WSOPC Event #1: $400 No-Limit Hold'em 30K Opener

Mykel Comroe Wins First Circuit Ring in Final Ring Event of the Choctaw Series

Durant, Oklahoma (January 23, 2017) –  Mykel Comroe has just defeated a field of 564 entries to take down the World Series of Poker Event #12 ($365 No-Limit Hold’em One-Day) at Choctaw Casino, earning his first Circuit ring and $35,532. 

“I am very happy, it was an interesting day,” Lawson had to say about his victory.

Comroe had not even planned on playing Event #12. After taking what he described as a “bad, nasty beat” in the Main Event to finish in 105th place ($3,765), a friend told him that he still had time to register for Event #12.

“My buddy told me, “Mike, you’ve got four minutes to register if you want to play’. So I skipped getting paid out for the Main, bought in last minute (to this event), and now here we are,” Comroe elaborated.

Comroe plays poker for a living, but usually focuses on cash games. “I’d rather play tournaments, but the grind is just too long. I can’t travel. I have a wife and a son. So I stick close to home to play,” he said. He does travel to Vegas during the summer to play events, but mostly stays close to home and focuses on cash the remained of the year.

Comroe says that he very much prefers the turbo structure, “I felt very comfortable. I love this format. The turbo is 20 mins. Every main event, the mega satellites here are just like this, only even shorter. And I have won a seat every time, for every Main Event. So I really love this structure.”

Coming into the final table, Comroe was the shortest stack. He explained how that happened.

“When there were about 50 people left, I was short-stacked after getting my kings cracked by A7. Then I got a lot of shoves through. Then I picked up pocket aces to double up. Then I just held on until the final table, that’s why I was short coming in. I thought that if I got to the final table that I could do something there, because my stack was still damageable to some people.”

There was a lot of tough competition at the final table, with two banner winners, and a lot of experienced players. But Comroe held his own and said that he was also very fortune to run really great.

“You have to run good in these turbos. Almost every hand I played either held up, or I got there. In the beginning I showed down really solid hands so I think I gained respect from the other players early on. Once I got chips I was able to actually play, I mean, play a lot of hands,” he explained.

Comroe is headed home to be with his wife and little boy tomorrow, and is thankful that he is bringing home his first WSOP Circuit ring to his family.  

Below are the results of the final table. Full results from this event are available on WSOP.com.

1 – Mykel Comroe – $35,532
2 – Neil Volaski – $21,977
3 – Duy Lai – $16,071
4 – Jeremy Timmons – $11,925
5 – Qi Chen – $8,973
6 – Schuyler Thornton – $6,844
7 – Zachary Herrera – $5,293
8 – Joshua Vizcarra – $4,149
9 – Michael Sanders – $3,296

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At the conclusion of this event, Nathanael Kogel still leads the Casino Champion race. Kogel won Event #5 ($365 No-Limit Hold'em), and then took down Event #8 ($365 No-Limit Hold’em) less than 48 hours later. He also cashed in Event #2 ($365 Re-Entry) giving him a total of 102.5 points. Christopher Staats and Enrique Melguizo are tied for second place with 60 points each. The player who accumulates the most overall points in the twelve gold ring tournaments at Choctaw Casino earns the title of Casino Champion, and receives an automatic entry into the $1 million 2017 WSOP Global Casino Championship (seat valued at $10,000). The winner of the Choctaw 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.

Here is the list of gold ring winners from the 2017 Choctaw series:

EVENT #1: Jorge Nieto defeated 1,096 entries ($365 No-Limit Hold’em Monster Stack) for $60,005.

EVENT #2: Charles Adkins defeated 5,280 entries ($365 No-Limit Hold’em Re-Entry) for $237,622

EVENT #3: Wesley Cooper defeated 377 entries ($365 Congress 5-Card Omaha High Low) for $24,882

EVENT #4: Andrew Telfer defeated 506 entries ($365 No-Limit Hold’em One Day) for $32,636

EVENT #5: Nathanael Kogel defeated 399 entries ($365 No-Limit Hold'em) for $26,334

EVENT #6: Christopher Staats defeated 498 entries ($365 No-Limit Hold’em Six Max) for $32,870

EVENT #7: Enrique Melguizo defeated 330 entries ($365 No-Limit Hold’em) for $23,269

EVENT #8: Nathanael Kogel defeated 360 entries ($365 No-Limit Hold’em) for $24,841

EVENT #9: Peter Lawson defeated 279 entries ($365 No-Limit Hold’em) for $20,089

EVENT #10: Robert Miller defeated 375 entries ($580 No-Limit Hold’em One-Day) for $41,239

EVENT #11:  Still in progress

EVENT #12: Mykel Comroe defeated 564 entries ($365 No-Limit Hold’em One-Day) for $35,532

With this tournament now wrapped up, there is still one more gold ring event before the WSOP Circuit at Choctaw concludes on January 23, 2017.