Ryan Jones, a 24-year-old internet and live tourney professional poker player from North Carolina had reason to celebrate this weekend after taking home the $235,804 first prize in the World Series of Poker Circuit Harrah’s Cherokee Main Event.
It was the biggest win yet for the young professional, way ahead of his previous best of $119,582….and it additionally included a seat into the National Championship later this year.
Jones survived a competitive entry field of 786 players to make the final table, where he was in the middle of a pack that included David Williams, Clifford Billups, Adam West, Diana Dinser, Tony Sewell, Martin Roberts, Peter Vitantonio and Garry Simms.
Working quietly and methodically, Jones stayed out of trouble and built his chip stack, becoming more aggressive when the table was down to five and by that stage holding a formidable stack of around 6 million chips.
Entering the heads up stage David Williams had the advantage of almost 10 million chips vs. Jones’ 6 million, but Jones quickly took control, leveraging the advantage into a hands down win that sent Williams to the exit with the $145,371 runner up prize.
81 players cashed in the event, with the other final table players scoring like this:
Clifford Billups $107,171
Adam West $79,877
Diana Dinser $60,329
Tony Sewell $46,158
Martin Roberts $35,759
Peter Vitantonio $28,048
Garry Simms $22,271