Event #2: $365 No-Limit Hold'em (one-day event)

Event #2
No-Limit Hold'em Turbo
Buy-in: $300 (+$65)
Total Entries: 96
Prizepool: $28,800

After chasing the dream for a few years, Giddings bags his first WSOP gold ring at the Imperial Palace, his lucky casino.

Biloxi, Mississippi (September 10, 2016) – Steven Giddings won his first career gold ring in Event #2 - $365 No-Limit Hold'em Turbo by defeating a 96 player field. The tournament was scheduled as a one-day event with speedy 20 minute levels.

Though it is formatted to be a hasty tournament, there was a noticeable lull around the money bubble. When asked about the slow in play Giddings responded with a theory.

“I think it was because there was a bunch of old guys playing. There wasn’t as many aggressive kids out there playing,” he said with a chuckle.

As usual, once the money bubble was burst a slew of knockouts followed. This brought the tournament down to five-handed where there was yet another stalemate in which the field almost played through two levels without a knockout. Then, after that fateful, fifth-place knockout came, within five minutes Giddings was standing alone with a grin on his face.

This victory marks a long prestigious goal achievement and WSOP Circuit milestone for Giddings. After five years of traveling and playing in Circuit stops spanning the Southern region, Giddings finally snatched up the title he was striving for.

“I am extremely, extremely excited because I have been chasing it for a few years on a part-time basis. Until you really do something you don’t know if you can really do it,” said Giddings.

His ambitions to this point came with a handful of great runs as well as two very close calls to reaching his goal. This was Giddings 10th Circuit cash to date, bringing his total WSOP prize money to a little over $30,000. Of those ten cashes, five have been here at the IP Casino, and out of those five, three were final table appearances, which ultimately led Giddings to a valid superstition.

“I will tell you one thing. For some reason the Imperial Palace has always been my lucky stop,” said Giddings. “The first time I ever played cards here… I sat down, my second hand, I won the bad beat jackpot.”

Giddings’ previous final table appearances at the IP Circuit both ended with him exiting in fourth place. These instances occurred in 2011; Event #5 No-Limit Hold’em Re-Entry, and in 2012; Event #2A No-Limit Hold’em. From a bad beat jackpot, to a couple final tables, and finally a WSOP gold ring, one thing is certain, Giddings will seek out poker at the Imperial Palace whenever he gets a chance.

Along with the gold ring and $8,638 top-prize, Giddings has earned himself 50 points and the early lead in the Casino Champion race. Day 1 of the IP Biloxi Circuit was a good one for Giddings as well. He bagged 139,000 chips in Flight A of Event #1, a no-limit hold’em double-stack tournament. With a hot start Giddings will look to continue his run and be a strong contender for the Casino Championship.

here's a look at the final table results:

1st: Steve Giddings - $8,638
2nd: Chris Churchwell - $5,340
3rd: Peter Priest - $3,802
4th: Don Garforth - $2,762
5th: Herb Hatlee - $2,046
6th: Gary Mehrer - $1,545
7th: Stephen Smith - $1,188
8th: Craig Norals - $931
9th: Jason Boyd - $742

Complete results can be found above, under the "Results" tab.

Stephen Nussrallah bagged as yesterday's Flight A chip leader in Event #1. There are still two more flights for that event, so he may not end up as the overall chip leader, but he will definitely be somewhere near the top of the chip counts. He returns Sunday for Day 2 of that event with a big stack. In the meantime, Nussrallah has decided to play in the turbo event. He is one of 27 players remaining with the money approaching as players head on their dinner break.

Nussrallah has an impressive WSOP resume. He has one gold ring that he won last year at Harrah's Cherokee. He had a huge score this summer at the WSOP in Vegas when he finished 3rd out of 6,927 players in the $1,500 Monster Stack Event. He earned $513,902 for that deep run. A victory in this event would push Nussrallah over the three-quarter of a million dollar WSOP earnings mark and also award him his second career gold ring.

Skipped the reentry flight today to play the turbo instead. Playing the reentry tomorrow

— john holley (@hohnjolley) September 9, 2016

Day two of the IP Biloxi Circuit brings about the second gold ring event of the series. Beginning at 4:00 p.m. is Event #2: $365 No-Limit Hold'em, a one-day tournament. This will be the first of three turbo-style events at this 12-event series. Players will start with 10,000 chips and levels will be 20 minutes long. Registration will close at the beginning of level 9 in this fast-paced event. The first of 12 gold rings will be handed out tonight to the lucky winner.

Here is a quick rundown of Event #2:

• Players start with 10,000 tournament chips
• Blinds begin at 25/50
• Registration remains open until the start of Level 9 (~6:55 p.m.)
• There will be a 30 minute dinner break after Level 12
• Levels are 20 minutes long
• This is a one-day tournament
• Re-entry is not allowed