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Friday, October 21, 2016 7:57 PM Local Time
Memphis car salesman makes the road trip north, wins tough $1K event
Hammond, Indiana (October 21, 2016) — John McCoy is the champion of Event #7 at Horseshoe Hammond, defeating a field of 149 players to win the $1,125 no-limit hold’em event. The victory is McCoy’s first on the WSOP Circuit, earning him the top prize of $41,720 and his first gold ring. He also collected 50 points in the race for seats in the season-ending Global Casino Championship.
McCoy is a 43-year-old car salesman from Memphis, Tennessee. He’s married with three daughters and two grandchildren, so his real-life responsibilities mean that he only has time to pursue the game as a part-time hobby. “I have five car payments,” he said with a laugh. McCoy is starting to accumulate some significant results of late, though. He’s won nearly $70,000 in tournament poker over the last two months, but this result is easily the largest on his stat sheet to date.
The champ is a man of faith, and his spirituality was the thread that ran throughout his postgame interview. “This is the last thing in the world I expected,” McCoy said in the moments after his win. “But I had a lot of people praying for me, and I think it really made a difference. It’s such a blessing,” he added. “It didn’t matter what I did today at the table, I’m telling you.”
When asked to reflect on his own performance, McCoy was further reluctant to give himself much credit. “I got lucky,” he said. “I was playing with better players, and I just got lucky.” Truth be told, he put together quite an impressive two-day stretch of poker.
McCoy was, indeed, one of the more inexperienced players remaining when the field combined around a stacked final table, but the eventual champion held the chip lead entering Day 2. He relinquished that top spot for most of the day, though, choosing to bide his time and select his spots more carefully than his opponents. “I kind of let these other guys knock each other out,” he said of his game plan.
McCoy eventually found himself heads-up with David Jackson, who is riding a pretty significant heater over the last month or so. Jackson began the duel with a significant lead, but his opponent wasted no time erasing that deficit. Thanks, in part, two a pair of boat-over-boat situations during the match, McCoy surged to a big lead of his own, eventually claiming the last of Jackson’s chips to earn the victory.
Thursday, October 20, 2016 5:26 PM Local Time
John McCoy tore through the heads-up match with David Jackson, quickly turning the tides and putting Jackson on the ropes within just a few orbits. He ran pretty hot by his own admission, winning two crucial pots in boat-over-boat confrontations.
On the final hand of the duel, both players flop top pair on a flop. Jackson gets the rest of his stack into the middle with , and he has significant kicker problems when McCoy calls to put him at risk with . The turn and river fail to improve Jackson's hand, and McCoy wins the pot and the tournament with tens up. He takes home the top prize of more than $40,000 and his first gold ring. More details about his performance will be published shortly.
Jackson (below) collects $25,786 for his runner-up finish.
Thursday, October 20, 2016 4:25 PM Local Time
David Jackson is on some kind of heater this afternoon. He's just eliminated Caufman Talley in third place, the former's ace-jack turning a winning pair of jacks against Talley's dominating ace-king. With that elimination, Jackson is now heads-up with a big advantage against start-of-day chip leader John McCoy.
David Jackson - 1,655,000 (138 bb)
John McCoy - 580,000 (48 bb)
It's still very much up for grabs despite the lopsided stacks, as both players are quite deep. Blinds are just 6,000/12,000 with a 2,000 ante in the current level, putting nearly 200 total big blinds in play.
Thursday, October 20, 2016 2:05 PM Local Time
The final 10 players are back inside The Venue at Horseshoe Hammond, and Day 2 is under way on stage.
Thursday, October 20, 2016 2:21 AM Local Time
Thursday, October 20, 2016 2:20 AM Local Time
Level 18 expires, and that's the end of Day 1. From a starting field of 149 players, just 10 remain in contention for the ring and the top prize of more than $40,000. John McCoy leads the finalists, bagging up the big stack of 414,000 at the close of play. The field chasing him is fraught with danger, though. Here's the lineup:
Seat 1: David Jackson - 123,000 (21 bb)
Seat 2: Terry Quirke - 113,000 (19 bb)
Seat 3: Fadi Hamad - 117,000 (20 bb)
Seat 4: Robert Edelstein - 292,000 (49 bb)
Seat 5: John McCoy - 414,000 (69 bb)
Seat 6: Michael Sanders - 392,000 (65 bb)
Seat 7: Mike Comisso - 212,000 (35 bb)
Seat 8: Caufman Talley - 158,000 (26 bb)
Seat 9: Michael Hahn - 338,000 (56 bb)
Seat 10: Matthew Emmel - 76,000 (13 bb)
Everyone left is guaranteed to earn at least $3,055 tomorrow. Blinds will be 3,000/6,000 with a 1,000 ante when play resumes, putting the average stack at about 37 big blinds. Play resumes at 2:00 PM and will continue until a winner is determined.
Thursday, October 20, 2016 1:27 AM Local Time
Right near the end of Level 17, the field was reduced to 15 players, an they're now in the money in Event #7. The remaining lineup is a robust one, including Caufman Talley, Michael Sanders, David Jackson, and Matthew Emmel among the final two tables.
Blinds are about to move to 2,500/5,000 with a 500 ante, putting the average stack at about 30 big blinds. Play will continue tonight until the end of this level or until the final table is set, whichever comes first.
Wednesday, October 19, 2016 8:06 PM Local Time
Level 9 is well under way, and the numbers are in for Event #7.
This $1,125 no-limit hold'em event drew a field of 149 players, generating a prizepool worth $149,000. That money will be shared by the final 15 players, with a min-cash worth $2,515. The winner will collect the series' seventh gold ring and $41,720 in cash.
The full breakdown of the payouts can be found in the "Prizepool" tab above.
Wednesday, October 19, 2016 6:25 PM Local Time
The first eight levels are complete, and the field is on a one-hour dinner break. Play resumes around 7:15 PM. When it does, registration will close for this event, so this break represents the last chance to join the field for Event #7. The board shows 142 players so far, matching last season's field size.
Blinds will be 300/600 with a 100 ante when play resumes, giving last-minute players 25 big blinds for their fresh starting stack of 15,000 chips.
Wednesday, October 19, 2016 4:18 PM Local Time
The first four levels are complete, and the field for Event #7 is filling in nicely. The board shows 120 entries so far, with late registration available until the start of Level 9, just over three hours from now.
Wednesday, October 19, 2016 1:44 PM Local Time
Half of the ring events are complete or nearly complete, and the seventh begins today at Horseshoe Hammond. The $1,125 No-Limit Hold'em event is expected to draw another big crowd this afternoon.
This event was in the same Wednesday slot last season, and it drew a field of 142 entries. Fresh off a bracelet-winning performance in the summer's inaugural Colossus event, Cord Garcia (pictured) outlasted a tough field to win his second Circuit ring and nearly $40,000 in cash. A similar turnout and top prize are expected this time around.
Here are the vitals for today's event:
- Players begin with 15,000 chips
- Levels 1-12 are 30 minutes apiece
- Levels 13-21 are 40 minutes apiece
- There is a 60-minute dinner break after Level 8
- Late registration is available until the start of Level 9 (7:15 PM)
- Day 1 concludes at the end of Level 18
- View the structure sheet
Cards go in the air at 2:00 PM.