Event #2: $365 No-Limit Hold'em Re-Entry ($500K Guarantee & GCC Seat)

Event #2
No Limit Hold'em Re-Entry
Buy-In: $300 (+$65)
Total Entries: 2,447
Prize Pool: $734,100

Austin Reilly Wins First WSOP Circuit Ring, Marking First Ever Tournament Cash

Cherokee, North Carolina (August 8, 2016) – What started out as a scheduled two day event, turned into a three day affair, and it was Alabama native Austin Reilly that came out victorious after the three day grind. Not only does this $108,270 win mark Reilly’s first Circuit ring victory, it is also his first ever tournament cash, and it comes amidst a lot of big life changes including marriage and a very recent career change.

Three months ago, Reilly got married to his wife Caitlin, and just a little over a week ago he quit his job at a car dealership to focus on playing cash poker full time. “I found that my work was infringing upon my poker playing, so I decided to walk away from it in order to focus on playing poker,” Reilly explained.

He said that he hardly ever plays tournaments, but that he follows the Circuit tour, mostly just traveling to each stop to play cash. This time he decided to fire at the Re-Entry event, ultimately entering three times. He ended up finding a bag late Saturday night in his third and final attempt.

Reilly came into Day 2 right in the middle of the pack with 60,500. He steadily built his stack along the way, ultimately finding himself as the chip leader of the unofficial final table of ten. He didn’t maintain the chip lead the entire time, but when they were down to five players, he did win a massive pot against eventual second place finisher Brian Reinert that propelled him back to the top.

“I raised on the button, and both blinds called. The flop came jack, eight, five with two spades. Both blinds checked, I continued for 600,000, and Reinert raised to 1,300,000. The big blind folded, I four bet to 2,700,000, and Reinert just flatted. The turn was the  . Reinert checked, and I shoved all in. Reinert tanked for over three minutes before folding    face up, and I showed   ,” Reilly explained, “I never gave up the lead after that.”

Along with the cash prize and the ring, Reilly is also awarded a $10,000 seat into the 2015/2016 Global Casino Championship event taking place tomorrow at noon right here in Cherokee. When asked how he felt about being able to play for a WSOP bracelet he said, “My plan in coming here and playing was to just take home some cash and celebrate, but now I am thinking about bigger implications, bigger things.”

Full results from this event are available in the Results tab above.

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At the conclusion of this event, John Bailey (Winner Event #1), Austin Reilly (Winner Event #2), and Kevin Davis (Winner Event #3) are now tied for 50 points each in the 2016/2017 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.

After battling heads up against Austin Reilly for the last hour or so, Brain Reinert, poker player and owner of Reinert Wine Consulting, has just been eliminated in 2nd place. Reinert has two WSOP Circuit gold rings.  

Reinert raised, Reilly three-bet, and Reinert shoved all in with   . Reilly called holding   . The board ran out [a]h    , eliminating Reinert from play.

Brian Reinert - 2nd Place - $68,124

Soren Asadov - 4th Place - $39,340

Robert Samonsky - 6th Place - $23,858

Ex Navy Corpsman, and current Manufacturer's Representative Ken Taffaro, was just eliminated from Event #2 in 8th place. Taffaro has an eight year old daughter named Sophia, and says he "Loves to play hold'em". Taffaro will take home $14,976 for his 8th place finish. 

Ken Taffaro - 8th Place - $14,976

Eric Rivkin - 9th Place - $12,135

The unofficial final table of ten has just been reached, and the players have just redrawn for their new seats.  They are in the midst of level 29, playing 30,000/60,000 blinds with a 10,000 ante.  

Here are the final ten players with chip counts:

Seat 1 - Soren Asador - 2,000,000
Seat 2 - Daniel Burns - 840,000
Seat 3 - Ken Taffaro - 900,000
Seat 4 - Robert Samonsky - 2,400,000
Seat 5 - Dane Cass - 2,160,000
Seat 6 - Dean Rutledge - 4,235,000
Seat 7 - Austin Reilly - 3,500,000
Seat 8 - Steven Snyder - 2,400,000
Seat 9 - Eric Rivkin - 2,600,000
Seat 10 - Brian Reinert - 3,340,000

 
Vincent Moscati

A total of 2,447 runners entered Event #2 over the course of the four starting flights, and they are now down to the final 40 players. Those players are currently in the midst of Level 21 (5,000/10,000 blinds with a 1,000 ante), and the average chip stack is 284,535.

Josh Reichard came into the day second in chips, and now is one of the biggest stacks in the field, with 905,000.  Reichard is a Circuit regular, and was the Casino Champion at Horseshoe Hammond.

Notables still in the field include Jeff Dobrin, Josh Reichard, Tripp Kirk, and Vincent Moscati (pictured above).

Flight D players have bagged up their chips, and 147 players will be advancing to Day 2 from the fourth and final flight.

The leader from Flight D is Rory Daigle who ended the night with 383,500, and was the only player to bag over 300,000 in Flight D. Rounding out the top five of Flight D are: Matt Furr (257,500), Kevil Sherrill (216,000), Troy Blosser (214,000), and Brandon Brown (201,500).

Other notables to bag Flight C included: David Slaughter (152,500), Eric Rivkin (144,000), TM Williams (100,000), Maurice Hawkins (94,000), Chris Staats (74,000), Tuan Nguyen (64,500), Jonathan Hilton (53,000), and Vincent Moscati (45,500).

Full chip counts from Flight D are located here. 

Full chip counts from all Flights are located here.

Here are the final numbers for the re-entry event:

There were a grand total of 2,447 entries in all four combined flights.  A total of 298 players are advancing to Day 2 on Sunday at 12 pm, and 252 players will make the money on Day 2.  For full prizepool information, please see the Prizepool Tab above.

All combined Day 2 counts are available in the Reports Tab above.

There were a total of 2,447 entries in Event #2..  252 players will make the money when Day 2 resumes at noon on Sunday.

All players making the money are guaranteed at least $727, and first place will take home a massive $108,270.

Here is a look at the final numbers per flight. As Flight D will not conclude for another level, the players advancing will be determined.  We will post the final number to bag, along with chip counts after the conclusion of Level 14. 

The prizepool has just been posted and is available under the Prizepool tab above. 

Here is a quick glance at the final table payouts for this event: