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The World Series of Poker Circuit (WSOPC) recently played out at Horseshoe Council Bluffs, Iowa. Attracting big crowds, the flagship event at the series – the $1,700 Main Event recorded 272 entries from two starting days. Outlasting them all was 42-year old Nick Burris (cover image) from Missouri,. Already a WSOPC ring winner, Burris is a regular at Council Bluffs with a string of recent results.
Burris wasted no time and got straight down to business. He sailed his way to the final table and bagged the second largest stack of 1,790,000 on the penultimate day of the tournament with six players remaining.
The final day came with its own share of tribulations for Burris who had five-time WSOPC ring winner and one-time WSOP bracelet winner Blair Hinkle on the final table with him. As luck would have it, the heads-up play came down between the duo, but Hinkle failed to convert the opportunity into WSOPC ring number six. Burris captured his second WSOPC ring, a $99,267 payday only adding to his reasons to celebrate!
A $413,595 prize pool meant that the top 20 spots were to get paid with a min-cash worth $2,804.
Among the many poker super stars present at the event was 11-time WSOPC ring winner Maurice Hawkins (14th for $6,059) who found his pocket sixes defeated by Dashiell Saenz’ pocket eights.
The elimination of Kyle McKinney (10th for $7,374) brought about the nine-handed final table.
Final Table Recap
Daniel Thomas, Dash Saenz, and Hamid Izadi were eliminated in places ninth to seventh on the final table and just a few hands later, Day 2 was halted, with the remaining six players bagging up one last time.
Kevin Berthelsen commanded a massive chip lead with his stack of 2,350,000 that was much ahead of Burris’ 1,790,000 and Greg Jennings’ 1,355,0000.
Final Day Chip Counts
Final Table Recap
Shortly into play, the final table saw its first elimination in Ari Engel who moved all in for 700K from the small blind and found big blind Kevin Berthelsen making the call. Berthelsen held a dominating ace-ten against Engel’s eight-six, and with none of them connecting to the board, it was Engel`s turn to leave the final table at sixth place.
One hand later, Sarah Zeluf was eliminated in fifth place. Zeluf held king-ten against Burris’ pocket fives. A five on the flop saw Burris hit a set and though both the turn and the river brought tens, improving Zeluf to three-of-a-kind tens, Burris held the superior hand with fives full of tens!
The next one out was Greg Jennings who limped from the small blind, and big blind Berthelsen decided to check. Both players checked the flop , and Jennings led out for 50K on the turn. Berthelsen raised to 125K and Jennings moved all in for 650K. Berthelsen snap-called. Jennings tabled for two-pair but Berthelsen showed for a straight, and that was the end of Jenning’s run.
The next elimination came soon after that when Kevin Berthelsen opened the button and saw Hinkle making a raise to 225K from the small blind. Burris folded his big blind, and Berthelsen jammed all in for 1.1 Million. “Ok, lets’ go,” said Hinkle, making the call. He tabled versus Berthelsen’s . Hinkle added flush draw outs on the flop with both players pairing their king. It was already over when the turn gave Hinkle the lead with two-pair making the on the river a formality. Hinkle eliminated Berthelsen in third place.
Burris held a distinct chip advantage over Blair Hinkle when the heads-up began but Hinkle proved tough, and the heads-up battle swung back and forth before Hinkle finally moved all in for 1 Million on the button and Burris made the call.
Nicholas Burris
Blair Hinkle
Burris kept the lead on the runout to win the event and with that the WSOPC ring. He also won his seat in the Global Casino Championship!
Final Table Results (USD)
Content & Images Courtesy: World Series of Poker