First-time winner books Bahamas trip with WSOPC ring at Graton

Just nine hopefuls from a starting field of 520 entries returned to Graton Resort & Casino and a little over six hours later Stefan Clemens emerged as the champion of the $1,700 Main Event.

Clemens' first career tournament victory comes with the $151,543 first-place prize (more than five times his total Hendon Mob earnings), a prestigious WSOPC Ring, entry into the $5 Million Guarantee Mystery Bounty at WSOP Paradise in The Bahamas, and a hotel package at Atlantis. 

First final table, first win.

Intellectual mind games

Clemens is a local business owner and youth soccer coach who came from an athletic background, and he says that same competitive spirit is what drives him to compete in big poker tournaments.

"I try to tell people, it's not a lot of cardio or running around, but the intellectual mind games and strategy really test you," Clemens said.

Adding, "I love physical sports, but I'm 39 now, and as I get older, I'm enjoying competing more in the mental aspect of things."

Clemens' first recorded tournament cash was in 2017, and due to his home life and schedule, he carefully picks and chooses what events he plays. 

He mentions that when he was younger, he may not have had the mental discipline to avoid playing recklessly or above his bankroll, but now says that with maturity, he's able to approach the game more wisely.

"I was actually planning to play the WSOP Main Event this year, but decided at the last minute that it wouldn't be a good decision for my bankroll," Clemens said. 

"But I'm definitely playing next year," he said with a laugh.

Stefan Clemens lives for the competition.

'I dreamt about the good hands'

There were a lot of "firsts" for Clemens in this tournament. His first final table, his first win, and his first ring. He reflected on what he learned form this experience and what a win like this means to him - 

"It's pretty surreal, on Friday night, after making Day 2, I dreamt about the good hands. It's such a fun game to play."

Clemens added, "I told myself to stay patient and play tight. I had some swings on Day 2, but then I made the final table, and it was the same thing on Sunday. 'Holy crap! First final table.' So I just took it one step at a time. On the outside, I tried to stay calm, but the whole time I was super excited and giddy on the inside."

"I've played other tournaments and I've done ok, but I learned a lot from this final table in terms of how other people play these spots, their bet sizes, their timing tells, and also playing short handed was a great experience."

Easy game

Clemens defeated Jon Warta heads-up to take a bulk of the $787,800 prize pool, but points to a hand that he played early on at the final table (some would call the hand of the tournament) against the chip leader coming into the day, Abhishek Paliwal. 

Paliwal shoved the river with a flush and ran into Clemens' full house, making Clemens the overwhelming chip leader, and taking Paliwal from the top of the counts to a ninth-place finish.

Clemens would play another big hand against high stakes regular, and 2024 GPI Award nominee for Breakout Player, Noel Rodriguez, ultimately sending Rodriguez to the rail in fourth-place for $50,198. 

Jonathan Warda couldn't stop Clemens in heads-up play.

The ultimate ladder-er, Norman Yeung bowed out in third place for $71,351. Yeung proved hard to eliminate as he doubled multiple times throughout the final table to continue sticking around, but would find the exit after becoming short and running his ace-seven into Warta's kings.

Heads-up play between Clemens and Warta wouldn't last long, as Warta became short early on after Clemens rivered another boat against Warta's two pair.

The last hand saw Warta move all in from the button with pocket threes and Clemens call in the big blind with king-seven offsuit. Clemens flopped a king and faded Warta's backdoor outs to become the WSOPC Graton Main Event champion.

WSOPC Graton Main Event final table results

^{Images courtesy of Graton Resort & Casino.}