Monday, September 25, 2017 4:16 PM Local Time
Niovel Chirino Alvarez Conquers Re-Entry for $135,022 and a Ring!
Cuban-American rec breaks through for a huge score at Hard Rock
Niovel Chirino Alvarez is the newest first-time winner on the WSOP Circuit. Alvarez topped a robust field of 1,612 entries in the $580 re-entry event, winning his first gold ring and the top prize of $135,022.
Alvarez, 41, was born in Cuba and immigrated to South Florida in 2002. He set up his own trucking company, and things frankly didn't get off to a very good start.
"It went bad for four or five years," Alvarez recalled. "I had a bad time.”
In 2013, a friend loaned Alvarez a single truck to try to reignite his business. It worked. The new champ got a bit emotional as he relayed that he now owns 26 trucks himself and oversees another 27 from owner/operators in his organization.
"This is just my hobby," he said of poker. "I'm not a pro at all. I'm shaking because I didn't even think I could win.” His previous tournament results include just one cash for about a thousand bucks.
Alvarez has been playing cards since his childhood days in Cuba, though, growing up around a local variant that resembles three-card poker. Nowadays, the Miami Lakes resident can mostly be found at the cash game tables at Seminole Hard Rock Hollywood.
"I always come here," he said. "I don't play anywhere else. It's cool; the people are nice here. I get along with basically everyone.”
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