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25 February 2020 (Las Vegas) - Bradley Hinson won his first World Series of Poker Circuit ring Tuesday night. He finished in first place in the $1,700 Main Event at the Rio Las Vegas WSOP Circuit, earning $209,216 and his first WSOP ring. Hinson, from North Carolina, has previously cashed in 7 WSOP events for a total of $64,135, and until now has never been able to come close to a final table.

“It feels really good because I have always been wanting to win one, but I don’t play that many tournament. 15 years ago, when I first started playing, I used to watch the ring events so this is definitely a bucket list thing for me. It’s pretty sweet,” said Hinson after earning his first WSOP ring.

747 players took a stab at the $1,700 Main event, and 17 entrants were still in the hunt at the start of Day 3 with Adam Hendrix as the chip leader. The field quickly whittled down to a final table before the first break of the day, with Hendrix still in the lead. A couple of hours later the field was reduced to three, with James Duke busting in 4th place to earn $71,540. Duke’s 4th place finish ended up being important, given that the $71,540 gave him the tiebreaker-win against Ian Steinman in the Casino Championship.

Hinson did not get caught in the moment, despite his inexperience and the increasing pay jumps.

“I made a pretty big fold four-handed, and I felt like I had a good idea how everyone was playing. I just tried to play my game and I don’t think I played a single hand that I regret, and that is always nice,” Hinson recalled after the long-lasting final table.

Hinson is born Buies Creek, North Carolina, a small town with just under 3000 people. This was an emotional win for the 36-year-old and admitted that the support back home meant a lot to him.

“I want to thank my family, friends and god. My family has always been super supportive, and I feel like most people where I’m from wouldn’t have that type of support playing poker. The support means a lot to me, my mom and dad are awake right now waiting for me to tell them how I did, and I almost cried just now thinking about that.”

“People can be ‘judgy’ sometimes, and some people have looked down on me for playing. Without the support I don’t know if I would be here right now, and sometimes it is not easy. My family has always been like ‘you’ve got this’ and always encouraged me,” said the Main event winner.

The tournament started Saturday, February 22, and attracted 747 players. The total prizepool was $1,131,705 and the top 113 players made the money. Hinson is rewarded with $209,216 for the win, and he also earns a seat at the Global Casino Championship.

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Here are the final table results:

1st: Bradley Hinson
2nd: Trung Pham
3rd: Michael Stein
4th: James Duke
5th: Adam Hendrix
6th: Louise Francoeur 
7th: Faisal Siddiqui
8th: Mark Ioli
9th: Joseph Marchal