Short stack to Paradise: Commerce champ books Bahamas in wild win

Any experienced poker player knows poker tournaments are full of the highest of highs and the lowest of lows, and no player exemplified that today in the WSOPC Commerce Main Event more than David Gonzalez.

Late on Day 2 with 16 players left, Gonzalez was the shortest stack, down to just eight big blinds. About an hour later, he ended the night with the chip lead. To say that Gonzalez run on the final day was a roller coaster would be an understatement. 

Gonzalez went back and forth from short stack to chip lead multiple times on the final day, but by the end of the night he was the last player standing, defeating Luis Yepez in a brief but explosive heads-up match to take home the top prize of $213,524, a $5,000 Ticket to Paradise, and his first WSOP Circuit Ring.

Following his victory, Gonzalez described his emotions as “A bit of disbelief, and a ton of gratitude.”

“You’ve gotta have so much luck to win one of these things. It was a roller coaster ride for me the whole way. Even the last hand was a roller coaster ride. Kind of a fitting end to the tournament. So many better players than me that I was able to outlast. I’m so grateful.”

David Gonzalez went through it all on the way to $213K.

'I'm playing for the sport'

Gonzalez, who has been playing for close to 20 years, described how poker helped fill a competitive void for him after having a sports background when we was younger.

“I don’t play a lot, I work a full time job. I love the game. I was big into sports when I was younger. Now I’m old, the body doesn’t work the way it did. You've got to find a competitive outlet, and this works for me. I love the competition, it’s a special game. I love the element of luck.”

“If it were all skill, I’d lose all the time”, Gonzalez jokingly added. “So it’s good that there’s that element of luck. I don’t know of a better game. I absolutely love it.”

Gonzalez mentioned having another six-figure score after winning the Venom on ACR a few months ago and attributed some of his success today to the experience he gained from that event. Despite getting two six-figure scores in a short period of time, Gonzalez asserted that he has no intentions of playing professionally anytime soon.

“I won’t be shifting over to being a pro. God bless these guys to play for a living with all the ups and downs. I don’t know how these guys do it. Mentally, you have to be so strong. I feel like I have a competitive advantage because I’m not playing for the money. I’m playing for the sport. I can make a lot of moves these other guys can’t make, because they’ve gotta make a living out of it. That gives me an advantage. Maybe someday when I retire, I’ll take it more seriously.”

Luis Yepez started his path to heads-up with the champ at the same table on Day 1.

Heads-up from Day 1

Despite having nearly one third of the chips in play with six players remaining. Gonzalez was left short-stacked after making an ill-timed semi-bluff with a flush draw and running into an overpair from Yepez. That hand left Gonzalez with just 12 big blinds, and he was one card away from elimination a few hands later, after committing his stack preflop with queen-nine suited against Daniel Lee’s ace-seven. A nine on the river brought Gonzalez back to life, and after eliminating Elad Elmakias in fourth, followed by Zelin Wang in third, he once again held the chip lead over Yepez going into heads-up play.

Gonzalez and Yepez sat at the same table on Level 1 of the tournament days ago, and Gonzalez reflected on the unlikelihood of the two players ending the tournament heads-up against one another.

“So Luis and I sat down, we were seated one seat apart at the first table. I just had a weird feeling about him. He definitely had my number that day, and he had my number most of the day today. It was surreal to be sitting there at the final table out of 820 runners.”

The final hand saw Gonzalez put Yepez all-in with a jack-high flush draw on the flop, only for Yepez to snap-call with a ten-high flush. A fourth club on the turn left Yepez drawing to one out to a straight flush, and after holding on the river Gonzalez was declared the WSOPC Commerce Main Event champion. Gonzalez talked about his support-system at home after reflecting on the win.

“I’d love to thank my wife, she has spent countless nights alone, while I’m playing until one in the morning. She’s the best partner anybody can have, none of this would be possible without her. I don’t know hardly any wives that would allow their husband to work a full-time job and play as much as she loves me to play. So kudos to her.”

WSOPC Commerce Main Event final table results