Crypto Executive Reaps Nice Dividends With PokerGO StormX II Victory
The world of cryptocurrency and poker converged again last week with the StormX Invitational II taking place at the PokerGO Studio in Las Vegas. The platform streamed the action live and Richard Lee came out on top of a 105-player field.
Several poker pros jumped in the action including Maria Ho, Daniel Negreanu, Joseph Cheong, Kitty Kuo, David Williams, and Xuan Liu. UFC announcer Bruce Buffer, actress/poker player Arden Cho, and model/actress Margaux Brook also participated.
Lee, a managing partner at Global Blockchain Innovative Capital, took home $175,500 for his efforts. The win came after being down to less than two big blinds in the tournament.
“It feels great,” he told PokerGO after the win. “I was down to a couple big blinds quite a few times and had a pretty lucky run.”
Taking command at the final table
The first event was held in March with Oliver Blakey coming out on top for $183,150. The latest StormX once again gathered crypto and blockchain executives for another streamed poker event.
It’s no secret that crypto is a popular topic among many poker players. StormX has become a regular sponsor of poker events including PokerGO. Lee (pictured in lead image courtesy PokerGO) now becomes the latest winner.
The crypto exec picked up steam later in the action at the final table. Some key wins eventually got him heads up with esports player Daniel “Tafo” Lee. That lasted only a single hand however. Both players got all the chips in with Lee’s A-Q against Tafo’s K-10.
Tafo got no help and finished as runner-up for $117,000. Lee was pleased to add the title to his portfolio.
“The final table was pretty fun, with chips going back and forth and no one really busting after the first person,” Lee said. “That was a pretty fun time.”
Owen scores big finish
Poker vlogger and World Poker Tour ambassador Brad Owen was also among those in the field and finished fourth. He scored $58,500, the best live poker finish of his career.
The nice result comes just a few days after Owen took 54th in the WPT Five Diamond World Poker Classic for $22,400. More action awaits Owen in December as well.
The tour recently announced that Owen and fellow vlogger Andrew Neeme would be hosting a meet-up game as part of the WPT World Championship in Las Vegas with Doyle Brunson among those playing.
Owen now has more than $198,000 in live tournament winnings. StormX CEO and co-founder Simon Yu made his second appearance in the event, but couldn’t find a final table appearance. Here’s a look at the top finishers.
- Richard Lee – $175,500
- Daniel “Tafo” Lee – $117,000
- Kacper Piotrowski – $81,900
- Brad Owen – $58,500
- Shingo Lavine – $46,800
- David Malka – $35,100
- Ben Middleton – $29,250
- Amir Marmar – $23,400
- Sashimi – $17,750
The @stormxio invitational is one of the best events of the year. Fun atmosphere in the best place to play poker in the world @PokerGO Studio. Thanks @SimonYuSEA for inviting me. Can’t wait for the 3rd!
— David Williams (@dwpoker) October 27, 2022