James Alexander cashes five times and earns a gold ring in the Rio Circuit to earn Casino Champion honors.
LAS VEGAS (March 3, 2017) – James Alexander won the Casino Championship earlier this week at the Rio Circuit series by winning a gold ring and cashing five times in the 12-event series. Alexander cashed in the two highest buy-in events of the series to help secure the Casino Championship title and earn a nice payday.
Alexander started the series by recording a min-cash in Event #1: $365 No-Limit Texas Hold’em Re-Entry. The tournament drew 1,498 players over the course of six starting flights to become the largest WSOP Circuit tournament ever in the state of Nevada. Alexander finished in 124th place to collect his first cash of the series.
He followed up his Event #1 cash with a gold ring performance in Event #2: $365 No-Limit Hold’em. Alexander defeated a 255-player field in Event #2 to earn his first career WSOP Circuit gold ring and $18,744. Alexander was two for two in cashing events to begin the series and he got out to the early lead in the Casino Championship race.
Alexander’s next cash came in Event #6: $365 No-Limit Hold’em. He just missed out on the final table and finished in 12th place. Even know Alexander picked up 10 more points for his third cash of the series, he still lost the lead in the Casino Championship in Event #6. Gregory Hartwick took the lead from Alexander after finishing in 2nd place in Event #6 for his second final table of the series.
Hartwick held onto the lead until the second to last day of the series when Alexander cashed in his fourth event of the series. Alexander made it to Day 2 of the $1,675 MAIN EVENT and went out midway through the day in 39th place for just under $5k. All Alexander had to do to win the Casino Championship was fade the final event of the series, which was the $2,200 High Roller tournament.
Alexander hopped in the High Roller to try to add on some insurance points. It was a good thing he did so because he went on to cash for a fifth time in the series and he needed the 10 points he earned for the cash to hold onto the lead. Making a late charge in the High Roller was Kainalu McCue-Unciano. McCue-Unciano finished runner-up in Event #1 and had a chance to pass Alexander in the High Roller event. After Alexander busted in 10th place, his point total was cemented at 82.5 points for the series. McCue-Unciano had the chance to pass Alexander and win the Casino Championship if he went on to win the High Roller event. Fortunately for Alexander, McCue-Unciano ended up finishing in 2nd place for the second time in the series. McCue-Unciano ended the series with 75 points and nearly $95k in tournament earnings.
Alexander will join the Rio Circuit Main Event winner, Ryan Jones, 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.
Alexander’s Rio cashes:
Event #1 - $365 No-Limit Hold’em Re-Entry – 1,498 entries – 124th place for $723
Event #2 - $365 No-Limit Hold’em – 255 entries – 1st place for $18,744
Event #6 - $365 No-Limit Hold’em – 329 entries – 12th place for $1,734
Event #11 - $1,675 MAIN EVENT – 945 entries – 39th place for $4,947
Event #12 - $2,200 High Roller – 139 entries – 10th place for $6,739