, Qui Nguyen has one of the most talented Main Event final tables ever for $8,005,310.

After several Final Tables that failed to live up to the reputation, the 2016 WSOP Main Event final table featured online poker legends Cliff "JohnnyBax" Josephy, Griffin "Flush_Entity" Benger, Vojtech "Vojta_R" Ruzicka, Gordon "holla@yoboy" Vayo, Kenny "SpaceyFCB" Hallaert, Jerry "Hummylun" Wong and Michael "99nvrlosez" Ruane. The remaining two players were amateurs Qui Nguyen and Fernando Pons.

Nguyen is well-known as a gambler, and his strategy paid off after building a huge chip lead towards the end of day 1. Long-shot underdog Fernando Pons was eliminated after 15 hands, followed by Jerry Wong, Griffin Benger, and to round-up day 1, Kenny Hallaert.

Day 2 began with Nguyen doubling up Michael Ruane after his pocket sixes ran into Ruane's pocket eights preflop, and the board not helping out the amateur. This lead to Gordon Vayo taking the chip lead, which was solidified when Vojtech Ruzicka ran an ill-timed bluff with AK, going all-in on the Q83-7-5 board, only to be insta-called by Vayo's set of eights. Ruzicka was crippled, and was eventually eliminated a couple of hands later in fifth place.

The four-handed period was highlighted by Qui Nguyen using his chip stack and agression to build up a dominating lead. Short stack Michael Ruane eventually got bored and pushed all-in with KQs, only to be called by Nguyen's AJ offsuit. Nguyen held, and Ruane could comfort himself with over $2,5 million.

After starting Day 3 with more than half the chips in play, Qui Nguyen seemed like to be running away with the title. However, a quick double by Gordon Vayo made it a two horse race. Vayo then eliminated short-stack Cliff Josephy, after the latter pushed his last 12 big blinds with Q3s, called by Vayo's K6 offsuit. Having started the final table as a chipleader, Josephy finished third for just over $3,4 million.

In heads-up play, Gordon Vayo could not contain Qui Nguyen's aggression, bleeding away chips to the amateur, and even though he managed to double-up three times, he always found himself on the short stack. For Nguyen, fourth time was the charm, finally getting in the chips when he dominated Vayo with KTs over JTs. The favorite held, which meant that the Main Event was once again won by an amateur, even in one of the strongest fields of November Nine history.

The final results:

1st: Qui Nguyen - $8,005,310
2nd: Gordon Vayo - $4,661,228
3rd: Cliff Josephy - $3,453,035
4th: Michael Ruane - $2,576,003
5th: Vojtech Ruzicka - $1,935,288
6th: Kenny Hallaert - $1,464,258
7th: Griffin Benger - $1,250,190
8th: Jerry Wong - $1,100,076
9th: Fernando Pons - $1,000,000