$1,700 Main Event Day 1a | 2020 World Series of Poker Circuit Choctaw Durant

01-10-2020 11:21 UTC-5

Day 1a of the WSOP Circuit Choctaw Durant $1,700 Main Event Begins at Noon

Anthony Thompson

The WSOP U.S. Circuit kicked off it's16th season at the Choctaw Casino Resort in Durant, Oklahoma back in July of 2019 and it is only fitting that the first stop on the 2020 calendar is back where it all started.

The first scheduled Circuit stop of the new year has already awarded eight rings through nine days and now the time has come for Day 1a of Choctaw Casino Resort $1,700 Main Event which kicks off today at noon.

This is the first of the two starting flights with Day 1b being held tomorrow Saturday, January 11th with the same starting time. Once the two starting days are completed, the players will combine for Day 2 Sunday, January 12th and will play down to a winner on Day 3 Monday, January 13th.

Defending Champions

The WSOP Circuit at Choctaw Durant has already crowned two Main Event Champions this season after Hollis "Victory" Holcomb topped a 976 player field in July to claim $255,535 along with his first career gold ring while Nathanael Kogel battled a 983 entry field to win his third WSOPC ring along with $256,915 in November.

July 2019 & November 2019 Main Event Final Table Results at Choctaw

Place	Player	Hometown	Prize	Place	Player	Hometown	Prize
1	Hollis Holcomb	Bartlesville, Oklahoma	$255,535	1	Nate Kogel	San Antonio, Texas	$256,915
2	Vincent Moscati	Verplanck, New York	$157,929	2	Jesus Martinez	San Antonio, Texas	$158,793
3	Jesse Solano	San Antonio, Texas	$118,349	3	Maxwell Young	Seaside, Oregon	$119,038
4	Tony Nguyen	Fort Worth, Texas	$89,536	4	Andrew Barfield	Mt. Sterling, Illinois	$90,085
5	Braxton Dunaway	Midland, Texas	$68,390	5	Dave Alfa	Las Vegas, Nevada	$68,829
6	Matt Russell	Spring, Texas	$52,747	6	Marquis McCain	Tyler, Texas	$53,097
7	Steven Williams	Little Rock, Arkansas	$41,082	7	Lily Kiletto	Kew Gardens, New York	$41,363
8	Shomari Williams	Fort Worth, Texas	$32,314	8	Mason Vieth	Windthrost, Texas	$32,540
9	Scott Hall	Fayetteville, Arkansas	$25,672	9	Tim Burden	Rochester, Kentucky	$25,854

Starting Day Outlook

Day 1a begins today at noon local time, where players will start with 30,000 in chips and blinds will be 100/100 with big blind antes beginning in Level 2 (100/100). There will be 15-minute breaks after every two levels and a 90-minute dinner break at the end of Level 9. Registration will remain open until the beginning of Level 13 allowing players one re-entry until then.

Both starting days are scheduled to play through16 levels. The first 15 levels will have 40-minutes blinds with level 16 lasting 60-minutes. Once the final level is completed, all remaining players will bag up for the night and return for Day 2 action on Sunday, January 12th, 2020.

Main Event Day 1 Structure

Level	Duration	Small Blind	Big Blind	BB Ante
1	40	100	100	-
2	40	100	100	100
3	40	100	200	200
Break 15
4	40	100	200	200
5	40	200	300	300
6	40	200	400	400
Break 15
7	40	300	500	500
8	40	300	600	600
9	40	400	800	800
Dinner Break 90
10	40	500	1,000	1,000
11	40	600	1,200	1,200
12	40	800	1,600	1,600
Break 15
13	40	1,000	2,000	2,000
14	40	1,000	2,500	2,500
15	40	1,500	3,000	3,000
16	60	2,000	4,000	4,000

Stay tuned here as the PokerNews live reporting team will be here to bring you all of the action as the day unfolds.

01-10-2020 14:29 UTC-5

Sam Murphy Wins Debut Ring In Event #1: $400 NLH Turbo

Anthony Thompson

Level 3 : 100/200, 200 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 #1: $400 NLH Turbo, 261 runners created a $86,130 prize pool that was paid out to the top 41 players. Among those to cash but fall short of the final table were Robert James (10th- $1,399), Carson Wieland (14th - $1,168), Jim Carroll (16th - $995), and James Robinson (19th - $886).

