WSOPC Event #11: $1,700 MAIN EVENT

Pot-limit specialist Aaron Wallace has won Event #9 at Circuit Coconut Creek, $400 PLO, after dominating a fast-paced final table. Wallace earns $10,099 and his first Circuit ring in an event he learned about almost by accident, as he was in south Florida for wok-related reasons. Wallace, 36, originally from Carmel, Indiana, won a WSOP bracelet in this format back in 2015, and he now has a second WSOP honor to add to his resume.

Bruce Freedman finished second for $6,241 while recording his first WSOP cash, and start-of-day chipleader Royce Matheson took third for $4,444.

Wallace, who turns 36 in March, isn't a full-time pro like most of his competitors, but he's about as tough a "semi-pro" as exists in PLO. Wallace and his family -- he's married, with three young children -- recently moved to the Tahoe National Forest in northern California.

"I don't play a lot of ring events, but I travel a bit for work, and when it lines up, I ty to play." Wallace was actually in south Florida looking to buy a truck, which he'll need for travel around his new home. He's also working for COYO, a coconut-milk yogurt manufacturer, and all that led to him planning on buying a truck he'd found online. But... no.

"That deal fell through, and I didn't even know this event was going on. I called a friend and he was like, 'Hey, there's a PLO event going on tomorrow. You should play.' So, here we are! I was going to buy a truck, but I'm going back with a ring instead."

Wallace was able to use his experience to outmaneuver a very balanced final table that began with five of the seven players bunched near 300,000 in chips. "I was able to play my spots," he said, "and I definitely liked my position at the table. As typically happens, he also enjoyed good fortune, catching pocket aces four time in less than two hours play, including in the final hand against Freedman. "I ran really good late," he acknowledged, and that's often what it takes.