WSOP & WPT Tournament Blog

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

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

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 #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

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 #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

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.

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 #9 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 #8
Heads-Up No Limit Hold’em
Buy-In: $300 (+40)
Total Entries: 116
Total Prize Pool: $33,756
May 11-12, 2010

Final Results:

1 Richard Toth Miskolc, Hungary $9,114

2 Dan Walsh Powder Springs, GA $5,738

3 Chong Walker New Orleans, LA $3,038

4 Barry Hutter Ft. Lauderdale, FL $3,038

5 Donald Hepfer Tulsa, OK $1,519

6 John Dolan Ft. Myers, FL $1,519

7 Henry Pena Houston, TX $1,519

8 Brian Fontana Slidell, LA $1,519

9 Michael Benton Lafayette, LA $843

10 Zachary Vandergriff New Orleans, LA $843

11 Ken Lennaard Sweden $843

12 Gary Bolden St. Louis, MO $843

13 Byron Higueros New Orleans, LA $843

14 Gabor Szamosi NA $843

15 Larry Hirons Ft. Worth, TX $843

16 Chad Tye Grand View, TX $843

Note: Due to the heads-up by round format, players actually finished by “round,” rather than by “order.” Other than the first- and second-place finishers, the remainder should be listed in groups. 3rd place and 4th place were a group. 5th place through 8th place were a group. And, 9th place through 16th place were a group.

Here’s the Heads-Up: Richard Toth Wins!

Hungarian Poker Pro Takes Heads-Up Poker Championship at Harrah’s New Orleans

European Poker Star Earns First WSOP Circuit Victory

New Orleans, LA – Heads-Up No-Limit Hold’em has become a popular poker variant in recent years. The World Series of Poker has offered a gold bracelet in heads-up competition every year since 2006. The NBC National Heads-Up Poker Championship also debuted a few years ago and has been a successful attraction for both players and poker fans alike. Heads-up play is also very popular online.

The most recent tournament held on the WSOP Circuit at Harrah’s New Orleans was a Heads-Up No-Limit Hold’em event. The tournament was won by one of Europe’s top poker pros, Richard Toth — from Miskolc, Hungary. He picked up the first place prize amounting to $9,114. More important perhaps for Toth was the gold ring he received, symbolizing his first-ever WSOP-related victory.

“I am thrilled to come here and win,” Toth said afterward. “I love it here in New Orleans. It is one of my favorite places. Great food, and the poker is good here, too.”

This marked Toth’s first win on U.S. soil after achieving great success in Europe and coming close to victory at the WSOP in Las Vegas. He previously won two tournaments held in Austria. He also finished second in a No-Limit Hold’em WSOP event in 2006 (worth $330,000). With this win, he now has in excess of $1 million in live poker tournament winnings.

This was the eighth gold ring event (of 19) on this year’s WSOP Circuit schedule at Harrah’s New Orleans. The $300 (+40) buy-in tournament was played over two consecutive days during May 11th and 12th. The top 16 finishers divided a prize pool totaling $33,746.

The tournament was initially set up to accommodate 64 players, similar in format to the NCAA college basketball championship brackets (a.k.a. “March Madness”). However, due to increased player interest and participation, the field was expanded to 116 players and another round of play was added. A few of players received a first-round bye due to the odd starting number (Note: The bye was determined by a random draw). Players were required to win a series of Heads-Up freezeouts, which were single-elimination during the first five rounds. Only the winners of each match advanced to the next round. The champion was required to win either 8 or 9 matches, depending on if he received a bye. Once play reached the final four, the heads-up competition became the best two-out-of three matches.

The Heads-Up finale pitted two poker pros against each other. Richard Toth (Miskolc, Hungary) faced off against Dan Walsh (Powder Springs, GA).

The first match went to Toth, who defeated Walsh in about 30 minutes. He enjoyed a chip advantage most of the way and won the final hand of the match with 9s 9c against Walsh’s 3s 3d. Walsh was visibly disgusted with the situation and became even more repulsed when a nine flopped, giving Toth top set. Walsh watched helplessly as the board ran out: 9d 5s 2c 3s Th.

Score it 1-0 in favor of Toth.

Walsh made a strong comeback in the second match and won in about 45-minutes time. He had his opponent all-in on a few occasions, and finally evened the score by scooping the key pot with a club flush. On that hand, Walsh was dealt Kc 5c. Toth had As 8d. Walsh had his opponent all in and was drawing to a flush and a pair with two clubs on board. A third club fell on the river as the final board showed 3c 2c 2h 6s 9c.

Walsh and Toth were tied 1-1 going into the decisive game.

