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| 2005 Harrah's New Orleans Bayou Poker Challenge World Series of Poker Circuit Event Tournament Results |
| World Series of Poker Circuit Events 2005 Harrah's New Orleans Bayou Poker Challenge Main Event No Limit Hold'em Final Results |
| May 28, 2005 Harrah's New Orleans Bayou Poker Challenge Harrah's New Orleans New Orleans, Nevada |
Buy-In:
Prize Pool:
Entries:
Prize Pool:
Entries:
| Walter Chambers |
|
Tournament Report
Battle of the Tigers!
Walter Chambers roars to victory in all-LSU heads-up finale at New
Orleans World Series of Poker championship.
What are the odds that the World Series of Poker Circuit's last championship
event would produce a final showdown featuring two graduates of Louisiana
State University? In the city known for Mardi Gras, Bourbon Street, and
voodoo, some might say defying standard expectations was a sure thing.
Walter Chambers (Class of 2000) and Corey A. Bierria (Class of 1998)
outlasted a WSOP Circuit record field of 259 players and carved up over a
million dollars in prize money. Bierria earned $433,050 as the runner up,
while Chambers collected $787,340, plus the gold ring presented to all WSOP
Circuit champions.
Chambers' victory was remarkable for at least a couple of reasons. First,
although he arrived as the chip leader going into Day Four, he suffered a
number of crushing early blows which nearly knocked him out of the
tournament. In fact, when play was seven-handed, he was one of the lowest
stacks. Even worse, Chambers had the worst possible seat at the final table,
with most of the chips on his immediate left. Maybe it was the home crowd
cheering him on, maybe it was voodoo luck, or maybe it was just that fact
that Wally Chambers played the best poker of his life that he managed to
board a Streetcar Named Desire and get off at a stop called the winner's
circle.
Three days earlier, the championship event began. Day One ended with 109
players remaining. Nick "Chairman" Mao was the chip leader. Day Two ended
with Antonio "The Magician" Esfandiari as the leader. Then, after Day Three,
the final nine assembled for the finale, which was taped for broadcast by
ESPN.
One of the most dramatic things about the final table was who was not
there. Don "Final Table" Mullis did not make the cut. Mullis, who is tournament
poker's hottest player at the moment, went out one shy of making it to this
finale, finishing 10th. Mullis had made it to the final table an astounding 7 of
11 times at WSOP Circuit events dating back to Lake Tahoe last month. He
survived fields numbering as many at 847 players in some events, which is a
true testament to his talent as a tournament player. With Mullis' elimination
at the end of Day Three, the final table was set. The nine finalists on Day
Four, with starting chips counts were as follows:
SEAT 1: Walter Chambers Chip Count, 576,000
SEAT 2: Nick "Chairman" Mao Chip Count, 522,000
SEAT 3: Harry Cullen, Jr. Chip Count, 202,000
SEAT 4: Antonio "The Magician" Esfandiari Chip Count, 320,000
SEAT 5: Imre Leibold Chip Count, 169,500
SEAT 6: Marlon Labbe Chip Count, 163,000
SEAT 7: Cyril Gittens Chip Count, 338,500
SEAT 8: Corey A. Bierria Chip Count, 191,000
SEAT 9: Mark Cole Chip Count, 107,000
Players were eliminated as follows:
9th Place, Cyril Gittens lasted only a few hands. The Trinidad-born Floridian
was dealt J-J and moved all in after the flop came A-10-9. It was the wrong
move, with the wrong cards, at the wrong time. Antonio Esfandiari called
instantly with A-K, good for top pair, top kicker. Gittens was down to just a
few outs. Two blanks sealed Gittens' fate a 9th place finish worth $49,210.
On the hand, Esfandiari picked up 340,000 in chips. That catapulted him into
the chip lead for the first time.
8th Place, Ninety minutes into play, Marlon Labbe was getting short on chips
and made his last stand with A-Q of spades. Harry Cullen, Jr. was delighted
to be heads-up holding the dominant A-K, but he had a scare on the flop.
Two spades to a 10-8-5 flop gave Labbe several outs, and when the board
paired with an 8 on the turn, Labbe still had a number of ways to win or chop
the pot. But a blank 3 brought disappointment in the end, which put Labbe
on the rail in 8th place. This was Marlon Labbe's first trip to any final table, so
he could certainly be proud of his $73,815 in winnings.
