Brian McDaniel Wins Monster Stack to Claim Second Gold Ring
The PokerNews Live Reporting Team is at the Horseshoe Hammond to live report both the $1,700 Main Event and $2,200 High Roller; however, those are just two of more than a dozen gold ring events that will have taken place over the past week. As such, we thought we��d profile some of the preliminary tournaments and those who struck it big.
In Event #6: $400 Monster Stack, 502 runners created a $165,660 prize pool. Among the notables to cash were David To (7th - $4,886), Mike Shanahan (16th - $1,645), poker author Jim McManus (19th - $1,380), Nick Pupillo (33rd - $794), Maurice Hawkins (38th - $660), and Mike Shin (48th - $616).
In the end, Brian McDaniel bested John Colella in heads-up play to win the title for $32,864 and his second gold ring.
��It��s nice to get the monkey off my back,�� said McDaniel after his win. ��I��ve had a lot of deep runs at final tables but my closet to winning a ring happened two-weeks after I won my first one when I finished second, so this feels great.��
He continued: ��I had an absolute heater once we got to the last two tables. I had jacks against tens, I had kings against aces and spiked a king, I cracked kings twice, it was insane."
Taking the chip lead into the final table was different from his last final table appearance just two days prior McDaniel explained, ��In the last event I played I had my aces cracked with two tables left so I went into the final table middle stacked and it cuffed my play �� Coming into this final table as the chip leader and could play my game with a wide range.��
McDaniel concluded: ��This one feels great. I really needed this win/ Michael Esquivel was giving me crap yesterday about my fifth-place finish and how I haven��t been able to close it out, so this win just makes it that much better.��
Final Table Results
| Place | Player | Hometown | Prize |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Brian McDaniel | Chicago, Illinois | $32,864 |
| 2 | John Colella | Oak Park, Illinois | $20,310 |
| 3 | Thomas Morris | Whiteland, Indiana | $14,885 |
| 4 | Michael Alexander | Chicago, Illinois | $11,049 |
| 5 | David Kowal | Saint Charles, Illinois | $8,308 |
| 6 | Charlie Taxman | Highland Park, Illinois | $6,330 |
| 7 | David To | Hoffman Estates, Illinois | $4,886 |
| 8 | Brian Pachciarz | Indianapolis, Indiana | $3,823 |
| 9 | Anastas Mukoski | Crown Point, Indiana | $3,032 |