Choctaw Poker Tournament Results

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Craig Varnell got quite the birthday gift this year, shipping his first WPT title in the WPT Choctaw $3,700 Main Event that played out its final table at the HyperX Esports Arena in Las Vegas on Friday, May 31. The 36-year-old from Colorado also made history with the win, becoming the first player to ever win both a WPT500, which he won in 2015, and a Main Tour title.

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Poker hors ligne ios download. For Varnell, it seems the third time is the charm. His WSOP bracelet win in pot-limit Omaha last year came at his third WSOP final table, and in his third WPT final table, he closed it out again. Varnell now has over $2.2 million in live earnings, accumulated over the last five years, all that after a drug-related arrest and several years of probation gave him the wakeup call he needed a decade ago, he shared with WPT media.

'It was the best birthday present you could ask for.'

Poker has helped him get his life on track, and his aggressive and intuitive style of play has been working out for him. The fact that the Choctaw final table was on his birthday just made it all the more special, and he ended up needing quite a bit of magic to bring him back from under four big blinds when they were five-handed.

'When I found out the final table was on my birthday, I said, ‘Well that's good,'' he told WPT. 'And then the day didn't start out too well. I was down to three or four big blinds. I don't know what happened, I won a couple of all-ins and all of a sudden I was back in it. It was crazy. I had a big support group here. It was the best birthday present you could ask for.'

WPT Choctaw Main Event Official Final Table Results

*_{Includes $15,000 entry into Baccarat Crystal WPT Tournament of Champions.}

A total of 577 entries were tallied in the event for a prize pool of $1,958,915 and the top 74 made the money. The field was whittled down to just six players a couple weeks back in Choctaw, and mid-stakes circuit grinder Will Berry bagged the biggest stack with 189 big blinds. Varnell was not far behind with 156 big blinds and these two were separated from the pack coming into the final day.

Among those to cash and fall short of the final table wereJoe Elpayaa (8th place), David Pham (17th place), Ping Liu (24th place), Eric Baldwin (29th place), Will Failla (49th place), Blair Hinkle (53rd place), Jared Jaffee (57th place), Darren Elias (63rd place), Sam Panzica (70th place) and Brian Altman (74th place).

WPT Choctaw Final Table

A couple short stacks found doubles early on and the first to bust was Austin Lewis, who lost a big flip with pocket jacks against the ace-king of Stacey Jones, according to the WPT live updates. Circuit crusher Nick Pupillo, who entered the final table third in chips, flopped a set of tens against Varnell, who had defended the big blind and flopped top and bottom pair with king-six. They played for stacks and when Pupillo got the double, Varnell was left on crumbs with less than four big blinds.

The bracelet winner wasn't out though, and after a lucky double, he won two flips and was right back in the race. Eventually, two short stacks clashed in a classic cooler situation and Jones was on the bad end, holding pocket kings against Trung Pham's aces. He couldn't find a king and made his exit in fifth place.

Four-handed, several lead changes took place with Pupillo taking over and then Pham taking his turn in the driver's seat. In hand #110, Varnell got in with pocket tens with over 30 big blinds and doubled through Pham, who couldn't get there with ace-queen. From there, Varnell never looked back.

Pham would be the next player out, again his ace-queen failing to catch up, this time against Berry's pocket kings. With Varnell and Berry sitting on healthy stacks, Pupillo was the low stack and pretty soon he was on the ropes. Varnell would take the last of his chips, flopping trips with king-seven in the big blind against Pupillo's two pair to send the two-time HPT champ and WSOP-C Main Event champ home with third-place money.

Varnell started heads up leading 95 big blinds to Berry's 59 but the stacks evened out in the first hand when Berry got some value with a flush. Berry held the lead for a bit, but Varnell regained it when he called a four-bet and got a fold after check-shoving the flop. The match lasted just 14 hands, as Berry got his last 45 big blinds in with pocket eights and Varnell had him at risk with ace-ten suited.

A ten on the flop gave Varnell the best of it and Berry had to settle for second in his third WPT Main Tour cash. The $243,330 he earned for runner-up marks the biggest score of his career to date.

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As for Varnell, you can bet it will be a birthday he won't soon forget. He is now a member of the WPT Champions Club, armed with more tournament ammo, and ready to battle with the best in the Baccarat Crystal WPT Tournament of Champions that kicked off today, June 1.

'When I play against good players I feel like it keeps your game sharp,' said Varnell. 'It helps you know what works against certain people and what doesn't. That's how you learn. Playing with all these guys [in the ToC] is going to be great.'

