WSOPC Event #11: $1,700 MAIN EVENT

Jorge Nieto Wins First Circuit Ring, After a Close Call Two Seasons Ago

Durant, Oklahoma (January 13, 2017) – In the wee hours of the morning on January 13^th, 2017 Jorge Nieto earned not only his first World Series of Poker Circuit ring, but his first ever live tournament win.

Nieto bested a field of 1,096 entries in the $365 No-Limit Hold’em Monster Stack opening event of the 2016/2017 Circuit series at Choctaw Casino. Nieto came into the final table third in chips, but when they reached the final eight, he was single-handedly responsible for eliminating every one of the players from 7^th place on. 

“I knocked out everybody, 7^th on. There wasn’t really a big hand that occurred, I was just collectin’ chips,” Nieto explained casually.    

This victory came after a very close call during the 2014/2015 Circuit Season when Nieto took second place in the $365 No-Limit Hold’em Event at Harrah’s New Orleans for $11,589.  

Despite the deep runs in WSOP Circuit events, Nieto said that he definitely does not consider himself a professional poker player. In fact, the 24 year old Texan said that he has a full time job as a pipe fitter and boiler maker, and only plays poker in-between jobs. He explained that his work schedule is very similar to that of a World Series of Poker tournament employee. He works for a company that sends him out on a job for maybe six weeks to a few months, and then he is home waiting for his next job assignment. It’s during those in-between periods that he manages to fit in playing a little cash and some tournaments.

Nieto also made it very clear that this win does not change much for him, especially in the way of his job. 

“I won’t ever play poker full time,” Nieto said point-blankly, “I mean, if it was a million dollars that might be different, but it’s just $60,000. I can blow through that in one day.”

“Blacckjack!” Nieto’s friend Derek Robinson chimed in, “Blackjack is his weakness, that’s why there are two of us to get him out of this casino tonight,” Robinson said as Nieto chuckled aloud.

“I don’t even know why I play that game, but I love to hate it. I love it until I lose, and then I am just sick,” Nieto elaborated about his relationship with blackjack.

When Nieto hit the heads up stage of play, he actually had his opponent Jeff Blake 7:1 in chips.  But Blake managed to double more than a few hands to extend play for nearly another full level. The final hand took place when Blake shoved all in holding   , top pair on a board reading      and Nieto called with two pair holding   . Nieto said at that time to the dealer, “Please let him brick on me one time,” referring to the multiple double-ups that had occurred during their heads up match. The   river was safe for Nieto eliminating Blake in second place for $37,062, and awarding Nieto the top prize of $60,005. 

“I feel really good. I have been wanting a ring forever, that’s what I have been playing for. This wasn’t about the money, it was about the ring. Now I will treasure it, and it will remind me of my accomplishment,” Nieto concluded as his friends nodded their heads in agreement.   

“He said that yesterday when he bagged up, that he just wanted the ring. This sure is an accomplishment,” Nieto’s friend Derek Robinson confirmed.    

Below are the results of the final table. Full results from this event are available in the Results tab above. 

1 – Jorge Nieto – $60,005
2 – Jeffrey Blake – $37,062
3 – Rocky Le – $27,540
4 – Cory Smith – $20,714
5 – Justin Jass – $15,773
6 – Maurice Green Jr. – $12,152
7 – Quentin Crossley – $9,473
8 – Pete Petree – $7,467
9 – Joseph Taylor – $5,951

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At the conclusion of this event, Jorge Nieto now leads in the Casino Champion race with 50 points. 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. 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 Choctaw so far:

EVENT #1: Jorge Nieto defeated 1,096 entries ($365 No-Limit Hold’em Monster Stack) for $60,00

With this tournament now wrapped up, there are still 11 more gold ring events before the WSOP Circuit at Choctaw concludes on January 23, 2017.