Author and poker player Maria Konnikova has checked a major poker achievement off the list after she scored a victory in her first-ever World Series of Poker Circuit event on Thursday for a WSOPC gold ring and $57,532.
Konnikova, a regular on the poker scene and author of The Biggest Bluff, outlasted a field of 504 entries to win the $525 WSOPC Online Main Event and punch her ticket to the WSOP Tournament of Champions this summer. The top prize comes from a pool of $252,000, which surpassed the guaranteed $200,000.
The tournament was held on WSOP.com and open to players in New Jersey and Nevada.
WSOP Online Circuit Main Event Top Ten Results
| Place | Player | Prize |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Maria “konnster” Konnikova | $57,532 |
| 2 | Jason “TruthChronic” Pew | $35,456 |
| 3 | Desmond “Deezz_Nutzz” Haynes | $23,217 |
| 4 | Calvin “projector52” Anderson | $16,834 |
| 5 | Adam ”PHsGoldShoes” Hendrix | $11,945 |
| 6 | David “pmtbmusic” Woodley | $8,618 |
| 7 | Joseph “ShoeGoat” Walters | $6,350 |
| 8 | Michael “Thank_A_Vet” Raynor | $4,763 |
| 9 | Mark “Liquidsword” Twilligear | $3,654 |
| 10 | Daniel “Posterized” Marcus | $2,848 |
A Stacked Final Table
The final featured a well-decorated lineup, including Desmond Haynes, who has an online bracelet from the WSOP series in October of 2022 and an online WSOPC ring from later that year. Haynes fell in third place for $23,217 — good for his second-highest score on WSOP. Calvin Anderson finished in fourth for $16,834, a far cry from his recent win at the WPT Prime Championship for $1,385,280, but he fell short of adding his first WSOPC ring to a crowded trophy shelf.
Jason Pew finished in second for $35,456, just shy of his first WSOPC title. Also in the running was Adam Hendrix, who has over $1.8 million in WSOP earnings without a bracelet or a ring. Nearly $200,000 of that comes in Circuit events, where he has cashed 32 times.
The win is good for Konnikova’s second-highest career score, and it comes just over a year after her appearance at the 2023 PokerStars Caribbean Adventure, where she took seventh in the BSOP Bahamas Main Event for $13,650 before a run to 30th in the PCA Main Event for $38,900.
Maria Konnikova’s Top 5 Live Cashes
| Date | Event | Place | Prize |
|---|---|---|---|
| January 2018 | PCA National | 1 | $84,600 |
| March 2018 | APPT Macau | 2 | $57,519 |
| January 2023 | PCA Main Event | 30 | $38,900 |
| September 2018 | WPT Borgata Open | 20 | $24,695 |
| January 2018 | PCA Main Event | 42 | $22,020 |
Read the PokerNews review of The Biggest Bluff
Konnikova recently joined the PokerStars team of ambassadors and she can be seen in an upcoming episode of Poker Night in America with our very own Chad Holloway.
Live Reporting Executive
Las Vegas-based PokerNews Live Reporting Executive, originally from Chicago, IL