WSOP & WPT Tournament Blog

2009/2010 World Series of Poker Circuit
Harrah’s New Orleans
Bayou Poker Challenge
Event #5
No Limit Hold’em
Buy-In: $300 (+40)
Total Entries: 335
Total Prize Pool: $92,335
May 10-11, 2010

Final Results:

1 Michael Scott Tampa, FL $22,160

2 Nancy “Trouble” Birnbaum Atlanta, GA $13,619

3 Gary Sixkiller Wylie, TX $8,540

4 Toan Trinh St. Petersburg, FL $6,925

5 Dean Simmons Atlanta, GA $5,540

6 Jonathan Westra Gainesville, FL $4,385

7 John “Keechi” Settlemyre Missouri City, TX $3,462

8 Thai K. Tran Houston, TX $2,770

9 Nathan “N85K85” Jessen Blair, NE $2,077

10 Keenan Ballo Chicago, IL $1,385

11 Larry Vance Lakewood, CA $1,385

12 Deric Williams Harvey, LA $1,385

13 Jacquelyn Witt Las Vegas, NV $1,154

14 Peter Mutuc Garland, TX $1,154

15 Franklin Dawkins Lafayette, LA $1,154

16 Daniel Woodfin Pratville, AL $923

17 Dejuante Alexander Houston, TX $923

18 Eric Osborn Tuscaloosa, AL $923

19 Rogelio Salinas San Antonio, TX $738

20 Homero Salinas McAllen, TX $738

21 Scott Musso Kenner, LA $738

22 Brian Traster Metairie, LA $738

23 Preston Derden New Orleans, LA $738

24 John Neitzel Palm Springs, CA $738

25 Jessie Bryant Conway, AZ $738

26 Lynda Cantrell Madison, WI $738

27 Charles Lineberry San Antonio, TX $738

28 Rodney Barkis San Angelo, TX $646

29 William Wickiser East Point, GA $646

30 Charles Blommfield Baton Rouge, LA $646

31 Brian Cospolich New Orleans, LA $646

32 Adam Gautreau Gonzalez, LA $646

33 Joseph Catania NA $646

34 Curtis Terry Los Angeles, CA $646

35 Bart Parry Atlanta, GA $646

36 Andrew Moon Vadila, LA $646

Michael Scott Wins First WSOP Circuit Victory

Florida Semi-Retired Commercial Real Estate Developer Misses Flight Back Home –
“It Was Well Worth It,” He Admits After Victory

Nancy Birnbaum’s Shot at Becoming the First Female Two-Time WSOP Circuit Gold Ring Winner Falls Short – Finishes Second

Three of First Five Gold Ring Events at Harrah’s New Orleans Attract 300-Plus Players

Attendance at this Year’s Bayou Poker Challenge Up 16 percent Over Last Year

New Orleans, LA – Another rocking turnout showed up for the fifth event held at this year’s Bayou Poker Challenge, now taking place at Harrah’s New Orleans. Despite a Monday start, traditionally a slower day for most poker tournaments, 335 players packed their way into the tournament arena to compete for a World Series of Poker gold ring. This was the third event out of five which has surpassed the 300-player mark. In fact, attendance at this year’s Bayou Poker Challenge is up 16 percent over last year’s numbers (through Event #5, 1,389 players have entered versus 1,197 at the same time last year).

A short video of the Harrah’s New Orleans poker room and tournament arena can be seen here:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TCidaQkmCrM

This was the fifth gold ring event (out of 19 events) on this year’s WSOP Circuit schedule at Harrah’s. The $300 (+40) buy-in No-Limit Hold’em tournament was played over two consecutive days during May 10th and 11th. The top 36 finishers divided a prize pool totaling $92,335. Among those who cashed were two brothers, Rogelio Salinas and Homero Salinas, who finished 19th and 20th, respectively.

After 315 players were eliminated on the first day, final table play began on a Tuesday afternoon. There were two former WSOP Circuit gold ring winners amongst the final nine. Jonathan Westra, a two-time winner was gunning for his third victory. Nancy “Trouble” Birnbaum, a former gold ring was seeking her second win. Both players were serious threats, but failed to add another win to their tournament resumes. Another player of note who made it to the final nine was Thai K. Tran, who finished 51st in last year’s WSOP Main Event, held in Las Vegas.