While Esfandiari continued to hold the chip lead, three players (Chambers,
Mao, and Cullen) were very close in chips. Esfandiari had the position
advantage on all three of the big stacks, while Walter Chambers was
unquestionably in the worst seat, with all three big stacks acting behind.
Mark Cole doubled up with A-K versus Esfandiari's Q-9. That gave Cole
245,000 in chips.
A few hands later, Harry Cullen pole vaulted close to the chip lead when he
turned a full-house against Walter Chambers' nut flush. Chambers flopped a
heart flush, and after the board paired on the turn, Chambers moved all in
and was called instantly by Cullen holding fours full of jacks. That hand left
Chambers on life support and put Cullen into his best position of the
tournament (640,000 in chips to Esfandiari's 730,000).
After being close to the felt, over the next two hours Walter Chambers went
on a roll. He went from short-stack to the chip lead with several well-timed
raises which, more often than not, went uncalled. Chambers seemed to take
advantage of some timid play at this stage and rocketed from about 100,000
to over 600,000, before the next player was eliminated.
7th Place, Imre Leibold traveled the greatest distance of anyone to play in
this tournament. The Estonian poker player has enjoyed some tournament
success in Europe. He recently won the Baltic Open Championship. However,
Leibold could do no better than 7th place in this event. Leibold had the best
hand when he moved all in with 6-6. Esfandiari was in the big blind and called
a small raise with 9-2. Esfandiari's trash turned into treasure when he
flopped a nine, essentially leaving Leibold with just two outs. Leibold missed,
which translated into a payoff of $98,420. What a way to spend a vacation.
6th Place, Harry Cullen, Jr. went card dead about mid-way through the final
table. He committed his last 140,000 with A-7, which was called by Esfandiari,
with K-Q. The final board showed K-J-8-9-10 which completed a straight for
the Magician. Cullen, who is in the oil and gas exploration business had his
well come up dry. He did manage to earn $123,025 in the tournament.
Mark Cole doubled up to 250,000 against Chambers. Then, Chambers won
the biggest pot of the tournament. Nick "Chairman" Mao lost a 600,000 pot
to Walter Chambers, who made a full house. This was one of the turning
points of the tournament.
5th Place, Mark Cole made a big leap forward at the final table. He arrived as
the shortest stack, and lasted nearly six full hours before meeting his
inevitable doom. With blinds and antes racing around Cole moved all in with
10-10 and was called by Esfandiari, with K-J. The flop (Q-6-3) was good for
Cole, but a king on the turn was the crushing blow. Esfandiari's higher pair
held up and Cole was toast. Cole, who owns a restaurant business in North
Carolina collected a nice gratuity from this event -- $147,630.
Entering the seventh hour of play, Walter Chambers became the first player
to cross the million chip mark, with Esfandiari close behind at 900,000.
Meanwhile, Nick Mao and Corey Bierria had less than 300,000 each.
4th Place, Nick "Chairman" Mao was about to enter the red. He was dealt 7-6
and flopped two pair. Unfortunately, Walter Chambers hit a better flop with a
heart flush. Mao was down to four outs, needing another 7 or 6 to make a
full house. But, the miracle card did not come. Mao, who was born in
Cambodia and works as a real estate broker in Southern California, earned
$172,235 for 4th place.
Chambers increased his chip lead to nearly 2 to 1 over Esfandiari, with Bierria
hanging on for dear life, with just under 200,000.
Bierra doubled up with 4-4 against Chambers giving him some extra life at
the final table, then Esfandiari won a modest-sized pot, which put both of the
chip leaders over one million.
That didn't last long. Five minutes later, Esfandiari lost half of his chips when
he made a 360,000 bet when the turn showed J-5-4-10. Chambers
announced all in and Esfandiari didn't think long before releasing his hand.
That big pot rocketed Chambers up to 1.8 million and left Esfandiari to
struggle for 2nd place with Bierria.
3rd Place, Things went from bad to worse for Esfandiari. He suffered every
poker player's nightmare when he was dealt K-K. That would normally be a
good thing, but when your opponent is dealt A-A, holding an underpair is a
sure ticket to elimination. Even worse, the pocket aces belonged to Wally
Chambers, who easily covered Esfandiari's chip count. Five blanks fell which
might have been five nails in Esfandiari's coffin. Expectations that Esfandiari
might run over the final table and seize his second WSOP title were crushed,
and the Magician disappeared in 3rd place, good for $221,445.
