Joon Park wins Inaugural Texas State Main Event for $271,429; prize pool goes over $2 million
The Lone Star Poker Series went big with the Inaugural Texas State Main Event, and the result played out as the biggest prize pool poker tournament in Texas history.
Houston’s Champions Social poker club sat at the epicenter of the poker universe over the past week, as record-setting crowds descended on the poker room for perhaps the most hyped poker event ever held in Texas.
One of Texas’ own came away with the win. Austin resident Joon Park emerged victorious in the Inaugural Texas State Main Event, clinching the win in the early hours of Tuesday morning for a $271,429 payday.
The $1,300 Main Event guaranteed $1 million, the biggest guarantee in the history of Texas poker tournaments. The $1 million mark was shattered, however, as 1,818 entries elevated the final prize pool to $2,090,700.
Park came away with the win over a field that included a slew of poker's biggest names. The top four finishers took home six-figure payouts, as the Lone Star Poker Series Champions Social festival wrapped up as a massive success.
$1,300 Inaugural Texas State Main Event final table results
| Place | Player Name | Prize |
| 1 | Joon Park | $271,429* |
| 2 | Gabriel Andrade | $195,955* |
| 3 | Nick Shkolnik | $257,710* |
| 4 | Jared Hemingway | $104,375 |
| 5 | Michael Wang | $79,875 |
| 6 | Robert Wright | $61,375 |
| 7 | Christopher Doan | $45,375 |
| 8 | Kevin Kaylor | $34,375 |
| 9 | Shawn Rice | $26,000 |
Park tops a star-studded field in the Inaugural Texas State Main Event
The Lone Star State stands as the origin of Texas Hold’em, the game that vaulted poker into the mainstream over the past two decades. The series finale in the Lone Star Poker Series Champions Social proved worthy of being called the Texas State Main Event.
A roster of poker’s biggest names attended, and PokerGO was on hand throughout to provide streaming coverage of the unprecedented Texas tournament.
Notable names finishing in the money included four-time WPT champion Darren Elias (30th - $10,500), 2004 WSOP Main Event champions Greg Raymer (109th - $3,150), 2003 WSOP Main Event champ and Amercias Cardroom Team Pro Chris Moneymaker (148th - $2,825), Lexy Gavin (197th - $2,600), and Bryan Piccioli (217th - $2,600).
Other big names in attendance included Joey Ingram, Matt Berkey, Bill Perkins, and several others. Coming off record-breaking attendance numbers in the WPT Seminole Hard Rock Poker Showdown in Hollywood, FL earlier this month, the Lone Star Poker Series followed suit with another massive event.
The Houston poker club scene has rapidly emerged as the newest hotspot for tournament poker in the U.S. Next up in Houston is the Prime Social Summer Series, set for May 20 through June 6 at Prime Social poker club.
The Prime Social Summer Series includes its own $1 million guaranteed Main Event. That $1,100 buy-in tournament runs June 2-5.
Featured image source: Twitter
