Christina Gollins is a two-time World Series of Poker champion after winning the $600 Housewarming at Commerce Casino, good for $105,444. The opening event brought in 1,483 entries who built a prize pool of $763,745.
Known as “Baby Shark” on the tournament trail, Gollins is now over the $700,000 mark in lifetime tournament cashes. This was her largest cash by $22,000. Her top-10 cashes all came since 2021, and includes her first Circuit ring from a $400 event at Bell Gardens (also in L.A. and worth $25,000), and a third-place finish in the $1,000 WSOP Ladies Championship, which is the closest she came to winning a bracelet ($72,604).
She was the only player of the final nine who already owned WSOP hardware.
Big fold kept her alive
With Gollins, John Solis and Weiqiang Zhao left, Gollins was forced to make a decision with a powerful starting hand that changed the outcome of the event.
Gollins opened to $700K with AdKh. Solis didn’t think too long before three-betting to 1.7 million with two black kings. Both players were immediately faced with an all-in for 17 million by Weiqiang, who held QsQd.
It didn’t take Gollins long at all to declare “This is gonna be the best fold of my (f-in) life” while she mucked. And then she watched as Solis and his kings were bounced by a queen on the flop.
Watch the whole match on YouTube, but that hand starts at 7:03:25.
| Place | Player | Prize |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Christina Gollins | $105,444 |
| 2 | Weiqiang Zhao | $70,272 |
| 3 | John Solis | $49,839 |
| 4 | Michael Ung | $35,910 |
| 5 | Tong Sun | $26,293 |
| 6 | Andy Phan | $19,567 |
| 7 | Stephen Lardner | $14,807 |
| 8 | Myagmarsuren Rock | $11,395 |
| 9 | James Thomas | $8,921 |
Last WSOP Circuit series before Vegas
The 18-event series at The Commerce officially closes the 2023/24 WSOP Circuit Series. It finishes just after WSOP’s stop at Caesars Southern Indiana and its 17 events ends. That series runs until May 20, while the series in L.A. finishes its ring events May 21.
That will be the last chance for players to get into the $1 Million Tournament of Champions freeroll, a three-day event that starts May 22 at Commerce. It’s open to all of last year’s bracelet and ring winners across all the WSOP’s formats, including online.
The decision to close out the WSOP Circuit season with the TOC at The Commerce forces players to add a few travel days to their schedules that will already be packed with WSOP events in Las Vegas. The previous two TOCs took place in Las Vegas. Last year, 430 players entered the TOC, which was one of the first events of the year.
The venue change for the TOC came with the April announcement that the WSOP and Commerce entered a “partnership.”
“Commerce’s reputation as the biggest and best year-round poker room aligns perfectly with our desire to expand the brand while also promoting the growth of the summer festival,” said Ty Stewart, Senior Vice President & Executive Director of the WSOP. “We look forward to delivering exciting events and experiences that grow interest in our resilient and resurgent game.”
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