Event #3 - $250 Valuetown™

After a bit of negotiation, the final three players agreed to a chop, with chip leader Sanjeev Vora taking a bit more than the others and earning the beautiful Atlas trophy, provided by PokerAtlas. The chop didn't happen until 2:45 am, but play was aggressive right up to the end. The action was also recorded on the livestream table here at Texas Card House in Houston, and should be available on TCH Live within a few days.

Vora is a local with over $200,000 in live tournament winnings, most of it in Houston or Austin, including a $65,000 win here in Houston just two months ago.

Wrap Up

The PokerAtlas Valuetown event at Texas Card House Houston delivered on its name, drawing 1,230 entries for a $246,000 prize pool and setting up a packed Day 2 with 76 players returning to chase a $39,380 top prize. David Shaw began the restart as the monster stack after bagging 1,285,000 in the final turbo flight, with major pedigree also in the mix as David 'The Dragon' Pham advanced as well.

The most talked about moment of the event came in an earlier flight when an all-in preflop moment turned into pure pain. Pocket kings got it in against Ace-King of spades that flopped a royal flush, leaving the kings drawing stone dead.

When the dust settled, it was Sanjeev Vora who conquered the huge field, and a long Day 2 grind, to lock up the trophy and $29,090 after a three-way chop. Pham made a deep run and finished runner up for $27,000, while Nicholas Pupillo also banked $27,000 in third. Giang Nguyen took fourth for $12,090, and Daniel Stavinoha rounded out the top five, earning $8,820. Houston really showed up for this event with local standouts and familiar names all over the payout list.

Highlight Moments

• All in preflop K♥ K♣ versus A♠ K♠ ends with a royal flush in spades, leaving the kings dead immediately.

• Chip leader momentum shifts when David Shaw bags 1,285,000 to top the Day 2 counts after surviving the final turbo flight, btu the cards turn against him on day two.

• David 'The Dragon' Pham runs deep and agrees to a three-way chop, adding to his impressive lifetime winnings of over eleven million dollars.Wrap Up