In the end, it was Texas native Sam Murphy who collected every chip in play to capture his first ring along with a $19,167 payday.

Murphy won his debut gold ring by taking down the first event on the new year calendar which took nearly 12 hours to complete.

“I’ve had some bigger wins. But, I think this is like eight-in-a-row cashes for me. That’s the biggest thing for me,” mentioned Murphy.

Murphy owns a construction company as well as works with some housing development in southern Texas. Even with a full-time business, the poker hobbyist finds pockets of time to hit the felt. In fact, Murphy has amassed nearly $300,000 in total career earnings.

Although the $19k was not his largest score to date, Murphy was glad to get his first ring, as he regularly attends the WSOP Circuit when it comes to Choctaw

“I’m going to come back for the Main [Event],” stated Murphy. “I’m playing golf the next week or so because the weather is going to be good. I might try to come back up, but I’m really thinking about just the Main.”

Final Table Results

Place	Player	Hometown	Prize
1	Sam Murphy	Cedar Hill, TX	$19,167
2	Ronald Neuman	Piedmont, OK	$11,849
3	Dell Taylor	Canton, GA	$8,509
4	Shawn Rice	Lubbock, TX	$6,219
5	Robert Conner	Austin, TX	$4,627
6	Scot Push	Glen Ellyn, IL	$3,507
7	Shawn Sparks	Yukon, OK	$2,708
8	Matthew Wang	San Francisco, CA	$2,131
9	William Fisher	Broken Arrow, OK	$1,709

Tags: Carson Wieland Dell Taylor Francisco James Robinson Jim Carroll Robert James Ronald Neuman Sam Murphy Shawn Sparks

01-10-2020 16:20 UTC-5

Hawkins Hits Joseph with a "Oh Wow" Double Up

Anthony Thompson

Level 5 : 200/300, 300 ante

A player from early position opened for 600 and was called by Maurice Hawkins along with the hijack player before Jeremy Joseph three-bet to 3,000 on the button. Hawkins was the only player who called Joseph's three-bet to see a flop.

Hawkins check-raised Joseph's 2,000 bet to 6,000 and all the chips got in the middle after Joseph three-bet jammed putting Hawkins at risk.

Jeremy Joseph:
Maurice Hawkins:

Hawkins was behind and stood up to take his exit until the dealer dropped the on the turn.

"Oh, wow," Hawkins said as the dealer completed the board with the on the river giving him the double-up for 16,600 and the all-time ring leader took his seat.

Player	Chips	Progress
Jeremy Joseph	45,200 -10,100	-10,100
Maurice Hawkins	40,000 29,800	29,800

Tags: Jeremy Joseph Maurice Hawkins

01-10-2020 16:54 UTC-5

Wyckoff Doubles Through Buckingham Leaving Him with Crumbs

Anthony Thompson

Level 6 : 200/400, 400 ante

A player from middle position opened for 900 and was called Bobby Buckingham from the hijack. Action was on Alfred Wyckoff who three-bet to 2,000 on the button and was called by the big blind player, along with the initial raiser while Buckingham four-bet jammed for roughly 15,000. Wyckoff called putting his stack at risk while the big blind player and initial raiser folded.

Alfred Wyckoff:
Bobby Buckingham:

Wyckoff had Buckingham crushed and nothing changed after the runout giving him the double-up for 12,700 while Buckingham was left with just 2,500.

Player	Chips	Progress
Alfred Wyckoff	35,000
Bobby Buckingham	2,500

Tags: Alfred Wyckoff Bobby Buckingham

01-10-2020 17:36 UTC-5

Ron Robinson Wins Second Ring In Event #2: $250 NLH Multi-Flight

Anthony Thompson

Level 7 : 300/500, 500 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 #2: $250 NLH Multi-Flight, 2,107 runners created a $421,400 prize pool that was paid out to the top 301 players. Among those to cash but fall short of the final table were Matthew Iadarola (10th- $4,838), Evan Waguespack(13th - $3,938), Alan Percal (16th - $3,240), Asaf Ben Shushan (21st - $2,695), and Cory Bogert (29th - $2,034).

In the end, it was Texas native Ron Robinson who collected every chip in play to capture his second ring along with a $58,615 payday.

