$1,700 Main Event
Day 1b Completed
2020 World Series of Poker Circuit Choctaw Durant
$1,700 Main Event
Day: 1b
Event Info
Final Results
Event Info
Level Info
Players Info - Day 1b
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
673
Players Left
109
Rodrick Tyes Bags Chip Lead on Day 1b of Choctaw Casino Resort $1,700 Main Event
Level 16
: 2,000/4,000, 4,000 ante
After 12 plus hours of play,16 levels are complete and all chips have been bagged for Day 1b of Choctaw Casino Resorts $1,700 Main Event. After Day 1a drew 392 entries, today’s flight saw an additional 673 join the fun with 108 players remaining when play concluded.
Rodrick Tyes ended the day with a whopping 747,500 to finish as the clear chip leader after continually stacking chips throughout the day.
Second in chips is Montana Bliss, who also led a charge at the end of the evening, building his stack from around 300,000 to its finishing point in the last two levels of the evening. Bliss bagged a stack of 586,000 which is above Day 1a chip leader Wesley Cutshall’s 517,000. Another player to end the night with a bigger stack than Day 1a's chip leader was Kyle Birdwell who bagged 556,000. Other players to finish in the top include Richard Reiner (532,000) and Kenneth Blanton (478,000).
Saturday’s Day 1b flight saw a ton of recognizable faces make it up the mountain at their final shot at advancing to Day 2. Some players to advance in this flight include Carson Wiedland (428,500), Brian Green (360,500), Jason Gooch (354,000), Jared Jaffee (290,000), Andy Robinson (254,000), Melissa Bryne (162,000) and Jerod Smith (104,000).
A few players who were not fortunate enough to advance including Aaron Massey, Ralph Massey, Vincent Moscati, Cory Bogert, Irene Carey and Gil George.
Day 2 will Sunday, January 12th, with a local start time of noon. Play will resume at the beginning of Level 17, with blinds of 2,500/5,000 and a 5,000 big-blind ante. Levels will last 60-minutes throughout the day with 15-minute breaks coming after every two levels.
There will be 168 players returning for Day 2 action and 160 of them will make it into the money. Those who earn the first-level payout will receive $2,554 and payouts will climb from there to the eventual first-place prize of $272,846.
Stay tuned here as the PokerNews live reporting team will be here to bring you all of the action as the day unfolds.
End of Day Chip Counts (full)
Level 16
: 2,000/4,000, 4,000 ante
| Player | Chips | Progress |
|---|---|---|
|
747,500 | -122,500 |
|
586,000 | 586,000 |
|
556,000 | 556,000 |
|
532,000 | 532,000 |
|
478,000 | 478,000 |
|
439,500 | 439,500 |
|
428,500 | 56,500 |
|
404,000 | 404,000 |
|
360,500 | 259,500 |
|
354,000 | 354,000 |
|
349,500 | 349,500 |
|
346,000 | 346,000 |
|
341,500 | 341,500 |
|
332,000 | 332,000 |
|
313,000 | 313,000 |
|
311,500 | 311,500 |
|
|
300,000 | 300,000 |
|
|
297,000 | 297,000 |
|
295,000 | 295,000 |
|
291,500 | 61,500 |
|
290,000 | 140,000 |
|
283,500 | 283,500 |
|
275,000 | 95,000 |
|
|
254,000 | 254,000 |
|
239,500 | 239,500 |
Play Has Ended
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
Tyes Rivers Flush to Crack Brabham's Kings; Closes In On a Milly
Level 16
: 2,000/4,000, 4,000 ante
There was a monster pot brewing between Rodrick Tyes from the cutoff and Trey Brabham on the button.
The board read 
and Tyes put Brabham to the test moving all-in. Brabham went into the tank as there was already over 100,000 in the middle. After a few minutes in the tank Brabham said, "If you flopped it good for you but I have to see it," as he put in his chips for the call.
Rodrick Tyes: 
Trey Brabham: 
Brabham made the right call but still had a sweat as any ace, five or spade would give Tyes the win.
Unfortunately for Brabham, Tyes heater continued as the river fell the 
completing Tyes flush and eliminating Brabham from the tournament.
| Player | Chips | Progress |
|---|---|---|
|
|
870,000 | 465,000 |
|
Busted |
Nines Hold for Dryer to Eliminate Opponent
Level 16
: 2,000/4,000, 4,000 ante
There was four-way action after a 
flop with the big blind player already all-in preflop. Todd Dreyer lead out and got folds from both opponents taking down the side pot.
Todd Dreyer : 
Opponent: 
Dreyer was ahead and nothing changed after the 
turn or the 
river as he sent his opponent to the rail.
| Player | Chips | Progress |
|---|---|---|
|
130,000 | 30,000 |
Steven McCartney Claims First Ring In Event #11: $400 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 #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 |
Level: 16
Blinds: 2,000/4,000
Ante: 4,000