Tuesday, January 20, 2015 12:18 AM Local Time
Jose Montes navigated through a field of 1,363 players to win the largest Circuit Main Event of the 2014-15 campaign. Montes takes home $352,669 for his first place finish in the Choctaw Durant Main Event. Along with the top prize, Montes secures a berth to this year’s National Championship.
This marks the New York native’s fourth ever WSOP cash and first gold ring. While the cash and the ring are satisfying, it was not an easy ride for the 29-year-old poker professional. With the large field and massive first place prize, there were plenty of Circuit grinders and other top pros who came to take their shot at Circuit glory. Montes battled at the final table with two-time ring winner Ben Reason, ring winner Ryan Tepen and defeated ring winner Ben Keeline heads-up for a ring of his own.
The gold ring that comes along with the victory is something Montes was especially excited about.
“I can show my son one day,” said Montes about the gold ring. “Look at what dad won.”
Montes has an 11-month-old boy at home who shares the same birthday as Montes. He also has another boy on the way. He has been looking at homes for his family for the past few months. According to Montes, part of his prize money will go toward buying his family a new home.
Montes’ road to victory was well deserved. While he found his fair share of luck, Montes wielded his big stack like a true pro. He entered the final table as the chip leader and used his stack to continue to collect chips throughout the day. He was aggressive three-betting throughout the entire day and was one of the more active players at the table.
Montes’ aggressiveness got him into a tough spot with four players remaining. He opened the pot and then called a three-bet against Nancy Nguyen. Montes check raised all-in on a 10-9-8 board with A-7 suited and was called by Nguyen holding Q-Q.A 6 landed on the river giving Montes a straight and one of the biggest pots of the day. Nguyen was eliminated and Montes took that momentum to victory.
“Tournament poker is so tough. You get so close and it hurts when you lose. Still winning money and it still hurts. You want to win. I am a competitor; competitors want to win every time. I want to play every time and I never want to bust out. I want to win every time.”
Montes is a regular at tournaments on the East Coast, and this wasn’t an event he planned on playing. He decided last minute he decided to make the trip to Oklahoma with a friend and they flew out of Atlantic City at 7 am. They landed got to Oklahoma a few hours later and bought into Day 1A without much rest.
Montes finished Day 2 in the middle of the pack with regards to chips, finishing in 7th out of 16 players. He was guaranteed to earn at least $18,953 at that point and the pay jumps were starting to get big. He had no intention of worrying about the pay jumps thought. He was playing for the gold ring.
“Don’t think about money, and play as good as I could,” said Montes about his mentality coming into the final day of play.
That mentality worked out great for Montes. It helped him play aggressively, fearless and for the win. It is ultimately what lead him to victory in of the toughest Circuit tournaments of the season.
The Main Event was the eleventh of twelve events on the Choctaw Durant schedule. The $1,675 No Limit Hold’em tournament created a massive prize pool of $2,044,500. As expected, this tournament drew some of the top players in the game. TJ Cloutier, 2013 November Niner David Benefield, Jose Serratos, Maurice Hawkins, 1996 WSOP Main Event Runner-Up Bruce Van Horn and Nipun Java all earned cashes of varying degrees.
Cloutier, a six-time bracelet winner, was coming off of a runner-up finish for $122,040 in the largest tournament in Circuit history, a $365 No Limit Hold'em with 4,053 runners. He lost heads-up to Ray Henson, who also fired two bullets in the main event.
Other notables who played the event included Kevin Eyster, 2005 WSOP Main Event third place finisher Tex Barch, David “ODB” Baker, and Bracelet winner Bryan Campanello.
With Montes’ victory comes the conclusion of the Choctaw Durant Circuit series. The WSOP Circuit will continue at Horseshoe Tunica starting Thursday.
