The all-time WSOP Circuit ring race is back on. Just after midnight at WSOPC Council Bluffs, Ari Engel captured his 20th WSOP Circuit ring, joining Maurice Hawkins as the only players in history to hit that milestone.
That puts Engel – who has spent plenty of time atop the all-time ring list – just one behind Hawkins, who won two at the end of August to break the tie.
Engel’s victory in Event #12: $1,100 came less than 12 hours after arriving at Horseshoe Council Bluffs, following a stint at Atlantic City’s Borgata Big, Big Buy-In Event.
The win is worth $22,372, along with the ring and a $5,000 package to WSOP Paradise in the Bahamas.
From Borgata to Council Bluffs
Above all, for Engel, it’s reaching number 20 that means the most to him, especially after being denied several times in recent final table appearances.
“The last few months, I’ve gotten a lot of close calls, but didn’t finish them off," he told PokerOrg afterwards. “It’s nice to win tournaments — always a great feeling, of course. Even when you finish second, there’s always that bittersweet feeling, wondering what could have been.”
It seemed somewhat surprising to see Engel pass up more time at the Borgata series to travel to Council Bluffs, but he explained that coming here was always the plan after playing the nine-game mix event there.
“That was awesome, with E-Tay [Esther Taylor], and Kellie [deCellis], and all the Borgata people. I loved it there and like to support it.
"But the rest of the series is high-roller no-limit stuff with varying buy-ins, and I don't feel that great playing those. I thought: Council Bluffs, Circuit, weekend — that’s more my jam.
"I've run really well since I've been here so it's worked out."
It was easy until it wasn't
Engel entered the final table second in chips and seemed destined to win the tournament as he eliminated six of his opponents leading up to heads-up play with WSOP Mystery Millions champ Mike Wilklow.
However, things are rarely smooth when closing out a tournament, and Wilklow hit a flush draw on the river when Engel had a chance to win it with a flopped two pair. That gave him the chip lead for the first time heads-up.
While disappointing, leaving a moment like that behind him is something Engel has done many times before.
“In tournament poker, that always happens where things are going really good and then they’re not. What happened in the past might as well be last year. Last year doesn’t affect you, but for some reason, the hand before does, so I try to be, I don’t know what the word is, maybe zen, something like that, but I try to be even-keeled.”
The river giveth and the river taketh away
While that river extended the match, it was another that ultimately finished it. Wilklow had outflopped Engel, with QT against Engel’s AJ. But Engel drilled the famous ace on the river to claim ring number 20.
“Barry Greenstein! Big fan, read his book, all that stuff. I was also trying to be even-keeled at that stage," Engel said. "I actually said it in my head, ‘whatever happens, happens’. I run very well overall, so it’s not that shocking when I hit a miracle river, but yeah, it felt good.”
Engel is now within one of Hawkins for the overall lead in Circuit rings, and with several events still to come here at Council Bluffs, including the Main Event, which starts on Friday. Will we see another from Engel in short order?
“Of course, it’s very unlikely," Engel said, "and whatever happens, I’m okay with it. Now that I’ve just won a tournament, I can pretend I really don’t care about the ups and downs of tournament poker. But most of it’s out of your control for any one tournament, so to me it doesn’t make sense to think I’m going to win another.”
You can follow all the action from Council Bluffs as it happens on PokerOrg Instant.
