Cherokee, N.C. (December 12, 2014) – Raymond "Trey" Walton has won the Casino Champion title at the first of two stops at the WSOP Circuit Harrah's Cherokee stop following an impressive two cashes totaling 90 points. Walton reached two final tables, including a victory in Event #5 - $365 No-Limit Hold’em and a fourth place finish in the Main Event.
The Casino Champion race was a tight one until the end of the series when Walton ran deep into the Main Event to break away from the rest of the competitors. At the beginning of Day 11 of the series there were still several players in contention to win the title, but by the end of the day Walton had clinched the title and the seat to the National Championship that comes along with it.
Event #11 winner, Cody Pack, held the lead heading into Day 11 with his three total cashes. He busted early on Day 2 of the Main Event, finishing just short of the money and did not add any more points to his lead. This left the door open for four men to pass Pack. The four players were Walton, Event #9 winner and APAC Main Event champion, Scott Davies, Event #4 winner, Steven Snyder and Scott Cooper.
Snyder and Cooper busted early in the Main Event, but played in Event #12 - the final event of the series, to try to collect enough points to earn the title. Snyder busted short of the money in Event #12 and he was eliminated from contention in the Casino Championship race. Next to fall was Davies when he was eliminated in 33rd place from the Main Event. Walton needed to reach at least 24th place in the Main Event to pass Pack. Once the Main Event was down to 24 players and Walton was still in, Pack was eliminated from contention and the race for the Casino Championship was down to just two players, Walton and Cooper.
While Walton was playing in the Main Event, Cooper was making another deep run in Event #12. Cooper made the money in Event #12 for his fourth cash of the series, but busted early into the money in 25th place. After Cooper busted Walton clinched the title with the 70 points to his name. He made it all the way to fourth place before busting in the Main Event which brought his total all the way up to 90 points. Walton earned $80,995 for his fourth place finish in the Main Event.
Walton started the series off with a first place finish in Event #5 – $365 No-Limit Hold’em for 50 points. With nobody breaking away with the lead Walton would only need one more deep run to earn himself the title. He did just that in the Main Event when he finished in fourth place in for 40 points, bringing his total to 90 points.
Together,Walton and the Harrah's Cherokee Main Event winner, Jake Bazeley, are head to the 2015 National Championship where they’ll freeroll for their share of an up-to $2 million prize pool against some of the WSOP’s top performers. Beside the six-figure score, the eventual winner of the National Championship will win the first bracelet of 2015.
More information and full points standings for the year-long race are available on WSOP.com.
Walton's Harrah's Cherokee cashes:
Event #5 - $365 No-Limit Hold’em – 323 entries - 1st place for $22,773
Main Event - $1,675 No-Limit Hold'em – 797 entries – 4th place for $80,995