Tiffany Michelle Gets Gold at WSOP Lake Tahoe; Minghini Calls Shot in Main Event
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The latest World Series of Poker Circuit (WSOPC) stop at Harveys Lake Tahoe is wrapping up this week and awarded several Circuit rings across more than a dozen events.
Among the latest Circuit ring winners are California's Tiffany Michelle, a poker presenter and longtime grinder who took down WSOPC Event #14 $400 No-Limit Hold'em for $11,602 and her first Circuit ring, and Jarod Minghini, who won the $1,700 buy-in Main Event for $153,368 and his fourth ring.
Tiffany's Gold Ring
Michelle is no newcomer to the poker industry and has long been a presenter for PokerNews, WSOP, 888poker and other outlets.
Michelle first made a name for herself when she finished 17th in the 2008 WSOP Main Event for $334,534, which makes up a significant chunk of her $406,263 in Hendon Mob-reported .
The poker commentator made the trip to WSOPC Lake Tahoe and ended up winning Event #14: No-Limit Hold'em, a $400 buy-in event that drew 130 runners and generated a prize pool of $42,900. Michelle found herself heads-up against Sacramento's Sean Drake, a WSOP bracelet winner who bowed out in second for $7,168.
After the victory, Michelle wrote on Twitter that she had traveled to the Lake Tahoe stop to "create some content" and "get in the action." Making the trip to western Nevada surely paid off for the longtime poker presenter.
Won my first @WSOP Circuit ring for an $11,000 score ##
— Tiffany Michelle (@TiffnyMichelle)
WSOPC Event #14 $400 No-Limit Hold'em Final Table Results
| PLACE | PLAYER | HOMETOWN | PRIZE (IN USD) | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Tiffany Michelle | Newhall, CA | $11,602 | |
| 2 | Sean Drake | Sacramento, CA | $7,168 | |
| 3 | Julian Ruvalcaba | N/A | $4,923 | |
| 4 | Gary Pisarek | Cebu | $3,476 | |
| 5 | Rex Clinkscales | Las Vegas, NV | $2,526 | |
| 6 | Patrick Testoni | Santa Cruz, CA | $1,890 | |
| 7 | Erik Homan | N/A | $1,457 | |
| 8 | Jeffrey Day | Berkeley, CA | $1,160 | |
| 9 | Jeff Troeger | California | $953 |
Winning for Bobby
The WSOPC Lake Tahoe stop culminated with the $1,700 buy-in Main Event, which attracted 513 runners to generate a prize pool of $777,195. The top prize of $153,368 went to South Lake Tahoe native Jarod Minghini, who defeated San Diego's Jonathan Smith in a short heads-up battle that lasted just one hand.
According to , Smith moved all in with ace-eight in the first hand of heads-up play and Minghini called with king-nine before making two pair and eliminating the fellow Californian.
It was an emotional victory for Minghini, who told WSOP his brother, Bobby, had passed away just weeks before. Minghini called his shot among friends early in the tournament and said he would win his fourth Circuit ring for Bobby, which is exactly what he ended up doing.
“As dumb as it sounds, I expected to win this tournament," he told WSOP. "Bobby was with me the whole way. From the end of dinner break on Day 1 I just started spinning it up from there. All of Day 2 I was just chip leading all day long, winning every hand.”
Minghini's previous rings were earned in 2019 WSOPC Bally's $400 event that brought him $11,371, a 2019 WSOPC Thunder Valley $1,125 event for $37,782 and a 2018 WSOPC Thunder Valley $365 Pot-Limit Omaha event for $9,180.
WSOPC Event #11: $1,700 Main Event Final Table Results
| PLACE | PLAYER | HOMETOWN | PRIZE (IN USD) | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Jarod Minghini | South Lake Tahoe, CA | $153,368 | |
| 2 | Jonathon Smith | San Diego, CA | $94,782 | |
| 3 | Jesse Tinsley | N/A | $68,615 | |
| 4 | Taylor Hart | Newberg, OR | $50,396 | |
| 5 | Casey McCarrel | Walnut Creek, CA | $37,564 | |
| 6 | Scott Stewart | Lakewood, CA | $28,419 | |
| 7 | Rayo Kniep | Germany | $21,829 | |
| 8 | John Soares | San Francisco, CA | $17,027 | |
| 9 | Brandon Zuidema | Corona, CA | $13,490 |
Other Winners
Other winners at the WSOPC Lake Tahoe stop include Taylor Pollard, who won Event #1: $400 No-Limit Hold'em Double Stack for $15,838 and San Francisco's Albert Gorelik, who took down Event #7: $400 No-Limit Hold'em 6-Handed for $18,205.
The WSOPC Lake Tahoe stop wrapped with Event #16: $400 No-Limit Hold'em Double Stack, which saw Texas' Wadih Kaawar getting through a field of 166 runners to win $13,894.
A full list of winners at the WSOPC Lake Tahoe stop is available in the table below.
WSOPC Lake Tahoe Ring Winners
| TOURNAMENT | ENTRIES | PRIZE POOL | WINNER | HOMETOWN | PRIZE | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| WSOPC Event #1: $400 No-Limit Hold'em Double Stack | 199 | $65,670 | Taylor Pollard | Concord, NV | $15,838 | |
| WSOPC Event #2: $250 LADIES EVENT | 59 | $11,800 | Rachel Cho | N/A | $4,019 | |
| WSOPC Event #3: $400 No-Limit Hold'em 8-Handed | 178 | $58,740 | Rex Clinkscales | Las Vegas, NV | $14,898 | |
| WSOPC Event #4: $400 No-Limit Hold'em | 424 | $139,920 | Thomas Masinter | N/A | $27,513 | |
| WSOPC Event #5: $250 SENIORS EVENT | 312 | $62,400 | Wade Smith | Denim Springs, LA | $13,671 | |
| WSOPC Event #6: $600 No-Limit Hold'em Mystery Bounty | 172 | $88,580 | Oscar Alvarez | California | $18,304 | |
| WSOPC Event #7: $400 No-Limit Hold'em 6-Handed | 235 | $77,550 | Albert Gorelik | San Francisco, CA | $18,205 | |
| WSOPC Event #8: $400 Pot-Limit Omaha | 129 | $42,570 | Christopher Probst | Novato, CA | $11,510 | |
| WSOPC Event #9: $400 No-Limit Hold'em Monster Stack | 394 | $130,020 | Allan Sheffer | Stateline, NV | $26,680 | |
| WSOPC Event #10: $400 No-Limit Hold'em | 214 | $70,620 | Terence Reardon | Quincy, MA | $16,585 | |
| WSOPC Event #11: $1,700 Main Event | 513 | $777,195 | Jarod Minghini | South Lake Tahoe, CA | $153,368 | |
| WSOPC Event #12: $400 No-Limit Hold'em | 171 | $56,430 | Westley Cannon | Edina, MN | $14,177 | |
| WSOPC Event #13: $400 No-Limit Hold'em | 169 | $55,770 | Christopher Funari | Media, PA | $14,007 | |
| WSOPC Event #14 $400 No-Limit Hold'em | 130 | $42,900 | Tiffany Michelle | Newhall, CA | $11,602 | |
| WSOPC Event #15: $250 SENIORS EVENT | 208 | $41,600 | David Page | Las Vegas, NV | $9,858 | |
| WSOPC Event #16: $400 No-Limit Hold'em Double Stack | 166 | $54,780 | Wadih Kaawar | Arlington, TX | $13,894 |
Photos courtesy of WSOP
