Scott Brewster entered the tournament on a whim, but eventually took it down for first WSOP Circit gold ring and a nice five-figure payout
Scott Brewster entered the $600 No-Limit Hold’em Big-Blind Ante at the WSOP Circuit’s IP Biloxi stop hoping to just do well in his first-ever official poker tournament. However, the amateur player from Covington, Louisiana was eventually crowned the tournament’s champion.
After two days of play, a series of smart decisions, and a little bit of luck, Brewster is now part of the club of WSOP Circuit gold ring winners. The player also received $21,629 in prize money to celebrate his big victory.
The tournament drew 150 entries for a prize pool of $77,250. The top 15 finishers received a share of the money, with min-cashes being worth $1,304.
Brewster ended Day 1 of play as the chip leader among eight remaining survivors. The player had 640,000 in chips at that point. He had just a few chips more than two-time gold ring winner Bob Beck. However, it was eventually Luther Tran whom Brewster fought against heads-up.
Tran, who was vying for his first gold ring from the series, entered Day 2 action as the short stack with just a few big blinds left. Over the course of the day, the player managed to double up on several important occasions to build a formidable stack and reach the closing heads-up stage of the tournament.
Action-Packed Heads-Up
Surviving heads-up was not an easy task for Brewster and Tran. Both players played exceptionally well throughout the match. While the battle kicked off with the eventual winner holding the chip lead, Tran managed to double up several times and even took the lead twice during heads-up.
On one key hand, the player nearly took down the tournament, but ran out of luck at the worst possible moment. That hand saw Tran engage in a pre-flop all-in confrontation with Brewster. Tran held [Ax][Kx] to his opponent’s [Ah][8h]. An eight landed on the flop and no other cards that would have helped Tran appeared. Brewster thus ended up holding more than 80% of all chips in play.
The moment of victory came shortly after. Tran shoved all he had left with [Ad][10c] and Brewster called with [Qc][Jd]. Lady Luck once again smiled on Brewster, giving him a queen and a jack for two pair. Tran thus had to settle for the runner-up finish and a consolation prize of $13,369.
Brewster told WSOP Circuit staff that he decided to enter the tournament somewhat on a whim. The player, who is originally from Louisiana but is now moving to Texas, was visiting family in town, and having a few days off, he decided to jump into action and try his luck and skills.
Brewster praised his heads-up opponent and thanked the WSOP for running such a great event. Asked what’s next, the player said that he intended to enter the Main Event, which started Friday at the host casino, IP Biloxi.
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