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| 2006 Harrah's Lake Tahoe World Series of Poker (WSOP) Circuit Event Event #2 - $1,000+ $60 No Limit Hold'em Tournament Report |
| The Oakland Raider: Online Poker Pro Evan Schwartz Dominates $1,000 Buy-In Tournament Event and Wins His First WSOPC Victory |
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| UltimatePokerForum.com The Ultimate Poker Site |
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Stateline, NV – Some poker tournaments have no surprises. There are no
bad beats. There are no marathon chip battles. The player who starts out
with the most chips goes on to win. The $1,000 buy-in no-limit hold’em
championship at Harvey’s Lake Tahoe was just such a tournament.
Evan Schwartz dominated most of the later stages of the tournament,
including play at the final table. The poker player from Oakland, who has
won several online tournaments, proved that he is just as gifted in live
competition. After 103 players had been eliminated on the first day, the nine
finalists returned to the final table on Day Two. Schwartz enjoyed a
comfortable chip advantage versus the remainder of the field. In fact,
Schwartz possessed about one-third of the total chips when play resumed at
the final table. Seating order and chips counts were as follows:
The final table was played on the second floor of the Harvey’s Casino-Resort,
adjacent to the Hard Rock Café and the Sports and Racebook, filled to
capacity on a Sunday afternoon. This final table was completed in slightly
over four hours. Aside from the lively crowd packed around the feature table,
the most interesting spectacle was the presence of Carolyn Ford. She now
holds the distinction of being the only player in WSOP Circuit history to play
at two final tables -- simultaneously. Although she was guaranteed a seat
on the second day in this event, she decided to enter the Ladies
Championship tournament, which started earlier in the day. Ford went on a
tear in that event over the first six hours of play and ended up making it to
that final table as well, which took place a few feet away from this finale.
Ford was quite a sight to behold, bouncing back and forth between both
tables, trying to get a read on her opponents. Players were eliminated in the
following order:
9th Place – Short-stacked Reese Francis went out quickly. Down to his last
10K, Francis staked his tournament life on pocket nines. Unfortunately, he
ran into Kevin Higgins, holding pocket kings. The two cowboys held up, and
Francis was forced to exit. Reese Francis, a poker dealer from nearby Reno,
collected $2,173.
8th Place – Barrett Gomes busted out a few minutes later. Gomes arrived as
the lowest stack and moved all in with Q-9 against Shawn Bessey’s K-7 after
the flop came 9-7-7. Gomes’ top pair (nines) was no good against Bessey’s
three-of-a-kind (sevens). The 27-year-old business manager from
Pleasanton, California took home $3,259.
7th Place – Carolyn Ford’s ping-pong match produced disappointing results.
Unable to play every hand due to her split time in the Ladies Championship, it’
s unknown how many opportunities she may have missed by not seeing her
cards. The poker pro from Sedona, Arizona actually went out on a tough
beat when her A-Q was upset by Evan Schwartz’s A-J. A jack flopped,
knocking Ford off one of her two final tables. Ford drove off with $4,346 in
prize money.
6th Place – After Evan Schwartz temporarily lost the chip lead to Kevin
Higgins, Bryan Watkins was eliminated when his pocket deuces flopped a set,
but lost to a flush. Watkins held 2-2 and was thrilled to see the flop come
with A-10-2. But three clubs on board got even more dangerous when a
fourth club hit on the turn. Marla Fearrein-Taylor’s all-in bet was reluctantly
called by Watkins. The board failed to pair. Taylor flipped over the jack of
clubs, good for the flush. Watkins, a police officer from San Francisco, has a
number of impressive finishes on his poker resume, including a 20th-place
finish in the 2003 WSOP main event. He added 5,432 to his poker bankroll.
5th Place – Shawn D. Bessey remained a serious threat during most of his
three-hour stay at the final table. He took a large chunk of chips away from
Even Schwartz holding pocket jacks versus pocket sevens. But he could not
take advantage of the double-up windfall. Schwartz extracted his revenge
on Bessey when he called an all-in raise with A-8 against Bessey’s 10-10. An
ace flopped and Bessey went from solid favorite to a big dog. He failed to
improve and was knocked out in 5th place. Bessey, an attorney from
Hughson, California, lost his case but earned a $6,518 settlement.
4th Place – This was Marla Fearrein-Taylor’s first poker tournament ever.
She made quite a run in this event, outlasting all but the final three players.
