Tulsa, Okla. (27 March 2017) — After falling just short several times, Will Berry is now a World Series of Poker Circuit ring winner. Berry won the Main Event at the Hard Rock Tulsa, earning $180,806.
Berry, a 25-year old professional poker player from Norman, Okla., has a long history of success in Circuit events in his home state. This is the third consecutive Circuit Main Event in Oklahoma where he’s made the final table. In the previous two, he finished fourth and ninth, and he now has a victory under his belt.
“I’m a little relieved,” Berry said after the event. “I’ve played a lot of these tournaments and never managed to finish better than fourth place. So to finally win one feels great.”
It was a difficult road to victory for Berry, and perhaps no obstacle was greater than runner-up finisher Dan Lowery, who has four Circuit rings of his own. After securing the victory, Berry had high praise for Lowery. “[Lowery] was the toughest player at the table, and for a lot of the tournament we played together quite a bit. And I was just as careful as I could be to stay out of his way, and let the other players bust to him. I got a lucky table draw having Dan on my right.”
The plan worked, and Berry and Lowery were soon heads up. At that point, Berry said he got a lucky run of cards, and he was able to end the tournament within about an hour. “I just always had it,” he said. “It almost wasn’t fair.”
This is the first ever WSOP Circuit series held at the Hard Rock Tulsa, and Berry now becomes the venue’s inaugural Main Event champion. In addition to the prize money and the Circuit ring, Berry also wins a free entry into the 2017 WSOP Global Casino Championship, to be held at Harrah’s Cherokee in August.
The tournament started with 574 entries, and the top 63 made the money. Other players finishing in the money include Justin Gardenhire (58th place), Ray Henson (55th), Matt Affleck (53rd), Cody Pack (51st), Maurice Hawkins (39th), Ari Engel (33rd), Joshua Turner (26th), and Salvatore DiCarlo (16th).
Here are the final table results. Click here for full results:
1 - Will Berry - $180,806
2 - Dan Lowery - $111,835
3 - Jose Anaya - $81,778
4 - Tony Lay - $60,683
5 - Collin Grubaugh - $45,659
6 - David Brown - $34,827
7 - Garry Simms - $26,932
8 - Hank Sitton - $21,112
9 - Phuong Phan - $16,772