Saturday, March 18, 2017 2:49 PM Local Time
Jerry Rushing Wins First WSOP Circuit Ring in Tulsa
Jerry Rushing
Tulsa, Okla. (18 March 2017) — On Thursday, for the first time in World Series of Poker Circuit history, a Circuit event was played here in Tulsa. The Hard Rock Hotel and Casino is hosting the WSOP Circuit until March 27, and late Friday night, the first winner of the series was crowned. Jerry Rushing, a 57-year old from Oklahoma City, won the $365 Monster Stack event, winning his first Circuit ring and pocketing $34,280.
This is not only Rushing’s first ring; it’s also the first Circuit event he’s ever played. “I’m excited,” he said after the event. “I’ve played lots of tournaments, but this is the first one I won.” In fact, the $34,280 first-place prize exceeds his lifetime career earnings prior to the event.
Rushing faced a tough challenge on his way to earning the ring, particularly when he had only one opponent remaining. Rushing faced off against Chris Conrad, a familiar face on the Circuit who already has two rings on his resume. “The heads-up battle was tough, I gotta say that for sure,” Rushing said of playing against Conrad. “I kept trying to mix my play up. He told me he won a few rings already, so I knew I was up against somebody who’s played quite a bit.”
After a final table that started moving quickly – the final nine players were whittled down to three in just four hours – the last couple eliminations proved difficult. “When we got down to the last three guys it was tough,” Rushing said. It took more than an hour of three-handed play before Bobby Randolph was eliminated in third place, and another hour before Rushing secured his victory.
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Event #1 was the first event to play to completion at the WSOP Circuit at the Hard Rock Tulsa. The $365 Monster Stack event drew a field of 544 players, generating a prizepool worth $163,200. The final 63 players finished in the money. Full results are available in the RESULTS tab, above.