The 2015-16 World Series of Poker Global Casino Championship that was held at Harrah’s Cherokee between August 9th and August 11, attracted a total of 126 entrants who accumulated a prize pool of $1,260,000. By the end of Day 3, there were only six remaining players. They returned on Thursday for the final table on the ESPN stage.
The tournament, previously known as the National Championship, was won by Said El-Yousfi. The latter defeated five tough opponents, who made it to the final table and pocketed $343,256 of the accumulated prize pool.
The latest WSOP champion is the second non-American who won the tourney. Back in 2014, Dominik Nitsche won the trophy. El-Yousfi was born in Morocco, but lives in Switzerland.
Right after the victory, El-Yousfi shared that it was a wonderful experience and he was happy to have the bracelet and a ring. He also added that his outgoing personality helped him keep his good spirits throughout the entire tournament. He felt as if he was playing against friends in an informal atmosphere.
This year, the WSOP Circuit made six international stops and El-Yousfi qualified for the Global Casino Championship by winning one of the two events, held in Marrakesh.
As for his performance at the Global Casino Championship, the toughest opponent El-Yousfi had to defeat was Josh Turner, who finished Day 1 with a huge chip lead and throughout the entire tournament, he was either first or second in chips. El-Yousfi started Day 3 as a chip leader followed by Turner and Cody Pack.
The latter was the first to leave the final table. Pack had a fantastic performance during the previous Circuit season, but his participation in the Global Casino Championship secured him the sixth place as well as the amount of $60,427 for his efforts.
Sean Small was the next to go. He finished the year 6th in points. Back in 2013, he made it to the WSOP final table in Las Vegas, so this was the second time he comes close to winning the bracelet.He occupied the fifth place and got $80,483 of the accumulated prize pool.
Joe Kuether was eliminated in fourth place and received $109,192. He was the only player on the final table who directly paid his buy-in. The bronze medalist in the competition was Josh Turner who pocketed $150,851. The runner-up Yasin Ahmady got a consolation prize of $212,150.
