DANNY MARX CLAIMS FIRST RING IN CHOCTAW DURANT MAIN EVENT

1 August 2022 (Durant, Oklahoma) - Danny Marx is the first Main Event champion of the 2022/2023 World Series of Poker Circuit season after he topped a massive field of 931 entries to walk away with the Choctaw Durant $1,700 Main Event title, a $246,829 top prize, and a seat into the 2023 Tournament of Champions. 


Marx came into the final day at the bottom of the counts but picked his spots and went on a late final table heater to claim his first gold ring and taking down over a quarter-million dollars to go along with it was rewarding as well.

 

"I have no words right now, this whole tournament has been an insane experience for me," Marx shared. "I am incredibly grateful. I need a night to let it all sink in, I'm just super happy right now"


To make it to the Main Event's top prize, Marx had to navigate a highly skilled final table, that included not just WSOP ring winners, but a bracelet winner as well.

 

"A lot of those guys are very, very tough players," Marx said. "A lot of them have a lot more tournament experience than me. I come from a cash background, I'm still getting the hang of tournament stack depths, but I learned a ton from playing against them. I was incredibly lucky to be able to beat them."

 

Although he didn't have a rail, Marx made sure to let his friends and family back home know how he was doing through frequent updates.

 

"I want to thank all of my friends," Marx said. "I had a bunch of people sending me well wishes throughout the tournament, and especially now my phone is blowing up like crazy. It helps to see that all of your friends care about you and want you to succeed."


Final Table Results 

1st Place: Danny Marx - $246,820

2nd Place: Quan Tran - $152,553

3rd Place: Nikola Mircetic - $114,015

4th Place: Brad Ruben - $86,051

5th Place: Dakotah O'Dell - $65,591

6th Place: Jason Rice - $50,498

7th Place: Osman Ihlamur - $39,272

8th Place: Steven McCartney - $30,855

9th Place: Aaron Thomas - $24,492


Day 3 Action


The final day of the Main Event saw 13 players return from Day 2, each guaranteed at least a $15,925 payday. 


The action kicked right into gear off the bat as Aaron Thomas collected an early double from Dakotah O'Dell while a few hands later Noah Nodine failed to win a race against O'Dell and was the first player to exit on the final day. 


Shortly after, Colt Sanders found himself in a dominated situation after jamming with ace-queen suited from the button only to have Danny Marx call from the small blind holding big slick and he became the second elimination of the day. 


The next level saw Steven "Cuz" Buckner hit a run of bad luck as he ran his pocket threes into Marx's pair of cowboys. Buckner turned a flush draw but wasn't able to complete it and he made his exit 11th place for $19,645. 


After players returned from their first break, short stack Bart Bogard started making moves getting a few jams through to build a bigger stack, but it didn't matter after his pocket queens were outflopped by Osman Ihalmur holding an ace rag, setting the stage for the final table.

 

Final Table Action

 

The final table started with Thomas collecting an early double only to be the first player to make his exit at the final table after his two-pair was crushed by Nikola Mircetic's full house. 


The next elimination occurred after Steven McCartney got his chips in the middle from the cutoff holding jack-ten offsuit only to have Osman Ihlamur wake up with a pair of ladies in the big blind. 


McCartney didn't have much of a sweat after Ihlamur flopped quads and his tournament ended in eighth place.


After players returned from another break, Ihlamur lost a big battle of the blinds collision against Tran who turned two-pair to send him packing in seventh place and Tran would continue with his elimination streak, winning a race against Jason Rice to send him home in sixth place.


From here, chips started to shuffle, but none more than for O'Dell who caught two doubles only to end up being the next elimination in fifth place ($65,591).


After O'Dell's departure, four-time WSOP bracelet winner Brad Ruben ended up on the wrong side of a race and his tournament ended in fourth place ($86,051).


Three handed action ended just as fast as it started after Mircetic called off his stack after pairing his ace rag on the flop only to see he was dominated by Tran's big slick, ending his tournament in third place ($114,015).


The heads-up battle only lasted a few short hand's after Tran jammed his stack in the middle with a gut shot straight draw and a pair of threes and was called by Marx holding a made hand of eights. Tran was unable to improve on the river and his impressive run ended in runner-up for $152,553.


That wraps up Main Event coverage on the tail end of an exciting and eventful WSOP Circuit stop a Choctaw Durant! Make sure to tune in for our coverage of the Harrah's Cherokee Main Event August 12th-16th!