Ryan McAllister won a second WSOP Circuit gold ring within two months, thus seriously upping his chances to join the field of the season-ending Global Casino Championship. Last night, the player took down the $1,125 No-Limit Hold’em or Event #8 on the WSOP Circuit Seminole Hard Rock Casino schedule for the gold piece and his largest-ever cash of $48,600.
The tournament, a single re-entry one, drew 180 entries who generated a prize pool of $180,000. As many as 18 of the participants did not leave empty-handed, min-cashes starting from $2,414.
McAllister, originally from Massachusetts but currently residing in South Carolina, has become playing tournament poker more frequently over the past several months, particularly after his first WSOP Circuit victory.
The player took down a $365 No-Limit Hold’em Unlimited Re-Entry tournament at Harrah’s Cherokee back in August for his first piece of Circuit jewelry and $40,793. He then cashed in the Main Event of the same North Carolina WSOP Circuit stop, finishing 13th for a little over $18,000. In other words, McAllister has three WSOP Circuit cashes and two of them were accompanied by gold rings. What is more, it all happened within less than two months.
Tough Competition and Great Composure
The event’s final table was set on Day 2 and McAllister entered it third in chips with 400,000. Yaniv Shushan with 621,000 and Cero Zuccarello with 504,000 were the only two players standing ahead of him on the chip counts chart.
McAllister had tough competition to deal with during that final stage of the tournament. Four-time gold ring winner Mark Fink and Alex Rocha, holder of two gold rings, were among the finalists. Loni Harwood was also among the final table headliners. The female poker pro has won three gold rings and two gold bracelets over the past several years. In 2015, she became the winner of the National Casino Championship that marked the end of the WSOP Circuit’s 2014/2015 season.
Fink finished ninth, Harwood took seventh place, and Rocha finished third last night, thus being denied the chance to extend their list of tournament poker accomplishments.
Eventually, McAllister found himself faced against local player Erik Christensen. But he outlasted his final opponent, as well, to capture the gold ring and first-place prize. Christensen hit the rail in second place, good for $30,035.
Several more events are yet to be completed as part of the WSOP Circuit’s Seminole Hard Rock Hollywood stop. The $1,675 Main Event, or else the highlight tournament on the schedule, is set to kick off today, September 29, at noon local time with the first of two starting flights. The event will be played over a total of four days, including the two starting flights, and the name of the winner is expected to become known on October 2.
