Hand #96: Ky Nguyen Wins WPT Gardens Poker Championship! ($375,380); Ryan Salunga Finishes as Runner-Up ($230,000)

Photo:  WPT Gardens Champion Ky Nguyen

Ky Nguyen moves all in from the small blind, and Ryan Salunga thinks for a while before he calls all in from the big blind for 2,000,000 with .

Nguyen turns over , and Salunga needs to improve to stay alive.

The board comes , and Nguyen wins the pot — and the WPT title — with trip eights.

Ryan Salunga finishes as the runner-up, earning $230,000.

Ky Nguyen wins WPT Gardens Poker Championship, earning $375,380, a Championship Belt from Gardens Casino, and a WPT trophy designed by renowned American artist Daniel Arsham. Nguyen’s prize amount includes his $10,400 seat into the season-ending WPT World Championship at Wynn Las Vegas, and Nguyen’s name will be engraved on the Mike Sexton WPT Champions Cup alongside the other WPT champions from all 21 seasons of the World Poker Tour.

Congratulations to Ky Nguyen!

1st:  Ky Nguyen  –  $375,380*
2nd:  Ryan Salunga  –  $230,000
3rd:  Chris Lee  –  $169,000
4th:  Brad Owen  –  $125,000
5th:  Joey Deluca  –  $94,000
6th:  Josh Lachman  –  $71,200

* First-prize amount includes the winner’s $10,400 seat into the season-ending WPT World Championship at Wynn Las Vegas.

Photo:  Gardens Casino Tournament Manager Cavin Quintanilla (left) and Ky Nguyen