$1,700 Main Event
Day 1a Completed
2020 World Series of Poker Circuit Choctaw Durant
$1,700 Main Event
Day: 1a
Event Info
Final Results
Event Info
Level Info
Players Info - Day 1a
2020 World Series of Poker Circuit Choctaw Durant
Buy-in
$1,700
Prize Pool
$1,613,475
Entries
1,065
Level
35
Blinds
150,000 / 300,000
Ante
300,000
Entries
392
Players Left
59
Last Hand Double Elimination Vaults Cutshall to Top as 59 Survive Day 1a
Level 16
: 2,000/4,000, 4,000 ante
The opening flight of the World Series of Poker Circuit Choctaw Durant $1,700 Main Event has come to an end. A total of 392 entries entered the first flight but when the dust settled only 59 players advanced to Day 2, which will be held on Sunday, January 12th at noon.
At the end of the night, the race for who would end as chip leader was up in the air until the final hand when Wesley Cutshall scored a double elimination to send him to the top with 517,000.
Coming in a close second was WSOP bracelet winner Jonathan Hilton, who was stacking chips all day and bagged 500,000. Right behind Hilton was Brant Jolly (471,000) while Maury Solano came out fourth in chips (460,500). Four-time ring winner Marshall White (456,000) rounded out the top five.
Other notable players tp put chips in a bag at the end of Day 1a were Eric Bunch (403,000), Mike Linster (335,000), and all-time ring leader Maurice Hawkins (243,000).
The 59 surviving players from Day 1a will come back Sunday and join the survivors of Saturday's Day 1b flight in a combined field for Day 2.
Some of the notables playing on Day 1a but not making it through were Poker Hall of Famer T.J Cloutier, Melisa Singh, Daniel Lowery, Jared Jaffee and Aaron Massey.
All of those names are eligible to fire another bullet and enter the Day 1b flight as the WSOPC Choctaw Durant Main Event allows one re-entry per flight. The second starting flight will kick-off at noon on Saturday.
Follow along with the PokerNews live reporting team throughout the rest of the Main Event.
End of Day Chip Counts (full)
Level 16
: 2,000/4,000, 4,000 ante
| Player | Chips | Progress |
|---|---|---|
|
517,000 | 372,000 |
|
500,000 | 500,000 |
|
471,000 | 471,000 |
|
460,500 | 200,500 |
|
456,500 | 216,500 |
|
443,000 | 258,000 |
|
420,000 | 420,000 |
|
403,000 | 403,000 |
|
392,000 | 392,000 |
|
|
368,000 | 368,000 |
|
335,000 | 335,000 |
|
|
305,000 | 305,000 |
|
288,500 | 38,500 |
|
284,000 | 284,000 |
|
265,000 | 265,000 |
|
251,500 | 251,500 |
|
243,000 | -7,000 |
|
242,000 | 242,000 |
|
|
225,000 | 225,000 |
|
214,500 | 84,500 |
|
|
203,500 | 203,500 |
|
192,000 | -38,000 |
|
186,500 | 6,500 |
|
181,500 | 51,500 |
|
|
174,000 | 174,000 |
Play Has Ended for the Day
Level 16
: 2,000/4,000, 4,000 ante
End of day chip counts and recap will follow.
Final 3 Hands
Level 16
: 2,000/4,000, 4,000 ante
The tournament dealer has just announced the final three hands of the night.
End of Night Photos
Adeeb Al Nazer Claims Gold In Event #9: $600 NLH
Level 16
: 2,000/4,000, 4,000 ante
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 #9: $600 NLH, 328 runners created a $168,920 prize pool that was paid out to the top 51 players. Among those to cash but fall short of the final table were Asaf Ben Shushan (10th- $2,580), Braxton Dunaway (12th - $2,580), Simon Webster (14th - $2,132), Melissa Bryne (20th - $1,541) and Jonathan Tamayo (23rd - $1,349).
In the end, it was Illinois native Adeeb Al Nazer who collected every chip in play to win his first gold ring along with a $36,423 payday.
