Sunday, August 7, 2016 9:07 PM Local Time
Kevin Davis Wins Fourth WSOP Circuit Ring in Event #3 ($365 No-Limit Hold'em Turbo)
Event #3
No Limit Hold'em Turbo
Buy-In: $300 (+$65)
Total Entries: 528
Prize Pool: $158,400
Kevin Davis Wins Fourth WSOP Circuit Ring at Harrah's Cherokee
Cherokee, North Carolina (August 6, 2016) – Kevin Davis is a plumbing contractor from Louisville, KY that plays as much poker as he can fit into his busy schedule. Early Sunday morning/late Saturday night he took down his fourth Circuit ring after defeating David Shaw heads up in the $365 No-Limit Hold’em Turbo event at Harrah’s in Cherokee, NC.
Davis spent as much time playing poker this past year as his family and work schedule allowed. In traveling to as many of the Circuit stops as possible, he secured himself a seat into the Global Casino Championship, held here in Cherokee on Tuesday August 9th.
“These points sucker us in…I’ve spent as much time as I could manage chasing the points. I played quite a few events last year, and I qualified for this year’s Championship. I had fun doing it, and the points gave me an incentive to do it. I said before I came to this first stop at Cherokee that this year with work and my daughter starting college, I wasn’t going to be able to play as many stops as last year. But then you hit these points and you think about what a big deal it is to play in the championship…,” Davis trails off.
Davis had originally planned on coming down to Cherokee this coming Monday, just before the start of the Championship. But he decided at the last minute to drive down on Friday for the re-entry (Event #2), and arrived around 1 in the morning. After firing two bullets into the Re-Entry, he debated buying in a third time, but instead decided to buy into this Turbo event. “I decided to just take a nap, then enter the Turbo, and the rest is history,” Davis said with a big smile on his face.
A few of the regular Circuit players have called Davis a “Turbo Specialist.” He has won a total of four rings, and two of them have been in Turbo events (the first was in 2011 at Horseshoe Southern Indiana.) According to Davis, he has also final tabled two other turbo events in the last year.
When the unofficial final table of ten was reached, Davis came in second in chips behind Aaron Thomas. But just a few minutes in, Davis eliminated three players in one hand after raising and then calling three players’ all-in shoves with pocket fives. He was up against pocket sixes, ace jack, and king queen. He spiked a five on the flop to eliminate Michael Schmitt in 10th place ($2,549), Josh Johnson in 9th place ($3,160), and Massimo Dirienzo in 8th place ($3,971). After that hand, he was the chip leader of the final ten, and never once gave that lead up. Not only did he hold the chip lead of the final table, but he also knocked out every one of the other nine players.
After the triple elimination, Davis eliminated Aaron Thomas in 7th place ($5,061). Davis called Thomas’ under the gun raise from the big blind, and the flop came . Davis checked, Thomas bet, Davis min-raised, and Thomas shoved all in. Davis quickly called and turned over for two pair, and Thomas showed for a flush draw. The turn gave Thomas additional straight outs, but the river was a blank, eliminating him in 7th place.
Heads up play was reached a few levels later, and Davis ultimately eliminated David Shaw in 2nd place ($21,056) after calling Shaw’s all-in with . Davis flopped two pair, and Shaw never improved.
When asked how he feels about this win Davis said, “I’m foggy. I’m just so excited, I can’t believe it,” he says with a hint of emotion. “My goal was to win five rings, one for each of my children. I am now just one ring away,” Davis concludes with a huge smile on his face.
Full results from this event are available in the Results Tab above.
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At the conclusion of this event, Kevin Davis and John Bailey are now tied for 50 points each in the Casino Champion race. The player who accumulates the most overall points in the twelve gold ring tournaments at Harrah’s Cherokee earns the title of Casino Champion and receives an automatic entry into the $1 million 2017 WSOP Global Casino Championship. The winner of the Harrah’s Cherokee Main Event earns an automatic entry to the Global Casino Championship as well. All players who cash in ring events will receive points that apply to both the Casino Champion race and the season-long race to claim one of the 50 at-large Global Casino Championship bids awarded to the top point earners throughout the season. More information on the points system is available on WSOP.com.