David Davenport Wins WSOPC Council Bluffs Main Event for $98k

The World Series of Poker Circuit (WSOPC) Horseshoe Council Bluffs has just wrapped up in Pottawattamie County, Iowa, with $1 million in prize money and a dozen gold rings having been distributed throughout its 12 day run. The only player adding to his ring tally, however, was 73-year-old Attorney Tim McReynolds, with all the others winners collecting their first ever WSOPC accolades.
$1,675 Main Event
The WSOPC Main Event kicked-off on April 6th, with 266 players paying $1,675 each to create a prize pool worth $399,000. Amongst the recognizable pros seeing a return on their buy-ins was Sean Lindsey in 27th ($3,224), Bernard Lee in 24th ($3,683), Josh Reichard in 18th ($5,019), and Sam De Silva in 13th ($5,993).
On the second day of play, the final table of nine was set with one of the players still in contention being David Davenport, a 48-year-old physician from Missouri, who then managed to survive until four-handed player, after which the players took an overnight break. Day 3 began with the chip counts as follows: Jeffrey Tebben (2.445m), David Davenport (1.2m), Andy Van Blair (1.12m), and Jeff Banghart (520k).
At this stage, the remaining finalists were guaranteed at least $32,116 for their hard fought efforts, but with a $97,754 first place prize, a gold ring, as well as a seat through to the 2018 WSOP Global Casino Championship awaiting the ultimate winner. Jeff Tebben (A-Q) then proceeded to eliminate Jeff Banghart (K-J) in 4th, while David Davenport (A-9) did likewise to Andy Van Blair (10-6) in 3rd to instigate the heads-up phase of the game.
Heads-Up
Less than an hour later, the deciding hand was played with Davenport (9-8) limping on the button, and receiving a call from his opponent holding A-J. The K-9-6 flop saw Davenport call Tebben’s bet, with both players then opting to check the 9 turn card. Tebben’s check when a 2 fell on the river subsequently prompted a raise from Davenport, and then a reraise all-in from Tebben as he attempted to bluff with just ace high. Davenport quickly called the bet, though, swiftly bringing to a conclusion this year’s Main Event.
Switching From Cash Games
Tebben received $60,401 for his runner-up finish, while Davenport collected his biggest score to date and now boasts $155,307 in career earnings. This is quite an impressive feat considering Davenport has recorded a total of just four live cashes, including finishing the 2013 WSOP Main Event in 414th place ($28,063), and in 2017 the $1,675 WSOPC Cherokee in 19th ($12,601), and the WSOPC Foxwoods in 4th ($16,889).
However, the physician said that he had previously “always played cash”, and only started focusing on tournaments last year. That said, Davenport said that he initially only came to Horseshoe Council Bluffs to play a few cash sessions, but was motivated to enter its Main Event after a friend of his called him a wimp for not playing. “Finally, he gets irritated with me and I was like ‘Okay, I’ll go play’”, explained Davenport.
Commenting upon his winning performance in the tournament, he explained: “I was just kind of running good and just trying to stay alive really. I never got my money in bad and I won every race. It was the perfect tournament, like who ever does that?” he said with a laugh. “It was completely amazing.”
Final Table Results
1: David Davenport (Platte City, MO) $97,754
2: Jeffery Tebben (Overland Park, KS) $60,401
3: Andy Van Blair (West Des Moines, IA) $43,639
4: Jeff Banghart (Omaha, NE) $32,116
5: Kevin McLaughlin (Omaha, NE) $24,060
6: Kostadinos Sengos (Sioux Falls, SD) $18,334
7: Mike Vanier (Lincoln, NE) $14,204
8: Robert Kent (Omaha, NE) $11,184
9: William McCracken (Bolivar, MO) $8,946
Other Winners
Meanwhile, Tim McReynolds took down Event #6: $365 NLE Six-Max for $13,358 to claim a third career WSOPC ring, with his latest win coming less than a month after taking down the $365 WSOP Circuit Las Vegas for $17,899.
Other players also winning accolades includes 83-year-old Clayton Vandiver ($365 NLHE Bounty), Bhaskar Setti ($365 NLHE Re-Entry), Joel Klipping ($365 Monster Stack), and Bradley Sullivan ($365 NLH). Finally, David “The Maven” Gutfreund captured a first career ring after emerging victorious at the $365 NLHE Turbo Re-Entry for $12,596, and now increases his tournament earnings to $801,155.