Esfandiari's loss was certainly Bierria's gain. The elimination of a player who
just a short time earlier was close to the chip lead was worth an extra
$210,000 in prize money to Bierria. Flashbacks of Glen Cozen's famous
backdoor runner-up finish in the 1993 World Series of Poker flared into
everyones mind old enough to remember a desperately short-stacked Cozen
leaping up and collecting hundreds of thousands of dollars in additional prize
money when the two chip leaders at that final table (John Bonetti and Jim
Bechtel) went to war.
The heads up duel between Walter Chambers and Corey A. Bierria began
with Chambers holding a commanding chip lead, 2,400,000 to 160,000.
Bierria doubled up on the second hand of the duel, to 340,000 in chips. But
that was his last breath. The final was dealt when Chambers had 8-7 versus
Bierria's 3-3. It looked like Bierria might double up again when the turn
showed K-10-2-9. But an 8 on the river gave Chambers a higher pair and the
tournament was over.
Corey A. Bierria played a flawless tournament, outlasting all but the last
opponent. The New Orleans-born owner of a small business, who currently
lives in Atlanta, was cheered on by an enthusiastic group of friends and
family. One of his supporters was his fiance, who encouraged Bierria to play
in this tournament.
The winner, Wally Chambers is a 31-year-old business owner from Baton
Rouge, LA. Fittingly, he earned his degree in psychology. Those mental skills
certainly paid off in this tournament as he won the biggest prize on the World
Series of Poker Circuit this year, a whopping $787,340 for first place.
This event concludes the first season of the World Series of Poker Circuit, a
highly-successful run of five tournament stops which included Atlantic City,
San Diego, Las Vegas, Lake Tahoe, and New Orleans. The Circuit hosted 42
events and awarded over $20 million in prize money. With the World Series
of Poker at the Rio in Las Vegas starting next week, the world's most
prestigious poker tournament series is expected to award a whopping $100
million in prize money to winners. This makes the World Series of Poker the
richest event in all of sports.
Report by Nolan Dalla - World Series of Poker Media Director
Harrah's New Orleans Poker Room Manager - Rick Korte
World Series of Poker Tournament Director - John Grooms
World Series of Poker Circuit Director - Ken Lambert
Battle of the Tigers!
Walter Chambers roars to victory in all-LSU heads-up finale at New
Orleans World Series of Poker championship.
What are the odds that the World Series of Poker Circuit's last championship
event would produce a final showdown featuring two graduates of Louisiana
State University? In the city known for Mardi Gras, Bourbon Street, and
voodoo, some might say defying standard expectations was a sure thing.
Walter Chambers (Class of 2000) and Corey A. Bierria (Class of 1998)
outlasted a WSOP Circuit record field of 259 players and carved up over a
million dollars in prize money. Bierria earned $433,050 as the runner up,
while Chambers collected $787,340, plus the gold ring presented to all WSOP
Circuit champions.
Chambers' victory was remarkable for at least a couple of reasons. First,
although he arrived as the chip leader going into Day Four, he suffered a
number of crushing early blows which nearly knocked him out of the
tournament. In fact, when play was seven-handed, he was one of the lowest
stacks. Even worse, Chambers had the worst possible seat at the final table,
with most of the chips on his immediate left. Maybe it was the home crowd
cheering him on, maybe it was voodoo luck, or maybe it was just that fact
that Wally Chambers played the best poker of his life that he managed to
board a Streetcar Named Desire and get off at a stop called the winner's
circle.
Three days earlier, the championship event began. Day One ended with 109
players remaining. Nick "Chairman" Mao was the chip leader. Day Two ended
with Antonio "The Magician" Esfandiari as the leader. Then, after Day Three,
the final nine assembled for the finale, which was taped for broadcast by
ESPN.