Full Payouts

1. SANJEEV VORA — $29,090

2. DAVID PHAM — $27,000

3. NICHOLAS PUPILLO — $27,000

4. GIANG NGUYEN — $12,090

5. DANIEL STAVINOHA — $8,820

6. RAYMOND GARCIA — $6,860

7. ERIKA DE LOS SANTOS — $5,720

8. VIJAI SANTHANAM — $4,740

9. MY VINCENT DI NGUYEN — $3,920

10. RANDALL CAMPBELL — $3,310

11. ALAN PEREYRA — $3,310

12. LEONID SHTEYN — $3,310

13. BENJAMIN HENDIN — $2,760

14. KELLER HOUSTON — $2,760

15. WILLIAM NGUYEN — $2,760

16. DOUGLAS KOEBBE — $2,270

17. JEFFREY JOHNSON — $2,270

18. MOHAMMAD BAGHERI — $2,270

19. STEVEN UCHIDA — $1,940

20. RAHIL GAULANI — $1,940

21. MING LIANG — $1,940

22. ROLAND JACKSON SR — $1,630

23. ANDREAS MICHELMANN — $1,630

24. LICH BUI — $1,630

25. ANTHONY MENDER — $1,340

26. JAMES CRAVEN — $1,340

27. DANIEL WAMWIRI — $1,340

28. RAHUL BATRA — $1,170

29. JOSEPH GOLIAS — $1,170

30. THAO TRAN — $1,170

31. CYNTHIA LUU — $1,170

32. JEFFREY NOWLING — $1,170

33. KATHERIN BECERRA — $1,170

34. SANG NGO — $1,170

35. KIMBERLY LEEANN PRICE — $1,170

36. WILLIAM PREECE — $1,170

37. EMMANUEL MCKENZIE — $1,000

38. DERRICK EVANGELISTA — $1,000

39. GERALD RHYMER — $1,000

40. JUSTIN HOLMQUIST — $1,000

41. VIVEK SHINGALA — $1,000

42. ROBERT COTE — $1,000

43. BENOIT VALLIERES — $1,000

44. JOSE ARAMAYO — $1,000

45. GEFFREY KLEIN — $1,000

46. MARTIN GARZA — $840

47. NEIL VORA — $840

48. RICHARD ZHANG — $840

49. KEVIN KENDRICK — $840

50. JIAN LEVINE — $840

51. RANDALL CROUCH — $840

52. AKBAR SHABAZZ — $840

53. JIMMY ADAMS — $840

54. CHRISTOPHER CUMMINGS — $840

55. BRANDON LLOYD — $700

56. CLAYTON OLVERA — $700

57. DAVID SHAW — $700

58. MICHAEL PETER BALLAS — $700

59. ETHAN DOAN — $700

60. JOSHUA HILL — $700

61. MARIO ANDRADE — $700

62. LUKE BREEDLOVE — $700

63. MARK HENNESSY — $700

64. MATTHEW MOLSBERRY — $620

65. TIMOTHY BANDINI — $620

66. THUY BELTRAN — $620

67. THOMAS VINAS — $620

68. NICHOLAS VITA — $620

69. DANIEL DOAN — $620

70. WALTER LYNCH — $620

71. JAMES DEAN — $620

72. MALOU LOWREY — $620

73. KAMORU YUSUF — $560

74. VENU GOPALA RAJU GADHIRAJU — $560

75. REITTA SEIDEL — $560

76. RANDALL TANNER — $560

77. DAVID SHAW — $2,000 (Double Bag Bonus)

78. ROLAND JACKSON SR — $2,000 (Double Bag Bonus)

Faces Of TCH - Valuetown™ - Day Two

Valuetown™ - Final Table Edition

We have reached the final table and before we could even post an update, we have lost a player. Chip counts are as of this post. The final table is being recorded on our livestream table and will be available soon on TCH Live.

Valuetown™ - Prize Pool Breakdown

This beast generated a prize pool of nearly a quarter of a million dollars with a $250 buy-in. Below are the full payouts for day two, including money that has already been paid out to players who made the money but busted on day one. PokerAtlas and Texas Card House are absolutely killing it here in Houston and we also expect big fields for the multi-flight, $100k guaranteed, PLO event that starts today.

Valuetown™ - Day Two Chip Leaders

We're ready to start day two of the PokerAtlas Valuetown™ event here at Texas card House in Houston. The room is buzzing, cards are ready to go, and bags of chips lay in front of every seat. We have 76 players starting the day, with David Shaw as chip leader. First place will $39,380 and we will post the full prize pool breakdown in a few minutes.

Valuetown™ - Flight 1L Bags - A New Chip Leader, And A Dragon!

We have a new chip leader! The action was wild and the field was big in this morning's turbo flight, and local crusher David Shaw bagged the tournament chip lead to start day two with 1,285,000. We did a feature on the man they simply call "Shaw" a few days ago, and he will be a tough out in this one with the chip lead and years of serious tournament experience.

David 'The Dragon' Pham also bagged chips in this flight, and while he doesn't have quite the stack that Shaw amassed today, The Dragon is a threat with any stack. with more than eleven million in lifetime winnings, we know the dragon knows how to handle a big field and the stress of a big day two.

Valuetown™ - Flight 1K Bags

Five players will advance from our turbo flight, including our chip leader for the flight, Kimberly Price. This cash has already more than doubled Price's lifetime tournament winnings and if day two goes well this could be the breakthrough score for her.

Valuetown™ - Flight 1J Bags

Eight more players make day two today, with Emmanuel Mckenzie. A Houston local, Mckenzie has over $700,000 in live tournament winnings, including a win in the PokerAtlas Tour title event in December of 2024 in Austin.

Valuetown™ - Flight 1I Bags

Nice flight here, with William Preece bagging over a million for a top five stack so far.

Valuetown™ - Flight 1J Photo Gallery

More fun photos from the Valuetown™ event.

Faces Of TCH - Valuetown™ Flight 1J

Reg Closed in Flight 1J

Registration is now closed on our final standard flight, with only two turbo flights left to take a shot at this $200,000 guaranteed prize pool. This flight drew 130 entries, and will pay 17 places with 8 of those advancing to day two.

Flight 1K just started, with registration open until 11:10pm tonight, and tomorrow's morning turbo flight starts at 10am with registration open until just after noon. Day two starts at 4pm tomorrow and we will finish out the tournament tomorrow night.

One Closes, Another Opens. Welcome to Valuetown™.

Registration is now closed on Flight 1I, and Flight 1J registration is open. Flight 1K will open at 9pm, and the last chance turbo flight, 1L, will start at 10am tomorrow. Day two starts tomorrow at 4pm.

Flight 1I will pay 15 spots, with 7 players advancing to day two. We are down below 30 players at the moment, and there are still a few bonus hunters in the field looking to sneak into day two and grab that $2,000.

This multi-flight setup, with three flights a day, is popular with players, especially grinders looking for double bag bonuses or to get a bigger stack through. There is only about an hour of the day where there is not a flight open for registration, so players who really want to get in there and mix it up can fire those bullets and try to build a monster all day, every day.

Our next event will be a $400 P0t-Limit Omaha Event with six flights, and a $100,000 guarantee. The first flight is tomorrow at 5pm, and there will be a turbo flight at 9pm as well. There's nothing quite as exciting as a turbo PLO flight! Get em in the middle!