The third and final match went to Toth. The finale lasted only about 20 minutes. In fact, the last hand was an absolute nightmare for Walsh who simply could not get away from a hand that would have likely won any other heads-up match. On the final hand of the tournament, Toth was dealt 5c 4d. Walsh was dealt Ac 5s. Toth finally put his opponent all-in on the river and Walsh was delighted to call holding top set and top kicker. But Walsh showed a full house with the board of: Qd 5d 4s 5h Kh.

Tournament highlights and an interview with the winner can be seen here:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1N_qj28SU0M

Runner Up: Dan Walsh
The runner up was Dan Walsh, a poker pro from Powder Springs, GA. He is 34-years-old and previously worked in IT. He made two final tables at last year’s WSOP Circuit held at Harrah’s New Orleans, including fifth place in the championship event. Second place paid $5,738.

First Place: Hungarian Pro Takes Heads-Up Championship
The winner Richard Toth is a 31-year-old poker pro from Miskolc, Hungary. He holds a B.A. in political science, but has been a full-time poker pro for the past several years. He plays mostly in Europe and has more than a dozen cashes in majors held in several different countries. He won the most recent WPT championship held in Slovakia, and took third place in the EPT’s Copenhagen championship. Toth has also cashed ten times at the WSOP in Las Vegas. He also cashed for the second time at this year’s WSOP Circuit series in New Orleans after coming in 18th-place in a precious event. Toth’s first American win paid $9,114 and his first WSOP Circuit gold ring.

An interview with Toth at tableside, moments after his win can be seen at the link above.

Attendance at this year’s tournament at Harrah’s New Orleans continues to run ahead of last year’s numbers. Through the conclusion of Event #8, overall tournament attendance is up 11 percent over the same point last year.

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 #8 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 #7
No Limit Hold’em
Buy-In: $500 (+50)
Total Entries: 195
Total Prize Pool: $89,425
May 11-12, 2010

Final Results:

1 Steve Grant New Orleans, LA $23,697

2 Joseph Hebert Metairie, LA $14,308

3 Edward Freking, III Clute, TX $9,166

4 James “Red” Miller Notasulga, AL $7,154

5 Jeff Winget Wattonville, IL $5,589

6 Samuel “J.R.” Bailey New Orleans, LA $4,471

7 Stephen Cook Springfield, IL $3,577

8 Stephen Danos Marrero, LA $2,906

9 Dwyte Pilgrim Brooklyn, NY $2,459

10 Robert Schorr Henderson, NV $2,012

11 Mark Utterback San Antonio, TX $2,012

12 Kenneth Smith Jacksonville, FL $2,012

13 Steven Jones Belton, TX $1,788

14 Ralph Shannon Atlanta, GA $1,788

15 Bradley Hicks Birmingham, AL $1,788

16 Joshua Mancuso Mandeville, LA $1,564

17 Bobby Binsky Hollywood, FL $1,564

18 Michael Trahan Lafayette, LA $1,564

Steve Grant Takes Gold Ring and $23,697 Cash Prize

New Orleans Truck Driver Drives Away With First Major Tournament Victory at Harrah’s

Three-Time Gold Ring Winner Dwyte Pilgrim Makes the Final Table, but Finishes Ninth

New Orleans, LA – The most recent World Series of Poker Circuit tournament concluded at Harrah’s New Orleans today. The winner was Steve Grant, a 24-year-old part-time local poker player from New Orleans. Grant won $23,697 for first place, plus the coveted gold ring, presented to all WSOP Circuit winners.

Grant is currently working as a truck driver for a local wine and spirits company. However, he enjoys playing poker in his spare time and concentrates mostly on cash games. Grant had previously entered only a limited number of poker tournaments, but managed to cash a few times here in New Orleans back in 2007. He had two 12th-place finishes in tournaments held on the WSOP Circuit that year. Grant had not done much in tournaments since then, but sure came back in grand style with this showing, his first major tournament victory ever.

This was the seventh gold ring event (of 19) on this year’s WSOP Circuit schedule at Harrah’ New Orleans. Attendance at this year’s tournament continues to be impressive. Attendance remains well ahead of last year’s numbers. Through the conclusion of Event #8, overall tournament attendance is up 11 percent over the same point last year here at the WSOP Circuit.

The $500 (+50) buy-in No-Limit Hold’em tournament was played over two consecutive days during May 11th and 12th. The tournament attracted 195 entries. The top 18 finishers divided a prize pool totaling $89,425.
After 186 players were eliminated on the first day, final table play began on a Wednesday afternoon.

The final table included Dwyte Pilgrim, who was shooting for his fourth WSOP Circuit gold ring. Pilgrim hoped to join Mark “Pegasus” Smith and Men “the Master” Nguyen as the all-time WSOP Circuit most gold ring winners (with four each). Pilgrim, who was the unofficial WSOP Circuit player of the year last season, ended up with a disappointing ninth-place finish, but still remains one of the Circuit’s players to watch in future events.

