Cesar Garcia Wins 2016 World Series of Poker $2,000 No-Limit Hold’em

Cesar Garcia has won event no. 23 at the 2016 World Series of Poker, a $2,000 no-limit hold’em event. The 27-year-old from Spain topped a field of 1,419 entries to win his first WSOP gold bracelet and the first-place prize of $447,739.

“For me, this is a dream," Garcia told WSOP.com after the win. "It’s the most important thing you can do in the poker world. I am really proud. I love the series; the place, the people. I am really happy to win. It is like a dream come true for me.”

Garcia came into the final table as the chip leader and outlasted some tough competition in Anthony Spinella (9th – $34,188), Thiago Nishijima (8th – $44,478), Craig Varnell (7th – $58,569) and Craig McCorkell (6th – $78,053).

The event was only scheduled to last three days, but play was halted late on Friday evening with only two players remaining, setting up a heads-up showdown on day four. Viliyan Petleshkov held the lead with 8,715,000 in chips to Garcia’s 5,480,000.

The two returned at 1:00 PM local time on Saturday and played only 19 hands before it was all over. Garcia was able to find a double up to take the lead and ran with it from there.

On the final hand Garcia limped from the button with blinds of 100,000 – 200,000 with an ante of 30,000. Petleshkov made it 600,000 to go. Garcia then moved all in and after some thought Petleshkov made the call for 5,140,000 with the KJ. Garcia was ahead with the A6.

The board ran out 44378 and Garcia’s ace was enough to win the pot and the title, sending Petleshkov to the rail as the runner-up with $276,660.

Here is a look at the payouts and POY points awarded at this final table:

For more coverage from the summer series, visit the 2016 WSOP landing page complete with a full schedule, news, player interviews and event recaps.