Caffaro, Bond & Alvarado Among Early Winners in Texas Poker Championship

Name Surname
Editor & Live Reporter U.S.
3 min read
Justin Bond Texas Poker championship

The biggest poker series in Texas history is currently underway with the Texas Poker Championship at Houston��s Prime Social, which has already awarded players over $1.7 million in prize money.

The series kicked off on March 10 with Event #1: $500 Mystery Bounty, which had a staggering seven starting flights and attracted an enormous field of 1,322 runners. The bounty tournament had a guaranteed prize pool of $500,000 and surpassed that with $511,840 in prize money.

Joseph Caffaro took down the opening event for the first-place prize of $45,950, defeating Carlos Saucedo during heads-up play to earn Saucedo $38,500. Other players who made deep runs in the mystery bounty event include Blake Barousse (3rd - $25,000), Derek Normand (4th - $18,500), Laura Hoppe (9th - $5,100) and Kristopher Burchfield (12th - $4,000).

Joseph Caffaro
Joseph Caffaro

Later in the series, Justin Bond took down Event #9: $1,100 The Big Texas to earn the trophy and a big score of $115,480. Bond defeated Jason Gooch during heads-up play to send the second-place finisher home with $75,960.

The $500,000 guarantee tournament attracted 643 players and generated $630,140 in prize money. Other players who made Bond sparred with at the final table include Sean Cha (3rd - $56,620) Jeremy Meacham (5th - $31,740), [Removed:460] (7th - $18,680) and Gabriel Andrade (9th - $11,540).

Bond, a resident of Dallas, now boasts an impressive $1.8 million in tournament earnings, which includes a 35th place finish in the 2017 World Series of Poker (WSOP) Main Event worth $214,913. His latest victory in The Big Texas gives him the fifth biggest score of his career.

Event #9: $1,100 The Big Texas Final Results

 RANKPLAYERHOMETOWNPRIZE (IN USD)
 1Justin BondDallas, TX$115,480
 2Jason GoochVidor, TX$76,960
 3Sean ChaHouston, TX$56,620
 4Tyler RawlinsonTomball, TX$42,140
 5Jeremy MeachamOak Bluffs, MA$31,740
 6Peter LynnOlympia, WA$24,200
 7[Removed:460]Houston, TX$18,680
 8Thongv NguyenMcAllen, TX$14,590
 9Gabriel AndradeHouston, TX$11,540

Later in the series, Brandon Johnson earned the trophy in Event #13: $600 One Day after striking a four-way deal at the final table that also left him with $18,500. Johnson had the biggest stack when the deal was made and therefore earned the victory.

The other players who got in on the deal were Southisak Seunsom (2nd - $18,350), Trung Pham (3rd - $17,120) and Dara Taherpour (4th - $14,530).

The one-day tournament had a $100,000 guarantee and surpassed that with 101 runners bringing the prize pool to $121,680.

Additionally, Ricardo Alvarado took down Event #16: $1,100 PLO Championship for $37,640 after defeating Twich streamer Alexander ��AlexOptional�� Green during heads-up play, who in turn earned $25,100. Four-time WSOP bracelet winner Benny Glaser, meanwhile, found a third-place finish worth $17,920.

 Ricardo Alvarado
Ricardo Alvarado

The PLO Tournament attracted 157 runners to generate $153,860 in prize money, smashing the guaranteed $100,000.

Other Texas Poker Championship winners so far include James Farley, who won $50,820 in Event #2: $400 NLH Jacked Stack, Sergio Braga, who won $7,510 in Event #5: $600 Triple Stud, and Barousse, a two-time WSOP ring winner who took down Event #12: $1,100 Mystery Bounty Turbo for $10,000.

The best of the Texas Poker Championship at Prime Social is still to come with the $5,300 No-Limit Hold��em Main Event scheduled to get underway on Thursday, March 24. The four-day event has a huge $2 million guarantee and will offer three starting flights.

The Main Event will wrap up on Tuesday, March 29 with the final table being live-streamed with hole cards and commentary at twitch.tv/primesocialtx.

A full list of winners so far in the Texas Poker Championship is available in the table below.

Texas Poker Championship Winners

 TOURNAMENTENTRIESPRIZE POOLWINNERHOMETOWNPRIZE
 Event #1: $500 $500k GTD Mystery Bounty1,322$511,840Joseph CaffaroSpring, TX$45,950
 Event #2: $400 NLH Jacked Stack154$50,820James FarleyCorpus Christi, TX$13,660
 Event #3: $600 Omaha 855$28,600Tim Wong $8,730
 Event #4: $400 NLH Short Deck21$7,330Salim IshikovN/A$3,660
 Event #5: $600 Triple Stud39$20,280Sergio BragaN/A$7,510
 Event #6: $200 Sweat and Go (Canceled)N/AN/AN/AN/AN/A
 Event #7: $400 NLH Seniors72$21,700Larry AstolfoHouston, TX$8,320
 Event #8: $600 H.O.R.S.E.50$26,000Jonathan BrenemanWoodbury, MN$8,840
 Event #9: $1,100 The Big Texas $500k GTD643$630,140Justin BondDallas, TX$115,480
 Event #10: $600 Dealer's Choice32$16,640Jason FitzpatrickHouston, TX$5,430
 Event #11: $600 No Limit 2-7 Single Draw24$12,480Christopher WilliamsMesa, AZ$4,185
 Event #12: $1,100 Mystery Bounty Turbo37$51,800Blake BarousseLafayette, LA$10,000
 Event #13: $600 One Day $100k GTD101$121,680Brandon JohnsonEast Chicago, IL$18,500
 Event $14: $600 PLO 836$18,720Ravee SundaraBrooklyn, NY$7,030
 Event #15: $250 Ladies Event sponsored by LOUD Lacquer43$8,600Alexis LeeN/A$3,250
 Event #16: $1,100 PLO Championship $100k GTD157$153,860Ricardo AlvaradoDenison, TX$37,640
 Event #17: $600 NLH Survivor96$50,880Dirty JohnHouston, TX$5,300

Read highlights from the PokerNews Texas Road Trip here!

*Images courtesy of Prime Social.

Share this article
author
Editor & Live Reporter U.S.

Connor Richards is an Editor & Live Reporter for PokerNews and host of the Life Outside Poker podcast. Connor has been nominated for two Global Poker Awards for his writing.

More Stories

Other Stories

Recommended for you

Justin Hammer on Prime Social's Growth, Why Texas Poker is Superior Justin Hammer on Prime Social's Growth, Why Texas Poker is Superior