Fearrein-Taylor exited when her A-J lost to Evan Schwartz’s flush. Fearrein-
Taylor, who started playing poker because her son is interested in the game,
collected $8,691. Few poker players can claim such early success.
3rd Place – Tom Masinter went out next when he was desperately low on
chips and called an all-in raise from the big blind holding 5-4. It wasn’t much
of a hand, but mathematically Masinter had a reasonable chance to survive
against Evan Schwartz’s two overcards. Unfortunately, Masinter failed to
connect with a pair and hit the rail as the third-place finisher. The
telecommunications technician from Dublin, California collected $10,864.
2nd Place – When heads-up play began, Evan Schwartz appeared to be an
unstoppable force. Even though his opponent Kevin Higgins proved to be a
fine player and a local favorite with lots of playing experience, there was no
way that Schwartz would be denied what turned out to be a well-deserved
tournament victory. Down 7 to 1 in chips, on the very first hand of heads-up
play Higgins moved all-in with A-J. He was called instantly by Schwartz,
holding A-K. Higgins was essentially down to just three outs (jacks), which
failed to materialize. Kevin Higgins, a 40-year-old poker player from South
Lake Tahoe, was forced to settle for second place, which paid $18,469. He
exited to cheers and applause from many friends and well-wishers.
1st Place – The newest WSOP Circuit champion at Lake Tahoe is Evan
Schwartz, a 24-year-old professional poker player from Oakland, California.
Schwartz earns most of his money playing live on the Internet. However in
recent years, he has also cashed big in many major poker tournaments.
Schwartz finished in the top 200 in last year’s WSOP championship event.
First prize in this event paid a handsome $35,199.
For more information, please contact:
Nolan Dalla -- WSOP Media Director at (702) 358-4642
Or visit our official website: www.worldseriesofpoker.com
World Series of Poker Commissioner – Jeffrey Pollack
Director of Poker Operations for Harrah’s Entertainment – Jack Effel
Harrah’s Lake Tahoe Race and Sportsbook Manager – Steve Schorr
Harvey’s Lake Tahoe Poker Room Manager – Vince Contaxis
bad beats. There are no marathon chip battles. The player who starts out
with the most chips goes on to win. The $1,000 buy-in no-limit hold’em
championship at Harvey’s Lake Tahoe was just such a tournament.
Evan Schwartz dominated most of the later stages of the tournament,
including play at the final table. The poker player from Oakland, who has
won several online tournaments, proved that he is just as gifted in live
competition. After 103 players had been eliminated on the first day, the nine
finalists returned to the final table on Day Two. Schwartz enjoyed a
comfortable chip advantage versus the remainder of the field. In fact,
Schwartz possessed about one-third of the total chips when play resumed at
the final table. Seating order and chips counts were as follows:
The final table was played on the second floor of the Harvey’s Casino-Resort,
adjacent to the Hard Rock Café and the Sports and Racebook, filled to
capacity on a Sunday afternoon. This final table was completed in slightly
over four hours. Aside from the lively crowd packed around the feature table,
the most interesting spectacle was the presence of Carolyn Ford. She now
holds the distinction of being the only player in WSOP Circuit history to play
at two final tables -- simultaneously. Although she was guaranteed a seat
on the second day in this event, she decided to enter the Ladies
Championship tournament, which started earlier in the day. Ford went on a
tear in that event over the first six hours of play and ended up making it to
that final table as well, which took place a few feet away from this finale.
Ford was quite a sight to behold, bouncing back and forth between both
tables, trying to get a read on her opponents. Players were eliminated in the
following order:
9th Place – Short-stacked Reese Francis went out quickly. Down to his last
10K, Francis staked his tournament life on pocket nines. Unfortunately, he
ran into Kevin Higgins, holding pocket kings. The two cowboys held up, and
Francis was forced to exit. Reese Francis, a poker dealer from nearby Reno,
collected $2,173.
8th Place – Barrett Gomes busted out a few minutes later. Gomes arrived as
the lowest stack and moved all in with Q-9 against Shawn Bessey’s K-7 after
the flop came 9-7-7. Gomes’ top pair (nines) was no good against Bessey’s
three-of-a-kind (sevens). The 27-year-old business manager from
Pleasanton, California took home $3,259.
7th Place – Carolyn Ford’s ping-pong match produced disappointing results.
