Main Event
Day 1a Started
2012-13 World Series of Poker Circuit Event - Choctaw Durant
Main Event
Day: 1a
Event Info
Final Results
Event Info
Level Info
2012-13 World Series of Poker Circuit Event - Choctaw Durant
Buy-in
$1,675
Prize Pool
$1,710,000
Entries
1,140
Level
35
Blinds
70,000 / 140,000
Ante
20,000
The WSOP Circuit Returns to Choctaw for the Third Year in a Row!
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!
Level: 1
Blinds: 25/50
Ante: 0
Shuffle Up and Deal!
Level 1
: 25/50, 0 ante
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.
Notables in The Field
| Player | Chips | Progress |
|---|---|---|
|
20,000 | |
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20,000 | |
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20,000 | |
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20,000 | |
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20,000 | |
|
20,000 | |
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20,000 | |
|
|
20,000 | |
|
20,000 | |
|
20,000 | |
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20,000 | |
|
20,000 | |
|
20,000 | |
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20,000 | |
|
20,000 |
James Henson Wins the First Ring of 2012/2013 WSOP Circuit Choctaw
Level 1
: 25/50, 0 ante
Ten of the stops twelve ring events are already in the books, and we thought it'd be fun to take a look back at the completed events throughout the day. While the PokerNews Live Reporting Team hasn't been in Choctaw all week long, the WSOP's Media Coordinator Lukas Willems has, and he's been doing a great job recapping the preliminary events.
Here's a snippet of his recap from Event #1 $365 No-Limit Hold’em:
The 2012-2013 WSOP Circuit Presented by Southern Comfort 100 Proof began Thursday at Choctaw Casino Resort in Durant, OK. Event 1, a $365 No-Limit Hold’em tournament and the first of 12 gold ring events, drew 481 entrants, making it the third largest non-re-entry $365 event of the season. James Henson from Lake Jackson, Tex. outlasted the sizable field to record his second WSOP Circuit championship. Henson won $31,021, a WSOP Circuit gold ring and took the early lead in the Casino Champion’s race.
“It feels good. It was fun and I had a great time. The first [ring] was special but this is good,” Henson said of his second victory. Henson began Day 2 toward the bottom of the chip counts and said his past experiences helped keep him in the tournament. Closing the deal was no easy task, as Henson faced two fellow Circuit champions three-handed — Joshua Pender (3rd) and Royce Prude (2nd). Pender earned his first ring this year at IP Biloxi, while Prude earned his at Choctaw two years ago. Henson’s first championship came almost one year ago at Palm Beach Kennel Club when he bested 290 in a $555 No-Limit Hold’em tournament to earn $33,749.
“The guys that I was playing against, they were both good there was no question about it,” Henson said. “I was not looking forward to going up against either one of them. They very much knew what they were doing.”
Henson’s most recent victory pushed him over the $200,000 mark in career WSOP earnings. Married with four children, he insists poker takes a back seat to his professional life. “I go to about four Circuits a year. That’s how much I can make time for. It’s completely a hobby,” Henson said.
WSOP Circuit Choctaw Durant Ring Event #1 No-Limit Hold’em
| Buy-in | Entrants | Prize Pool |
|---|---|---|
| $300+$65 | 481 | $144,300 |
| Place | Player | Hometown | Prize |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | James Henson | Lake Jackson, TX | $31,021 |
| 2 | Royce Prude Jr. | Dallas, TX | $19,182 |
| 3 | Josh Pender | Rockhill, SC | $14,013 |
| 4 | Jacob McFarland | San Antonio, TX | $10,388 |
| 5 | Theresa Hoffman | Pflugerville, TX | $7,812 |
| 6 | Vivian Belcher | Rowlett, TX | $5,960 |
| 7 | Michael Hope | Dallas, TX | $4,610 |
| 8 | Andrew Chubick | Dallas, TX | $3,618 |
| 9 | Michael Hopkins | Elkland, MO | $2,879 |
A Poker Legend
Level 1
: 25/50, 0 ante
If we told you to name the top 20 all-time money winners in tournament poker, you could probably name the majority of the players. There are the obvious names like Antonio Esfandiari and Sam Trickett, who finished first and second respectively in the $1 Million Big One for One Drop, but there are a few players that would inevitably slip through the cracks like Men Nguyen, Carlos Mortsensen, and a player in the field today; 2006 Poker Hall of Fame inductee T.J. Cloutier.
Cloutier - a Texas native - ranks 19th on the all-time money list, and if you exclude buy-ins of $50,000 or more and invitational events, then he creeps up to 16th. Ironically, despite earning over $9.9 million in live tournaments, Cloutier has never recorded a seven-figure score. His largest score came in 2000, when he took second in the World Series of Poker Main Event, earning $896,500. It was the second time he finished runner-up in the Main Event, and the fourth time he made the final table.
While he doesn't own a Main Event bracelet, Cloutier has won six WSOP gold bracelets dating back to 1987 where he won a $1,000 Limit Omaha event. He bested Robert "The Chip Burner" Turner heads up to earn $72,000 and the hardware.
We will keep our eyes on the poker legend today and see if he can inch up the all-time money list just a little more.
Powers Pushes Out a Poker Hall of Famer
We caught the action with four players in the hands, 1,000 in the pot, and a flop reading 
. Luke Powers had checked from the small blind, and a player in early position bet 325. Poker Hall of Famer T.J. Cloutier then called from the cutoff, the button did the same, and Powers woke up with a check-raise to 1,600.
One by one his opponents folded, prompting the original bettor to say, "You've got to show it."
"I got lucky. I followed his lead," Powers said pointing to a play across the table without showing his hand.
"
?" the original bettor asked. Powers responded in the affirmative.
"I folded 
," Cloutier volunteered.
| Player | Chips | Progress |
|---|---|---|
|
|
13,200 | -6,800 |
|
|
13,000 |
Level: 2
Blinds: 50/100
Ante: 0
Some More Familiar Faces
Registration is open until Level 13, so we expect to see familiar faces take their seats throughout the day. Here are a few of the new faces we just spotted at the start of Level 2.
| Player | Chips | Progress |
|---|---|---|
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20,000 | |
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20,000 | |
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20,000 | |
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20,000 |