WSOPC Pompano Beach

Steven McKoy

REGINA CORTINA

That's a wrap on the WSOP Circuit here at Harrah's Pompano Beach. Event #18: $400 Double-Stack Closer drew 213 entries, creating a $70,290 prize pool. Steven McKoy defeated Ronald Katz heads-up in the end to win his first WSOP Circuit Ring, the $16,540 top prize and a $5,000 package to WSOP Paradise in the Bahamas.

“Pretty good," McKoy told PokerOrg when asked how he felt about the win. "You know. It’s my first ring. I’ve wanted to win one for a long time. I’ve been playing poker for almost 20 years. It feels pretty good to finally win one.”

McKoy explained how he used to be more of a mainstay at cash games but has settled into playing the occasional tournament after starting a family. 

“I started out playing a lot of cash games. It’s what people know me for. Recently, I took a break from cash games because I have a family. I have three little kids right now. I just play some tournaments when I get the time.”

McKoy described his final table trajectory, using timely aggression to go from short stack to eventually winning the whole thing. 

“At the final table, I was one of the shorter stacks. Close to the bottom, but not at the bottom. I won some hands, stole some pots, and put a lot of pressure on opponents. Just tried to run them over.”

It’s controlled aggression," McKoy continued. "Either you’re gonna win, or you’re gonna lose, really fast. I don’t get coolered too much, I just bluff a lot.”

Final table results:

1. Steven McKoy - $16,540
2. Ronald Katz - $10,698
3. Daniel Vranich - $7,140
4. John Depersio - $4,918
5. Luminita Petric - $3,500
6. Steven Stout - $2,576
7. Mohammad Pourmandi - $1,963
8. Archibald Seaton - $1,551
9. Luke Becker - $1,272
10. Yury Parad - $1,085

Bryan Reyes

REGINA CORTINA

Event #12: $400 Colossus Multi-bag No-Limit Hold'em drew 318 entries across four starting flights, creating a $104,940 prize pool. In the end, Bryan Reyes defeated Avery Williams heads-up to win the $24,479 top prize and his first Circuit Ring.

“I feel great. Relieved." Reyes told PokerOrg following the win. “This actually does mean a lot to me. My biggest tournament cash before was around $18,000. I beat my own record, and it’s my first ring too. For m,e it’s a pretty big deal.”

“I think it’s cool, it’s a milestone" Reyes said on winning the ring. "I’m not really one for jewelry, but it’s cool. Something to put on the shelf, and hopefully I can add to it.”

Reyes started the day with the fourth-largest stack and described a steady trajectory from the start of the day to the final table.

“I was first from my flight. I started the day with around 40 bigs. I made a few small mistakes, other than that I played pretty solid. You play solid, you get lucky, and you might be able to make it to the final table and get first. Anything can happen at the final table. You can go in as the chip lead and get out in fifth or sixth place.”

The final hand of the tournament saw Reyes catch gin on the river.

“The hand that I won, I got very lucky. I flopped bottom pair with a backdoor straight and flush draw. He led out, I called. The turn gave me the gutshot, and he bet for a third of my chip stack. I binked the four on the river, shoved all in, he called, and that was that.”

Final Table Results:

1. Bryan Reyes - $24,479
2. Giovanni Yepes - $15,868
3. Guillermo Hamilton - $10,603
4. Mark LeBlanc - $7,309
5. Zachary Fischer - $5,202
6. Karim Salum - $3,826
7. Tasiya Kuznetsova - $2,912
8. Carlos Flores - $2,296
9. Mark Knabb - $1,878
10. Andris Raisins - $1,595

Carlos Bermudez

REGINA CORTINA

The biggest buy-in event of the series has concluded here at the WSOPC Pompano Beach. Event #17: $2,200 High Roller No-Limit Hold'em drew 62 entries, creating a $124,000 prize pool. In the end, Carlos Bermudez defeated Avery Williams heads-up to win his second Circuit Ring and the $37,577 top prize, adding to his $600 turbo title here last December.

Final Table results:

1. Carlos Bermudez - $37,577
2. Avery Williams - $24,190
3. Maxwell Young - $16,291
4. Randy Tulepan - $11,500
5. Ryan Brown - $8,529
6. Nickson Tigris - $6,663
7. Karim Salum - $5,498
8. David Moses - $4,808
9. Rami Hahitti - $4,472

Wiz Wilkerson

REGINA CORTINA

Event #16: $400 No-Limit Hold'em Grand Master required an extra day to produce a winner from the 293-entry field. Earlier today, Wiz Wilkerson emerged as the last player standing. Wilkerson defeated Giovanni Yepes heads-up to win his first WSOP Circuit Ring, the $20,882 top prize and the $5,000 package to WSOP Paradise in the Bahamas.

Final table Results:

1. Wiz Wilkerson - $20,882
2. Ronald Katz - $13,907
3. Luis Flores - $9,510
4. Paul Domb - $6,657
5. Damien Simon - $4,774
6. Jacobo Milhem - $3,509
7. Daniel Biddle - $2,645
8. Steven Costa - $2,046
9. Richard Ebaugh - $1,625
10. Pablo Valdivieso - $1,327