Kurt Jewell Wins World Series of Poker Circuit Hammond
The World Series of Poker Circuit has been in full flow and hosted in Hammond the third day was always going to have plenty to offer, many knowing that the final 16 players would produce a high level of poker and do so over a long period of time.
With the third day kicking off at 14.00 local time in Hammond and the action didn't come to an end until 4.15am the following day.
Although there were high hopes of a strong start to the tournament action, the early stages of the day showed a steady stream of players being sent to the rails, the game tightening up as the final 11 players played for the title.
11th place fell to Kevin Ammerman after his A
K
fell to Nick Jivkov's A10.
With 10 players remaining in the tournament, it was Kurt Jewell who lead the field after retaining his chip lead after starting the day in the very same position but even though it was Jewell who held the biggest stack of chips, it wasn't him that knocked the next player out to set up the final table, that accolade fell to Edwin Choi after his straight proved to be too much for Matthew Shepsky, sending him to the rails before he was able to make the final table.
Now with the final nine players taking their seats at the final table, it wasn't too long before the tournament lost another contender, Casey Hayes being the next to leave the tournament.
Edwin Choi picked up AK
and limped into the hand before Hayes pushed all in from the next seat after picking up AJ but the community cards fell in the favour of Choi and produced a King within its run, sending Hayes crashing out of the tournament in 9th place.
The next half an hour claimed two more contenders, Daniel Cohen and Bryan Devonshire leaving the tournament in 8th and 7th place.
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The battle continued and with only six players remaining things became as tight as they have ever been in the tournament before Will 'Monkey' Souther got caught up in a hand which spelt the end of his participation in the tournament, cashing out with $47,772 in tournament winnings.
Nick Jivkov was the next to lose his chance to get his hands on the title and the first place prize money, falling foul to a hand just after 10pm which saw him having to be the next player to take the walk from the table to the cashier to collect his $62,384.
4th place finisher Edwin Choi decided that he was going to try to make a move on his opponents, pushing all of his stack into the centre with little more than 64 before he got a call from William Reynolds who didn't seem to believe the story that Choi tried to offer, calling with J7.
The community cards fell showing A107K Q, leaving Choi holding nothing strong enough to overcome Reynold's pair of 7's.
Choi left the tournament with $82,514 to show for his efforts.
The final trio were the only ones left at the table now and it took an hour and a half until the third place finisher was crowned, this time Reynolds moving all in and being called by Jared Kenworthy who will have been pleased to have seen that he had Reynolds covered.
The hand played out and the cards fell, the community cards did little to improve the hands but Kenworthy's A6 fitting into the central cards to create the stronger hand and leave Reynolds $110,567 richer.
The emphasis was now on Kurt Jewell and Jared Kenworthy who were to go head to head to reach the finishline of the tournament and see who would be able to capture the title and the first place status.
The final hand came as Jewell opted to try to place the squeeze on his opponent and after finding QJ in his hole cards. Pushing his 8.1 million chips into the centre the crowd gasped as Kenworthy called and revealed that he had Jewell's hand covered with his AQ.
The tournament seemed to favour those who entered into all in action pre-flop with the higher ranking hands throughout the day but unfortunately for Kenworthy lady luck opted to change her stance this time, the community cards offering nothing until the river card, bringing J into play and to complete Jewell's hand.
Kenworthy finished the tournament in 2nd place for $150,104 and Jewell cashed $242,909 as well as taking home the title and an entry into the Regional Championship worth $10,000.
The complete winners package was made up of:
- $242,909 in prize money
- $10,000 entry into the Regional Championship
- Guaranteed seat in the National Championship
- WSOPC Gold Championship Ring