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Thursday, May 25, 2017 1:06 PM Local Time
Trucking professional snags a ring and $18k in cash on his day off from the Main Event
Carey “Bubba” Dukes snagged one of the last few rings of the 2016/2017 WSOP Circuit season this past weekend at Harrah’s New Orleans. Dukes outlasted a field of 246 entries in the $365 Turbo, winning the ring and the top prize of $18,083.
Dukes is a 49-year-old trucking company owner from Marietta, Georgia by way of Lake City, South Carolina. He’s married with four children, and he’s currently working on his PhD. He’s a busy man, and his weekend of poker didn’t provide much time to relax, either.
After bagging up a big stack on Day 1A of the Main Event, Dukes had a free day on Saturday. The only ring event on the schedule for the day was the Turbo, and it’s not exactly Dukes’ preferred format.
“I wanted to play, but I suck so bad at Turbos,” he laughed. “I told my wife I was going to play cash, and if I won more than $400, I’d buy in. And I won like eight [hundred].”
With his wife’s blessing, Dukes entered the field, with 20-minute levels driving the action at a brisk pace. By the time they reached the final table around midnight, Dukes had a big lead and close to a third of the total chips in play.
None of the remaining players were especially deep-stacked at that point, though, and Dukes essentially treaded water until he found himself heads-up against David Daniels. Both stacks were short by the time they got there in the wee hours of the mornings, and Dukes ran over Daniels to win the volatile match.
“The deck ran over me.,” Dukes said. “I got smashed.”
The next day, Dukes rode his big Main Event stack to a 39th-place finish, adding close to $5,000 in additional winnings.
Sunday, May 21, 2017 2:34 AM Local Time
Bubba Dukes (pictured above) has just put the finishing touches on the first WSOP Circuit victory of his career as a part-time player.
On the final hand of the heads-up match, Dukes moves all in from the button with the blinds at 20,000/40,000. David Daniels has around 300,000 chips left, and he calls all in for that amount to put himself at risk.
Dukes:
Daniels:
The board runs out , and Dukes wins the pot and the tournament with two pair. The 49-year-old part-timer from Georgia collects his first gold ring and the top prize of $18,083 for one day's work in New Orleans.
Daniels (below) is eliminated as the runner-up, earning $11,172.
Sunday, May 21, 2017 2:08 AM Local Time
Kelley Slay has just a few chips — maybe two big blinds — left when he finds
for his tournament life. Bubba Dukes puts him at risk with
.
The board runs out , and Dukes flops trip nines to win the pot. Slay is eliminated in third place, leaving Dukes heads-up with David Daniels for the ring.
David Daniels - 1,500,000
Bubba Dukes - 900,000
Kelley Slay - Eliminated
Sunday, May 21, 2017 2:02 AM Local Time
Sunday, May 21, 2017 2:01 AM Local Time
Sunday, May 21, 2017 2:00 AM Local Time
Kyle Arora gets his last five big blinds into the middle preflop, heads-up against David Daniels.
Arora:
Daniels:
The board runs out , and Daniels turns a pair of kings and rivers kings up to win the pot. Arora is eliminated in sixth place.
Kyle Arora - Eliminated
Sunday, May 21, 2017 1:26 AM Local Time
Sunday, May 21, 2017 1:15 AM Local Time
Joel Doney moves all in for 95,000 (4.75 big blinds) in early position, and David Daniels re-shoves for 188,000 in the hijack. The rest of the table folds, and Doney is heads-up and at risk for his tournament life.
Doney:
Daniels:
The board runs out , and Daniels' ace plays to earn him the pot. Doney is eliminated in eighth place.
David Daniels - 337,000 (17 bb)
Joel Doney - Eliminated
Sunday, May 21, 2017 12:56 AM Local Time
Sunday, May 21, 2017 12:51 AM Local Time
From a starting field of 246 entries, just nine players remain in contention for the ring in Event #11. Here's the final table lineup:
Seat 1: Dennis Pasentine - 118,000
Seat 2: Jacque Gremillion - 170,000
Seat 3: Kelley Slay - 300,000
Seat 4: Bubba Dukes - 700,000
Seat 5: Joel Doney - 112,000
Seat 6: Will Nguyen - 422,000
Seat 7: David Daniels - 221,000
Seat 8: James Hoeppner - 230,000
Seat 9: Kyle Arora - 227,000
Blinds are 8,000/16,000 with a 2,000 ante in the current level, putting the average stack around 17 big blinds. Play continues tonight until a winner is determined.
Saturday, May 20, 2017 7:28 PM Local Time
Registration is now closed for this event, and the numbers are in.
This $365 Turbo drew a field of 246 entries, creating a prizepool worth $73,800. That money will be shared by the final 27 players, with a min-cash worth $596 this evening. The eventual winner will collect the series' 11th gold ring and the top prize of $18,083.
There are about 130 players left at the moment, and play will continue tonight until a winner is determined.
Saturday, May 20, 2017 4:23 PM Local Time
The cards are in the air for the start of this Turbo.
Saturday, May 20, 2017 3:51 PM Local Time
There are just two events left in the WSOP Circuit season, and the first of them will run from start to finish today. The $365 Turbo is the only one of its kind on the schedule for this stop, featuring 10,000-chip starting stacks and 20-minute levels for the duration.
Last year, local grinder John Durio outlasted a field of 204 entries in this event, winning his second gold ring and more than $16,000 just a few weeks prior to his 50th birthday. A similar turnout can likely be anticipated this afternoon.
Here are the details for the day:
- This is a one-day event
- Players begin with 10,000 in tournament chips
- Levels are 20 minutes apiece
- Late registration and single re-entry are available until the start of Level 9
Cards go in the air at 4 p.m.