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2010-2011 Horseshoe Council Bluffs WSOP Circuit Ring Event #6 Results

Tuesday, August 31st, 2010

2010-2011 World Series of Poker Circuit
Horseshoe Council Bluffs
August 25-26
Ring Event # 6
Six-handed No-Limit Hold’em
Buy-In: $500+$55
Number of Entries: 114
Total Prize Money: $53,370

Final Results:

1 Drazen Ilich Lincoln, NE $16,013

2 Jason McKelvey Lincoln, NE $9,896

3 Drew Woodke Omaha, NE $7,107

4 Jeffrey Fielder Des Moines, IA $5,130

5 Brett Schwertley Omaha, NE $3,707

6 Joel Merwick Lincoln, NE $2,685

7 Mark “Pegasus” Smith Georgetown, KY $1,952

8 Bob Slezak Omaha, NE $1,952

9 Robert Townsend Woodridge, IL $1,423

10 Tommy Nguyen Sioux City, IA $1,423

11 Timothy Sciscoe Omaha, NE $1,041

12 David Weeks (Tie) Port Murray, NJ $520

13 Thomas Culberson (Tie) Ellisville, MS $520

Bosnia Immigrant Drazen Ilich has Easy Win in 6-Handed No-Limit

Six-Handed Format Lets Him Play Aggressively And Plenty of Chips Allows Him to Gamble

Council Bluffs, IA — Drazen Ilich is a 31-year-old poker player who came to this country from Sarajevo, Bosnia 12 years ago. Originally working as a machinist, he began playing poker with friends, and four years ago decided he was good enough to play full time. He won two prior Circuit rings last year, including a $1,000 no-limit event here that paid $32,825, and tonight added a third ring by winning the $500 six-handed no-limit hold’em event that earned him $18,013, along with a diamond and gold trophy ring. He also has three final tables at the Horseshoe Poker Classic in 2008, including two wins, along with numerous online tournament wins. Hobbies are golf and tennis.

Normally a selective/aggressive player, Ilich said the six-handed format permitted him to turn up the heat and, because he was never short-stacked, he could gamble with less-than-premium hands. He said he also had a pretty good read on the final table players, and was able to pick his spots successfully. Ilich, who now lives in Lincoln, Nebraska, divides his poker time between cash games and tournaments, preferring tournaments because of the bigger prize potential, and because they’re more fun. He also had high praise for the new tournament structure giving entrants a lot more play. His hobbies are golf and tennis.

This tournament had 114 players and a $53,370 prize pool. The final six began play at level 17 with blinds of 2,000-4,000, 500 antes and 22:34 remaining at that level. With 356,000 chips, Jason McKelvey was the leader.

Here were the starting chip counts:

Seat

1. Joel Merwick 194,000
2. Jeff Fielder 119.000
3. Brett Schwertley 116,000
4. Drew Woodke 239,500
5. Drazen Ilich 330,000
6. Jason McKelvey 356,000

Sixth Place: Joel Merwick was first out. He went all in holding 10s-9s, after a flop of Qs-7s-2s gave him a flush. However, Jeff Fielder, holding pocket 7s, went after him with a set. A 9 turned, and then a river deuce filled Fielder, leaving Merwick in sixth place, paying $2,685. Merwick, 29, is a pro from Omaha playing for seven years. His biggest cashes were $39,000 for finishing 189th in the 2005 WSOP main event, and $37,000 for sixth in a New Orleans Circuit championship. His hobbies are “Sports, sports, sports.”

Fifth Place: Just as the next level ended, so did another player. Brett Schwertley looked at pocket 9s and raised, and then Drew Woodke re-raised him all in. “Wow!” Schwertley exclaimed as Woodke turned up pocket aces. A board of 4-3-Q-8-8 changed nothing and Schwertley went out fifth for $3,707. Schwertley, 27, is from Omaha. He learned to play seven or so years ago from his grandma.

Fourth Place: Several more levels of careful play went by without any more called all-ins. Then, with blinds of 6,000-12,000, Woodke was called after moving in with pocket kings, but he easily survived by flopping a set. A couple of hands later, another player finally was eliminated. The board showed 4d-6d-7s. Drazen Ilich, holding 7-6, was ahead with two pair, but an all-in Jeffrey Fielder, holding Ad-5d, had 15 outs with draws to a flush and open-end straight. Instead, a turn-card 7 filled Ilich, and Fielder checked out with $5,130 for fourth place. Fielder, 33, is from Des Moines, Iowa where he owns a construction business. He began playing in home games and later the on Internet seven years ago. He had a deep run in the main event here in February, along with other cashes here and in Vegas, in total giving him four out of eight WSOP cashes. His hobby is traveling for music.

At the next break, the three remaining players weren’t that much apart. Ilich led with about 480,000, while Woodke and McKelvey were in the 400,000 range. Blinds were now 8,000-16,000 with 3,000 antes. Late in the level, McKelvey pushed in for 178,000, and got a call from Woodke. “I’ve got a decision to make,” Ilich said, finally deciding to “let you guys tangle.” McKelvey turned up Qh-2h, way behind Woodke’s pocket kings. The flop came Qc-3s-9h, and then runner-runner hearts rescued and doubled-up Woodke with a flush. flush.

Third Place: Returning from a dinner break to blinds of 10,000-20,000 and 3,000 antes, Ilich led with 840,000 chips to 340,000 for McKelvey and 200,000 for Woodke. Later, down to under 100,000, Woodke moved in from the small blind with As-6s, getting called by Ilich with Jc-8c. A flop of Jh-2s-4-s gave Ilich top pair, while Woodke needed an ace or a spade, He got neither when an offsuit queen and 4 came. Woodke, cashing third for $7,107., is 28 and a real estate agent from Omaha who’s played for 10 years, learning online. He has four Circuit final tables.

Second Place: One hand later it was all over. Ilich pushed in with Ah-2c, and McKelvey called with Qs-10s. A flop of 9c-Js-2s paired Ilich’s deuce but gave McKelvey all kinds of outs: a spade for a flush, an 8 or king for a straight, or a queen or 10 for a better pair, making him a 69 percent favorite. But two bricks came off, and McKelvey settled for $9,896 for second. McKelvey, 26, is from Lincoln, Nebraska, and his occupation is working with adults with disabilities. He’s only been playing eight months, online and bar poker, and has a few online tournament cashes.

2010-2011 Horseshoe Council Bluffs WSOP Circuit Events Schedule and Results

2010-2011 Horseshoe Council Bluffs WSOP Circuit Ring Event #6 Results

By Max Shapiro

Director of Poker Operations for Harrah’s Entertainment – Jack Effel
Horseshoe Council Bluffs Poker Room Manager – Gary Margetson
Tournament Director – Jimmy Sommerfeld

Tags: 2010 wsop circuit events, 2010-2011 wsop circuit events, 2010-2011 wsop circuit events horseshoe council bluffs
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2010-2011 Horseshoe Council Bluffs WSOP Circuit Ring Event #4 Results

Thursday, August 26th, 2010

2010-2011 World Series of Poker Circuit
Horseshoe Council Bluffs
August 23-24
Ring Event #4
H.O.R.S.E.
Buy-In: $300+$45
Number of Entries: 75
Total Prize Money: $31,825

Final Results:

1 Kevin Marcus Massapequa, NY $6,885

2 Alan Cutler Vernon Hills, IL $4,260

3 Duster Ellis Gretna, NE $2,804

4 Brian Schwartz Chicago, IL $1,963

5 Jimmy Blevins Oakland, NE $1,455

6 Betty Davidson St. Charles, MO $1,138

7 Michael Altman Mequon, WI $936

8 Daniel Thomas Lincoln, NE $809

Accounting Student Kevin Marcus Bullies His way to Win in H.O.R.S.E.

Key to Win is Using His Big Stacks to Steal from Shorties Trying to Move Up

2010-2011 Horseshoe Council Bluffs WSOP Circuit Ring Event #4 Winner Kevin Marcus

Council Bluffs, IA — Kevin Marcus is a 25-year-old accounting student from Massapequa, New York whose normal style of play is tight. But two situations presented itself in today’s H.O.R.S.E. tournament, the fourth ring event of the WSOP Circuit tour at Horseshoe Council Bluffs, that allowed him to bully his way to victory, earning $6,885 and a diamond-encrusted gold trophy ring..

The first came the night before, with nine players left, one away from the final table. Playing a hand against Betty Davidson, he had her down to 2,000 on the river and was pretty sure he had her beat with two pair. But he just checked. Was he playing partners with her? No, not exactly. There were two other short stacks at the table, he was the chip leader, and he knew they were trying to make the final table and he could bully them and steal blinds and antes if play were to continue. He did just that, and was able to considerably build his stacks.

At the final table, he went down a lot in early action. Then with six players left and sensing that two short stacks were trying to move up another notch or two, he began pushing them around, picking up 20,000 or 30,000 chips six or seven times in a row, and moved up from 300,000 to 450,000 chips, After that he was unstoppable. “It only works when you’re a big stack,” he explained.

Marcus began playing poker 13 years ago with friends. He prefers tournaments, but ends up playing mostly cash games because of the underground clubs in New York. He has one prior small cash in Atlantic City. Asked for any final thoughts, he exclaimed “Let’s go, Islanders!” cheering on his favorite New York hockey team.

This event drew 75 players with a $31,825 prize pool. Play commenced in a razz round at level 16 with five hands left and 20:34 on the clock. Antes were 2,000, the bring-in 4,000, blinds 5,000-10,000, and limits 10,000-20,000. Marcus was now well in front with 246,000 chips, nearly 2-1/2 times as much as anyone else. And Davidson (at least due in part to Marcus’ strategy) became the first lady to grace a final table in any of the noon or 4 p.m. events thus far.

Here were the starting chip counts:

Seat
1. Jimmy Blevins 102,000
2. Alan Cutler 103,000
3. Brian Schwartz 52,000
4. Michael Altman 106,000
5. Betty Davidson 22,000
6.Kevin Marcus 246,000
7. Daniel Thomas 29,000
8. Duster Ellis 91,000

Eighth Place: The next round was stud, and we lost our first player when Daniel Thomas, starting second-lowest in chips, missed his gut-shot straight draw. He lost to Jimmy Blevins’ aces and cashed for $809. Thomas, 33, is a professional poker player and entrepreneur from Lincoln, Nebraska who was an advertising manager before turning pro. His biggest cash was $82,000 for finishing sixth in a WSOP no-limit event this year. Thomas, who only plays no-limit tournaments live, decided to enter his first H.O.R.S.E. event because of the national Circuit points race and because he made a few friendly side bets with other players.

Seventh Place: One more player went out in this round. On sixth street, Dustin Ellis was in the lead with a pair of eights. An all-in Michael Altman, holding A-2-K-7-9-3 with four diamonds, needed an ace, a king, a 9 or a diamond to overtake him. Instead, he caught a brick while Ellis made an overkill gut-shot straight. Seventh was worth $936.
Altman, 43, is an attorney from McQueen, Wisconsin who’s played six years. He has a final table at this event in 2008 and another at a Hammond Circuit. He is the “proud father” of two boys.

Sixth Place: In this same stud round, Davidson, starting with (Q-10)2, was left with a single chip after having to post the low-card bring-in, and had no choice but to play. She ended up with a pair of queens, losing to Brian Schwartz’s trip aces, leaving with $1,138 for sixth. Davidson, retired, is from St. Charles, Missouri, learning to play two years ago by reading books.

Fifth Place: Another player went out in a hold’em round. Blevins was all in on fourth street holding J-10. With a board of 5d-Ks-Jh-Ah, he was in bad shape, with a pair of jacks and an inside straight draw against Alan Cutler, who had Kh-7h for kings and a flush draw. A river 4h gave Cutler his flush, and Blevins cashed fifth for $1,455. Blevins is 55, from Oakland, Nebraska and works as a technician. His nickname is “Rebuy.” He taught himself poker 17 years ago. He has two cashes in the WSOP main event, along with numerous cashes in smaller tournaments. Blevins spent three years in the army and is married with two children and three grandchildren.

Fourth Place: Two players went out in the next hold’em round. Finishing fourth for $1,963 was Brian Schwartz. He had A-5 versus Cutler’s 8c-7c and went out when a board of K-2-4-7-4 paired Cutler’s 7. Schwartz, 30, is from Chicago where he runs a sports memorabilia business which he started while in college. He’s played six years and has three small cashes at WSOP events and another Circuit final table.

Third Place: On the next hand, Duster Ellis had to post his last chips in the small blind with an anemic 8-3 against Cutler, holding 10-8 in the big blind. A board of A-J-6-Q-5 didn’t do much for either player, and Cutler’s 10-high was enough to leave Ellis in third place, paying $2,804. Ellis, whose name is “Husker Hustler,” is a 21-year-old pro from Gretna, Nebraska, who “grew up playing poker” and has been a pro four years. His recent cashes include one in the Venetian Deep Stack Extravaganza and a ninth out of 1,484 at the Hustler Casino’s Grand Slam of Poker.

Second Place: The two remaining players went on break, returning for their final match-up, with Marcus holding a 425,000 to 325,000 chip advantage over Cutler. Play started in an Omaha round and ended during stud high play. On the final hand, Cutler, reading his opponent as weak, raised all in on fifth street holding (4-7)Q-5-7, and was surprised when Marcus, showing 5-3-A, turned up 5-3 for two pair. Marcus didn’t improve when a king and six were dealt to him, but neither did Cutler when he got a 10 on sixth street and a 6 on the river. For second, Cutler, 52, whose nickname is “Chgocut,” picked up $4,260. He is a CPA from Vernon Hills, Illinois who learned poker as a kid in home games and has been playing professional-level tournaments since 2006. Cutler has a WPT bracelet at the Bellagio in $1,500 no-limit, a $225,000 final table cash in $2,000 no-limit at the WSOP, and a H.O.S.E. title at the Majestic Star in Indiana. The father of four children, he also likes golf and movies.

2010-2011 Horseshoe Council Bluffs WSOP Circuit Events Schedule and Results

2010-2011 Horseshoe Council Bluffs WSOP Circuit Ring Event #4 Final Results

–Max Shapiro

Director of Poker Operations for Harrah’s Entertainment – Jack Effel
Horseshoe Council Bluffs Poker Room Manager – Gary Margetson
Tournament Director – Jimmy Sommerfeld

Tags: 2010 wsop circuit events, 2010-2011 wsop circuit events, 2010-2011 wsop circuit events horseshoe council bluffs, horseshoe council bluffs iowa
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2010-2011 Horseshoe Council Bluffs WSOP Circuit Ring Event #3 Results

Thursday, August 26th, 2010

2010-2011 World Series of Poker Circuit
Horseshoe Council Bluffs
August 22-23
Ring Event #3
No-Limit Hold’em
Buy-In: $300+$45
Number of Entries: 111
Total Prize Money: $30,618

Final Results:

1 Dean Jackson Waukon, IA $9,185

2 Allan Moore Manhattan, KS $5,677

3 Michael Lynch Appleton, WI $4,042

4 Peter Mavro Douglaston, NY $2,936

5 Robert Nelson Omaha, NE $2,175

6 Brian Brashaw Papillion, NE $1,642

7 Ross Jones Manhattan, KS $1,263

8 Kostas Mantzaris Council Bluffs, IA $989

9 David Summers Spearfish, SD $789

10 Paul Sterk Charlotte, IA $640

11 Travis Batenhorst Columbus, NE $640

12 Jean Laurent Naples, FL $640

Playing His Favorite Game, Omaha Hi-Lo, Dean ‘Action’ Jackson Wins Ring Event #3

Jackson, a Farmer and Salvage Man from Waukon, Iowa, has Fairly Easy Win

2010-2011 Horseshoe Council Bluffs WSOP Circuit Ring Event #3 Winner Dean Jackson

Council Bluffs, IA — They call him “Action Jackson,” and action in poker is what Dean Jackson wants. He doesn’t like sitting around for hours waiting for good hold’em cards, and that’s why he likes Omaha hi-lo, where you can find all kinds of playable hands. He got enough of them today to take down the third ring event of the WSOP Circuit tour at Horseshoe Council Bluffs. His triumph was worth $9,185, along with a diamond and gold trophy ring.

