Five-time World Series of Poker Circuit (WSOPC) ring winner Preston McEwen has been on a tear this year and hasn’t shown any signs of slowing down. Specifically, the Tennessee grinder has been crushing at Harrah’s Cherokee in North Carolina, where he recently made three final tables, including a third-place finish in the $1,700 buy-in Main Event for $175,713.
This isn’t the first WSOPC Cherokee stop this year that McEwen has dominated. Since February, McEwen has made seven final tables at the popular southern poker destination and racked up $351,111 from those final table appearances.
Read About the Latest WSOPC Cherokee Stop!
Incredible Heater in Cherokee
McEwen’s Cherokee heater started just a month after he took down the WSOPC Tunica Main Event for $183,563 in January. He followed that up with a runner-up finish in Event #3: $400 No-Limit Hold’em in Cherokee for $29,210 before taking down Event #7: $2,200 No-Limit Hold’em High Roller for $71,525 and his fifth Circuit ring.
McEwen also found a tenth-place finish and unofficial final table appearance in Event #5: $600 No-Limit Hold’em for $3,439 before rounding out the February Cherokee stop with a seventh-place finish in Event #8: $400 No-Limit Hold’em Monster Stack for $19,002.
“It’s great,” McEwen said during a PokerNews Podcast appearance in March. “This game’s tough, so you go through peaks and valleys throughout your career, and I was probably on one of the lowest ends of my career not too long ago. So it’s such a relief for me and my family. It’s pretty cool. A lot of stress unloaded.”
McEwen went on to finish third in Event #7: $600 No-Limit Hold’em in May for $13,431 but waited until the August Circuit stop the kick things up. He finished seventh in Event #2: $400 No-Limit Hold’em for $19,128 and sixth in Event #8: $400 No-Limit Hold’em - Monster Stack for $23,102 before finishing third in the Main Event for $175,713, just shy of his career-best score in Tunica earlier in the year.
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Preston McEwen’s WSOPC Cherokee Final Tables This Year
| DATE | EVENT | PLACE | PIRZE (IN USD) | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| August 2023 | WSOPC Cherokee Event #13: $1,700 Main Event | 3rd | $175,713 | |
| August 2023 | WSOPC Cherokee Event #8: $400 No-Limit Hold’em - Monster Stack | 6th | $23,102 | |
| August 2023 | WSOPC Cherokee Event #2: $400 No-Limit Hold’em | 7th | $19,128 | |
| May 2023 | WSOPC Cherokee Event #7: $600 No-Limit Hold’em | 3rd | $13,431 | |
| February 2023 | WSOPC Cherokee Event #8: $400 No-Limit Hold’em Monster Stack | 7th | $19,002 | |
| February 2023 | WSOPC Cherokee Event #7: $2,200 No-Limit Hold’em High Roller | 1st | $71,525 | |
| February 2023 | WSOPC Cherokee Event #3: $400 No-Limit Hold’em | 2nd | $29,210 |
It isn’t just Circuit events that McEwen is crushing. At the 2023 WSOP, he finished 15th in Event #46: $500 Freezeout No-Limit Holdem for $12,286 and 11th in Event #88: $1,500 The Closer - No-Limit Hold’em for $47,160.
In April, McEwen took down Event #3: $250 Deepstack NLH at the RunGood Poker Series Checkpoint Downstream Casino stop for $15,629 and his second RGPS ring.
Listen to McEwen on the PokerNews Podcast
McEwen was a guest on the PokerNews Podcast in March, where he spoke to Chad Holloway about his heater in Cherokee, family life and how he got into poker.
The episode with McEwen can be heard below.