$1,700 Main Event Day 1b | 2019 World Series of Poker Circuit Ameristar St. Charles

09-07-2019 14:31 UTC-5

Esquivel Takes Down Pot

Anthony Thompson

Level 5 : 200/300, 300 ante

There was heads up action after the flop between Paul Strohm who sat under the gun and Michael Esquivel from middle position.

The board read and Strohm checked his option to Esquivel who fired out 6,500 into a 20,000 pot.

Strohm looked back at his cards before letting them go into the muck and Esquivel raked in the decent-sized pot.

Player	Chips	Progress
Michael Esquivel	63,000
Paul Strohm	40,000

Tags: Paul Strohm Michael Esquivel

Level: 6

Blinds: 200/400

Ante: 400

09-07-2019 14:52 UTC-5

Player	Chips	Progress
Cory Bogert	107,000 52,000	52,000
William Backes	100,000
Kale Cleeton	84,000 19,000	19,000
Simon Webster	65,000 29,000	29,000
Bill Byrnes	55,000 13,000	13,000
Kou Vang	45,000 10,000	10,000
Scott Hall	40,000

Bradley Mercer	40,000 -5,000	-5,000
Carlos Loving	37,000 7,000	7,000
Derek Schroeder	37,000 37,000	37,000
Yoon Kim	28,000 -2,000	-2,000
Justin Carey	28,000 -2,000	-2,000
Shawn McCracken	15,000 -15,000	-15,000
Jason Tang	15,000 -10,000	-10,000
Ralph Massey	14,000 -16,000	-16,000

Personal Dog Trainer Matt Koch Fetches a Ring in Event #3: $400 NLH

Anthony Thompson

Level 6 : 200/400, 400 ante

PokerNews is on site at the Ameristar St. Charles for the latest World Series of Poker Circuit stop, and while we’re only doing live updates from the $1,700 Main Event, it’s not the only tournament that’s been playing out inside the casino.

For the past week, a slew of side events has taken place and awarded gold rings to the lucky winners. One such tournament was Event #3: $400 No-Limit Hold’em, which drew 157 runners and created a $51,810 prize pool.

Among those to cash but fall short of making the final table were Dennis Phillips (11th - $898), Brian McDaniel (13th - $763), Kyle Everett (18th - $667), and Tammi Ledbetter (24th - $555).

The tournament ended with Matt Koch, a 43-year-old personal dog trainer, on top. Not only did he capture his first ring, he notched his first-ever WSOP cash, good for $13,567.

“Really more than anything, I just got lucky,” Koch stated. “I got very lucky with hands, with flips, with everything. That table was filled with talent… I will chalk this one up to just a little bit of skill and a whole lot of luck.”

He continued: “This is kind of my first foray back into [poker]. I think the last time I played a tournament was two years ago. I’ve kind of taken a hiatus from poker for about four, or five, years; been pretty busy at work.”

“I was extremely excited. I took a bunch of days off of work, which is abnormal for me … I did take next weekend off, so I’m thinking about playing in the Main Event. I think that I’ll probably have to now.”

Final Table Results

Place	Player	Hometown	Prize
1	Matthew Koch	Byrnes Mill, Missouri	$13,567
2	Charles LeRoi	St. Louis, Missouri	$8,385
3	Matthew Green	Canton, Georgia	$5,829
4	Jerod Smith	Troy, Illinois	$4,147
5	Robert Keeling	Portland, Missouri	$3,020
6	Christopher Underwood	Mooresville, Indiana	$2,253
7	Jake Ortiz	O'Fallon, Illinois	$1,351
8	Andros Ioakimides	Ballwin, Missouri	$1,351
9	Jeffrey Copeland	Saint Peters, Missouri	$1,087

Tags: Christopher Underwood Brian McDaniel Andros Ioakimides Dennis Phillips Jeffrey Copeland Jerod Smith Matthew Green Robert Keeling

09-07-2019 15:07 UTC-5

Another Round of Chip Counts

Anthony Thompson

Level 6 : 200/400, 400 ante

Player	Chips	Progress
Christopher Underwood	97,000 17,000	17,000
Christopher Parsley	80,000 50,000	50,000
Vincent Moscati	70,000 40,000	40,000
Kyle Kinder	60,000 31,000	31,000
Dave Simon	60,000 30,000	30,000
William Joyner	42,000 12,000	12,000
David Yingling	37,000 7,000	7,000
Aaron Massey	35,000 -5,000	-5,000
Jeffrey Copeland	22,000 -8,000	-8,000
Tim Vance	22,000 -8,000	-8,000
Will Berry	21,000 -9,000	-9,000
Mike Shin	20,000 -10,000	-10,000
Keith Heine	16,000 -11,500	-11,500
Blake O'Brien	15,000 -15,000	-15,000

09-07-2019 15:11 UTC-5

Turner Scoops Pot

Anthony Thompson

Level 6 : 200/400, 400 ante

Joshua Turner opened for 1,100 from middle position and was called by the button player along with the big blind player.

The flop was checked to Turner who bet 1,500 and was called by the big blind player.

The turn fell the and Turner took down the pot with a 3,200 bet after the big blind player checked his option.

Player	Chips	Progress
Joshua Turner	45,000 15,000	15,000

Tags: Joshua Turner

09-07-2019 15:16 UTC-5

Break Time

Anthony Thompson

Level 6 : 200/400, 400 ante

Players are on their second 15-minute break of the day.

Level: 7

Blinds: 300/500

Ante: 500

09-07-2019 15:45 UTC-5

Some Updated Chip Counts After Break

Anthony Thompson

Level 7 : 300/500, 500 ante

Player	Chips	Progress
Andros Ioakimides	100,000 100,000	100,000
Dino Galic	90,000 60,000	60,000
Martin Ryan	80,000 80,000	80,000
Scott Sisler	60,000 30,000	30,000
Lily Kiletto	60,000 60,000	60,000
John Pappas	60,000 30,000	30,000
Robert Keeling	40,000 40,000	40,000
Jeremy Pekarek	34,000 9,000	9,000

Quentin Crossley	32,000 2,000	2,000
Craig Welko	30,000
Maurice Hawkins	30,000 18,000	18,000
Jerod Smith	30,000 30,000	30,000
Ian Matakis	30,000 30,000	30,000

Brett Apter	28,000 28,000	28,000

Robert Hankins	25,000 -5,000	-5,000
Nick Pupillo	25,000 -5,000	-5,000

Gary Litterst	20,000 20,000	20,000
Mitchell Bank	19,000 -22,000	-22,000
Jovan Sudar	16,000 -14,000	-14,000
Lori Lindley	15,000 -15,000	-15,000
Tajesh Patel	15,000 -15,000	-15,000
Matt Koch	7,000 7,000	7,000