WSOPC Iowa Won By Scott Stanko

Scott Stanko has won the WSOPC Council Bluffs in Iowa, after defeating a field of 290 players over three days to win a gold ring and collect the $101,266 top prize. Following his impressive victory, the 33 year-old pro from Nebraska said:
“What’s so great about winning here in Council Bluffs is I got my undergrad at the University of Nebraska and had a bunch of my friends here watching. It was great hanging out with them all weekend and it’s a great feeling.”
As the final table of the $1,600 Main Event got underway, Scott Stanko was out in front as the chip leader before extending his stack further after being dealt Qc-10c and calling a short-stacked shove by Jeremy Jagoda (A-K). The board then ran out 8-4-10-9-J to eliminate Jagoda in 9th place for $9,261.
Scott Stanko’s next elimination came after the table was four-handed and he was dealt pocket aces to Stephen Ma’s 9-2. Stanko cunningly flatted Ma’s raise preflop, before check-raising a 9-3-6 flop and going all-in on the 8 turn. After deliberating a while, Ma made the call and with a 3 falling on the river was out in 4th for $33,503.
Stanko continued his run with a cooler of a hand in which he was dealt A-10 to Casey Cavanaugh’s 10-9 with the flop falling 10-3-10. Consequently, Cavanaugh found himself out in 3rd ($45,410), while the heads-up phase of the competition then got underway.
Neverthless, there was to be no swift finish and it would take two hours before his opponent Charles Moore was down to just 20 BB and made a stand with K-8 against Stanko’s A-9. With no help from the board, Charles Moore finished the runner-up for $62,584, while Scott Stanko was crowned the champion, and also received a ticket to the $1 million National Championship freeroll. Commenting on his win, Stanko said:
“I came to the Circuit looking to gauge my poker skills against some of the best and I’m thrilled to have had the best run of anyone in Council Bluffs. I’m excited to have a crack at a bracelet in the National Championship. Bring on Hellmuth!”