Tuesday, September 13, 2016 12:28 AM Local Time
David "Bama" Walters Wins HIs First Gold Ring
Event #1
No-Limit Hold'em Double Stack Re-Entry
Buy-in: $300 (+$65)
Total Entries: 800
Prizepool: $240,000
The grueling four-day tournament led to a cash-prize of $47,992 and WSOP gold ring for David “Bama” Walters.
Biloxi, Mississippi (September 12, 2016) – David “Bama” Walters won his first career gold ring in Event #1: $365 No-Limit Hold'em Double Stack Re-Entry by defeating a large field of 800 players. The tournament featured three starting flights, a Day 2 restart, and an unplanned for Day 3. After the long road, which turned out to be an exciting battle for the Circuit history books, Walters came out with feelings of elation.
“I feel fantastic. First win, it was grueling. Four days it took to get there. I came in as the chip leader. So, I’ve been blessed,” Walters said.
Walters bagged up in Flight B and was the outright chip leader after all three starting flights concluded and the fields were combined. This towering position does not always bode well for poker players. Walters, who runs a car dealership now, made an industry reference on the matter.
“It’s rare that you take it from the beginning to the end. In the car business we call that cradle to grave,” Walters explained.
Coming away with the conquest was no easy task. Following an exhausting Day 2, the final four players sighed at the notion of having to reset for a Day 3. On their return, a couple of quick eliminations left Walters heads up with Benjamin Cardenas, a tough competitor from Coahuila, Mexico. These two duked it out for a good while, swapping chip leads multiple times. Each player, at one point or another, was down to a mere one million chips and had to claw their way back with a slew of double ups. After the dust settled, Walters was the last man standing.
Walters, a retired deputy sheriff, did not start playing poker in a serious fashion till around 2013. Before this victory, Walters’ biggest cash came in the 46th annual World Series of Poker in Las Vegas, where he finished 57th out of 1,655 players in Event #45: $1,500 No-Limit Hold’em. Although an impressive feat, this triumph proved to be a more fruitful one. Walters walked away with $47,992, a WSOP gold ring, and 50 Casino Championship points. He plans on playing more events here at the IP Biloxi series in hopes of being crowned Casino Champion.
here's a look at the final table results:
1st: David "Bama" Walters - $47,992
2nd: Benjamin Cardenas - $29,592
3rd: Stephen Nussrallah - $21,816
4th: Charles Clubb - $16,260
5th: Larry Alexander - $12,281
6th: Steve Giddings - $9,396
7th: James Beetz - $7,279
8th: Will "Monkey" Souther - $5,710
9th: Enrique Melguizo - $4,534
Complete results can be found above, under the "Results" tab.