Jackson is a 58-year-old farmer (corn, beans and some beef cattle) from Waukon, Iowa, who also operates a salvage business – “A better word than junk,” he said. He learned poker from his father 30 or 40 years ago, and also likes mixed-game tournaments. He was in good shape throughout this tournament, came to the final table in second chip position, and took over the lead in late going. Jackson, describing himself as down-to-earth “nothing fancy,” has a bracelet in Omaha at the Jack Binion Mid-America Poker Classic in Tunica. This year he played his first WSOP event, Omaha hi-lo, finishing 43rd and knocking out Phil Ivey along the way.

This event drew 111 players for a prize pool of $30,618. Day one ended with nine players left, and they resumed play at 2 p.m. today. Holding a good lead with 411,000 chips was Allan “Bossman” Moore. At the other end, with just 12,000, was David “Guru” Summers.

Here were the starting chip counts:

Seat
1. Kostas Mantzaris 47,000
2. Paul Summers 12,000
3. Peter Mavro 75,000
4. Mike Lynch 51,000
5. Allan Moore 411,000
6. Dean Jackson 232,000
7. Ross Jones 111,000
8. Robert Nelson 128,000
9. Brian Brashaw 41,000

Play started with blinds of 3,000-6,000 and 6,000-12,000 limits, seven minutes remaining at level 18.

Ninth Place: It didn’t take long to lose the first player. Summers was immediately all in with A-3-10-Q, up against Peter “Dragon” Mavro, who held A-4-5-9. Both players missed their low draws when the board came K-4-3-4-10, Summers made 10s and treys, not nearly good enough after Mavro ended up with trip 4s, and he cashed ninth for $789.

Summers, 45, is a motorcycle builder from Spearfish, South Dakota with 15 years experience. He has a second in the spring Deadwood Shootout. His hobby, unsurprisingly, is motorcycle riding

Eighth Place: Limits became 8,000-16,000. On a flop of A-K-5, Kostas Mantzaris bet his last chips and had three callers. Holding A-3-5-J, Mantzaris had his low draw double-counterfeited, but made aces and 5s. He didn’t improve when a king hit the turn and a 6 came on the river. The cards were turned up. Moore, with an A-K in his hand, had kings full. He took the high end while Ross “King Size” Jones took the low as Mantzaris cashed out eighth for $989. Mantzaris is 71, retired, and from Council Bluffs.

Seventh Place: With limits now at 10,000-20,000. Jones found himself all in from the big blind holding a weak 2-4-6-6. There were three callers. A flop of K-Q-J made a set for Peter Mavro, who held K-K-10-2. He bet out when a deuce turned, and the other two players folded. Ross was now drawing dead, and after an irrelevant 9 came on the river, he finished seventh, paying $1,263. Jones, 32, is from Manhattan, Kansas, and is manager of a Chilis bar grill. Prior cashes include a 32nd in a Sunday Million event and a 13th in a Venetian Deep Stack event. His hobbies are fishing and creating music.

Sixth Place: Next out was Brian “Specialist” Brashaw. On a flop of A-4-K, he went all in holding A-3-3-10, up against Mike Lynch, holding A-5-7-9. A queen and then a 5 came, giving Lynch aces and fives to beat Brashaw’s lone pair of aces. Brashaw is a 29-year-old stock broker from Papillion, Nebraska who’s played 10 years. His best finish was a win in a $300 Omaha hi-lo event here in 2008.

Fifth Place: Robert Nelson quickly followed Brashaw to the payout window. In three-way action he was all in with K-Q-9-9 against Jackson with a premium hand of A-A-2-3, and Moore, who held A-A-9-J. The board came 7-8-2-8-4, completely missing Nelson. Jackson got three-quarters of the pot by making a nut low and splitting the high with Moore, each of them holding pocket aces. Fifth paid $2,175. Nelson, 32, is from Omaha working as a liquor store manager. He’s played for 14 years, going from home games to the Internet, to live. He has a prior final table in no-limit hold’em. Hobbies are golf, fishing and bartending.

Fourth Place: The players returned from break with Jackson now in the lead with nearly 590,000 chips, followed by Moore with 315,000, and Lynch with 165,000, while Mavro was down to just 16,000. Limits now were 15,000-30,000. On the first hand there was three-way action. The flop came J-Q-A, making a Broadway straight for Jackson, who held A-K-10-8. He bet and Mavro jokingly saying “I raise,” tossed in his last chip. He was virtually dead holding 6-6-Q-5, and was totally dead when a king turned. He earned $2,936 for fourth. Mavro, 31, is a full-time player from Douglaston, New York who listed his occupation as “space cowboy” before turning pro. He’s played seven years, his biggest cash being $70,564 for finishing third in a Borgata Deep Stack event in Atlantic City last year. He said his poker highlight was “meeting Ted Ely and Ian Palomo,” and his highlight outside poker was scoring the lead in a 6th grade production of “The Pajama Game.”

Third Place: Third place and $4,042 went to Mike Lynch. He was all in with J-10-8-3 against Moore, who had A-4-4-6, A flop of 3-5-6 left him in bad shape, giving Moore a higher pair and a wraparound straight draw. Instead, a 4 turned to give Moore a set along with a low, leaving Lynch no outs. Lynch, collecting $4,042 for third, is 62, retired, and from Appleton, Wisconsin. He learned poker with school friends 50 years ago. His hobby is fishing.

Second Place: Heads-up, Jackson enjoyed a 2-1 chip lead, and after taking a couple of pots had Moore down to 60,000. Moore hung around a while, doubling up a couple of times, but couldn’t make much headway. The end came soon after blinds went to 10,000-20,000 with 20,000-40,000 limits. On the final hand the board showed 7d-2s-7s-5c-Qd. Moore bet his last chips and Jackson called. Moore turned over 2-4-5-10 for 7s and 5s, losing to Jackson, who held A-4-J-Q. Jackson had made a low on the turn and the river gave him the higher two pair, queens and 7s. Settling for second, Moore was paid $5,677.

Moore, 31, from Manhattan, Kansas, is a Verizon wireless manager. He began playing 10 years ago with the Northview Poker Crew, which he is representing here. His prior poker highlight was making the top 30 in the Sunday Million.

2010-2011 Horseshoe Council Bluffs WSOP Circuit Events Schedule and Results

2010-2011 Horseshoe Council Bluffs WSOP Circuit Ring Event #3 Results

–Max Shapiro

Director of Poker Operations for Harrah’s Entertainment – Jack Effel
Horseshoe Council Bluffs Poker Room Manager – Gary Margetson
Tournament Director – Jimmy Sommerfeld

Tags: 2010 wsop circuit events, 2010-2011 wsop circuit events, 2010-2011 wsop circuit events horseshoe council bluffs, world series poker circuit
Posted in World Series of Poker Circuit Events | No Comments »

2010-2011 Horseshoe Council Bluffs WSOP Circuit Ring Event #2 Results

Thursday, August 26th, 2010

2010-2011 World Series of Poker Circuit
Horseshoe Council Bluffs
August 21-22
Ring Event # 2
No-Limit Hold’em
Buy-In: $300+$45
Number of Entries: 350
Total Prize Money: $101,850

Final Results:

1 David Finney Council Bluffs, IA $22,879

2 Daniel Roth Ravenna, NE $14,141

3 Ian Wiley Las Vegas, NV $10,316

4 Harry Heistand Kansas City, MO $7,652

5 William Ellis Blue Springs, MO $5,764

6 Daniel Girard Kearney, NE $4,409

7 Brian Brashaw Papillion, NE $3,421

8 Robert Reid Smithville, MO $2,693

9 Gabriel Costner Biloxi, MS $2,150

10 Christopher Parsley Sioux City, IA $1,739

11 Christopher Drew Omaha, NE $1,739

12 Christopher Henderson Albia, IA $1,739

13 James Jelinek Alliance, NE $1,427

14 Dustin Meyers Hastings, NE $1,427

15 Robert Moralez Floresville, TX $1,427

16 Timothy Myers St. Louis, MO $1,186

17 David Oste Russell, KS $1,186

18 David Cyrus Youngsville, NC $1,186

19 Sara Muehlenkamp Tomah, WI $999

20 Joseph Basso Omaha, NB $999

21 Juan Lopez Topeka, KS $999

22 Louis Cheffy Naples, Fl $853

23 David Hengen Omaha, NE $853

24 Kurtis Linenberger Hays, KS $853

25 Todd Weigandt Omaha, NE $738

26 Corey Sanders Sioux Falls, SD $738

27 Christopher Hughes Council Bluffs, IA $738

28 Jason Joerling Shawnee, KS $646

29 Edward Sullivan Durhan, NC $646

30 Carl Jensen Lincoln, NE $646

31 Daniel Yi Overland Park, KS $573

32 Paul Stratman Kansas City, MO $573

33 Joel Hansen Omaha, NE $573

34 John Waugh Council Bluffs, IA $514

35 Douglas Rustand Omaha, NE $514

36 Allen Stern (Tie) Waverly, IA $257

37 William Copeland (Tie) Omaha, NE` $257

Patience Pays Off for David Finney as He Comes From Behind to Win Ring Event #2

Fuel Company Dispatcher Starts Final Table in Last Place, Works Up to Win

2010-2011 Horseshoe Council Bluffs WSOP Circuit Ring Event #2 Winner David Finney

Council Bluffs, IA — David Finney, a dispatcher for a wholesale fuel company, started today’s final table last in chips with only 175,000, well under half average. But by carefully picking and choosing his spots, he worked his way up and finally won the second ring event of the WSOP Circuit tour at Horseshoe Council Bluffs, $300 no-limit hold’em. “You can’t be too aggressive when you’re the short stack forever,” he explained. Victory brought him $22,879 and the coveted diamond and gold trophy ring. He had plenty of time to be patient, because the final table lasted close to eight hours, largely due to the new structure giving players lots of room with plenty of chips and slowly escalating blinds.

Finney, 48, is from Council Bluffs and plans his vacation time to play tournaments at his “home casino.” He’s been playing poker for six years, splits his poker time between cash games and tournaments, and three years ago won a second-chance event here.

This event drew 350 players and the prize pool was $101,850. Twenty-five players returned on day two. It took two hours to lose 15, and then another hour to lose one more and get to the final table of nine. Action started with blinds of 6,000-12,000 and 2,000 antes, 37:27 left on the clock at level 25. Brian Brashaw had the lead with 716,000 in chips.

Here were the starting chip counts:

Seat
1. Daniel Girard 355,000
2. David Finney 175,000
3. William Ace Ellis II 263,000
4. Dan Roth 396,000
5. Ian Wiley 422,000
6. Kent Reid 396,000
7. Brian Brashaw 716,000
8. H.J. Heistand 248,000
9. Gabe Costner 524,000

Ninth Place: First out was Gabe “Danny” Costner after Daniel Girard, holding A-K, flopped a king to outrun Costner’s pocket 6s. Ninth paid $2,150. Costner, 33, is a pro from Biloxi, Mississippi who before that was a stockbroker. He started playing in home games and has been playing professionally eight years. His long list of accomplishments include most POY final tables in the country in 2008; over $1 million in winnings; 35th in this year’s WSOP main event; and two WSOP and one WPT final table. Hobbies are sports, hiking, fishing and day trading.

Eighth Place: Blinds were now at 8,000-16,000 with 3,000 antes. There were several all-in survivals, and then five minutes before the round ended, another player went out. Preflop, H.J. Heistand raised 43,000 with pocket 10s and Kent Reid called with pocket deuces. When the flop came 9-3-9, Reid pushed in. Heistand called and blew him away when a river 10 gave him 10s full. Reid’s nickname is “Nine” but he did better than that today, finishing eighth for $2,693. Reid, 49, is from Smithville, Missouri, employed as an information technology consultant and has played for six years, learning “the hard way” in cash games. He is also a Little League baseball coach, practices Tae Kwon Do, and has an “understanding” wife and two boys who love all sports.

Blinds went to 10,000-20,000. As play continued, a short-chipped Dan Roth moved in twice in quick succession, surviving both times. The second time he had only 9-8 against a Q-8, but proceeded to flop a straight. All seven players were still in action when the round ended and they went to dinner. At this point, Ian “Memphis” Wiley had taken the lead with a little over a million of the 3.5 million chips on the table.

Back from dinner to blinds of 12,000-24,000 with 4,000 antes. There were five all-in bets in the first 30 minutes and each time the all-in doubled-up. The fifth time, Brashaw, holding a 6-5, made a straight on the turn when the board showed 3-4-K-7. But then a river trey filled up Girard, who had gone all in with pocket 7s. Very low-chipped, Brashaw moved in on the next hand with A-K, got three callers, registering the sixth straight survival when big slick held up.

Seventh Place: But the streak ended two hands later after Brashaw pushed in yet again, this time with K-7. William Ace Ellis II called with pocket 7s, they held up when the board of Q-4-A-2-4 missed both players, and Brashaw departed with $3,421 for seventh. (“Ace,” incidentally, is Ellis’ given middle name, not a nickname.) Brashaw is a stockbroker from Papillion, Nebraska who learned poker from his uncle 10 years ago. In 2008 he won an Omaha hi-lo event here. His hobby: “Loving his wife and kids.”

As the round wound down, a monster pot of about 1.2 million chips developed when Girard’s pocket queens went up against Ace’s pocket aces. Girard couldn’t catch up and was left with 260,000, while Ellis took the lead.

Sixth Place: Blinds went up again to 15,000-30,000 with 4,000 antes, and it took 50 minutes to lose another player. This time it was Girard, who called from the cut-off seat with K-2, in very bad shape against Ellis, who pushed in with A-K. Both players paired their king on the river when the board came 10-7-6-J-K, but Ace’s ace kicker was the difference. Girard, 23, is a nursing student from Kearney, Nebraska. He learned poker seven years ago from a friend. His poker highlight thus far came today with 10 players left. He had A-K against a player who flopped a set of 10s, then hit runner-runner kings to survive and double up Sixth paid $4,409.

Players returned from a break to blinds of 20,000-40,000 with 5,000 antes. Ellis still led, now with 1,365,000 chips. Roth, low on chips, went all in and doubled up a couple of times, and then took down a pot of about 1.3 million winning when he called with A-Q after Wiley moved in with K-4. He now was in a rough tie for the lead with Ellis.

Fifth Place: As play went on, the pot of the night developed. Now down to under a million, Ellis moved in with pocket queens and got a quick call from Wiley, who had him slightly out-chipped and holding pocket kings. A board of 6-10-A-9-4 changed nothing and Ellis went out in fifth place for $5,764 while Wiley took a huge lead, holding more than 2 million of the 3.5 million on the table. Ellis, 49, from Blue Springs, Missouri, is a contractor who owns a construction company and other businesses. He’s now made 12 final tables in his last 13 tournaments.

Fourth Place: As the final table moved into its seventh hour, we were now playing with blinds of 25,000-50,000 and 10,000 antes. Heistand had earlier been down to 40,000. He hung on and doubled up a couple of times, finally going all in again with A-4. Roth called with pocket 8s, Wiley with 9-7, and Wiley took the pot when the board came 9-4-K-3-6. Heistand, taking out $7,652 for fourth, is 34, from Liberty, Missouri, and is director of the National Education Association of Shawnee Mission. His father taught him poker as a child, he has a cash in Omaha hi-lo at a Tunica Circuit, and his highlight is his marriage to “my lovely wife Laurie, who is railing me.”

Third Place: The three remaining players, Wiley, Roth and Finney, who had been playing very cautiously, now all had over a million in chips. Suddenly, Finney was all in with Ad-2d when the board showed 5s-2s-4h-Ac, against Wiley, who was looking for a flush holding Qs-7s. Wiley missed when a 10d rivered and was down to a handful of chips. He then quickly went out, forced to put his last chips in with 4-2, losing to Finney’s A-J when the board came 10-9-8-J-3 and leaving with $10,316 for third. Wiley, 25, is a banker turned pro from Las Vegas who taught himself poker five years ago. His biggest cash so far is $265,869 for coming in third at a WSOP $1,500 no-limit event this year. His hobby is boating.

Second Place: Heads-up, Finney had around 2.1 million chips to 1.4 million for Roth.
Blinds were now 6,000-12,000. On the last hand, the flop showed 9s-6h-7c.Making top pair with 9c-8c, Finney bet 500,000 and Roth, later explaining that he lost his patience, moved in with Kh-Qc. He couldn’t hit anything when a 5h turned and a 6c rivered, and Finney had his win. Roth, getting $14,141 for second, is a 57-year-old corn and bean farmer from Ravenna, Nebraska who’s played eight years. He’s had a cash in the last two Circuits here. His hobby is golf.

