Max Young Wins WSOP Circuit Choctaw Durant Main Event

Max Young wins second gold ring in as many weeks and best career cash at Choctaw Casino in Durant, Oklahoma

Poker pro Max Young claimed last night his fifth WSOP Circuit gold ring and largest career cash of $263,815 after outwitting the behemoth field of the WSOP Circuit Choctaw Durant Main Event. The player, who hails from Oregon but has been traveling the circuit for the past few years, remained the last man standing from a total of 893 entries.

The player had an ambitious goal for 2018 – to make more money on the felt than he did last year. And his cash in the Choctaw Durant Main Event helped him complete that goal. Young said in his post-victory interview last night that he thought he did not have a chance to reach his poker goals, and that he was beyond happy to have done that.

Despite his relatively short career, Young has already accumulated five gold ringsfrom the WSOP Circuit and multiple other poker accolades. The player came into the Circuit’s Choctaw Casino stop fresh off a victory at Harveys Lake Tahoe where he took down a single-day $400 No-Limit Hold’em for his career’s fourth gold piece.

Day 3 of the Main Event at Choctaw Casino was played on Monday. Action kicked off with 12 players, led by Jared Hemingway who bagged the chip lead at the end of Day 2 for a second consecutive day. The player maintained his advantage throughout the day and all the way into heads-up. Hemingway was eyeing his second gold ring from the series.

Young’s own run at the final table was not bad at all, but it was during his duel against Hemingway when the eventual champion started putting pressure and playing more aggressively.

Heads-Up Highlights

The match began with Hemingway holding a slight chip lead over his final remaining opponent. However, Young himself had gained quite some momentum by that time, which promised an action-packed final stage of the major tournament.

It is important to note that Hemingway himself has had quite a successful streak over the past few days. The player captured his first WSOP Circuit gold ring last week. He emerged victorious in the $400 No-Limit Hold’em 6-Handed for the gold piece and $20,616 in prize money.

While both Young and Hemingway were about 100 big blinds deep at the start of heads-up, their match only lasted for 45 minutes. The two players went all in several times and chips were flying back and forth in big portions. Eventually, a key hand moved Young over the 20-million chip mark only to see Hemingway even with two double ups shortly after.

On what turned out to be their final all in, Young shoved pre-flop with [Ad][9d]and Hemingway called with [2h][2c]. The flop ran out [9c][9h][4s] giving Young a set and the lead. The [Ks] on the turn and the [8s] on the river were of no help to Hemingway and he went home with the runner-up finish and a consolation prize of $163,024.

Both players secured a spot into the 2019 Global Casino Championship, Young as the Main Event champion, while Hemingway as the Casino Championship winner.

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