Philip Shing Wins 2020 WSOP Circuit Potawatomi Main Event

Philip Shing has won the 2020 World Series of Poker Circuit Potawatomi $1,700 no-limit hold’em main event. The 35-year-old based in of Brooklyn, New York defeated a field of 524 total entries to secure his second WSOPC gold ring and the top prize of $151,284. He won his first ring back in 2015 by taking down a $580 buy-in no-limit hold’em event at the WSOPC Foxwoods series.

“Honestly it hasn’t really kicked yet but I think it feels really good,” said Shing of his latest victory. The finance worker doesn’t always have time for big live tournaments. "I only play three events a year due to work, but I actually had a month off of work so I came here.”

In addition to the title and the money, Shing was also awarded 840 Card Player Player of the Year points as the champion of this event. It was his first recorded cash of 2020, but it alone was enough to see him climb into a tie for 39th place in the POY race standings, which are sponsored by Global Poker.

The final day of this event began with eight players remaining. Shing was in third chip position when play resumed (2,930,000 in chips), with James Pupillo sitting atop the leaderboard (3,365,000 in chips). Shing was able to overtake the lead by scoring the first knockout of the day. He called Marcus Yofon’s all-in with 88 and won the race against AK. Yofon hit the rail in eighth place ($18,209) while Shing grew his stack to 4,800,000.

Mike Hartzheim was the next to fall. He got his last chips in with KJ on a J636 board. He got called by Cero Zuccarello, who held the AA. Hartzheim made his flush draw on the river, but the A had also given Zuccarello the winning full house. Hartzheim settled for $23,152 as the seventh-place finisher.

Zuccarello scored his second knockout of the day with another big pocket pair. This time he was dealt pocket kings, which beat out the 97 of short stack Chris Roth. Zuccarello made a set on the flop and held from there to send Roth packing in sixth place ($29,829).

Zuccarello’s run came to an end when he shoved Q5 from the small blind when it had folded to him. John Gallaher picked up KK in the big blind and made the call. The board improved neither player and Zuccarello was eliminated in fifth place, earning $38,937 for his deep run.

James Pupillo finished fourth in the WSOPC Potawatomi main event held last September, and incredibly his run in this event came to an end in the exact same position. Pupillo got his last chips in good, with his AJ dominating the A8 of Shing. An eight on the turn gave Shing the advantage, though, and Pupillo was unable to regain the lead on the river. He was awarded $51,484 for his latest fourth-place showing in this event.

Shing scored yet another elimination by calling the three-bet all-in of John Gallaher with AJ. Gallaher was in bad shape with the QJ. The board came down K96J9 and Galler was knocked out in third place ($68,947).

With that Shing took more than a 6.5:1 chip advantage into heads-up play against Ken Donarski. It took just one hand for him to convert that lead into a victory. Shing raised to 450,000 from the button with AJ and Donarski shoved for around 2,000,000 with J8. Shing called and the K6472 runout secured the pot and the title for Shing. Donarski took home $93,498 as the runner-up finisher.

Here is a look at the payouts and POY points awarded at the final table:

Winner photo/quotes provided by WSOP.

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