A live tournament round-up from around the world including wins at the World Series of Poker Circuit in Tulsa for Jonathan Poche and Blair Hinkle, a World Poker Tour win for Jason Eisele, and victories for Michael O’Neill and Uri Kadosh.
The feeling you get when you run deep in a poker tournament is difficult to describe.
Hope.
Anxiety.
Excitement.
Nervousness.
And for some.
Devastation.
And for others.
Joy.
Here are the joyful ones beginning with Jonathan Poche and Blair Hinkle at the World Series of Poker Circuit (WSOPC) event in Tulsa.
The iconic poker brand was quietly confident about the Tulsa turnout. 721 entrants ensured the $1m Guarantee was surpassed by $81,500 in the $1,675 buy-in Main Event at the Hard Rock Hotel & Casino, and Jonathan Poche took it down.
Poche should head over to his Hendon Mob profile and take a screenshot. His results are bookended nicely with two WSOPC Main Event victories separated by a seven-year time span.
For his latest, Poche pockets $216,307 – the most significant amount of his career – and he managed it after topping a final table that included the six-time gold ring winner Josh Turner and the WPTDeepStacks winner Jeff Fielder.
Poche has now earned close to $650,000 in live tournaments.
Final Table Results
1. Jonathan Poche – $216,307
2. Chad Smith – $133,349
3. Mashir Khan – $98,308
4. Joshua Turner – $73,272
5. Jeff Fielder – $55,340
6. Charles Adkin – $42,341
7. Michael Horchoff – $32,802
8. Matthew Colvin – $25,729
9. Sayed-Mo Khan $20,430
Other superstars that made money include the record gold-ring winner Maurice Hawkins (14th) and former World Poker Tour champs Ravi Raghavan (19th) and Tommy Vedes (77th).
Blair Hinkle Wins The High Roller
The Tulsa event also contained a $2,200 High Roller. It attracted the eyeballs of 74 entrants, and Blair Hinkle banked $50,319 after beating Kurt Jewell in heads-up action.
Ravi Raghavan made it two cashes in two events after finishing fourth in this one. Robert Hankins, Brian Green and Mike Cordell also featured.
Hinkle has now won more than $4m playing live tournaments, including five gold rings and a single gold bracelet.
Final Table Results
1. Blair Hinkle – $50,319
2. Kurt Jewell – $31,135
3. Daniel Lowery – $20,495
4. Ravi Raghavan – $14,347
5. Robert Hankins – $10,632
6. William Berry – $8,315
7. Brian Green – $6,844
8. Mike Cordell – $5,913
Jason Eisele Wins WPTDeepStacks Maryland
Jason Eisele has a perfect 1/1 record in WPTDeepStack Events. Eisele captured the flag in the 389 entrant WPTDeepStacks Main Event at Maryland Live! The $108,921 that’s hitting his bank account just about now is the most significant windfall of his career (his previous best came two years ago when he won $72,825 after chopping when heads-up in a $1,650 buy-in event at Foxwoods in Mashantucket).
Eisele told the WPT press that he realised he had a shot at the title after an ‘almost flawless’ Day 2 where his queens cracked kings in a pre-flop all-in to take the tournament chip lead.
It was a pretty impressive final table.
Yoon Cheon was coming off the back of a 541-entrant side event win at the 2018 Wynn Spring Classic. The two-time Parx Big Stack winner Kevin Grabel was coming off the back of a final table appearance at the WSOPC Main Event in Atlantic City. And the WSOP bracelet winner Arkadiy Tsinis had recently won a Big Stack event at Parx.
But it was Eisele who banked the win and $3,000 WPTDeepStacks Championship package, after beating Scott Hall in heads-up action.
Final Table Results
1. Jason Eisele – $108,921*
2. Scott Hall – $73,962
3. Yoon Cheon – $47,670
4. Mark Bernardo – $31,105
5. Kevin Grabel- $24,414
6. Arkadiy Tsinis – $19,960
7. Scott Blumenfeld – $16,717
8. Patrick Lacey – $13,678
9. Duane Hunton – $10,588
*First-place prize includes a $3,000 WPTDeepStacks Championship package.
The Best of the Rest
Michael O’Neill is the latest Heartland Poker Tour (HPT) Champion. O’Neill was the last man seated in a 422 entrant tournament at the Meadows Casino in Pennsylvania. O’Neill earned $93,340 for the win.
And Uri Kadosh did likewise in the 433 entrant $1,500 buy-in Championship event at the 2018 Battles at the Beach Festival at the Isle Casino in Pompano Park. Tournament officials handed Kadosh a check for $98,993 after cutting a heads-up deal with Marshall White. Incredibly, Kadosh also won this event last year, beating 482 entrants for $120,035, the first-person to ever win back-to-back Battles at the Beach Main Events.
