2009-2010 World Series of Poker Circuit
Horseshoe Council Bluffs
Event #3
February 19-20, 2010
No-Limit Hold’em
Buy-In: $500 + $55
Number of Entries: 166
Total Prize Money: $80,510
Final Results:
1. Elton Nolde Ogallala, NE $26,086
2. Jon Chovanec Valparaiso, IN $13,687
3. Nick Stille Omaha, NE $8,051
4. Fred Winter LaGrange, IL $6,441
5. Ron Lecina Muscatine, IA $4,831
6. Jay McVeigh Kansas City, MO $4,026
7. Jesse Starke Loveland, CO $3,220
8. Brian Testin Hawthorn Woods, IL $2,415
9. Nick Frost Chicago, IL $1,610
10.Casey Earp $1,288
11.James Koley $1,288
12.Tom Wentzel $1,288
13.Ronald Shultz $1,127
14.Matthew Henning $1,127
15.Alan Curl $1,127
16.Carl Mellecker $966
17.Carl Haney $966
18.Thomas Wesling $966
After Tightening Up His Play, Elton Nolde Wins $500 Event
Key Hand Comes Heads-Up When He Makes Two Pair to Take Lead
Council Bluffs, IA — Elton Nolde is a 40-year-old golf superintendent from Ogallala, Nebraska who wrote on his bio sheet that he’s won satellites but never a tournament. That changed tonight when he was the victor in the third event of the WSOP Circuit tour at Horseshoe Council Bluffs, $500 no-limit hold’em, which brought him $26,086. “A lot better than winning tournament chips in satellites,” he remarked.
Besides winning the majority of his races tonight, he credited his win to changing his style of play. Early in the event, he said, he found himself chasing and playing “stupid” cards. He re-analyzed himself and reformed, vowing to play very tight and avoid getting into situations where he was not in control, a strategy that was to work well for him. The key hand came when was heads-up with Jon Chovanec, starting with roughly 450,000 chips to about 750,000 for Chovanec. A few hands later he won a big pot, holding A-Q to Chovanec’s K-Q, He won easily with aces-up to take a big lead and soon nailed down his win.
This event had 166 players and an $80,510 prize pool. Second-day final table action got underway with blinds of 3,000-6,000 and 500 antes, 30 minutes left. In front with 325,000 chips was Fred Winter, holder of two Circuit rings.
Here were the starting chip counts:
Seat Name Chip Count
1. Elton Nolde 132,500
2. Jay McVeigh 167,500
3. Jon Chovanec 253,000
4. Ron Lecina 133,000
5. Fred Winter 325,000
6. Nick Stille 113,000
7. Jesse Starke 79,000
8. Bryan Testin 63,000
9. Nick Frost 95,000
9th place: In early action, Nick Frost went out on a tough beat. All in with K-J, he flopped top two when the board came J-2-K.. A deuce turned, and then a river 10 gave Fred Winter, holding A-Q, a Broadway straight. Ninth paid $1,610. Frost is a former college student turned pro from Chicago. He had three cashes at the Hammond Circuit: eighth in the opening event (the biggest Circuit ever); 11th in the championship finale; and a win in the six-handed no-limit event.
8th place: Soon after, Bryan Testin pushed in his last chips with Qd-10d. He had a flush draw when a 6h-2d-Jd flopped, but couldn’t complete when an offsuit king and 8 showed up. He lost to Winter, who had called from the small blind with 8-6 and paired his 8. Testin is 45, from Hawthorn Woods, Illinois and retired. This was his fifth final table, and he won a last chance event here last year. “If I’m not playing, I’m golfing,” he wrote.
7th place: Players returned from break to blinds of 4,000-8,000 and 1,000 antes. A very short-chipped Jesse Starke moved in with Kh-4h and was called by Chovanec, holding As-Ks. A flop of Qh-10s-8h gave Starke hopes of a flush, but two offsuit 6s came and he cashed seventh for $3,220. Starke, 39, is from Loveland, Colorado and he listed his occupation as a “single dad of two amazing kids.” His prior cashes include a final table at Tahoe this year and a 25th in a six-handed WSOP event.
6th place: Jay McVeigh was next out. He called all in with pocket 8s after Chovanec pushed in with As-10s. Chovanec paired his ace on a flop of A-4-Q, McVeigh couldn’t find a miracle 8 to save him, and went out sixth for $4,026. McVeigh is a 34-year-old accountant from Kansas City, Missouri who finished 12th in the opening event here.
As play went on, we had an unusual set-over-set confrontation with an all-in Ron Lecina winning with a set of 4s to beat Chovanec’s set of treys.
5th place: Soon after blinds went to 5,000-10,000 with 1,000 antes, Lecina moved in with two black 6s. Five diamonds — a J, 5, 10, 2 and Q — hit the board, Chovanec had a 7d in his hand, it played, and Lecina took home $4,831 for fifth place. Lecina is a 51-year-old municipal worker from Muscatine, Iowa. At this event last year he had two cashes and a final table.
4th place: Winter was next to go. He looked at Ac-Jh and pushed his stacks in. He looked in good shape, dominating Nolde, who button-called holding Qh-Js. Then the flop brought 7-Q-7, and another 7 turned to give Nolde 7s full of queens. Winter, 35, is from LaGrange, Illinois where he is a finance manager. He has two wins in $500 no-limit events at Hammond.
3rd place: With three players left, Nolde and Chovanec were roughly tied for the chip lead, trailed by Nick Stille. They returned from break with blinds now up to 8,000-16,000 with 2,000 antes. Stille quickly found himself all in and in very bad shape with K-Q against Chovanec’s A-Q, the same match-up that would later give Nolde the lead. Even more unusual, there was also an identical outcome as Chovanec also won with the same aces and queens when the board came A-8-J-7-Q! Third place paid $8,051. Stille, 23, is from Omaha and began playing full-time after graduating from the University of Iowa. His specialty is playing heads-up sit ‘n go online for as much as $5.000.
2nd place: Heads-up, Chovanec led with about 740,000 chips to around 530,000 for Nolde. But everything turned around when Nolde won that big pot with aces and queens, leaving Chovanec with just a bit over 150,000. They played a few more hands and Chovanec doubled up once as Nolde finally lost a races, (holding A-Q again, but losing to Chovanec’s K-8 when a king flopped) but that’s as far as his opponent got. On the final hand, A-Q came up yet again. This time Chovanec held those cards against Nolde’s Ks-10d. An As-10s-8s flopped to give Nolde a flush draw, and a Ks on the turn completed his flush and nailed down the win for him. Chovanec, collecting $13,687 for second, is 34, from Valparaiso, Indiana, and works as a sausage casing salesman. This is his second Circuit cash, and he also chopped the month-end $500 tourney in Hammond for $13,000.
2010 Horseshoe Council Bluffs WSOP Circuit – Event #3 Final Results
2010 Horseshoe Council Bluffs WSOP Circuit Events Schedule and Results
–Max Shapiro
Director of Poker Operations for Harrah’s Entertainment – Jack Effel
Horseshoe Council Bluffs Poker Room Manager – Gary Margetson
Tournament Director – Kevin Ferguson