Gary Sixkiller arrived at the Final Table with a slight chip advantage over two looming challengers – Toan Trinh and Dean Simmons. But the wide distribution of chips and low blinds and antes meant almost all the players had plenty of time to make their move. In the end, it was a shorter stacks belonging to Michael Scott who surprised everyone and earned a comeback victory.

When Final Table play began at 4:00 pm, the nine finalists and their starting chip counts were as follows:

Seat Player Hometown Chip Count

1 Toan Trinh St. Petersburg, FL 546,000

2 Thai K. Tran Houston, TX 130,000

3 Keechi Settlemyre Missouri City, TX 121,000

4 Gary Sixkiller Wylie, TX 600,000

5 Nathan “N85K85” Jessen Blair, NE 55,000

6 Michael Scott Tampa, FL 158,000

7 Jonathan Westra Gainesville, FL 405,000

8 Nancy “Trouble” Birnbaum Atlanta, GA 447,000

9 Dean Simmons Atlanta, GA 551,000

Final Table play lasted about six hours and ended at 10:00 pm. Players were eliminated in the following order:

Ninth Place: Student Expelled
Nathan “N85k85” Jessen, a 22-year-old college student arrived at the final table as the shortest stack. He was not able to double up and made a quick exit from the finale. Jessen, who came in fifth place earlier this year at a WSOP Circuit held at Horseshoe Council Bluffs, was the ninth-place finisher here, which paid $2,077. This is his first year to play in live tournaments.

Eighth Place: Tran Trips
Thai Tran was also low on chips. He was dealt pocket jacks on what turned out to be his final hand. He picked a bad time to catch a big pair. His opponent called the all-in raise and tabled pocket aces. The bullets held up, piercing Tran’s shot at victory. The Vietnamese-born poker pro who now lives in Houston previously cashed in two events at the WSOP in Las Vegas, including an impressive 51st-place finish in last year’s Main Event. Eighth place paid $2,770.

Seventh Place: Settlemyre Settles for Seventh
John “Keechi” Settlemyre, a retiree from Missouri City, TX hung on for a while, but ended up busting out when his A8 predictably lost to AQ. This was his second time to make it to a WSOP Circuit final table at Harrah’s New Orleans. He finished fourth in a tournament last year. This time, Settlemyre finished seventh, which paid $3,462.

Sixth Place: No Third Gold Ring for Westra
Jonathan Westra’s bid for a third WSOP Circuit gold ring came up short when he moved all in with AT, which missed a flush draw against AK. The poker pro from Gainesville has quite a record in WSOP Circuit events, especially for someone just 24 years old. Westra won gold rings here in New Orleans and Tunica, both in 2008. This marked his tenth time to cash in a SOP Circuit event, and was his fifth final table appearance. Sixth place paid $4,385.

Fifth Place: Dean Simmons Takes the Fifth
Dean Simmons (a.k.a. Michael Simmons), from Atlanta , GA ended up as the fifth-place finisher when his pocket jacks lost to Michael Scott’s AK when an ace flopped. The hand was a major boost to Scott, who approached the chip lead after the big hand. Meanwhile, Simmons had accept a consolation prize worth $5,540 for finishing fifth. This was his first time to cash in a WSOP-related tournament.

Fourth Place: Toan Gone
Toan Trinh, from St. Petersburg, FL could only go so deep as the early chip leader. He lost his momentum during the later stages of the tournament and moved all in on his final hand, in what was a semi-steal attempt with KQ. Trinh didn’t want any callers with his pre-flop raise, and ended up getting hammered by pocket aces. Trinh, who cashed for $100,000 in a poker tournament called the “Florida Million,” added another $6,925 to his poker bankroll.

Third Place: Sixkiller Outlasts Six, Can’t Overcome Last Two
Gary Sixkiller (yes, that’s his real name) could have become minor Moneymaker figure had he won this event, but instead went out in third place. The 59-year-old retiree who was the 1974 Foosball National Champion (that’s Foosball, folks – with an S) played his final pot of the night holding A3, which was chopped off by K9, which ended up making trip nines. Sixkiller – who helped to kill off the first six players at the final table – finished in the position true to his name. His payout amounted to $8,540.