Choctaw Durant final table results:
1. Jose Montes - $352,669
2. Benjamin Keeline - $218,762
3. Douglas Fusella - $160,309
4. Nancy Nguyen - $121,873
5. Marc Maxey - $92,779
6. Benjamin Reason - $71,455
7. Mohammad Arani - $55,672
8. Alex Greenblatt - $43,875
9. Ryan Tepen - $34,981
Monday, January 19, 2015 11:03 PM Local Time
Jose Montes raises to 350,000 on the button and Ben Keeline moves all in for 4,100,000.
"Let's play for it all," said Montes as he calls.
Keeline tables and is in the lead against Montes' . The crowd let out a gasp as the flop fell , giving Montes a double gutshot straight draw and two live pair outs.
The turn is the and Montes needs to find a jack, seven, nine or ten on the river to end the event. The river is the to give Montes a straight, the pot, and the win.
Keeline is eliminated in second place and takes home $218,762 for his runner-up finish, while Montes takes home $352,669, a Circuit ring and the automatic berth into the National Championship.
Monday, January 19, 2015 10:45 PM Local Time
Ben Keeline raises to 350,000 on the button and Jose Montes folds.
Monday, January 19, 2015 10:44 PM Local Time
Jose Montes raises to 350,000 on the button and takes the blinds and antes.
Monday, January 19, 2015 10:44 PM Local Time
Ben Keeline limps in on the button and Jose Montes checks his option. Montes check-calls 160,000 on a flop of and they see the fall on the turn. The river is the and Montes leads out for 160,000 and takes the pot.
Monday, January 19, 2015 10:42 PM Local Time
Jose Montes folds and gives Ben Keeline a walk
Monday, January 19, 2015 10:41 PM Local Time
Ben Keeline raises to 350,000 on the button and takes the blinds and antes.
Monday, January 19, 2015 10:41 PM Local Time
Jose Montes raises to 350,000 on the button an Ben Keeline three-bets to 865,000 out of the big blind. Montes spends a minute in the tank before Montes four-bets to 2,000,000. Keeline folds and Montes takes the pot.
Monday, January 19, 2015 10:39 PM Local Time
Jose Montes - 21,800,000 (136 BBs)
Ben Keeline - 5,450,000 (34 BBs)
Monday, January 19, 2015 10:39 PM Local Time
Ben Keeline folds the button and Jose Montes gets a walk.
Monday, January 19, 2015 10:38 PM Local Time
Jose Montes raises to 350,000 and Ben Keeline calls. The flop is and Keeline check-folds to a bet of 450,000 from Montes.
Monday, January 19, 2015 10:37 PM Local Time
Ben Keeline raises to 350,000 on the button and Jose Montes three-bets to 800,000. Keeline four-bets to 2,300,00 and Montes five-bets to 5,000,000. Keeline moves all in and Montes calls.
Keeline tables and is in bad shape against Montes' . The flop is and Keeline needs running cards to make broadway, but the turn is the and the river is the to give Montes a big double up.
The dealer and floor staff count down the stacks to verify that Montes is all in for 10,845,000 and Keeline has several million left in his stack.
Monday, January 19, 2015 10:33 PM Local Time
Jose Montes raises to 350,000 and Ben Keeline calls. The flop is and both players check. The turn is the and both players check again. The is the river and Keeline bets 500,000 and takes the pot.
Monday, January 19, 2015 10:32 PM Local Time
Ben Keeline gives Jose Montes a Walk
Monday, January 19, 2015 10:31 PM Local Time
Jose Montes raises to 350,000. Ben Keeline calls and they go to a flop of and Keeline checks. Montes bets 410,000 and takes the pot.
Monday, January 19, 2015 10:30 PM Local Time
Ben Keeline folds his button and Jose Montes gets a walk
Monday, January 19, 2015 10:29 PM Local Time
Jose Montes raises on the button to 350,000 and takes the blinds and antes.
Monday, January 19, 2015 10:28 PM Local Time
Ben Keeline gives Jose Montes a walk.
Monday, January 19, 2015 10:28 PM Local Time
Jose Montes raises on the button and takes the blinds and antes.
Monday, January 19, 2015 10:27 PM Local Time
Ben Keeline raises to 350,000 and takes the pot.