Ravee Mathi Sundar Wins WPT Rolling Thunder

Ravee Mathi Sundar made two WPT final tables on the California Swing and won his first WPT title at the second one tonight at WPT Rolling Thunder.

By Ryan Lucchesi (@Luccrazy)

If at first you don’t succeed, try, try again. Ravee Mathi Sundar took that phrase to heart tonight at the final table of the World Poker Tour Rolling Thunder $3,500 Main Event. Just five days after he was eliminated from the final table at the WPT Bay 101 Shooting Star Main Event in sixth place, Ravee topped a field of 379 players to win his first tournament title and $266,857. He beat a tough final table that included recent Bay 101 Shooting Star champion and Season XIII California Swing champion Taylor Paur, and poker professional Harrison Gimbel. Mathi had a good run here in California and earned $435,117 – not bad for a week’s work.

Seat 1. Harrison Gimbel – 3,135,000 (156 bb)
Seat 2. Ravee Mathi Sundar – 2,373,000 (118 bb)
Seat 3. Jeff Griffiths – 1,318,000 (65 bb)
Seat 4. Jesse Rockowitz – 727,000 (36 bb)
Seat 5. Rex Clinkscales – 1,508,000 (75 bb)
Seat 6. Taylor Paur – 2,293,000 (114 bb)

Action was fast and furious at the start of the final table with four double ups taking place in the span of just five hands. Hand 13 then proved to be an unlucky one for Jeff Griffiths, who shoved with 77. Taylor Paur had him covered with KJ in the hole and the board was dealt J54JA. Griffiths was eliminated in sixth place and took home $50,291 in prize money.

Just two hands later Rex Clinkscales was all in preflop with A8 in the hole. Paur was once again the adversary of the all-in player, and he took a dominant AQ into battle. The board fell 1092K9 and Clinkscales fell in fifth place, good for $62,864.

The next major action came when Jesse Rockowitz doubled up on Hand 37, and then Harrison Gimbel was all in on the 43rd hand at the final table. He got the last of his chips in on a board reading K446 with 85 in the hole. Ravee tanked for seven minutes before he called holding QQ. The river delivered the 9 and that was is for Gimbel, who cashed in fourth place for $83,818.

Rockowitz doubled up again a short time after that and Paur joined the fun as well when he doubled up on Hand 56. Sundar and Rockowitz both took turns with the chip lead during a long period of play without a bustout. Rockowitz doubled up again on Hand 82 and the three-handed battle became the predominant skirmish at the final table.

It wasn’t until Hand 141 that we lost another player. Paur was all in with A10 and Ravee had him covered holding AQ. The board was dealt Q5496 and Paur was eliminated in third place, good for $113,154. Paur had already won the title of WPT California Swing champion before tonight’s final table, and his impressive run saw him fall two places shy of becoming the third back-to-back champion of Season XIII (He would have joined Anthony Zinno and Darren Elias).

Ravee had a big chip lead at the start of the final match with 9,305,000 against the 2,050,000 of Rockowitz. It didn’t take long for the players to get all of their chips into the middle. On the fourth hand of heads-up play (Hand 145), Rockowitz limped for 100,000 to open the pot, Ravee raised to 260,000, Rockowitz moved all in for 1,920,000, and Sundar snap-called with JJ.

Rockowitz turned over K9, and he needed to improve to stay alive. The board came 103366, and Sundar won the pot — and the WPT title — with two pair, jacks and sixes. Jesse Rockowitz finished as the runner-up, earning $176,018.

Ravee won WPT Rolling Thunder, earning $266,857. That amount includes his $15,400 entry into the season-ending WPT World Championship this April at Borgata Casino in Atlantic City, New Jersey. Sundar also received a pair of Monster DNA Headphones and a WPT Champions Trophy. Sundar’s name will also be engraved on the one-and-only WPT Champions Cup, alongside all previous champions in WPT history. Congratulations to Ravee Mathi Sundar!

Final Table Results:

1: Ravee Mathi Sundar – $268,857
2: Jesse Rockowitz – $176,018
3: Taylor Paur – $113,154
4: Harrison Gimbel – $83,818
5: Rex Clinkscales – $62,864
6: Jeff Griffiths – $50,291

That concludes our coverage from the WPT Rolling Thunder Main Event. Thanks to Thunder Valley Casino for hosting a great event. Thanks also to Joe Giron for tonight’s amazing photography. You can see more of his work on his website: pokerphotoarchive.com. The next stop on the World Poker Tour takes us to South Florida for the WPT Seminole Hard Rock Poker Showdown. You can catch live coverage of the event from the WPT Live Updates team April 16-22.