Valuetown™ - Flight 1H Bags

We had four players bag chips in this flight. A nice field for a 9pm start and a turbo structure. There were definitely some players chasing double bag bonuses in this one. Nine players made the money, with five of them busting before it was time to bag chips and come back on Monday.

Valuetown™ - Flight 1G Bags

We had ten players advance from this flight, with Brandon Lloyd bagging the chip lead for the flight at 811,000. That is at least eighty big blinds on day two because one of the turbo flights finished early and we will be rolling the blinds all the way back to 5,000/10,000. With 40 minute levels on day two tomorrow, and the restart at 4pm, we may be here well into the morning hours as this monster plays out.

Our chip leader, Brandon Lloyd, lives in Houston and has almost $60,000 in live tournament winnings, with his biggest score coming just this January in a Trailblazer Poker Tour event here at Texas Card House in Houston where he finished as runner up for $29,080.

We have had surprisingly few double bags, though our first double bagger, Roland 'Scoop Scoop' Jackson is here today looking for a third bag.

Valuetown™ - Flight 1I Photo Gallery

Great photos today!

Faces Of TCH - Valuetown™ Flight 1I

Flight 1G Bubble Bursts

After surviving on a short stack for the last hour, Louis Dewenter was on fumes and got it in with a pair of sevens to try to survive another round.

Valuetown™ - Flight 1F Bags

We have eight players advancing to day two in Valuetown™ Flight 1F. Seven more players cashed but did not make day two. No double bags in this flight, but there are a lot of people hunting that double bag bonus now.

Valuetown™ - Flight 1G Photos

Big gallery from a big flight!

Faces Of TCH - Valuetown™ Flight 1G

We Have A Royal!

And not just any royal flush, but a flop em dead, ultimate royal in spades. And it was all-in preflop with K♥ K♣ against A♠ K♠/. Imagine getting it in with two kings and the flop leaves you stone dead. Ouch! Some unlucky player has nothing but a terrible bad beat story to show for their entry in todays Valuetown™ event.

Player Feature: Scoop scoop

Roland 'Scoop Scoop' Jackson, from Houston, Texas, has been playing poker for 15 years. His journey into the game began when his children gifted him an Xbox as a joke. He played a poker game on the console, and thought he was a real shark until he discovered that he was playing on the amateur setting.

Despite a rocky start in live games, Scoop Scoop has achieved notable success, including turning $500 into $25,000 twice in local cash games. His nickname, "Scoop Scoop," reflects his knack for winning big pots. Outside of poker, he works as a specialist in negotiations and problem solving.

Scoop Scoop was the first to claim the $2,000 double bag bonus in our Valuetown™ event here at Texas Card House in Houston. Jackson bagged a nice 600k stack in an early flight and came back hunting the bonus. He managed to squeak in with one big blind last night in Flight 1E to claim the bonus and will be back to shoot for more of that tasty bonus money.

Valuetown™ - Flight 1E Bags

We had our first $2,000 double bag bonus and five bags total in this event. We'll have a feature on our first double bagger, Roland 'Scoop Scoop' Jackson coming up next.

Valuetown™ - Flight 1D Bags

These 9 players will advance to day two in our Valuetown™ event, and 10 players cashed but busted before day two.

Photo Gallery - Valuetown™ Flight 1F

Some great shots from this monster flight!

Faces Of TCH - Valuetown™ Flight 1F

Player Feature: Cyra Crouch

Cyra Crouch, hailing from Houston, Texas, has been playing poker for two years. She discovered her passion for the game through live games, which also introduced her to the vibrant poker community here in Houston. Her most significant result to date is a $1,400 win in a bomb pot in a cash game, but she's looking for a big score in the Valuetown™ event here at Texas Card House this week.

Outside of poker, Cyra works as a mental health therapist. Her husband also plays, though she is clearly the shark in the family. Good luck today Cyra!

Valuetown™ - Flight 1E Photo Gallery

Full gallery of photos from Flight 1E, the 9pm turbo. We have 7 more flights to go on the way to a $200k guarantee.

Faces Of TCH - Valuetown™ Flight 1E

Valuetown™ - Flight 1D Photos

We have a ton of photos from this flight! And Day 1E photos will be up soon as well.

Faces Of TCH - Valuetown™ Flight 1D

Valuetown™ - Flight 1D Registration Closed

Day 1D registration is over, with 1E just getting started in level 2. We had a monster field of 146 entries in 1D, so we will have 9 players advance to day two, with 19 total getting paid. Players who cash in the event but do not advance to day two can play again, but do not qualify for the double bag bonus. Players who advance to day two can play again and they get $2,000 for every time they bag after the first, with the biggest stack advancing to day two.