Second Place: Birnbaum Nearly Wins Second Gold Ring – Takes Second Place Instead
Nancy “Trouble” Birnbaum, a BMW salesperson from Decatur, GA hoped to become the first female in WSOP Circuit history to win two gold rings in open events. She came close. Birnbaum was heads up against Michael Scott and nearly made history. On the final hand, both players made a pair of jacks. Birnbuam was dealt Js-7c. Scott was dealt Jc Tc. After both players flopped a pair of jacks, Birnbaum was all in. The final board showed Ks Jh 9c 2s 5c. Scott’s ten outkicked Brinbuam’s seven – giving him the victory.

The runner up was Brinbaum, who won $51,000 and her first gold ring nearly a year to the day in this tournament last year. She also finished 22nd in the WSOP Ladies World Championship in Las Vegas three years ago. Her $13,619 for second place in this tournament now gives her nearly $100,000 in career tournament winnings. The native New Yorker expects to play in several future events, including this year’s WSOP.

First Place: Great Scott! Michael Wins!
Michael Scott, a 52-year-old semi-retired commercial real estate developer from Tampa, FL won his first major tournament. He collected $22,160 for first place, plus his first WSOP Circuit gold ring. Scott’s previous tournament cashes include a 35th-place finish in the $2,000 buy-in NLHE event held at the WSOP two years ago.

An interesting side note to Scott’s victory was that he had other plans while the final table was being played. Scott made his flight reservation and was schedule to leave about five hours after the final table started. Since Scott was short-stacked, he figured to last a few hours and hopefully move up the pay ladder enough spots to catch a 7:35 flight.

As it turned out, while a 727 commercial airliner was passing somewhere above the New Orleans skyline, no doubt headed back to Tampa with an empty seat on row 22, Michael Scott was in his rightful seat – at the final table and ultimately in front of a big stack of chips getting his photo taken as the newest WSOP Circuit champion.

When asked about missing his flight in order to finish the final table, Scott smiled and said, “Yeah, I’d say it was worth it.”

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 #5 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

2009/2010 World Series of Poker Circuit
Harrah’s New Orleans
Bayou Poker Challenge
Event #3
No Limit Hold’em Six Handed
Buy-In: $500 (+50)
Total Entries: 140
Total Prize Pool: $62,744
May 9-10, 2010

Final Results:

1 Jimmy Nickens Magnolia, TX $18,197

2 Bobby Binsky Hollywood, FL $11,245

3 Kevin Hercules Nashville, TN $7,691

4 Timothy Martin New Orleans, LA $5,341

5 “Easy Larry” Hirons Arlington, TX $3,763

6 Elmo Mariathasan Ft. Myers, FL $2,691

7 Dennis Crowley NA $1,952

8 Jae Chung New Orleans, LA $1,447

9 Jason Hancock NA $1,447

10 “Chicago Johnny” Nowak Fairview, TX $1,073

11 Vincent Dellapi Spring, TX $1,073

12 Maurizio Bellia Italy $811

13 Angela Louis Gonzales, LA $811

14 Cody Carlino Peterson, LA $811

15 Brandon Garner Jackson, TN $811

16 Thomas Boman St. Louis, MO $811

17 Larry Diagle NA $811

18 Samuel Green San Antonio, TX $811

Jimmy Nickens Comes Up Big – Short-Handed

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

In Other News – “Chicago Johnny” Nowak Cashes for Third Time First Three Events

New Orleans, LA – Six-Handed No-Limit Hold’em has become one of poker’s most popular variants in recent years. The game has become the second most common game played online. Six-handed poker requires a different strategy set that the normal full ring game.

Some poker players believe that Six-Handed poker is actually a more skillful game. This is because players must get involved in more pots due to the quicker escalation of blinds. So, conservative play tends to get penalized more in Six-Handed poker whereas aggression is more often rewarded.

In keeping with Harrah’s New Orleans penchant for offering the widest possible variety of games on it’s schedule, a Six-Handed No-Limit Hold’em was played on May 9th and 10th. This was the third gold ring event (out of 19 total) on this year’s WSOP Circuit schedule. The $500 (+50) buy-in tournament attracted 140 entries. The top 18 finishers divided a prize pool totaling $62,744. Among those who cashed was “Chicago Johnny” Nowak (10th), who cashed for the third time in just three events held thus far at Harrah’s. With 16 more vents to go, Nowak is on pace to set a new record for most cashes at any WSOP Circuit series (the current record is five, held by multiple players).

