Dan Lowery Triumhs at 2017 WSOPC Choctaw for $259k

The 2017 WSOPC Choctaw Main Event was held at the Choctaw Casino Resort in Durant, Oklahoma, with 908 players entering the $1,675 buy-in tournament to create a prize pool of $1,362,000. Three days later, and it was Arkansas resident Dan Lowery who would ultimately overcome the field, including Walter Rodriguez heads-up, to claim a first place prize of $258,784.
Dan Lowery, who runs his own logging and sawmill business, had 5 WSOPC rings going into the tournament, although none had been won from a Main Event. Frustratingly, the 43-year-old had been in a position to do so in the past, having made a total of six main event final tables, eventually finishing runner-up on three occasions.
Commenting later on finally getting the monkey off his back, Lowery, who now has amassed $1,409,855 in career earnings, stated:
“I felt pressure today that I’ve never felt. There’s been so many people saying ‘Oh, you’re going to get second again?’ and it just rings in my head. After a while it does get to you, I guess.”
Amongst the notable pros entering the WSOPC Choctaw Main Event, and seeing a return on their investment was Maurice Hawkins in 47th ($4,277), and Aaron Massey in 13th ($16,371), Kevin Eyster also managed to make it all the way through to the final table, eventually bowing out in 8th place for a $31,367 payday.
Dan Lowery subsequently eliminated three players on his way to a showdown against Walter Rodriguez for the title. At this stage, Lowery was at a 2-1 chip disadvantage, but soon managed to turns things around when the deciding hand was played with Rodriguez re-raising all-in preflop holding pocket tens, and receiving a call from Lowery with A-7.
The dealer then laid out a 5-4-2-9-A board to seal the deal, and so Rodriguez collected $160,062 for his runner-up finish, while Lowery was crowned the champion. Lowery’s quarter of a million dollar score was also his largest to date, and as he later explained:
“It’s the biggest year I’ve ever had. It’s the biggest year I could dream of.”
Final Table Results:
1: Daniel Lowery $258,784
2: Walter Rodriguez $160,062
3: Nicholas Schwarmann $118,140
4: Jared Hemingway $88,394
5: Mason Vieth $66,970
6: Jonathan Hanner $51,375
7: Chance Steed $39,893
8: Kevin Eyster $31,367
9: Venkata Chinta $24,952