Jason Strasser Wins WSOPC Choctaw Main Event for $332k

The 2018 WSOP Circuit Choctaw Durant Main Event took place in Oklahoma, with 1,249 players stumping up $1,675 a piece to create a prize pool of $1,873,500. Three days of action later, and Jason Strasser managed to triumph over his fellow competitors, including Krzysztof Stybaniewicz heads-up, to claim the title and a first place prize of $332,539.
After hitting the biggest score of his career, Strasser now boasts $988,883 in career earnings, and commenting after his winning performance stated:
“It’s great. I mean, honestly, I don’t get to play much poker these days and the final table, the way it played out, we were three-handed for a long time and it was really, really fun because it wasn’t 20 big blind push/shove. It was actual, real poker. I really enjoyed my opponents and getting into the flow of it. I had a great time.”
Amongst the notable pros cashing in at one of the WSOPC Choctaw Durant Main Event’s 135 money places was T.J. Cloutier in 80th ($4,234), Allen Kessler in 28th ($9,143), and Nick Pupillo in 27th ($10,623).
By the time the unofficial final table of 10 had been reached, Strasser was in 4th place overall, and later eliminated Viet Vo in 3rd place to force heads-up play against Stybaniewicz for the title. At this stage the two players were fairly even in chips, but 41 hands later Strasser had moved into a 4-to-1 lead when the deciding hand was played.
The hand then saw Strasser limp in holding 8-8, before calling an all-in shove from Stybaniewicz with A-9. The dealer subsequently rolled out a Q-7-4-2-4 board to hand Jason Strasser the victory, while Stybaniewicz had to settle for a runner-up finish worth $206,085. Furthermore, the payout represents the biggest score of Stybaniewicz’s career, and now pushes his live earnings to $1,121,726.
Final Table Results:
1: Jason Strasser $332,539
2: Krzysztof Stybaniewicz $206,085
3: Viet Vo $151,248
4: Trung Pham $114,284
5: Gil George $87,211
6: Mark Van Keirsbilck $67,128
7: Casey Brown $52,271
8: William Berry $41,180
9: Jeffrey Trudeau $32,824
Following  its conclusion, the WSOP Circuit has now moved onto the Thunder Valley Casino Resort in California, after which it will head to Horseshoe Tunica in Mississippi (Jan. 18-29).