After taking down a one-day ring event back in July, Ron Robinson returned to Choctaw Durant and captured his second World Series of Poker title of the 2019/20 Circuit season.

The tournament encompassed four Day 1s and took three days to complete and Robinson was eyeing up his second Choctaw title.

Robinson eventually made it to the final two where he faced Rene Castillo. Just the same as his previous heads-up match for a Circuit glory, Robinson began at a disadvantage as Castillo controlled the chip lead.

When asked if his past experience aided with the obstacle, Robinson responded with “Absolutely. I just said I can’t give up. I kept trying, two or three different ways, to try to break his wall of chips. I would limp in. I would raise excessively on the button… I tried all these different things. And then, I just finally realized I just had to make a stand.”

And take a stand he did. The biggest pot of heads-up play, and the tournament, occurred near the end of Level 34. A king-high flop provided Castillo with two-pair and Robinson with an ace-high flush draw.

Both players opted all in with nearly the exact same amount of chips and a race ensued. Robinson was chasing a third heart and Castillo needed to fade some outs.

The turn was a dud. Then, the queen of diamonds landed on the river. Although it was not a heart, to Robinson’s delight, the face card completed a Broadway straight using the ace in his hand. The 20-million-chip pot left Castillo with a mere 800,000, which Robinson confiscated the very next hand.

Final Table Results

Place	Player	Hometown	Prize
1	Ron Robinson	Dallas, TX	$58,615
2	Rene Castillo	Webberville, TX	$36,646
3	Vaughn Brozek	Fort Worth, TX	$27,820
4	Blasie D'Sylva	Mckinney, TX	$20,774
5	Carson Wieland	Montgomery, TX	$15,879
6	Mark Tucker	Grapevine, TX	$12,261
7	Ryan Welsh	Pittsburgh, PA	$9,566
8	Kyle Birdwell	Fort Worth, TX	$7,542
9	Bronson Moses	Austin, TX	$6,008

Tags: Alan Percal Asaf Ben Shushan Carson Wieland Cory Bogert Mark Tucker

01-10-2020 18:52 UTC-5

Richard Chance Wins First Ring In Event #3: $400 NLH Monster Stack

Anthony Thompson

Level 9 : 400/800, 800 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 #3: $400 NLH Monster Stack, 604 runners created a $199,320 prize pool that was paid out to the top 92 players. Among those to cash but fall short of the final table were Miguel Hernandez (10th- $2,832), Jonathan Bloyen (12th - $2,832), Dwight Farrell (14th - $2,308), Donald Howell (18th - $1,906), and Todd Nichols (21st - $1,597).

In the end, it was Oklahoma native Richard Chance who collected every chip in play to capture his first gold ring along with a $37,764 payday.

The signature WSOP tournament took two full days to reach a champion, culminating with a heads-up match between Chance and three-time gold ring winner La Sengphet. Sengphet had numerous friends on the rail cheering her on.

“I mean, she’s pretty well known in the community I guess, around here,” Chance deduced during the finale. “Yeah, it was nerve-wracking, man. But, what can you do? Just play the cards. I tried not to worry about them.”

Although Chance could feel the room pulling for his adversary, the New Mexico native kept his focus and played his game. Chance has only recently begun to participate in tournament poker. With three min cashes already to his name, he was determined to close one out and aware of what it truly takes.

“It seemed like min cashing was as far as I could get,” stated Chance. “Honestly, it just comes down to, you got to get hot and just winning flips. Today it just seemed like I won almost every flip. They finally went my way. I felt like I played well too. I made some really good calls. It was just a good day, man.”

Winning flips was certainly a key factor in Chance’s ascension to the winner’s circle. However, the climactic hand was won by him making an incredible call. On a ten-high flop including two diamonds, Chance hit middle pair with an eight in his hand. He was faced with a bet from Sengphet but stuck around. “I thought she was trying to rep the ten and I just didn’t believe her,” mentioned Chance.

A big face card hit on the turn and another ten on the river. With a completed board, Sengphet put on the ultimate pressure by moving all in. Chance barely had her covered, so a call would essentially mean his tournament life, or hers.

“Yeah, I was super nervous,” Chance revealed. “When the king came, it also made possible straight draws. That other ten felt like such a brick to me. So, I really just sat on it for a minute and I convinced myself to make the call, and I did.”