After 130 players were eliminated on the first day, final table play began on a Monday afternoon. There were no prior WSOP Circuit gold ring event winners among the final nine players, which guaranteed a first-time champion.

It appeared to be a two-horse race when Final Table play began. Kevin Hercules enjoyed a slight chip advantage over Jimmy Nickens. The remaining players were down my almost 2 to 1, or more. When Final Table play began at 2:00 pm, the six finalists and their starting chip counts were as follows:

Seat Player Hometown Chip Count
1 Elmo R. Mariathasan St. Myers, FL 86,000
2 Kevin Hercules Nashville, TN 419,000
3 Jimmy Nickens Magnolia, TX 385,000
4 Tim Martin New Orleans, LA 218,000
5 “Easy Larry” Hirons Arlington, TX 125,000
6 Bobby Binsky Hollywood, FL 167,000

Final Table play lasted only about four hours and ended at 6:00 pm. Players were eliminated in the following order:

Sixth Place: Elmo Not Tickled to Finish Sixth
Elmo Mariathasan did not last long in the finale. He was severely short stacked and lost his first attempt to double up. The retiree from Ft. Myers, FL collected a payout totaling $2,691.

Fifth Place: Hard Times for “Easy Larry”
Larry Hirons, a.k.a. “Easy Larry” lost a race on his final hand, holding pocket deuces against AK. A king fell on the turn, which ended Hirons’ shot to win. Hirons, who owns an auto rental franchise in Arlington, TX had to settle for $3,763 in prize money.

Fourth Place: Martin Takes Fourth
Local poker player Tim Martin, decked out in his trademark fedora, ended up as the fourth place finisher. Martin survived a few all-ins and managed to double up a few times before losing on his third attempt when his A7 was crushed by A9. The A9 ended up making a flush on the hand, which eliminated Martin. He received a nice payout totaling $5,341.

Third Place: Hercules Loses His Strength
Kevin Hercules, an information technology consultant from Nashville, TN lasted about three hours before finally losing a race and busting out in third place. Hercules moved all in with AT on his final hand. He got a call by Jimmy Nickens, who tabled pocket sixes. Hercules watched helplessly as a six came on board, which ended up making a full house for Nickens. Meanwhile, Hercules has to settle for a payout totaling $7,691. This marked his third time to cash on the WSOP Circuit this year, after making the money twice at Harrah’s Tunica.

Second Place: Bobby Binsky is Runner Up
Bobby Binsky, a 70-year-old retiree from Hollywood, FL outlasted all but one player in the tournament. He was outchipped during the later stages of play, but managed to hang on for quite a while before finally taking down the second spot. When play became heads up, Binsky managed to survive two all-ins and doubled up twice before losing his final chips on the third try. On his final hand, he moved all-in with 6k 6d and was called by Jimmy Nickens, who showed As Jd. A jack came on the flop, swinging the advantage in Nickens’ favor. Two blanks fell on the turn and river, giving Nicken’s the final pot of the tournament. The final board showed Jh 9c 4d 3s 4h, which gave Nickens the victory with a pair of jacks.

The consolation prize went to Bobby Binsky, the second place finisher, who received $11,245. He previously cashed twice at the WSOP in Las Vegas and now has more than $100,000 in career tournament earnings.

First Place: Jimmy Nickens Wins!
Jimmy Nickens, a 35-year-old businessman from Magnolia, TX won his first major poker tournament victory. He collected a nice cash prize amounting to $18,197. He was also presented with the coveted WSOP Circuit gold ring. Nickens previously cashed in the WSOP Main Event two years ago. He collected $38,600 for his 203rd-place showing in the world championship. He later cashed at other major tournaments held in Mississippi, and also made it into the money at the 2008 Winter Bayou Poker Challenge Main Event Championship held here at Harrah’s New Orleans, where he finished 13th.

