The $1,700 World Series of Poker Circuit Cherokee Main Event drew 1,470 entrants to the mountains of North Carolina for four days of action. Two starting flights juiced the prize pool to over $2.2 million and Joseph Crowley overcame an experienced final table to win his Circuit ring and $348,785.
Crowley defeated reigning WSOP Main Event champion Daniel Weinman heads up to make his victory a little sweeter. "I had to go through the reigning Main Event champ heads up to win, so that was a little intimidating. But I got through it."
"It was a tough final table; there were a lot of great players there," he added. "It's a great feeling and it gives me a lot of confidence going into the upcoming tournaments at the Wynn."
"It's been kind of a tough year and I haven't been running great," Crowley said. "Before the Main I had two min-cashes on 21 bullets. It doesn't feel good to kicked in the teeth every day; it can mess with your confidence."
Day 3 resumed with 12 players returning to action. Michael Vincent (10th), Ross Ward (11th) and Jonathan Lewis (12th) were eliminated in the first 30 minutes of play to cut the field to the final table.
Chris Conrad was the first player from the final table to fall. He moved in preflop with pocket nines and Weinman called with Ad2d. Weinman hit an ace on the flop and Conrad hit the rail. Thirty minutes later Weinman served up another elimination when Dale Roesel paired an ace and Weinman made a flush.
Maurice Hawkins survived on a short stack for several levels but hung on longer than most. His final hand saw him shove with pocket jacks and Varnas called with pocket queens. Hawkins didn't find any help and was out in seventh place. Varnas' stack was a roller coaster and when he got short he moved in with Ts9s and Chris Churchwell looked him up with AsJd. He paired his ace on the flop and Varnas was sent to the payout window.
Churchhill lost 75% of his stack to Weinman and a couple hands later he shoved with pocket eights. Tyler Phillips called with Ac6d and spiked an ace on the flop to eliminate Churchwell.
Phillips was the short stack of four-handed play and moved in preflop holding pocket sixes. Weinman showed him bad news with pocket aces and earned another elimination. Three-handed play saw Jarod Manghini super short against the big stacks of Weinman and Crowley.
Manghini got his last few big blinds in with KdQs and Crowley was there with pocket jacks. The board ran Crowley's way and he was set for heads-up play with Weinman with relatively even stacks.
The first hand of heads-up play saw Crowley take the lion's share of Weinmans' chips. Weinman opened on the button, Crowley raised to 2.4 million and Weinman called. The went to a flop of Tx7x3x, Weinman called 1.3 million and the turn came a Qh. Crowley bet 3 million, Weinman called and the river came a Tx. Crowley checked, Weinman bet 12 million and Crowley called with AxQx. Weinman held Jx9x for a busted draw.
Crowley took a 55 million to 3 million chip-lead and the match lasted a few more hands. Weinman made a stand with Ac9c, and Crowley called with Tc9d. The board ran out QhTs8hTd3s and the reigning Main Event champ was eliminated. Weinman shook hands, made his exit and has a morning flight out of Atlanta to catch to go WSOP Paradise.
Preston McEwen (14th), Billy Kopp (17th), Toby Boas (21st), Chris Staats (23rd) and James Arruebarena (26th) all made deep runs in the event. Brock Wilson, Brant Jolly, Hamid Izadi, Corey Bierria and Cherish Andrews each earned a reported cash.
The WSOP finishes out the year at the Atlantis Resort in the Bahamas for WSOP Paradise. Then the WSOP Circuit fires back up in January with stops in Choctaw, Thunder Valley and Tunica. Then returns back to Harrah's Cherokee February 15-26th.
Final Table Payouts
- Joe Crowley - $348,785
- Daniel Weinman - $215,576
- Jarod Minghini - $162,276
- Tyler Phillips - $123,261
- Christopher Churchwell - $98,483
- Chad Varnas - $73,092
- Maurice Hawkins - $57,070
- Dale Roesel - $44,980
- Chris Conrad - $35,787
Recap provided by Paul Oresteen from the Cherokee floor.
