Philip Shing Crowned WSOPC Potawatomi Champion

The WSOPC was in Milwaukee this weekend where its $1,700 Main Event brought the curtain down on the festival. It was a fitting end to the festival as the $500,000 guarantee was blown out of the water. A field of 524 players created a $793,860 prize pool with the top 79 finishers receiving a slice.

Philip Shing is the man whose name is now in the WSOPC Potawatomi history books. The 35-year-old won his first WSOPC gold ring and a cool $151,284 cash prize.

2020 WSOPC Potawatomi Main Event Results

Place	Player	Hometown	Prize
1	Philip Shing	Brooklyn, New York	$151,284
2	Ken Donarski	Willow Brook, Illinois	$93,498
3	John Gallaher	Lebanon, Tennessee	$68,947
4	James Pupillo	Gilbert, Arizona	$51,484
5	Cero Zuccarello	Madison, Wisconsin	$38,937
6	Chris Roth	Waukesha, Wisconsin	$29,829
7	Michael Hartzheim	Little Chute, Wisconsin	$23,152
8	Marcus Yofon	Las Vegas, Nevada	$18,209
9	Fadi Hamad	Danvers, Illinois	$14,514

Bubble Bursts on Day 2 of WSOPC Potawatomi

Nobody wanted to finish in 80th place and be the unfortunate soul to bust the money bubble. Tournament poker dictates someone has to pop the bubble and Jesse Vilchez was that someone.

Several players doubled up on the bubble before Vilchez jammed for 6.5 big blinds with king-ten. Andres Garcia called with the dominating ace-king from the cutoff to put Vilchez at risk of elimination. Neither player improved their holding and Vilchez headed out of the tournament room empty-handed.

Vilchez’s exit locked up at least $2,770 for the surviving players.

Ravi Raghavan couldn’t win his second WSOPC ring as he busted in 51st place for $3,067. Allen Kessler also cashed, as did Spain’s Javier Zarco. Zarco was one of only two players to cash who doesn’t call the United States home. Zarco fell in 10th for $11,727, setting the final table.

Fadi Hamad busted in ninth right at the death on Day 2 meaning Day 3 started with only eight hopefuls.

James Pupillo Starts Final Table as Chip Leader

Marcus Yofon managed to get 30 big blinds into the middle with ace-king early doors. His problem was Shing looked him up with pocket eights. Shing flopped a set and Yofon was drawing dead by the turn.

Mike Hartzheim fell soon after. He raised to 125,000 from the cutoff with king-jack of diamonds and Cero Zuccarello flat-called with aces on the button. Hartzheim continued with a 175,000 bet on the Js-6d-3d flop and Zuccarello called. The 6s turn saw Hartzheim jam for 900,000 and Zuccarello snapped him off. The ace of diamonds improved Hartzheim to a flush, but Zuccarello to a full house.

Another couple of hours passed before the final table lost another player. Chris Roth was that player when he pushed for 12 big blinds with 9c-7c on the button. Unfortunately for Roth, Zuccarello held pocket kings in the small blind. He re-shoved, flopped a set and sent Roth to the cashier’s desk to collect $29,829.

Ken Donarski doubled through Zuccarello immediately after Roth’s exit and he never recovered. The last nine big blinds of Zuccarello’s stack went into the middle holding only Qc-5s. John Gallaher called with pocket kings and the rest, as they say, is history.

Shing Puts His Foot On The Gas

Shing began forging a big stack for himself by claiming James Pupillo’s chips. Pupillo finished fourth in the WSOPC Potawatomi Main Event and did the same again this year! His demise was confirmed when Shing min-raised to 200,000 from under the gun. Pupillo jammed for 12.5 big blinds from the small blind and Shing called.

It was As-8c for Shing and Ah-Jc for Pupillo. An eight on the turn was the final nail in Pupillo’s coffin and he banked $51,484.

Shing claimed another scalp when his Ah-Jd prevailed against Gallaher’s dominated queen-jack. This gave Shing a 13,700,000 stack compared to Donarski’s 2,000,000 chips.

WSOPC Potawatomi Heads-Up Last One Hand

One hand is all it took to crown the WSOPC Potwatomi champion. Shing raised to 450,000 with Ah-Jd and called when Donarski moved all-in for 2,000,000 with Jc-8h. The board ran Kd-4s-6s-7s-2s to bust Donarski in second-place and to crown Shing the tournament’s champion.

Shing’s victory netted him $151,284 and takes his lifetime winnings to $236,469. He only played the tournament because he had a month off work. Now Shing has a six-figure score and a coveted WSOPC ring.

Matthew Pitt

If it’s something you can play online for real money, chances are Matthew knows a bit about it. He’s been writing about slots, craps and poker for the better part of the last decade. He’s written for PokerNews, PartyPoker and many other respected online gambling websites during the last nine years.

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