KYLE BOWKER WINS $3K BUY-IN POT-LIMIT OMAHA HIGH-LOW SPLIT CHAMPIONSHIP
Longtime poker pro collects $294,960 top prize in Event #64
After ten years of grinding and 34 WSOP cashes, Bowker finally gets his due with first gold bracelet victory
Kate Hoang barely missed becoming third female to win gold bracelet at ’16 series – finishes as runner up
MEET THE LATEST WSOP GOLD BRACELET CHAMPION
Name: Kyle Bowker
Birthplace: Walton, NY
Age: 33
Current Residence: Walton, NY
Marital Status: Single
Children: None
Profession: Professional Poker Player
Number of WSOP Cashes: 35
Number of WSOP Final Table Appearances: 2
Number of WSOP Gold Bracelet Victories (with this tournament): 1
Best Previous WSOP Finish: 6th (2008)
Total WSOP Earnings: $1,396,963
Personal Facts: Ten-year veteran of poker tournaments
Winner’s Quote:
“I’ve been playing professionally for ten years. I’ve probably played in 200 of these (WSOP) events. So, now to finally get a win after all that and towards the end of the series is pretty awesome.”
Kyle Bowker is the newest member of poker’s gold bracelet club.
For the 33-year-old poker pro, it was a long wait to get to this well-deserved moment of triumph.
The highly-respected poker veteran from Walton, NY won the $3,000 buy-in Pot-Limit Omaha High-Low Split tournament, which was played over three days and nights and concluded on the ESPN main stage at the Rio in Las Vegas. The final day was played in front of a big crowd and a festive atmosphere on the same day the 2016 Main Event Championship started inside the same venue.
“I had a really great rail,” Bowker said, referring to his many friends who showed up wearing specially-made t-shirts for the occasion. “They had fun, that’s for sure. And so did I.”
However, the Main Event didn’t overshadow what was happening on the big bright stage, where Bowker posed behind a mountain of chips and finally collected a much-anticipated gold bracelet after ten years of grinding cash games and tournaments, and coming close to victory many times before.
Bowker collected $294,960 in prize money, making this, if not the biggest win of his career in terms of the amount of cash won, certainly the most prestigious of all victories. This was his 35th time to cash at the series, dating all the way back to 2006. The win also puts him at close to $1.4 million in WSOP-related earnings. Bowker previously won a WSOP Circuit gold ring at Harrah’s Philadelphia. So, now he has two pieces of jewelry, courtesy of the WSOP.
Bowker won his victory by coming out on top at a final table which included a formidable lineup of foes, including a mix of relative unknowns as well as seasoned pros. Scott Clements was perhaps the best known among the nine finalists, since he’d previously won two gold bracelets and was widely-acknowledged for his prowess in Omaha games. However, Clements wasn’t much of a force in the finale and ended up busting out in eighth place.
“When Scott busted early, I thought then I was in a pretty good spot,” Bowker said.
After Jarred Graham exited in third place, the closing moment came when Bowker scooped the final pot of the tournament, against Kate Hoang who finished as the runner up. Her consolation prize amounted to $182,281. She barely missed becoming the third female to win an open event at this year’s series.
Pot-Limit Omaha High-Low Split was (and remains) primarily an online game, which isn’t played live much, except in rare instances such as at the WSOP. Still, Bowker came in loaded with experience and confidence.
“This is a game not too many people play,” Bowker said. “But I play it all the time online. I’d rather be playing a final table in this game than any other.”
This tourney attracted 473 entrants which created a prize pool totaling $1,291,290. The top 71 finishers collected prize money.
Aside from the winner, here’s a brief report of the other top finishers who made the final table:
Second Place: Kate Hoang, from Federal Way, WA finished at the runner up. She had the chip lead during part of the final table, but lost some big pots to Bowker and ended up in the second spot. Nonetheless, Hoang received $182,281. This was her third time to cash in a WSOP event.
Third Place: Jarred Graham, who works in property management and is from Adelaide, Australia finished in third place. He collected $124,360. This was his fourth time to cash at the series. He now has close to $500K in WSOP winnings.
Fourth Place: Richard Ashby, from Watford, UK came in fourth. He received $86,422. Ashby a gold bracelet winner (2010 -- $1,500 Seven Card Stud) now has 27 cashes at the series – including ten final tables. Seven of those appearances resulted in top-five finishes.
Fifth Place: Chris Ruby, from San Diego, CA came in fifth, which paid $61,196. This was his seventh time to cash and deepest run in a series event.
Sixth Place: Noah Bronstein, a 29-year-old poker pro from Bellevue, WA took sixth place. He earned $44,171. This was his 36th time to cash in a WSOP event, dating back to 2009.
Seventh Place: Daniel Lowe, the Vice President of a security company from Conyers, GA earned $32,510 for his seventh-place finish.
Eighth Place: Scott Clements, from Mt. Vernon, WA was seeking his third WSOP gold bracelet, after two wins – in 2006 and 2007. He received $24,409. Clements now has 51 cashes at the series and more than $2.8 in career earnings.
Ninth Place: Paul Taylor, from Charlotte, NC rounded out the final table as the ninth-place finisher. He received $18,702 in his fourth occasion to cash at the series.
This was the 64th event on this year’s schedule. This leaves 5 gold bracelet events still to go at the 2016 WSOP.
OTHER NOTABLE IN-THE MONEY FINISHERS:
Gold bracelet winners who cashed included – Marco Johnson (2 wins), Ben Yu, Blair Rodman, Cliff Josephy (2 wins), “Miami John” Cernuto (2 wins), Tom Schneider (4 wins), Fabrice Soulier, Chris Ferguson (5 wins), Michael Moore.
Other notable players who cashed included – Ari Engel, Rex Clinkscales, David Levi, Jameson Painter, Brian Nadell, Martin Staszko, and Jacobo Fernandez.
FUN FACTS:
The ages of participants ranged from 21 to 74. The eldest player in the field was Marlene Stein.
The average player age was 40.
The breakdown of player nationalities for this event was 372 Americans and 101 players from elsewhere. The top five nations represented was the United States, Great Britain, Canada, Russia, and France.
The breakdown of participants by gender was 96.5 percent males and 3.5 percent females.
EVENT DIRECT LINKS:
For this event’s official final results (listing all players who finished in-the-money), please visit:
http://www.wsop.com/tournaments/results.asp?grid=1232&tid=14964
For Kyle Bowker’s official player profile page, please visit:
http://www.wsop.com/players/playerprofile.asp?playerID=8206
For the live reporting logs for this event, please visit:
http://www.wsop.com/tournaments/updates.asp?grid=1232&tid=14964
To access licensed images from this all other 2016 WSOP gold bracelet events, please visit:
www.pokerphotoarchive.com
For the live stream archive of this event, please visit:
http://www.wsop.com/videos/?vcat=2
(Note: Will appear 48 hours after event concludes)