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Last Updated on October 8, 2023
On January 5 of this year, the Choctaw Durant Circuit returned to mark the first World Series of Poker event to take place in 2022. It kicked off with Mega Satellite for Ring Event #1 and will continue until January 23 when it concludes with Nightly Deep Stack No-Limit Hold’em. In the weeks since the action kicked off at Choctaw Casino and Resort, Durant, a number of professional poker players have walked away as gold ring winners. Continue reading to find out who has joined the coveted ranks and are, as a result, now a step closer to winning a coveted WSOP bracelet.
Brent Bogdanovecz
The first World Series of Poker event to take place in 2022 was conquered by Brent Bogdanovecz when the professional poker player from Oklahoma triumphed over 943 entrants to win the Event #1 $400 No-Limit Hold’em Monster Stack. The event was played over the course of two days and resulted in Bogdanovecz walking away with a cash prize of $31,801 and his first gold ring. It marks his third recorded win during the tournament’s history, having come 129th in Event #33 $1,000 No-Limit Hold’em at the 2014 WSOP and 150th in Event #2 $365 No-Limit Hold’em at the 2018 WSOP, to take his total career earnings to $34,574 so far.
John Fagg
In Ring Event #2 of the Choctaw Durant Circuit, John Fagg, a part-time poker player and part-time carpenter from Indiana, conquered The Gargantuan. In doing so, he beat a staggering 2,130 entrants, topped up his career winnings by $156,041, and walked away with his second gold ring. It comes a decade after he won his first gold ring at the 2012 WSOP during an event consisting of 320 entrants at Harrah’s New Orleans Hotel and Casino and has sharpened his skills by competing in a number of in-person tournaments but mainly online tournaments, such as those found on ggpoker.com, in the years since.
Mike Budde
It was the aptly titled Event #3 $400 Congress (5 Card PLO High-Low) with 299 entrants that saw Mike Budde walk away with his third gold ring of his professional poker playing career so far and an impressive cash prize of $22,445. The 71-year-old may have made his first appearances in the WSOP during designated Seniors events but this certainly hasn’t stopped this experienced poker player from climbing the ranks to earn his stop amongst the game’s most promising young up-and-comers. If that wasn’t enough, Budde’s victory is even more impressive given the fact that it was achieved during the notoriously rare game of Congress or Big O as it is otherwise known. It is, however, a staple within Oklahoma poker arenas and, therefore, a game that Budde is highly familiar with. The win also secured his spot in the upcoming Tournament of Champions where he will be joined by fellow poker players of a similar calibre.
It may still be ongoing but the Choctaw Durant Circuit of the 2022 World Series of Poker has already seen a number of both experienced and inexperienced poker players walk away with gold rings in tow since it exploded onto the scene on January 5 of this year. It is expected to continue until January 23 but Brent Bogdanovecz, John Fagg, and Mike Budde have already proven that they are worth keeping a close eye on having boosted their career winnings and added to their existing hardware collection to take them a step closer to eventually winning a coveted WSOP bracelet if their winning streaks are to continue.
