Premonition leads two-time gold ring winner to Choctaw Main Event title and $265,915.
11 November 2019 (Durant Okla.) -- Nathanael Kogel rose to greatness Monday evening at the World Series of Poker Circuit at Choctaw Durant. The 30-year-old Poker Pro topped a 983-entry field in Event #11: $1,700 No-Limit Hold’em Main Event, securing his third WSOP gold ring and $256,915.
“I actually had two dreams about this tournament… I had a dream that I got heads up with two-thirds of the chips in play and that I had to battle it out for the ring,” mentioned Kogel. “I literally had the dream twice in a two-week span leading up to this.”
“It was pretty amazing actually,” he continued. “I didn’t want to start talking about it until it like actually happened, but I told my friends when I got to the final table that I kind of had that premonition.”
Amazingly enough, Kogel’s premonition did in fact come true. Going into the final table, the chips were very evenly dispersed. However, about two hours in, the scales tipped significantly in Kogel’s favor.
Pocket kings provided Kogel with his first big boost in chips. The Cowboys successfully knocked out Mason Vieth in 8th place while virtually doubling Kogel’s stack to eight million.
He then went on to turn Broadway and get paid on a check-raised river, pushing his chip holdings to over 10 million. A heater was certified when he hit another straight, this time at the expense of Max Young, and shortly after sent Lily Kiletto to the rail in 7th place.
Eventually, Kogel found himself heads up against Jesus Martinez for the Main Event title.
The only difference from his dream was that he had a nearly four fifths ratio to work with. Martinez was powerless against the momentum of Kogel, going out in 2nd place for $158,793 after running into pocket queens.
On top of the deck falling his way, Kogel also played tremendous poker, using his skill and past experiences to propel him to the winner’s circle.
“I’ll tell you what. I’ve probably played some of the best poker I’ve played in a while,” said Kogel about his performance in the Main. “I learned a lot of things of just like trying to take some low variance lines and being smart about not getting to out of control.”
Kogel made sure to avoid some pitfalls he encountered exactly a year ago while making two final table but falling in 6th place each time.
The Choctaw Circuit in January of 2017 was Kogel’s breakout year where he won back-to-back gold rings. Though it was a momentous milestone for Kogel, his third title turned out to be beyond compare.
“To be honest, I can’t really explain it right now because I’m kind of in shock,” Kogel expressed, following his triumph.
Winning $250k might not even be the biggest change in Kogel’s life this year. The Texas native just had a son in February with his wife, and fellow poker player, Shino Fujiwara.
With a newborn child in his life, Kogel has had to pick his spots when it comes to poker. On top of that, he recently was hired as a leading Manager in the efforts toward building a new Lodge Card Club in Austin, Texas.
“It was kind of a good thing, some security because poker is not always promised. You can play as well as you can and things don’t go your way sometimes,” stated Kogel.
On the second weekend of the second Choctaw Circuit of the 2019/20 season, things certainly did go Kogel’s way and next time he dreams of a poker achievement all other players around him better beware.
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