Steve Mermelstein won Event #7: $365 No-Limit Hold’em Six-Max, part of the 2015/16 WSOP Circuit Palm Beach Kennel Club schedule, collecting his first-ever Circuit cash. The player from Houston, Texas received a first-place prize of $17,334 and his first career gold ring, respectively.
What made Mermelstein’s victory particularly impressive was the fact that he managed to defeat several much more experienced players at the six-handed final table. His opponents included two former gold ring winners, a player with online poker earnings of more than $1 million, and two other players that had previously appeared at WSOP Circuit final tables.
The two-day event featured a prize pool of $64,200, created by 214 entries and distributed to the top 24 finishers. Lowest payouts were worth $576. A total of 21 Levels were played on Day 1 of the tournament. And it saw 7 players bagging up their chips for the night. Those came back for Day 2 to set the six-handed final table and play down to the eventual winner.
And the final table itself was reached quite quickly. As mentioned above, it was particularly tough as it featured several really experienced players. Jason Gooch from Vidor, Texas was the first to leave it. The player, who had formerly appeared at one more Circuit final table, collected $2,696 for his 6th place.
Bryce Mcvay from Tampa, Florida was the next to go. He, too, had been seen at other Circuit final tables. The player collected $3,762 for his performance in the $365 No-Limit Hold’em Six-Max. Sean Small from Douglasville, Georgia was probably the most experienced player at the table. He had formerly cashed in 31 Circuit events and had captured one gold ring. Last night, he finished 4th in the Six-Max tournament to take home $5,293.
Three-handed play started with Mermelstein as the chip leader with 765,000. He was closely followed by Michael Wojcieszek from Attleboro, Massachusetts with 742,000 and former gold ring winner Jason Bolton from South Windsor, Connecticut with 637,000. It was Bolton who hit the rail in 3rd place, scooping $7,503 of the entire prize pool.
Wojcieszek, Mermelstein’s heads-up opponent, had not had any impressive WSOP Circuit achievements prior to last night. However, it is interesting to note that he is quite a profitable online player with winnings of more than $1 million. Odds were not in his favor last night and he had to settle for the runner-up finish and a payout of $10,710.
As for the champion, shortly after his victory, he told interviewers that he was humbled, pleased, and honored to have won after facing so many tough opponents. Mermelstein is next planning to enter the Main Event, which is slated to begin this Friday.