“I love the fact that it was fast-paced. I wish we had like a lot more tournaments that are like that,” stated Al-nazer.
Although it encompassed a sizable field and granted slightly above-average starting stacks, whittled all the way down to a final table on Day 1. Al-nazer bagged as the outright chip leader, closely followed by KC McKeown.
Day 2 was set as a final-table finale with nine players still in the hunt. What could have been a drawn-out battle, turned out to be the exact opposite.
Beginning at 2:00 p.m., the second day quickly began as a constant stream of action and bust outs. It seemed as though the players were in all-out sprint to the finish line. And just like that, in an absolute flash, Al-nazer had vacuumed up every chip in play.
“I cannot believe that the final table like got done within an hour and I love it. I love fast poker,” Al-nazer expressed. “It’s been a great journey and I loved every bit of it.”
The 33-year-old narrowly missed out on a Circuit title when he went on an incredible run in the multi-flight re-entry in 2017 at Choctaw Durant. There, he finished as the runner-up among 5,280 entries for $146,789.
“That one was a lot more work. I mean, I was exhausted by the fourth day… and we played for hours on the fourth day. I think I played 14 hours on the very last day,” Al-nazer mentioned, touching on the stark difference to his recent tournament experience.
Although the payout was significantly less, a first-place, gold-ring triumph with the WSOP is a milestone Al-nazer will never forget.
“It means a whole lot, actually. I have a lot of cashes and stuff like that, but I don’t have any rings or bracelets or anything,” said Al-nazer. “I’m so happy that I finally got one… This will definitely be a memory that I’ll have forever. There is no price I could sell on this ring.”
Final Table Results
| Place | Player | Hometown | Prize |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Adeeb Al Nazer | Mansfield, TX | $36,423 |
| 2 | Steve Belland | Bagley, MN | $22,509 |
| 3 | KC McKeown | Dallas, TX | $16,179 |
| 4 | Steven McCartney | Columbia, SC | $11,822 |
| 5 | Dave Tobin | Lubbock, TX | $8,783 |
| 6 | Cody Coffman | Tulsa, OK | $6,637 |
| 7 | Daniel Watkinsl | Waco, TX | $5,103 |
| 8 | Jesus Gonzalez | Eagle Pass, TX | $3,993 |
| 9 | Jason Hill | New Braunfels, TX | $3,180 |
Lewis Sends One Out
Level 16
: 2,000/4,000, 4,000 ante
The hijack player open-jammed for roughly 25,000 and Austin Lewis came over the top from the cutoff getting isolation.
Austin Lewis: 
Opponent: 
Lewis had his opponent dominated and nothing changed after the 
flop.
The 
turn gave Lewis a sweat as his opponent picked up a gutterball but the 
river sealed his fate as Lewis scored the KO.
| Player | Chips | Progress |
|---|---|---|
|
|
185,000 | 150,000 |
More Updated Chip Counts
Level 16
: 2,000/4,000, 4,000 ante
| Player | Chips | Progress |
|---|---|---|
|
|
250,000 | 184,200 |
|
|
240,000 | -10,000 |
|
|
240,000 | -40,000 |
|
150,000 | 10,000 |
|
|
130,000 | -10,000 |
|
|
130,000 | 60,000 |
|
130,000 | -105,000 |
|
107,000 | 2,000 |
|
105,000 | 25,000 |
|
80,000 | -20,000 |
|
60,000 | -30,000 |
|
57,000 | -93,000 |
|
|
45,000 | -85,000 |
Another Round of Updated Chip Counts
Level 16
: 2,000/4,000, 4,000 ante
| Player | Chips | Progress |
|---|---|---|
|
|
330,000 | -10,000 |
|
|
260,000 | -40,000 |
|
260,000 | 140,000 |
|
|
250,000 | 120,000 |
|
|
230,000 | |
|
190,000 | 60,000 |
|
|
180,000 | 20,000 |
|
|
145,000 | 95,000 |
|
140,000 | 40,000 |
|
110,000 | -90,000 |