Wednesday, January 18, 2017 8:31 PM Local Time
Nathanael Kogel Wins Second Ring in Back to Back Events at Choctaw Casino
Durant, Oklahoma (January 18, 2017) – Nathanael Kogel has just defeated a field of 360 entries to take down the World Series of Poker Event #8 at Choctaw Casino, earning his second Circuit ring and $24,841.
To say Kogel has had a busy past two days would be a grave understatement. Less than 48 hours ago, Kogel won Event #5, taking home his first Career Circuit ring and $26,334. The very next day he registered for Event #8 and the rest is history.
“I feel amazing. I have little words just because I was here just a day ago and that was the last event that I played. So this is back-to-back for me, which is really something that I have been trying to do - to win back-to-back events,” Kogel said.
Tournament Director Bill Bruce commented on Kogel’s accomplishment and said, “This is really special. To win multiple rings is hard enough. But to win them in back-to-back events, especially with the huge fields here at Choctaw, is a true feat.”
Last time around, Kogel concluded his winner’s interview by saying that he was going to get Casino Champion here at Choctaw.
“…I wanted Casino Champion, I told you that I was going to get it, and here we are,” Kogel said with a big smile on his face, “So let’s see if we can accomplish that with this.”
After winning Event #5 Kogel said that one of his goals was to win his first Circuit ring, which he accomplished that day. Today, he accomplished his goal of winning back-to-back rings. When asked what is next, the ever-humble Kogel had this to say:
“I am just going to take some time and get ready for what’s next. I guess a Main Event ring and then a bracelet is next as far as poker is concerned. But I don’t want to devalue what is happening right now. Back-to-back ships is amazing and I am just going to keep grinding and try to keep a level head and not get too overzealous. I’ve learned that overconfidence can drown you,” Kogel said.
Kogel then went on to explain that he has had the honor of working with Elliot Roe, a renowned poker mind coach. He said that the mental part of his game has always been “a ball-and-chain that has followed him around” and has held him back. While it’s something that he will always have to work at, Kogel credits Roe for a drastic positive shift in his thinking.
“I can see now that when I get tilted, I completely understand what it’s from, and how I can regain control, and keep that focus, not let the tires just spin,” Kogel said about his coaching.
The turning point, the key hand of the tournament, according to Kogel occurred when Camille Brown was eliminated in 3rd place ($15,357).
“I opened the button with tens. I started the hand with about 1,600,000 and she had about 1,300,000. It was an extremely key hand. I opened button to 45,000 at 20,000 big blind. She made it 145,000. I thought about it for a minute and I figured that since there was a previous hand that I had just taken a pot off of her, that her range was going to be a little bit wider with a five-bet all-in. We were deep enough and I thought she was capable enough to know that she had some fold equity with her stack. I was also really aggressive at that point so it looked like I was just putting chips in there. So I made it 350,000, and she tanked for about 30 seconds and then shoved all in. I wasn’t playing pre-determined, but I had kind of an understanding that she was going to be doing that no matter what, so I went with it, and she ended up having ace-jack off suit. The board came Q7779, so I improved to a full house on the turn and she was eliminated in third,” Kogel explained.
After Brown’s elimination, when heads up play began, Kogel had Nicholas Pupillo dominated 2.9 million to 700,000. He said that Pupillo was a very strong competitor that he had a lot of respect for, and he had to adjust his game in the beginning after Pupillo doubled up. In the end, the two go it all in, Pupillo’s against Kogel’s . Kogel hit a ten on the river to eliminate Pupillo in second place ($15,357) and take down his second ring in 48 hours.
Below are the results of the final table. Full results from this event are available on WSOP.com.
