Ring event number 12 on the 2015/16 WSOP Circuit Planet Hollywood schedule was completed on Friday in a spectacular way. Poker pro Cory Waaland from Wilmington, North Carolina won the event to receive a first-place prize of $21,571 and to be awarded his sixth career gold ring.
Last night was really special for Waaland as he achieved one of his goals – to win six WSOP Circuit gold pieces. Why six, someone would ask. According to Waaland, this matches symbolically the achievement of Michael Jordan, his sports hero, who captured a total of six championship rings during his career at the NBA.
Event #12 or the $365 No-Limit Hold’em attracted 306 entries who created a prize pool of $91,800. The top 33 finishers were paid, with payouts starting from $548. It took two days of play for the name of the champion to be announced. Day 1 of the event was completed with nine remaining players. Day 2 kicked off with Baptiste Chavaillaz as the chip leader, holding a total of 674,000.
Interestingly enough, Waaland was the short stack at the beginning of nine-handed play. He only had 107,000 in chips. However, it seems that Friday night was Waaland’s lucky one as he not only managed to catch up quickly, but he also defeated his opponents to grab the first-place prize and the precious gold ring.
The player described his victory as “huge.” Waaland told interviewers that he promised himself two and a half years ago that he would claim six gold rings and the fact that he has eventually achieved this made last night’s triumph particularly special.
The champion faced Ryan Gentry from La Jolla, California heads-up. However, Gentry could not hold up against his opponent and had to settle for the runner-up finish and the amount of $13,339. Baptiste Chavaillaz from Portland, Oregon took 3rd place in the event for $9,688. Keith Doering from Brownton, Minnesota finished 4th for a payout of $7,156.
Chris Miller from San Antonio, Texas received $5,372 for finishing 5th in the event. Chester Adamson from Cape Coral, Florida took 6th place for a payout of $4,097. Andrew Crookston from West Jordan, Utah scooped $3,374 for taking 7th place. Luis Armando Gonzalez from Mexico received $2,495 for finishing 8th. Rounding out the final table, Samir Chebaane from France was paid $1,991 for his 9th place in the event.
