Winner’s Circle: Online Poker Players Cash in for Rings, Championship Hardware in July
July produced some big online poker winners in regulated US markets. Players were hitting the virtual felt hard in between major live summer events.
Every month USPoker reviews big winners and notable players from states offering legal online poker. PokerStars, partypoker US/BetMGM, and WSOP.com generally all offer monthly series. Here’s a snapshot of some of the standout winners from last month.
Current legal states
In the US, online poker is legally up and running in the following states:
♠♠♠ Winner’s Circle highlights some recent action at the online tables. For players winning big online events, please tag @USPoker on Twitter each month to be featured. ♠♠♠
WSOP.com Circuit ring hunt
As players headed to the World Series of Poker, the festival gave the opportunity for some to win while playing in Nevada. Each month WSOP.com offers Online Circuit Series in the combined New Jersey and Nevada markets.
Pennsylvania and Michigan also host a monthly Circuit Series separate from New Jersey/Nevada.
Making a splash at the WSOP
Bracelet winner Tyler Patterson won a circuit event online on his off day from the Main Event. He celebrated to the tune of $27,035 and by jumping into his pool.
Pennsylvania online grinder Christopher “IamSmirk” Perkins accomplished something remarkable the previous month. He scored a ring and a bracelet in a single month. On July 12, he did it again by scoring his second ring. Recently USPoker caught up with Perkins about his nice run of late.
“I can’t imagine doing anything else at this point,” he said of his professional poker career. “I love the challenges and freedom that poker gives me.”
Professional player Matt Stout added lucky ring No. 7 to his shelf when he shipped event 6 for over $27,000.
Had the highlight of a long summer the other day when I won my 7th @WSOP Circuit ring in a $250 online freezeout for $27k. Grateful to finally find a W & hoping to use this momentum to close out strong. Almost wasn’t invited to Monday’s Tournament of Champions for the 1st time! pic.twitter.com/texltpPPeC
— Matt Stout (@MattStoutPoker) July 15, 2022
Bracelet winner Ethan Yau went on a rampage and snagged his fourth ring on July 14. He collected $18,563 in the process.
Huge WSOP Circuit run
In other big news, New Jersey’s Sergio Ramirez has also done something special. He won four rings in a single month for a total of five overall. Ramirez took down three live events at the Choctaw WSOPC series in Durant, Oklahoma. He also won a PLO circuit tournament online. In total, Ramirez won $77,347 in these events in July alone.
Some other Online Circuit winners included:
- Kevin Ripple – Event 1, $25,808 (NJ/NV)
- Matthew Mcdowell – Event 3, $17,647 (NJ/NV)
- Robert Samuels – Event 4, $17,647 (NJ/NV)
- Ed Py – Event 1, $5,194 (PA)
- Matthew Sullivan – Event 2, $7,896 (PA)
- Eric O’Malley – Event 3, $5,040 (PA)
- Jonas Wexler – Event 4, $5,978 (PA)
- Gregory Wish– Event 11, $6,998 (PA)
- Brent Ballentine– Event 1, $6,340 (MI)
- Aaron Zody– Event 2, $8,082 (MI)
- Jonathan Tackett – Event 3, $5,397 (MI)
- Andrew Szabelan – Event 4, $7,655 (MI)
- Christopher Hando – Event 7, $10,781 (MI)
All previous bracelet and ring winners from the last season were eligible for the Tournament of Champions $1 million freeroll in Las Vegas. The event was the final tournament at the WSOP on July 18 and Virginia’s Benjamin Kaupp took the top prize. He scored $250,000 and his first bracelet in an event that saw 470 entries.
BetMGM hits home run with Summer Classic
Available in New Jersey, Michigan, and Pennsylvania, BetMGM doesn’t share a combined player pool at this time. Currently each state hosts these skins:
- Borgata Poker (New Jersey, Pennsylvania)
- BetMGM (Michigan, Pennsylvania)
- partypoker (New Jersey)
In July, the platform held its first-ever Summer Classic. The series in each state concluded with a Grand Slam. In Pennsylvania, Jeff Stellwagon brought home the top prize. Stellwagon came home from some time off to bink $9,100.
PokerStars nightly events
PokerStars may not have hosted any major events in July, but players still brought home some serious cash. Pennsylvania PokerStars streamer Mark Foresta has had some solid “rungood” recently. On July 27 he captured two wins in one night for over $5,000.
Over in New Jersey Kyle Norton has been dominating the nightly $4,000 guaranteed event. He won the event multiple times in July.
“Law_RK” also scooped some victories in daily events. Law won over $3,000 in the $12,000 guaranteed event on July 31. That followed a win just a few days earlier.
USPoker will update big winners each month in the “Winner’s Circle” feature. Please tag @uspoker on Twitter with your wins.