Saturday, May 13, 2017 10:55 PM Local Time
Scott Adams Wins One-Day Event on Home Turf
Local construction manager snags a gold ring and a career-best score in NOLA
Scott Adams scored one for the home team early Saturday morning. The recreational player from New Orleans outlasted a field of 322 entries in a $365 no-limit hold’em event, winning his first WSOP Circuit ring and the top prize of $22,705.
Adams is a 57-year-old construction manager for a local school system. “Basically, I build schools,” he said. “And I love it.” Born and raised in Dallas, Adams has been a resident of New Orleans since 1993, and he’s proud of both the city and the local poker community of which he’s a part.
“This is our home turf,” he began. “New Orleans is really developing some good poker players here. I don’t know if I consider myself in that group, but I try to be.”
Adams’ performance on Friday makes a good case for his inclusion in that list of talented locals.
It took more than 12 hours of play to shrink the starting field down to one table, and, after a double elimination, Adams entered the eight-handed final table with a commanding chip lead. He and Randy Andrews were responsible for five of the next six eliminations, so it’s little surprise they found themselves heads-up for the title in the wee hours of the morning. Adams would get the last knockout, though.
After making a comment about getting sleepy, Adams apparently found a source of energy as the clock ticked toward 3 a.m. “I was getting tired, but I put on Chet Atkins and started jamming out for about 30 minutes,” he said. “That gave me enough energy to come through.”
Atkins once famously said, “Everything I’ve ever done was out of fear of being mediocre,” and Adams was in no danger of a mediocre finish in this event. He and Andrews traded few big punches during the heads-up match, but Adams ultimately prevailed as the advancing blinds turned the duel into a push/fold match.
After nearly 16 hours of play, Adams was hard pressed to articulate his emotions in the postgame interview. “I won…” he said from behind tired eyes. “It hasn’t sunk in yet. I felt like I really played well, and that’s what I felt good about.”
Although it’s his largest cash on record, Adams sees this result as just another step in the growth of his game. “I’m not sure that I look at it as an end-all accomplishment,” he said. “Everyone wants to win a bracelet, and this is stepping stone. I’m building up every time. This year, I’ve really done the work, so it’s really satisfying.”
When asked what his end-all accomplishment would be, Adams was quick with the correct answer: “Win the WSOP Main Event,” he said, matter-of-fact. It sounds like he believes in his chances, too. “You’re not going have a Friday duffer going out and winning the U.S. Open,” he said. “It’s just not gonna happen. But that’s what’s great about poker. Everybody has a chance.”