Valentin Lita Wins Inaugural WSOP Circuit Virginia Main Event
The Ashburn grinder turned a 665-entry field into a career-best $181,853 and Virginia’s first Main Event title.
Valentin Lita won the inaugural WSOP Circuit Main Event at Caesars Virginia, beating a 665-entry field in the $1,700 No-Limit Hold’em championship. The victory gave him his first WSOP Circuit ring, a career-best $181,853, and a $5,000 WSOP Paradise package. The prize pool reached $1,007,475, more than double the event’s original $500,000 guarantee.
As covered when the series opened, Caesars Virginia hosted the first WSOP Circuit stop ever held in Virginia. The WSOP’s announcement said the Danville festival ran Sept. 3-14, featured 18 official ring events, and carried more than $1.5 million in guaranteed prize pools. The Main Event began Sept. 10 and was billed as the flagship tournament of the series.
According to Poker.org, Lita did not start the final day with the chip lead. Runner-up Marshall White held a sizeable advantage when play began, but the field was reduced from seven-handed to four within the first half-hour after cards got back in the air. Lita said he was pretty confident and credited support from his wife, adding, “I got a lot of support from my wife, so that helps a lot.”
The report says the win capped a strong stretch for Lita, who had reached three other final tables over the previous two months. He moved from Romania to the United States 23 years ago and now lives in Ashburn, Virginia, where he owns a small construction company. After one frustrating spot, he said he talked it through with his wife and a close friend, then returned to the table and kept building his stack until he closed it out.
