Harrison Gimbel Wins WPT Rolling Thunder

By Ryan Lucchesi (@Luccrazy)
Photography by Joe Giron / PokerPhotoArchive.com

When the heads-up final began at the World Poker Tour Rolling Thunder Main Event, the chip stacks were nearly even. Given the skill level of two-time WPT champion Mohsin Charania, and experienced professional Harrison Gimbel, you knew the final battle was going to be a clash of titans. Throw in extremely deep stacks and the finale of the tournament did not disappoint.

The final two players had emerged from a field of 409 players, and the final bustout of the event proved to be the toughest. The two played 96 hands before there was an all-in confrontation, and it wasn’t until the 115th hand (longer than the rest of the final table combined – 107 hands to get down to the final two) that the final hand transpired. Gimbel was able to win his first WPT title, and he increased his career earnings to $3,737,806 despite being just 25 years old.

Here is a look at the chip counts and seating chart when cards got into the air at noon PT on Wednesday.

Seat 1.  Mohsin Charania  –  2,716,000 (136 bb)
Seat 2.  Russell Garrett  –  3,686,000 (184 bb)
Seat 3.  Hafiz Khan  –  754,000 (38 bb)
Seat 4.  Harrison Gimbel  –  3,315,000 (166 bb)
Seat 5.  Derek Wolters  –  544,000 (27 bb)
Seat 6.  Markus Gonsalves  –  1,258,000 (63 bb)

The average stack held over 100 big blinds when cards got into the air, and that ensured the final table would start slow. It played true to form and there wasn’t even an all-in pot until 31 hands in, when Markus Gonsalves survived with A-10 against the K-10 of Russell Garrett.

The next all-in pot produced the first elimination for the night. Derek Wolters was all in on the 57th hand of play with  on a board reading , and Harrison Gimbel had him covered holding . The river delivered the  and Wolters was eliminated in sixth place, good for $54,970.

Ten hands later Hafiz Khan was at risk for the first time at the final table. Khan was all in preflop with pocket threes and he was up against the  of Garrett. The board was dealt  and Khan was out in fifth place, good for $68,712.

The rush of eliminations continued when Gonsalves got the last of his stack into the middle half-a-dozen hands after Khan busted. Gonsalves had his tournament hopes pinned on  in the hole. Gimbel had him covered holding  and the board ran out . Gonsalves was eliminated in fourth place, good for $91,616.

Three-handed play then pushed past 100 hands before the next player would hit the rail (Mohsin Charania doubled thru Garrett on Hand 85 thanks to a straight). Hand 107 saw Garrett get all in preflop with . Charania called to cover him holding  and the pocket pair held on a board dealt . Garrett was eliminated in third place, good for $123,682.

There was less than a big blind separating Charania and Gimbel at the start of the heads-up final, and the first pot saw Gimbel win a pot worth close to 2 million to pull into the lead. Charania got a lot of those chips back a few hands later, and that kicked off one of the most intense heads-up battles we’ve seen on tour in some time.

The final hand finally came on Hand 222 of the final table. Charania limped for 200,000, Gimbel moved all in, and Charania called all in with . Gimbel turned over , and Charania needed his hand to hold to stay alive.

The board came , and Gimbel paired his five on the turn and rivered trips to win the pot — and the WPT title — with trip fives. Charania finished as the runner-up, earning $192,132.

Gimbel wins WPT Rolling Thunder, earning $275,112, which includes his $15,000 entry into the season-ending WPT Tournament of Champions. Gimbel also received a WPT Champions Trophy, and his name will be engraved on the one-and-only WPT Champions Cup along with every other champion from all 14 seasons of the World Poker Tour.

Congratulations to Harrison Gimbel!

Final Table Results:

1: Harrison Gimbel – $275,112
2: Mohsin Charania – $192,132
3: Russell Garrett – $123,682
4: Markus Gonsalves – $91,616
5: Hafiz Khan – $68,712
6: Derek Wolters – $54,970

That concludes our coverage from the WPT Rolling Thunder Main Event. Thanks to Thunder Valley Casino for hosting another fantastic stop to wrap up the WPT California Swing. Congrats to our California Swing champion, Ankush Mandavia, who cashed in 23rd place at Bay 101 and cashed in eighth place here at Thunder Valley. The next stop on the tour will take us to South Florida for the WPT Seminole Hard Rock Poker Showdown from April 15-20. Until then you can follow along with the live updates from the partypoker WPT Vienna Main Event, which began yesterday and concludes on Sunday, March 20.