$2,200 High Roller Day 1 | 2019 World Series of Poker Circuit Choctaw Durant

11-08-2019 01:18 UTC-5

Jeremy Joseph Bags Top Stack as 21 Advance Through

Anthony Thompson

Level 15 : 1,500/3,000, 3,000 ante

The first of two days has come to an end in Event #10: $2,200 High Roller after 15 exciting levels of play. A total of 105 entries slips were sold thus far, and of those to begin only 21 remain as the tournament heads into the final day.

Leading the way by night's end is ring winner Jeremy Joseph who accumulated a hefty 343,000 during Day 1. Joseph managed his stack all throughout the day adding chips each level until play was over.

Going into the final day in second place is Peter Walsworth with 273,500. Walsworth started the day off with a bang and quickly became one of the first players to jump over the six-figure chip stack mark. Walsworth stayed the course that led him into a big stack early in the day, all the way until the end of Day 1, finding few hiccups along the way.

Rounding out the top five stacks include Marvin Rettenmaier (255,000), Nick Yunis (254,500) and Aaron Van Blarcum (226,500).

Final day action will start at noon local time with the blinds of 2,000/4,000/4,000. Late registration is still open until play starts and anyone willing to fork up the buy-in can jump. There will be a 15-minute break after every three levels of play and the tournament will not end until a winner is crowned.

The PokerNews live reporting team will be bringing you all of the coverage for the rest of this event, so stay tuned as the action unfolds.

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Tags: Aaron Van Blarcum Jeremy Joseph Marvin Rettenmaier Nick Yunis Peter Walsworth

11-08-2019 00:36 UTC-5

James Duke Achieves Gold in Event #7: $400 NLH Double Stack

Anthony Thompson

Level 15 : 1,500/3,000, 3,000 ante

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 #7: $400 NLH Double Stack, 353 runners created a $116,490 prize pool that was paid out to the top 54 players. Among those to cash but fall short of the final table were Michael Lech (10th - $1,753), Justin Kruger (14th- $1,438), Lauren Bunch (26th - $780), Will Berry (29th - $701), and Bart Bogard (35th - $602).

In the end, it was Texas native James Duke securing a $25,400 victory along with his first ring.

“It’s just so exciting. I’ve been trying for 14 years to win a damn ring,” Duke said with a laugh following his triumph. “It means a lot to me to win here at Choctaw because the players are so tough here. They’re great players and they’re friendly and the dealers are all great; The floor crew’s great. So, I’m pretty excited about it.”

The win brings Duke's WSOP cashes to a total of 40 with $750,000 in earnings. A vast majority of that sum ($614,368) was earned by Duke in 2014 when he took third place in the Millionaire Maker, a tournament that encompassed nearly 8,000 players.

Final Table Results

Place	Player	Hometown	Prize
1	James Duke	Houston, Texas	$25,400
2	Benjamin Thomas	Baton Rouge, Louisiana	$15,698
3	Andrew Robinson	Georgetown, Texas	$11,282
4	Maurice Hawkins	West Palm Beach, Florida	$8,235
5	Gerald Cunniff	Saint Paul, Minnesota	$6,107
6	Jeremy Ross	The Colony, Texas	$4,603
7	Cody Pettit	Yukon, Oklahoma	$3,526
8	Pedro Arroyos	Lubbock, Texas	$2,746
9	Sidney Savitt	South Euclid, Ohio	$2,175

11-08-2019 00:00 UTC-5

Jeff Hood Wins First Ring in Event #6: $400 NLH Turbo

Anthony Thompson

Level 14 : 1,000/2,500, 2,500 ante

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 #6: $400 NLH Turbo, 255 runners created a $84,1500 prize pool that was paid out to the top 40 players. Among those to cash but fall short of the final table were Michael Clements (11th - $1,347), Daniel Lowery (13th - $1,118), Oscar Penn (17th - $948), James Baune (33rd - $556), and Robert Keeling (37th - $551).

In the end, it was 53-year old Austin, Texas native Jeff Hood who earned $19,338 along with his first gold ring in the process.

“That was my first tournament [series] I went to,” Hood mentioned, referring to the most recent Rio Circuit in Las Vegas. “That one, I should have been more aggressive. Seventh was great, but this feels really good to get this ring.”

Final-table finishes can leave players yearning for what could have been. This time around it was nothing but satisfaction for Hood who is relatively new to the world of poker.

“I started playing about three years ago,” Hood disclosed. “We have a kind of game in our office a guy invited me to. He mentored me. Steve Rosser is his name. Read a lot of books. Took Negreanu’s Master Class. Read a lot of stuff and got good experience.”

Although young in practice, Hood has been diligent with his studies since entering the poker scene. Only three years in and the semi-retired Patent Lawyer has already reached the WSOP gold ring club.

Final Table Results

Place	Player	Hometown	Prize
1	Jeff Hood	Dallas, Texas	$19,338
2	Bobby Fuentes	Sunnyvale, Texas	$11,952
3	William Whitton	Sunnyvale, Texas	$8,532
4	Rodney Spriggs	Joplin, Missouri	$6,199
5	Reitta Seidel	San Antonio, Texas	$4,586
6	Dylan Easley	Fredricksburg, Texas	$3,455
7	Sai Raghu Uppala	Shawnee Mission, Kansas	$2,652
8	William Mcgee	Oklahoma City, Oklahoma	$2,075
9	John Bengelsdorf	Tacoma, Washington	$1,655

11-07-2019 23:21 UTC-5

Brandon Wilson Secures Gold in Event #5: $400 NLH Bounty

Anthony Thompson

Level 13 : 1,000/2,000, 2,000 ante

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 #5: $400 NLH Bounty, 261 runners created a $60,030 prize pool that was paid out to the top 41 players. Among those to cash but fall short of the final table were Michael Delavergne (10th - $958), Michael Lech (12th - $958), Brian Lee (14th - $795), Lauren Bunch (27th - $463), and Robert Keeling (34th - $388).

In the end, it was Brandon Wilson who outlasted the 261 player field to claim his first ring along with $13,706.

“I actually dropped out of college to pursue poker the year before Moneymaker won. I’ve been hooked ever since,” Wilson state about his background with the game.

Fortunately, on the first weekend of November, a sequence of events brought directed him to WSOP tournament poker where he flourished, joining the ranks of gold-ring champions.

Final Table Results

Place	Player	Hometown	Prize
1	Brandon Wilson	Dallas, Texas	$13,706
2	Vaughn Brozek	Fort Worth, Texas	$8,470
3	Daniel Jones	Kingwood, Texas	$6,055
4	Quinterol Mallette	Dallas, Texas	$4,404
5	Mark Fisher	Denison, Texas	$3,261
6	Charles Belcher	Rowlett, Texas	$2,459
7	Melisa Singh	New York, New York	$1,888
8	John Haddad	Plano, Texas	$1,477
9	Jimmy Bunch	Bokoshe, Oklahoma	$1,178

11-07-2019 22:27 UTC-5

Rossito Sends Whittington to the Rail

Tyler Foran

Level 12 : 800/1,600, 1,600 ante

The action folded around to Blake Whittington in the small blind who shoved for roughly 14,000 and Michael Rossito quickly called and tabled his hand in the big blind.

Blake Whittington:
Michael Rossito:

They were off to the races and the flop came giving Rossito a gutshot straight draw to go along with his overcards. The turn was the completing Rossito's Broadway straight and the on the river was just a formality as Whittington was eliminated from the tournament.