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 #3 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

2009/2010 World Series of Poker Circuit
Harrah’s New Orleans
Event #1
No Limit Hold’em
Buy-In: $300 (+40)
Total Entries: 547
Total Prize Pool: $154,014
May 7-8, 2010

Final Results:

1 Ryan Eriquezzo Danbury, CT $34,656

2 Danny Lee New York, NY $21,948

3 Morris “the Moose” Lewis New Orleans, LA $13,477

4 Chad Tucker Winfield, AL $11,012

5 Johnny “Chicago” Nowak Fairview, TX $9,010

6 Allen “Chainsaw” Kessler Las Vegas, NV $7,085

7 John Nguyen Harvey, LA $5,544

8 Steven Brudi NA $4,389

9 Alex Olwine Dayton, OH $3,234

10 Clayton Bates Livingston, TX $2,079

11 Jay Thomas Baton Rouge, LA $2,079

12 Robert Quin Metairie, LA $2,079

13 Christopher Harris Kenner, LA $1,694

14 Peter Favaro San Antonio, TX $1,694

15 Ali Bakhshieshi Dallas, TX $1,694

16 Mark Rose Orlando, FL $1,309

17 H Steven Byers Kingwood, TX $1,309

18 Zal Irani New Orleans, LA $1,309

19 Cristina Ramirez Dallas, TX $1,001

20 Bryan Quebedeaux Austin, TX $1,001

21 Mitchell Franks Shreveport, LA $1,001

22 Jon Sexton Gulfport, MS $1,001

23 Bryan James Colma, LA $1,001

24 Robert Habisreitinger Cummington, LA $1,001

25 Kenneth Weidner Reading, PA $1,001

26 Christopher Williamson New Orleans, LA $1,001

27 John Tucker Austin, TX $1,001

28 Elliott Miller New Orleans, LA $847

29 Michael Jacobs Houston, TX $847

30 Robert Tourres Seattle, WA $847

31 Brian Anderson Gulfport, MS $847

32 Alex Wood New Orleans, LA $847

33 Matthew Mullins Baton Rouge, LA $847

34 Donna Murray Austin, TX $847

35 Jae Chung Atlanta, GA $847

36 Sidney Farrell New Orleans, LA $847

37 Jimmy Bryan New Orleans, LA $693

38 Bryan Lanoix Baton Rouge, LA $693

39 Antuan Bunklay Ft. Lauderdale, FL $693

40 Himeda Gay Humble, TX $693

41 Zachary Bartel Kenner, LA $693

42 Frank Alpandinar Baton Rouge, LA $693

43 Scott Horvath Corpus Christi, TX $693

44 Martin Zenter New Orleans, LA $693

45 Arthur Sauceda New Orleans, LA $693

46 Philip Walsh Gulfport, MS $616

47 Steven Garza Corpus Christi, TX $616

48 Richard Keranen Denham Springs, LA $616

49 Ryan Gafford Denham Springs, LA $616

50 Bac Nguyen Austin, TX $616

51 Vittario Iemolo Sarasota, FL $616

52 Rhueben Towne Missouri City, TX $616

53 Jacob Naquin New Orleans, LA $616

54 Carson Nunez Erath, LA $308

55 Kevin Arrowwood Moody, AL $308

Ryan Eriquezzo Takes Opener at Harrah’s New Orleans

Connecticut Poker Pro Wins First WSOP Circuit Gold Ring

First of 19 WSOP Circuit Gold Ring Events Attracts Large Field of 547 Players

New Orleans, LA — If any city can rightfully claim to be the birthplace of poker, it is most certainly New Orleans. Long before Las Vegas existed, French settlers colonized Louisiana and brought with them a game they called “poque,” the forbearer of the game as we know it today. During the 1800s, poker became the craze on steamboats roaring up and down the mighty Mississippi River, with the major stopping point being New Orleans.

Fast forward nearly two hundred years later. When the World Series of Poker Circuit was initially launched back in 2005, Harrah’s New Orleans became a natural tour stop. Many events held that first year completely sold out. In fact, poker was so popular here that New Orleans has since been one of only four stops on the tour which has hosted a WSOP Circuit during each of the first six seasons.

The final WSOP Circuit stop of the 2009-2010 season began today with the first tournament of 19 gold ring events to be played at Harrah’s New Orleans. The $300 (+40) buy-in No-Limit Hold’em tournament was took place over two consecutive days during May 7th and 8th. The tournament attracted 547 entries. The top 55 finishers divided a prize pool totaling $154,014. After most of the field was eliminated on the first day, 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.

Ryan Eriquezzo arrived at the Final Table with a decisive chip advantage over the rest of the field. Closest in chips was Danny Lee. Everyone else was more than 2 to 1 behind the chip leader. Eriquezzo and Lee ended up playing heads-up for the title. The final nine also included well-known poker pro Allen “Chainsaw,” Kessler, who was making a triumphant return to New Orleans for the first time since winning last year’s Winter Bayou Poker Challenge championship.

