Tuesday, February 21, 2017 8:05 PM Local Time
Nate Bandy Wins His Fourth Gold Ring of the Season
Event #1
No-Limit Hold'em Re-Entry
Buy-In: $300 (+$65)
Total Entries: 1,498
Prize Pool: $449,400
Nate Bandy wins his fourth gold ring and largest WSOP score ever in the Rio Circuit's opening event.
LAS VEGAS (February 21, 2017) -- The World Series of Poker Circuit went 12 seasons without seeing a player win four gold rings in a single season. Now, in less than a 10 day span, two players have won their fourth gold rings of the season.
Retired professional football player Nate Bandy has just defeated a 1,498-player field in the opening event of the Rio Circuit to earn $75,364 and win his fourth Circuit gold ring of the 2106/2017 season. It came just nine days after Trinidad and Tobago's Martin Ryan accomplished the same feat at the West Palm Beach Circuit stop.
"It feels great," said Bandy about winning his fourth gold ring. "With this being a 1,500-player field, and it is the biggest payout of all of them. This is the best feeling one."
Bandy's performance on the Circuit this season has been one of the best of all-time, and he has done it despite playing a limited tournament schedule. Bandy mostly sticks to playing cash games, and when he does play Circuit series' he often skips the weekend events to be able to attend his son's basketball games instead. Bandy's season resume includes seven cashes, and four gold rings for $135,310 in tournament earnings.
Bandy's success of finishing tournaments is what sets him apart from the other competitors. Many players have more Circuit final tables than Bandy, but none other than Ryan, can boast four gold rings. Bandy can attribute the success of finishing tournaments to the fact that he gets stronger the longer he plays with the same opponents. He said that one strength of his game is people reading. The longer he plays with the same opponent, the more his edge increases. That leads him to being one of the strongest players at the table as the tournament winds down.
Bandy entered the final table fourth in chips. His mentality entering the final day of play revolved 100% around winning the tournament. He stayed patient early on at the final table and built a tight image. He said that image really paid off later as he was able to steal a lot of pots.
"At the end when I raised, I had a table image built up. I just got away with stealing so much at the end when I didn't have anything. I built up a 'he ain't playing, unless he's got it,' image," said Bandy.
Bandy stressed how important table image and patience is to his game plan. Part of his strategy also revolves around avoiding people until he has a strong read on them.
Bandy didn't say he had any celebrations in store for this victory. It's straight back to business and the chase of ring number five for Bandy. His first shot at his fifth ring of the season will be in one of tomorrow's events. Then he is flying back home to Chattanooga, Tennessee on Thursday.
How is Bandy going to win his fifth gold ring?
"Just go with my reads, that's how I am going to get number five," said Bandy.
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Event #1 was the first of 12 gold ring events on the WSOP Circuit schedule at the Rio in Las Vegas. The $365 No-Limit Hold'em Re-Entry tournament attracted 1,498 players generating a $449,400 prize pool. The top 151 players were paid.
The tournament featured six starting flights. Flights A and B were on Friday, Flights C and D were Saturday and the final two flights were on Sunday. There were 98 players that advanced to Monday's Day 2. Play stopped on Day 2 once the final table was reached. The final nine players returned for Day 3 Tuesday at 1 p.m. and the tournament concluded at 7:30 p.m.
Final table results:
1st: Nate Bandy - $75,364 + Circuit gold ring
2nd: Kainalu McCue-Unciano - $46,870
3rd: Paul Cogliano - $34,347
4th: Jeffrey Sager - $26,112
5th: Gregory Fils - $19,878
6th: Doug Lee - $15,309
7th: Irene Carey - $11,928
8th: James Hoeppner - $9,400
9th: Bohr He - $7,495
Complete results can be found above under the "Results" tab.