Charles Johnson Takes Down WSOP Circuit Cherokee Main Event
Charles Johnson only discovered poker four years ago and now he has a World Series of Poker Circuit ring to his name after he won the WSOP-C Cherokee Main Event for $272,744.
World Series of Poker Circuit Cherokee Main Event Final Table Results
| Place | Player | Prize |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Chalres Johnson | $272,744 |
| 2 | James Moon | $168,700 |
| 3 | John Whitlow | $124,515 |
| 4 | Ed Yancey | $93,164 |
| 5 | Krzystof Stybaniewicz | $70,584 |
| 6 | Nate Gentry | $54,147 |
| 7 | David Jackson | $42,046 |
| 8 | Ryan Jones | $33,060 |
| 9 | Trung Pham | $26,298 |
Johnson, who is a manager of a contact center in Atlanta, was one of 957 entries in the $1,675 Main Event who helped create a $1,435,500 prize pool. This money was distributed among the top 99 finishers with a min-cash worth $2,943 and a final table appearance increasing the take home pay to $26,298.
It only took three hands for the final table to lose its first player. With blinds at 30,000/60,000/10,000a, Ed Yancey opened to 205,000 from under the gun and immediately called when Trung Pham three-bet all-in for 1,860,000 from late position. Pham showed a pair of queens and was way behind the pocket aces of Yancey. A jack-high board was void of drama and Pham’s tournament ended.
Ryan Jones bust eight hands later. James Moon opened the betting from middle position with ace-jack and called when Jones moved all-in for 1,200,000 with ace-king. Two jacks landed on the flop and that was the end of Jones’ impressive run.
Next to fall was David Jackson only nine hands after Jones’ demise. Jackson opened to 130,000 from middle position only to see Yancey three-bet to 435,000. Jackson responded with an all-in bet of 1,335,000 and Yancey called. It was a pair of queens for Yancey and pocket kings for Jackson. Jackson looked like he was about to double his stack, although this never happened because the queen of clubs on the turn gifted Yancey a set. No king appeared on the river and Jackson was gone.
The final seven players became six on the 32nd hand of the final table. A raising war between Nate Gentry and Yancey broke out on a jack-high flop, a war that resulted in Gentry being all-in and at risk of elimination. Yancey turned over ace-jack for top pair and Gentry a pair of black aces for an overpair. After burning a card, the dealer placed the jack of diamonds on the turn to improve Yancey to trip jacks and after the river bricked, Gentry headed for the cashier’s desk.
Fifth-place went to Krzysztof Stybaniewicz who moved all-in from the big blind after Moon had limped on the button. Stybaniewicz had made his move with an offsuit ace-deuce and needed some help to beat the queen in Moon’s hand. No help arrived and the player count was reduced by one.
Stybaniewicz’s bust out hand was the 51st hand of the final table and it took until the 114th hand for another player to be eliminated. Johnson opened to 375,000 and called when Yancey committed his 3,865,000 stack. Yancey tabled a pair of black tens and Johnson a pair of queens. Yancey had managed to come from behind several times during all-in encounters, but Lady Luck was not on his side this time around and he bust in fourth-place.
Third-place was settled a few minutes later when John Whitlow called off his stack on a queen-nine-six-eight board with nine-deuce only to see Moon sat there with queen-eight for two pair.
Jonson held a 10,585,000 to 8,560,000 chip advantage over Moon going into heads-up although Moon claimed the lead for himself early into the battle. Johnson, however, got a foothold and began to chip up to the point where at the final break of the tournament, he held a 16,470,000 to 2,670,000 chip advantage.
The final hand saw Moon limp for 200,000, Johnson move all-in and Moon call. Moon flipped over 9♠9♥ and Johnson J♠10♦. The Q♣8♠5♥ flop kept Moon ahead, as did the A♦ turn, but the 9♦ river improved Johnson to a straight and gifted him the title of champion.
Lead image courtesy of the WSOP
