WSOPC Event #15: $1,700 MAIN EVENT

 Event #7
No-Limit Hold'em Eight Max
Buy-In: $300 (+$65)
Total Entries: 326
Prize Pool: $97,800

Rob Stephens Wins First Circuit Ring in Second Tournament He’s Ever Played

Cherokee, North Carolina (August 10, 2016) – Rob Stephens is a self-described career and family man, that just took down the No-Limit Hold’em Eight Max event at Harrah’s Cherokee. The 36 year old Physician Assistant works long hours in the Emergency Room of his hospital, and when he's not working, tends to focus on time with his wife Dodie, and their twins. Stephens said that he came here to play this one event, because he had a few days off of work. He then went on to say that this is only the second tournament he has ever played in his life.  The first tournament that Stephens ever played was a WSOP turbo event here a few years ago. He said that he only lasted three hours total. Prior to that, his only poker experience was playing cash games with friends in his hometown.

“My first (live) cash game that I had ever played in a casino was just a few weeks before my first tournament. I came here with my buddy Aaron Menich to get the feel for playing in an actual casino. I bought in for $200, and a few hours later I walked out with $1,200. So that got me pumped for the tournament that I quickly lost in. That’s all the experience that I have,” Stephens said with a slight giggle.

The Physician Assistant had just come off working the night shift last week, and thought that it would help him with the long hours of grinding in this tournament, but last night he had a tough time falling asleep. He went on to say that he is feeling great about this win, but also very tired.

Coming into Day 2, Stephens was near the middle of the pack, starting with 130,000 in chips at 1,500/3,000 blinds with a 300 ante. By the first break, he had over 300,000. He came into the final table second in chips, and ultimately battled heads up against Curtis King. The final hand occurred when Stephens turned a straight on a     board holding   . King tank called with    for a pair of queens, and a gutshot higher straight draw. The river was safe, eliminating King in second place ($14,521).

Stephens said he had five goals coming into this tournament:
1. Survive Day 1.
2. Make the $1,000 prize money mark.
3. Make the final table.
4. Get third place or better.
5. Win it.

“Once we were down to three and I had made my fourth goal, there was no settling,” Stephens concludes with a smile.

Full results from this event are available on WSOP.com.
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Kevin Davis (winner of Event #3) is now in the lead of Harrah's Cherokee Casino Champion race with 60 points. Davis won Event #3, and then cashed 13th in Event #6 ($365 PLO), propelling him to the top of the leaderboard. John Bailey (winner Event #1), Austin Reilly (winner Event #2), Christopher Fisher (winner of Event #4), Justin Warf (winner of Event #5), and Mike Leah (winner of Event #6) 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.