Kevin Iacofano Defeats Nikhil Gera Heads-Up to Win WSOP Circuit Rio Las Vegas Main Event For $259,463

Kevin Iacofano (cover image) finally got his long-awaited tournament win afteroutlasting a field of 887-entries at the 2018 World Series of Poker Circuit Rio Las Vegas $1,675 No-Limit Hold’em Main Event for $259,463, and with that, clinched his first WSOP Circuit gold ring.

Iacofano, who has been playing poker for more than a decade, felt ecstatic at his first live tournament victory and said, “I feel absolutely amazing. This has been ten, twelve years of hard work.”

He already has over $1 million in live tournament earnings on his poker resume, but he lacked a signature victory – or any victory, in fact. Well, the wait is over as he now holds a major title, the coveted WSOPC ring and even won an impressive quarter of a million dollars in the process.

Iacofano outlasted a tough final table and a marathon heads-up battle against 2016 WSOP Circuit Bicycle Casino Main Event champion Nikhil Gera, who was on the hunt for his second Circuit Main Event victory.

The event started on February 24 and gathered 887 runners over two starting flights, smashing the advertised $1 million guarantee after accumulating a massive $1,330,500 prize pool.

There were 155 players who advanced to Day 2, and then 22 who made it through to Day 3.

Iacofano came into the final day seventh in chips with 22 players remaining. A number of accomplished players fell as the field narrowed down to the final table including Joe Kuether (15th place for $16,166), WSOP bracelet winner Arkadiy Tsinis (16th place for $13,318), and Rex Clinkscales (20th place for $9,353).

Final Table Recap

Matt Affleck was the first player to be eliminated from the final table, after he lost with against Nikhil Gera’s to hit the rail in ninth place.

The next elimination came at the hands of Yashveen Mudireddy who opened with pocket nines and was called by Mark Kaganovsky with eight-seven. Kaganovsky jammed on the eight-high flop and was eliminated in eighth place after aces appeared on both the turn and the river.

Jim Agate and Brett Bader were the next players who exited in seventh and sixth place respectively.

Mudireddy was eliminated in fifth place after he shoved ace-king only to run into the pocket aces of Boris Kasabov.

The eventual winner Iacofano eliminated Jesse Cohen in fourth place after the former’spocket nines hit a set on the turn.

Boris Kasabo’s third place finish set the heads-up play between Gera and Iacofano.

On the final hand of heads-up, Gera limped and Iacofano checked his option. The flop brought , Gera bet 300,000 and Iacofano check-raised to 900,000. Gera called and the dealer burned and turned the . Iacofano bet 1,600,000 and Gera called to see the river complete the board. Iacofano moved all-in, Gera made the call, only to muck when Iacofano showed the for flopped two pairs. With that, Gera took the runner-up spot while Iacofano picked up his first-ever live MTT title.

Final Table Results (USD)

1. Kevin Iacofano – $259,463

2. Nikhil Gera – $160,325

3. Boris Kasabo – $118,095

4. Jesse Cohen – $88,132

5. Yashveen Mudireddy – $66,631

6. Brett Bader – $51,025

7. Jim Agate – $39,569

8. Mark Kaganovsky – $31,067

9. Matt Affleck – $24,694