Gordon Wilcox wins WSOP Circuit main event at Foxwoods

Gordon Wilcox claimed his first World Series of Poker Circuit championship ring earlier this week after winning the $1,700 WSOP Circuit main event at Foxwoods.

Wilcox, a 60-year-old restaurant owner from Boston, had only one WSOP cash to his name heading into the main event. That cash of $15,948 came earlier this year in a $3,250 High Roller at the WSOP Circuit stop at the Seminole Casino Coconut Creek.

He won more than 10 times that amount at Foxwoods after outlasting a 519-player field to pocket $169,052.

Wilcox had to navigate a tough final table to net his first WSOP Circuit win. Out of his eight opponents at the final table, four had already won WSOP Circuit rings – Jason Bolton, Dan Chalifour, Justin Carey and Dyland Wilkerson, who had won two rings previously.

The hand that eliminated Wilkerson may have been Wilcox’s most important of the tournament, as they were one-two in chips at the time. Wilkerson hit a nut-straight on the turn against Wilcox’s two pair before the river improved Wilcox’s hand to a full house to send Wilkerson packing.

Wilcox vs Bolton heads-up

It came down to Wilcox and Bolton heads-up for the tournament title. When heads-up play began, Wilcox had a huge chip lead on his opponent with 12.8 million to Bolton’s 2.7 million. Bolton put up a valiant effort and ate away at Wilcox’s lead a bit, but in the end the chip lead proved to be insurmountable.

On the final hand of the tournament, Bolton moved all-in pre-flop and Wilcox quickly made the call. Bolton had Ah-6d, but was dominated by Wilcox’s Ac-9d. The flop all but sealed it for Wilcox when it showed Ks-9h-8d, giving him a pair of nines. Bolton needed runner-runner to survive and he hit one out on the turn when the 7c appeared to give him an open-ended straight draw. He needed a 5 or 10 on the river, but came up short when the 3d dropped.

For the second-place finish, Bolton received $104,576.