It turned out to be a $37,764 call as Chance’s eights were good to take down the final pot. Not too bad for a recreational player in his seventh-ever live tournament. After his win, Chance was asked whether he will continue to pursue competitive poker.

“This probably helps. My bankroll just exploded,” Chance said with a smile. “I have so much fun doing this. All this does is fuel the fire. I already loved it and love coming to these and playing in these tournaments.”

Final Table Results

Place	Player	Hometown	Prize
1	Richard Chance	Wilburton, OK	$37,764
2	La Sengphet	Carroliton, TX	$23,338
3	Jonathan Wang	San Francisco, CA	$17,153
4	Steve Hiltz	Dallas, TX	$12,764
5	Jeffrey Turton	Durham, NC	$9,617
6	Michael Perrone	Chicago, IL	$7,338
7	Christopher Smith	Plano, TX	$5,671
8	Cory Glass	Georgetown, TX	$4,440
9	Hunter Barnett	Dixon, MO	$3,523

Tags: Christopher Smith Donald Howell Dwight Farrell Jonathan Bloyen Jonathan Wang La Sengphet Michael Perrone Miguel Hernandez Todd Nichols

01-10-2020 21:10 UTC-5

Jared Hemingway Wins Second Ring In Event #4: $600 Congress

Anthony Thompson

Level 10 : 500/1,000, 1,000 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 #4: $600 NLH Congress, 175 runners created a $90,125 prize pool that was paid out to the top 27 players. Among those to cash but fall short of the final table were Donnie Marks (10th- $1,565), Jonathan Bloyen (12th - $2,832), Jonathan Stephens (13th - $1,336), Allen Kessler (21st - $1,058), and Mike Rieck (26th - $942).

In the end, it was Texas native Jared Hemingway who collected every chip in play to capture his first gold ring along with a $22,385 payday.

The 5-card PLO Hi-Lo tourney ultimately boiled down to Jared Hemingway and Sean Moore It was a powerhouse battle that Hemingway came out on top of, winning his second gold ring.

“In this game, I feel like two of the best in the field got heads up,” Hemingway stated “He is very good, so I feel good about beating him. I mean, he’s better than me at the game. He has a lot more experience than me at the game, but I feel like I have some chops too.”

Moore is a two-time Circuit champ with both wins coming in Omaha Hi-Lo events. Hemingway has over $150,000 in WSOP Omaha cashes, mostly coming from a runner-up finish at the 48th annual WSOP, but his debut gold ring was earned in No-Limit Hold’em.

“I like the fact that it’s a different game. I play all games, so it’s nice to win a tournament other than Hold’em,” Hemingway mentioned.

The Texas native asserts that he does not rely on poker for a living. However, Hemingway does frequent the felt and has recently set some goals pertaining to his profitable hobby.

“I’m actually staring my goals in poker, they are to be competitive in bigger, higher games,” said Hemingway. The 43-year-old is looking to transition away from mid-stakes and throw his hat into the ring of larger buy-in tournaments. “That’s just a goal. Like I said, I’m not professional, but I’m a winner,” he said with a smile before taking his leave.

Final Table Results

Place	Player	Hometown	Prize
1	Jared Hemingway	Greenville, TX	$22,385
2	Sean Moore	Omaha, NE	$13,833
3	Brandon Zallar	Colorado Springs, CO	$9,696
4	Michael Czrter	Haslet, TX	$6,951
5	Ross Tyler	Lamesa, TX	$5,100
6	Paul Thomas	Orlando, FL	$3,832
7	Philip Guitar	Abilene, TX	$2,949
8	Glen Goldsmith	Palestine, TX	$2,327
9	Cory Bogert	Belleville, IL	$1,884

Tags: Allen Kessler Brandon Zallar Jared Hemingway Jonathan Bloyen Mike Rieck Paul Thomas Sean Moore

01-10-2020 21:58 UTC-5

Maurice Hawkins Extends All-Time Ring Record to 14 After Winning Event #5: $400 NLH Turbo

Anthony Thompson

Level 11 : 600/1,200, 1,200 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 #5: $400 NLH Turbo, 218 runners created a $71,940 prize pool that was paid out to the top 34 players. Among those to cash but fall short of the final table were Shawn Rice (10th- $1,200), Michael Scarlett (13th - $1,011), Ronald Jackson (16th - $873), Charles Barker (20th - $772), and Andrew Telfer (23rd - $700).