Unable to play every hand due to her split time in the Ladies Championship, it’
s unknown how many opportunities she may have missed by not seeing her
cards. The poker pro from Sedona, Arizona actually went out on a tough
beat when her A-Q was upset by Evan Schwartz’s A-J. A jack flopped,
knocking Ford off one of her two final tables. Ford drove off with $4,346 in
prize money.
6th Place – After Evan Schwartz temporarily lost the chip lead to Kevin
Higgins, Bryan Watkins was eliminated when his pocket deuces flopped a set,
but lost to a flush. Watkins held 2-2 and was thrilled to see the flop come
with A-10-2. But three clubs on board got even more dangerous when a
fourth club hit on the turn. Marla Fearrein-Taylor’s all-in bet was reluctantly
called by Watkins. The board failed to pair. Taylor flipped over the jack of
clubs, good for the flush. Watkins, a police officer from San Francisco, has a
number of impressive finishes on his poker resume, including a 20th-place
finish in the 2003 WSOP main event. He added 5,432 to his poker bankroll.
5th Place – Shawn D. Bessey remained a serious threat during most of his
three-hour stay at the final table. He took a large chunk of chips away from
Even Schwartz holding pocket jacks versus pocket sevens. But he could not
take advantage of the double-up windfall. Schwartz extracted his revenge
on Bessey when he called an all-in raise with A-8 against Bessey’s 10-10. An
ace flopped and Bessey went from solid favorite to a big dog. He failed to
improve and was knocked out in 5th place. Bessey, an attorney from
Hughson, California, lost his case but earned a $6,518 settlement.
4th Place – This was Marla Fearrein-Taylor’s first poker tournament ever.
She made quite a run in this event, outlasting all but the final three players.
Fearrein-Taylor exited when her A-J lost to Evan Schwartz’s flush. Fearrein-
Taylor, who started playing poker because her son is interested in the game,
collected $8,691. Few poker players can claim such early success.
3rd Place – Tom Masinter went out next when he was desperately low on
chips and called an all-in raise from the big blind holding 5-4. It wasn’t much
of a hand, but mathematically Masinter had a reasonable chance to survive
against Evan Schwartz’s two overcards. Unfortunately, Masinter failed to
connect with a pair and hit the rail as the third-place finisher. The
telecommunications technician from Dublin, California collected $10,864.
2nd Place – When heads-up play began, Evan Schwartz appeared to be an
unstoppable force. Even though his opponent Kevin Higgins proved to be a
fine player and a local favorite with lots of playing experience, there was no
way that Schwartz would be denied what turned out to be a well-deserved
tournament victory. Down 7 to 1 in chips, on the very first hand of heads-up
play Higgins moved all-in with A-J. He was called instantly by Schwartz,
holding A-K. Higgins was essentially down to just three outs (jacks), which
failed to materialize. Kevin Higgins, a 40-year-old poker player from South
Lake Tahoe, was forced to settle for second place, which paid $18,469. He
exited to cheers and applause from many friends and well-wishers.
1st Place – The newest WSOP Circuit champion at Lake Tahoe is Evan
Schwartz, a 24-year-old professional poker player from Oakland, California.
Schwartz earns most of his money playing live on the Internet. However in
recent years, he has also cashed big in many major poker tournaments.
Schwartz finished in the top 200 in last year’s WSOP championship event.
First prize in this event paid a handsome $35,199.
For more information, please contact:
Nolan Dalla -- WSOP Media Director at (702) 358-4642
Or visit our official website: www.worldseriesofpoker.com
World Series of Poker Commissioner – Jeffrey Pollack
Director of Poker Operations for Harrah’s Entertainment – Jack Effel
Harrah’s Lake Tahoe Race and Sportsbook Manager – Steve Schorr
Harvey’s Lake Tahoe Poker Room Manager – Vince Contaxis
SEAT 1
SEAT 2
SEAT 3
SEAT 4
SEAT 5
SEAT 6
SEAT 7
SEAT 8
SEAT 9
SEAT 2
SEAT 3
SEAT 4
SEAT 5
SEAT 6
SEAT 7
SEAT 8
SEAT 9
Kevin Higgins
Tom Masinster
Bryan Watkins
Barrett Gomes
Carolyn Ford
Marla Fearrien-Taylor
Evan Schwartz
Shawn Bessey
Reese Francis
Tom Masinster
Bryan Watkins
Barrett Gomes
Carolyn Ford
Marla Fearrien-Taylor
Evan Schwartz
Shawn Bessey
Reese Francis
25,800
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