2010-2011 Horsehoe Council Bluffs WSOP Circuit Events Schedule and Results

2010-2011 Horseshoe Council Bluffs WSOP Circuit Ring Event #2 Results

–Max Shapiro

Director of Poker Operations for Harrah’s Entertainment – Jack Effel
Horseshoe Council Bluffs Poker Room Manager – Gary Margetson
Tournament Director – Jimmy Sommerfeld

Tags: 2010-2011 wsop circuit events, 2010-2011 wsop circuit events horseshoe council bluffs, wsop circuit events, wsop circuit results
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2010-2011 WSOP Circuit Tour Kicks Off at Horseshoe Council Bluffs in Iowa

Sunday, August 22nd, 2010

2010-2011 World Series of Poker Circuit
Horseshoe Council Bluffs
August 20-21
Ring Event # 1
No-Limit Hold’em
Buy-In: $300 + $45
Number of Entries: 300
Total Prize Money: $85,050

Final Results:

1. Jeffrey Epstein Omaha, NE $20,411

2. Anthony Bower Ankeny, IA $12,615

3. Robert Georato Naples, FL $9,153

4. Daniel Drake Omaha, NE $6,753

5. Scott Clark O’Fallon, IL $5,065

6. Daniel Walker Omaha, NE $3,860

7. Phil Mader Grand Island, NE $2,987

8. Jason Curless Overland Park, KS $2,347

9. Adam Hartle Sioux Falls, SD $1,873

10,Wayne Sahl Denison, LA $1,516

11.Douglas Codner Wood River, NE $1,516

12. Darrel Lottes York, NE $1,516

16.Bryan Barnell Lincoln, NE $1,038

17.Matthew Wells Rochester, MN $1,038

18.Kristopher Wilcox Concordia, KS $1,038

19.Shaun McBride Kansas City, MO $878

20.Nathan Nielsen Exira, IA $878

21.Andrew Raddeman Neillsville, WI $878

22.Christopher Hill La Vista, NE $753

23.James Haivala Spearfish, SD $753

24.Douglas Krause Wood River, NE $753

25.Ryan Forry Firth, NE $654

26.Richard Pressler Shawnee, KS $654

27.Michael Stovall Oxford, NC $654

28.John Beane Omaha, NE $577

29.Craig Spencer Sedalia, CO $577

30.Minh Diep Sioux City, IA $289

31.James Barnes Portsmouth, VA $288

Sports Center Owner Jeff Epstein Wins First Ring Event in 6-Hour Final Table

He Misses Royal Flush Draw on Final Hand, but Settles for Winning Straight

2010-2011 Horseshoe Council Bluffs WSOP Circuit Ring Event 1 Winner Jeff Epstein

Council Bluffs, IA — The seventh season of the WSOP Circuit tour, revamped, improved, and pumped up with new and attractive added features, made its eagerly awaited first-stop debut here at Horseshoe Council Bluffs. And with the schedule moved up from February to August, even the weather was much better. This stop will be offering 33 events, including H.O.R.S.E. and Omaha tourneys.

Winner of the first ring event, after a six-hour final table, was Jeff Epstein of Omaha, who owns the Omaha Sports Academy, a youth basketball center. He’s won numerous small tournaments online, but this is his first live cash. On the final hand he flopped a draw to a royal flush, missed, but settled for a straight. The win brought him $20,411, along with a diamond-encrusted gold trophy ring. Epstein, who with his father also operates a paper recycling plant, began playing online five years ago.

Epstein, describing himself as a tight-aggressive player, said the final table was tough, with constant raising. “I just tried to keep my wits about me, played patiently and tried to get my money in at the right time,” he said. He also paid tribute to thd “great staff and great tournament.”

Major changes in the Circuit tour include:

Standardized structures and payouts for all events, with the main event buy-in lowered from $5,000 to a more affordable $1,500. (However, four of the 12 or more regional Circuit championships will have $10,000 buy-ins along with national TV coverage.)

A cumulative ranking system throughout the season, with points awarded for each open ring event.

A season-ending National Championship tournament for 100 players who automatically qualify via cumulative rankings or performance-based criteria. This tournament will be at Caesars Palace in Las Vegas prior to the WSOP and will have a $1 million prize pool with a WSOP gold bracelet for the winner. The “Casino Champion” points leader and championship event winner for each Circuit event earn seats. The other two ways to qualify are by making the final table at any of the four regional championships and by accumulating enough points at all the Circuit stops to be in the top 36.

This event drew 300 players who generated a prize pool of $85,050. Day one of this event ended with 27 players still left, and they returned the next day to play down to the final table. Leading in chips with 880,000 was Danny Walker.

Here were the starting chip counts:

Seat
1. Jeff Epstein 377,000
2. Scott Clark 249,000
3. Adam Hartle 71,000
4. Dan Drake 294,000
5. Jason Curless 171,000
6. Danny Walker 880,000
7. Rob Georato 507,000
8. Phil Mader 193,000
9. Tony Bower 238,000

Action began with blinds of 3,000-6,000 and 2,000 antes, playing hour levels. After 45 minutes, there were three all-in survivals with everyone still around. The players then took a short break, returning to blinds of 8,000-16,000 and 3,000 antes.

Ninth Place: A half hour later we lost our first player. Adam Hartle was all in from the big blind with Ah-2h. He paired his deuce on a flop of 10-2-3, but he couldn’t catch Walker’s pocket 6s and went out ninth, which paid $1,873. Hartle, 27, is from Sioux Falls, South Dakota and is employed as a server at the Olive Garden restaurant. He started playing with friends six years ago and this is his poker highlight.

Eighth Place: Walker quickly knocked out a second player when his pocket kings held up against Jason Curless’ Ac-Kc. With a board of 9-5-10-Q, Curless needed an ace or an inside-straight jack to survive, but a river trey ended his chances. Eighth paid $2,347. Curless is 36 and a data analyst hailing from Overland Park, Kansas. He started playing 15 years ago.

Seventh Place: Soon after, with blinds now at 10,000-20,000 and 3,000 antes, a short-chipped Phil Mader was all in with A-2, dominated by Scott “Scotty” Clark’s A-K. Mader was drawing dead when the board showed 5-J-9-K, pairing Clark’s king. Going out seventh, Mader took home $2,987. Mader is 48, a farmer from Grand Island, Nebraska, who’s played 30 years. He has a cash in the 2009 WSOP main event.

Sixth Place: Walker, starting as chip leader, had been losing pots since his first two knock-outs, and was now down to 150,000. After Epstein pushed in, he called with A-Q, only to see Epstein turn up A-K. In a replay of the hand that busted Mader, Walker was also drawing dead after the board showed 2-2-6-K, and settled for $3,860 for sixth. Walker, the most credentialed player at the table, is a 25-year-old pro from Omaha who learned the game from a book 18 years ago. He has a win in a $500 no-limit Circuit event here and a second in a $300 no-limit tournament. along with a cash in a WSOP razz event, and a Bellagio victory. His biggest cash-out was $94,810 for a win at Commerce Casino’s L.A/. Poker Classic.

Fifth Place: With two minutes left at this level, Clark was all in from the big blind with Ah-7d, up against Tony Bower’s suited A-K. Amazingly, for the third time in a row, A-K did the trick when each time a king on fourth street left a player drawing dead after it paired his opponent! This time the board showed 8-8-K-4, with a meaningless river 5. Clark, 45, is an “unemployable” full-time player, formerly in construction, who also does poker writing. He’s from O’Fallon, Illinois and has played 25 years. Fifth paid him $5,065.

Players now went on dinner break. At this point. Bower held the lead with about 950,000, followed by Epstein with just over 900,000, and trailed by Dan Drake with around 600,000 and Rob Georato with 540,000. Blinds now were 12,000-24,000 with 4,000 antes. Action tightened and all four were still in action when blinds went to 15,000-30,000 with 4,000 antes.

Fourth Place: Half-way through the level, we finally lost another player. Drake raised from the button to 75,000, Georato made it 180,000 to go from the small blind, and Drake moved in for 220,000 more. Georato had A-J, Drake had K-10, and he departed in fourth place after the board came all rags with 7-7-3-8-6. Drake, nicknamed “Dapperdanl,” is a 54-year-old purchasing agent from Omaha with 36 years of poker experience, starting in family games.

Third Place: With blinds at 20,000-40,000 with 5,000 antes, the pot of the night came down. Epstein and Georato went head-to-head, each pushing in about 1.2 million in chips, Epstein slightly more. Epstein had pocket 10s, Georato Ad-Qd. A flop of 7-9-7 with two diamonds gave Georato a nut flush draw. Then an offsuit 10 and jack were dealt. Georato missed his flush and went out third while Epstein raked in a huge pot with a set of 10s. Third place paid $9,153. Georato, 41, is a teacher from Naples, Florida who began playing as a teenager. He has a half-dozen WSOP cashes, the largest being $38,600 for finishing 195th in the 2008 main event. He also enjoys travel.

Second Place: Heads-up, Epstein enjoyed close to a 6-1 chip lead over his final opponent. On the last hand, Epstein held Kc-Jc to Kh-10h for Bower. A flop of Ks-10c-Qc gave Epstein a paired king and a draw to a royal flush. He bet 80,000 and Bower moved in with kings and 10s. Then Epstein pulled ahead when a 9h on the turn gave him a straight. Bower could still win by making a full house or split if a jack a\gave him the same straight, but a 6d ended the evening. For second, Bower took home $12,615. Bower is a 29-year-old engineer from Des Moines, Iowa who started playing in home games nine years ago. He has a Prairie Meadows win to his credit.

2010-2011 Horseshoe Council Bluffs WSOP Circuit Event Schedule

2010-2011 Horseshoe Council Bluffs WSOP Circuit Ring Event #1 Results

–Max Shapiro

Director of Poker Operations for Harrah’s Entertainment – Jack Effel
Horseshoe Council Bluffs Poker Room Manager – Gary Margetson
Tournament Director – Jimmy Sommerfeld

Tags: 2010-2011 wsop circuit events, horseshoe council bluffs, jeff epstein, world series of poker circuit events, wsop circuit, wsop circuit events
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Major Revamp Announced for 2010-2011 WSOP Circuit Events

Wednesday, July 14th, 2010

The World Series of Poker (WSOP) recently announced a major revamp and overhaul of the WSOP Circuit Events for 2010-2011, which will be it’s seventh season. These changes are in response to declining numbers of participants in Circuit Event tournaments in recent years.

“We recognized the WSOP Circuit Events needed a shot in the arm, and we believe we’ve responded with steroids,” said WSOP Vice President Ty Stewart. “The new model is exactly what the WSOP is all about, giving poker players of all bankrolls the chance for compete for the kind of fame, fortune and respect that comes only with a WSOP bracelet and a national television audience.”

The WSOP will introduce a cumulative ranking system, a season-ending National Championship tournament, 4 Regional WSOP Circuit Championships, and standardized structures and pay-outs at all events.

The 2010-2011 WSOP Circuit season schedule will include at least 12 stops with additional venues and dates to be announed in the next several months. This year’s tour will begin on August 19th at Horseshoe Council Bluffs in Iowa and will continue through May 22, 2011 at Harrah’s New Orleans.

For a complete list of changes and improvements for the 7th season of the WSOP Circuit Events, click on the link below:

WSOP Announces Revamped Tour and Schedule for 2010-2011 WSOP Circuit Season Seven

Tags: 2010-2011 wsop circuit events, world series of poker, world series of poker circuit events, wsop, wsop circuit event changes, wsop circuit events
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2010 Harrah’s New Orleans WSOP Circuit Seniors Championship Event Final Results

Thursday, May 20th, 2010

2009/2010 World Series of Poker Circuit
Harrah’s New Orleans
Bayou Poker Challenge
Event #19
No Limit Hold’em Seniors Championship
Buy-In: $300 (+40)
Total Entries: 113
Total Prize Pool: $32,883
May 19, 2010

Final Results:

1 Thomas Becnel NA $8,714

2 Lane Leblanc NA $5,261

3 Robert Irby NA $3,370

4 Richard Craig NA $2,630

5 Carl Lee NA $2,055

6 Theodore Etter Dallas, TX $1,644

7 Thomas Howard Gretna, LA $1,315

8 Ricardo Briseno NA $1,068

9 Markie Garner NA $904

10 Larry Wright McQueeney, TX $739

11 Michael Husar Laplace, LA $739

12 George Watford Austin, TX $739

13 Jerry Saucier Helena, AL $657

14 Wesley Brockhoeft Austin, TX $657

15 Kenneth Milam Laplace, LA $657

16 Ann Champlin NA $575

17 “Captain” Tom Franklin NA $575

18 Louis “Buddy” Bonnecaze Baton Rouge, LA $575

2010 Harrah’s New Orleans WSOP Circuit Seniors Championship Event Final Results

2010 Harrah’s New Orleans WSOP Circuit Events Schedule and Results

Executive Staff, World Series of Poker Circuit – Harrah’s New Orleans

Tournament Director – Steve Frezer

General Manager of Harrah’s New Orleans — Jim Hoskins
Vice President of Marketing – Sandie McNamara
Director of Table Games – Tosha Skipper
Shift Manager of Harrah’s New Orleans – Larry Barrett
Special Events Coordinator – Gretchen Holzhauser

Tags: 2010 wsop circuit events, Harrah's New Orleans, no limit holdem, poker tournament results, seniors championship event, wsop circuit events
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2010 Harrah’s New Orleans WSOP Circuit – Event #18 Final Results

Thursday, May 20th, 2010

2009/2010 World Series of Poker Circuit
Harrah’s New Orleans
Bayou Poker Challenge
Event #18
No Limit Hold’em Ladies Championship
Buy-In: $300 (+40)
Total Entries: 78
Total Prize Pool: $22,666
May 19, 2010

Final Results:

2010 Harrah's New Orleans WSOP Circuit Ladies Championship Winner Paula Halata

1 Paula Halata Houston, TX $7,236

2 Patricia Marks Covington, LA $4,539

3 Deborah Lallo Ft. Myers, FL $2,894

4 Jodi Westendorf Key Largo, FL $2,042

5 Lisa Atwin Canada $1,645

6 Jenica Powell Canada $1,361

7 Jennifer White Houston, TX $1,134

8 Barbara Cardin NA $964

9 Patricia Mcardle New Orleans, LA $851

2010 Harrah’s New Orleans WSOP Circuit – Event #18 Final Results

2010 Harrah’s New Orleans WSOP Circuit Events Schedule and Results

Executive Staff, World Series of Poker Circuit – Harrah’s New Orleans

Tournament Director – Steve Frezer

Tags: 2010 wsop circuit events, Harrah's New Orleans, ladies championship event, no limit holdem, poker tournament results, wsop circuit events
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2010 Harrah’s New Orleans WSOP Circuit Main Event Championship Final Results

Thursday, May 20th, 2010

2009/2010 World Series of Poker Circuit
Harrah’s New Orleans
Bayou Poker Challenge
Event #17
No Limit Hold’em
Main Event Championship
Buy-In: $5,000 (+150)
Total Entries: 156
Total Prize Pool: $745,600
May 17-19, 2010

Final Results:

1 Fred Berger Slidell, LA $197,584

2 Mike Beasley Hollywood, FL $119,296

3 Ben Keiley Missoula, MT $76,424

4 Ed Corrado Naples, FL $59,648

5 Fernando Perez Mexico City, Mexico $46,600

6 Joel Merwick Omaha, NE $37,280

7 Jacob Naquin New Orleans, LA $29,824

8 Chander Jain Houston, TX $24,232

9 Jared Ingles Baton Rouge, LA $20,504

10 Jean “Prince” Gaspard Evanston, IL $16,776

11 Andrew Liporace Westport, CT $16,776

12 Patricia Pate Birmingham, AL $16,776

13 James Jewett Meridian, ID $14,912

14 Michael Rofman Houston, TX $14,912

15 Gordon Hammer Houma, LA $14,912

16 Robert Thornhill Spring, TX $13,048

17 Do Shin Choung Baton Rouge, LA $13,048

18 Eric Cloutier Lafayette, LA $13,048

“First the Bracelet, then the Ring”

Fred Berger Wins WSOP Circuit Main Event Championship at Harrah’s New Orleans

2002 WSOP Gold Bracelet Winner Adds to His Jewelry Collection with Gold Ring Victory

2010 Harrah's New Orleans WSOP Circuit Main Event Championship Winner Fred Berger

New Orleans, LA – The World Series of Poker uses a catchy slogan to promote its national tournament circuit. The popular slogan goes, “First the Ring, then the Bracelet.” The routine is for poker players to gain valauble tournament experience at various WSOP Circuit stops around the country, and then later come to Las Vegas and play in the WSOP to compete for poker’s ultimate prize – the gold bracelet.