In the end, it was all-time ring leader Maurice Hawkins who once again collected every chip in play to extend his record by capturing his 14th gold ring along with a $16,898 payday.

“Feels good. Feel like I got my mojo back,” Hawkins divulged. “Feels good to know that the beginning of the year is going to end like it should, which means, that when you start the year off winning, it only can get better. It’s time to go up.”

Hawkins has recorded Circuit titles at more than a few casino locations. However, this was his first-ever gold ring obtained at Choctaw Durant. The Florida resident only began attending the Oklahoma-based this season (2019/20).

Being a turbo-style, one-day tournament, Event #6 hastily ran its course and around the time two tables were remaining, Hawkins took off.

“I was just kind of sitting there, got around 25 bigs, and then it was like poker time; ‘Let’s do this; Let’s make some things happen,’” Hawkins recounted.

The 39-year-old had hauled in over one million in chips by the time a redraw to one table was conducted. Majority of his opponents sat with stacks of less than 300,000.

Hawkins’ dominant chip lead going into the final table provided smooth sailing into the heads-up finale. There, he was met by another great, seven-time gold ring winner Andy Robinson who Hawkins has encountered before.

“We’ve been playing some pots the last two days. I would probably say he is one of the best players here,” said Hawkins. “It’s no shock that every time I get to a final table, Andy Robinson is at the final table.”

Robinson is a local pro out of Texas and has amassed plenty of WSOP prowess himself over the years. The two players had encountered each other before at a final table during the previous Choctaw Circuit in November where Hawkins finished 4th and Robinson 3rd.

This time around, they were heads-up with WSOP gold on the line. Robinson did render himself a fighting stack before facing Hawkins’ massive lead. However, Hawkins buckled down against his tough opponent and scooped the final pot with ace-king, which presented a cooler to Robinson's ace-queen.

The achievement granted Hawkins with an unprecedented 14th WSOP gold ring, putting him two rings ahead of Valentin Vornicu (12) and Josh Reichard (12).

Final Table Results

Place	Player	Hometown	Prize
1	Maurice Hawkins	West Palm Beach, FL	$16,898
2	Andrew Robinson	Georgetown, TX	$10,442
3	Kurt Haiss	Bartlesville, OK	$7,406
4	Billy Sasin	Lewisville, TX	$5,359
5	Michail Kotsifis	Houston, TX	$3,958
6	Phillip Jones	Denison, TX	$2,985
7	Sam Murphy	Cedar Hill, TX	$2,299
8	Jesus Gonzalez	Eagle Prass, TX	$1,810
9	Daniel Lowery	Peter Pender, AR	$1,457

01-10-2020 22:56 UTC-5

Alan Percal Wins First Ring In Event #6: $400 NLH 6-Handed

Anthony Thompson

Level 12 : 800/1,600, 1,600 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 #6: $400 NLH Six-Handed, 193 runners created a $63,690 prize pool that was paid out to the top 30 players. Among those to cash but fall short of the final table were Venanzio Pasubio (10th- $1,397), Boris Kasabov (12th - $1,112), Hugo Perez (15th - $913), Quinterol Mallette (18th - $773), and Cory Bogert (25th - $609).

In the end, it was Florida native Alan Percal who collected every chip in play to win his first gold ring along with a $15,857 payday.

“The bracelet trumps it slightly,” Percal said half-jokingly after his victory. “But I’ve been close to this a few times, recently, so it’s nice to close it out.”

Percal’s bracelet run occurred in 2016 at the 47th annual WSOP where he conquered the $10,000 No-Limit Hold’em Heads-Up Championship for $320,574. Though his recent win, good for a cash prize of $15,857, was much more scaled down, Percal was pleased to hit the Circuit milestone.

Before his accomplishment at Choctaw Durant, Percal had recorded three final-table appearances this season (2019/20). The Florida native, now living in Louisville, Kentucky intermittently travels to certain series around the nation.

“Depends on the stop really and when I have time… We have a friend that works here that helped out,” stated Percal on his presence in Oklahoma.

