Kyle Draucker Wins First Gold Ring After Just a Year of Playing Poker
PokerNews is in town to live report both the $1,700 Main Event and $2,200 High Roller here at the World Series of Poker Circuit Rio Las Vegas, but those are just three of the gold ring events that will have played out by the end of the series.
In Event #2: $400 No-Limit Hold’em, 292 entrants created a $96,360 prize pool that was paid out to the top 45 players including Albert Ng (4th - $6,775), Robert Chow (9th - $1,873), David Kivett (22nd - $823), Nipun Java (25th - $741), Curtis Montognese (30th - $700), and Ben Thomas (40th - $657).
In the end, 26-year-old Kyle Draucker from Las Vegas, Nevada defeated Bennett McLaughlin in heads-up play to win $20,449 and his first gold ring.
“I came in as the short stack, so my plan was just to shove and get in with every hand, but then I started gaining chips back and it went all smooth from there on out,” said Draucker after his first-ever WSOP cash.
Draucker, who has only been playing poker for a year, added: “I’m a newer player so I knew they were more experienced than me, so I was trying to only play good hands and hopefully get lucky.”
Final Table Results
| Place | Player | Hometown | Prize |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Kyle Draucker | Las Vegas, Nevada | $20,449 |
| 2 | Bennett Mclaughlin | Glendale, Arizona | $12,785 |
| 3 | Sean Stevens | Las Vegas, Nevada | $9,230 |
| 4 | Albert Ng | Cupertino, California | $6,775 |
| 5 | Daniel Caruthers | Las Vegas, Nevada | $5,058 |
| 6 | Bart Lee | Monroe, Utah | $3,842 |
| 7 | Kristen Deardorff | Gulfport, Mississippi | $2,970 |
| 8 | Jason Phamolivo | Las Vegas, Nevada | $2,337 |
| 9 | Robert Chow | Schaumburg, Illinois | $1,873 |