Travis Egbert entered Day 3 of the WSOP Circuit Thunder Valley Main Event holding the chip lead. Xiong (Peter) Thao came into the day 15th of 15 with just eight big blinds.
By the time heads-up play was reached just over five hours into the day, somehow these were the two final players to battle for the title.
From there, they went for five more hours.
Egbert and Thao engaged in one of the longest heads-up matches in WSOP Circuit history before Egbert finally vanquished Thao to claim his third WSOP Circuit ring in 2024 — all of them coming here at Thunder Valley.
'Frustrating' heads-up match
Egbert now adds a WSOP Circuit Main Event title to his resume after winning a $400 buy-in event and the $2,200 High Roller in January's series here in Northern California.
“It’s definitely more special,” said the champ. “It’s the main event. It’s what everybody wants to win when they come out for a trip like this. There’s nothing that tops it.”
Their incredible battle initially looked like it would a quick one with Egbert in a dominant position as he had been the entire final table, entering heads-up play with a nearly 4 to 1 lead.
But Thao repeatedly kept himself in contention, taking the chip lead for the first time midway through the match before he and Egbert went on dinner break.
An exhausted Egbert didn’t hide that early trouble against Thao took its toll on him.
“It was frustrating, and it was mentally consuming because he was putting on a really good fight. Obviously, we played for a really long time, he just put on a good fight. It was tough. I had to get lucky a few times.”
Thao had high praise for his conqueror as he spoke after the event as well.
“He played really well, I played really well, and eventually it came down to a flip. There were so many times when I thought I was gonna get him, but instead he got me.”
Egbert fends off tough final table
Egbert beat a field of 812 entries for his largest career tournament score of $214,565 and he has earned a repeat appearance in the WSOP Tournament of Champions next year. The $142,540 payday for Thao is also a career-best.
Gregory Pincombe finished in third for just over $100K and Brock Wilson finished in fourth. Wilson, a PokerGO Studio regular with over $9 million in earnings on Hendon Mob, fell short of a WSOP Circuit ring after Thao rivered a set of queens to crack his pocket aces.
Thomas Morris finished in fifth and actor Kirk Acevedo finished in sixth. Acevedo is probably best known for roles on Oz and Band of Brothers, but he has over $224K in Hendon Mob earnings after he added $38K for this deep run.
Rounding out the final table finishes were Jared Smith in seventh, Colton Blomberg in eighth, and Michael Rossitto in ninth.
![Kirk Acevedo shakes Gregory Pincombe's hand after a sixth-place finish.]()
Kirk Acevedo shakes Gregory Pincombe's hand after a sixth-place finish.
What's next on the WSOP Circuit?
The Circuit now heads across the country to Pompano Beach in Florida for a series from Oct. 10-21. Meanwhile, the WSOP Circuit stop in Southern Indiana will overlap with a series from Oct. 17-28.
From there the roadshow heads back west to Lake Tahoe for the last stop of the month Oct. 24-Nov 4.
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WSOPC Thunder Valley (Fall) Final Table Results
| Place | Player | Prize |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Travis Egbert | $214,565 |
| 2 | Xiong (Peter) Thao | $142,540 |
| 3 | Gregory Pincombe | $100,065 |
| 4 | Brock Wilson | $71,070 |
| 5 | Thomas Morris | $51,905 |
| 6 | Kirk Acevedo | $38,380 |
| 7 | Jared Smith | $28,640 |
| 8 | Colton Blomberg | $21,800 |
| 9 | Michael Rossitto | $16,875 |
