Former nail salon owner and failed professional baccarat player Qui Nguyen has won the World Series of Poker Main Event after the longest heads-up matchup in tournament history.
The 39-year-old in a raccoon baseball cap took the top prize of $8,005,310 and the gold bracelet on Tuesday night in Las Vegas. He eliminated San Francisco poker pro Gordon Vayo (VAY-oh) on the 364th hand of the final table.
Nguyen was dealt a king and 10 of clubs. Vayo was down to 53 million chips with a jack and 10 of spades.
The first three community cards came out and among them was a king to pair up Nguyen. Two blanks followed and Nguyen was the winner — 19 hours of play after the final began on Sunday night.
The native of Vietnam emerged from a field of 6,737 in the $10,000 No-Limit Hold 'Em Main Event, the final and most prestigious in a series of 69 World Series of Poker tournaments.
Vayo earned $4,661,228.
Earlier Tuesday, Cliff Josephy was eliminated in third place.
