25 March 2018 (Tulsa, Okla.) - Jonathan Poche is the latest World Series of Poker Circuit Main Event champion after an impressive performance that saw him lead virtually wire to wire. Poche won the Main Event at the Hard Rock Tulsa, earning $216,307 and his second career Circuit ring.

Poche led the event after Day 1A. The tournament had three starting flights, and Flight A had by far the smallest field with 91 entries. In comparison, Flight B hand 230, and Flight C had 400. It’s unusual for a relatively small starting flight to produce the overall chip leader heading into Day 2, but Poche put on a dominating performance, and no one from the later flights could catch him.

One of the few who came close was Chad Smith. After Day 1A, Poche had 379,000 in chips and Smith had 346,500 after Day 1C, good for third place overall at that point. After dinner on Day 1C, as Smith first started to really accumulate chips, he called his shot, predicting he would win the tournament. He was nearly right, too – he finished runner-up to Poche, earning $133,349.

Poche remarked that Smith played well throughout the final table. Poche’s strategy to counter the solid play of Smith and his other opponents was to sit back and bide his time. But when he felt the moment was right, he surged into the lead and never looked back. “There weren’t too many short stacks,” he said of the start of the final table. “There were a lot of mid-size stacks. So I wasn’t out of line early. I just played tight-solid, small ball. We got down to five handed and I just started being more aggressive. And I started making my fair share of hands. I really hit a lot of hands. You need to hit hands to win tournaments. I sat in the right seat, I guess.”

He also pointed specifically to a hand in which he knocked out seventh-place finisher Michael Horchoff, who happens to be a friend of his, in a bit of a cooler. That gave Poche momentum, and he made the most of it.

This is Poche’s second Circuit Main Event victory. His first came nearly seven years ago, so it’s been a long wait to return to the winner’s circle. “It feels good,” he said with a smile after securing the victory. “Like winning is supposed to.”

The tournament began on Thursday, March 23 and attracted 721 entries. Only 110 advanced to Day 2, and the final 10 made it to Day 3. The final day began at noon on Monday, and the final card was dealt a little after 5:30 p.m.

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