WSOP & WPT Tournament Blog

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

Final Results:

1 Hamilton McGowan Eunice, LA $12,881

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

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

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

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

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

7 Mark Gallagher Houston, TX $2,012

8 Joshua Fanguy Houston, TX $1,710

9 Michael Schneider NA $1,509

Gentlemen’s Agreement: Top Three Finishers Make Deal

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Seat Player Hometown Chip Count

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

2 Gary Bolden St. Louis, MO 88,000

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

4 Gene Timberlake Houston, TX 60,000

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

6 Ricky McGowan Eunice, LA 140,500

“Some” players were eliminated in the following order:

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Tournament Director – Steve Frezer

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 #6
Pot-Limit Omaha
Buy-In: $300 (+40)
Total Entries: 50
Total Prize Pool: $24,250
May 10-11, 2010

Final Results:

1 Jean Laurent Naples, FL $7,760

2 Tony “Teek” Seunsom Houston, TX $4,850

3 Kiran Srinivas New York, NY $3,091

4 Christopher Gamboa Houston, TX $2,182

5 Dennis Crowley Pearland, TX $1,758

6 Peja “Premo” Niyati Dallas, TX $1,455

7 Bruno Abedi-Arani Dallas, TX $1,212

8 Trey Brabham McComb, MS $1,030

9 Joel Merwick New Orleans, LA $909

Jean-Sebastien Laurent Wins First Major Tournament Victory at Harrah’s New Orleans

Final Two Players Strike a Deal – Tony “Tekk” Seunsom Takes Second

2010 Harrah's New Orleans WSOP Circuit Event #6 Winner Jean Laurent

New Orleans, LA – Deals are common in poker tournaments and will continue to be so long as players fund prize pools with their entry fees. Although estimates vary, perhaps 20 to 30 percent of all poker tournaments end with some kind of a deal. This occurs because surviving players do not want to risk what amounts to guaranteed prize money on what could be one hand or a single card.

The final two players in the most recent WSOP Circuit tournament held at Harrah’s New Orleans agreed to a deal today. Jean-Sebastien Laurent, from Naples, FL took first place, while Tony “Tekk” Seunsom, from Houston, TX agreed to second place. For his fine effort, Laurent officially collected $7,760. He was also presented with the coveted gold ring, awarded to all WSOP Circuit event winners.

This was the sixth gold ring event (of 19) on this year’s WSOP Circuit schedule at Harrah’s New Orleans. So far, attendance through the first seven events is up nine percent over last year. A short video tour of the poker room and tournament arena can be viewed here:

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

The $500 (+50) buy-in Pot-Limit Omaha tournament was played over two consecutive days during May 10th and 11th. The tournament attracted 50 entries. The top nine finishers divided a prize pool totaling $24,250. After 41 players were eliminated on the first day, final table play began on a Tuesday afternoon. There was one former WSOP Circuit gold ring winner among the final nine. Chris Gamboa won the second event here at Harrah’s, held just a few days ago. Unfortunately, he was not able to repeat his success and finished fourth.

Bruno Abechi-Arani arrived at the Final Table with nearly a 2 to 1 chip advantage over his challengers. But in the end, it was one of the shortest stacks belonging to jean-Sebastien Laurent who took down the victory.

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 Jean-Sebastien Laurent Naples, FL 57,900

2 Trey Brabham McComb, MS 45,600

3 Joel Merwick Omaha, NE 21,400

4 Bruno Abechi-Arani Dallas, TX 116,000

5 Dennis Crowley Pearland, TX 64,600

6 Tekk Tony Sevnsom Houston, TX 31,000

7 Kiran Srinivas New York, NY 52,500

8 Peja “Premo” Niyati Dallas, TX 59,500

9 Chris Gamboa Houston, TX 51,300

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

Ninth Place: Short-Stacked Merwick Exits Quickly
The ninth place finisher was Joel Merwick, a businessman from Omaha, NE. This was Merwick’s fifth time to cash on the WSOP Circuit. He enjoyed much success at previous events held at Horseshoe Council Bluffs (Iowa) where he made it to two final tables. The payout for ninth place was $909.

Eighth Place: Musician Hits Sour Note
Trey Brabham (ne Thomas Brabham), a musician from McComb, MS ended up in eighth place. Brabham previously played the club scene in Austin, TX. Brabham had previously cashed in several smaller tournaments around the country, and also finished in the money once at the WSOP in Las Vegas. For this effort, Brabham collected $1,030.

Seventh Place: Bruno Busts
Bruno Abedi-Arami (ne Mohammed Abedi-Arami) cashed for the first time in two years in this tournament. Adedi-Arami won nearly $50,000 two years ago at a tournament in Las Vegas and returned to the money in this event by finishing seventh. He earned $1,212.

Sixth Place: “Premo” Done-o
Peja “Prema” Niyati, a former engineer turned poker pro from Dallas, TX came in sixth. He moved all in with AA87 on his final hand, which ended up losing to QJT9, which made two pair. Niyati has an impressive record in tournaments, with 13 major cashes the last three years. However, this was his first time to cash in a WSOP-related tournament. “Premo” received $1,455.

Fifth Place: Crowley Cracks
Dennis Crowley, a retiree from Pearland, TX was put out to pasture and ended up talking home $1,758 for fifth place. He became the second player to make multiple final tables at this year’s Bayou series. He finished seventh in an event two days ago. Crowley has now cashed four times in WSOP Circuit event at Harrah’s New Orleans alone.

Fourth Place: No Repeat for Gamboa
Chris Gamboa was the other player making a second final table appearance at this year’s Bayou series. Fresh off winning $35,000 in Event #2, Gamboa hoped to become only the third multi-gold ring winner of the season by taking the top spot. Instead, he had to settle for fourth place, which paid $2,182. Gamboa becomes the early leader in this unofficial Bayou Poker Challenge player of the year race.

Third Place: Srinivas Takes Third
Kiran Srinivas, who is originally from India and now lives in New York City, ended up as the third-place finisher. This was his first recorded cash in a live tournament.

Second Place: Deal Made – Seunsom Second
Tony “Tekk” Seunsom, a Houston poker pro, was the official second-place finisher. Seunsom is well-known at Harrah’s New Orleans, since he has played in many events over the years. Although he has yet to win a WSOP Circuit gold ring, this was his second time to finish as the runner up in a Harrah’s New Orleans event. The official payout was $4,850, although the terms of the deal with winner Jean Sebastien Laurent were not disclosed.

First Place: Jean-Sebastien Laurent Wins First Major!
Mystery man Jean-Sebastien Laurent, from Naples, FL won his first major poker tournament. Little is known about the enigmatic champion, other than he is 28-years-old and enjoys playing poker. He collected the WSOP Circuit gold ring and was officially paid $7,760.

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 #6 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