Danny Illingworth has extensive live poker experience and his bankroll of more than $1 million certainly shows that he has been doing quite well on the felt. However, there was one thing to have evaded the player over the years, or at least until last night. The player has come very close to winning titles but it was on Wednesday when he finally scored a tournament victory.
Illingworth won the WSOP Circuit Bicycle Casino $580 No-Limit Hold’em, adding $16,945 to his bankroll and a gold ring to commemorate his triumph. The player was the one to emerge victorious from an overall field of 121 entries.
The event kicked off on March 7 and saw the original field reduced to just seven finalists by the time Day 1 play was concluded. The seven hopefuls returned at The Bicycle Casino in Bell Gardens, California led by Marla Schwartz. Although the player was well ahead of her opponents, there was quite a lot of talent left at the table, and Illingworth was among those talented players to have remained in contention.
It was actually a confrontation between Illingworth and Schwartz that determined the final course of play. At some point on Day 2, the eventual winner spotted a good opportunity to double through the female player and he took excellent advantage of it. Schwartz was eliminated shortly after in 3rd place for $7,560.
Thus, Illingworth headed into the final heads-up match against Deepinder Singh as the chip leader. And his commanding chip lead as well as his previous WSOP Circuit experience helped him finish off his opponent and scooped the coveted title. Singh took home $10,470 for his runner-up finish.
Including last night’s victory, Illingworth now has 11 in-the-money finishes in WSOP Circuit events. The player has so far cashed almost $130,000 in the popular live tournament series.
The champion said in his post-victory interview that he was happy to finally scoop a poker title. Commenting on the atmosphere at the poker table, the player said that the event was very “enjoyable and engaging”, particularly given the fact that he knew most of his opponents. A great portion of the tournament’s entries were players from Bell Gardens and the area, all Bicycle Casino regulars.
Four gold ring events have already been completed on the schedule of the WSOP Circuit Bicycle Casino schedule. The festival is set to feature a total of 12 such events.