One of the most dramatic things about the final table was who was not
there. Don "Final Table" Mullis did not make the cut. Mullis, who is tournament
poker's hottest player at the moment, went out one shy of making it to this
finale, finishing 10th. Mullis had made it to the final table an astounding 7 of
11 times at WSOP Circuit events dating back to Lake Tahoe last month. He
survived fields numbering as many at 847 players in some events, which is a
true testament to his talent as a tournament player. With Mullis' elimination
at the end of Day Three, the final table was set. The nine finalists on Day
Four, with starting chips counts were as follows:
SEAT 1: Walter Chambers Chip Count, 576,000
SEAT 2: Nick "Chairman" Mao Chip Count, 522,000
SEAT 3: Harry Cullen, Jr. Chip Count, 202,000
SEAT 4: Antonio "The Magician" Esfandiari Chip Count, 320,000
SEAT 5: Imre Leibold Chip Count, 169,500
SEAT 6: Marlon Labbe Chip Count, 163,000
SEAT 7: Cyril Gittens Chip Count, 338,500
SEAT 8: Corey A. Bierria Chip Count, 191,000
SEAT 9: Mark Cole Chip Count, 107,000
Players were eliminated as follows:
9th Place, Cyril Gittens lasted only a few hands. The Trinidad-born Floridian
was dealt J-J and moved all in after the flop came A-10-9. It was the wrong
move, with the wrong cards, at the wrong time. Antonio Esfandiari called
instantly with A-K, good for top pair, top kicker. Gittens was down to just a
few outs. Two blanks sealed Gittens' fate a 9th place finish worth $49,210.
On the hand, Esfandiari picked up 340,000 in chips. That catapulted him into
the chip lead for the first time.
8th Place, Ninety minutes into play, Marlon Labbe was getting short on chips
and made his last stand with A-Q of spades. Harry Cullen, Jr. was delighted
to be heads-up holding the dominant A-K, but he had a scare on the flop.
Two spades to a 10-8-5 flop gave Labbe several outs, and when the board
paired with an 8 on the turn, Labbe still had a number of ways to win or chop
the pot. But a blank 3 brought disappointment in the end, which put Labbe
on the rail in 8th place. This was Marlon Labbe's first trip to any final table, so
he could certainly be proud of his $73,815 in winnings.
While Esfandiari continued to hold the chip lead, three players (Chambers,
Mao, and Cullen) were very close in chips. Esfandiari had the position
advantage on all three of the big stacks, while Walter Chambers was
unquestionably in the worst seat, with all three big stacks acting behind.
Mark Cole doubled up with A-K versus Esfandiari's Q-9. That gave Cole
245,000 in chips.
A few hands later, Harry Cullen pole vaulted close to the chip lead when he
turned a full-house against Walter Chambers' nut flush. Chambers flopped a
heart flush, and after the board paired on the turn, Chambers moved all in
and was called instantly by Cullen holding fours full of jacks. That hand left
Chambers on life support and put Cullen into his best position of the
tournament (640,000 in chips to Esfandiari's 730,000).
After being close to the felt, over the next two hours Walter Chambers went
on a roll. He went from short-stack to the chip lead with several well-timed
raises which, more often than not, went uncalled. Chambers seemed to take
advantage of some timid play at this stage and rocketed from about 100,000
to over 600,000, before the next player was eliminated.
7th Place, Imre Leibold traveled the greatest distance of anyone to play in
this tournament. The Estonian poker player has enjoyed some tournament
success in Europe. He recently won the Baltic Open Championship. However,
Leibold could do no better than 7th place in this event. Leibold had the best
hand when he moved all in with 6-6. Esfandiari was in the big blind and called
a small raise with 9-2. Esfandiari's trash turned into treasure when he
flopped a nine, essentially leaving Leibold with just two outs. Leibold missed,
which translated into a payoff of $98,420. What a way to spend a vacation.
6th Place, Harry Cullen, Jr. went card dead about mid-way through the final
table. He committed his last 140,000 with A-7, which was called by Esfandiari,
with K-Q. The final board showed K-J-8-9-10 which completed a straight for
the Magician. Cullen, who is in the oil and gas exploration business had his
well come up dry. He did manage to earn $123,025 in the tournament.
Mark Cole doubled up to 250,000 against Chambers. Then, Chambers won
the biggest pot of the tournament. Nick "Chairman" Mao lost a 600,000 pot
to Walter Chambers, who made a full house. This was one of the turning
points of the tournament.
5th Place, Mark Cole made a big leap forward at the final table. He arrived as
the shortest stack, and lasted nearly six full hours before meeting his
inevitable doom. With blinds and antes racing around Cole moved all in with
10-10 and was called by Esfandiari, with K-J. The flop (Q-6-3) was good for
Cole, but a king on the turn was the crushing blow. Esfandiari's higher pair
held up and Cole was toast. Cole, who owns a restaurant business in North
Carolina collected a nice gratuity from this event -- $147,630.