Fred Berger has things backwards. The business owner from Slidell, LA won his gold bracelet at the 2002 WSOP. Eight years later, he won his first WSOP Circuit gold ring victory. Berger topped a tough field of 156 players at Harrah’s New Orleans and ultimately became the 2010 Bayou Poker Challenge champion. For his win, he received $197,584 in prize money, plus a pre-paid seat into the 2010 WSOP Main Event, to be played in Las Vegas. Berger was also presented with the coveted gold and diamond ring, awarded to all WSOP Circuit winners.

This was the final tournament of the 2009-2010 World Series of Poker Circuit season and the sixth Bayou Poker Challenge championship held at Harrah’s New Orleans. The Bayou series is held every May in the Crescent City and traditionally comes at the end of the eight-month long WSOP Circuit season. The $5,000 (+150) buy-in No-Limit Hold’em tournament was played over three consecutive days during May 17-19, 2010. The Main Event paid out the top 18 finishers, who divided a prize pool totaling $745,600.

The tournament officially began with a $10,000 donation given to the New Orleans Area Habitat For Humanity and “Project Full House,” which is a charitable partnership jointly supported by the World Series of Poker and Cabot Creamery Cooperative, from Vermont. Demonstrating the poker community’s support for good causes, poker players from around the country made donations at all eleven WSOP Circuit locations, with the pool of funds graciously handed over here in New Orleans.

The Main Event attracted several notable players, including multiple former WSOP gold bracelet winners. Among them was six-time WSOP title holder T.J. Cloutier, who is also a member of the Poker Hall of Fame. A local celebrity among those who entered was Paul Prudhomme, the world-famous New Orleans chef and connoisseur of Cajon-style cooking. After 87 players were eliminated on Day One, 69 players returned. During Day Two, players reached the prize money and played down to the final table.

The tenth place finisher was Jean “Prince” Gaspard, who won the 2009 Bayou Poker Challenge championship. He was on track most of the way to defend his title. However, Gaspard was eliminated at 4:30 am following a long Day Two holding pocket jacks, which ended up losing to pocket aces.

After winning a huge pot late on Day Two, Montana poker pro Ben Keiley arrived at the final table with a distinct chip lead over his closest threat, Ed Corrado, a retiree from Florida. Chander Jain, from Houston, started off play in third place. The remaining six players were each outchipped by margins of greater than 2 to 1. The eventual winner, Fred Berger started out in fifth place with about an average-sized stack.

The final table included a cross generational mix of players. Ranging in ages from 23 to 79, three generations of poker players competed for the Bayou Poker Challenge championship. The Day Three finale also attracted a large crowd of spectators. Among those who watched part of the final table action was former U.S. Senator Carol Moseley Braun, who previously represented Illinois and once sought for the Democratic presidential nomination. She was accompanied by local dignitaries, who also happen to be part of the local New Orleans poker scene.

Final table player introductions can be seen in this short video clip:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7VRgZTSX0H0

The nine finalists and their starting chip counts were as follows:

Seat Player Hometown Chip Count

1 Fred Berger Slidell, LA 298,500

2 Chander Jain Houston, TX 522,000

3 Joel Merwick Omaha, NE 262,000

4 Ben Keiley Missoula, MT 889,500

5 Jacob Naquin New Orleans, LA 183,500

6 Ed Corrado Naples, FL 575,000

7 Fernando Perez Mexico City, Mexico 127,000

8 Jared Ingles Baton Rouge, LA 126,000

9 Mike Beasley Hollywood, FL 446,500

Final table play began at 3:00 pm and ended at past midnight. Eight out of the nine finalists ended up singing the blues, in the following order:

Ninth Place: Jared Ingles Goes “Boom, Boom”
Jared Ingles lasted just one hand. As the shortest-stacked player, he tried to steal a round of blinds with a marginal hand, but got caught bluffing by a player holding AK. An ace flopped which basically ended Ingles’ shot of moving further up the money ladder. Jared Ingles, from Baton Rouge, LA now has nearly a dozen major cashes and about $200,000 in career tournament earnings at the ripe young age of 23. He collected $20,504 for ninth place.

Eighth Place: “The Thrill is Gone” for Chander Jain
Chander Jain, an IT consultant from Houston lost a race on what turned out to be his final hand, and went out in eighth place. Jain was dealt JJ and moved all-in. He got a call by AK and watched with disappointment as the flop brought an ace, turning his pocket pair from a small favorite into a huge underdog. The turn and river failed to bring the jack of salvation for Jain, who was forced to settle for a payout of $24,232. Interestingly, Jain was the 156th and final player to register for this tournament. His last-minute entry turned out to be a wise investment, indeed. Jain previously made another final table at a major tournament held earlier this year in Mississippi. He has won about $50,000 this year in live tournaments alone.

Seventh Place: Jacob Naquin is “Born Under a Bad Sign”
Jacob Naquin, who owns a convenience store in New Orleans was bagged up as the seventh place finisher. On his final hand, the 31-year-old part-time poker player took AJ up against pocket queens, with the predictable result. The big pocket pair won the pot, although a jack in the flop gave Naquin some hope. That’s as much improvement as Naquin would received, who ended up collecting $29,824. Naquin has several small cashes in various Bayou Poker Challenge events, dating all the way back to 2004.

Sixth Place: It’s a “Mean Ol’ World” says Joel Merwick
Joel Merwick was the player to beat during much of this tournament. He was the chip leader at end of Day One and maintained a healthy stack size throughout play, at least until about four hours into the final table when he took a nightmare beat on his final hand. Merwick had A2 and saw a flop with an ace and a deuce. He moved all-in with two pair and got a call from a rival with an ace (one pair). Unfortunately, one of the other cards paired on the river, and Merwick lost with kicker problems when both players ended up with two pair. Merwick, a 29-year-old entrepreneur from Omaha, NE had to settle for a sixth-place finish, which paid $37,280. Merwick also cashed in the 2005 WSOP Main Event, finishing 189th out of 5,619 players. This marked his sixth time to cash in a WSOP Circuit event.

Fifth Place: “It’s a Cryin’ Shame,” Says Fernando Perez
Originally from Belgium, Fernando Perez now lives in Mexico City and currently practices law. The attorney was short-stacked for five hours and finally busted out on a tough beat when his A9 lost to K9 of hearts, when the opponent made a heart flush. Perez, one of an emerging number of poker players from Mexico who have begun to play more tournaments, received a nice settlement totaling $46,600. Perez has one other cash in his tournament resume – at the 2008 WSOP in Las Vegas.

Fourth Place: For Ed Corrado, “Out Goes the Light”
Ed Corrado demonstrated that age is no barrier to playing with the best in the game. The 79-year-old retiree from Naples, FL had an average-sized stack most of the way, but lost many of his chips when he was bluffed out of a big pot by Fred Berger. That left him short-stacked. A few minutes later, Corrado moved all-in with A8 which got a call from pocket nines. The middle pocket pair held up, leaving Corrado on the rail with a fourth-place finish. Corrado collected a nice sum amounting to $59,648. Corrado now has nearly 30 major cashes, three wins, and several WSOP-related cashes on his record. He also final tabled last year’s Winter Bayou Poker Challenge, finishing in second place to Allen “Chainsaw” Kessler.

Third Place: “They Sky is Crying” for Ben Keiley
After the top three players agreed to a deal, the next player to bust out was the early chip leader, Ben Keiley. On his final hand, the Montana poker pro tried to make a move pre-flop with K5 suited. But his all-in raise was called by Fred Berger, who tabled AJ. Keiley took a temporary lead on the hand when the five flopped. But an ace fell on the turn, and Berger surged back into the lead. Keiley failed to catch one of five outs on the river and ended up with an official payout amounting to $76,424. An interesting side note and lesson to all poker players regarding Keiley’s experience: At the end of Day One, Keiley was down to just 9,000 in chips, which amounted to about a round of blinds and antes. He even later said he almost flew home without completing the tournament. As it turned out, Day Two was huge for Keiley and he ended up making his biggest poker score ever.

Second Place: Mike Beasley “Can’t Be Satisfied”
Mike Beasley, a poker pro from Hollywood, FL, is enjoying the year of a lifetime. He cashed for half a million dollars in a recent tournament held in Connecticut. In his next major, Beasley came to New Orleans and ended up taking $119,296 for this effort, quite a consolation prize for a non-victory. Nevertheless, the experience was bittersweet for 46-year-old Beasley who was visibly disappointed that he did not win.

Beasley was outchipped by about a 5 to 1 margin when the final hand of the tournament was dealt out about 1:30 am. Beasley moved all in with Kh 7s. Berger called and showed Ad Tc. The board ran out Th 5s 3d 4s Jd which gave Berger the final pot of the tournament with a pair of 10′s.
First Place: Fred Berger Says — “Lets the Good Times Roll”
Low-key Fred Berger did not make a big scene following his victory. But he was clearly thrilled with the course of events and satisfied with how he played – thus embodying the mark of a true professional. Berger remarked afterward that his victory here in New Orleans was particularly special.

When asked about what he remembers most about winning his WSOP gold bracelet eight years ago, Berger recalled that he defeated Chris “Jesus” Ferguson in heads up play, and ended up winning the Pot-Limit Hold’em championship. Incredibly, it was the first WSOP tournament Berger had ever played – resulting in poker’s most coveted prize. Berger has since gone on to win more than $900,000 in various tournaments, including this payout which amounted to $197,584.

“I plan on giving ten percent of my winnings to charity,” Berger stated afterward. “That’s how I do things. The rest of the money – I’ll give it to (my wife). I hope she might stake me in a few future tournaments.”

Incredibly, Berger’s victory almost never happened. In fact, he almost won nothing at all. When the tournament still had 19 players on Day Two, once spot away from the money Berger moved all-in holding pocket 8s. He got an annoying call from a bigger stack, holding AK. Berger ended up winning the critical race and 24 hours later, he was the tournament champion.

On second thought, perhaps Berger is following the credo “First the Ring, then the Bracelet,” after all. With plans to play in the upcoming WSOP to be held in Las Vegas which begins next week, perhaps what Berger really means is “First the Ring, then the Bracelet – this year.”

An interview with Fred Berger and the final hand of the tournament can be seen at:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QfXdzYUgf-A

This year’s championship at Harrah’s New Orleans brings a fitting close to a WSOP Circuit season that was both entertaining and exciting. This year’s WSOP Circuit included tournaments held at Hammond Horseshoe (Chicago), Caesars Indiana, Harvey’s Lake Tahoe, Harrah’s Atlantic City, Harrah’s Tunica, Horseshoe Council Bluffs, Caesars Atlantic City, Harrah’s Rincon, Harrah’s St. Louis, Caesars Palace Las Vegas, and Harrah’s New Orleans. More than $20 million was awarded this season to more than two-thousand poker players who cashed in 150 official gold ring events.

2010 Harrah’s New Orleans WSOP Circuit Main Event Championship Final Results

2010 Harrah’s New Orleans WSOP Circuit Events Schedule and Results

Executive Staff, World Series of Poker Circuit – Harrah’s New Orleans

Tournament Director – Steve Frezer

Tags: 2010 wsop circuit events, Harrah's New Orleans, main event championship, no limit holdem, poker tournament results, wsop circuit events
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2010 Harrah’s New Orleans WSOP Circuit – Championship Event End of Day 2 Chip Counts

Wednesday, May 19th, 2010

2009/2010 WSOP Circuit Event – Harrah’s New Orleans
End of Day [2] Report: Event #17: No Limit Hold’em Championship
5/19/2010
Entries: 156
Remaining Players (at EOD): 9
Places Paid: 18
Buyin: 5,150.00
Prize Pool: 756,600.00

The final table for the last WSOP Circuit Main Event championship tournament of the 2009-2010 season is now set. Play will resume at 3:00 pm on Wednesday, May 19th.

2010 Harrah's New Orleans WSOP Circuit Championship Event Day 2 Chip Leader Benjamin Keiley

RANK PLAYER CITY / STATE / COUNTRY CHIP COUNT ROOM / TABLE / SEAT

1 Keiley, Benjamin 889500 Harrah’s NOR / 1 / 4

2 Corrado, Edward Naples, FL 576000 Harrah’s NOR / 1 / 6

3 Jain, Chander 522000 Harrah’s NOR / 1 / 2

4 Beasley, William Hollywood, FL, USA 446500 Harrah’s NOR / 1 / 9

5 Berger, Fred 298500 Harrah’s NOR / 1 / 1

6 Merwick, Joel New Orleans, LA 262000 Harrah’s NOR / 1 / 3

7 Naquin, Jacob 183500 Harrah’s NOR / 1 / 5

8 Perez, Fernando 127500 Harrah’s NOR / 1 / 7

9 Ingles, Jared 126000 Harrah’s NOR / 1 / 8

Tags: 2010 wsop circuit events, championship event, chip counts, Harrah's New Orleans, no limit holdem, wsop circuit events
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2009-2010 WSOP Circuit Season (Semi-) Final Statistics

Tuesday, May 18th, 2010

2009-2010 Season
World Series of Poker Circuits
Official Statistics – Player Rankings

Las Vegas, NV – The 2009-2010 World Series of Poker Circuit season is about to come to an end. This week’s scheduled events taking place at Harrah’s New Orleans will conclude the sixth successful year of WSOP Circuit events. The WSOP Circuit was initially launched in January 2005 in order to give as many players as possible an opportunity to participate in the world’s biggest and most prestigious poker tournament series. WSOP Circuit events typically take place over two-week periods between October and May.

This season included tournaments held in Chicago (Hammond, IN), Southern Indiana, Lake Tahoe, Harrah’s Atlantic City, Tunica, Council Bluffs, Caesars Atlantic City, Harrah’s Rincon, Harrah’s St. Louis, Caesars Palace Las Vegas, and Harrah’s New Orleans.

This year’s WSOP Circuit series awarded $20,209,935 in total prize money to all winners [1]. With the prize money awarded at the WSOP in Las Vegas amounting to more than $174 million in 2009, all WSOP-related events together over the course of the last 12 months amounted to nearly $200 million in total prize money for winners.

Many players now travel around the WSOP Circuit regularly and play at multiple stops. Several of these players have established themselves at the Circuit’s best players. Here are the top-ranked players of the 2009-2010 WSOP Circuit season, ranked in each of the major categories [2]:

MOST GOLD RING WINS:

2 – Mark “Pegasus” Smith (Georgetown, KY)
2 – John “Cowboy” Land (Dallas, TX)
1 – (146 players)

MOST FINAL TABLE APPEARANCES:

5 – Mark “Pegasus” Smith (Georgetown, KY)
5 – Christopher Cardenas (Woodridge, IL)
5 – Michael Ashar (Vermilion, OH)
4 – Dwyte Pilgrim (Brooklyn, NY)
3 – (13 players)

MOST CASHES:

8 – Mark “Pegasus” Smith (Georgetown, KY)
8 – Michael Ashar (Vermilion, OH)
6 – Dwyte Pilgrim (Brooklyn, NY)
5 – (10 players)

It should also be noted that “Chicago Johnny” Nowak (Fairview, TX) set a record for the most cashes at one WSOP Circuit stop. He recently cashed five times alone at Harrah’s New Orleans.

The top money winner of the season was Dan Livingston (Oak Forest, IL), with $291,749 in earnings. Livingston won the Main Event championship held in Chicago in October 2009. Runner up was Chris Klodnicki (Vorhees, NJ), who accumulated $281,277. Klodnicki won the Harrah’s Atlantic City championship in December 2009.

Next season’s WSOP Circuit schedule will be released sometime during the WSOP in Las Vegas. More locations and events are planned for 2010-2011 than ever before. So, stay tuned for more details about how to be a part of next year’s excitement.

– Nolan Dalla

Please note there are still two events to be played at Harrah’s New Orleans, which are not open events (Seniors and Women’s events).

[1] Figure does not include last two events held at Harrah’s New Orleans, to be played on May 19th.

[2] Data compiled by Alan Fowler of WSOP staff.

Tags: 2009-2010 wsop circuit events, 2009-2010 wsop circuit season statistics, most wsop circuit gold rings, poker tournaments, wsop circuit events, wsop circuit sixth season
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2010 Harrah’s New Orleans WSOP Circuit – Championship Event Day 1 Chip Counts

Tuesday, May 18th, 2010

Day 1 of the $5,000 Championship Event at Harrah’s New Orleans concluded on May 17th. The chip leader at the end of day 1 is Joel Merwick with 151,800.

