Gordon Vayo and Kenny Hallaert prepare for the World Series of Poker Main Event Final Table with big scores; two famous names win PokerStars World Championships of Online Poker titles, and four of California’s largest card rooms prepare for the Southern California Poker Championships.

Two members of the World Series of Poker (WSOP) November Nine warmed up for the final table with big wins both live and online this week.

Gordon Vayo added $587,120 to his bank account after topping a field of 1,054 entrants in the $2,500 buy-in Winstar River Poker Series. It was a final table laden with stars with Layne Flack (4th), Grant Hinkle (5th), Chino Rheem (7th), Jeff Duval (8th), and Danny Fuhs (9th) all coming within a whisker of winning. Vayo is now the second favourite to win the WSOP Main Event just behind Cliff Josephy.

The 5/1 shot Kenny Hallaert also prepared well this week taking down the partypoker Online Grand Prix for $63,891. The Belgian, who last week managed the Unibet Open in Copenhagen in his capacity as Tournament Director, defeated a field of 4,531 entrants to take the online crown.