1 – Nathanael Kogel – $24,841
2 – Nicholas Pupillo – $15,357
3 – Camille Brown – $11,203
4 – Brady Thorpe – $8,310
5 – James Stewart – $6,260
6 – Kenneth Lemer – $4,788
7 – Abraham Araya – $3,715
8 – John Nowak – $2,925
9 – Joseph Taylor – $2,335
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At the conclusion of this event, Nathanael Kogel leads the Choctaw Casino Champion race. Kogel won Event #5, the $365 No-Limit Hold'em early yesterday morning, and then took down Event #8 today. He also cashed in Event #2 ($365 Re-Entry) giving him a total of 102.5 points. Christopher Staats and Enrique Melguizo are now tied for second place with 60 points each. The player who accumulates the most overall points in the twelve gold ring tournaments at Choctaw Casino earns the title of Casino Champion, and receives an automatic entry into the $1 million 2017 WSOP Global Casino Championship (seat valued at $10,000). The winner of the Choctaw Main Event earns an automatic entry to the Global Casino Championship as well. All players who cash in ring events will receive points that apply to both the Casino Champion race and the season-long race to claim one of the 50 at-large Global Casino Championship bids awarded to the top point earners throughout the season. More information on the points system is available on WSOP.com.
Here is the list of gold ring winners from Choctaw so far:
EVENT #1: Jorge Nieto defeated 1,096 entries ($365 No-Limit Hold’em Monster Stack) for $60,005.
EVENT #2: Charles Adkins defeated 5,280 entries ($365 No-Limit Hold’em Re-Entry) for $237,622
EVENT #3: Wesley Cooper defeated 377 entries ($365 Congress 5-Card Omaha High Low) for $24,882
EVENT #4: Andrew Telfer defeated 506 entries ($365 No-Limit Hold’em One Day) for $32,636
EVENT #5: Nathanael Kogel defeated 399 entries ($365 No-Limit Hold'em) for $26,334
EVENT #6: Christopher Staats defeated 498 entries ($365 No-Limit Hold’em Six Max) for $32,870
EVENT #7: Enrique Melguizo defeated 330 entries ($365 No-Limit Hold’em) for $23,269
EVENT #8: Nathanael Kogel defeated 360 entries ($365 No-Limit Hold’em) for $24,841
With this tournament now wrapped up, there are still 4 more gold ring events before the WSOP Circuit at Choctaw concludes on January 23, 2017.
Wednesday, January 18, 2017 7:47 PM Local Time
After a heads up battle against Word Series of Poker Circuit ring winner Nicholas Pupillo, Nathanael Kogel has just won not only his second World Series of Poker Circuit ring, but his second one in the last week!
Pupillo shoved all in holding and Kogel called holding . The board ran out giving Kogel a pair of tens on the river to win Event #8.
Given that this is Kogel's second ring this series, he has just taken a big lead in the race to Casino Champion with 102.5 points, but with four ring events remaining here at Choctaw, it's still anyone's game.
A full winner's story and recap will be posted in the next few hours.
Nathanael Kogel - Event #8 Winner - $24,841
Nicholas Pupillo - 2nd Place - $15,357
Wednesday, January 18, 2017 4:21 PM Local Time
Heads up play has just begun between Nathanael Kogel, who just won his first ring two nights ago in Event #5 ($365 No-Limit Hold'em) and Nicholas Pupillo, who already has one ring to is name.
Kogel just took out Camille Brown (3rd Place - $15,357) in a massive pot. Here is a look at the final two stacks heading into heads up play:
Kogel: 2,900,000 (145 bb)
Pupillo: 700,000 (35 bb)
Play resumes at Level 24 with 10,000/20,000 blinds with a 3,000 ante.
Wednesday, January 18, 2017 4:16 PM Local Time
Camille Brown - 3rd Place - $15,357
Wednesday, January 18, 2017 3:57 PM Local Time
Brady Thorpe - 4th Place - $8,310
Wednesday, January 18, 2017 3:35 PM Local Time
James Stewart - 5th Place - $6,260
Wednesday, January 18, 2017 3:00 PM Local Time
Kenneth Lemer - 6th Place - $4,788
Wednesday, January 18, 2017 2:30 PM Local Time
Abraham Araya - 7th Place - $3,715
Wednesday, January 18, 2017 2:15 PM Local Time
John Nowak - 8th Place - $2,925
Wednesday, January 18, 2017 2:57 AM Local Time
Last night after
round-for round play the field was narrowed to 36 players that all made the money. For a list of results so far, please
see the Results tab above.
Over the course of the final levels of play the field was
narrowed down to just 8 remaining. Those players all bagged up their
chips for the night around 2:30 am.
