CASINO CHAMPION PROFILE: BYRON ZIEBELL

Byron Ziebell heats up at the end of the Potawatomi series to win Casino Champion honors.

MILWAUKEE (February 16, 2017) – Byron Ziebell is the World Series of Poker’s most recent Casino Championship winner. He won the Casino Championship title at the inaugural Potawatomi Circuit series by winning a gold ring, reaching two final tables and cashing four times in the 12-event series.

Ziebell made a late charge, picking up 65 of his 80 points in the final three events of the series. It wasn’t until the last event’s final table that Ziebell locked up the title for Casino Champion.

Ziebell started the series by picking up a small cash in Event #1: $365 No-Limit Hold’em Re-Entry. He finished in 49th place for $1,133 and his first five points of the series. He then cashed in Event #5, which was the only pot-limit omaha event of the series. He just missed out on the final table and finished in 12th place for $1,275 and 10 more Casino Championship points.

Ziebell hopped in the Main Event’s first flight and bagged, but with only a 12 big blind stack. He had a day of between his starting flight and Day 2 of the Main Event, so he decided to play in the one-day turbo event that day. He ended up defeating a 266-player field for $19,547 and his first career WSOP Circuit gold ring. Ziebell earned 50 points to bring his series to total to 65 points. He took the lead in the Casino Championship with that win. The turbo event fit Ziebell’s playing style well. After the event ended, Ziebell said that he used to specialize in online 180-man turbos, which Event #10 basically was, except for it being live. Ziebell’s lead was far from safe though. There were about 10 players that were just a final table away from passing him and still three events yet to finish.

The next day Ziebell busted out of the Main Event early on Day 2 and missed out on the money and adding points to his total. Then Ziebell lost lead later in the day because Event #5: $365 Pot-Limit Omaha winner Josh Reichard passed him. Reichard bagged Day 2 of the Main Event with eight players remaining and would be returning for Day 3 guaranteed enough points to pass Ziebell by 12.5 points. Kenny Nguyen was also in contention for the Casino Championship. He bagged Day 1 of Event #11: $580 No-Limit Texas Hold’em with 14 players remaining and had the potential to run his series total points up to 102.5 with a win in the tournament.

On the final day of the series there was one last event starting: Event #12: $365 No-Limit Hold’em (30-minutes levels). Ziebell decided to give Event #12 a shot and give himself a chance to regain the top spot in the Casino Championship standings. The day started well for Ziebell and Reichard ended up being the first player eliminated on Day 3 of the Main Event. Reichard would end up finishing the series with 77.5 points. Then Nguyen busted in Event #11 in 5th place. Nguyen picked up 25 points and finished the series with 77.5 points. Nguyen held the tiebreaker over Reichard for having more tournament earnings over the course of the series.

With Nguyen and Reichard done earning points for the series, Ziebell’s fate for the Casino Championship was in his own hands. Ziebell needed at least a 9th place finish in Event #12 to take the title and the 2017 Global Casino Championship seat that came along with it. Ziebell made it to the unofficial final table of 10 players and then laddered up to 9th place to clinch the title. He ended up busting in 9th place for $1,655 and 15 points. Ziebell finished the series with 80 points.

Ziebell will join the Potawatomi Main Event winner, Alex Aqel, to play in the 2017 Global Casino Championship. The Global Casino Championship will have a $1 million prizepool and award the winner a WSOP gold bracelet.

More information on the Global Casino Championship and full point standings for the year-long race are available on WSOP.com.

Ziebell’s Potawatomi cashes: