Jason Baldridge managed to keep his steady march over the final day of the WSOP Circuit Harrah’s New Orleans Main Event and was crowned as the event’s winner. In order to take down the $1,675 Main Event, Baldridge managed to outlast a players field of 758 entries who gathered at Harrah’s New Orleans Hotel and Casino to try winning the last gold ring of the 2016/2017 WSOP Circuit.
Baldridge, who until recently was only a part-time tournament player overcame stiff competition to take home his first gold ring as well as the lion’s share of the guaranteed prize pool. Apart from the money prize worth $227,412, Baldridge was also rewarded with one of the prestigious seats in the WSOP Global Casino Championship.
The 34-year-old player who was born and raised in Texas, has become interested in the game of poker since the time when he graduated from St. Mary’s University. Baldridge has been more of an occasional poker player who sometimes took part in cash games without taking such tournament appearances very seriously, as the player himself revealed.
As previously reported by Casino Guardian, the $1,675 Main Event kicked off with two starting flights on Friday and Saturday. The massive players field of 758 was greatly reduced, as only 144 players returned for the Day 2 of the Main Event. At last, only 10 players were to return to to final day of the $1,675 buy-in Main Event.
A lot of former Circuit ring winners took part in the WSOP Circuit Harrah’s New Orleans Main Event, with many of them finishing in the money, including Kevin Sherrill, David Aker, Raymond Walton, Russ Head, Honathan Pocke, Jeremy Stein, etc.
Baldridge made his way to the first place in the ranking all the way through the final table, and what is more, he looked perfectly calm while doing that. His calmness never left him, even at the time he managed to steal a large pot from Ryan Leng or was forced to face the five-time Circuit ring winner Caufman Talley. He entered the final table as a chip leader, but Day 3 saw him lose and gain back his chip lead a few times, until he managed to regain it for good at the time there were only five players left around the table.
After Caufman Talley was eliminated, Baldridge was left to fight the heads-up battle against William Tait. At that time, he had a big lead over Tait, who failed to overcome the deficit and was soon defeated.
With Jason Baldridge winning the $1,675 Main Event, taking home a prize estimated to $227,412, William Tait remained at the runner-up position, with a prize of $140,192. The third place was occupied by Caufman Talley, who got a prize of $103,353 for his records.
Hal Kizzire remained fourth, followed by Ryan Leng. The sixth position in the final table ranking was taken by John Cressend, while Jett Schencker remained on the seventh place. Places eight and nine were taken by Gabriel Andrade and Jeffrey Turton, respectively.
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Harry Evans
