Josh Reichard Wins Record-Tying 14th World Series Of Poker Circuit Ring At Chicago StopWisconsin Native Takes Home Top Prize Of $253,073 And Joins Maurice Hawkins Atop The WSOPC Titles Leaderboard |
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Josh Reichard – Photo Credit: WSOP Circuit
More than three years ago, Maurice Hawkins extended his record as the all-time World Series of Poker Circuit title winner by taking down a WSOPC Choctaw event for his 14th gold ring. The win gave him a two-ring lead over his nearest competition, including Valentin Vornicu and Josh Reichard.
Now, 1,198 days later, Reichard emerged victorious in the 2023 WSOPC Grand Victoria Casino main event, earning $253,073 and his 14th gold ring to enter into a tie with Hawkins for the most WSOPC rings in the history of the tour. He had previously secured his 13th ring last fall as the winner of the WSOPC Horseshoe Council Bluffs main event.
“To be honest, I really don’t care too much about records but this one is kind of cool … On your website, there are pictures of all the record holders and Phil Hellmuth holds the bracelet title, and I thought it’d be cool if my picture was next to his because we are two Wisconsin guys,” said the Beloit, WI native to WSOP Circuit reporters after the win. He continued, “I’m sure Maurice’s (Hawkins) picture will stay on there right now, but that just keeps me motivated to get there one day.”
“It feels good, I’ve been on a good run lately,” said Reichard. That is indeed true as Reichard has now cashed 13 times in 2023, and his career earnings are now above $2.3 million as a result. Reichard has found the majority of his success this year at WSOP Circuit stops, cashing four times at the most recent stop, and another five times with two runner-up scores at the Hammond stop that concluded in early March.
Reichard also had this to say about his recent hot streak, “In poker, there’s like a confidence thing where you see players go on good streaks, but you also see them go on bad ones … If someone is playing well and running well, they have confidence and things are just going their way, but if they’re on a bad streak it seems like they just can’t win a hand for months, so I’m going to ride this wave while it’s high and see if I can get a little streak going.”
The victory earned Reichard 912 Card Player Player of the Year points. With four final-table finishes, this win, and $313,000 in to-date POY earnings, Reichard is now tied for 58th place in the 2023 POY standings with two-time bracelet winner and World Poker Tour champion David ‘ODB’ Baker.
The $1,700 buy-in no-limit hold’em event attracted a field of 954 entries over three starting flights. That made for a prize pool worth $1,445,310, with the top 137 players all cashing for at least $2,535. Other notables that scored a cash in the main event included Millard Hale (11th), Ken Baime (23rd), Aaron Johnson (24th), Brett Apter (25th), Brad Jansen (28th), Kyna England (32nd), Brian Altman (48th), Jared Ingles (52nd), Ralph Massey (91st), Roland Israelashvili (97th), Michael Wang (102nd), and Angela Jordison (117th).
There were 103 players remaining when Day 2 began, and the final table of nine was reached after 12 hours of play. Reichard was second in chips at the start of the final table. The final table took less than five hours to play out as notables Ryan Julius (seventh), and then multiple ring winners Luke Graham (sixth), Christopher Moon (fifth), and Nicola Ditrapani (fourth) fell in succession.
Reichard held a 3:1 chip advantage against Jordan Lowery when the heads-up final began. The final match only saw one all-in hand with Lowery putting his tournament hopes on A10 against the A4 of Reichard after the money got all-in preflop. The final board read J43A2, and Lowery was eliminated in second place, good for $156,419 as his largest tournament cash ever.
Here is a look at the payouts awarded at the final table:
Place | Player | Earnings | POY Points |
1 | Josh Reichard | $253,073 | 912 |
2 | Jordan Lowery | $150,419 | 760 |
3 | Airel Kotzen | $115,201 | 608 |
4 | Nicola Ditrapani | $85,825 | 456 |
5 | Christopher Moon | $64,688 | 380 |
6 | Luke Graham | $49,332 | 304 |
7 | Ryan Julius | $38,072 | 228 |
8 | Marc Bernal | $29,738 | 152 |
9 | George Dietz | $23,513 | 76 |
The next WSOP Circuit event will run from April 20 – May 1 at the Horseshoe Hotel & Casino in Tunica, Mississippi. The $1,700 buy-in main event begins on Friday, Apr. 28. You can see the full schedule for the tournament series right here.