Alexandr Lipkin Wins First WSOP Circuit Ring, $163k at Graton Casino
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Alexandr Lipkin Triumphs at WSOP Circuit Graton, Wins $163k Main Event
The WSOP Circuit stop at Graton Casino concluded over the weekend, with Alexandr Lipkin emerging victorious in the Main Event. The $1,700 buy-in tournament attracted 558 entries, generating a $845,370 prize pool. Lipkin, hailing from Brisbane, CA, outlasted the field to claim his first WSOPC ring and a substantial $162,520 top prize.
Lipkin, who describes himself as an amateur player, expressed his determination to build on this success. “One time doesn’t prove anything,” he remarked. “I’m going to feel more confident going into tournaments knowing that I’ve done this before. Before this, I only had two deep runs in the WSOP and didn’t play many tournaments.”
The runner-up position went to Michael Lin from San Ramon, CA, who earned $108,149. Lin has been on a remarkable run, making his third WSOP Circuit final table in the last two months and cashing five times during the same period. Despite taking the chip lead at some point during heads-up play, Lin ultimately fell short with pocket eights against Lipkin’s superior queens.
The final table results were as follows:
1st: Alexandr Lipkin (Brisbane, CA) – $162,520
2nd: Michael Lin (San Ramon, CA) – $108,149
3rd: Marco Johnson (Walnut Creek, CA) – $74,400
4th: Brett Murray (Santa Rosa, CA) – $52,156
5th: Brendan Buckner (Salt Lake City, UT) – $37,227
6th: Antonio Ma (Calgary, AB) – $27,116
7th: Yoh Han Lee (Los Angeles, CA) – $20,157
8th: Allan Capurro (Santa Rosa, CA) – $15,303
9th: Saad Aljoher (Sacramento, CA) – $12,076
The Graton Casino festival featured a diverse range of events, including an unusual Big O ring event won by Adam Nattress. Local player John Koo added two WSOPC rings to his collection, triumphing in Event #6: $400 No-Limit Hold’em – President’s Day Special and Event #18: $400 No-Limit Hold’em – The Bay Area Closer. This marked Koo’s second double victory at the Graton property, having previously won a pair of RunGood Poker Series events there in September 2023.
The excitement extended beyond the WSOPC events, with Raymond Chiu, the first person to win the PokerNews Deepstack leaderboard, taking down a tag team side event alongside a player he met for the first time at the festival. The PokerNews Deepstack leaderboard is set to return for the 2025 World Series of Poker.
