Joe Kuether Wins World Series of Poker Circuit Harrah's Rincon
The action was jam packed on Day 3 of the World Series of Poker Circuit Harrah's Rincon Main Event as the field was whittled from 11 to one in under seven hours. The man left standing was Joe Kuether, who was playing just his second, career WSOPC Main Event. The last one he played was at Caesars in Las Vegas when he finished in seventh place. For conquering the field of 332, Kuether earned $111,104 and his first WSOPC ring.
Kuether’s impressive appearances in these Circuit events are just the beginning of his already stellar 2012 poker resume. He is fresh off not one, but two, victories in the Wynn Classic series that recently took place in Las Vegas, in addition to four cashes, including one final table, at the L.A. Poker Classic.
Early in Day 2, Kuether established himself as one of the leaders and held his ground near the top through heads-up play. He was never at serious risk of being eliminated. Arguably his most important hand of the tournament came against Freddy Deeb. Kuether held 9♠8♥ on a J♠7♠10♥ flop and was able to get paid on all three streets to vault into the chip lead midway through the final table.
Deeb, who finished fourth, might as well have charged the WSOP an entertainment fee for keeping everyone thoroughly amused. Not a hand went by without him joking around with either a player at the table, the dealer, the tournament staff or a PokerNews reporter. Unfortunately, he became short-stacked when play reached four handed and his A♣J♣ was unable to catch up to Kuether's A♠K♣.
Chris Cronin went into heads-up play with a lot of momentum. He eliminated third-place finisher, Ryan Gentry, after the two got all the chips in the middle on a 9♦6♠8♥ board. Cronin held K♣9♥ against Gentry's 9♣6♦, but when the turn and river brought the J♦ and 8♣ respectively, Gentry was eliminated.
That created a fantastic heads-up battle between Cronin, who with this result finished second in points during the Rincon circuit tour stop, and Kuether. The two exchanged the chip lead multiple times before Kuether finally knocked him down and then out.
With the blinds at 25,000/50,000, Kuether raised to 100,000 on his button as he had every single hand of heads-up play. Cronin made the call to see a 4♦K♣2♥ flop. Both players checked and the turn was the 7♥. Cronin let Kuether fire out 125,000 before check-raising to 300,000 chips. Kuether moved all in and Cronin, who had started the hand with about 2 million, made the call. Kuether held A♣A♦ and had to dodge Cronin's K♠9♠. The river was an emphatic A♠ and Kuether became the champion.
WSOPC Harrah's Rincon Results
| Place | Player | Prize |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Joe Kuether | $111,104 |
| 2 | Chris Cronin | $68,686 |
| 3 | Ryan Gentry | $50,108 |
| 4 | Freddy Deeb | $37,167 |
| 5 | David Funkhauser | $27,998 |
| 6 | Ty Spires | $21,414 |
| 7 | Chris Bratene | $16,617 |
| 8 | Stephen Plache | $13,081 |
| 9 | Ryan Buckholtz | $10,444 |
Next stop on the WSOPC is Horseshoe Council Bluffs from March 29 through April 10. So be sure to tune back in to PokerNews for updates from the Main Event. Until then, follow us on Twitter for up-to-the-minute news.
