Gediminas Uselis Takes Down Choctaw's Inaugural High Roller for $60,710
The first-ever World Series of Poker Circuit $2,200 High Roller at Choctaw Durant came to an end after two days of play, and Lithuania's Gediminas Uselis became the latest gold ring winner after topping a field of 108 entries. Uselis, who captured his first gold ring, overcame a tough lineup to take home the $60,710 first-place prize.
"It feels great to win a ring," Uselis said after his victory, one that was a rocky road.
Uselis came into the finale in the middle of the pack holding on to a stack with less than 100,000 for the majority of the day. He entered the final table last in chips but managed to spike key double-ups that allowed him to climb to the top as he eliminated five of the final eight players. The win adds to a resume that already had over $250K in career earnings.
"I got here Wednesday and busted the $600 but saved my luck for this one," said Uselis jokingly.
High Roller Results
| Place | Player | Hometown | Prize |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Gediminas Uselis | Loma Linda, Lithuania | $60,710 |
| 2 | Aaron Van Blarcum | Dallas, Texas | $37,523 |
| 3 | Clint Tolbert | Norman, Oklahoma | $26,031 |
| 4 | Jeremy Joseph | Buffalo, New york | $18,523 |
| 5 | Brian Altman | Long Meadow, Massachusetts | $13,527 |
| 6 | Peter Walsworth | Saratosa, Florida | $10,145 |
| 7 | Viet Vo | Pearland, Texas | $7,821 |
| 8 | Mason Veith | Windthrost, Texas | $6,201 |
Final Day Action
The final day of the high roller saw 21 players return to action and an additional three jumped in as the late registration period was open until the start of play. Those three brought the total to 108 entries for the event, which created a total prize pool of $216,000 with the top 17 landing a payday of at least $3,305.
Play started with players getting new seating assignments as the first elimination brought about the three-table redraw within minutes. After the prize pool was released, it didn't take long for players to start dropping at a rapid pace before the bubble burst.
From there, eliminations continued like wildfire as Nick Yunis, Bryant Miller, Jason Daly and Adam Hendrix busted shortly after players were in the money.
The final day continued with the double-elimination of Brock Wilson and Marvin Rettenmaier after Clint Tolbert turned trip sevens to take out both in the same hand.
The eliminations of Andrew Watson and Chris Staats set the unofficial final table with Asaf Ben-Shushan falling soon after setting the main stage.
Final Table Action
Once the final table was set, all eight players were trailing Tolbert who held one-third of the chips in play. Play was tight for a few orbits until Mason Vieth and Aaron Van Blarcum got all their chips in the middle preflop. Vieth raised holding a pair of queens and Van Blarcum bumped it back after he woke up with kings from the small blind. It was all she wrote from there as Van Blarcum flopped a set to send Veith out in eighth place.
Almost one full 40-minute level passed before Viet Vo found the door. He got the rest of his chips in the middle after flopping an open-ended straight and was called by Brian Altman holding middle pair. Neither the turn nor river helped Vo and took home a seventh-place finish ($7,821).
Peter Walsworth was next on the chopping block after he lost half his stack in a flip against Jeremy Joseph and lost the other half to Van Blarcum. Walsworth exited in sixth place ($10,145).
Five-handed play saw Uselis start his reign of terror after getting a few lucky doubles and then dusting Altman out in fifth place with a set of eights.
Four-handed play was slow as each of the remaining players were evenly stacked. No one made a move until Joseph found himself a pair of ladies that couldn't hold against the suited ace of Uselis and he left the final table in fourth place ($18,523).
Uselis would continue his hot streak after his made hand of fours held against the ace-nine of Tolbert sending him home in third place good for 26,031.
Heads-up play ended within two hands as Uselis held a major chip lead over Van Blarcum, who got it in with king-queen off but was dominated after Uselis turned over ace-queen. Van Blarcum was eliminated in second place for a respectable $37,523 while Uselis took home the $60,710 first-place money along with his first gold ring.
That wraps it up for the PokerNews live coverage of the $2,200 High Roller but check out the $1,700 Main Event tomorrow at noon local time for Day 1b.
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