Monday, November 2, 2015 12:33 PM Local Time
Shawn Van Asdale Wins $40K and His First WSOP Gold Ring
Event #2
No-Limit Hold'em Re-Entry
Buy-In: $300 (+$65)
Total Entries: 665
Prize Pool: $199,500
Shawn Van Asdale earns his first career gold ring at his fifth career Circuit final table.
Stateline, Nev. (November 2, 2015) -- Shawn Van Asdale stayed calm and collected throughout the final table. He had a drink in his hand and he was just there to enjoy the experience as much as he could, the money was of course nice bonus. His calm demeanor helped him navigate through a tough final table to win Event #2 - $365 No-Limit Hold'em Re-Entry and the first place prize of $40,898.
"I used to play a lot. I used to play a lot online, that's how I paid my bills. Now I just play for fun. I consider myself a retired poker player," said Van Asdale.
According to Van Asdale, he suffered several tough beats throughout the tournament. He had aces cracked three times throughout the tournament. Instead of tilting off his chips and cursing his bad luck, he would just remain relaxed, get back to his game and starting collecting chips again.
"I don't tilt anymore, I used to. I still get mad after the fact, but I don't tilt at the table anymore," said Van Asdale.
It wasn't all bad luck for Van Asdale though. It is nearly and quite possibly entirely impossible to win a 665 player field tournament with no good luck at all. Van Asdale said that he did get very lucky once with an ace on the river.
"I made a horrible read, he made a great read and then I got lucky," said Van Asdale.
Van Asdale already had a strong WSOP resume entering this tournament, but he was missing a piece of WSOP hardware. This victory was Van Asdale's first WSOP Circuit gold ring. He has now reached five WSOP Circuit final tables in his career. This victory pushes Van Asdale's WSOP career tournament earnings over the $100,000 mark.
Van Asdale rode through most of the tournament with a big stack. He managed to bag as the Flight A chip leader on Friday. He would end up getting passed by three players in Flight C, so he started out Day 2 fourth in chips overall. One of the players that passed Van Asdale from Flight C was Cary Marshall. Marshall was the only player that managed to bag over 200,000 from the three starting flights. Marshall would end up joining Van Asdale at the final table before getting knocked out in 8th place.
Van Asdale entered the final table third in chips, only behind Marshall, and 3rd place finisher, Marty Gorenc. By the time play got down four-handed, Van Asdale had the chip lead. He then made quick work of his final three opponents to capture his first gold ring.
Van Asdale is from Reno, Nevada. He said that he plans to return to play in next weekend's Main Event.
----------
Event #2 was the second of 12 gold ring events, but third to finish, on the WSOP Circuit
schedule at Harveys Lake Tahoe. The $365 No-Limit Hold’em Re-Entry tournament
attracted 665 players generating a $199,500 prize pool. The top 72
players were paid.
The tournament featured three starting flights. Flight A began Friday at 11 a.m. and drew 208 players with 29 surviving. Flight B began 4 p.m. Friday and drew 136 players with 16 players surviving. Flight C began Saturday at 11 a.m. and drew 321 players with 41 players surviving. All starting flights played 15 levels. A total of 86 players made it to Day 2. Day 2 began Sunday at noon and concluded at midnight midway through Level 28.
Final Table Results:
1st: Shawn Van Asdale - $40,898+ Circuit gold ring
2nd: Brett Murray - $25,307
3rd: Joseph Brown - $18,561
4th: Marty Gorenc - $13,803
5th: Paul Cookson - $10,404
6th: Jon Andlovec - $7,946
7th: Ed Mero - $6,149
8th: Cary Marshall - $4,820
9th: Monte Young - $3,826
Complete results are available under the “Results” tab above.