The 2015/16 WSOP Circuit Harrah’s Cherokee $1,675 Main Event with a guaranteed prize pool of $1 million was completed last night after four days of play. Atlanta-based poker pro Daniel Weinman bested its massive field to win the biggest share of the prize pool and his first-ever gold ring.
The Main Event attracted a total of 1,010 entries over two starting flights. All players who entered the tournament generated an overall prize pool of $1,515,000. The top 108 finishers received a share of the money, with lowest payouts starting from $2,788. Weinman collected the amount of $280,260 for winning the event.
It is interesting to note that almost two years ago, the player played heads-up against John Bowman in the WSOP Circuit Harrah’s Cherokee Main Event. However, he could not make it against his opponent and had to settle for the runner-up finish. And as it seems, last night the Atlanta-based poker professional finally had the chance to find his redemption at the same casino.
This year’s edition of the Harrah’s Cherokee Main Event featured two starting flights and two more days of play. Day 3 of the tournament, its final one, saw 20 players returning to play down to a final table and a champion. David Hines started the day as the chip leader and the only player to be beyond the 2-million-chip mark.
Play resumed from Level 26 and it took two levels of play for the ten-handed final table to be set. Action then slowed down a bit and it took seven more levels before the names of the heads-up opponents became clear. Weinman had to face one-time gold ring winner Edward LeBlanc from Atlanta, Georgia. The eventual champion actually entered the heads-up match as the chip leader.
Two-handed play did not take long. On what turned out to be the last hand in play, LeBlanc shoved his short stack and Weinman called. The first tabled [Qd][2s] against the latter’s [Ad][2c]. The board ran out [Qc][6s][4d][8c][Ad], securing Weinman with pocket aces and the title. LeBlanc took home a consolation prize of $173,286 for his runner-up finish.
Commenting on his victory, Weinman said that it felt “pretty cool” to win such a big event. Apart from the gold ring and the first-place prize of $280,260, the player also received a spot in the 2016 Global Casino Championship.
And here are the rest of the finalists and their respective payouts:
Kelly Andrews from Florence, South Carolina took 3rd place to collect $128,775. Fikret Kovac from Atlanta, Georgia finished 4th for $96,809. Jerry Monroe from Columbus, Georgia took 5th place for a payout of $96,809. David Hines from Vinemont, Alabama received $56,631 for his 6th place in the event.
Bruce Webb from Oak Ridge, Tennessee finished 7th for $44,071. Virgil Beddingfield from Alpharetta, Georgia took 8th place to collect $34,694. Hamid Izadi from Roswell, Georgia scooped $27,634 of the prize pool for his 9th place. Heath Cox from Cullman, Alabama finished 10th to take home $22,271.
