Phil Beltram won his first World Series of Poker Circuit gold ring on Nov. 11 at Choctaw Casino Resort. The victory in Oklahoma gave Beltram $237,307 in prize money for the largest score of his tournament career and his first win on any tour.
Although he took home a professional-sized payday, Beltram has been playing poker just as a hobby for the last decade.
“I had an awesome week, and I’m just super glad I made it this far,” said an excited Beltram. “I’ll save and invest it, and then go for ring no. 2. I just appreciate my family and my job for supporting me. A recreational player can win.”
The $1,700 buy-in no-limit hold’em event saw a field of 944 entries over two starting flights. The top 140 entries all scored a min-cash worth $2,294.
A total of 106 players returned for Day 2, and just the final eight remained after 12 hours of play. Notables that made a deep run into the tournament included Nikola Mircetic (11th), Zachary Peay (13th), Jon Dull (16th), Deanna Alaniz (21st), and Tai Cao (26th).
Michael Perrone held the chip lead when the final day of play began, and Beltram was right behind him in the standings. Beltram scored the first knockout of the day when he sent Benjamin Anderson home in eighth place, and he kept that momentum going by busting Vincent Rubianes in seventh. Lawrence Wayne fell next in sixth place.
Zak Baron then went on a strong run that saw him take out Vincent Pratt in fifth place, and Robert Peacock in fourth place to take the chip lead. Beltram got back some ammo to work with by eliminating Perrone in third before the heads-up final began.
The chip advantage still stood at nearly 3:1 in favor of Baron when the final match started, so Beltram had some work to do to get back in the title hunt.
The stacks had all but flipped when Baron got all in preflop with K-Q suited, and Beltram had him covered holding A-7 suited. The board gave Beltram trip sevens along with the big win.
Baron took home $158,217 thanks to the deep run in the event, and it was also the largest tournament cash of his career by far.
Final Table Results
| Place | Player | Payout | POY |
| 1 | Phil Beltram | $237,307 | 912 |
| 2 | Zak Baron | $158,217 | 760 |
| 3 | Michael Perrone | $110,000 | 608 |
| 4 | Robert Peacock | $78,345 | 456 |
| 5 | Vincent Pratt | $56,538 | 380 |
| 6 | Lawrence Wayne | $41,509 | 304 |
| 7 | Vincent Rubianes | $31,013 | 228 |
| 8 | Benjamin Anderson | $23,587 | 152 |
The next tournament series on the WSOP Circuit schedule is already underway at Grand Victoria Casino near Chicago with events running from Nov. 7-18. The $1,700 buy-in main event begins on Nov. 14 with three starting flights.
Photo Credit: WSOP Circuit/Poker.org