HARRAH'S CHEROKEE CIRCUIT - APR 2022

This is the central page for information about the ongoing WSOP Circuit series at Harrah's Cherokee. Check back here daily for updated schedule and results. 

Cherokee, NC (Apr 19, 2022) – For the third time in the 2021-2022 World Series of Poker Circuit season, yet another successful series at Harrah’s Cherokee is in the books. There were 16 gold rings up for grabs, with many familiar faces making deep runs and winning seats into the Tournament of Champions in July.

The $1,700 Main Event attracted 1,213 entries across two starting flights and almost doubled the $1,000,000 guarantee for a prize pool of $1,837,695 paying out 182 spots. The top four players earned six figures for life-changing money and record-breaking career scores.

It was Louisiana’s Jared Ingles who took down the Main Event at Cherokee, earning $300,736 in prize money, a gold WSOP Circuit ring and a seat into the Tournament of Champions. This was Ingles’ biggest score since he made a deep run in the 2010 WSOP Main Event, finishing in 56^th place for $138,285. Ingles went deep with some tough players, including the likes of four-time WSOP Circuit champions John Gallaher (7^th - $50,236) and Marshall White (9^th - $31,634), WSOP bracelet winner Ryan D’Angelo (16^th - $16,905), WSOP Circuit Cherokee Main Event winner CJ Johnson (24^th - $11,653) and WSOP bracelet winner and three-time ring winner Ethan Yau (39^th - $5,421).

“I am 34 now, so I have been grinding for over half my life,” said Ingles after his win, reflecting upon the dedication he has given to poker from a young age. “I am mainly a cash game player but I have been firing this tournaments for a long time and finally was able to close one out.”

“I am going to take off from playing now for a while until the series in the summer” when discussing his near future poker plans.

When discussing how the Cherokee Main Event went and when he knew he had a serious shot to win, Ingles exuded confidence. “I knew I was the favorite coming in to today, 7th out of 17. I knew I had a great equity spot from the start, so there was not really a single moment.”

Ingles said that the two hands that he will remember most from the win were actually two folds. “I laid down trip queens (k-q) in a spot where it was a really strong hand (board was q-q-4-10-7) when he check-raised me on the river. And in another hand I folded ace-queen to a 17 big blind shove and that’s a real nitty fold but that was literally the only player I am folding that to.” Ingles would go on to accumulate and hold a strong chip lead for much of the day and he believed those key folds kept him in that good position to win the ring.

In the final moments of the tournament, Ingles won a massive flip with ace-king against the pocket threes of Changlong Zeng and closed it out shortly after that.

The opening event of the series had a guarantee worth $25,000 but it ballooned over five times to $133,650 with 405 runners. Christopher Conrad won this event for $27,300 and his third career WSOP ring. This certainly set the tone for the rest of the series and turnouts did not disappoint. The multi-flight event attracted 2,303 entries and crushed the $500,000 guarantee, reaching a prize pool of $759,990.

Players got to compete for a piece of gold jewelry and a shot at a bid to the Tournament of Champions, which will be held during the 53rd annual WSOP in the summer of 2022. The event will feature a $1 million prize pool and coveted gold bracelet up top. New to this season, every official ring winner, both live and online, will be awarded an invitation to the prestigious freeroll. Starting in 2022, all bracelet events will also qualify respective winners.

The North Carolina stop saw many multi-ring winners including William Watson (4^th ring) Christopher Conrad (3^rd), Spencer Smith (2^nd), David Moses (2^nd), and Robert Reed (2^nd). Additionally, two WSOP bracelet winners added rings to their mantels including the above-mentioned David Moses and Yasser Al-Keliddar. The rest of the winners at this Circuit stop all won their first rings and will have a shot at a bracelet in the Tournament of Champions later this summer in July in Las Vegas.

Harrah’s Cherokee Main Event Final Table Results:

1^st place: Jared Ingles - $300,736
2^nd place: Changlong Zeng - $185,859
3^rd place: Bob Hover - $140,648
4^th place: Max Le - $107,339
5^th place: Fikret Kovac - $82,622
6^th place: Adam Ney - $64,146
7^th place: John Gallaher - $50,236
8^th place: Rohit Kwatra - $39,689
9^th place: Marshall White - $31,634

Completed Events

Event #1: $400 NLH Double Stack - Chris Conrad topped a field of 405 entries to win $27,300
Results | Official Report | Winner's Photo

Event #2: $400 NLH Multi-Flight - Eric Sutton topped a field of 2,303 entries to win $106,722
Results | Official Report | Winner's Photo

Event #3: $400 No-Limit Hold'em - Benjamin Stone topped a field of 563 entries to win $34,723
Results | Official Report | Winner's Photo

Event #4: $400 NLH Seniors - George Zinaty topped a field of 688 entries to win $41,539
Results | Winner's Photo

Event #5: $600 No-Limit Hold'em - Tyler Barnes topped a field of 361 entries to win $39,051
Results | Official Report | Winner's Photo

Event #6: $400 NLH Six-Max - Todd Rosenthal topped a field of 689 entries to win $42,937
Results | Official Report | Winner's Photo

Event #7: $400 Pot-Limit Omaha - Brian Heaton topped a field of 286 entries to win $20,593
Results | Official Report | Winner's Photo

Event #8: $400 NLH Monster Stack - Spencer Smith topped a field of 2,298 entries to win $107,458
Results | Official Report | Winner's Photo

Event #9: $1,100 No-Limit Hold'em - David Moses topped a field of 435 entries to win $87,293
Results | Official Report | Winner's Photo

Event #10: $400 No-Limit Hold'em - Yaser Al-Keliddar topped a field of 359 entries to win $25,013
Results | Official Report | Winner's Photo

Event #11: $250 NLH Ladies - Stephanie Alderman topped a field of 122 entries to win $6,684
Results | Winner's Photo

Event #12: $1,700 MAIN EVENT - Jared Ingles topped a field of 1,213 entries to win $300,736
Results | Official Report | Winner's Photo

Event #13: $400 No-Limit Hold'em - William Watson topped a field of 476 entries to win $30,683
Results | Official Report | Winner's Photo

Event #14: $600 No-Limit Hold'em - Robert Reed topped a field of 526 entries to win $51,866
Results | Official Report | Winner's Photo

Event #15: $250 NLH Seniors - Lance Munger topped a field of 465 entries to win $18,304
Results | Winner's Photo

Event #16: $2,200 NLH High Roller - Frankie Zeta topped a field of 105 entries to win $60,003
Results | Official Report | Winner's Photo

About the Winners

Event #1: Chris Conrad - It was a rollercoaster final table for poker professional Chris Conrad of Playa Del Carmen, Mexico. He started off second in chips, dropped down to the shortest stack with seven left, and then got heads up and exchanged the lead several times before locking up the win. Conrad has now won his third World Series of Poker Circuit ring along with $27,300 and a seat into the Tournament of Champions in Las Vegas in July.

“It feels good. It’s been a long time since I’ve won a live tournament,” laughed Conrad. To be accurate, it has been four years since his last recorded win, but Conrad has been playing online a lot during that time as well. “I started a stable during Covid. I wanna keep working and studying and helping people with poker. And keep playing online. I’m 37 and I realized that traveling week-to-week is something I don’t wanna do.” 

When asked what is most important to him when comparing cashes and trophies, Conrad responded: “Money and family. Family is always going to be first and obviously the more money you make you get to spoil and indulge your family.” The poker pro has amassed more than $1.3 million in career earnings, and this is now his 10th career tournament win. 

Event #2: Eric Sutton - After a long battle across four days, Eric Sutton took down Event #2: $400 No-Limit Hold’em for $106,722, a World Series of Poker Circuit ring and a seat into the Tournament of Champions. This is Sutton’s first tournament win, biggest cash and this score doubles his overall tournament earnings.

“Man, it’s overwhelming. It’s been a long day,” said Sutton. He was down to four big blinds early on in the day and went on to spin it up to get himself to the final table, and ultimately won the whole thing.

Sutton has had many close calls but has never won a tournament outright before, let alone a WSOP Circuit ring. “Finally getting done. I’ve got five or six final tables and I could just never win the big one,” said Sutton with much relief in his voice.

Event #3: Benjamin Stone - After 12 hours of play, Benjamin Stone came back from a huge deficit heads up against two-time World Series of Poker Circuit champion Daniel Pearlman. Stone won Event #5: $400 No-Limit Hold’em for $34,723, his first ring and a seat into the Tournament of Champions.

Stone only began playing live poker in February at Harrah’s Cherokee, and mostly played online and home games before that. “I didn’t think it could happen but tough playin’ and a little bit of run good always helps,” smiled Stone. “I played it (poker) at a young age and grew to love it.” This was his first ever tournament cash and turned out to be his first win at the same time. “I used to watch WSOP on TV, and those were bracelets, and this is a ring, but it means just as much to me. I pictured myself doing the same thing and here I am. It’s amazing,” said a proud Stone. 

“I read about the FedEx CEO who turned $4,000 into $20,000 at blackjack so I said screw it, I’m gonna try the same thing,” laughed Barnes. When asked how he gets better at the game, Barnes credit some training sites and the company he keeps. “I just have friends that help me out, just guys who are better than me at poker.”

Barnes’ future goals include more poker and more tournaments. “Maybe win another one (ring), and I want a bracelet. I’ll be happy when the legends know my name.”

Event #6: Todd Rosenthal - After a long day of poker, Todd Rosenthal is victorious in Event #6: $400 No-Limit Hold'em six-max for $42,937, a gold World Series of Poker Circuit ring and a seat into the Tournament of Champions. “It feels fantastic,” smiled Rosenthal. “I play just for fun, but this is absolutely freaking awesome!”