The chip leader heading into Day 2 is James Stewart who finished Day 1
with 1,067,000. Coming in second is Camille Brown with 689,000. Here is a look at the final eight by chip count coming into the home stretch:
First Name |
Last Name |
Chip Count |
T |
S |
James |
Stewart |
1,067,000 |
12 |
8 |
Camille |
Brown |
689,000 |
12 |
6 |
Brady |
Thorpe |
590,000 |
12 |
4 |
Nathanael |
Kogel |
476,000 |
12 |
1 |
Kenneth |
Lemer |
264,000 |
12 |
9 |
Nicholas |
Pupillo |
246,000 |
12 |
2 |
Abraham |
Araya |
142,000 |
12 |
7 |
John |
Nowak |
127,000 |
12 |
3 |
Everyone left is guaranteed to earn at least $2,925 on Wednesday, but all eyes are on the top prize of $24,841.
Play will resume today at 2:00pm at Level 22 with 6,000/12,000 blinds and a 2,000 ante.
Wednesday, January 18, 2017 2:31 AM Local Time
Wednesday, January 18, 2017 2:30 AM Local Time
Twenty-one levels have come and gone, and the remaining players are bagging up their chips for the night. The board shows 8 players remaining, and Day 2 begins Wednesday January 18th at 2:00 p.m.
A total of 36 players made the money today. For a full list of results so far, please see the Results tab above.
Here is a look at the players' end of night chip counts (by seating assignment):
Wednesday, January 18, 2017 2:18 AM Local Time
Joseph Taylor - 9th Place - $2,335
Wednesday, January 18, 2017 2:16 AM Local Time
Harold Lockwood Jr. - 10th Place - $1,889
Wednesday, January 18, 2017 2:15 AM Local Time
With only 20 minutes left in the last level of the night, the field has been reduced to the final
ten players. Each player is guaranteed to earn at least $1,550 but
all eyes are on the top prize of $24,841 awaiting the
champion. Blinds are currently 5,000/10,000 with a 1,000 ante.
Here is a look at how the final table stacks up heading into the home stretch of play:
Seat 1: Nathanael Kogel - 748,000 (74 bb)
Seat 2: Nick Pupillo - 285,000 (28 bb)
Seat 3: John Nowak - 99,000 (9 bb)
Seat 4: Brady THorpe - 279,000 (27 bb)
Seat 5: Joe Taylor - 107,000 (10 bb)
Seat 6: Harold Lockwood - 49,000 (4 bb)
Seat 7: Camille Brown - 517,000 (51 bb)
Seat 8: Abraham Araya - 26,000 (2 bb)
Seat 9: James Stewart - 1,170,000 (117 bb)
Seat 10: Kenneth Lemer - 321,000 (32 bb)
Tuesday, January 17, 2017 11:03 PM Local Time
The round for round portion of play has expired, and all remaining players are now in the money and guaranteed at least $558.
Tuesday, January 17, 2017 10:30 PM Local Time
Event #8 is down to the final 37 players which means they will now start the round-for-round portion of play until the money bubble breaks with just 36 players remaining.
Tuesday, January 17, 2017 10:19 PM Local Time
The final numbers are in for the $365 No-Limit Hold'em Event #8.
This event drew a field of 360 entries,
generating a prizepool of $108,000. That money will be shared by the
final 36 players, with a min-cash worth $558. The eventual winner will
take home the top prize of $24,841, the World Series of Poker gold ring,
and 50 Casino Champion qualifier points.
A full breakdown of the payouts can be found in the Prizepool tab above.
Here is a look at the final table payouts:
Sunday, January 15, 2017 6:16 PM Local Time
Last season, KC Panjwani won his first gold ring when he became the champion of Event #8. Panjwani defeated a field of 278 players to take home the title, the ring, and $20,018 after defeating four-time World Series of Poker Circuit ring winner Daniel Lowery.
KC Panjwani
Here is a look at the details for today's event:
- Players begin with 10,000 in chips
- Late registration is open until the start of Level 9
- Re-entries are allowed until the end of registration (start of Level 9)
- Levels 1-12 will be 30 minutes in length
- Levels 13-21 will be 40 minutes in length
- Levels 22+ will be 50 minutes in length
- There will be a 15-minute break after every two hours of play on Day 1, and after every 2 levels of play on Day 2
- This will be a two-day tournament. Day 2 will be held on Wednesday January 18th at 2:00pm
- View the structure sheet