Brad Albrinck Wins WSOPC Harrah’s Cherokee for $275,877

Brad Albrinck has won the 2016 WSOP Circuit Harrah’s Cherokee Main Event, after besting a field of 968 players over three days on his way to collecting a $275,877 first place prize, as well as a free seat through to the 2017 Global Casino Championship.
An engineer by trade, Albrinck is no stranger to poker success, with his latest victory in North Carolina now taking his earnings past the $1 million mark. Impressively, Albrinck won his first WSOPC ring back in 2013, after taking down the Horseshoe Cincinnati Main Event for $221,994, and in October of this year he also finished the WSOPC Hammond in 5th place for a $91,331 payday.
The WSOPC Harrah’s Cherokee $1,675 Main Event featured a prize pool worth $1,452,000, and amongst the notable pros finishing in one the tournament’s 99 money spots was Scott Davies in 47th ($4,559), Ronnie Bardah in 26th ($8,610), Kou Vang in 23rd ($10,106), and Said El Yousfi in 15th ($17,453).
Albrinck subsequently started the final day as the short-stack out of 22 players, while Jason Rivkin began the day as its chip leader. Nevertheless, the two men would eventually face each other in the heads-up phase of the competition, with Rivkin enjoying a huge 5-1 chip lead over his remaining opponent.
There was to be no quick resolution, though, and three hours of play would then ensue before the deciding hand was played with Albrinck moving all-in preflop holding 9-7, only to be called by Rivkin with A-K. The 10-9-2-K-9 board which ensued sealed the deal, and so Jason Rivkin collected $170,639 for his runner-up finish, while Brad Albrinck was crowned the champion.
“You know, I started the day pretty short-stacked,” explained Albrinck. “So, it was maybe less expected especially because [Rivkin] had all the chips for a lot of the final table.”
Final Table Results:
1 Brad Albrinck $275,877
2 Jason Rivkin $170,639
3 Vinny Pahuja $125,946
4 Russ Head $94,235
5 Chip Ervin $71,295
6 Kamran Munaf $54,769
7 Jerome Stroud $42,529
8 Jay Zeman $33,440
9 Jeff Mahon $26,601