Player	Chips	Progress
Michael Rossito	104,800
Blake Whittington	Busted

Tags: Blake Whittington Michael Rossito

11-07-2019 22:16 UTC-5

Matthew Laessig Claims First Ring in Event #4: $600 PLO

Anthony Thompson

Level 12 : 800/1,600, 1,600 ante

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 #4: $600 PLO, 154 runners created a $79,310 prize pool that was paid out to the top 25 players. Among those to cash but fall short of the final table were Michael Perrone (11th - $1,375), Louis Barlow (14th - $1,168), Jacob Seale (16th - $1,020), Michael Le (18th - $1,020), and Lauren Bunch (24th - $425).

After placing seventh in this exact event last year, Matt Laessig rose to the occasion and claimed his first ring along with $20,773.

“Came here last year. Did my first Circuit event here last year. Had a blast,” mentioned Laessig. “Final tabled the PLO… Got busted seventh. Couple bad hands in a row and for the last year, I’ve been replaying it in my head.”

Laessig carved out his trip to Choctaw Durant and conquered. Going out a winner, he plans to return to his family and work in Austin, Texas on Monday

Final Table Results

Place	Player	Hometown	Prize
1	Matthew Laessig	Austin, Texas	$20,773
2	Jeramy Govert	Acworth, Georgia	$12,836
3	Ronald Neuman	Piedmont, Oklahoma	$8,923
4	Michael Lech	Alma, Arizona	$6,347
5	James Buane	Orlando, Florida	$4,622
6	Erik Mason	Geneva, New York	$3,448
7	David Prociak	Winter Park, Florida	$2,637
8	Charles Adkins	Amarillo, Texas	$2,067
9	Megan Moore	Norman, Oklahoma	$1,664

11-07-2019 21:22 UTC-5

Tens Hold for Toulouse; Doubles Through Apter

Anthony Thompson

Level 11 : 600/1,200, 1,200 ante

Brett Apter opened for 2,500 from middle position and Mark Toulouse called sitting directly to his left.

Apter continued for 2,300 after the flop and Toulouse raised to 7,000. Apter quickly moved all in and was snap-called by Toulouse.

Brett Apter:
Mark Toulouse:

Toulouse held a made hand but had to dodge some outs as Apter held the flush draw along with an over.

The turn was no help to Apter nor was the river and he sent 24,900 over to Toulouse for the double.

Player	Chips	Progress
Mark Toulouse	50,000	23,900
Brett Apter	23,000	-9,400

Tags: Mark Toulouse Brett Apter

11-07-2019 21:06 UTC-5

Joseph Eliminates Dang

Tyler Foran

Level 10 : 500/1,000, 1,000 ante

The action folded around to Jeremy Joseph in the small blind who put in a stack of 5,000 chips as he announced all-in. Hieu Dang took a few seconds before calling off his remaining stack of roughly 24,000.

Hieu Dang:
Jeremy Joseph:

Joseph was ahead with his ace-high but the flop gave Dang a flush draw to go along with his live cards. The turn was no help though when the landed and the on the river meant Dang was eliminated from the tournament.

Player	Chips	Progress
Jeremy Joseph	148,000	79,500
Hieu Dang	Busted

11-07-2019 19:25 UTC-5

Baker Eliminates Norris After Both Missing a Straight

Tyler Foran

Level 9 : 400/800, 800 ante

Alan Baker raised in early position to 2,000 and Antoine Norris defended the big blind.

The flop fell and Norris check-raised the 3,000 bet all-in for roughly 12,000 which Baker snap-called and both hands were tabled.

Antoine Norris:
Alan Baker:

Both players were open-ended but Baker was in the lead with King-high. The turn was no help for either player when the landed and the on the river meant Norris was eliminated from the tournament.

Player	Chips	Progress
Alan Baker	38,500
Antoine Norris	Busted

Tags: Alan Baker Antoine Norris

11-07-2019 19:22 UTC-5

Neil Volaski Captures First Ring in Event #3: $400 NLH Multi-Flight

Anthony Thompson

Level 9 : 400/800, 800 ante

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