Orlando poker pro wins his second ring en route to Casino Championship in Choctaw
November 16, 2011 (Durant, OK) - Over the two weeks that the World Series of Poker Circuit was held at Choctaw Casino and Resort, the race for the Casino Champion title was a back-and-forth battle between Josh Turner and Jeffrey Trudeau.
In the end, it came down to the very last event, but Trudeau reigned supreme thanks to the tiebreaker system. Both players ended with 102.5 points, but Trudeau won more money and wins the title. The 23-year-old poker pro from Orlando gets an automatic seat into next year's Global Casino Championship thanks to his impressive performance in Oklahoma.
Trudeau didn't waste any time before putting up results at Choctaw. He cashed the first two events of the series. He earned a 54th place finish in the $365 no-limit hold'em monster stack event and then finished fourth in the $365 no-limit texas hold'em re-entry. Thanks mostly to his $38,344 cash in the re-entry event, he won 39,233 in his first weekend at the stop.
After his first weekend, it took a while for Trudeau find his way back inside the money. He didn't cash again until just before the main event.
While Trudeau went cold, Josh Turner took over the lead thanks to his sixth ring win in the $365 no-limit hold'em turbo event and a fourth place finish the next day in a $365 no-limit hold'em. Turner and Marshall White were tied atop the leaderboard until Trudeau earned his second ring.
Trudeau won the $1,125 no-limit hold'em for $43,199 and passed Turner to take the top spot. Turner final tabled the $1,125 pot-limit Omaha the day after Trudeau's win, which gave him the lead as the series headed into its final two events.
The only two events left on the schedule were a multi-flight $365 no-limit hold'em and the main event. Turner busted the main event short of the money, but bagged in the first flight of the $365 no-limit hold'em, putting pressure on Trudeau to make a run in the main event. Trudeau finished 22nd to take a 10 point lead into the final day.
When cards got in the air on Monday, Turner was the only player in the field who could catch Trudeau. A 10th-13th place finish for Turner would give him the 10 points to tie Trudeau, but wouldn't win the tiebreaker since Trudeau cashed for more money.
Turner needed a ninth place or better to win the title, but was eliminated in 12th, securing Trudeau's title.
Jeffrey Trudeau's Results in Choctaw:
Event 1: $365 No-Limit Hold'em Monster Stack - 54th for $899
Event 2: $365 No-Limit Hold'em Re-Entry ($500K Guarantee) - 4th for $38,344
Event 9: $1,125 No-Limit Hold'em - 1st for $43,199
Event 11: $1,675 No-Limit Hold'em Main Event - 22nd for $9840
Total Cashes: $92,282