Sunday, March 27, 2016 7:06 AM Local Time
Congratulations to Robert Kuhn, Circuit Main Event Champion ($122,098)
Robert Kuhn is the newest champion of the WSOP Circuit, dominating a tough final table to win the Harrah's Atlantic City Main Event for $122,098, a diamond-studded gold ring, and a reserved seat in the 2016 WSOP Global Championship.
Kuhn is a 25-year-old poker pro from Barnesville, Ohio, who splits his time between Mexico (where he plays online poker) and Ohio. This is the first six-figure score for Kuhn, whose previous high was earning $72,137 for finishing sixth at the WSOP Circuit Hammond Main Event last October.
At the start of the final table, the favorite to win was Ari Engel, who won Event #7 ($580 No-Limit Hold'em) earlier this series and was playing for the ninth WSOPC ring of his career to tie the all-time record. Kuhn may have started the final table with the chip lead, but Engel was second in chips and had position on Kuhn, sitting on his left.
Engel wasn't the only tough spot, as WSOP bracelet winner Jared Jaffee and two-time WSOPC ring winner Joseph Liberta were also in the mix, though with much smaller chip stacks. But Kuhn was so focused on Engel that he sacrificed sleep to study Engel's recent victory at Aussie Millions.
“I watched about four hours of Aussie Millions footage last night. I had a really good grasp on Ari -- a really good grasp," said Kuhn. "I went to bed at 2:00 and woke up at 7:00 and just studied. I wanted to sleep in, but I just couldn’t.”
The extra preparation worked for Kuhn, who was never in danger at the final table, only giving up the lead for a single hand with six players remaining. Kuhn immediately bounced back in the next hand by five-bet shoving against Dorian Rios, who tanked for about two minutes before folding. That pot reclaimed the chip lead for Kuhn, who steamrolled the final table after that point, knocking out four of his five remaining opponents in the next 48 hands to win the title.
Poker is a game of both skill and luck, and it's sometimes difficult to tell how much of a role each one plays. While Kuhn wasn't born under a lucky star, his middle name was directly inspired by some good fortune. “The day before I was born, my dad said, ‘If I win at Keno, we’re going to name him Keno.’ And he ended up winning like fifteen grand — that’s a hard game to win at. And mom was like, ‘Yeah, I guess his middle name is Keno.’”