Winston Djonli has been a regular fixture in low to mid-stakes poker tournaments in and around Austin, Texas, for the past five years. During that time, Djonli recorded a plethora of four-figure cashes and a handful of small wins, but until a few weeks ago, a major score had still eluded him.
That all changed last month, when Djonli achieved what was then a career-best score of $115,682 from a runner-up finish in a $3,000 event, effectively doubling his lifetime earnings. Three weeks later, Djonli found himself at another high-profile final table in the $1,700 WSOPC Million Dollar Main Event here at Choctaw Casino and Resort in Durant, Oklahoma. Djonli began the day among the shorter stacks, but by the end of the night, he had acquired every chip in the tournament, secured a new top score of $232,680, and won his first WSOP Circuit Ring.
Final table results:
- Winston Djonli - $232,680
- Matthew Barnett - $155,010
- Venkat Nagabhairava - $107,360
- Chris Vickrey - $75,700
- Kenneth Lemer - $54,360
- Dustin Schoonover - $39,770
- Jeremy Kennon - $29,650
- Todd Tucker - $22,540
- Alejandro Jaureguireynoso - $17,470
“Feels great," the latest WSOPC Main Event champion said following the win. "Honestly, I’m still kind of in the mode of not having any emotions fresh off the table. That’s usually how I play poker: I try to turn it all off and just focus on the cards. I’m sure it will hit me in maybe an hour or two.”
"I’ve been playing for a long time," Djonli continued, "and it’s definitely nice to finally get some big scores come in. I do feel like I have recently come through a breakthrough, just in the way that I’m playing and how I approach the game, and it seems to be paying off."
Djonli was among the bigger stacks for most of Day 2, at one point briefly taking the chip lead, but his momentum fizzled towards the end of the night, and he began the final day fifth in chips from the nine returning players. Six of the final nine started with relatively short stacks, and in less than three hours, the field was reduced to a final four.
Djonli had done a great job of laddering up, but he was now the clear short stack. Soon after, he was all-in and at risk against start-of-day chip leader Chris Vickrey, who flopped a pair of nines to leave Djonli drawing to two outs with his pocket sevens. Djonli was one card away from elimination after the turn, but a miracle seven on the river kept his Main Event hopes alive, while Vickrey was left short and had to settle for fourth place. Throughout the dramatic runout, Djonli remained stoic and was seemingly unfazed.
“To be honest with you, I felt pretty composed the whole time," Djonli reflected when asked about the pressure of being at his biggest final table so far. I guess I’d be lying if I said I wasn’t a little bit nervous, but I think I did a really good job in handling all of that. The experience definitely helps. The more final tables you play, you kind of get less nervous, because you know you’ve already been there before."
Venkat Nagabhairava held nearly two-thirds of the chips going into three-handed play, while Djonli was close to even with Matthew Barnett. Surprisingly, Nagabhairava was eliminated in just a couple of orbits, following a disastrous run of cards that saw him drop big pots to both Djonli and Barnett, before running his pocket fives into Barnett's pocket queens and bowing out in third.
Barnett began the heads-up duel with roughly a 2:1 chip lead over Djonli, but Djonli wasn't going down easily. What followed was a marathon battle between the two that stretched over three hours. Djonli quickly doubled up to take a small lead over Barnett, but Barnett relentlessly applied pressure to take it back after forcing Djonli to fold to a triple barrel.
“I think he was a great player," Djonli said of Barnett. "He definitely had some spunk to his game. The whole time, heads-up, I just knew it was gonna be a game of patience. I was ready to make it a battle of attrition. I’m not sure if my opponent was feeling the same way, but I had the intention of being here all day if that’s what it took.”
Djonli's patience paid off, as the next time Barnett went for the triple barrel, Djonli had the goods with top pair to take back the lead. Multiple times Djonli started pulling away, only for Barnett to close the gap again. In the final hand of the night, Barnett raised with pocket aces on the button, and Djonli flopped trips after defending with queen-four suited. A series of raises saw the chips go in on the flop, and after fading the two-outer from Barnett, Djonli had secured the Main Event title.
. Djonli checked, Barnett bet 700,000, Djonli check-raised to 3,000,000, and Barnett called. 
turn. Barnett shoved and Djonli, who had Barnett slightly covered, called.
river, and Djonli took down the final pot of the Main Event.
turn. Djonli bet 1,200,000, and Barnett called before the two players checked the 
river. 
, while Barnett had him pipped with 
to win the hand. 
