Max Young Takes Down WSOP Circuit Choctaw Durant Main Event to Claim 5th WSOPC Ring

The 2018 World Series of Poker Circuit (WSOPC) Choctaw $1,700 Main Event attracted a total of 893 entries and outlasting them all was Oregon-based WSOPC regular Maxwell Young (cover image), who claimed the top seat for his career’s fifth WSOPC gold ring and his biggest live cash of $263,815.

Young came up against final day chip leader Jared Hemingway in the heads-up play and defeated him to claim the title. With the win, Young also won a seat to the 2019 Global Casino Championship.

The event saw the entry field expanding to 893 entries over two starting flights that generated a prize pool of $1,352,895.

The top 91 players scored in the event including Eric Bunch (18th for $13,542), Mina Greco (20th for $11,283), Joshua Vizcarra (31st for $6,088), Ray Qartomy (38th for $4,789), Dann Turner (46th for $4,316), Marty Gorenc (51st for $4,316), Chris Staats (60th for $3,923), Harry Arutyunyan (72nd for $3,612), Blair Hinkle (73rd for $3,328) and Bart Bogard (81st for $3,328).

183 players made it through to Day 2 and only 12 among them made the cut for Day 3. Jeb Hutton (12^th for $20,199) was the shortest stack as action got underway on the final day and as luck would have it, he was also the first one to exit after he ran his ace-six suited into the ace-ten of Jonathan Bloyen.

Next to leave was Jean Gaspard (11^th for $20,199) who looked well on his way to double up through Jared Hemingway with pocket nines on a flop of eight-six-six, while Hemingway held eight-nine. The seven on the turn brought some chop outs for Hemingway, but an eight on the river gave the latter three-of-a-kind eights, and Gaspard was eliminated at 11^th place.

The elimination of Todd Rebello (10^th for $20,199) brought play down to the official nine-handed final table.

Final Table Recap

Charles Johnson was the first player to be eliminated from the final table after his flopped top pair of kings couldn’t hold against top two pair of Robert DeLeon.

Following him to the rail in eighth place was Wayne Lovell whose king-six were cracked by DeLeon’s flopped pair of jacks.

Terry Presley then hit the payouts desk in seventh place after his queen-ten suited ran into Rolando Lozano’s ace-jack and though Presley flopped a pair of tens, Lozano won the pot after rivering a pair of aces.

Nivedan Nasina was eliminated in sixth place after his king-ten of diamonds were dominated by Young’s ace-king with the board missing the former.

Soon thereafter, Jonathan Bloyen made a raise of 260,000 from under the gun and Robert DeLeon moved all in from the big blind for 450,000. Bloyen made the call and showed that had DeLeon’s dominated when he hit top pair on the flop , leaving DeLeon drawing to runners. The on the turn gave Bloyen top two pair and the was no good for DeLeon who exited in fifth place.

Rolando Lozano saw his tournament run ending in fourth place at the hands of Hemingway who opened to 400,000 from under the gun and Lozano moved all in for 1,700,000 from the small blind. Hemingway called off and saw the good news as Lozano’s were trailing his . The rundown brought Hemingway two pair, good enough to win the pot while Hemingway was forced to exit.

Jonathan Bloyen was shown the door in third place when Young led out from the button and Bloyen called off from the small blind. Bloyen checked the flop , while Young bet 400,000. Bloyen made the call. The appeared on the turn and Bloyen checked again, while Young fired a bet of 800,000. Bloyen moved all in and Young snap-called. Bloyen showed for an open-ended straight draw and was at risk against Young’s . The river didn’t help him and just like that Bloyen`s dream run in the event was over.

The heads-up play between Young and Jared Hemingway saw the lead changing hands before Young claimed victory. The final hand saw him making a raise of 400,000 on the button on which Hemingway 3-bet to 1,300,000 from the big blind. Young moved all in and Hemingway called. He tabled and was leading Young’s but the dynamics changed on the flop as Young flopped three-of-a-kind nines to move ahead. Hemingway now needed a deuce to survive but couldn`t hit on the turn and the river. He was eliminated in runner-up place, while Young was declared the champion!

Maxwell Young

Final Table Results (USD)

1. Maxwell Young – $263,815

2. Jared Hemingway – $163,024

3. Jonathan Bloyen – $120,083

4. Rolando Lozano – $89,616

5. Robert DeLeon – $67,753

6. Nivedan Nasina – $51,884

7. Terry Presley – $40,235

8. Wayne Lovell – $31,590

9. Charles Johnson – $25,110