Josh Clark has emerged victorious in the Bally’s Black Hawk November 2023 Colorado Poker Championship Main Event, topping a field of 332 entries to earn a career-best $78,647 and the custom CPC trophy. Clark defeated Bart Sanson heads up for the championship.
All that said, Clark’s tournament resume is just beginning. A Denver-based cash game specialist, Clark received accolades from and celebrated with multiple dealers after his victory — dealers who knew him years ago when he cut his teeth in the $1/$3 streets.
Black Hawk cash game players know Clark, and now tournament players will, too. He recently caught the tournament bug after winning the Brian Hartner Charity Event down the mountain a few weeks ago.
He also won $3,500 worth of WSOP buy-ins for next summer and is looking to play the Main Event. The recent success and upcoming plans have incentivized him to play more tournaments, and it’s already paying off.
“I’ve probably played five or six tournaments in my whole life,” Clark said after the tournament. But despite the success, he’s already looking forward to the opportunities tomorrow brings.
Final Results:
- 1st Place – Josh Clark – $78,647
- 2nd Place – Bart Sanson – $48,558
- 3rd Place – Roman Mai – $35,222
- 4th Place – John Loch – $25,989
- 5th Place – Sherman Wu – $19,492
- 6th Place – David Warga – $15,046
- 7th Place – Derek McMaster – $11,627
- 8th Place – Zack Whitney – $9,233
- 9th Place – James Rodriguez – $7,147
Forty-four players returned for Sunday’s Day 2 with 36 set to make it into the money. Two 2023 CPC champions busted back to back after the bubble burst, Vince Griboski (31st) and Will Givens (30th), and all-time Black Hawk money earner Danny Gonzales followed in 29th.
Gonzales found himself short after his pocket kings lost to Roman Mai’s ace-queen, which jump-started Mai’s third-place run.
Other notables to bust in the money included Vincent Miscoti (28th), Thomas Fuller (24th), Adrian Buckley (20th), Mike Wheeler (12th) and Eric Smidinger (10th).
Wheeler’s bust out was another massive pot where he flopped top two pair and got it in against Sanson, who had top pair. Sanson hit a higher two pair on the turn and didn’t meet any resistance until heads-up play.
Shortly before that, the final three had near-average stacks before Clark took a huge pot off Mai on a bluff with ace high.
“That was my favorite part in the entire tournament,” said Clark. He overtook the chip lead, then eliminated Mai to enter heads-up play with an even greater lead that he never relinquished.
This concludes PokerLiveUpdates #FunTour2.0 coverage of the CPC Main Event. However, the CPC still has another week of events. Who knows, maybe you’ll see me at the $2,500 High Roller next Saturday.
Remaining Events:
- Monday, Nov. 20: $80 Turbo (10 a.m.), $250 Deep Stack NLH (12 p.m.), $200 NLH (7 p.m.)
- Tuesday, Nov. 22: $80 Turbo (10 a.m.), $250 Deep Stack NLH (12 p.m.), $200 NLH (7 p.m.)
- Wednesday, Nov. 23: $80 Turbo (10 a.m.), $250 Deep Stack NLH (12 p.m.), $200 NLH (7 p.m.)
- Thursday, Nov. 24: $80 Turbo (10 a.m.), $250 Deep Stack NLH (12 p.m.), $200 NLH (7 p.m.)
- Friday, Nov. 25: $300 High Roller Satellite 10% advance (10 a.m. and 7 p.m.), $500 Super Stack NLH (12 p.m.)
- Saturday: $2,500 High Roller NLH (11 a.m.)
Hill Kerby is one of the founding members of the Poker Live Updates FunTour2.0 team, providing tournament reporting from poker venues across the country and sampling some of the world's best craft beers.