Coming into Day 2 of the Six Max, Percal controlled the second-largest stack in play. He maintained his chip advantage even through a stalwart, eight-handed period.

“We played eight-handed for like an hour and a half,” mentioned Percal. “And we were pretty deep to come into the day. Then we played eight-handed and the average stack was like probably 15 big blinds, which kind of mixed things up.”

Eventually, 8th place hit the rail and Percal redrew to the final table as chip leader. Another slight slowdown occurred during three-handed action. Two-time gold ring winner Matt Koch was the one to break off in 3rd place.

Percal went on to tackle a tough opponent, Frank Bengs, in heads-up duel. The match lasted for a while but was all over when Percal’s pocket sevens took down Bengs’ queen-jack.

Final Table Results

Place	Player	Hometown	Prize
1	Alan Percal	Weston, FL	$15,857
2	Frank Bengs	Crescent, OK	$19,800
3	Matthew Koch	Byrnes Mill, MO	$6,632
4	Steven McCartney	Columbia, SC	$4,604
5	Melissa Singh	New York, NY	$3,280
6	Cody Coffman	Tulsa, OK	$2,400
7	Michael Cockrell	Richardson, TX	$1,805
8	Jeffrey Prince	Austin, TX	$1,805
9	Kelly Cortum	Norwalk, IA	$1,397

Tags: Alan Percal Boris Kasabov Cory Bogert Frank Bengs Hugo Perez Quinterol Mallette

01-10-2020 23:57 UTC-5

Daniel Butler Wins First Ring In Event #7: $400 NLH Double Stack

Anthony Thompson

Level 14 : 1,000/2,500, 2,500 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 #7: $400 NLH Double Stack, 341 runners created a $112,530 prize pool that was paid out to the top 53 players. Among those to cash but fall short of the final table were Jeffrey Mckenzie (10th- $1,715), Bart Bogard (12th - $1,715), Melissa Bryne (15th - $1,416), Simon Webster (17th - $1,190), Will Berry (19th - 1,020), and Jerod Smith (20th - $1,020).

In the end, it was Texas native Daniel Butler who collected every chip in play to win his first gold ring along with a $23,997 payday.

The tournament took two days to complete and when the final card hit Butler was ecstatic.

“A lot,” Butler answered when asked what the ring meant to him. “I’ve been chasing this dude for a long time. It’s been crazy, you know… It’s been a long time coming.”

Butler deals for a living in his hometown of Waco. He tries to make at least one event per series at the southern Oklahoma casino, and this time around, he made his entry count.

“I made a big lady down on Day 1 that if I would have called I would have been out of the tournament, so that kind of shifted the momentum going into Day 2,” said Butler.

A saving fold kept Butler in the hunt, leading to his berth to Day 2 with just 14 others.

The final table was a bit of a roller coaster for everyone, following its formation. Butler, coming in with 16 big blinds, caught some heat in the middle of final-table action, scoring multiple knockouts, and amassed nice cushion for himself.

Later, during three-handed play, chips began changing hands repeatedly. Ramin Kaikhah was the first to double up, chunking away Butler’s chip lead.

“Yeah, man, it was crazy. The up and down. Lost a big hand early and I didn’t know if I was going to be able to come back from it,” Butler recounted.

However, Butler soon retaliated with a double-up back through Kaikhah. Then, lying in the wait for so long, Juli Black finally scored her own double up through Kaikhah as well

After the two hits, Kaikhah could not recover, dropping in 3rd place for $10,688. This set up a fairly even start to heads-up action between Butler and Black. Butler gained the momentum early on and ultimately took the crown with pocket tens.

Final Table Results

Place	Player	Hometown	Prize
1	Daniel Butler	Waco, TX	$23,997
2	Juli Black	Dallas, TX	$14,829
3	Ramin Kaikhah	San Marcos, TX	$10,688
4	Jeff Heiberg	Buffalo, WY	$7,828
5	Seneca Easley	Fort Worth, TX	$5,827
6	Susan Oleson	Sweetwater, TX	$4,410
7	David Prociak	Winter Park, FL	$3,393
8	Nelda Escamilla	Anna, TX	$2,656
9	Jonathan Bloyen	Denton, TX	$2,116

Tags: Bart Bogard Daniel Butler Jerod Smith Melissa Bryne Ramin Kaikhah Simon Webster Will Berry