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

01-12-2020 03:00 UTC-5

Rodrick Tyes Bags Chip Lead on Day 1b of Choctaw Casino Resort $1,700 Main Event

Anthony Thompson

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.

Tags: Aaron Massey Andy Robinson Barry Barron Brian Green Cory Bogert Gil George Irene Carey Jared Jaffee Jason Gooch Jerod Smith Kenneth Blanton Melissa Bryne Ralph Massey Rodrick Tyes Vincent Moscati

01-12-2020 01:46 UTC-5

Steven McCartney Claims First Ring In Event #11: $400 NLH

Anthony Thompson

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

01-11-2020 18:07 UTC-5

Postel Doubles Through Harness

Anthony Thompson

Level 7 : 300/500, 500 ante

After a series of three and four-bets preflop, James Postel was all for 36,500 from middle position and was called by Michael Harness from the small blind.

James Postel:
Michael Harness:

Harness was behind and things got worse after the flop that gave Postel top-set.

To make things worse Harness, the dealer turned the adding salt to the wound and then completed the board with the on the river giving Postel the double-up leaving Harness with just 600 which was gone the very next hand.

Player	Chips	Progress
James Postel	80,000
Michael Harness	Busted

Tags: James Postel Michael Harness

01-11-2020 17:53 UTC-5

McNeely Sends Berry Out the Door

Anthony Thompson

Level 7 : 300/500, 500 ante

Michael McNeely opened under the gun for 1,800 and Will Berry defended his big blind to see a flop.

Berry check-called McNeely's 2,000 continuation bet to the turn and did the same after McNeely fired out 5,000.

The completed the board on the river and Berry checked his option once more and McNeely put out one last bet for 10,000 putting Berry all in .

Berry called and McNeely tabled for a set of fives while Berry tossed into the muck then took his exit.

Player	Chips	Progress
Michael McNeely	70,000	70,000
Will Berry	Busted

Tags: Michael McNeely Will Berry

01-11-2020 15:47 UTC-5

Singh's Flush Is Better; Doubles Through Solano

Anthony Thompson

Level 4 : 100/200, 200 ante

After two initial limpers, Melisa Singh raised to 1,000 from middle position and was called by Jesse Solano from the small blind, Martin Herrera from the big blind, along with the two initial limpers.

The flop was checked to Singh who continued for 3,200 and Solano raised to 10,000. Action folded back to Singh who moved all in for 27,900 and was called by Solano.

Jesse Solano:
Melisa Singh:

Both players held the same flush draw but Singh held the nut-draw.

There wasn't much of a sweat as the turn came the completing the flush for both players and Singh doubled-up after the completed the board on the river.

Player	Chips	Progress
Joseph Marshall	70,000	70,000
Melisa Singh	60,000	30,000
Tony Hill	27,000	27,000
Jesse Solano	11,000	-19,000
Martin Herrera	6,000	6,000

Tags: Jesse Solano Joseph Marshall Martin Herrera Melisa Singh Tony Hill

01-11-2020 15:30 UTC-5

Keathley Rivers Full House and Gets Paid

Anthony Thompson

Level 4 : 100/200, 200 ante

Tiffany Keathley opened under the gun and was called by Guillermo Ninez from the hijack along with Kenneth Blanton from the big blind.

The flop was checked to Ninez who fired out 1,200 and was called by both opponents.

The dealer turned the which was checked to the river. Blanton lead out for 4,000 and Keathley quickly raised to 12,000 which as called by both Ninez along with Blanton and all three players tabled their hands.

Tiffany Keathley:
Kenneth Blanton:
Guillermo Ninez:

Each player connected with the board but Keathley held the beast with the full house and she raked in the nice pot.

Player	Chips	Progress
Tiffany Keathley	75,000	75,000
Kenneth Blanton	40,000
Guillermo Ninez	12,000

Tags: Tiffany Keathley Kenneth Blanton Guillermo Ninez

01-11-2020 14:47 UTC-5

Martinez Eliminates Opponent

Anthony Thompson

Level 3 : 100/200, 200 ante

Action on the table folded around to the button player who raised to 600 and Jesus Martinez three-bet to 1,400 from the small blind. The big blind player folded and the button player four-bet jammed for 2,900, Martinez called.

Jesus Martinez:
Opponent:

Both players were live and conned on the flop but Martinez got the better of it.

The turn didn't change a thing nor the river and the runner-up of the November $1,700 Main Event at Choctaw sent his opponent out the door.

Player	Chips	Progress
Jesus Martinez	38,000

Tags: Jesus Martinez

01-11-2020 13:37 UTC-5

Webster Gets An Early Gift

Anthony Thompson

Level 1 : 100/100, 0 ante

There was four-way action that saw a flop and Alem Girma lead out for 900 into a 1,000 pot. Action was on Simon Webster who raised to 2,100 and action folded back to Girma who three-bet jammed, Webster called.

Alem Girma:
Simon Webster:

Webster flopped a set of threes and was way ahead until the turn gave Girma a gutterball.

Luckily for Webster, the river fell the giving him the early double-up and eliminating Girma.

Player	Chips	Progress
Simon Webster	60,000	30,000
Alem Girma	Busted

Tags: Alem Girma Simon Webster

01-11-2020 11:12 UTC-5

Welcome To Day 1b of the $1,700 Main Event at Choctaw Casino Resort

Anthony Thompson

Yesterday’s Day 1a flight drew 392 entries with 59 players advancing to Day 2. After over 12 hours inside the Choctaw's Casino Resort, it was Wesley Cutshall who bagged the chip lead with a stack of 517,000. Following closely behind Cutshall was WSOP bracelet winner and five-time ring winner Jonathan Hilton (479,000).

Right behind Hilton was Brant Jolly (471,000), Maury Solano (460,500) and four-time ring winner Marshall White (456,000) who rounded out the top five stacks.

Other notable players putting chips in a bag at the end of Day 1a include Eric Bunch (403,000), Mike Linster (335,000), and all-time ring leader Maurice Hawkins (243,000).

This is the second and final starting flight. Once the day is completed, the players will combine for Day 2 Sunday, January 12th and will play down to a winner on Day 3 Monday, January 13th.

Starting Day Outlook

Day 1b 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
Break 15
16	60	2,000	4,000	4,000