Neil Volaski Captures First Ring in Event #3: $400 NLH Multi-Flight
While PokerNews is here offering live updates from the Main Event and High Roller, we’d be remiss if we didn’t tell you about the full schedule of side events that have been playing out over the past week at the World Series of Poker Circuit Choctaw Durant.
In Event #3: $400 NLH Multi-Flight, 898 runners created a $296,340 prize pool that was paid out to the top 132 players. Among those to cash but fall short of the final table were Charles Barker (14th - $2,972), Will Berry (24th - $1,870), Bart Bogard (29th - $1,523), Craig Savage (36th - $1,354), and Kevin Nguyen (41st - $1,320).
In the end, NeilVolaski raked in $53,796 and his first World Series of Poker Circuit gold ring Sunday evening at his regular casino stomping grounds, Choctaw Durant.
“I’ve had my opportunities in the past and I’ve probably made mistakes that I shouldn’t have when I played just because it was the first time being there,” Volaski stated. “It was a turbo and it was like two in the morning and I had to go to work the next day and I just made a mistake that I should have never made. It hurt.”
Volaski made it through Day 1A with a middle-of-the-pack stack, giving him a day of rest before the restart Sunday afternoon. On Day 2, he cruised all the way to heads-up action against a familiar opponent, gold ring winner Chad Smith.
“I’ve played with Chad before and he’s a really good player,” said Volaski. “Today, when we were heads up and I had a 2-1 chip lead I knew it was gonna happen.
Final Table Results
| Place | Player | Hometown | Prize |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Neil Volaski | Prosper, Texas | $53,796 |
| 2 | Chad Smith | Plano, Texas | $33,246 |
| 3 | James Jewell | Rudy, Arizona | $23,682 |
| 4 | Noah Nodine | Oklahoma City, Oklahoma | $17,159 |
| 5 | Jonathan Bolyen | Denton, Texas | $12,649 |
| 6 | Louis Barlow | Oklahoma City, Oklahoma | $9,490 |
| 7 | Shomari Williams | Fort Worth, Texas | $7,249 |
| 8 | Aditya Kelkar | Plano, Texas | $5,639 |
| 9 | Alan Cummins | Trophy Club, Texas | $4,469 |