History was made at the first-ever WSOP Circuit event in Sint Maarten at Casino Royale this week when Martin Ryan won two events at the Caribbean Poker Festival back-to-back over two consecutive days – first outlasting the field of a $365 PLO event, and then topping the field in a $365 NLH event. When posing for the winner’s photo in the NL Hold’em event, Ryan can be seen showcasing both WSOPC gold rings he won in what capped a memorable week for the Trinbagonian.
Back-to-Back WSOP Circuit Events
The No Limit Hold’em Event #22 attracted a field of 121 including re-entries and generated a $36,290 prize pool, with the top 10% of the field making the money. After Day 1 of the action, only 18 players were remaining in the tournament. It was George Griffith leading the chip count after the first day’s play, bagging 254,000 in chips ahead of Martin Ryan with 114,000 in chips and the third biggest stack.
Day 2 action went quick, the money bubble had burst in no time at all. With only 8 players remaining at the final table, the action had slowed down a bit, with each player looking to ladder up. Ryan outlasted the first day chip leader George Griffith in heads up play. The heads up action began with Griffith having a 2-to-1 chip advantage, but the momentum changed rapidly when Ryan turned a straight against his opponent’s top pair. Griffith’s stack eventually got whittled down to nothing, and Ryan collected $10,900 for his efforts.
Just a day earlier, the player from Trinidad & Tobago dominated the Pot Limit Omaha Event #19. Ryan emerged victorious against William Hicks in heads up play to earn himself $8,730. There were two other players from Trinidad & Tobago (Adrian Chandler and Aroon Maharaj) who made the final table of the WSOPC PLO event on Sint Maarten’s day. Chandler was actually in the chip lead when play resumed on Day 2 of the tournament, but Ryan ran away with it.
Mike Leah from Ontario, Canada, is the only other player to win back-to-back WSOP Circuit Events, he accomplished the same feat back in 2014.