The tournament staff has just went over the rules with the players, and now action is underway here at the Choctaw Casino. The tournament room is already filled to the brim, and we're off to see which notables are in the field.
We've already seen poker legends T.J. Cloutier and Berry Johnston wandering about, and we know Allen Kessler is also in the house. Throw is dozens of established circuit regulars, and today's flight isn't going to be a walk in the park.
Chad HollowayAbraham Araya won this event last year. Picture courtesy of choctawcasinos.com.
Today, the World Series of Poker Circuit presented by Southern Comfort 100 Proof comes to you from the Choctaw Casino in Durant, Oklahoma. The stop actually kicked off a week ago and ten of the twelve ring events are already in the book; in fact, just last night David Nicholson won his third gold ring by taking down Event #9 $365 Pot-Limit Omaha—for a full recap of the preliminary events, click here. With that said, today is the day everyone’s been waiting for… the $1,675 Main Event.
For the third consecutive year, Choctaw Casino, which is located a short drive north of Dallas, has played host to a WSOP Circuit stop. What’s more, it’s developed a reputation of boasting some of the largest fields on the entire schedule.
For instance, last year’s Main Event drew a massive 978 entrants, making it the second largest WSOP Circuit Main Event at the time, and created a robust prize pool of $1,422,990. Abraham Araya, a 44-year-old airline flight mechanic who had recently been laid off from his job, eventually won that tournament for $270,380, nearly five times his yearly salary as a mechanic. What’s more, Araya won a second ring less than two months later, showing that his win was no fluke.
Here’s a look at last year’s payouts:
2011-2012 WSOPC Choctaw Durant Final Table Payouts
Place
Name
Prize
1
Abraham Araya
$270,380
2
Daniel Lowery
$167,230
3
Michael Sanders
$123,430
4
Jack Miller
$92,352
5
Mark Burford
$69,968
6
Derek Browning
$53,675
7
Will Nguyen
$41,679
8
Justin Gardenhire
$32,771
9
Dejuante Alexander
$26,069
Additionally, Raja Kattamuri won last year’s Choctaw Casino Champion thanks to two wins and second and sixth place finishes. Both he and Araya earned seats into the $1 Million WSOP National Championship for their accomplishments—a perk that will also be awarded to the winner of this year’s Main Event and Casino Championship.
The plan for Flight A is to play 40-minute levels through Level 17, which means players will bag and tag in the early morning hours of Saturday. Registration is open until the start of Level 13, and those players who fall today have the option to reenter in Flight B on Saturday.
Action is set to kick off at 12:00 CST, which is a little over an hour from now. Join the PokerNews Live Reporting Team then as we bring you all the action from the WSOP Circuit Choctaw Casino Main Event!
