Monday, August 8, 2016 5:41 PM Local Time
Austin Reilly Wins First WSOP Circuit Ring, Marking First Ever Tournament Cash
Event #2
No Limit Hold'em Re-Entry
Buy-In: $300 (+$65)
Total Entries: 2,447
Prize Pool: $734,100
Austin Reilly Wins First WSOP Circuit Ring, Marking First Ever Tournament Cash
Cherokee, North Carolina (August 8, 2016) –
What started out as a scheduled two day event, turned into a three day affair, and it was Alabama native Austin Reilly that came out victorious after the three day grind. Not only does this $108,270 win mark Reilly’s first Circuit ring victory, it is also his first ever tournament cash, and it comes amidst a lot of big life changes including marriage and a very recent career change.
Three months ago, Reilly got married to his wife Caitlin, and just a little over a week ago he quit his job at a car dealership to focus on playing cash poker full time. “I found that my work was infringing upon my poker playing, so I decided to walk away from it in order to focus on playing poker,” Reilly explained.
He said that he hardly ever plays tournaments, but that he follows the Circuit tour, mostly just traveling to each stop to play cash. This time he decided to fire at the Re-Entry event, ultimately entering three times. He ended up finding a bag late Saturday night in his third and final attempt.
Reilly came into Day 2 right in the middle of the pack with 60,500. He steadily built his stack along the way, ultimately finding himself as the chip leader of the unofficial final table of ten. He didn’t maintain the chip lead the entire time, but when they were down to five players, he did win a massive pot against eventual second place finisher Brian Reinert that propelled him back to the top.
“I raised on the button, and both blinds called. The flop came jack, eight, five with two spades. Both blinds checked, I continued for 600,000, and Reinert raised to 1,300,000. The big blind folded, I four bet to 2,700,000, and Reinert just flatted. The turn was the . Reinert checked, and I shoved all in. Reinert tanked for over three minutes before folding face up, and I showed ,” Reilly explained, “I never gave up the lead after that.”
Along with the cash prize and the ring, Reilly is also awarded a $10,000 seat into the 2015/2016 Global Casino Championship event taking place tomorrow at noon right here in Cherokee. When asked how he felt about being able to play for a WSOP bracelet he said, “My plan in coming here and playing was to just take home some cash and celebrate, but now I am thinking about bigger implications, bigger things.”
Full results from this event are available in the Results tab above.
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At the conclusion of this event, John Bailey (Winner Event #1), Austin Reilly (Winner Event #2), and Kevin Davis (Winner Event #3) are now tied for 50 points each in the 2016/2017 Casino Champion race. The player who accumulates the most overall points in the twelve gold ring tournaments at Harrah’s Cherokee earns the title of Casino Champion and receives an automatic entry into the $1 million 2017 WSOP Global Casino Championship. The winner of the Harrah’s Cherokee Main Event earns an automatic entry to the Global Casino Championship as well. All players who cash in ring events will receive points that apply to both the Casino Champion race and the season-long race to claim one of the 50 at-large Global Casino Championship bids awarded to the top point earners throughout the season. More information on the points system is available on WSOP.com.