Valuetown™ - Day 1C Bags

We had 98 entries in Flight 1C, which gave us 13 players in the money and 6 players advancing to day two, including Anthony Mender bagging a monster stack of over a million chips. No doubt some of these players will be back to play another flight and take a shot at the $2,000 double bag bonus.

We have 9 more flights to go, with day two starting at 4pm on Monday, May 11th.

Valuetown™ Day 1C Reg Closed

Registration is now closed for Day 1C, and open for Day 1D. Day 1C drew 98 players with 7 advancing to day two and positions 8-13 getting some cash for their trouble as they bust out today. The whole field for the morning flight is now in the money.

Registration for Day 1D will be open until approximately 8:50pm and Day 1E starts at 9pm. You can play tournaments all day at TCH! Value Town!

More Coverage From Texas Card House

You can find more coverage of the Poker Atlas events at Texas Card House this week over at the Texas Card House Houston Blog. Our pal Kyle Miller is here doing a great job with coverage on the events from the TCH side and we love his updates.

Kyle knows the room, the players, and Texas poker in general, as well as anyone, and we're lucky to have his insight into the local scene as we work on our own coverage.

Valuetown™ - Day 1B Bags

Here are the players and chip counts from Day 1B of our Valuetown™ Event. Remember, there is a $2,000 bonus for bagging twice!

Valuetown™ - Day 1A Bags

We have the bags from Day 1A, which finished late last night. A number of other players cash and we will have fully updated cash amounts and bags soon.

Player Feature: David Shaw

David Shaw, hailing from Houston, Texas, has been part of the world of poker for the past 20 years. He started his career in home games and ended up in professional card rooms soon after. Known simply as "Shaw" among his peers, Shaw is currently focusing on the mid major Player of the Year race, channeling his extensive experience and skills honed over two decades in the game.

With more than a million and a half dollars in tournament winnings, most of them here in Texas, and the support of his partner Jessica Richards, Shaw is a serious force to be reckoned with in the Texas poker scene.

Hendon Mob profile

Player Feature: Jessica Richards

Jessica Richards, known affectionately as "Gorjess," is a well known figure in the Texas poker scene. Jess hails from Houston, and though she has only been serious about the game for five years, she has amassed more than half a million dollars in tournament winnings.

Richards journey into the game began after a decade of dealing and running a private home game. During the COVID-19 pandemic, she transitioned from dealing to playing, inspired by watching her partner, David Shaw, and poker streamers on Twitch. Richards' foray into online poker was successful, culminating in a major tournament win on PokerBros. Her live poker career took off when she secured her first WSOP Circuit ring in the Ladies Event in Choctaw.

A mother of three, Jessica balances her poker pursuits with her work at Chip Leader Coaching and managing a luxury balloon and event styling business, Ace Of Decor. Her most significant poker achievement to date is finishing third in the Champions Main Event, sharing the final table with David. Jessica credits poker with transforming her life, providing her with confidence, independence, and a supportive community.

All we know is that her bright smile and bubbly personality make here a favorite here at TCH and we look forward to seeing Jess light up a table every night! As you can see in the video, she's even smiling when the cards don't fall her way.

Hendon Mob profile

Valuetown™ Flight 1C Photos

A great looking group today, with 87 entries already and late registration still open. We have two more flights today as well, a standard flight at 5pm and a turbo at 9pm. Both of the later flights should end by 1am.

Faces Of TCH - Value Town Flight 1C

Reg Closed For Valuetown™ 1A

Registration is now closed for Flight 1A.

1st-7th: Advance To Day Two

8th-9th: $500

10th-12th: $450

13th-14th: $400

The 9pm turbo flight is underway, with late registration available for another ninety minutes.

$25 Sweats!

In Houston, they call it a sweat. And they love these things. PLO flips for tournament seats, with a late reveal on the turn card. These are running all day long and $25 could turn into thousands.

Valuetown™ 1A Photo Gallery

We've had a nice field develop in this one, with over 100 entries and late registration still open. There is a turbo flight at 9pm tonight as well. Come get those $2,000 double bag bonuses!

Faces Of TCH - Valuetown™ 1A

Level 3 In The Valuetown™ Event

We have 53 entries with almost three hours of late registration to go in Flight 1A of the Valuetown™ Event. Almost everyone took advantage of the $30 rebate on their buy-ins for subscribing to PokerAtlas Pro and there are a lot of smiles in the room. The $200,000 guarantee, and the $2,000 double bag bonus, are sure to bring in a huge number of players over the course of twelve flights and we still have a turbo flight tonight at 9pm that should be over before 1am.

Taking It To Valuetown™