Shawn Daniels Thriumps in the WPT Rolling Thunder Championship ($257,600)

The World Poker Tour (WPT) made its second stop of Season 23 in Northern California for the long-standing WPT Rolling Thunder at Thunder Valley Casino. Known for its unique structure featuring just a single Day 1 flight, this fan-favorite event once again delivered high-stakes action and drama.

When the curtains fell, it was Shawn Daniels who was crowned the new champion of the WPT Rolling Thunder Championship, after beating Harvey Castro in the heads-up battle for $257,600. The champion also won a seat in the 2025 WPT World Championship at Wynn, and his name will be engraved on the Mike Saxton WPT Champions Cup.

This win has pushed Daniels’s total live earnings over $3 million, but his most significant score remains $777,777, which he got after winning the WSOP $777 No Limit Hold’em—Lucky 7’s—7-Handed event in 2023.

2025 WPT Rolling Thunder Final Table Results

Place	Player	Country	Prize
1	Shawn Daniels	United States	$257,600
2	Harvey Castro	United States	$165,000
3	Eric Afriat	Canada	$122,000
4	Paul Richardson	United States	$91,000
5	David Ha	United States	$69,000
6	Benjamin Primus	United States	$53,000

Day 1 Recap

The WPT Rolling Thunder Championship started on March 16 with Day 1. 312 entries were willing to pay $3,500 to compete for the prize pool of $998,400. There were eight one-hour levels to play and to qualify for Day 2.

Faraz Jaka was the player who had the most success on Day 1 with the chip accumulation and was leading the pack with 340,000 chips, which translated into 227 big blinds ahead of Quyen Hoang, who was in second place with 303,000 or 202 big blinds.

After eight hours of play, only 154 players survived and entered Day 2, where late registration remained open until the first break.

Day 2 Action

Day 2 action began at Level 9 with blinds of 1,000/1,500 and a 1,500 big blind ante. Players had nine one-hour levels ahead to try and bag for Day 3. Before the first hand was dealt, 16 new entries were added, pushing the prize pool over a million dollar mark.

Late registration officially closed after the first break, locking in a total of 404 entries. That set the final prize pool at $1,292,800, with 51 players making the money. The min-cash was set at $6,400, while the eventual winner was set to earn $257,600, a $10,400 seat to the WPT World Championship in Las Vegas, and have their name engraved onto the prestigious Mike Sexton WPT Champions Cup.

Quyen Hoang, who came second in chips after Day 1 closed, was the new chip leader of the tournament with 524,500 or 210 big blinds.

Later in the day, we saw WSOP Main Event winner Jonathan Tamayo eliminated after he shoved from SB against Ostapchenko’s open from HJ and got called. Tamayo was slightly ahead, holding 6♠6♥ against A♦8♦. The board ran A♥J♥5♥10♣A♣, reducing his chances significantly on the flop and confirming the elimination on the river.

In level 15, Quyen Hoang lost her chip lead but scored an elimination on the defending WPT Rolling Thunder Champion Casey Sandretto after all the money went into preflop. Hoang had A♣K♠, and Sandretto was holding J♦J♣, the board ran 9♥6♣2♣4♠A♦, and the river was deadly for defending champion sending him to the rail.

One hour and forty minutes later, we were in the bubble with the elimination of Alexandros Kolonias, and the remaining 52 players were all one elimination away from securing the min-cash of $6,400. It took a bit more than 45 minutes for the bubble to burst, and it was in a brutal way where J.C. Tran eliminated an unknown player with all money going in preflop, and Tran had A♠A♦ against Q♠Q♦. The flop was A♣7♠7♣, and it was virtually game over for the unknown player who was eliminated in 52nd place.

We saw two more hours of play before Day 2 was close. Only 28 players remained in the battle for the first-place prize of 257,600. Eric Afriat ended up with the chip lead, holding the stack of 1,835,000 or 153 big blinds.

Day 3 Action

Day 3 began with 28 players remaining out of the 404 total entries, all aiming for a coveted spot under the bright lights of the final table. Each player was guaranteed at least $9,600, but the goal was to make it to the final six and lock up a minimum payout of $53,000. The action continued with one-hour levels and played on until just six players remained.

It took only one level for five players to get eliminated, and there were just 23 players remaining entering level 20. A few levels after, we saw Dan Sepiol eliminate Jeff Platt after Sepiol limped in SB and Platt checked. The flop came K♠7♥7♣, Sepiol bet, Platt raised, and Sepiol called. The turn was A♥, and both players checked. The river was 10♦, Sepiol bet, Platt raised, after few moments Sepiol was all-in and Platt called. Sepiol turned over K♥K♦, and Platt showed Q♠7♦ for a full-house over trips, a heartbreaking elimination of Platt in 17th place for $14,400.

With 16 players remaining, seating was redrawn for the final two tables, and 10 more players had to be eliminated before the final table was launched.

After more than 10 hours of play, Matt Salsberg was eliminated in seventh place for $40,500. Day 3 was closed, and we got our final table lineup. Harvey Castro chipped in with 6,600,000, or 66 big blinds, ahead of David Ha, who had 4,075,000, or 41 big blinds. The shortest stack belonged to Benjamin Primus, who had 1,325,000, or 13 big blinds.

The Final Table

Just four hands into the final table, we got the first elimination, and it was short-stacked Benjamin Primus, who shoved from SB with K♦8♥ and got called by Harvey Casto, who had A♣K♥. The board ran K♠Q♦6♥5♥4♦, and Castro had Primus outkicked and sent him to the rail in sixth place for $53,000.

David Ha was the next player to face elimination after he shoved from BTN with J♦10♣ and got called Paul Richardson in BB with A♣7♠. The board ran 9♥9♣2♣8♥4♥, which gave Ha some hope, especially on the turn, when he had an open-ended straight draw and overcards, but he didn’t hit and was out in fifth place for $69,000.

It was two hours of play before we got the next elimination, which was Paul Richardson, who shoved from the SB with 9♥9♦ against BTN open from Shawn Daniels, who called the shove with A♠3♠. The dealer put down 10♣6♠5♣A♦3♥, and Richardson couldn’t dodge three outs of Daniels and was out after Daniels hit the ace on the turn and dodged the nine on the river. Richardson was out in fourth place for $91,000.

Just 20 minutes later, Shawn Daniels shoved from SB with K♣3♦, and Eric Afriat called with 10♦10♣. The board was K♥J♦J♣K♦6♣, and another player who was favorite preflop got eliminated. Eric Afirat ends his run in third place for $122,000.

The Heads-Up

Going into the heads-up, Harvey Castro had the chip lead of a bit more than 2:1 against Shawn Daniels; Castro had 93, and Daniels had 41 big blinds.

After 22 hands were played, the tables turned, and Shawn Daniels took over the lead, having 58 against Castro’s 42 big blinds. The battle continued, and two hours and 20 minutes later, the stacks were tied. Casto had 33, and Daniels had 34 big blinds. The title was still open for anybody to take.

The last hand happened after 3 hours and 20 minutes of heads-up battle when Castro was all-in from BTN with Q♥2♥, and Daniels called in BB with 8♥6♣. The board came K♠7♣6♥6♦J♣, giving Daniels a pair of sixes on the flop, which held till the river, and Harvey Castro was eliminated in second place for $165,000.