Some noteable names left include Jean Gaspard with 64,300 chips, Steve Brecher with 31,600 chips and Allen Kessler with 16,200 chips. Gaspard is the reigning champion as he won the $5,000 Championship Event at Harrah’s New Orleans in May 2009.

End of Day One Standings:

Player Name Chip Count Table Seat

Joel Merwick 151,800 57 4

Vhor Coelho 130,200 51 4

Ed Corrado 114,000 52 1

Eric Cloutier 102,000 53 3

Durham Chaney 100,100 52 8

Fernando Perez 97,300 54 5

Jimmy Tran 95,300 53 6

B.J. McBrayer 90,900 52 4

Lance Oliver 90,000 52 5

Jason Su 85,500 60 4

Patricia Dawn 83,200 57 5

Rodney Baseke 73,300 52 6

Bach Vu 72,400 60 1

Hamilton Reeves 70,300 61 8

James Jewett 69,400 51 8

J.D. Estilette 69,000 56 1

Jean Gaspard 64,300 51 1

Fred Berger 63,800 52 3

Barbara Smith 59,700 53 2

Daniel Lee 59,000 60 2

Gary Friedlander 58,900 61 3

Timothy Miles 58,200 52 2

Dan Walsh 57,800 61 7

Ben Thomas 55,000 57 9

Jeremy Gaubert 51,500 61 6

Mike Raimon 51,400 56 9

Mike Brownis 51,000 54 3

Chris Gamboa 50,200 56 5

Matt Brady 46,700 56 7

Jerome Moon 45,800 57 7

Frank Ferguson 45,800 60 6

Andrew Liporace 41,100 54 1

Brian Gambrielle 39,200 57 6

Mike Beasley 38,600 60 9

Harry McGowan 37,700 56 6

Chandler V. Jain 36,925 53 4

Joel Casper 36,700 57 8

Andy Philacack 35,000 54 7

Jared Ingles 33,800 51 6

Stanley Seelig 33,100 60 8

Howard Andrew 31,800 52 9

Steve Brecher 31,600 57 2

Shane Lewis 30,900 61 4

Doug Benedict 30,100 52 7

Jason Mann 30,000 54 8

Robert Thornhill 29,000 54 6

Chris Stephan 28,300 56 3

Don Norman 27,200 53 8

Chris McCutchum 27,200 51 7

Tony Vidmer 25,600 60 3

Dan Briteur 24,600 53 9

Ben Mintz 24,500 53 5

Harry Cullen 23,500 51 3

Martin Humphrey 23,200 51 9

Brian Senie 22,000 56 2

Gordon Hammer 20,700 53 7

Jacob Naquin 20,400 54 2

Jon Mazursky 20,100 57 1

Tim Davis 16,800 56 8

Allen Kessler 16,200 60 7

Jonathan Delatuente 15,500 56 4

Gabriel Andrade 14,900 61 2

Marty Williams 13,400 60 5

Daid Diaz 11,500 53 7

Ben Keiley 9,100 61 9

John R. Green, Jr. 8,000 51 2

Garrett Utt 6,400 54 9

Russ Miller Illegible 61 5

Paul Prudhomme Illegible 57 3

For a complete list of events and results through Event #16, click on the link below:

2010 Harrah’s New Orleans WSOP Circuit Event Schedule and Results

2010 Harrah’s New Orleans WSOP Circuit – Event #16 Final Results

Monday, May 17th, 2010

2009/2010 World Series of Poker Circuit
Harrah’s New Orleans
Bayou Poker Challenge
Event #16
Pot-Limit Omaha with Re-Buys ($100)
Buy-In: $300 (+40)
Total Entries: 51
Number of Re-Buys: 262
Total Prize Pool: $40,255
May 15-16, 2010

Final Results:

1 Hamilton McGowan Eunice, LA $12,881

2 Tony “Tekk” Seunsom Houston, TX $8,051

3 Gene “Timberrrrr!” Timberlake Houston, TX $5,132

4 A.W. “Antony” Vidmer Nashville, TN $3,622

5 Gary Bolden St. Louis, MO $2,918

6 “Captain” Tom Franklin Gulfport, MS $2,415

7 Mark Gallagher Houston, TX $2,012

8 Joshua Fanguy Houston, TX $1,710

9 Michael Schneider NA $1,509

Gentlemen’s Agreement: Top Three Finishers Make Deal

Ricky McGowan Wins First Major Tournament Victory at Harrah’s New Orleans

2010 Harrah's New Orleans WSOP Circuit Event #16 Winner Hamilton McGowan

New Orleans, LA – Fireworks were expected at the latest Bayou Poker Challenge tournament final table. Instead, the much-anticipated show ended up as a bust. It was a firecracker with a wet fuse. Not that anyone complained. The tournament’s top three finishers agreed to a deal and went on their merry ways. But anyone who was expecting to witness the most interesting final table of any held thus far at Harrah’s New Orleans departed with a bitter sense of disappointment. It was like watching the time trials of the Indianapolis 500, and then calling it a real car race.

Of course, deals are a big part of poker. And, it’s the player’s prerogative to negotiate deals amongst themselves. After all, players post the prize pools through their entry fees and once skill discernable differences become measured by razor-thin margins, sometimes altered by the turn of a single card, then it makes perfect sense to hammer out a deal.

That’s what Ricky McGowan, Tony “Tekk” Seunsom, and Gene “Timberrrr” Timberlake all did in World Series of Poker Circuit Event #16. McGowan got his piece. Seunsom got his. And, Timberlake took his. The final table might as well have been a bare carcass laying on the prairie after a pack of starving wolves had devoured all the meat. Oh, and McGowan ended up taking the gold ring. Let’s all hear it for the “winner!”

This was the 16th of 19 gold ring events on this year’s WSOP Circuit schedule at Harrah’s New Orleans. The $340 buy-in Pot-Limit Omaha tournament was played over two consecutive days during May 15th and 16th. The tournament attracted 51 entries. But the prize pool was bolstered by a whopping 262 re-buys, which amounted to more than four per player. The top nine finishers divided a prize pool totaling $40,255.

After 45 players were eliminated on the first day, six-handed play began at 2:00 pm. The nine finalists and their starting chip counts were as follows:

Seat Player Hometown Chip Count

1 A.W. (Tony) Vidmer Nashville, TN 132,000

2 Gary Bolden St. Louis, MO 88,000

3 “Captain” Tom Franklin Gulfport, MS 69,000

4 Gene Timberlake Houston, TX 60,000

5 Tony “Tekk” Seunsom Houston, TX 240,000

6 Ricky McGowan Eunice, LA 140,500

“Some” players were eliminated in the following order:

Sixth Place: “Captain” Tom Franklin Given Honorable Discharge
Former WSOP gold bracelet winner “Captain” Tom Franklin busted out about an hour into play. His AAxx ended up losing to a straight. Franklin, a former Vietnam vet, won a gold bracelet in the Limit Omaha event at the 2009 WSOP. He now has $2.6 million in accumulated live tournament winnings. Franklin, who now lives in Gulfport, MS collected $2,415.

Fifth Place: Gary Bolden
Gary Bolden, a 31-year-old poker from the St. Louis area, ended up in fifth place. This was Bolden’s fourth WSOP Circuit cash and third final table appearance. He has also previously cashed at the WSOP in Las Vegas. Fifth place paid $2,918.

Fourth Place: Film Director Cut
Film director and screenwriter A.W. “Tony” Vidmer battled his way to a fourth-place finish. He lives in Nashville, ended up with $3,622 in prize money. Vidmer is best known in the poker world as the writer and director of the film “High Roller,” a biographical story of the late poker icon Stu Ungar. This marked Vidmer’s second time to cash at this year’s Bayou series, following a ninth-place finish in Event #12.

Third Place: “Timberrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr” — The Spirit of Competition Falls
Gene Timberlake, a longtime poker player and accountant from Houston, took third place. Timberlake was running over the table the previous day, but lost chips late and was short-stacked the entire duration of the final table. Timberlake, who has never won a poker tournament in his life, decided it was the best thing to work a deal. Timberlake now has innumerable final table appearances (notch one more mark on his belt), and zero wins. His resume currently shows about $350,000 in career tournament earnings, no doubt pumped up by a few extra thousand after collecting $5,132, the official payout for the third-place finisher.

Second Place: Tony “Tekk” Seunsom Takes Second – Again and Again and Again
Tony “Tekk” Seunsom plays poker for money. He made yet another deal and relinquished his opportunity to win a first WSOP Circuit gold ring, instead choosing to pocket some extra jack. He’s now got something like 563,912 second-place finishes, but who’s counting? The official meaningless figure Seunsom presumably collected amounted to $8,051.

First Place: “Ricky McGowan Wins!” “Ricky McGowan Wins!” “Ricky McGowan Wins!”
The closing moments of the latest WSOP Circuit tournament won’t rival Bobby Thompson’s so-called “shot heard ‘round the world” in the Dodgers-Giants playoff game, but the result of a three-way handshake was just the same as a blast into the left field bleachers. Ricky McGowan, from Eunice, LA collected a gold ring and could rightfully declare himself as the champion. So, McGowan ultimately gets his name in headlights for a day and the history books forever (well, the Internet forever), while a few also-rans could presumably take some satisfaction in their expert negotiating skills.

The WSOP Circuit at Harrah’s New Orleans continues through May 19th. This year’s schedule includes 19 gold ring events, along with multiple second-chance tournaments, single table and mega satellites, in addition to cash games going around the clock inside the Harrah’s New Orleans Poker Room. This marks the sixth straight year Harrah’s New Orleans has been a part of the WSOP Circuit. This is the 11th and final WSOP Circuit stop of the 2009-2010 season following previous tournaments held in Chicago, Southern Indiana, Lake Tahoe, Harrah’s Atlantic City, Tunica, Council Bluffs, Caesars Atlantic City, Harrah’s Rincon, Harrah’s St. Louis, and Caesars Palace Las Vegas.

2010 Harrah’s New Orleans WSOP Circuit – Event #16 Final Results

2010 Harrah’s New Orleans WSOP Circuit Event Schedule and Results

Executive Staff, World Series of Poker Circuit – Harrah’s New Orleans

Tournament Director – Steve Frezer

Tags: 2010 wsop circuit events, Harrah's New Orleans, poker tournament results, pot limit omaha, wsop circuit events
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2010 Harrah’s New Orleans WSOP Circuit – Event #15 Final Results

Monday, May 17th, 2010

2009/2010 World Series of Poker Circuit
Harrah’s New Orleans
Bayou Poker Challenge
Event #15
No Limit Hold’em Shootout
Buy-In: $500 (+50)
Total Entries: 198
Total Prize Pool: $90,880
May 14-15, 2010

Final Results:

1 Ronnie Hoover Baton Rouge, LA $23,856

2 Shimiron Preis St. Charles, LA $14,540

3 Jahson “Class” Spence Yonkers, NY $9,315

4 David “The Assassin” Dowdy Canton, GA $7,270

5 John “Skinny B.” Cleaveland Austin, TX $5,680

6 Preston R. Derden Houston, TX $4,544

7 Ed Corrado Naples, FL $3,635

8 Stanley Seelig Metairie, LA $2,953

9 Michael Raimon Bradenton, FL $2,499

10 James Jewett Meidian, LA $2,044

11 Alexandru Masek San Diego, CA $1,454

12 James Petzing Chicago, IL $1,454

13 John “Cowboy” Land Dallas, TX $1,454

14 Gary Bland Edwardsville, IL $1,454

15 Robert Mapp Waynesboro, VA $1,454

16 Charles Looper Augusta, GA $1,454

17 Jared Ingles Baton Rouge, LA $1,454

18 Lee Macalester New Orleans, LA $1,454

19 “Johnny Chicago” Nowak Fairview, TX $1,454

20 Donald Norman Marion, IL $1,454

Hoover, Damn!

Ronnie Hoover Earns First Major Tournament Victory at Harrah’s New Orleans

“Johnny Chicago” Hits Five Cashes at this Year’s Bayou Series

2010 Harrah's New Orleans WSOP Circuit Event #15 Winner Ronnie Hoover

New Orleans, LA – The top three finishers in the latest World Series of Poker Circuit tournament held at Harrah’s New Orleans agreed to a deal. Ronnie Hoover, a 59-year-old retiree from Baton Rouge, LA ended up taking first place. His official payout amounted to $23,856. Hoover was also presented with his first WSOP Circuit gold ring, marking his first tournament victory.

Hoover has a few previous cashes on his poker resume, but nothing on the scale of winning a WSOP-related tournament. The runner up was Shimiron Preis, from St. Charles, LA. He was part of the deal made with third-place finisher Jahson “Class” Spence, from Yonkers, NY. The last hand of the tournament took place when Spence lost a big race holding AQ against pocket jacks, leaving him as the shortest stack. That’s when the negotiating began, ending up with an agreement which ended the tournament much earlier than had been anticipated.

This was the 15th of 19 gold ring events on this year’s Bayou Poker Challenge schedule. The $500 (+50) buy-in No-Limit Hold’em Shootout was played over two consecutive days during May 15th and 16th. The tournament attracted 198 entries.

The Shootout concept was simple. The “winner” was required to survive three consecutive tables. Sounds easy, but given the stiff competition, some of the matches went several hours. For instance, the second round match between third-place finisher Jahson Spence and two-time WSOP Circuit gold ring winner Alexandru Masek lasted five hours – heads up! Furthermore, since rounds could not begin until all matches were complete, the Day One competition lasted about 15 hours.
Among the twenty players who cashed was “Johnny Chicago” Nowak, who is originally from Chicago but now lives near Dallas. “Johnny Chicago” tied a WSOP Circuit record by cashing in his fifth tournament at this series, the most by any player ever at one single tournament stop. With the Main Event still to be played, “Johnny Chicago” now has a shot at making history. He says he plans to play in the Main Event, just for this reason.

The top 20 finishers divided a prize pool totaling $80,510. After 188 players were eliminated on the first day, final table play with ten players commenced on a Sunday afternoon. There were two prior WSOP Circuit gold ring winners among the final ten. Mike Raimon won last year’s Six-Handed No-Limit Hold’em championship here at Harrah’s New Orleans. Ed Corrado won a title three years ago at Harrah’s Tunica.

All final table players started play with identical stack sizes of 12,000 chips. Final Table play lasted about five hours and ended at 7 pm. Players were eliminated in the following order:

Tenth Place: Jewett Tenth
Jim Jewett, a real estate developer from Meridian, ID went out first when his A8 lost to AK. The real estate developer collected a nice commission amounting to $2,044. This marked his third WSOP Circuit cash. He also made the money at the WSOP in Las Vegas last year.

Ninth Place: Raimon Ninth
Former WSOP gold ring winner Mike Ramon went out in ninth place. The pro poker player who also won a WSOP satellite series tournament held in Mississippi last year, collected $2,499 for this finish.

Eighth Place: Seelig Eighth
Stanley Seelig, who is self-employed and lives in nearby Metairie, LA exited in eighth place. He received $2,953. This was his first WSOP Circuit cash. He did make it to a final table at last year’s Winter Bayou Poker Challenge, finishing seventh.

Seventh Place: Corrado Seventh
Ed Corrado, a 79-year-old retiree from Naples, FL was the seventh-place finisher. He has accumulated nearly $500,000 in career tournament finishes, including three major wins and numerous in-the-money finishes. Corrado won his WSOP Circuit gold ring at Harrah’s Tunica in 2006. Seventh place paid $3,635.

Sixth Place: Derden Sixth
Preston R. Derden, a 63-year-old retiree from Houston, TX cashed for the tenth time in a WSOP Circuit tournament, and fifth time here at Harrah’s New Orleans. Derden, who was the runner up in a Circuit event last year at Harvey’s Lake Tahoe, ended up in sixth place, worth $4,544.

Fifth Place: “Skinny B.” Fifth
“Skinny B.” Cleaveland, a barber from Austin, TX ended up getting clipped and took fifth place. He survived a number of close shaves, but was crewcutted away from the final by Ronnie Hoover. “Skinny B.” was swept away with $5,680 in prize money.

Fourth Place: “The Assassin” Fourth
David “The Assassin” Dowdy, a poker pro from Canton, GA was himself gunned down in what was his first time to enter a WSOP Circuit tournament. It was quite a showing for the 27-year-old, making the final table in his first try. Dowdy had previously cashed three times in various tournaments held in Las Vegas. Fourth place paid $7,270.