_{Photos courtesy of WPT.}

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Nathanael Kogel is the latest Main Event champion of the 2019/2020 World Series of Poker Circuit season after he topped a field of 983 entries to walk away with the Choctaw Durant $1,700 Main Event title, a $256,915 top prize, and a seat into the 2020 Global Casino Championship.

The victory marked Kogel's third ring at Choctaw in just two years making him only the second player ever to have acquired three rings at the Durant stop. Kogel's first two rings came back-to-back in 2016 and then he turned in two more final table appearances in 2018, which turned out to be a tough lesson for Kogel.

'I'm just really grateful, extremely grateful I was able to seize this wonderful opportunity I was given.'

'I learned a lot of things since the last time I was here,' Kogel said after his win. 'Last year I played in three tournaments, final tabled two of them and I went in with the chip lead both times only to come out with two sixth-place finishes.'

Kogel continued, 'Those last two final tables were eye-opening for me. I improved on the mistakes I made and played some of the best poker I have ever played before today.'

Kogel came into the final day as the chip leader and continued through to the final table where he eliminated seven of eight opponents. The final table dominance secured Kogel's third ring, which was a very emotional moment for him. Taking down over a quarter-million dollars to go along with it was rewarding as well.

'I didn't want to think about the money I was playing for,' Kogel stated. 'I mean a lot of people don't even make that kind of money in five or six years so to be able to make that in a weekend is pretty surreal.'

Among those to cash and fall short of the final table wereJoe Elpayaa (8th place), David Pham (17th place), Ping Liu (24th place), Eric Baldwin (29th place), Will Failla (49th place), Blair Hinkle (53rd place), Jared Jaffee (57th place), Darren Elias (63rd place), Sam Panzica (70th place) and Brian Altman (74th place).

WPT Choctaw Final Table

A couple short stacks found doubles early on and the first to bust was Austin Lewis, who lost a big flip with pocket jacks against the ace-king of Stacey Jones, according to the WPT live updates. Circuit crusher Nick Pupillo, who entered the final table third in chips, flopped a set of tens against Varnell, who had defended the big blind and flopped top and bottom pair with king-six. They played for stacks and when Pupillo got the double, Varnell was left on crumbs with less than four big blinds.

The bracelet winner wasn't out though, and after a lucky double, he won two flips and was right back in the race. Eventually, two short stacks clashed in a classic cooler situation and Jones was on the bad end, holding pocket kings against Trung Pham's aces. He couldn't find a king and made his exit in fifth place.

Four-handed, several lead changes took place with Pupillo taking over and then Pham taking his turn in the driver's seat. In hand #110, Varnell got in with pocket tens with over 30 big blinds and doubled through Pham, who couldn't get there with ace-queen. From there, Varnell never looked back.

Pham would be the next player out, again his ace-queen failing to catch up, this time against Berry's pocket kings. With Varnell and Berry sitting on healthy stacks, Pupillo was the low stack and pretty soon he was on the ropes. Varnell would take the last of his chips, flopping trips with king-seven in the big blind against Pupillo's two pair to send the two-time HPT champ and WSOP-C Main Event champ home with third-place money.

Varnell started heads up leading 95 big blinds to Berry's 59 but the stacks evened out in the first hand when Berry got some value with a flush. Berry held the lead for a bit, but Varnell regained it when he called a four-bet and got a fold after check-shoving the flop. The match lasted just 14 hands, as Berry got his last 45 big blinds in with pocket eights and Varnell had him at risk with ace-ten suited.

A ten on the flop gave Varnell the best of it and Berry had to settle for second in his third WPT Main Tour cash. The $243,330 he earned for runner-up marks the biggest score of his career to date.

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As for Varnell, you can bet it will be a birthday he won't soon forget. He is now a member of the WPT Champions Club, armed with more tournament ammo, and ready to battle with the best in the Baccarat Crystal WPT Tournament of Champions that kicked off today, June 1.

'When I play against good players I feel like it keeps your game sharp,' said Varnell. 'It helps you know what works against certain people and what doesn't. That's how you learn. Playing with all these guys [in the ToC] is going to be great.'

_{Photos courtesy of WPT.}

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  Craig VarnellWPT ChoctawWorld Poker TourWill BerryNick Pupillo

• Related Tournaments

  World Poker Tour

• Related Players

  Will BerryCraig VarnellNick Pupillo

Table Of Contents

Nathanael Kogel is the latest Main Event champion of the 2019/2020 World Series of Poker Circuit season after he topped a field of 983 entries to walk away with the Choctaw Durant $1,700 Main Event title, a $256,915 top prize, and a seat into the 2020 Global Casino Championship.

The victory marked Kogel's third ring at Choctaw in just two years making him only the second player ever to have acquired three rings at the Durant stop. Kogel's first two rings came back-to-back in 2016 and then he turned in two more final table appearances in 2018, which turned out to be a tough lesson for Kogel.

