The Cup is His: Nitis Udornpim Crawls From Short Stack to WPT Maryland Champion

By Sean Chaffin

This cockroach crawled to the top – and fought back. After entering the day as one of the short stacks in the final table of WPT Maryland at Live! Casino, Nitis Udornpim will be etched as the newest name on the WPT Champions Cup. He also walks away with a hefty payday of $319,415.

Despite some big names at the table, including WPT Champions Club members Anthony Zinno and Brian Altman, Udornpim avoided getting squashed – frequently referring to a cockroach in his efforts to stay alive. The cockroach came back to life after winning a massive all in versus Altman – with his against Altman’s .

The flop and turn brought no help and Udornpim looked to be out the door. But a on the river kept him alive and moved him to second with three players left. Just two hands later, the two tangled again with big hands – all in with Altman’s against Udornpim’s . The cooler eliminated Altman and Udornpim was heads-up with Stephen Deutsch.

The cockroach then morphed into scorpion – albeit with plenty of laughs and smiles. He quickly captured the lead and was able to eventually finish off his head-up opponent Stephen Deutsch.

“It feels great to be a WPT champion,” he said after the victory. “I couldn’t have run any better today, so I’m pretty excited with the result. It feels good to win a tournament in my home state. I moved here about a year ago and this has been my home casino ever since.”

Born in Bangkok, Thailand, the 25-year-old spent most of his childhood in Dublin, Ohio, but also spent time in Colorado and attended college at Lehigh University in Pennsylvania. He now calls the Baltimore area home and actually flew in from a visit to Thailand to play Day 1a, planning his trip abroad around the WPT stop in the Terrapin State.

Udornpim’s run through the later stages of the tournament proved unstoppable. Like that cockroach he frequently referenced, this card shark stayed alive even when it seemed he might be dead.

“The final table was super interesting,” says Udornpim, who previously worked in banking and now plays poker full time. “I was seventh or eighth in chips the whole final table of nine. I actually knocked out the first three people of this final table and still came into the day with just 25 big blinds.”

Overall, it was a fast final table with plenty of laughs, smiles, and chatter among the final six players. Not only does Udornpim take home the cash, he also earns a $15,000 entry in the season-ending WPT Tournament of Champions. He also earns 1,000 points in the Hublot Player of the Year race.

The win moves Deutsch’s lifetime career winnings to more than $700,000.

This becomes the biggest cash of his career, and Udornpim previously had just $345,000 in live tournament winnings. The new champion had one of the shortest tournament records at the final table, but has considerable experience playing online. His best live cash came in June at an $1,100 MSPT event at the Venetian where he finished seventh for $80,491. In 2018 he won a WSOP Circuit ring in a $365 Pot Limit Omaha event for $10,172 at the Horseshoe in Baltimore.

Tonight he added an even bigger highlight to his poker record – and was all smiles after conquering this WPT field. 

For finishing runner-up, Stephen Deutsch takes home $202,905. He entered the day as the chip leader and came close to joining the Champions Club. The two players are friends and recently spent some time at the brewery Deutsch owns. The new champion was complimentary of his heads-up opponent.

“This final table was great,” he says. “It was a bunch of locals and WPT regulars. We were fooling around and having a good time. I think it’s a lot easier with not having cameras around. It was an awesome time and I was really glad to play Steve heads-up.

“We were friends before this. Steve’s a great player and had all the chips at the final table. I just think I ran a little better than him at the heads-up session.”

With his ticket cashed for the WPT Tournament of Champions, Udornpim wasn’t quite certain what events might be next for him. He has a few tournaments in mind, but not sure if he’ll travel for many other WPT events right away.

“I had some tournaments in mind,” he says. “We’ll see. I’m just going to take it day by day and enjoy the moment.”

It should be a moment he’ll remember the rest of his life.

Sean Chaffin is a freelance writer in Crandall, Texas, and his work appears in numerous websites and publications. Follow him on Twitter @PokerTraditions.

Photography by Joe Giron / PokerPhotoArchive

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