Wednesday, December 2, 2015 3:24 PM Local Time
Brian McDaniel Scores His First Career Gold Ring at Harrah's Cherokee
- Pictured is McDaniel with his brother
Event #5
Pot-Limit Omaha
Buy-In: $300 (+$65)
Total Entries: 212
Prize Pool: $63,600
Brian McDaniel gets to share his experience of winning his first gold ring with his brother, who was supporting him the whole way through.
Cherokee, N.C. (December 2, 2015) -- Brian McDaniel has just won the Pot-Limit Omaha gold ring at the Harrah's Cherokee series. This has been his best stop on the Circuit and he just earned his first career gold ring here to verify that.
McDaniel's first career Circuit cash came at this property last year in the six max event. Since then he has recorded 10 Circuit cashes, including reaching six Circuit final tables. Of those six final tables, four have come at Harrah's Cherokee.
Beside this victory, the cash that really stands out on McDaniel's resume is his 12th place finish in the 2015 National Championship, and what do you know that was held right here at Harrah's Cherokee. McDaniel's finished in 12th place for $25,010. It is still to this day his largest WSOP cash.
McDaniel's almost did not even qualify for the National Championship last year. It came down to the final series of the season for him to earn a seat into the National Championship. He was just a few points shy of earning an at-large bid heading into the final series of the 2014/2015 Circuit season, which was held at Foxwood's Resort. He recorded an 8th place finish in the six max event to give himself just enough points to qualify for the National Championship.
This victory bolts McDaniel up in the Global Casino Championship (previously known as the National Championship) standings for this year and he is off to a strong start toward earning a seat for the second consecutive year. This victory also puts McDaniel's in contention for winning the series' Casino Championship title. He currently sits in sixth place with half of the events remaining. The winner of the Casino Championship earns an automatic bid to the 2016 Global Casino Championship.
The final table was a grind it out, survival of the fittest type of final table. It ended up lasting an incredible nine hours and 20 minutes long. McDaniel had experienced too many close calls in the past to give in easily.
"On break I would go out by the river and mentally focus on the next steps along the way," said McDaniel.
McDaniel would end up surviving the long grind and then defeating three-time gold ring winner, John Holley, heads-up for the gold ring. Holley earned $9,827 for his runner-up finish.
"I am stoked because so many people have been pulling for me, like my parents, my mom especially," said McDaniel. "She is going to be super happy.
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Event #5 was the fifth of 12 gold ring events on the WSOP Circuit
schedule at Harrah's Cherokee. The $365 Pot-Limit Omaha tournament
attracted 212 players generating a $63,600 prize pool. The top 24 players were paid.
Day 1 began Monday at 4 p.m. and lasted 16 levels. Day 2
began Tuesday at 3 p.m. with 13 players remaining. The tournament
concluded at about 1:50 a.m. Wednesday midway through Level 28.
Final table results:
1st: Brian McDaniel - $15,900 + Circuit gold ring
2nd: John Holley - $9,827
3rd: Jim McCarthy - $7,152
4th: Dana Blay - $5,290
5th: Hoang Tu - $3,973
6th: Nancy Thompson - $3,031
7th: Joshua Reichard - $2,347
8th: Jeffrey Dodson - $1,844
9th: Hussain Sajwani - $1,471
Complete results can be found above under the "Results" tab.