Chess grandmaster and popular Twitch streamer Qiyu "Nemo" Zhou has emerged as the champion of the Enclave Celebrity Poker Invitational held at the PokerGO Studio in Las Vegas. Nemo, one of several prominent chess players to cross over to poker in recent years, topped a 70-player field to win the event's $20,000 winner's payday.
The win is the first recorded tourney triumph of Nemo's poker career, according to the Hendon Mob. The event, sponsored by Enclave, a provider of temporary office space for freelancers in major cities across the country, brought together numerous celebrities who have also spent some time in the poker world.
Besides Nemo, who is also known by her "@akanemsko" online handle, event participants included Josh Richards, Bryce Hall, Alexandra Botez (another prominent chess professional), "Boston Rob" Mariano, Mike Matusow, Gordie Gronkowski, Jose Canseco, JC Caylen, and others.
Nemo credited good fortune as being the key to her first poker-tourney win. In the end, she finished off Bill Pulte to claim the title. Pulte collected $10,000 as the event's runner-up.
"I've always wanted to play so much more poker," Nemo told PokerGO after her win. "I took a break this year because there are three holes in my door because I punched it after really bad poker sessions. I'm really glad to be back in poker and I'm super grateful for this opportunity."
The top 12 players cashed in the celebrity poker gathering. The complete list of payouts:
- Qiyu Zhou - $20,000
- William Pulte - $10,000
- Chris Grove - $5,500
- Brandon Marshall - $3,500
- Nathan Webb - $2,500
- Joey Hamilton - $2,000
- Manny Kess - $1,500
- Chase DeMoor - $1,000
- Steven Markowitz - $1,000
- Dan Fleyshman - $1,000
- Alexander Seibt - $1,000
- Hayes Pullard - $1,000
Featured image courtesy PokerGO Tour