Joseph Hebert arrived at the Final Table with a substantial chip lead. In fact, he was nearly 2 to 1 over his closest rival, Jeff Winget. The eventual winner, Steve Grant began play with about an average-sized stack. He took the chip lead when play reached five handed and was never in serious danger of losing his stack as play became shorter handed.

When Final Table play began at 3:00 pm, the nine finalists and their starting chip counts were as follows:

Seat Player Hometown Chip Count

1 J.R. Bailey New Orleans, LA 115,000

2 Jeff Winget Wattonville, IL 304,000

3 Dwyte Pilgrim Brooklyn, NY 210,000

4 Steve Grant New Orleans, LA 259,000

5 Stephen “Snackie” Danos Marrero, LA 74,000

6 Stephen Cook Springfield, IL 81,000

7 Edward Freking III Clute, TX 62,000

8 Red Miller Notasulga, AL 241,000

9 Joseph Hebert Metairie, LA 488,000

Note: Chip counts (above) were taken when play was ten-handed. The 10th-place finisher was Robert “Cat Chaser” Schorr, who sat down with 105,000 in chips. Official final tables are comprised of only nine players.

Final Table play lasted about six hours and ended at 8:00 pm. Players were eliminated in the following order:

Ninth Place: No Fourth Gold Ring for Dwyte Pilgrim
Brooklyn-native Dwyte Pilgrim had chips when play started, but nothing went right for the three time gold ring winner who achieved his last WSOP Circuit victory just two months ago at Harrah’s Rincon (San Diego). Pilgrim lost a few early pots and went out quickly, ended up with $2,459 in prize money. It should be noted that Pilgrim holds the record for the player with the most cashes, final tales, and wins of any player on the WSOP Circuit over the past two seasons.

Eighth Place: “Snackie’s” Chips Become a Nice Snack
Stephen “Snackie” Danos was one of three low stacks and went out about a half hour into play when his QT lost a race against 77. Snackie’s chips were gobbled up and he had to settle for $2,906. This marked his third time to cash in a WSOP Circuit event.

Seventh Place: Cook Fried
Another short-stacked player was Stephen Cook. The small business owner from Springfield, IL has played in several poker events throughout the Midwest. He cashed in an event at the 2007 WSOP in Las Vegas. This was his first cash in a WSOP Circuit event – worth $3,577.

Sixth Place: Somebody Shot J.R.
J.R. Bailey, a local player from New Orleans, picked up AQ on what turned out to be his final hand. He ran into AK, which had him dominated. Both players caught an ace, but Bailey was in kicker trouble all the way. He ended up busting out in sixth place, which paid $4,471.

Fifth Place: Winget Flies Away
Jeff Winget, a poker dealer from Wattonville, IL made a nice run. But he ended up losing most of his chips late and went out holding A6 against AK. A six failed to materialize on his last hand, leaving Winget with a nice finish in this tournament, worth $5,589 in prize money. Winget’s previous cashes include a tournament last month at Harrah’s St. Louis as well as a major tournament held in Tulsa, OK.

Fourth Place: Red Miller Sees Red
James “Red” Miller picked up pocket 6s on his final hand. He moved all in hoping to double up, but ran into pocket aces. Miller failed to improve and went out after about three hours of poker playing in the finale. Miller, who is self employed and lives in Notasulga, AL earned a nice payout totaling $7,154. This marked his first time to cash in a WSOP-related tournament.

Third Place: Freking Dethrowned
Edward Freking III, a 26-year-old part-time poker player from Clute, TX took a bad beat late in the tournament when he moved all in with AQ, and got a call from A4. Unfortunately, a four flopped, leaving Freking drawing slim. He missed on the turn and river and ultimately had to settle for a third place payout a few hands later, worth $9,166. Freking, who cashed in a previous WSOP Circuit event held at Harrah’s Tunica (2009) enjoyed what was his highest WSOP-related cash ever.

Second Place: Hebert Finishes as Runner Up
Joseph Hebert, from nearby Metairie, LA ended up in second place. He was short-stacked to Steve Grant throughout the final heads up match. He managed to double up once, but finally went out on a bad beat.

On the final hand, Hebert was dealt Ac Jh. Grant was dealt Ad 5s. Hebert raised pre-flop, and Grant moved all in. Hebert snap called then watched in horror as a five fell on the flop. Hebert caught no help from the deck and was left shaking his head looking at a final board that showed: 9s 5c 2d 9c Th. Grants pair of fives won the final hand of the tournament. For his fine effort, Hebert collected a nice consolation prize amounting to $14,308. This was his best showing ever in a poker tournament.

First Place: Steve Grant Wins First Major!
Steve Grant, who drives a truck for a wine and spirits company in New Orleans, motored away with the top prize in Event #7. He received $23,697 for first place, plus his first WSOP Circuit gold ring.

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 #7 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 #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