Entering the seventh hour of play, Walter Chambers became the first player
to cross the million chip mark, with Esfandiari close behind at 900,000.
Meanwhile, Nick Mao and Corey Bierria had less than 300,000 each.
4th Place, Nick "Chairman" Mao was about to enter the red. He was dealt 7-6
and flopped two pair. Unfortunately, Walter Chambers hit a better flop with a
heart flush. Mao was down to four outs, needing another 7 or 6 to make a
full house. But, the miracle card did not come. Mao, who was born in
Cambodia and works as a real estate broker in Southern California, earned
$172,235 for 4th place.
Chambers increased his chip lead to nearly 2 to 1 over Esfandiari, with Bierria
hanging on for dear life, with just under 200,000.
Bierra doubled up with 4-4 against Chambers giving him some extra life at
the final table, then Esfandiari won a modest-sized pot, which put both of the
chip leaders over one million.
That didn't last long. Five minutes later, Esfandiari lost half of his chips when
he made a 360,000 bet when the turn showed J-5-4-10. Chambers
announced all in and Esfandiari didn't think long before releasing his hand.
That big pot rocketed Chambers up to 1.8 million and left Esfandiari to
struggle for 2nd place with Bierria.
3rd Place, Things went from bad to worse for Esfandiari. He suffered every
poker player's nightmare when he was dealt K-K. That would normally be a
good thing, but when your opponent is dealt A-A, holding an underpair is a
sure ticket to elimination. Even worse, the pocket aces belonged to Wally
Chambers, who easily covered Esfandiari's chip count. Five blanks fell which
might have been five nails in Esfandiari's coffin. Expectations that Esfandiari
might run over the final table and seize his second WSOP title were crushed,
and the Magician disappeared in 3rd place, good for $221,445.
Esfandiari's loss was certainly Bierria's gain. The elimination of a player who
just a short time earlier was close to the chip lead was worth an extra
$210,000 in prize money to Bierria. Flashbacks of Glen Cozen's famous
backdoor runner-up finish in the 1993 World Series of Poker flared into
everyones mind old enough to remember a desperately short-stacked Cozen
leaping up and collecting hundreds of thousands of dollars in additional prize
money when the two chip leaders at that final table (John Bonetti and Jim
Bechtel) went to war.
The heads up duel between Walter Chambers and Corey A. Bierria began
with Chambers holding a commanding chip lead, 2,400,000 to 160,000.
Bierria doubled up on the second hand of the duel, to 340,000 in chips. But
that was his last breath. The final was dealt when Chambers had 8-7 versus
Bierria's 3-3. It looked like Bierria might double up again when the turn
showed K-10-2-9. But an 8 on the river gave Chambers a higher pair and the
tournament was over.
Corey A. Bierria played a flawless tournament, outlasting all but the last
opponent. The New Orleans-born owner of a small business, who currently
lives in Atlanta, was cheered on by an enthusiastic group of friends and
family. One of his supporters was his fiance, who encouraged Bierria to play
in this tournament.
The winner, Wally Chambers is a 31-year-old business owner from Baton
Rouge, LA. Fittingly, he earned his degree in psychology. Those mental skills
certainly paid off in this tournament as he won the biggest prize on the World
Series of Poker Circuit this year, a whopping $787,340 for first place.
This event concludes the first season of the World Series of Poker Circuit, a
highly-successful run of five tournament stops which included Atlantic City,
San Diego, Las Vegas, Lake Tahoe, and New Orleans. The Circuit hosted 42
events and awarded over $20 million in prize money. With the World Series
of Poker at the Rio in Las Vegas starting next week, the world's most
prestigious poker tournament series is expected to award a whopping $100
million in prize money to winners. This makes the World Series of Poker the
richest event in all of sports.
Report by Nolan Dalla - World Series of Poker Media Director
Harrah's New Orleans Poker Room Manager - Rick Korte
World Series of Poker Tournament Director - John Grooms
World Series of Poker Circuit Director - Ken Lambert
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| 2005 Harrah's New Orleans Poker Tournament World Series of Poker Circuit Events Championship Event No Limit Hold'em Final Results |
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