By Ryan Lucchesi
It’s a rare thing for a player to hold the chip lead at the end of every day of a poker tournament on the path to victory, but that is exactly what Alexander Greenblatt did last November to win his first WPTDeepStacks title at the WPTDS Thunder Valley Main Event hosted by Thunder Valley Casino Resort.
Greenblatt was the chip leader of the 31 survivors from 165 entries with 386,000 at the end of play on Day 1A to start his journey on the right foot. The field size of 281 entries on Day 1B set the total prize pool at $597,640, with the eventual champion set to take home $122,500 (including a $3,000 championship prize package).
The one time that Greenblatt didn’t hold a chip lead was the start of Day 2, when he trailed the Day 1B chip leader James Brown who held 426,000 when cards got into the air. During the course of action on Day 2 that saw the field shrink from 86 down to the final table of nine Greenblatt took the lead once again and had built a stack of 2,205,000.
Notable players that cashed in the money on Day 2 included Kathy Stahl (18th), Greg Wagner (19th), Candace Collins (20th), Sean Drake (21st), WPT Champions Club member Tyler Patterson (45th), Dean Freedlander (46th), and Derek Raymond (56th).
Brown was still close on his heels with 2,040,000 at the end of Day 2, and rounding out the top three chip counts at the start of the final table was Paul Chai with 1,900,000. Previous WPTDeepStacks Thunder Valley Main Event champion Mimi Luu also appeared at the final table with a stack of 700,000. Here is a look at the seating chart and chip counts before the final table began.
Seat 1: Mimi Luu – 700,000
Seat 2: James Brown – 2,040,000
Seat 3: Walter Robertson – 655,000
Seat 4: Warren Kashiwagi – 1,515,000
Seat 5: Robert Angeleri – 1,600,000
Seat 6: Paul Chai – 1,900,000
Seat 7: Nick Wooderson – 1,660,000
Seat 8: Alex Greenblatt – 2,205,000
Seat 9: Kelly Douglas – 1,105,000
The final table moved fast from the beginning, and Walter Robertson hit the rail in ninth place just a couple of minutes into the day. Luu fell next in eighth place, and Robert Angeleri took seventh place a short time later.
Warren Kashiwagi then survived in a chop, but the next time he risked his tournament life he was not so lucky and busted in sixth place. Chai then fell in fifth place, and Kelly Douglas exited in fourth place. The elimination of Nick Wooderson in third place set up a heads-up final between Greenblatt (7.11 million) and Brown (6.27 million), who had been on a collision course since they each led their respective starting flights earlier in the tournament.
Greenblatt fell behind slightly after an hour of play, but then he scored a huge double up to take a gigantic chip lead. The final hand was played just a few minutes later. Brown was all in preflop for just over 600,000, and Greenblatt had him covered on the button. The two players then flipped over their cards.
Greenblatt: 
Brown: 
Board: 
Brown was eliminated in second place, good for $83,600 thanks to his deep run in the tournament. Greenblatt won the hand, and the tournament to take home his first WPTDS title. It was one of the biggest wins of Greenblatt’s poker career, and it put his career earnings at $1,317,760. Greenblatt now holds seven cashes at various WPT events, including three WPTDS cashes at Thunder Valley in his career.
“It’s great when you win a tournament, that’s the only time you’re happy after a tournament. I’m pretty happy, I play at Thunder Valley a lot. I haven’t actually cashed at Thunder Valley in 18 months. The last tournament I cashed here was a WPTDeepStacks where I finished in 10th. It’s great to win something here,” said Greenblatt after the victory.
He continued, “It was great, the staff is lovely; they know what they’re doing, they run a good show. WPTDeepStacks is a great tour, good structures, this tournament was amazing.” It’s safe to say that this WPTDS champion and Thunder Valley regular will be back to try and win his second title at the next stop here in late November.
WPTDeepStacks Thunder Valley Final Table Results
1st: Alex Greenblatt – $122,500*
2nd: James Brown – $83,600
3rd: Nick Wooderson – $53,700
4th: Kelly Douglas – $36,480
5th: Paul Chai – $28,000
6th: Warren Kashiwagi – $23,280
7th: Robert Angeleri – $19,505
8th: Mimi Luu – $15,730
9th: Walter Robertson – $11,950
*: Included a $3,000 WPTDS Championship Package