Billy Kopp Tops 1,623-Entry Field In WSOP Circuit Harrah's Cherokee Main Event

Earlier in 2023 Billy Kopp took down the World Series of Poker $1,500 pot-limit Omaha eight-or-better event, joining his sister Katie as WSOP bracelet winner. Just six weeks after securing the hardware and $259,549 with that victory, Kopp managed to battle his way to the winner’s circle for an even larger windfall.

Kopp emerged victorious from a field of 1,623 entries in the 2023 WSOP Circuit Harrah’s Cherokee $1,700 buy-in no-limit hold’em main event, earning his third career WSOPC gold ring and a new career-best payday of $376,154. Kopp now has more than $1.7 million in lifetime tournament earnings after this latest win.

In addition to the title and the money, Kopp also secured 1,080 Card Player Player of the Year points for coming out on top in this event. This was his third title and fifth final-table finish of the year. In addition to this ring and his bracelet, he also took down a $600 pot-limit Omaha event at the Lucky Hearts Poker Open back in January. With 3,075 total points and nearly $824,000 in to-date POY earnings, Kopp has climbed into 45th place in the 2023 POY race standings presented by Global Poker.

The sizable turnout for this event saw the $1.5 million guarantee easily surpassed, with $2,458,845 in total prize money paid out among the top 236 finishers. Plenty of notables ran deep, including Will Jaffe (25th), World Poker Tour champion Asher Conniff (18th), 2023 WSOP main event 21st-place finisher Daniel Scroggins (16th), and WSOPC Southern Indiana main event winner Michael Scarborough (12th).

The unofficial final table began with Kopp leading the remaining ten contenders. Shane Melert (10th – $31,629), Robert Browning (9th – $39,341), and Ivan Starostin (8th – $49,378) were the first few players to fall.

Kopp then came from behind with A-9 against the A-Q of Omar Hafeez (7th – $62,535), making a nine-high straight after the chips went in preflop to narrow the field to six.

JW Wilder called all-in on the turn with top pair of queens and was up against an open-ended straight draw and an overcard for Brian Jones. The river filled Jones’ straight to end Wilder’s run in sixth place ($79,906).

Jones was soon involved in another huge pot. All of the chips went in with him holding A-K against the pocket kings of Jorge Arriola. Jones was in rough shape, but an ace on the flop turned the tables. Arriola was unable to find the case king on the turn or river and was knocked out in fifth place ($103,007).

Lam Nguyen took his last stand with A-2 and was leading the K-Q of Kopp before the flop, but a king-high runout saw Nguyen sent to the rail in fourth place ($133,953).

Five-time ring winner Preston McEwen ran his pocket sixes into the pocket aces of Kopp to finish third. The larger pair held up, which meant that McEwen walked away with $175,713 for his efforts. He now has nearly $1.5 million in recorded earnings after this strong showing.

Despite that knockout, Kopp was still slightly behind Jones when heads-up play began. Kopp won an early confrontation, though, to take more than a 2:1 lead of his own. He was able to extend that even further by the time the final hand came down. Jones shoved from the button with J5 and Kopp called with 99. The board ran out K62104 and Kopp faded the flopped flush draw of his opponent to lock up the title. Jones earned $232,481 as the runner-up, by far the largest score on his tournament resume.

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

Winner photo provided by WSOP.

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