May 15-18
Hendon Mob entries for winner Anthony Marquez dating back to his first: a fifth-place finish in a $330 daily tournament at Wynn in 2006.
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1ST
Anthony Marquez
$187,977
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2ND
Eric Selami
$125,313
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3RD
Michael Wasserman
$85,646
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4TH
Ethan Green
$59,751
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5TH
Fausto Valdez
$42,568
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6TH
Quoc Le
$30,983
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7TH
Martin Carnero
$23,050
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8TH
Satheesh Francis
$17,536
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9TH
Du Charley
$13,651
Redemption.
That’s the word that describes today for Anthony Marquez. As a great rapper once said, “Started from the bottom, now we’re here.” And that might perfectly encapsulate the day Marquez had here in the WSOP Circuit Commerce Main Event.
Issues in the past
Just two years ago, Marquez was in this exact position: final table, World Series of Poker Circuit Main Event, Commerce Casino. But something was different this time around: Marquez had the experience he needed to navigate the pressure, despite starting the day as the short stack.
“I tried to turn that into a lesson today,” Marquez said about his run two years ago. “I took that experience that I gained from that prior tournament, and I came in here very relaxed, very composed. I believed in my ability, and I tried to execute my game plan as best as I could.”
The short stack may have given Marquez even more freedom to execute today. No regrets. No expectations. Just chips and a chair.
“I wanted to come in here and play pretty aggressively,” Marquez said.
But that wasn’t all. Marquez had a chip on his shoulder as well, not just about his previous second-place finish, and not just about being the short stack.
“The big stacks were making comments yesterday that kind of got me extra motivated,” Marquez explained. “Because they were saying, ‘Oh, it’s a battle between us three.’ And I was like, ‘You know, hold on, let me give you guys a little run for your money.’”
Marquez went on to explain that hearing some of the big stacks preemptively talk about winning trophies, banners, and rings gave him a little extra juice today.
“So last night I studied a little bit, got a couple of tells on a few of these players, and executed my game plan.”
And boy, did he execute.
Another chance
Marquez quickly plowed through the field today, building his stack from the shortest to the largest before a single player was even eliminated. By the second break of the day, Marquez was in full control.
“The big stacks are very aggressive players, and I just wanted to allow them to make mistakes. I knew I’d find a good spot,” Marquez said. “And I did. I got my first double-up and just kind of kept applying pressure.”
Once Marquez had the chip lead, he was in full control. During his run, he eliminated five of his final seven opponents, including two of the start-of-day chip leaders he had been gunning for.
“I’ve put a lot of work into this craft, and I feel like I’m getting better,” Marquez said of the win.
So what’s next for a man who already has a WSOP bracelet and now a WSOP Circuit ring as well?
“My friend always calls me the one-hit wonder,” Marquez said. “I have always wanted to get a second bracelet to kind of solidify that it wasn’t just a fluke. So gotta be the two-hit wonder now, I guess.”
So up next for Marquez is a trip to the WSOP in Las Vegas, thanks in part to this win today.
“I’m gonna play a full schedule now thanks to this one,” Marquez said with a smile. “We’ll see what we can do.”
