Steven McCartney Claims First Ring In Event #11: $400 NLH
While PokerNews is here offering live updates from the Main Event, 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 #11: $400 NLH, 198 runners created a $65,340 prize pool that was paid out to the top 31 players. Among those to cash but fall short of the final table were Douglas Flowers (10th- $1,109), Cody Coffman (12th - $1,109), Rodney Spriggs (14th - $940), Ryan Freeman (20th - $730) and Steven Belland (22nd - $669).
In the end, it was Oklahoma native Steven McCartney who collected every chip in play to win his first gold ring along with a $15,761payday.
The inception of McCartney’s stellar, series run at Choctaw began with a 4th-place finish in Event #6. He then went on to place 3rd two tournaments later in Event #8. Directly after that, McCartney recorded another 4th-place finish in Event #9.
McCartney was asked what was behind all his recent success. “I don’t know. I’ve just been grinding a lot. I’ve been running bad lately, so I feel like it was due. I feel like I was due to come up,” he responded. “Run good, obviously, too.”
Although he was solidified as a final-table machine, McCartney was still without a gold ring. That is, until Event #11 where McCartney continued his momentum, bagging yet another Day 1. The Alabama native moved to Day 2 and secured a fourth final-table appearance.
“I came short stacked with 130,000, so 11 big blinds,” recounted McCartney. “I got a couple shoves through and then I got in king-jack of diamonds, versus ace-nine of spades, versus two sixes, preflop. We ended up rivering a flush so that was a big hand.”
A pivotal pot for McCartney manifested as a three-way all in, which ultimately led to him sending Andrew Adelson and nine-time gold ring winner Daniel Lowery to the rail. From there, McCartney was established as the big stack and sailed to the top spot.
Another award for first place, and arguably more important for McCartney, is 50 additional points. The Oklahoma resident now sits with a total of 140 points and an immense stronghold in the Choctaw Casino Champion race.
It is a spot McCartney never imagined himself in ahead of the WSOP Circuit coming to town
“I’ve been playing for about 13 years, but I probably play 15 tournaments a year… Besides that, I just play cash,” mentioned McCartney. “After the first one I felt good, so I was like ‘let’s just try this again,’ and then I final tabled. And then I had Kessler in my ear saying ‘Well, you have to go to for the points now.’ So, I just started playing everything.”
Including the Main Event, there are two other events available for players to earn points in. If his points total holds, McCartney will be deemed the Casino Champion and receive and automatic bid to the 2019/20 Global Casino Championship, a seat valued at $10,000.
Final Table Results
| Place | Player | Hometown | Prize |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Steven McCartney | Calera, OK | $15,761 |
| 2 | James Browne | Andrews, TX | $9,739 |
| 3 | Andrew Adelson | Tulsa, OK | $6,868 |
| 4 | Luis Vargas | San Antonio, TX | $14,947 |
| 5 | Daniel Lowery | Peter Pender, AR | $3,642 |
| 6 | Samuel Adelson | Tulsa, OK | $2,741 |
| 7 | Roy Hall | Andrews, TX | $2,110 |
| 8 | Patrick Wilson | Texas City, TX | $1,663 |
| 9 | Rebecca Thompson | Farmers Branch, TX | $1,342 |