Event #8: $400 No-Limit Hold'em Double Stack

David Avina, of Murrieta, CA, has triumphed in Event #8 at Circuit Hard Rock Tulsa, $400 No-Limit Hold'em Double Stack. Avina earned $23,602 for the win, along with his first career Circuit ring.

Avina started Day 2 with the chip lead but found himself trailing a couple of other players as the final table progressed. After Avina knocked out six-time Circuit ring winner in third, he faced another multiple-ring Circuit veteran, Joshua Evans (who's won three rings), for the title. 

Evans collected $14,586 for second, while Robinson earned $10,583 for third.

Avina started the heads-up duel ahead, but each player doubled through the other, before Avina closed out the victory. With the blinds rising, the chips went in pre-flop; Evans had    to Avina's   . Evans moved ahead on the     flop and appeared set to double through again, but the turn was the  , given Avina a set and a lock on the hand. A meaningless   completed the action.

"I didn't even know that he'd flopped an ace," Avina told the WSOP. "I actually couldn't even tell that he'd flopped an ace when I took a look at the rail. They didn't even say anything, no 'oooouuhhh'. I thought I was ahead the whole time."

The five on the turn, though, brought Avina the ring. "'Amazing' is the only way I can describe it. I've been playing poker for a long time; it [a ring] has eluded me for a while. I've made three or four final tables so it's nice to finally win one." In addition to being his first live major title, the big payday was also the largest live cash of Avina's live-event career.

"I don't get to play a ton of tournaments," he added, also noting that he'd had to reschedule his departure flight from Tulsa just to play Event #8's Day 2. While a veteran player, Avina is not a full-time pro, and he works as an independent housing contractor. "I have a painting and drywall business and I have a customer who's not happy; I told him I'd do some work this weekend."

While Avina didn't have an "easy" road to the win, he admitted, "All my hands fairly played themselves," meaning he was often in spots where his decisions were more or less automatic. Sometimes that works out, as it did for Avina this day.

Day 1 play has ended in Event #8 with 15 players remaining. Murrieta, CA's David Avina bagged 1,354,000 in chips to take the lead into Day 2.

1 David Avina 1,354,000
2 Brant Jolly 1,175,000
3 Andrew Robinson 796,000
4 Jay McVeigh 773,000
5 Christos Georgakis 723,000
6 Joshua Evans 647,000
7 Jared Ward 576,000
8 Jordan DeGrenier 533,000
9 Scot Wilken 462,000
10 Wayne W. Lovell 449,000
11 John Reynolds 383,000
12 Nestor C. Punay 382,000
13 Mark Van Keirsbilck 320,000
14 Ali Shahid 256,000
15 Stan Breedlove 136,000

Action resumes at 1 pm on Friday.

Event #8 at Circuit Hard Rock Tulsa, $400 No-Limit Hold'em Double Stack, begins at 11 am. This event offers the following features:

• 30,000 in starting chips
• 30-minute levels
• Late registration available until the start of Level 13
• Re-entry event
• Day 2 play begins at 1 pm on Friday

Prizepool information will be available early Wednesday evening.