Kyle Birdwell Reigns Victorious Claiming His Second Ring in Event #9: $600 NLH
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 #9: $600 NLH, 248 runners created a $127,720 prize pool that was paid out to the top 38 players. Among those to cash but fall short of the final table were Christopher Staats (10th - $2,049), Steven Williams (13th- $1,703), Blake Whittington (15th - $1,703), Michael Lech (19th - $1,253), and Carlos Guerrero (24th - $1,111).
In the end, it was Texas native Kyle Birdwell who collected every chip in play to capture his second ring along with a $29,564 payday.
The victory arrived less than four months after Birdwell's first gold-ring run, which occurred at the prior Choctaw Durant Circuit in July. His monumental score of $102,195 among 2,206 players in the multi-flight may have provided Birdwell with a more secure mentality when it came to tournament poker.
“It feels great. I think my confidence is a lot higher actually because I’m taking it a little more seriously,” said Birdwell. “It’s my hobby, but you know been able to turn it into some income and actually have a blast doing it.”
Final Table Results
| Place | Player | Hometown | Prize |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Kyle Birdwell | Fort Worth, Texas | $29,564 |
| 2 | Sid Naeimi | Poanoke, Texas | $18,274 |
| 3 | John Gallaher | Lebanon, Tennessee | $13,021 |
| 4 | Adam Hendrix | Anchorage, Arkansas | $9,447 |
| 5 | Koen Roelink | Amsterdam | $6,980 |
| 6 | Trung Pham | Temple, Texas | $5,255 |
| 7 | Thomas Olivas | Coppell, Texas | $4,032 |
| 8 | Lauren Bunch | Tulsa, Oklahoma | $3,154 |
| 9 | Brock Wilson | Ardsley, New York | $2,517 |