Day 1a of the $1,700 Main Event at Choctaw Casino Resort is officially in the books. The first of two starting flights saw 354 entries and at the end of play, only 59 players bagged with Russ Floyd leading the way with 481,000.
Second in chips and close behind Floyd is Scott Hall, who coasted throughout most of the day, accumulating his stack before winning two some big pots at the end of the night bagging a stack of 479,000.
Next in line is Sayed "PJ" Jafari who sits in third with just a few chips out the top spot with 478,000. As Steven Williams (462,000), andCraig Varnell (450,000) round up the top fives stacks.
Other than the top stacks, some notable players who also bagged for a Day 2 return include Will Berry (387,000), Vincent Moscati, (190,500), Brian Green (164,500), Allen Kessler (95,000).
Some notable players who did not advance from the first day include Anthony "Bart" Bogard, Chris Tryba, Daniel Lowery, Aaron Massey, Kyle Birdwell, and Dave Alfa.
The second and final starting day begins Saturday, July, 27th at noon local time Day 1b takes place as players will play another 16 levels and the surviving players will combine for Day 2 Sunday, July 28th. Stay tuned to PokerNews for live reporting of all the action that unfolds.
The World Series of Poker Circuit Choctaw Durant $1,700 Main Event is just one of a dozen gold ring events at the stop.
For more than a week, a slew of side events has been playing out including Event #4: $400 NLH One-Day, a tournament that attracted 262 entrants and offered up a $86,460 prize pool.
“It feels good to have a ring, I love gambling. I didn’t think I was ever going to win. I got one, so it feels good.”
That’s what Steve Williams of Athens, Texas said late Sunday night when he finished as the last player standing to capture a $19,742 top prize and a WSOP gold ring.
One of his biggest hands came against WSOP Circuit ring winner Dennis Brand during three-handed play at the final table. Williams, a tax office owner, was all in preflop with and spiked a nine on the flop to overcome Brand’s Big Slick.
“The 9-7 hand, I just feel like every time you try and wait and wait on A-K or A-Q and then you get in there and the opponent comes-up with something,” Williams told WSOP officials. “It was a 9-7 of heart so I felt it was just a hand I could get in there and go with it. So, I just tried to raise and win and then he actually happened to have a big hand and call me, then I got lucky.”
Event #4 Final Table Results
Place
Player
Hometown
Prize
1
Steve Williams
Athens, Texas
$19,742
2
Cole Sudeck
Newport Beach, California
$12,199
3
Dennis Brand
Sugar Land, Texas
$8,721
4
Ernest Yurasits
Houston, Texas
$6,344
5
Luis Quintiliano
Plantation, Florida
$4,697
6
Anthony Bogard
Wylie, Texas
$3,541
7
Jason Solchenberger
Dallas, Texas
$2,719
8
Graham Stacey
Dallas, Texas
$2,128
9
Frances Benavides
Mcallen, Texas
$1,697
To see who all has captured gold rings at the Choctaw Durant stop, click here.
The World Series of Poker Circuit Choctaw Durant $1,700 Main Event is just one of a dozen gold ring events at the stop.
For more than a week, a slew of side events has been playing out including Event #3: $400 Congress, a tournament that drew 217 runners and created a $71,610 prize pool. For those that don’t know, “Congress” is a five-card Pot-Limit Omaha Hi-Lo game, otherwise known as “Big O.”
Morton Davis, a 47-year-old Lions Poker Palace dealer from Houston, wound up the victor despite starting Day 2 near the bottom of the chip counts. He hit a few doubles and made the final table third in chips. It’d take nearly 11 hours before Davis closed it out for $17,212 and his first gold ring.
Davis, who also finished 58th in Event #1: $400 NLH Monster Stack, had this to say: “I like it here, a lot of action and a good field… I like Congress, it’s a good game and I’ve always been an Omaha player my whole life, I enjoy it. I’m glad to see the game is growing.”
Event #3 Final Table Results
Place
Player
Hometown
Prize
1
Morton Davis
Pensacola, Florida
$17,212
2
Jacob Seale
Jasper, Texas
$10,637
3
Brian Lee
Lubbock, Texas
$7,517
4
Benjamin Friesen
Davison, Michigan
$5,417
5
Jay Palmer
Dallas, Texas
$3,982
6
Andrea Russo
Addison, Texas
$2,988
7
Rudolph Bourg
Youngsville, Lousiana
$2,289
8
Jeremiah Orta
Amarillo, Texas
$1,791
9
Cong Tran
Rowlett, Texas
$1,432
To see who all has captured gold rings at the Choctaw Durant stop, click here.
The World Series of Poker Circuit Choctaw Durant $1,700 Main Event is just one of a dozen gold ring events at the stop.
For more than a week, a slew of side events has been playing out including Event #2: $400 No-Limit Hold’em, a tournament that attracted 2,206 entries over six flights and generated a $727,980 prize pool.
Kyle Birdwell, 36, navigated the massive field to claim the title, $102,195 top prize, and his first WSOP gold ring.
“It was great, a complete rollercoaster of emotion,” Birdwell said. “It was fun from day one and a had a blast.”
Birdwell finished Day 1c with a monster stack and added to it throughout the tournament. He eventually entered the final table with an overwhelming chip lead.
“In the first hour I had pocket aces and had two guys shove behind me and they had queens and jacks, the board ran out and I was able to triple-up,” he told WSOP officials. “Later in the day I had a guy pushing stacks around and I had a big stack and so did he. He shoved in front of me with kings and I had aces again. At the end of the day (Day 1) there was a top-10 stack at my table. There was a hand where it flopped two clubs and I had a big draw and shoved all-in and he called with bottom pair and the rest was history.”