Third Place: Spence Third
Jahson “Class” Spence, a tough talkative poker pro from Yonkers, NY was part of a three-way split for the top three places. He agreed to a third-place payout totaling $9,315. This was his best WSOP-related showing yet, following a sixth-place finish earlier this year at Caesars Atlantic City.

Second Place: Preis Second
Shimiron Preis, a poker pro from St. Charles, LA agreed to second place. He cashed four times in various WSOP Circuit events, including twice last month at Harrah’s St. Louis. The former 36-year-old manager collected a nice official payout amounting to $14,540.

First Place: Hoover First!
Ronnie Hoover, a retiree from Baton Rouge, LA was the winner of the 15th WSOP Circuit event. He officially collected $14,540 for first place, plus his first gold ring. He formally worked in sales and marketing. In his spare time, when he is not playing poker Hoover enjoys fishing and playing golf. This was Hoover’s first major tournament victory.

2010 Harrah’s New Orleans WSOP Circuit – Event #15 Final Results

2010 Harrah’s New Orleans WSOP Circuit Events Schedule and Results

Executive Staff, World Series of Poker Circuit – Harrah’s New Orleans

Tournament Director – Steve Frezer

Tags: 2010 wsop circuit events, Harrah's New Orleans, no limit holdem, poker tournament results, shootout, wsop circuit events
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2010 Harrah’s New Orleans WSOP Circuit – Event #13 Final Results

Sunday, May 16th, 2010

2009/2010 World Series of Poker Circuit
Harrah’s New Orleans
Bayou Poker Challenge
Event #13
No Limit Hold’em
Buy-In: $300 (+40)
Total Entries: 498
Total Prize Pool: $139,768
May 14-15, 2010

Final Results:

1 “Big Pappa” Solomon Hamilton, GA $32,775

2 Huey Hulin St. Martinville, LA $20,266

3 Daniel Walsh Powder Springs, GA $12,579

4 Hengli “Henry” Tang Tallahassee, FL $10,133

5 John McNeal Franklinton, LA $8,246

6 Linda C. Kennedy Thomaston, AL $6,499

7 Seneca “Six of Spades” Easley Ft. Worth, TX $5,101

8 David Dao Elizabethtown, KY $4,053

9 William “Big Gravy” Ford Albuquerque, NM $3,005

10 Janice Randall Metairie, LA $1,956

11 John Thompson NA $1,956

12 Christopher Chandler Houston, TX $1,956

13 William Spangler Baton Rouge, LA $1,607

14 Michael Hebert Denham Springs, LA $1,607

15 Jeffrey Wyatt Bossier City, LA $1,607

16 Ryan Zachary Concord, NC $1,257

17 David Billings Glenmora, LA $1,257

18 Jonathan Hart Jackson, MS $1,257

19 Brenda Clayton Caroline, TX $978

20 Ludak Sisek NA $978

21 Michael McGuire Fresno, CA $978

22 Kevin Kaylor NA $978

23 Kelly Webb Knoxville, TN $978

24 George Hosek Mandeville, LA $978

25 Matthew Lawrence Tulsa, OK $978

26 Jesse Nzuela Brian, TX $978

27 James Martin Denham Springs, LA $978

28 Felix Beene NA $838

29 Randall Keating NA $838

30 Lacy Wills Port St. Lucy, FL $838

31 Angie Sanders New Orleans, LA $838

32 Travis Smith Mt. Herman, LA $838

33 Robert Thornhill New Orleans, LA $838

34 Andrew Mathis Fairfax, VA $838

35 Christopher Dupuy Baton, Rouge, LA $838

36 Gregory Benoit Lake Charles, LA $838

37 Stephen Danos Maurero, LA $698

38 Richard Guthrie New Orleans, LA $698

39 James Huddleston San Antonio, TX $698

40 Christopher Harris Kenner, LA $698

41 Kent Landry Patterson, LA $698

42 Stanley Hart Biloxi, MS $698

43 Donald Casey Metairie, LA $698

44 Robert March Boulder, CO $698

45 Richard Farrar Lanett, AL $698

Saturday Night Special in the Big Easy

“Big Pappa” Earns First Major Tournament Victory at Harrah’s New Orleans

2010 Harrah's New Orleans WSOP Circuit Event #13 Winner Big Pappa Solomon

New Orleans, LA – “Big Pappa” made an astounding comeback in the most recent World Series of Poker Circuit tournament, part of this year’s Bayou Poker Challenge series being played in The Big Easy. The Georgia senior not only overcome a massive chip disadvantage when the final table started – ranked eighth out of nine players – he ended up destroying his final two adversaries when play was at three handed and the tournament seemed all but over.

Indeed, when “Big Pappa” was locked into a three-handed match against the eventual runner up Huey Hulin and Dan Walsh (who would end up taking third), it appeared Huey Hulin would win his first major tournament victory. He had a massive stack size, in stark contrast to the other two players who were hanging on for dear life, seemingly with hopes of moving into second place. However, once Dan Walsh was eliminated, “Big Pappa” would end up catching every break possible en route to a head-shaking victory. Even those who watched and witnessed appeared dumbfounded that Hulinl did not win.

The beneficiary of a monster rush of good fortune late in the tournament was “Big Pappa,” a mystery man from Georgia who prefers to stay anonymous. The cagey winner pocketed $32,755 for first place, plus a WSOP Circuit gold ring. Meanwhile, Hulin was left wondering what went wrong while Dan Walsh was last scene muttering expletives to himself for yet another WSOP Circuit final table appearance, but non-win.

This was the 13th gold ring event of 19 on this year’s WSOP Circuit schedule at Harrah’s New Orleans. The $340 buy-in No-Limit Hold’em tournament was played over two consecutive days during May 14th and 15th. The tournament attracted 498 entries, which was the second-biggest turnout so far at this year’s Bayou series. The top 45 finishers carved up a prize pool totaling $139,768. After 489 players were eliminated over the first 16 hours of competition, final table play began on a Saturday afternoon. There were no prior WSOP Circuit gold ring event winners among the final nine players, which guaranteed a first-time champion.

Four players arrived at the final table with a decisive advantage over the remaining five short stacks. Hengli Tang, Dan Walsh, Huey Hulin, and Linda C. Kennedy each had the rest of the field outchipped by nearly 2 to 1 or more. But the massive number of chips in play and low blinds and antes meant that everyone had a chance to make a move – especially the player in the Three Seat nicknamed “Big Pappa.” It took more than 90 minutes for the first player to be eliminated.

When Final Table play began at 6:00 pm, the nine finalists and their starting chip counts were as follows:

Seat Player Hometown Chip Count

1 Willie “Big Gravy” Ford Albuquerque, NM 463,000

2 David Dao Elizabethtown, KY 239,000

3 Seneca “Six of Spades” Easley Ft. Worth, TX 210,000

4 “Big Pappa” Solomon Hamilton, GA 155,000

5 Hengli Tang Tallahassee, FL 810,000

6 Dan Walsh Powder Springs, GA 897,000

7 Huey Hulin St. Martinville, LA 795,000

8 Mike McNeal Franklinton, LA 119,000

9 Linda C. Kennedy Thomaston, AL 790,000

Final table play lasted nearly six hours and ended at 11:45 pm. Players sung the blues in the following order:

Ninth Place: Willie “Big Gravy” Ford Goes “Boom, Boom”
Willie Ford, a.k.a. “Big Gravy” lasted about 90 minutes. He suffered the unfortunate trap feared by all Hold’em players of holding an over pair on an innocent-looking board, only to watch in horror when his all-in post-flop bet was snap called by a player holding a set. “Big Gravy’s” pocket nines ended up losing to pocket sevens when a seven came on board, leaving the player from Albuquerque, NM in ninth place, with $3,005.

Eighth Place: “The Thrill is Gone” for Dao
David Dao, a physician from Kentucky, was diagnosed with an eighth-place finish when his AJ ended up losing to pocket queens. This marked Dao’s 12th time to cash in a WSOP Circuit event. He has finished second three times, but has yet to win a gold ring. Dao was prescribed a payout amounting to $4,053, with some side effects of depression, for failing to win.

Seventh Place: “Six of Spades” is “Born Under a Bad Sign”
Seneca “Six of Spades” Easley, from Ft. Worth, TX earned his interesting moniker from riding in a motorcycle gang. His nickname seemed tailor-made for an aspiring WSOP Circuit champion, but the cards had no literary appreciation. Easley went out about two hours into play and settled for $5,101 in prize money. He previously cashed twice in tournaments held in Las Vegas, but this was his first WSOP-related in-the-money finish.

Sixth Place: “Lady Sings the Blues”
Linda C. Kennedy, a retired air traffic controller who now lives in Thomaston, AL started out the final table with a decent number of chips. She lasted about three hours during which she became short-stacked. Finally, Kennedy moved all in with A9 on what turned out to be her final hand. She was thrilled to get a call from one of the big stacks, who showed the dog hand 74 offsuit. But the puppy hand barked when a seven flopped, ending up biting Kennedy, who left the table with mixed feelings. Given her early stack size, she hoped to finish higher. But the $6,499 in prize money she received helped to soften the blow. Kennedy previously finished in second place in one of the WSOP Circuit tournaments held earlier this year at Harrah’s Tunica.

Fifth Place: “It’s a Cryin’ Shame,” Says Mike McNeal
Mike McNeal cold not have picked a worse time to try and make a move with a marginal hand. He was dealt KT and moved all in hoping to steal some chips. But he got called down by pocket aces. A ten flopped, giving the financial consultant from Franklinton, LA some hope. But that’s as far as McNeal improved, which resulted in his fifth place finish, worth $8,246.

Fourth Place: For Hengli Tang, “Out Goes the Light”
Hengli (Henry) Tang, from Tallahassee, FL began play with a healthy stack size. But he ran low on chips late in the competition. Tang moved all-in pre-flop with a tiny pair hoping to either steal a round of blinds and antes, or double up in a possible race. Unfortunately, Tang moved in with pocket deuces and got a call from a rival holding pocket sixes. Tang failed to hit a set or improve and ultimately went out in fourth place with $10,133.

Third Place: “They Sky is Crying” for Dan Walsh
Poor Dan Walsh. He can’t catch a break. Despite unquestionable dedication to the game, tons of hors spent playing poker, and obvious talent, Walsh can’t get a breakthrough victory. He lost three races early, which cut his stack size in half. Then, he held on for dear life for nearly three hours before finally taking a bad beat with A5 against Q7. A seven came, provoking a colorful filament of commentary from the occasionally-bombastic Georgia poker pro. Walsh ended up losing the pot and collected $12,579 for third place. Nevertheless, Walsh has enjoyed a good series, with a second place finish four days earlier in the No-Limit heads-Up tournament.

Second Place: Huey Hulin “Can’t Be Satisfied”
It’s hard to imagine what must have been going through Huey Hulin’s head after watching his chips magically disappear during the last 20 minutes of the tournament. It was as if the poker gods flipped a switch somewhere, cutting off all energy to the contractor from St. Martinsville, LA. First, Hulin watched helplessly when he was just one card away from victory, and “Big Pappa” ended up rivering a full-house. On the key hand, Hulin and “Big Pappa” both had flopped trip nines. Hulin had the better kicker. But “Big Pappa” brought down the hammer on the final card and spiked his miracle. After a few hands during which Hulin lost the chip lead, “Big Pappa” had his adversary all-in and ended up winning the tournament with king high. For his effort, Hulin received $20,266, which seemed about as satisfying as missing the lottery jackpot by one number. This was Hulin’s first time to cash in a WSOP Circuit event.

The two key heads-up hands can be seen here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ie10nKn80dw

First Place: “Big Pappa” Says — “Lets the Good Times Roll”
A Georgia man who goes by the nickname “Big Pappa” won $32,775. He also received a WSOP Circuit gold ring. He did not wish to have any publicity. Hence, the most mystifying of all tournaments that have taken place at this year’s Bayou Poker Challenge ended on a most fitting note — with the eventual champion just as enigmatic a figure as his win was inexplicable.

2010 Harrah’s New Orleans WSOP Circuit – Event #13 Final Results

2010 Harrah’s New Orleans WSOP Circuit Events Schedule and Results

Executive Staff, World Series of Poker Circuit – Harrah’s New Orleans

Tournament Director – Steve Frezer

Tags: 2010 wsop circuit events, Harrah's New Orleans, no limit holdem, poker tournament results, wsop circuit events
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2010 Harrah’s New Orleans WSOP Circuit – Event #11 Final Results

Saturday, May 15th, 2010

2009/2010 World Series of Poker Circuit
Harrah’s New Orleans
Bayou Poker Challenge
Event #11
No Limit Hold’em
Buy-In: $1,000 (+70)
Total Entries: 216
Total Prize Pool: $204,370
May 13-14, 2010

Final Results:

1 Barry Hutter Sarasota, FL $49,559

2 Garrett Utt Atlanta, GA $30,655

3 Manelic “Manny” Minaya Tampa, FL $19,415

4 Jonathan Abla Athens, GA $15,838

5 Alexandru Masek San Diego, CA $12,773

6 Viet “Big Papa” Vo Houston, TX $10,218

7 Steven Jones Belton, TX $8,174

8 Anthony Hartofilis Palm Harbor, FL $6,642

9 Mitchell Franks Tupelo, MS $5,109

10 Andrew Malott Las Vegas, NV $3,576

11 Jason Morris Houston, TX $3,576

12 Tyler Smith Smithdale, MS $3,576

13 Ryan Enis Corinth, MS $3,065

14 Alex Olwine Daytom, OH $3,065

15 Richard Sasso Miami, FL $3,065

16 Gustavo “Snap Turtle” Galvao New York, NY $2,554

17 Sung Lee Atlanta, GA $2,554

18 Lawrence Lazar Kingwood, TX $2,554

19 Curtis Terry New Orleans, LA $2,043

20 Deric Williams Harvey, LA $2,043

21 Ricky Romero NA $2,043

22 Thai Cao Homer, LA $2,043

23 Roy Bell Laplace, LA $2,043

24 Shawn Hyde Birmingham, AL $2,043

25 Shawn Kraemer Houma, LA $2,043

26 Nancy “Trouble” Birnbaum Atlanta, GA $2,043

27 Rogelio Salinas San Antonio, TX $2,043

Barry Hutter Earns First Major Tournament Victory at Harrah’s New Orleans

Florida Poker Pro Takes Gold Ring in Marathon WSOP Circuit Event

2010 Harrah's New Orleans WSOP Circuit Event #11 Winner Barry Hutter

New Orleans, LA – The most recent World Series of Poker Circuit tournament attracted another strong turnout of 216 players. Each entrant posted a $1,000 entry fee in order to shoot for the opportunity to wear a gold ring. The prize pool exceeded $200,000 and due to some very competitive play was the longest tournament of any event held thus far at this year’s Bayou Poker Challenge.

Clocking in at more than 32 hours, the tournament became the supreme test of poker skill and physical endurance for those who endured the ride, as the yawning new champion was finally crowned at 5:40 am. By that time, a packed poker room at Harrah’s New Orleans had pretty much cleared out, leaving only the most die-hard and dedicated poker fans to watch the final table battle.

Inexplicably, a dozen brave souls watched the marathon from start to finish. They were obviously unaware of the multiplicity of sensory treats outside just steps away on Bourbon Street. Or perhaps, they really loved poker. Or maybe, they were hoping to leech a buy-in for the following day’s tournament. Who knows? The fact was, somebody finally won, a few railbirds cheered, and another long day of poker action at Harrah’s New Orleans finally came to a merciful end.

The winner was Barry Hutter, a 23-year-old poker pro from Sarasota, FL. He pocketed the sum of $49,559, his biggest recorded cash to date. Hutter primarily plays live in cash games but plans to play in more tournaments, and with good reason.

This was the 11th gold ring event of 19 on this year’s WSOP Circuit schedule at Harrah’s New Orleans. The $1,000 (+70) buy-in No-Limit Hold’em tournament was played over two consecutive days during May 13th and 14th. The top 18 finishers were paid.

Hutter arrived at the Final Table holding about a quarter of the total chips in play and was in a dominant pposition throughout. Accomplished tournament performers Manny Minaya and Alexandru Masek were close on the heels of Hutter. The remaining players needed to make major moves and pretty much failed in their attempts to pose serious threats to the biggest stacks.

