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