September 10-14
Amount that the WSOPC Virginia Main Event beat its $500K guarantee by.
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1ST
Valentin Lita
$181,853
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2ND
Marshall White
$121,214
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3RD
Donald Pritt
$83,103
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4TH
Luke Graham
$58,122
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5TH
Kyle Lin
$41,485
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6TH
Louis George
$30,233
-
7TH
Johnathan Cuevas
$22,502
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8TH
Jeffrey Trudeau
$17,117
-
9TH
Alexander Bergelson
$13,312
Valentin Lita has been playing poker for nearly two decades, but his biggest victory came close to home.
Lita captured his first World Series of Poker Circuit ring, winning the $1,700 No-Limit Hold'em Main Event at Caesars Virginia, defeating a 665-entry field to earn a career-best $181,853 from the $1,007,475 prize pool, which more than doubled its original $500,000 guarantee.
With the victory, Lita officially became the first WSOP Circuit Main Event champion ever crowned in Virginia at the new Danville stop.
Building to a Main Event title
Originally from Romania, Lita moved to the United States 23 years ago and now lives in Ashburn, Virginia, making the victory a hometown win of sorts. He owns a small construction company but has dedicated considerably more time to poker over the last few years, and the results have started to follow.
Lita didn't begin the final day with the chip lead, starting in the middle of the pack, while eventual runner-up Marshall White held a sizeable lead.
But the table changed quickly once play resumed seven-handed. The field was thinned to just four within the first half-hour of the day, and Lita was working his way up the counts.
The victory came during what has already been a strong stretch for Lita, who has made three other final tables over the previous two months.
"I was pretty confident," he said, while also crediting his wife throughout the run. "I got a lot of support from my wife, so that helps a lot."
That support extended to plenty of familiar faces from the Maryland and Washington, D.C. poker scene, many whom he’d shared tables with for years. As Lita got deeper in the tournament, messages began pouring in from friends, including many from the Romanian community. "I didn't know there were so many people that texted me to say, 'Take it and go all the way and win.'"
Outplaying adversity
There were frustrating moments as well, but Lita credited conversations with his closest supporters for helping him reset after one particularly disappointing spot.
"I was pissed off at one point, but then I was talking to my wife and my very good friend. They were like, 'You know what? Maybe it's supposed to be like this; anything can happen.'"
Instead of dwelling on it, he returned to the table and continued building his stack until he eventually put himself in position to close it out.
The $181,853 payday is the largest tournament score of Lita's career, and comes with his first Circuit ring and a $5,000 package to WSOP Paradise in the Bahamas in December. Even with the new milestone and his recent run of results, he isn't looking too far ahead.
"I just want to play day by day. I feel like I can play and I can make a good living... We'll see."
