October 2-5
The difference between Manjunath Mulinti's first-place and seventh-place finishes at WSOPC Thunder Valley Main Event final tables in 2026.
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1ST
Manjunath Mulinti
$172,325
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2ND
Jesse Stephens
$114,660
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3RD
Jonathan Wang
$79,490
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4TH
Dawson Dvorak
$56,090
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5TH
Henry Acain
$40,310
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6TH
Andrew Nguyen
$29,510
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7TH
Bin Duan
$22,010
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8TH
JC Tran
$16,730
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9TH
Matthew Kramer
$12,970
Manjunath Mulinti final tabled the WSOPC Thunder Valley Main Event at the start of 2026 as a newcomer to the game, but still finished an impressive seventh.
For a guy with less than a year of tournament results under his belt, it was a good start.
Months later, in the second series of the year in Northern California, Mulinti navigated his way back to the same final table – now equipped with more experience under his belt, a high-level coach on his side, and a chip lead to start the day.
And now he’s the champion, with a first WSOP Circuit ring and $172,325 added to his tournament resume.
Quite the evolution from a newbie just nine months ago.
“I was still a beginning player. I didn't know how to pick spots, and had never played a final table in my life," he told PokerOrg. "I was a beginner to poker, so I was not aware of deep run plays and ICM play.
"I did my studies and learned my lessons from the mistakes I made. I’ve been prepping for it.”
Mulinti’s triumph over the 599-entrant field was capped by a final table that he said was much tougher than the one in January, as this one included several local tournament crushers like runner-up Jesse Stephens, third-place finisher Jonathan Wang, and Northern California’s most decorated player, JC Tran.
“Today, I was, and everyone was, scared of JC Tran. Jonathan is a really steady player; I learned a lot about him, and Jesse has been crushing low stakes the whole summer. I did my homework. It really paid off.”
Credit to the coach
Mulinti has ramped up his studies since that eye-opening final table experience in January, and it’s led to more success, including a deep run in the $1,700 Circuit Championship at the 2026 World Series of Poker this summer where he finished 16th out of a field of 2,148 entries.
It was here that Mulinti added a new weapon to his growing arsenal: the instruction of a player who won one of the biggest Circuit Main Events of all time at Cherokee in February, 2025, Florian Pesce.
“During the summer, I met him during the WSOP when I had a deep run in the Circuit Championship," Mulinti explained. "I met him there, and then I thought, you know, I think it's time for me to plug my leaks. He was the one who was actually guiding me through (this Main Event) also. Every day, and before the final table as well, he was constantly helping me.”
Putting the lessons to work
Pesce’s guidance and coaching were apparent, as Mulinti’s performance at this final table was far more confident and aggressive than last time, especially when it mattered most.
When play reached three-handed, Mulinti, Stephens, and Wang were virtually even in chips, but Mulinti took the lead by winning multiple smaller pots and then wielded his stack to pressure his opponents.
He stretched his lead to hold two-thirds of the chips in play before eliminating Wang in third, and then finishing off Stephens in short order just five hands into heads-up play to claim the title.
Mulinti plans to use his newly-earned winnings and base of knowledge to continue building his tournament resume, starting with the upcoming Bay 101 Shooting Star series at his home casino in San Jose, and then plenty more WSOP events down the road.
With the way he’s developing as a player, a third consecutive trip to the WSOPC Thunder Valley final table come next January wouldn’t be a stretch of the imagination in any way.