When Final Table play began at 8:00 pm on a festive Saturday night just steps away from Bourbon Street, the nine finalists and their starting chip counts were as follows:

Seat Player Hometown Chip Count

1 Morris “the Moose” Lewis New Orleans, LA 576,000

2 Johnny “Chicago” Nowak Fairview, TX 496,000

3 John “GM” Nguyen Harvey, LA 286,000

4 Alex Olwine Dayton, OH 210,000

5 Chad Tucker Winfield, AL 418,000

6 Ryan Eriquezzo Danbury, CT 1,265,000

7 Steven Brudi NA 560,000

8 Allen “Chainsaw” Kessler Las Vegas, NV 270,000

9 Danny Lee New York, NY 773,000

Final Table play lasted about five hours and ended at 1:10 am. Players were eliminated in the following order:

Ninth Place: Nine for Alex Olwine
Alex Olwine, from Dayton, OH arrived at the final table with a short stack. He lasted only about 15 minutes before losing a race with AK against a pocket pair. Olwine failed to catch either an ace or a king, which resulted in payout totaling $3,234. This was his first time to cash in a WSOP-related tournament.

Eighth Place: Rude Finish for Brudi
Steven Brudi took a tough beat on his final hand when he was dealt pocket aces and moved all in. He got a call, which turned out to be a bad thing when three clubs came, which made a flush. That meant Brudi, making his first WSOP Circuit cash, collected $4,389 in prize money.

Seventh Place: No Win for Nguyen
John “GM” Nguyen, from Harvey, LA went out in disappointing fashion when his QQ lost to AQ. Although Nguyen was a solid favorite from the start, the flop came KJT, which gave Nguyen’s opponent a straight. Nguyen failed to improve. The 23-year-old gamer and poker pro, who was playing in his first WSOP Circuit tournament ever, collected $5,544 in prize money. Prior to taking up poker full-time, Nguyen traveled around the country, specializing in a popular video game called “Counter-Strike.”

Sixth Place: “Chainsaw” Hacked
Allen “Chainsaw” Kessler, coming off his championship victory in last year’s Winter Bayou Poker Challenge which was held here at Harrah’s New Orleans, was short-stacked throughout the later stages of the tournament. He went out about two hours into the final table when he pushed all in with AJ, which got steamrolled by pocket aces. Kessler, a longtime tournament player with 12 WSOP Circuit cashes, two WSOP final table appearances, and nearly $1.5 million in overall major tournament winnings the past five years, added another $7,085 to his poker bankroll.

Fifth Place: “Johnny Chicago” Sings the Blues
Johnny “Chicago” Nowak ran low on chips and made his final stand with K8 suited. He was involved in a coin-flip situation against pocket 6s, hoping to double up. But a 6 fell on the turn, giving his opponent trips, which ended “Johnny Chicago’s” hopes of earning his first major tournament victory. Nowak, who is originally from Chicago and now lives in Texas, pocketed $9,010 in prize money.

Fourth Place: Chad Beat Bad
Chad Tucker took a brutal beat on his final hand. The Alabama poker player moved it all in holding pocket aces, and got a call from this chip leader, with 87 suited. The middle cards were both diamonds and the flop stunned all observers when three diamonds came. Tucker failed to improve and had to settle for $11,012. This marked his first time to cash in a WSOP-related tournament.

Third Place: The Moose is Loose
Morris “the Moose” Lewis was cut loose from the final table when he lost a big hand with AK. He moved all in after the flop when he caught top pair (kings). Danny Lee had J7 and two spades and made the call when two spades flopped, which gave him a flush draw. A third spade (an ace) hit on the turn, which completed Lee’s flush, but which also gave Lewis two pair. That was as far as Lewis went, as a blank fell on the river. Morris “the Moose” Lewis, a landscaper from New Orleans enjoyed a nice payout totaling $13,477.

Second Place: Lee Surrenders
Danny Lee, an amateur poker player from New York City, made an incredible run in this, his first WSOP tournament, by coming within just a few hands of the most improbable of victories. Lee had a healthy stack size during most of the finale. After a deal was made when three players remained, Lee and his final opponent agreed to a deal whereby Ryan Eriquezzo was declared the winner and Lee ended up taking second place. Danny Lee’s official payout amounted to $21,948.

