The World Series of Poker Circuit stop in Tulsa is in the books, and several players put their name in it as multi-ring winners, including the $1,700 Main Event champion Mark Barrientos.
Barrientos made his forth WSOP cash a good one by doubling his ring count and adding $126,900 to his bankroll. His first ring came in a $250 event at Hard Rock Tulsa in 2019 for $11,348.
“The first ring meant a lot,” Barrientos, 52, told a WSOP pool reporter. “A lot of guys made fun of me because it was a turbo tournament, so I felt that I had something to prove. This one feels a little better because I think I played better through this one.”
The event’s $601,455 prize pool was generated by 397 entries.
Final table notables include Brent Gregory, who was going for his second ring of this Tulsa series (third overall) after taking down a $400 event Aug. 16. He won his first one in March, also in Tulsa.
Mark Martin was also going for his third ring, while GPI Award-winner Angela Jordison her second. Jordison actually had three good cracks at her second ring in Tulsa after a three-day run that saw her make three final tables, but couldn’t manage higher than fourth.
Final nine of $1,700 WSOP Circuit Tulsa Main Event
- Mark Barrientos – $126,900
- Lionel Jiang – $78,440
- Brent Gregory – $56,785
- James Stone – $41,707
- Wayne Nicholsen – $31,087
- Tomas Teran – $23,519
- Mark Martin – $18,065
- Angela Jordison – $14,09
- Richard Gordon – $11,164
Hamid Izadi’s two in Tulsa gives him five
Hamad Izadi was a two-event winner in Tulsa, giving him five for his poker career. He ended a four-year draught with a win in Event #11, a $400 no-limit hold’em contest that saw 167 entries. Two days later he won his fifth ring in Event #14 ($250 NLH) that brought in 238 entries.
A Circuit grinder, all but 13 of his WSOP cashes came on the Circuit trail. He has no bracelets but is approaching $1.2 million in tournament cashes, with more than $800,000 coming in WSOP events. That number is particularly impressive when seeing that Izadi mostly plays events with buy-ins of $500 and less.
Richard Gebhart joined Izadi, Gregory, and Barrientos in the multi-ring category by winning his second in Event #7 ($400 NLH six-handed). He won his first at Hard Rock Tulsa in March in the $400 Monsterstack.
Speaking of stacking rings, Ari Engel nearly took sole possession of the overall WSOP Circuit lead with 16, but fizzled out in not one — but two — events as the runner up ($400 Big O and $1,000 High Roller 8-Max).
Still, that guy is running hotter than elephant piss.
Winning their first WSOP rings in Tulsa were Daxton Alexander, Timothy Cunningham, Elden Lacer, Jared Ward, Wesley Jones, Joshua Brower, Bret Karr, Phil Tanner, Christina Read, Trent Wilson and Tim Copp.
WSOP Circuit at Horseshoe Council Bluffs, Sept. 6-18, is up next. After that it’s to Thunder Valley Casino Resort (Sept. 28 to Oct. 9), then Horseshoe Hammond near Chicago (Oct. 5-16) as the WSOP Circuit gets into the heart of its 2023/24 season that continues until the end of May.
