"Doc" Operates in Choctaw: Philachack Wins Second WSOP Circuit Main Event
Andy "Doc" Philachack went from short stack to winner at the final table of the World Series of Poker Circuit Main Event at Choctaw Casino Resort for $393,188.
The win proved Philachack's second WSOP Circuit Main Event victory after taking down one in New Orleans — when the buy-in was $5,150 rather than $1,675 — back in 2007. He now has more than $2 million in career cashes.
Final Table Results
| Place | Player | Hometown | Prize |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Andy Philachack | Garland, TX | $393,188 |
| 2 | Jeffrey Landherr | O'Fallon, MO | $243,694 |
| 3 | Andy Spears | Buffalo, NY | $181,321 |
| 4 | Will Berry | Norma, OK | $136,812 |
| 5 | Noy Ratsaphangthong | N/A | $104,393 |
| 6 | Justin Liberto | Fallston, MD | $80,566 |
| 7 | Jim Carroll | Frisco, TX | $62,866 |
| 8 | Mel Lyon | Moore, SC | $49,603 |
| 9 | Nathan Russler | Jackson, MI | $39,579 |
Choctaw has grown into arguably the premier stop of the WSOP Circuit, consistently drawing massive numbers, and this year's Main Event was no different as 1,565 runners showed out. Some of the notables who cashed included Ylon Schwartz (149th), Bryan Campanello (114th), Blair Hinkle (111th), Kevin Eyster (105th), Charles "Woody" Moore (53rd), and former WSOP National Championship winner Jonathan Hilton (11th).
For most of the final table, everyone was looking way up in the counts at Buffalo native Andy Spears, who had come straight from a deep run in the PokerStars Caribbean Adventure $5,300 Main Event, where he finished 38th for $17,420. He came into the final table with 89 big blinds.
Philachack, meanwhile, came into the final nine with a very short stack of just 14 big blinds, according to updates.
A turning point for the Texas-based chiropractor came when he got in a three-bet pot against Jim Carroll and K♦Q♠2♣ flopped. Philachack, who had done the preflop reraising, checked, and Carroll bet 700,000 with blinds at 80,000/160,000/20,000. Philachack shoved holding the K♠K♣, and a dismayed Carroll showed two aces and missed the turn and river to bust in seventh.
Then, one of the most dangerous players at the final table, bracelet winner Justin Liberto, fell in sixth when he shoved about 22 big blinds with fives over a button raise from Spears, who held queens. Neither player improved. Spears followed that up by busting Noy Ratsaphangthong and RunGood Poker Series Downstream Casino Resort champion Will Berry in consecutive hands, cementing his position as the favorite.
That all changed in one massive three-bet pot that saw Spears and Philachack get it in on a 10♥4♠2♥ flop with the former holding the A♥J♥ and the latter the Q♥Q♣. The queens held up and Philachack took a huge lead with over 22 million to a second-place Spears' 7 million. Nonetheless, Spears ended up going down in third and it was Philachack and Jeffrey Landherr for the title.
Landherr managed to double into the lead with jacks against Philachack's threes, but Philachack battled back and retook a 2-1 lead when he made a full house against Landherr's trip tens. Shortly after that, Landherr got the A♣2♣ in against Philachack's tens and failed to improve, sending the gold ring, WSOP Global Casino Championship seat, and $393,188 to Philachack, undoubtedly a sweet victory for a man who has twice finished runner-up for WSOP gold bracelets.
*Photo courtesy of the WSOP.
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