The newly crowned champion came into the final table as one of the bigger stacks and remained that way, closing out against some tough competition. Rosenthal plays recreationally, and he enjoyed the winning moment by tossing his hat into the air in celebration. “I played to stay away from table games, had some luck at it and just stuck with it,” said Rosenthal.

“It means a lot. It’s a tough field, a lot of good players. I was just thinking the other day that winning a ring is like winning a bracelet in the 90’s now. There’s so many good players and the fields are so large – it means a lot,” said Heaton.

Heaton prefers Pot-Limit Omaha over No-Limit Hold’em because “it’s more of a thinking game and more of a game that you can make folds a lot easier, and a lot of the players are not as good.”

The two-time ring winner is a lawyer and has a part-time job, but with his recent success in poker, Smith may reconsider his profession. “I have to give all of my credit to my coach Nick Schuman, and lately I have been doing some solver work and trying to think about the game differently.”

“We’re all degenerate gamblers,” laughed Smith.

Event #9: David Moses - After two days of play, David Moses is the winner of Event $9: $1,100 No-Limit Hold’em for $87,293, his second World Series of Poker Circuit ring and a seat into the Tournament of Champions. “It’s great, especially because I’ve been on a pretty big downswing this year,” explained Moses. The two-time ring winner also has a bracelet from the 2021 WSOP series after winning the Crazy Eights tournament for $888,888.

“When I was 20 years old, I grew up really poor and I had a kid at 19, so I was going to school at night and I was working two jobs,” said Moses. He ended up taking up poker at a $5 home game and emersed himself in the game before Black Friday. “I realized I can make money doing this just by playing better than other people, and I don’t have to have a boss approve my work!”

Moses then stopped playing for eight years until an investor started putting him into tournaments. Eventually he was laid off like many others during the pandemic, and he “accidentally” became a poker pro. The hardware and money started building on his mantel, and here he is today.

“Even though the money matters more to me, I’m living some peoples’ dreams and I should probably give back to the game and represent that a bit better,” said Moses. 

Event #10: Yaser Al-Keliddar - “It feels really, really good. I haven’t played very many Circuit stops, and I don’t have many chances like I do for bracelets every summer,” explained Al-Keliddar.

“Now that I’ve won the ring I can go back to my main hobby which is trolling people on Twitter,” smiled Al-Keliddar. The comedian from Arlington won a gold WSOP bracelet in 2018 and now has some matching jewelry to add to his collection. When asked what his next goals are in poker he responded, “winning a second bracelet, or having another six-figure score.”

Al-Keliddar sharpens his game by talking poker with his friends Jason Brauda and Matt Emmel, and also credits them for this win. “I busted out of the $1,100 and I was sulking and very annoyed about it. They told me to get into the turbo.” He did just that with only 15 minutes left before registration closed, and the rest is history. “It really worked out,” said Al-Keliddar. “It’s a lot of fun to be here.”

“It feels pretty good, it’s been a while since the last one,” smiled Watson. His first three rings came in 2018 and 2019, although there was a brief hiatus after that due to the pandemic. “I’ve always been competitive and when I first started playing I knew it was something I loved and wanted to keep doing,” explained Watson.

In an era where solvers and training sites are rampant, Watson has been putting in the work. “Definitely studying, but always talking to better players is the main thing. Just rinse and repeat and keep playing.” Next up on Watson’s list is a bracelet, and he’ll get his chance this summer at the WSOP in Las Vegas.

“I grew up just playing in card rooms and pool halls,” said Reed. The recreational card player plays a lot of poker but is also a general contractor by day. This cash brings his WSOP earnings to over six figures now, with two pieces of jewelry to highlight his success.

In terms of future goals, Reed simply wants to keep on playing the game he loves. “Just keep grinding steadily up. I’ve just been trying to grind it up,” smiled the two-time Circuit champion.

“It’s pretty sick. It’s a lot of hard work and to get validation for it feels really good,” said Zeta. This is his biggest career cash as well as his first notable tournament win in just his third year playing the game. “I’m fairly new to poker. I kind of missed out on a lot of these iconic poker moments that everybody seems to draw inspiration from. I was kind of into sports gambling and I didn’t like not having control of my own outcomes. Even in poker we can’t have control of every outcome, but it’s a skill game. You can get better, and you can become the best, and you can improve,” explained Zeta.

Zeta thought back to the first time he felt like poker could be a career for him and was instantly reminded of the poker streamers that inspired him. “Seeing that people were making real money and taking it seriously allowed me to know that it was even a thing. Just recognizing the freedom that it allotted me was something that I wanted.”

When talking about his journey as a poker player, Zeta credits his closest allies in the game. “We spend time talking hands. Those players really strengthened my game. Just surrounding myself with better players. I think for me, it’s just about getting better one percent at a time. That’s my goal, really. Just to get better every day.”