When Final Table play began at 11:00 pm, the nine ironmen finalists and their starting chip counts were as follows:

Seat Player Hometown Chip Count

1 Jonathan Abla Athens, GA 312,500

2 Alexandru Masek San Diego, CA 453,000

3 Garrett Utt Atlanta, GA 98,000

4 Anthony Hartofilis Palm Harbor, FL 195,500

5 Steve Jones Belton, TX 234,500

6 Mitch Franks Tupelo, MS 73,500

7 Manny Minaya Tampa, FL 471,000

8 Barry Hutter Sarasota, FL 642,500

9 Viet “Big Papa” Vo Houston, TX 117,000

Final Table play lasted about six hours and ended as sun up. Players were eliminated in the following order:

Ninth Place: Mitch in the Ditch
Mitch Franks (not to be confused with Mitchell Frank, the famous music producer), went out quickly as the shortest stack. He pocketed $5,109 for two days of poker playing. Frank, a businessman from Tupelo, MS – the birthplace of Elvis — had previously finished deep in a few events at this year’s Delta Gold Poker Classic, held in Mississippi.

Eighth Place: Hartofilis Takes Eighth Place
Anthony Hartofilis (not to be confused with actor Anthony Hopkins), was the next player to exit. The poker pro from Palm Harbor, FL collected a nice payout totaling $6,642. This was his second recorded live tournament cash after one previous in-the-money finish at The Wynn Classic in Las Vegas. He also has a number of bigger cashes online.

Seventh Place: Steve Jones Goes Up, Up, and Away in His Beautiful Balloon
Steve Jones, who works as an investor and lives in Belton, TX (not to be confused with Steve Jones of the Sex Pistols – they are most assuredly not the same person) bombed out about 90 minutes into play. He collected $8,174 for a fine performance. Interestingly, Jones has spent nearly 30 years competing in hot air balloon events. He won the 1990 National Championship in a hot air ballooning and continues to compete regularly in events held around the world. Belton has also performed well in several poker events, including tournaments held at the Venetian and Bally’s in Las Vegas. He later revealed that he’s won more money recently in poker tournaments, although the view is not nearly as good as riding up in the clouds.

Sixth Place: “Big Papa” Busts
Viet Vo, a.k.a. “Big Papa” (not to be confused with “Big Papi” of the Boston Red Sox) went out with AJ against AQ. He was dominated on his final hand and struck out in sixth place. The Vietnamese-born x-ray technician who now lives in Houston, plays in a home game on weekends. He came here to New Orleans at the urging of friends and did not disappoint them by making it all the way to the final table. “Big Papi” received $10,218 in prize money.

Fifth Place: No Third Ring for Masek
Alexandru Masek (not to be confused with “Alexander the Great,” despite occasional flashes of supernatural poker talent) came up far short in his bid for a third gold ring victory. Masek won his first WSOP Circuit title last year in his hometown of San Diego. He won his second gold ring two months ago 3,000 miles away at Caesars Atlantic City. Masek was confident coming into this final table that he might earn his first southern poker victory but ran into serious trouble midway through the battle and ended up with a fifth-place finish. Masek pushed with a short stack on his final hand and failed to improve, resulting in a payout worth $12,773. “Alexander the Great” reported turned in his grave when he learned Masek had soiled his good name.

Fourth Place: Abla-Kadambra
Jonathan Abla (not to be confused with anyone related to Jessica Alba), took an unwanted early morning stroll away from the final table when he busted out about 4:30 am. Abla pushed on his final hand hoping to double up, but was unsuccessful. Abla, who is 24-years-old and is from Athens, GA had only cashed in a few small live tournaments before. He had a large following cheering him on at the final table, which probably meant he owed a big makeup figure (highly unlikely) or is a pretty good online player. His first WSOP-related cash was worth $15,838.

Third Place: Well-Known Pro “Manny” Minaya Takes Third
Players agreed to some kind of a deal when play went three handed. But the trio agreed to play it out for the gold ring. “Manny” Manaya (not to be confused with Minnie the Moocher) had the highest pedigree of any final table player given his numerous wins, cashes, and prize money earnings. Manaya, making his 13th WSOP Circuit cash in this event, ended up with $19,415 for third place. Manaya has also cashed 11 times at the WSOP in Las Vegas and has more than $1 million in career tournament earnings.

Second Place: Garrett Utt Takes Second
Garrett Utt (not to be confused with NBC newscaster Garrick Utley) calls himself the best no-limit player in the world. He might have to back off that statement after coming in second place. The 22-year-old jokester busted out on a bad beat when the final hand of the tournament was dealt.

Utt moved all in with Kd Kc. Barry Hutter had a small pair, and made the call with 4s 4d. Hutter had his opponent covered by about a 5 to 1 margin and watched as a four flopped. The final board ran Ad 6s 4c Tc Ah, giving Hutter a full house.

As the runner up, Utt collected $30,665. He also came in second place in a WSOP Circuit event held last year at Harrah’s Atlantic City. This marked his third time to cash in a WSOP-related tournament.

First Place: Barry Hutter Wins Big Money
Barry Hutter, not to be confused with anyone other than the winner, collected $49,559 and his first WSOP Circuti gold ring. The 23-year-old poker player resides in Sarasota, FL.

Video highlights of the day can be seen at: http://www.youtube.com/wsopdotcom

2010 Harrah’s New Orleans WSOP Circuit – Event #11 Final Results

2010 Harrah’s New Orleans WSOP Circuit Events Schedule and Results

Executive Staff, World Series of Poker Circuit – Harrah’s New Orleans

Tournament Director – Steve Frezer

2010 Harrah’s New Orleans WSOP Circuit – Event #14 Final Results

Saturday, May 15th, 2010

2009/2010 World Series of Poker Circuit
Caesars Palace Las Vegas
Event #14
No Limit Hold’em
Buy-In: $5,000 (+150)
Total Entries: 13
Total Prize Pool: $63,050
May 14, 2010

Final Results:

1 William Benton Houston, TX $37,830

2 Cameron New The Woodlands, TX $25,220

William Benton Wins $5,000 Buy-In Pot-Limit Omaha Championship

Harrah’s New Orleans Offers Biggest Non-Main Event Buy-In Tournament in WSOP Circuit History

2010 Harrah's New Orleans WSOP Circuit Event #14 Winner William Benton

New Orleans, LA – The most recent World Series of Poker Circuit tournament held at Harrah’s New Orleans won’t set any attendance records. Even though the overall numbers through the first 14 events are up slightly over last year, the tournament which just concluded attracted only 13 players. Of course, there’s a justifiable explanation for the low turnout. The buy-in was five-grand….as in five-thousand dollars.

In fact, this was the largest non-championship event ever held in the six-year history of the WSOP Circuit. While most gold ring tournaments are in the $300 to $1,000 range, organizers of the Harrah’s New Orleans event wanted to try out a big buy-in tournament with the hope it could ignite greater interest and participation in a wider range of buy-in events in the future.

The 13 pioneers of Pot-Limit Omaha each forked over $5,000 and played a one-day tournament, which paid only the top two spots. This was the 14th gold ring event of 19 on this year’s WSOP Circuit schedule at Harrah’s New Orleans.

Players agreed to a deal when play reached three-handed. The terms of the deal were not disclosed.

The official tournament winner was William Benton, from Houston, TX. His official payout amounted to $37,830 – which was not bad for what amounted to a ten-hour poker session. Benton was also presented with the coveted gold ring, awarded to all WSOP Circuit event winners. This was his first time to cash in a WSOP-related tournament, following two previous cashes at the Mid-South Classic two years ago.

The official runner up was Cameron New, from The Woodlands, TX. He had just one prior cash prior to this payout, which took place a few months ago in Las Vegas. Mr. New collected a nice consolation prize amounting to $25,220.

Video highlights of the day can be seen at: http://www.youtube.com/wsopdotcom

It’s tough to predict if and when events of this size will be offered in the future. But one thing is for sure. Whether it’s bigger buy-in tournaments, shootouts, heads-up tournaments, mixed games, or run of the mill No-Limit Hold’em events, Harrah’s New Orleans has clearly demonstrated the willingness to take risks and try out new things. And for that, they should be applauded.

2010 Harrah’s New Orleans WSOP Circuit – Event #14 Final Results

2010 Harrah’s New Orleans WSOP Circuit Events Schedule and Results

Executive Staff, World Series of Poker Circuit – Harrah’s New Orleans

Tournament Director – Steve Frezer

Tags: 2010 wsop circuit events, Harrah's New Orleans, poker tournament results, wsop circuit events
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2010 Harrah’s New Orleans WSOP Circuit – Event #12 Final Results

Saturday, May 15th, 2010

2009/2010 World Series of Poker Circuit
Harrah’s New Orleans
Bayou Poker Challenge
Event #12
Pot Limit Omaha Eight or Better
Buy-In: $300 (+40)
Total Entries: 92
Total Prize Pool: $26,772
May 13-14, 2010

Final Results:

1 David Fox Kerrville, TX $8,567

2 John Holley Destin, FL $5,354

3 Franklin Dawkins Lafayette, LA $3,413

4 Damian Radanov Zrenjan (Serbia) $2,409

5 Alton Torregano III New Orleans, LA $1,940

6 Robert Vanderburg Lexington, SC $1,606

7 Jean-Sebastien Laurent Naples, FL $1,338

8 Jonathan Junca New Orleans, LA $1,137

9 A.W. “Tony” Vidmer Nashville, TN $1,003

Outfoxed

David Fox Becomes Bayou Pot-Limit Omaha Eight-or-Better Champion

Texan Earns First Major Tournament Victory at Harrah’s New Orleans

2010 Harrah's New Orleans WSOP Circuit Event #12 Winner David Fox

New Orleans, LA – Pot-Limit Omaha Eight-or-Better first gained popularity as an online game and has since spread to live tournaments. The World Series of Poker first offered Pot-Limit Omaha High-Low as a gold bracelet event in 2007 (not to be confused with PLO’s high-only format, which has been played at the WSOP for nearly 30 years). The game has attracted a nice turnout all three years it’s been offered at the WSOP, which promises an increasingly bright future for this form of poker. It has now spread to a few WSOP Circuit events and was offered for the second consecutive year at Harrah’s New Orleans.

This was the 12th World Series of Poker Circuit gold ring event of 19 at this year’s Bayou Poker Challenge held at Harrah’s New Orleans. The $300 (+40) buy-in tournament, was played over two consecutive days during May 13th and 14th. The tournament attracted 92 entries. The top nine finishers divided a prize pool totaling $26,772. After 83 players were eliminated on the first day, final table play began on a Friday afternoon.

Dave Fox, from Kerrville, TX arrived at the Final Table with a slight chip advantage over Frank Dawkins. The remaining seven players had some catching up to do. But the wide distribution of chips and low blinds and antes meant everyone seemed to have a reasonable shot at victory. At least that’s what Fox wanted his rivals to believe.

Oops. Joke’s on everyone else. Fox wins.

Fox stayed in control the entire duration of the finale and ended up winning his first major poker tournament. The 41-year-old who says he is “between jobs right now,” collected $8,567 and his first WSOP Circuit gold ring. There were clear signs Fox would be tough o beat. He had previously done well in various poker tournaments played around the country. In fact, this was Fox’s fourth major cash this year. He now has three WSOP Circuit in-the-money finishes, in addition to a WSOP cash in Las Vegas last year.

The final table included two former WSOP Circuit gold ring winners. Playing for their second Circuit title were Jean-Sebastien Laurent and Jonathan Theodore Junca. The hopes of both aspiring repeat winners would be dashed rather quickly however, as they went out in seventh and eighth place, respectively. Once Laurent was gone, that guaranteed a first-time gold ring winner – and Fox ended up outfoxing those who remained.

When Final Table play began at 6:00 pm, the nine finalists and their starting chip counts were as follows:

Seat Player Hometown Chip Count

1 Damian Radanov 121,500

2 Robert Vanderburg Lexington, SC 50,000

3 Frank Dawkins Lafayette, LA 134,000

4 Jonathan Theodore Junca New Orleans, LA 82,000

5 Jean-Sebastien Laurent Naples, FL 102,000

6 A.W. Vidmer Nashville, TN 44,000

7 Alton Torreano III New Orleans, LA 47,500

8 John Holley Destin, GA 112,500

9 Dave Fox Kerrville, TX 136,000

Final Table play lasted six hours and ended at past midnight. Players were eliminated in the following order:

Ninth Place: High Roller” Film Director Takes Ninth Place
Film director and screenwriter A.W. “Tony” Vidmer was short stacked late in the tournament. He managed to make it to the final table and then went out about 20 minutes into play. Vidmer, who lives in Nashville, ended up with $1,003 in prize money. Vidmer is best known in the poker world as the writer and director of the film “High Roller,” a biographical story of the late poker icon Stu Ungar.

Eighth Place: Happy Hour Ends for Bartender
Jonathan Theodore Junca, a 25-year-old New Orleans bartender likely poured himself a stiff drink after busting out in eighth place. Junca missed a low draw on his final hand and exited with $1,137 in cash. Junca previously won a WSOP Circuit gold ring playing Seven-Card Stud in 2009 at Harrah’s Tunica.

Seventh Place: No Repeat for Jean-Sebastien Laurent
Jean-Sebastien Laurent, who won the $340 buy-in Pot-Limit Omaha tournament (Event #6) held two days ago hoped to win his second gold ring this week. But he busted out midway into the finale and ended up in seventh place. Laurent, from Naples, FL earned $1,338.

Sixth Place: Professor Gets Expelled
Robert Vanderberg, a professor of Educational Psychology at the University of South Carolina, was the next player to exit. He has only played in a few WSOP-related tournaments and collected $1,606 in his first major tournament cash.

Fifth Place: Torregano Gone-O
Alton Torregano III, a computer scientist from New Orleans, went out holding two pair and missed a low drive, which resulted in a fifth-place finish. This was Torregano’s second time to cash in a WSOP Circuit event here. He finished fourth place in this same event last year. Fifth place paid $1,940.

Fourth Place: Bad “Omen” for Damian
Damian Radanov, who is originally from Zrenjan, Serbia and now resides in the Memphis area, went out in fourth place, which paid $2,409. This was Radanov’s third time to cash in a WSOP Circuit event this year, after two previous in-the-money finishes at Harrah’s Tunica. Radanov already has about $45,000 in winnings in what has been a relatively short tournament career.

Third Place: The Defense Rests
Frank Dawkins, a longtime defense attorney from Lafayette, LA had a shot at victory, but took a bad beat late in the tournament and went out in third place. Dawkins, age 61, who has a number of impressive tournament finishes throughout the South picked up a mixed blessing of $3,413 in prize money, but no ring nor bragging rights. This marked his first time to cash in a WSOP-related event. Dawkins was formally a federal prosecutor who has spent many years in the legal profession. He also recently returned to school and earned a Master Degree in Health Law, proving it’s never to late to continue learning and living life to the fullest.

Second Place: Holley Takes Runner Up Spot
John Holly proved to be a tough adversary. He lost a race when heads-up against David Fox and then was short stacked for the next half hour, finally losing the final hand on a missed draw. Holly, a professional fisherman, nearly reeled in a prize catch with a gold ring victory, but instead hooked the prize pool for $5,354. Holly has a number of cashes and final table appearance as regional poker tournaments played throughout the South.

First Place: Sly as a Fox
David Fox was in command of this final table from start to finish. He was never short-stacked and stayed cool and calm the entire way en route to a nice payday worth $8,567. Fox earned his first WSOP Circuit gold ring.

Video highlights of the day can be seen at: http://www.youtube.com/wsopdotcom

2010 Harrah’s New Orleans WSOP Circuit – Event #12 Final Results

2010 Harrah’s New Orleans WSOP Circuit Events Schedule and Results

Executive Staff, World Series of Poker Circuit – Harrah’s New Orleans

Tournament Director – Steve Frezer

Tags: 2010 wsop circuit events, Harrah's New Orleans, poker tournament results, wsop circuit events
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2010 Harrah’s New Orleans WSOP Circuit – Event #10 Final Results

Friday, May 14th, 2010

2009/2010 World Series of Poker Circuit
Harrah’s New Orleans
Bayou Poker Challenge
Event #10
Mixed Games
Buy-In: $300 (+40)
Total Entries: 68
Total Prize Pool: $19,788
May 12-13, 2010

Final Results:

1 Daphne Turner Richmond, TX $6,727

2 Allen Kessler Las Vegas, NV $4,155

3 Darryle Dauenhauer Laffayette, LA $2,671

4 Andrew Daniels Port Neches, TX $1,780

5 Gregory Headrick St. Louis, MO $1,434

6 Michael Husar Laplace, CA $1,187

7 Joel Harwood Hallandale, FL $989

8 Nirnay Sinha Austin, TX $840

Daphne “Tweety” Turner Makes WSOP Circuit History!