First Place: Ryan Eriquezzo is the Champ!
Poker pro Ryan Eriquezzo was declared the winner of Event #1. He officially collected $34,656 and his first WSOP Circuit gold ring. Eriquezzo has plans to play more WSOP Circuit events here in New Orleans, and perhaps win another gold ring.

Eriquezzo lives in Danbury, CT. He is 25-years-old. Eriquezzo now has nearly $200,000 in career tournament winnings. This was his eighth major cash in 2010. It was his first time to cash in a WSOP-related tournament.

An interview with Ryan Eriquezzo at tableside, moments after his win can be seen at YouTube here:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sy1BbtitzDw

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 #1 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

A Short History of the Bayou Poker Challenge and World Series of Poker Circuit at Harrah’s New Orleans

This marks the sixth year of the Bayou Poker Challenge, which is held annually each May at Harrah’s New Orleans. The two-week long tournament series is part of the World Series of Poker Circuit. The Bayou Poker Challenge is one of the South’s largest and most prestigious poker tournaments. It has awarded in excess of $15 million in prize money since its creation.

The first major poker tournament ever at Harrah’s New Orleans was called the “Cajun Poker Classic,” which took place in early 2004. The three-day tournament attracted 536 players and inspired the casino to host more poker events. Later that year, the first Bayou Poker Challenge was held, which consisted of six tournaments.

Next, Harrah’s New Orleans became a charter member of the World Series of Poker Circuits, which officially started play in 2005. Since then, New Orleans has hosted the final stop on the circuit each and every year, which takes place in mid-May just prior to the start of the WSOP at the Rio in Las Vegas. The first two WSOP Circuit championships held at Harrah’s New Orleans were televised by ESPN and were among the most exciting tournaments broadcast at the time. They still occasionally appear in re-runs to this day.

WSOP Circuit events in New Orleans proved to be so successful that a second tournament series was created, starting in 2007. This became known as the “Bayou Winter Bayou Poker Challenge,” which has since become a pre-holiday attraction. The December series is categorized as a World Series of Poker Satellite, since its Main Event winner earns an entry valued at $10,000 seat (plus expense money) into the WSOP championship, held the following year.

Bayou Poker Challenge results and statistics are included in the historical records of WSOP Circuit events. Each winner receives a gold ring, which is the customary prize awarded for a victory in most WSOP Circuit events. The Bayou Poker Challenge has proven to be a popular attraction for many poker players, who mostly come to the Crescent City from the states of Louisiana, Texas, Mississippi, Alabama, and surrounding areas. The 2005 BPC consisted of eight events. The 2006 BPC had seen events. The 2007 series had 12 events. The 2008 BPC increased to 15 events. In 2009, there were 20 events. This year’s Bayou Poker Challenge offers a full schedule of 19-events — including a senior’s event and a ladies event. In addition, this year’s series from May 7-19 includes nightly $230 buy-in tournaments, which brings the total number of competitive events up to 33. This does not include dozens of mega- and single-table satellites, as well as live action (cash games) held inside the 23-table poker room which operates 24 hours a day.

For the very first time, this year’s WSOP Circuit at Harrah’s New Orleans will also offer its own version of the Tournament of Champions. All players to make it to the final table of any gold ring event are eligible to play in a freeroll for seats in the $5,000 buy-in Main Event. The mega-satellite freeroll will give away six seats in the championship event which will be played May 17-19.

All of the poker tournament action takes place inside the Harrah’s New Orleans amphitheatre, which regularly hosts many of the most popular performers in music and entertainment. But in May, the real stars at Harrah’s New Orleans are poker players.

PREVIOUS BAYOU POKER CHALLENGE CHAMPIONS:

2005 – Walter Chambers (Baton Rouge, LA)….259 players….won $787,340
2006 – Peter Feldman (Harper Woods, MI)….170 players….won $532,950 *
2007 – Lou “the Big Easy” Esposito (Glendale, NY)….346 players….won $516,801
2008 – Nick Ceci (Peachtree City, GA)….249 players….won $382,928
2009 – Jean “Prince” Gaspard (Evanston, IL)….167 players….won $211,722

* The buy-in for the championship event was $10,000 in 2005 and 2006. Since 2007, the buy-in has been $5,000.

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

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 – Gretchen Holzhauser