As for the six-figure score, Birdwell plans to use some of the money to help put his wife through nursing school.
Event #2 Final Table Results
Place
Player
Hometown
Prize
1
Kyle Birdwell
Fort Worth, Texas
$102,195
2
Michael Hibler
Springfield, Missouri
$63,190
3
Carlos Loving
Tampa, Florida
$49,007
4
Chase Bricker
Arlington, Texas
$38,235
5
Kendall Copp
Ponder, Texas
$30,011
6
Dave Alfa
Austin, Texas
$23,698
7
William Scarsdale
Harrison, Arkansas
$18,827
8
Donald Thurman
Plano, Texas
$15,049
9
Jeffrey Crawford
North Richland Hills, Texas
$12,104
To see who all has captured gold rings at the Choctaw Durant stop, click here.
The World Series of Poker Circuit Choctaw Durant $1,700 Main Event is just one of a dozen gold ring events at the stop.
For more than a week, a slew of side events has been playing out including Event #1: $400 NLH Monster Stack, a tournament that attracted 508 entries and generated a $167,640 prize pool.
Andy Belke, 36, notched his first-ever WSOP cash and it was a big one as he took down the tournament for $33,140 and a gold ring.
Originally from Kansas City but now residing in Fort Smith, Arkansas, Belke is a soon-to-be mechanical engineer who enjoys playing poker on the side.
“In this tournament I hit quads twice and I runner-runner for quads once to beat an overset,” he said. “I have hit so many one-outers or half-percenters, it has been insane.”
As for the bankroll boost, it’ll come in handy back in his Arkansas games: “We have our own little poker group, the 479 Poker Club and I gotta take them all out for dinner.”
Event #1 Final Table Results
Place
Player
Hometown
Prize
1
Andy Belke
Fort Smith, Arkansas
$33,140
2
Mark Estes
Grapevine, Texas
$20,485
3
Lisa Sheehy
Waco, Texas
$15,024
4
Jon Bennett
Oklahoma City, Oklahoma
$11,159
5
Antoi Preston
Dallas, Texas
$8,395
6
Dennis Meisinger
Texarkana, Texas
$6,398
7
Robert Perkins
Southlake, Texas
$4,940
8
Jack McKenzie
Fort Worth, Texas
$3,866
9
Mark Fisher
Denison, Texas
$3,067
To see who all has captured gold rings at the Choctaw Durant stop, click here.
The 16th season WSOP U.S. Circuit kicked off at the Choctaw Casino Resort in Durant, Oklahoma
just hours after Hossein Ensan closed out the 2019 WSOP record-breaking summer with his Main Event win.
The first scheduled stop of the season has already awarded ten rings through nine days and now the seasons first Main Event Ring winner is set to be crowned as Day 1a of Choctaw Casino Resort $1,700 Main Event kicks off today at noon and is the first of two starting days with Day 1b being held Saturday, July 27th with the same starting time. Once the two starting days are completed, the players will combine for Day 2 Sunday, July 28th and will play down to a winner on Day 3 Monday, July 29th.
Choctaw's Defending Champions
Last season, Choctaw Casino and Resort crowned two Main Event Ring winners in Max Young and Dave Alfa. Young was able to claim his fifth Circuit ring along with $263,815 after beating a field of 893 while Alfa battled through 1,161 hopefuls and earned his second gold ring to go with $320,998.
Choctaw 2018/2019 Main Event Final Table Results
Place
Player
Prize
Place
Player
Prize
1
Dave Alfa
$320,998
1
Maxwell Young
$263,815
2
Dapo Ajayi
$198,265
2
Jared Hemingway
$163,024
3
Kevin Rand
$147,327
3
Jonathan Bloyen
$120,083
4
Arshin Gamini
$110,812
4
Rolando Lozano
$89,616
5
Austin Lewis
$84,375
5
Robert Deleon
$67,753
6
Amir Kaikhah
$65,009
6
Nivedan Nasina
$51,884
7
Mohammed Arani
$50,674
7
Terry Presley
$40,235
8
Brendon O'Neal
$39,945
8
Wayne Lovell
$31,590
9
Will Berry
$31,836
9
Charles Johnson
$25,110
Larson Claims Two Rings
The 16th season of the WSOP U.S. Circuit has been in full swing awarding eight different players their first gold ring with David Larson being the exception, winning his third and fourth. Larson joined an exclusive club of 55 players that have won four WSOP rings, and has done it in one calendar year after besting 123 entries in Event #7 $400 No-Limit Hold’em and claimed another in less than 24 hours after beating a field of 180 players in Event #9: $250 No-Limit Hold’em. Over that span Larson has bested a total of 303 entries, earning $20,194 and will look to continue his Circuit success.
EV52 Ring 7&9 Champion David Larson.jpg"
Day 1a begins today at noon local time, where players will start with 30,000 in chips and blinds will be 100/100 with big blind antes beginning in Level 2 (100/100). There will be 15-minute breaks after every two levels and a 60-minute dinner break at the end of Level 9. Registration will remain open until the beginning of Level 13 allowing players one re-entry until then .
Both starting days are scheduled to play through16 levels. The first 15 levels will have 40-minutes blinds with level 16 lasting 60-minutes. Once the final level is completed, all remaining players will bag up for the night and return for Day 2 action on Sunday, July 28th, 2019.
Stay tuned here as the PokerNews live reporting team will be here to bring you all of the action as the day unfolds.
and spiked a nine on the flop to overcome Brand’s Big Slick.
