Fields Claims Victory in his Second WSOP Circuit Event
New Orleans is known as the “Big Easy,” and things seem to be just that for 22-year-old Eric Fields of Greensboro, North Carolina. The recent University of Alabama graduate came to New Orleans with his friends to celebrate, promptly won $5,000 playing in a pot-limit Omaha cash game (his biggest win ever up to that point) and then entered Event #8 $365 No-Limit Hold’em, just the second WSOP Circuit event and fourth overall tournament he’s played.
The tournament attracted 333 runners and created a prize pool of $99,900, and the final table ended up being a star-studded affair. Fields’ fellow University of Alabama Class of 2013 graduate and travel buddy, Matthew Keeton, ended up finishing in seventh, while Charles “Woody” Moore made his second final table of the stop. Perhaps Fields’ toughest competition was Joseph McKeehen, who won Harrah’s New Orleans Event #1 $365 NLHE last week and the Caesars Atlantic City Main Event back in March. McKeehen was seeking his third gold ring, but Fields managed to pull out the upset to win his first gold ring and $22,980 in prize money.
Despite not getting the win, McKeehen’s runner-up finish gave him the lead in the Harrah’s New Orleans Casino Championship race. Since he already has a spot locked up in the National Championship, a Casino Championship win by McKeehen would open up another at-large seat in the National Leaderboard race.
WSOP Circuit Harrah’s New Orleans Ring Event #8 No-Limit Hold’em
| Buy-in | Entrants | Prize Pool |
|---|---|---|
| $300+$65 | 333 | $99,900 |
| Place | Player | Hometown | Prize |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Eric Fields | Greensboro NC | $22,980 |
| 2 | Joseph McKeehen | North Wales, PA | $14,205 |
| 3 | Timothy Thomasson | River Ridge, LA | $10,363 |
| 4 | Mark Maletic | Canton, MI | $7,686 |
| 5 | Leroy Spires | Las Cruces, NM | $5,790 |
| 6 | Marc Lowe | Tampa, FL | $4,429 |
| 7 | Matthew Keeton | Hampton Cove, AL | $3,437 |
| 8 | Charles Moore | Las Vegas, NV | $2,705 |
| 9 | Sokchheka Pho | Memphis, TN | $2,160 |