'I'm just really grateful, extremely grateful I was able to seize this wonderful opportunity I was given.'

'I learned a lot of things since the last time I was here,' Kogel said after his win. 'Last year I played in three tournaments, final tabled two of them and I went in with the chip lead both times only to come out with two sixth-place finishes.'

Kogel continued, 'Those last two final tables were eye-opening for me. I improved on the mistakes I made and played some of the best poker I have ever played before today.'

Kogel came into the final day as the chip leader and continued through to the final table where he eliminated seven of eight opponents. The final table dominance secured Kogel's third ring, which was a very emotional moment for him. Taking down over a quarter-million dollars to go along with it was rewarding as well.

'I didn't want to think about the money I was playing for,' Kogel stated. 'I mean a lot of people don't even make that kind of money in five or six years so to be able to make that in a weekend is pretty surreal.'

Kogel added, 'It feels amazing actually. I've been wanting it so bad, I have a lot of friends that have had a lot of success and big scores so I'm just really grateful, extremely grateful I was able to seize this wonderful opportunity I was given.'

Main Event Final Table Results

Final Day Action

The final day of the Main Event saw 17 players return from Day 2, each guaranteed at least a $13,799 payday. Play started with an early bust out after Ben Thompson flopped top-pair but ran into Kogel's overpair. Thompson turned a flush draw but couldn't connect on the river.

Two more eliminations would follow before the first level of the day was complete as Nick Olivares ran his pocket tens into Tim Burden's aces, followed by Damarjai Davenport missing an open-ended straight draw.

Players would continue to drop with Bill Burford (14th - $16,822), Eric Salazar (13th - $16,822), Kevin Eyster (12th - $20,749),Paul Richardson (11th - $20,749) and Robert Keeling (10th - $20,749) setting the stage for the final table.

Final Table Action

Once the final table was set, it took almost two full levels before the first body was dropped after Burden raised under the gun and Max Young jammed from middle position. Burden called holding a pair of jacks while Young held a suited ace-queen. It wasn't much of a sweat for Burden after Young flopped the nuts to send him home in ninth place.

The next elimination happened the first hand after players returned from break. Mason Vieth jammed for 3.3 million after Kogel opened under the gun. The call was made and Vieth held a pair of fishhooks. They were no good though as Kogel held cowboys to send him out in eighth place.

Choctaw Poker Tournament Results

A few short hands later saw Lily Kiletto's exit after she jammed with queen-jack off and was called by Kogel holding an ace-five. Kiletto didn't receive any help from the runout and Kogel won with ace-high ending her tournament in seventh place.

Marquis McCain would be next after he called Young's shove with a pair while the latter held two overcards. It wasn't a good flop for McCain as Young flopped top pair. McCain picked up a straight draw on the turn, but unfortunately the river was no help and McCain as he was tripped up to bust in sixth place.

The next elimination happened a few hands after players returned from their dinner break. Dave Alfa jammed his pocket fours into Jesus Martinez, who held a pair of sixes. Alfa couldn't find another four and the former Choctaw Main Event Champion bowed out in fifth place for $68,829.

Following Alfa's exit was Andrew Barfield, who got his remaining stack in the middle holding ace-seven offsuit and was called by Kogel holding a made hand of threes. Barfield was unable to pair either of his overcards and was sent home in fourth place for $90,085.

A few hands later saw another former Choctaw Main Event Champion eliminated after Young three-bet jammed with pocket fives and was called by Kogel holding pocket sixes. Young couldn't find a third five and Kogel's final table dominance continued as Young took his exit in third place.

The heads-up battle began with Kogel holding over ninety percent of the chips in play and the first hand saw him add to that lead leaving Martinez very little room for error. It wasn't long before Martinez found himself all in holding ace-five and Kogel woke up with another made hand, this time holding a pair of queens. Kogel found another lady on the flop to give him a set leaving Martinez drawing to running cards. The turn brought some hope giving Martinez the flush draw, but the river was a blank sending him out in second place for $158,793.

Also finding success at the stop was Andrew Robinson, who finished as the Choctaw Casino Champion. The seven-time gold ring winner finished off the series with five cashes, three final table appearances, and 90 points to earn a seat into the 2020 Global Casino Championship.

WSOPC Choctaw Durant Ring Winners

Choctaw Casino Poker Tournament Results

That wraps it up for the live coverage of the $1,700 Main Event at Choctaw Durant but stay tuned as the PokerNews live reporting team will be in Las Vegas WSOPC at Planet Hollywood bringing you all the updates from the $1,700 Main Event and $2,200 High Roller so keep it here.

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Choctaw Casino Poker Tournament Results

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