Alan Percal Wins First Ring In Event #6: $400 NLH 6-Handed
While PokerNews is here offering live updates from the Main Event, 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 #6: $400 NLH Six-Handed, 193 runners created a $63,690 prize pool that was paid out to the top 30 players. Among those to cash but fall short of the final table were Venanzio Pasubio (10th- $1,397), Boris Kasabov (12th - $1,112), Hugo Perez (15th - $913), Quinterol Mallette (18th - $773), and Cory Bogert (25th - $609).
In the end, it was Florida native Alan Percal who collected every chip in play to win his first gold ring along with a $15,857 payday.
“The bracelet trumps it slightly,” Percal said half-jokingly after his victory. “But I’ve been close to this a few times, recently, so it’s nice to close it out.”
Percal’s bracelet run occurred in 2016 at the 47th annual WSOP where he conquered the $10,000 No-Limit Hold’em Heads-Up Championship for $320,574. Though his recent win, good for a cash prize of $15,857, was much more scaled down, Percal was pleased to hit the Circuit milestone.
Before his accomplishment at Choctaw Durant, Percal had recorded three final-table appearances this season (2019/20). The Florida native, now living in Louisville, Kentucky intermittently travels to certain series around the nation.
“Depends on the stop really and when I have time… We have a friend that works here that helped out,” stated Percal on his presence in Oklahoma.
Coming into Day 2 of the Six Max, Percal controlled the second-largest stack in play. He maintained his chip advantage even through a stalwart, eight-handed period.
“We played eight-handed for like an hour and a half,” mentioned Percal. “And we were pretty deep to come into the day. Then we played eight-handed and the average stack was like probably 15 big blinds, which kind of mixed things up.”
Eventually, 8th place hit the rail and Percal redrew to the final table as chip leader. Another slight slowdown occurred during three-handed action. Two-time gold ring winner Matt Koch was the one to break off in 3rd place.
Percal went on to tackle a tough opponent, Frank Bengs, in heads-up duel. The match lasted for a while but was all over when Percal’s pocket sevens took down Bengs’ queen-jack.
Final Table Results
| Place | Player | Hometown | Prize |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Alan Percal | Weston, FL | $15,857 |
| 2 | Frank Bengs | Crescent, OK | $19,800 |
| 3 | Matthew Koch | Byrnes Mill, MO | $6,632 |
| 4 | Steven McCartney | Columbia, SC | $4,604 |
| 5 | Melissa Singh | New York, NY | $3,280 |
| 6 | Cody Coffman | Tulsa, OK | $2,400 |
| 7 | Michael Cockrell | Richardson, TX | $1,805 |
| 8 | Jeffrey Prince | Austin, TX | $1,805 |
| 9 | Kelly Cortum | Norwalk, IA | $1,397 |