Turner Becomes First Woman to Win Two Gold Rings

“Tweety” Chirps and Wins “Mixed Game” Event at Harrah’s New Orleans

2010 Harrah's New Orleans WSOP Circuit Event #10 Winner Daphne Turner

Las Vegas, NV – Daphne “Tweety” Turner made poker history tonight. She became the first woman in the six-year history of WSOP Circuit events to win two gold rings. Turner bulldozed her way to victory in the Mixed Game event, which requires mastery of seven forms of poker. Turner pocketed $6,727. But her win is likely to be remembered as being a record-setting accomplishment.

Turner’s previous victory came exactly two years to the day when she won her first gold ring, here at Harrah’s New Orleans. In that tournament, Turner became the first female to win an open WSOP Circuit in New Orleans. History repeated itself again on this night, with Turner’s resounding, well-earned victory.

Perhaps most impressive about Turner’s win was that it took place in a Mixed Game format. Indeed, Mixed Game events are becoming increasingly popular at many tournaments. The Mixed Game format is similar to H.O.R.S.E., except a wider variety of poker games are played. Instead of just five games played as with H.O.R.S.E., there are seven games included – Limit Hold’em, Omaha High-Low Split, Razz, Seven-Card Stud, Eight-or-Better, No-Limit Hold’em, and Pot-Limit Omaha. Some argue that Mixed Game tournaments are actually the supreme test of all-around poker skill, since there are so many different varieties of games. Note: By contrast, 60 percent of the H.O.R.S.E. menu is comprised of Stud games, and all play is limit. Mixed Game formats not only include two additional games, but Pot-Limit and No-Limit, as well.

This was the tenth gold ring event of 19 at this year’s Bayou Poker Challenge, part of the WSOP Circuit schedule at Harrah’s New Orleans. The $300 (+50) buy-in Mixed Game tournament was played over two consecutive days during May 12th and 13th. The tournament attracted 68 entries. The top eight finishers divided a prize pool totaling $19,788. After 60 players were eliminated on the first day, final table play began on a Thursday afternoon, with Turner ranked in second place according to the early chip count.

In fact, this final table included two former WSOP Circuit gold ring winners – Taylor and Allen Kessler who would end up locked in a heads-up showdown for a repeat victory. Michael Husar was also present, who won a WSOP Satellite event held at last year’s Winter Bayou Poker Challenge, held at Harrah’s New Orleans.

Greg Headrick arrived at the Final Table with a significant chip advantage over Turner. The remaining six players were outchipped by a wider margin. But the mixed game format and wide distribution of chips and low blinds and antes meant a long night of play was to be expected.

When Final Table play began at 5:00 pm, the nine finalists and their starting chip counts were as follows:

Seat Player Hometown Chip Count

1 Darryl “GoPhish” Dauenhauer Laughlin, NV 81,500

2 Allen “Chainsaw” Kessler Las Vegas, NV 114,500

3 Michael Husar LaPlace, LA 53,500

4 Daphne “Tweety” Turner Richmond, TX 176,000

5 Joel Harwood Hallandale, FL 79,500

6 Drew Daniels Port Neches, TX 55,500

7 Nirway “The Ha” Sinha Austin, TX 20,500

8 Greg Headrick St. Louis, MO 235,000

Final Table play lasted about eight hours and ended at close to midnight. Players were eliminated in the following order:

Eighth Place: See-Ya, Sinha
Nirway “The Ha” Sinha, a strategy consultant from Austin, TX went out first, after making it into the money. He was short-stacked and was not able to last more than a few hands. This was Sinha’s second time to cash here in New Orleans. Eighth place paid $840.

Seventh Place: Harwood Goes Out Seventh
Joel Harwood, from Hallandale, FL made his second WSOP Circuit cash with his seventh-place showing in this tournament. He collected $989 in prize money. Harwood now has ten final tables at various major events held throughout the U.S. over the past decade.

Sixth Place: Husar Finishes Sixth
Michael Husar, an engineer from Laplace, LA who formally served in the U.S. Air Force had a shot at winning his first gold ring and second Bayou series championship (he won Event #12 in December, which was the 2009 Winter Bayou Poker Challenge). But instead, he busted out midway through the finale. Husar had to settle for a payout amounting to $1,187.

Fifth Place: Headrick Gone in Fifth Place
Greg Headrick arrived with the chip lead and the confidence of having made three final table appearances at last month’s WSOP Circuit event held at Harrah’s St. Louis. Headrick, who took 7th, 4th, and 3rd place in respective tournaments played in his hometown of St. Louis, continued his good fortune here in New Orleans, although he had mixed feelings about the fifth-place finish. Headrick is certainly a player to watch given his record the last six weeks. He collected $1,434 in prize money.

Fourth Place: Daniels Takes Fourth
Drew Daniels (a.k.a. Andrew Daniels), a student and part-time poker player from Port Neches, TX cashed in fourth place. He also cashed once previously at the WSOP in Las Vegas. Daniels picked up $1,780 for this performance.

Third Place: Third Place Goes to Dauenhauer
Darryl “DoPhis” Dauenhauer, from Laughlin, NV lasted for seven hours before going out late in the night. The retiree was retired from the table, which paid $2,671 in prize money. Dauenhauer had previously cashed in two WSOP events held in Las Vegas. He also jokingly added that among his accomplishments, he once sucked out on Allen Kessler in a Limit Ohama tournament. Kessler, who finished second in this tournament could not confirm the accuracy of Dauenhauer’s claim.

Second Place: “Chainsaw” Kessler Comes Close, But No Victory
Allen “Chainsaw” Kessler, coming off his championship victory in the 2009 Winter Bayou Poker Challenge held here at Harrah’s last December had a shot to capture his second gold ring. But Daphne Turner had other ideas and wiped out Kessler in a tough final heads-up battle that went 90 minutes. The final hand came when Turner ended up making a straight against Kessler’s two pair.

The final hand of the tournament can be seen on video here:

Go to YouTube….keyword: “Daphne Turner” + poker

Allen Kessler, who is originally from Philadelphia and now lives in Las Vegas, has earned in excess of $1.5 million in tournament poker. He added another $5,155 to his resume of cashes with this second-place showing.

First Place: Daphne “Tweety” Taylor Makes History!
Daphne “Tweety” Turner, from Richmond, TX won the Mixed Game championship. Her cash prize totaled $6,727. Far more memorable was the WSOP Circuit gold ring she earned, becoming the first female player since the WSOP Circuit began in 2005 to win two open events. Turner’s accomplishment is even more remarkable since she plays in few events when compared to many of her tournament rivals. Encouraged by her showing in this tournament, as well as a first-place finish at another tournament held recently in Las Vegas, Turner says she hopes to play in more future events, including the 2010 WSOP.

A video interview with winner Turner at tableside, moments after her win can be seen at the link posted above.

2010 Harrah’s New Orleans WSOP Circuit – Event #10 Final Results

2010 Harrah’s New Orleans WSOP Circuit Events Schedule and Results

Executive Staff, World Series of Poker Circuit – Harrah’s New Orleans

Tournament Director – Steve Frezer

Tags: 2010 wsop circuit events, Harrah's New Orleans, mixed games, poker tournament results, wsop circuit events
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2010 Harrah’s New Orleans WSOP Circuit – Event #9 Final Results

Friday, May 14th, 2010

2009/2010 World Series of Poker Circuit
Harrah’s New Orleans
Bayou Poker Challenge
Event #9
No Limit Hold’em with Re-Buys ($100)
Buy-In: $300 (+40)
Total Entries: 164
Total Rebuys: 656
Total Prize Pool: $106,206
May 12-13, 2010

Final Results:

1 Lake Garner Hattiesburg, MS $28,144

2 Carl “Spanky” Guillot Baton Rouge, LA $16,992

3 Chan Pelton College Station, TX $10,866

4 David Poleto New Orleans, LA $8,496

5 Mitchell Smith N. Miami Beach, FL $6,637

6 Rodney Baseke Mongomery, TX $5,310

7 Sholom Lipszyc New York, NY $4,248

8 Ismael “Jesus” Cabrera Atlanta, GA $3,451

9 “Chicago Johnny” Nowak Fairview, TX $2,920

10 Matthew Colvin Dallas, TX $2,389

11 Johnathan Westra Gainesville, TX $2,389

12 Larry Thomas Vacaville, CA $2,389

13 Larry Hirons Arlington, TX $2,124

14 Jacob Naquin New Orleans, LA $2,124

15 Teddy Conner New Orleans, LA $2,124

16 Nathanael Burdette Birmingham, AL $1,858

17 Brian Traster NA $1,858

18 John Tolefsen Houston, TX $1,858

“An Amazing Race” for Lake Garner

Former Television Reality Show Contestant Earns His Second Gold Ring Victory at Harrah’s New Orleans

That’s No Misprint: 164 Players Make 656 Re-Buys

2010 Harrah's New Orleans WSOP Circuit Event #9 Winner Lake Garner

New Orleans, LA – The poker world is pretty much divided into two camps – those who like re-buy tournaments and those who don’t. Re-buy tournaments are attractive to many players because the prize pools are often two to three times the payout for a conventional freeze out tournament. The larger the number of re-buys, the bigger the prize money is for those who are fortunate enough to cash. The downside to re-buy tournaments is they can be expensive if things go bad. Re-buy tournaments also play differently, especially during the re-buy phase, which typically takes place during the first few levels. With the prospect of re-buys available, many players like to gamble early, and this increases variance – which is already part of the tournament equation.

The most recent World Series of Poker Circuit tournament held at Harrah’s New Orleans was a No-Limit Hold’em event, with $100 re-buys during the first three levels. The tournament attracted 164 players, which was about the expected number for the midweek start. What blew everyone away was the number of re-buys – a whopping 656 reloads, which amounts to an average of four re-buys per player. On average, most poker re-buy tournaments have 1.5 to 2 re-buys per player. Indeed, to anyone who still doubts the poker action in New Orleans is not among the best in the country, just check out the numbers.

Note — Video highlights of this tournament can be seen at YouTube here:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rJHv1X9g2JM

This was the ninth gold ring event of 19 on this year’s WSOP Circuit schedule at Harrah’s New Orleans. The $300 (+40) buy-in No-Limit Hold’em tournament was played over two consecutive days during May 13th and 14th. The top 18 finishers divided a prize pool totaling $106,206.

The winner was Lake Garner, from Hattiesburg, MS. He won his second WSOP Circuit gold ring, following a victory which also took place here at Harrah’s New Orleans in 2007. Garner also won a major tournament held in Mississippi in 2005 and among his many accomplishments has cashed at the WSOP of in Las Vegas.

Garner, accompanied by his wife Michelle who sat near the final table for the duration, became well-known to fans of reality television when they jointly appeared on the popular program, “The Amazing Race.” During the 2006 season, they traveled around the country together logging 72,000 miles. The Garners ended up finishing sixth.

This time, the outcome was far better – first place. Garner pocketed $28,144 and received his second WSOP Circuit gold ring. He also took just two re-buys, only half the tournament average.

Also among those who cashed, was two-time WSOP Circuit gold ring winner Johnathan Westra, who ended up with an 11th place finish. After 155 players were eliminated on the first day, final table play began on a Thursday afternoon. New Yorker Sholom Lipszyc arrived at the Final Table with a slight chip advantage over Lake Garner. The remaining seven players were outchipped by 2 to 1 or more. The final table was also notable for the appearance of “Johnny Chicago” Nowak, who was making this third top ten showing and fourth cash so far at this year’s Bayou series.

When Final Table play began at 2:00 pm, the nine finalists and their starting chip counts were as follows:

Seat Player Hometown Chip Count

1 Chan Pelton College Station, TX 182,000

2 David Poleto New Orleans, LA 202,000

3 Mitchell Smith N. Miami Beach, FL 158,500

4 “Johnny Chicago” Nowak Fairview, TX 59,500

5 Carl “Spanky” Guillot Baton Rouge, LA 108,000

6 Rodney Baseke Montgomery, TX 204,000

7 Sholom Lipszyc New York City, NY 413,000

8 Jesus Cabrera Atlanta, GA 295,000

9 Terry Lake Garner Hattiesburg, MS 350,000

Final Table play lasted about five hours and ended at 7:00 pm. Players were eliminated in the following order:

Ninth Place: Third Final Table Appearance for “Johnny Chicago”
“Johnny Chicago” Nowak is having quite a Bayou series. This marked his fourth time to cash, through just nine events. Unfortunately, Nowak went out quickly when he moved all in with pocket fives, which lost to pocket tens. Nowak, who is originally from Chicago and now lives in Fairview, TX added $2,920 to his poker winnings this week, which now totals in excess of $14,000.

Eighth Place: Jesus Fails to Rise
Ismael “Jesus” Cabrera, who is originally from Havana, Cuba and now lives in Atlanta, went out in eighth place. He won two major events held in Mississippi during the last six months. This marked his fourth time to cash in a WSOP Circuit event. Eighth place paid $3,451.

Seventh Place: Sholom Says “Shalom”
Sholom Lipszyc, from New York City endured a frustrating two-hour run at the final table. The early chip leader gradually lost most of his stack and finally moved all in when short-stacked holding A3. He got called by pocket kings, which ended up scooping the pot. Lipszyc ended up collecting $4,248 in his first WSOP-related in-the-money finish.

Sixth Place: Baseke Puts on the Brakes
Rodney Baseke ran low on chips and tried to steal a round of blinds and antes. He picked a bad time to make a move and got a call by pocket tens. Baseke ended up missing a straight draw and lost to a full house. This was Baseke’s second time to cash at this year’s Bayou series. He took 35th place in the first event here, which attracted 572 players. For this finish, Baseke was paid $5,310.

Fifth Place: Mitch Smith Takes Bad Beat
Mitchell Smith liked what he saw when he picked up pocket aces, raised all-in, and got a call by the chip leader. Unfortunately the AA hit the much when the outmatched Q9 ended up connecting with two pair. Smith shook his head in disgust and walked away with $6,637 and a bad beat story. Smith now has 16 major cashes in various tournaments, including the 2008 WSOP Main Event.

Fourth Place: Poleto Plucked
David Poleto, a sports promoter from New Orleans, went out badly when his KJ was bested by K2. After the flop came K 8 2, Poleto moved all in with top pair and got an instant call from his opponent holding two pair. Another deuce on the river added insult to injury, giving his opponent a full house. Poleto, who owns a sporting adventure company called Gulf Coast Adventure Racing, jetted away with $8,496 in prize money.

Third Place: Pelton Takes Third
Chan Pelton, a farmer from College Station, TX lasted about five hours but then finally ran into trouble when he moved all in with A5, which was called by the chip leader, holding 97 offsuit. The flop brought a nine, giving the opponent a pair of nines. Pelton failed to improve from that point forward and had to settle for a nice consolation prize amounting to $10,866. Pelton has a number of impressive cashes at tournaments held throughout the South. He now has nearly $150,000 in career tournament winnings.

Second Place: “Spanky” Agrees to Deal – Takes Runner Up Spot
Carl “Spanky” Guillot, an antique dealer from Baton Rouge, LA was the subject of one of the tournament’s most interesting storylines. Spanky was down to just a round of blinds when play was with 17 players. He managed to squeak into the money. Then, he nursed a short stack for the better part of two days en route to a stunning second-place finish. Spanky was all-in a number of time at the finale, and managed to survive each time. When heads-up play began, Spanky was down by about a 7 to 1 margin and was offered a deal to take the runner up spot, to which he agreed. Second place officially paid $16,992.

First Place: Lake Garner Wins Second Gold Ring!
Lake Garner (a.k.a. “Terry Lake Garner”), from Hattiesburg, MS collected the top prize of $28,144 and his second WSOP Circuit gold ring. Garner’s previous win came in a $1,000 buy-in No-Limit Hold’em event held in May 2007. Garner has only three career cashes in WSOP Circuit play, but nevertheless also has two victories.

A short interview with Garner and his wife at tableside can be seen at the link posted above.

2010 Harrah’s New Orleans WSOP Circuit – Event #9 Final Results

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Tournament Director – Steve Frezer

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