Event #10: $2,200 No-Limit Hold'em High Roller

The first ever $2,200 High Roller at Choctaw Durant has come to an end after two days of play, and Gediminas Uselis has become the latest World Series of Poker Circuit winner after topping a field of 108 players, emerging victorious for his first ring.

Uselis overcame a tough line-up of runners to take home the $60,710 first-place prize, along with his first new WSOP Circuit ring.

"It feels great to win a ring," said Uselis after his victory, one that was a rocky road.

Uselis came into the final day in the middle of the pack holding on to a stack with less than 100,000 for majority of the day. He entered the final table last in chips with 69,000 but managed to spike key double-ups that managed him to climb to the top as he eliminated five of the final eight players.

The win adds to a resume that already had over $250,000 in career earnings. "I got here Wednesday and busted the $600 but saved my luck for this one," said Uselis jokingly after the victory.

High Roller Results

Final Day Action

The final day of the high roller saw 21 players returning from Day 1 and an additional three jumped in as the late registration period was open until the start of play on Day 2. Those three brought the total to 108 entries for the event, which created a total prize pool of $216,000 with the top 17 landing a payday of at least $3,305.

Play started with players getting new seating assignments as the first elimination of the day saw the three-table redraw happen within minutes. After the prize pool was released, it didn't take long for players to start dropping at a rapid pace before the bubble burst.

From there, eliminations continued like wildfire as Nick Yunis, Bryant Miller, Jason Daly and Adam Hendrix shortly after players were in the money.

The final day continued with the double-elimination of Brock Wilson and Marvin Rettenmaier after Clint Tolbert turned trip sevens to take out both in the same hand.

The eliminations of Andrew Watson and Christopher Staats set the unofficial final table with Asaf Ben-Shushan falling soon after setting the main stage.

Final Table Action

Once the final table was set, all eight players were trailing Tolbert who held one-third of the chips in play. Play was tight until for a few orbits until Mason Vieth and Aaron Van Blarcum got all their chips in the middle preflop. Vieth raised holding a pair of queens and Van Blarcum bumped it back up after he woke up with kings from the small blind. It was all she wrote from there as Van Blarcum flopped a set to send Veith out in eighth place.

Almost one full 40-minute level passed before Viet Vo found the door. Vo got the rest of his chips in the middle after flopping an open-ended staright and was called by Brian Altman holding middle pair. Neither the turn or river were no help to Vo and took home a seventh place finish ($7,821).

Peter Walsworth was next on the chopping block after he lost half his stack in a flip against Jeremy Joseph and lost the other half to Van Blarcum, saw him exit in sixth place ($10,145).

Five handed play saw newly crowned champ Uselis, start his reign of terror after getting a few luckylucky doubles and then dusting Altman out in fifth place with a set of eights.

Four-handed play was very slow as each of the remaining players were evenly stacked. No one made a move until Joseph found himself a pair of ladies that couldn't hold against the suited ace of Uselis and he left the final table in fourth place ($18,523).

Uselis would continue his hot streak after his made hand of fours held against the ace-nine of Tolbert sending him home in third place good for 26,031.

Heads-up play ended within two hands as Uselis held a major chip lead over Van Blarcum who got it in good heads-up with king-queen off but was dominated after Uselis turned over ace-queen. Van Blarcum was eliminated in second place for a respectable $7,523. Uselis took home the $60,710 first-place money, along with his first gold ring.

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Clint Tolbert open-jammed for 396,000 on the button and Gediminas Uselis came over the top from the small blind getting isolation.

Clint Tolbert:   
Gediminas Uselis:   

Tolbert held two overs but couldn't find any help from the       run out and he was eliminated from the tournament.

Gediminas Uselis	2,500,000	500,000
Clint Tolbert	0	-906,000

Aaron Van Blarcum opened for 80,000 on the button and Clint Tolbert three-bet all in from the small blind. Gediminas Uselis folded his big and action was back on Van Blarcum who called.

Clint Tolbert:   
Aaron Van Blarcum:   

Van Blarcum was dominated by Tolbert and nothing changed after the       board ran out giving Tolbert the double up worth 428,000.

Clint Tolbert	906,000	671,000
Aaron Van Blarcum	700,000	-600,000

Jeremy Joseph opened for 50,000 on the button and Clint Tolbert defended his big blind to see a     flop.

Tolbert check-called Joseph's 75,000 bet to see the   fall on the turn. Tolbert lead out for 100,000 and Joseph quickly called to see the dealer drop the   on the river.

Both players checked and Tolbert tabled    to scoop the pot.

Clint Tolbert	920,000	96,000
Jeremy Joseph	490,000	-285,000

While PokerNews is here offering live updates from the Main Event and High Roller, we'd be remiss if we didn't tell you about the full schedule of side events that have been playing out over the past week at the World Series of Poker Circuit Choctaw Durant.

In Event #4: $600 PLO, 154 runners created a $79,310 prize pool that was paid out to the top 25 players. Among those to cash but fall short of the final table were Michael Perrone (11th - $1,375), Louis Barlow (14th - $1,168), Jacob Seale (16th - $1,020), Michael Le (18th - $1,020), and Lauren Bunch (24th - $425).

After placing seventh in this exact event last year, Matt Laessig rose to the occasion and claimed his first ring along with $20,773.

"Came here last year. Did my first Circuit event here last year. Had a blast," mentioned Laessig. "Final tabled the PLO… Got busted seventh. Couple bad hands in a row and for the last year, I've been replaying it in my head."

Laessig carved out his trip to Choctaw Durant and conquered. Going out a winner, he plans to return to his family and work in Austin, Texas on Monday

Final Table Results

Brian Altman open-jammed for his last 150,000 and was called by Gediminas Uselis.

Brian Altman:   
Gediminas Uselis:   

Altman needed some help but Uselis's hot streak continued with the     flop giving him a set.

The   on the turn gave Altman some life drawing to the flush but the   river sealed the deal and he took his exit in fifth place.

Gediminas Uselis	1,100,000	200,000
Brian Altman	0	-100,000

Aaron Van Blarcum opened under the gun for 32,000 and Peter Walsworth three-bet all in for 130,000 next to act. Action on the table folded back to Van Blarcum who called.

Peter Walsworth:   
Aaron Van Blarcum:   

Walsworth was behind and didn't receive any help from the       board and he was eliminated from the tournament.

Aaron Van Blarcum	500,000	200,000
Peter Walsworth	0	-230,000