September WSOP Circuit
Seminole Casino Coconut Creek
Event 2
$400 No Limit Hold’em (Re-Entry)
$300,000 Guaranteed
Entries: 1,207
Prize Pool: $398,310
September 14-16, 2018
The first big, multi-day event on the WSOP Circuit schedule kicked off on Friday morning and drew a huge crowd over the four starting flights. More than 1,200 entries were put in the game and South Florida attorney Ryan Weiss outlasted them all to capture his first WSOP Circuit ring along with more than $70,000.
The 1,207 entries in Event 2 pushed the prize pool over the $300,000 Guarantee and it topped out at $398,310 when registration closed on Saturday evening. The tournament paid out the last 135 players and only 143 returned for Day 2 on Sunday.
The money bubble burst early in the day, taking less than 15 minutes to lose eight players. From that point, the tournament ran at a blistering pace until only 20 remained when they went on dinner break.
Multiple SHRP champ Julio Fernandez was the chip leader and he stayed there until the final table was formed. At that point, the action had slowed down with the deep stacks and 45-minute levels. Fernandez seemed to be in command of the final table but ran into some unfortunate hands. The biggest came at the hands of Ken Berman when his aces were cracked and the lead switched seats.
Several other players took turns with the final table lead including Event 1 fourth-place finisher Tom Bielecky. He made it to fifth place this time around for a great start to his series.
Husband and wife players Nataliya Iakovleva and Yuriy Paccamakih both made the final table with Yuriy outlasting Nataliya in the household battle.
Simon Philip dropped out in third place when Berman hit a three-out river to set up the heads-up battle against Weiss with similar stacks. That match did not last long and after only a few hands, Weiss earned the title with pocket queens dodging a beat to send all the chips his way.
Weiss came on strong at the end of the tournament, knocking several players out once they were short-handed, and he dominated late to capture his first career WSOP Circuit ring along with $70,718.
Final table results:
1st: Ryan Weiss – $70,718 + WSOP Circuit ring
2nd: Ken Berman – $43,814
3rd: Simon Philip – $32,156
4th: Yuriy Paccamakih – $24,297
5th: Tom Bielecky – $18,541
6th: Mirco Scharen – $14,271
7th: Nataliya Iakovleva – $11,113
8th: Julio Fernandez – $8,755
9th: Herbert Woodbery – $6,978
10th: Fred Lee – $5,624